Dragon Scale Stone

Everyone held their breath, and the venue fell silent in an instant.

The surrounding light dimmed slightly, while the wooden table rising at the center was bathed in several soft yet brilliant beams of light, making it exceptionally conspicuous.

Four Mysterious Yellow Pavilion stewards, dressed in identical attire and radiating solemn auras, jointly carried an object covered in heavy red silk. With steady steps, they approached the wooden table and carefully placed it atop it.

The object stood about half a person's height and had an irregular shape. Yet beneath the red silk, it faintly emanated an ancient, desolate aura, as though it had accumulated the passage of endless ages.

Everyone's gaze was drawn toward it. Even the figures in the private rooms above focused their attention there. Everyone knew that this was the true highlight of today's Mysterious Yellow Pavilion inner hall event.

It might be a supreme specimen among gambling stones, perhaps even containing a treasure shocking enough to startle heaven and earth.

"This stone was brought back three months ago by an elder of our pavilion from a perilous area at the edge of the Primordial Forbidden Ruins." Lu Guan's voice was gentle, yet it rang clearly in everyone's ears. "After the joint appraisal of several stone appraisers within the pavilion, its surface patterns were found to secretly accord with ancient Dao rhythms. There is an extremely high chance that it contains treasure light, and it may be the foremost stone of this Stone King Gathering. Today, we shall use this stone to add to everyone's enjoyment."

The crowd immediately erupted in commotion.

"The Primordial Forbidden Ruins are incomparably dangerous. Since it came from there, it's certainly worth seeing." Xuanyuan Che smiled faintly.

On the stage, a steward respectfully lifted away the red silk.

In that instant, a massive stone appeared before everyone. Its entire body was dark brown, its surface covered in naturally formed, profound patterns resembling dragon scales and tortoise shells.

There were several natural holes on the stone's surface as well. A faint glimmer seemed to leak from within, luring everyone's Divine Soul power to probe inside, only to be blocked by an invisible force.

"Fine stone!" An experienced gambling-stone patron could not help crying out. "Look at that outer shell—ancient and vigorous, with naturally formed patterns and hidden rosy radiance within. It is absolutely extraordinary!"

"Something from the Primordial Forbidden Ruins? That is a land of great peril, but also a land of great fortune!"

"This stone is worth a fortune. I'm afraid only those great figures in the Heavenly Grade private rooms would dare take a gamble on it..."

A low buzzing discussion rose throughout the venue. Everyone's eyes burned with desire, but most also bore reverence and knew their own limits. The starting price of a stone at this level was likely an astronomical figure.

Inside the Purple Palace private room, Thunder Roar Ravine's eyes widened. "Good heavens, anyone can tell at a glance that there's something good inside this stone! This trip was truly not in vain!"

Xuanyuan Che's gaze fell upon the "Dragon Scale Stone," and a faint golden gleam flashed deep in his eyes before vanishing. He stroked his chin and said evenly, "The stone is decent. It's somewhat interesting. But good things are not necessarily all hidden in the biggest stones."

At that moment, Lu Guan spoke again below. "This stone is called 'Dragon Scale.' The starting price is one million High-grade Spirit Stones, and each increase must be no less than one hundred thousand. Fellow Daoists, please begin."

The moment the price was announced, the venue quieted considerably. One million High-grade Spirit Stones! That was enough to leave a medium-sized sect battered and bruised; ordinary Rogue Cultivators did not even dare dream of such a sum.

After a brief silence, someone finally made a bid.

"Earthly Grade Room Three, one million one hundred thousand." An aged voice came from one of the Earthly Grade private rooms.

"Heavenly Grade Room Two, one million five hundred thousand." From another direction, someone in a Heavenly Grade private room directly raised the price by four hundred thousand, displaying an air of determination to claim it.

"Heavenly Grade Room Five, two million."

The price climbed all the way upward, swiftly breaking through three million High-grade Spirit Stones. The competition was mainly concentrated among several of the higher-ranked Earthly Grade private rooms and the Heavenly Grade private rooms. The cultivators in the Human Grade area below could only look on from afar and click their tongues in amazement.

Listening to those numbers that made his head spin, Thunder Roar Ravine swallowed hard. He completely gave up the thought and muttered, "Mad, mad, they're all mad... What if there's nothing inside? Wouldn't that be losing all the way back to grandma's house?"

Xuanyuan Che was not particularly interested in the bidding for the "Dragon Scale Stone." His spiritual sense spread out subtly once more, not toward the stone below, but sweeping across the private rooms currently bidding—and... Lu Guan atop the platform, whose lips always carried the faintest hint of a smile.

As expected... Xuanyuan Che's heart stirred. In his perception, Lu Guan's attention did not seem to be entirely on the "Dragon Scale Stone" that had captured everyone's attention. Instead, from time to time, his gaze would intentionally or unintentionally sweep over several display racks at the edge of the auction house. Those racks held mostly small, peculiar stones—"offcuts" that were generally not highly regarded.

Among them was a fist-sized grayish-white stone, utterly inconspicuous, with a somewhat pitted surface. It had been casually placed on a shelf in a corner, priced at merely one thousand High-grade Spirit Stones. Yet Xuanyuan Che keenly noticed that Lu Guan's gaze lingered on that stone for a moment. Though it was extremely brief, it did not escape his perception.

Interesting... A playful smile curved Xuanyuan Che's lips. This Pavilion Master seemed to have no intention of drinking, only of admiring the mountains. He had brought out the "Dragon Scale Stone" to draw everyone's attention, while hiding the true treasure himself?

If someone who recognized its worth came along, would he not be smashing his own signboard?

By then, the price of the "Dragon Scale Stone" had been raised to four million eight hundred thousand High-grade Spirit Stones, bid by Heavenly Grade Room Two.

"Four million eight hundred thousand. Are there any fellow Daoists with a higher bid?" Lu Guan smiled as he looked around, seemingly fairly satisfied with the price.

The venue was silent. This price was already exceedingly high; even honored guests in the Heavenly Grade private rooms had to weigh the risks carefully.

"Four million eight hundred thousand, first call."

"Four million eight hundred thousand, second call."

Just as Lu Guan was about to call the price a third time and settle its ownership—

"Purple Palace private room, ten million."