Don't Be Hasty

Wei Suo was thoroughly tempted.

After all, even a ten-percent increase in talisman-making success rates would add up to a considerable fortune over time. At present, Wei Suo still had more than two hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones' worth of Mid-grade Spirit Stones and Low-grade Spirit Stones combined. But he could not spend all of those two hundred-odd Low-grade Spirit Stones; he had to keep at least a hundred for cultivation and to pay for purchasing Fire Scorpions.

Though the Golden Silk Talisman Brush's starting price was only three hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones, judging by the earlier bidding, its final price would probably reach at least six hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones.

That meant he needed to borrow at least five hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones.

"Several hundred Spirit Stones... I only have a hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones on me. How come you have several hundred?" Wei Suo asked Nangong Yuqing, his palms sweating.

"Honestly." Nangong Yuqing answered with an amused smile, "I probably have around seven hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones."

"Seven hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones? What a little rich girl." Wei Suo was so excited his eyes nearly brimmed with tears, but he was still uneasy and immediately asked, "What if I can't repay you for a while? You don't have any additional conditions, do you?"

Nangong Yuqing rolled her eyes at Wei Suo. "You really are troublesome. Are you borrowing or not? If not, just pretend I never said anything. Besides, looking at you, you probably wouldn't dare take many Fireball Talismans out to sell anymore. If you can't repay me, just pay me with Fireball Talismans. I use this kind of talisman regularly anyway."

"Borrow! Only an idiot wouldn't!" By then, someone in the main hall had already raised the bid to three hundred and fifty Low-grade Spirit Stones. Wei Suo immediately shouted with great bravado, "Four hundred!"

"Four hundred and fifty!" A competing bid immediately rang out from the hall below.

"Five hundred!" Wei Suo had never bought anything this expensive in his life, and he practically gritted his teeth as he shouted it.

"Five hundred and fifty!" A cultivator in a fur robe hesitated, then added another fifty Spirit Stones.

"It's just a talisman brush. What's there to fight over?" Wei Suo grumbled inwardly several times, but he still called out, "Six hundred!"

The moment Wei Suo named six hundred, the few cultivators below who had been competing all shook their heads and gave up. They did not know Wei Suo's identity and assumed that someone in a VIP private room must be a person of considerable background. Besides, six hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones was already no small price even for an ordinary talisman maker. After all, not a single talisman maker could produce Fireball Talismans with the kind of immense profit Wei Suo enjoyed.

"Whew..." Wei Suo let out a huge sigh of relief. Fortunately, talisman makers were quite scarce in Lingyue City. Otherwise, there would definitely have been more people driving up the price.

"Seven hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones!"

Just as it seemed no one else would bid, and the richly dressed youth carrying the tray below was about to deliver the Golden Silk Talisman Brush to Wei Suo's VIP room, a somewhat lazy voice drifted over from a VIP room on the left.

"Fuck, this brain-dead brat!" Wei Suo nearly blacked out from rage.

The one bidding was none other than Li Honglin, who looked so dashing and suave.

"Eight hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones!" Since the bidding had already reached seven hundred, Wei Suo did not want to give up. Gritting his teeth, he added another hundred.

"Nine hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones!" Li Honglin calmly raised the price again.

"Fuck!" Wei Suo was utterly speechless. He was almost certain Li Honglin did not particularly need this talisman brush. Judging by how that fellow had deliberately switched to a larger private room, he was clearly trying to suppress him on purpose. Wei Suo now hated that he did not have heaps upon heaps of Spirit Stones. Otherwise, he would have buried that bastard alive under Spirit Stones. But the problem was that nine hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones was already his limit. Even if he raised it to a thousand and Li Honglin stopped bidding, that price was still more than Wei Suo could afford right now.

"That bastard, I'm going to curse him out." Nangong Yuqing was getting angry too and immediately wanted to stand up.

"Don't be hasty. Wait until something else good comes up later." But to her great surprise, Wei Suo instead held her back and said this without changing expression.

She turned her head to look at Wei Suo in confusion. His face wore an angry expression, like a crude country squire whose heart ached over losing money. Yet what Wei Suo secretly said while pulling her close and whispering in her ear made her realize he seemed to be putting on an act.

Nangong Yuqing could not guess what scheme Wei Suo was cooking up in that head of his. She could only wait, full of suspicion.

"Divine Wood Furnace!"

"Corrupt Poison Bat cub!"

...Several more uniquely precious treasures came up next. The Divine Wood Furnace, for instance, was a pill furnace used to refine spirit pills and could greatly improve the quality of wood-element pills. Corrupt Poison Bats were early-stage level-four demon beasts. When an adult Corrupt Poison Bat spread its wings, its body could stretch several zhang long. Not only could cultivators tame them as flying mounts, but the venom they spat was also extraordinarily potent.

Yet while these treasures were auctioned off, Wei Suo merely calculated silently to himself and did not bid.

"Treasure Pouch, with an internal space of approximately thirty zhang square. Starting price: nine hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones!"

But when Shopkeeper Tian announced this item on the stage, the entire hall erupted in excitement once more.

A Treasure Pouch was a unique magical treasure that looked only a few feet in size from the outside, yet possessed an enormous inner space, and when carried, made one feel none of the weight of the items inside. Such magical treasures were immensely precious to every cultivator, especially Rogue Cultivators who were accustomed to carrying all their valuables with them.

Moreover, when one killed a particularly massive demon beast or discovered enormous ores that could not be carried away at once, one could only take the portions worth the most Spirit Stones and painfully abandon the rest. But with a magical treasure like this, everything could be collected and brought back, without wasting a single Spirit Stone.

Some high-grade Treasure Pouches and Treasure Rings could even hold tens of thousands of jin of goods. But this Treasure Pouch before them, which looked as though it were made of yellow leather, could hold at most thirty zhang square of items. Compared to the lowest-grade Treasure Pouches, which could only hold one or two zhang square of items, it was already quite good.

Most crucially, there were not many artifact refiners across the entire Tianxuan Continent capable of crafting Treasure Pouches. Treasure Pouches were also scarce treasures with a price but no market.

"Twelve hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones!" Wei Suo, who had remained quiet all this time, directly called out a price three hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones above the starting bid.

"Wei Suo! You—" Nangong Yuqing's lovely face instantly went pale, because she knew that even all the Spirit Stones she and Wei Suo had together did not add up to twelve hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones.

"This Treasure Pouch is indeed quite rare. I'm quite tempted as well." The moment Wei Suo finished speaking, Li Honglin in the neighboring VIP room said this as though talking to himself, then calmly added, "Thirteen hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones."

"Don't bid again! If you win the auction but cannot pay the Spirit Stones, all the valuable items on your person will be forcibly confiscated, and you will never again be allowed to trade in any marketplace in Lingyue City. If the difference is too great, you may even be expelled from Lingyue City outright!" Knowing Wei Suo's circumstances, Nangong Yuqing was terrified that he would bid again. Pale-faced, she hurriedly whispered into his ear.

"Nangong Yuqing, little sister, I'm truly sorry." Yet to Nangong Yuqing's astonishment, Wei Suo suddenly said in an unbearably mushy voice, "My Spirit Stones are a little tight right now. Earlier, I couldn't even buy that Golden Silk Talisman Brush you liked. Now that you want this Treasure Pouch, I don't have quite enough Spirit Stones either... How about we wait for something else and see whether there's anything you like later?"

As he called her Nangong Yuqing, little sister in that sickeningly sweet tone and said all that, Wei Suo wore an expression of extreme shame.

Li Honglin's eyes in the VIP room to the left lit up at once. Now that someone had bid thirteen hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones, Li Honglin became even more arrogant and shouted even louder, "Fifteen hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones!"

"..." Nangong Yuqing was a little dumbfounded.

"Hehe, that guy will probably pawn even his underwear to win this Treasure Pouch and send it over later, right?" Wei Suo lowered his head with a dejected look, yet secretly said this to Nangong Yuqing.