After several rounds of rather unremarkable auction items, the atmosphere in the hall had already been stoked to a fever pitch.
Ya Fei gently pressed down with her jade-like hand, signaling for the audience to quiet down.
Her charming, captivating voice rang clearly in every attendee's ears through the amplifying magic stone.
"Everyone, I imagine you've grown a little impatient waiting."
"In that case, I shan't keep you in suspense any longer."
"Next is the final showpiece of this auction!"
The moment her voice fell, it seemed as though every breath in the auction hall had stopped for an instant.
Thousands of gazes—feverish, greedy, expectant—converged on the auction stage.
A maid carried a tray made of cold jade, carefully taking one steady step after another onto the stage. Her footsteps were sure, but her faintly trembling hands still betrayed her nerves.
A thick piece of red brocade covered the tray.
Ya Fei stepped forward and lifted the brocade herself.
There was no dazzling treasure-light, nor any astonishing energy fluctuation.
An entirely pitch-black stone, about the size of a fist and utterly unremarkable in appearance, lay quietly in the very center of the cold-jade tray.
"Wh-what is that?"
"Is there some mistake? It's just a worthless rock?"
A suppressed murmur of confusion rose from the crowd below.
Ya Fei had anticipated this. Her devastatingly beautiful face still wore a confident smile.
She offered no explanation.
Instead, she extended a slender finger, fair as jade. A wisp of pale-red Fire Attribute Dou Qi gathered at its tip, slowly coiling like a docile fire serpent.
Under the gaze of thousands, she gently touched the black stone with her fingertip.
Humm—!
The very instant they made contact!
A visible wave of deathly white chill burst from the surface of the Obsidian!
This was no ordinary cold. It carried an absolute suppressive force that seemed to come from the depths of one's soul—a force powerful enough to make every expert present who cultivated fire-attribute techniques tremble!
Crack! Crack! Crack!
A thick layer of white frost rapidly formed across the cold-jade tray, visible to the naked eye!
The temperature around the auction stage plummeted!
Aoba Pa and Jialie Bi, seated in the front row, both turned pale!
They could clearly feel that their Dou Qi instinctively recoiled in fear before that pale chill. Even its circulation had grown sluggish!
"This item is called the 'Exotic Flame Sensing Stone.'"
Ya Fei withdrew her finger, and her melodious voice slowly rang out through the silent hall.
"It has only one function."
"When it comes within a certain range of a true Heavenly Flame, it produces an effect like this. The closer it gets, the stronger the chill!"
Boom!
One stone sent a thousand ripples through the crowd!
If the spectacle moments ago had merely shocked everyone, then Ya Fei's words now were like a thunderclap detonating in every listener's mind!
A compass for finding Heavenly Flames!
Its value could no longer be measured in gold coins!
It was the hope of rising to the heavens in a single leap and changing one's fate!
Inside a private room on the second floor.
Su Chen calmly watched the twisted faces below, warped by greed and excitement. His long fingers lightly tapped the armrest once.
The show was about to begin.
"Exotic Flame Sensing Stone, starting price: one hundred thousand gold coins!"
Ya Fei's voice rose sharply.
"Each bid must be at least ten thousand higher!"
"The bidding starts now!"
One hundred thousand gold coins!
The figure plunged the hall into instant silence.
That much could buy a decent mid-tier Black-Class Dou Technique!
But the silence lasted less than three breaths.
"One hundred and ten thousand!"
A booming shout erupted from Aoba Pa! He was the first to rise, his eyes bloodshot as he stared fixedly at the stone onstage.
"One hundred and twenty thousand!"
Jialie Bi followed almost immediately, his voice cold and taunting, refusing to be outdone.
"One hundred and thirty thousand!"
"One hundred and fifty thousand!"
"One hundred and eighty thousand!"
The price broke free like a wild horse and began to gallop upward at a frantic pace!
Nearly every local faction in Wutan City joined in. Each new bid drew a wave of gasps from the crowd.
In little more than the time it took to drink a cup of tea, the price had been pushed all the way to three hundred thousand gold coins!
At that price, the patriarchs of many small clans turned pale and could only sit back down in frustration.
"Three hundred and fifty thousand!"
Aoba Pa gritted his teeth and called out another new high.
Fine beads of sweat had already formed on his temples.
But just as he thought the price might hold the crowd at bay for a while—
A hoarse voice, as though two sheets of sandpaper were scraping together, suddenly rang out from an inconspicuous corner in the back.
"Five hundred thousand!"
Hiss—!
A synchronized wave of sharp inhales swept through the hall!
Thousands of gazes instantly converged on that corner!
A single bid up by one hundred and fifty thousand!
What terrifying wealth!
A burly lone warrior with a door-sized greatsword strapped to his back slowly lowered his wine gourd, his gaze fixed hungrily on the auction stage.
Aoba Pa's face instantly turned ashen.
He knew the real dragons from beyond the river had begun to show their strength.
"Five hundred and ten thousand!"
From the other side came a cold voice. It belonged to a mercenary captain from Black Stone City.
"Five hundred and fifty thousand!"
"Six hundred thousand!"
The bidding had entered a full-blown frenzy.
Every leap in price struck at everyone's heart like a heavy hammer.
Jialie Bi and Aoba Pa clenched their fists, their nails digging deep into their palms as their faces flushed crimson.
They watched helplessly as the price kept climbing, soon surpassing what they could afford.
"Eight hundred thousand!"
When the greatsword-wielding brute called out that price again, Jialie Bi shuddered before finally slumping back into his seat.
He gave up.
That sum would drain nearly half of the Jialie Clan's wealth. He didn't dare wager the clan's future on a vague, distant hope.
Aoba Pa looked just as bleak. He glanced at Elder Gu He beside him and read the answer in the man's solemn expression.
All he could do was slowly sit down, carrying a heart full of resentment and humiliation.
Only the few mysterious experts from beyond the city remained in the bidding.
"Eight hundred and fifty thousand!"
"Nine hundred thousand!"
"Nine hundred and fifty thousand!"
When the price climbed to the terrifying sum of nine hundred and fifty thousand, the calls finally began to thin out.
The burly man with the greatsword and the mercenary captain from Black Stone City both fell silent.
Even for them, this price demanded careful consideration.
Ya Fei swept her gaze around the hall. Forcing down the pounding in her chest, she raised the auction hammer.
"Nine hundred and fifty thousand gold coins, going once!"
Her voice trembled almost imperceptibly with excitement.
"Nine hundred and fifty thousand gold coins, going twice!"
The hall fell silent.
Everyone held their breath, waiting for the final owner of this strange treasure to be decided.
Just as Ya Fei's hammer was about to fall for the third time—
A calm voice, devoid of emotion, slowly sounded from a corner of the front-row VIP seats that had remained silent throughout.
The speaker was shrouded from head to toe in a voluminous black robe. He had not said a word or made a single unnecessary move from the start.
Now, he merely raised his bidding paddle.
"One million five hundred thousand."
Four words.
They came lightly, as though he were discussing something trivial.
Yet the sum they represented detonated through the auction hall like an invisible nuclear bomb!
It was as if the entire world had been muted.
Every movement, every expression, froze completely in that instant.
From nine hundred and fifty thousand, straight to one million five hundred thousand!
This was no longer bidding.
It was absolute domination, built from piles of gold, powerful enough to crush any opponent's will!
The burly man with the greatsword's pupils contracted sharply. The hint of a desire to bid again was instantly smashed to pieces by that astronomical figure.
He looked at the black-robed man, and for the first time, deep wariness appeared in his eyes.
The other bidders who had still been hesitating turned ashen as well, abandoning every last hope.
Before an opponent like this, any struggle seemed feeble and laughable.
Ya Fei's red lips parted slightly. Her captivating face was filled with stunned disbelief.
Her mind went blank for several seconds.
One million five hundred thousand gold coins!
That sum could buy half of the Jialie Clan!
She abruptly came to her senses, her chest heaving with excitement.
"One million five hundred thousand! This gentleman bids one million five hundred thousand! Is there anyone willing to go higher?!"
Her voice rang throughout the hall.
No one answered.
"One million five hundred thousand, going once!"
"One million five hundred thousand, going twice!"
"One million five hundred thousand... going thrice!"
Bang!
The crisp strike of the hammer rang in everyone's ears like a final judgment.
"Sold!"
Ya Fei's voice brimmed with passion, announcing the birth of a new record—the highest price in Wutan City's auction history!
The entire hall's gaze fixed on the mysterious black-robed man like searchlights, everyone frantically guessing at his identity and origins.
Meanwhile, inside the private room on the second floor—
Su Chen leaned back in his soft chair, calmly watching the chaos below.
He slowly lifted the teacup on the table and took a small sip.
Beneath the shadow of his bamboo hat, the corner of his mouth twitched.
The board had been thoroughly stirred.
And at last, he had hooked a deep-sea leviathan—far larger, and far more mysterious, than he had imagined.
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