Auction (3)

Under the lights at the center of the auction hall, a woman in a pale green gown was explaining the functions of the item in her hand to everyone present in a sweet, coquettish voice.

Li Chenfeng unconsciously turned his gaze toward Yafei, who was seated beside him.

Although the woman below was also quite beautiful and had a pleasant voice, compared to the Yafei described in the original work, she was more than a level behind.

When she saw Li Chenfeng looking at her, Yafei immediately gave him a seductive smile, making him feel as though his bones had gone soft.

This little temptress—she's already this alluring at such a young age. What will happen when she grows up?

He thought to himself.

Seeing Li Chenfeng's face flush from a single smile of hers, Yafei secretly felt pleased. Still, she gave the little fellow a label—little pervert!

"Little Brother Feng, don't you think that if I stood down there, I'd be prettier than that woman and could get even more money out of their pockets?"

"No!" Li Chenfeng said at once, his face darkening.

"Hehe..."

A soft, tingling, syrupy laugh drifted into Li Chenfeng's ear, accompanied by a fragrant breeze.

Seeing his reaction, Yafei laughed so hard her body swayed like a willow in the wind. One slender hand rested on Li Chenfeng's shoulder, and it seemed as though her whole body was about to lean against him.

Li Chenfeng forcibly suppressed the flutter in his heart and shot the little temptress a fierce glare before turning his gaze away.

Yet from the look of him, it was obvious that he rather enjoyed such intimacy between them.

Yafei's pretty face reddened slightly, for she could feel his body leaning closer into her embrace, their bodies already in direct contact.

However, Yafei did not push him away, nor did she retreat. She simply remained pressed against Li Chenfeng.

Beside them, Nalan Yanran was curiously watching the lively rounds of bidding below and paid no attention at all to the movements of the two beside her.

Only Qing'er, who had been standing behind them all along, saw everything clearly and secretly covered her mouth with a smile.

As the auction continued, more and more items were sold to the people below. Though Li Chenfeng had no interest in these things, items from the Miter Auction House were still highly sought after by independent cultivators and small clans.

As the auction gradually neared its end, the final centerpiece item was brought onto the stage.

The previously noisy crowd below instantly fell silent, because they all knew that the highlight of this auction had finally arrived.

A fourth-grade medicinal pill, the Qi-Gathering Powder, was already an exceedingly precious medicine to many small clans. What was more, it had been refined by the Pill King himself, which doubled its value.

"Distinguished guests, what comes next is the crown jewel of this auction!" The female auctioneer on the stage waved her jade-like hand, and the lights on the platform dimmed. Bending slightly, she took out a silver tray from the center of the stage. Upon it sat an ancient-looking medicine case.

The auctioneer slowly opened the medicine case. Inside lay a pill the size of a longan, entirely emerald green. Everyone seemed to catch an unusual fragrance slowly wafting out from the case.

"Qi-Gathering Powder, a fourth-grade spiritual medicine. It can allow someone at the ninth stage of Dou Qi to condense a Dou Qi Vortex with a one hundred percent success rate! Hehe, if any of you have descendants who need to condense a Dou Qi Cyclone, you absolutely cannot let such a pill slip away." Her alluring voice echoed through the hall, setting everyone's hearts ablaze.

"Furthermore, this pill was refined by the Jia Ma Empire's only sixth-grade alchemist, the Pill King Gu He. I need not say more about its value and efficacy."

Seeing that the crowd below had been awed by the Pill King's name, the auctioneer immediately smiled.

"Hehe, the starting bid for the pill is one hundred thousand gold coins. Please place your bids!"

"One hundred ten thousand!"

The moment the auctioneer finished speaking, someone impatiently called out a price.

"One hundred twenty thousand!"

Another bid followed immediately after.

The price in the hall continued to surge, reaching one hundred fifty thousand gold coins in only a short while.

Li Chenfeng watched everything before him without bidding immediately. He raised the cup of tea Qing'er had just poured for him, took a slow sip, and waited for the minor players to finish their noisy competition.

The bidding continued for a little longer before the voices finally weakened.

The price had now reached one hundred ninety thousand. Many people had already withdrawn from the competition. Those who could still participate were all clans with considerable strength.

Though the pill stirred people's hearts, it had not yet driven them mad. After all, unlike high-grade cultivation techniques, a pill could only be used by one person. No matter how potent it was, it would only add one Dou Practitioner to a clan.

If a Profound-tier cultivation technique appeared here now, even merely a low-grade Profound-tier technique, it would be more sought after than a fourth-grade medicinal pill.

Even if this pill had come from the hands of the Pill King!

At the same time, an elderly man seated in the hall finally stood up again and calmly said, "Two hundred thousand!"

When that price was called, the several clans that had just been competing all shook their heads, clearly choosing to give up.

The female auctioneer onstage felt somewhat regretful. In her opinion, the price of this Qi-Gathering Powder could have gone a little higher, especially since it had been refined by the Pill King Gu He.

But now, it was clear that these small clans did not intend to bid again, so she could only sell it to the old man.

However, just as the auctioneer was about to bring down the small hammer in her hand, a voice came from a private room on the third floor.

"Three hundred thousand!"

The voice was youthful, making it easy to tell that its owner was not very old.

Yet everyone below fell silent, because the voice had come from a private room on the third floor!

Many clans with well-informed sources already knew who the bidder was.

The old man was slightly stunned, but when he saw where the voice had come from, he immediately shook his head with a bitter smile. He had thought the Qi-Gathering Powder was already his for the taking, but who could have expected an unexpected rival to appear halfway through?

And this rival was someone he could not afford to provoke, so the old man could only shake his head inwardly and apologize to his grandson, who was about to condense a Dou Qi Cyclone.

The old man cupped his hands toward the private room on the third floor in a slight salute before sitting down, clearly indicating that he had given up.

After all, none of those present this time were truly important figures. Once Li Chenfeng spoke, the pill's ownership had already been decided.