The Final Auction Item

"Fine! You're ruthless!"

Qian Duoduo cursed inwardly and helplessly gave up on raising the bid again.

The more of a merchant one was, the more they liked to calculate every penny. He could afford to spend more Spirit Stones, but the Spirit-Gathering Pill had already been bid up far too high. It was nowhere near this price elsewhere, so why would he be willing to pay even more?

He knew the inside story. He knew there was still one bottle of Spirit-Gathering Pills left, so he could only hope that the final bottle would be cheaper. He still had a chance.

"Stay calm! Stay calm!" Qian Duoduo took a deep breath.

But how could things possibly go as he wished?

When Qian Jinjin's little hammer fell and the fourth auction item was brought out, before the maid had even reached this side and before the red cloth had been lifted, the Long Family head impatiently shouted, "I bid 1.3 million Spirit Stones!"

"Pfft!" Qian Duoduo was nearly angered into coughing up blood.

"This is going too far!"

Qian Duoduo cursed furiously. At this point, he had completely snapped.

He knew full well that this was the last bottle of Spirit-Gathering Pills. He could not hesitate any longer, so he immediately cried out in pain, "I bid 1.4 million Spirit Stones!"

There was one view he shared with the Long Family head: a genius's time was precious, and they absolutely could not remain stuck at one realm for too long. Therefore, he would seize this final bottle of Spirit-Gathering Pills at any cost.

This time, however, the Long Family head did not raise the bid, catching everyone by surprise.

He could also produce more Spirit Stones, but in his view, the Lineage had many places where Spirit Stones were needed. Buying three bottles of Spirit-Gathering Pills was already enough; there was no need to pour in more Spirit Stones.

After all, the number of geniuses within a Lineage was limited. It was enough to prioritize the limited Spirit-Gathering Pills for those few geniuses. There were so many Gu Masters at the Spirit Gathering Stage that even if he bought another hundred bottles, he could not take care of them all.

However, while he had given up bidding, there were no shortage of others with deep pockets.

It seemed quite a few people knew the inside information. After all, Long Xuan had placed four bottles of Spirit-Gathering Pills in the auction house for sale right before the public eye. To those with well-connected sources, this truly was not top-secret information.

Thus, those who had been watching and waiting with the same mindset as Qian Duoduo could no longer sit still and joined the bidding one after another.

Especially the people from the other merchant associations. They were all masters who did not lack Spirit Stones. Like Qian Duoduo, they had believed there were more to come and that they might perhaps be cheaper.

Who would have thought that such a shit-stirring rod would appear? Before anyone could even name the base price, he would jack it up sky-high every time, causing every bottle to sell for no small sum. They could only fight desperately over this final bottle.

Everyone had hoped the last one would be cheaper, yet everyone was thinking the same thing and had all arrived at the same spot. As a result, because the competition for the final bottle was too fierce and everyone was determined to get it, it was not cheaper at all—instead, it was the most expensive.

In the end, with one person calling out after another, they forcibly drove the price up to 2.8 million Spirit Stones before it finally stopped.

Qian Duoduo looked as though he was about to cry. Damn it, he had miscalculated.

He was the one who had bid those 2.8 million Spirit Stones. His heart was bleeding now; he had lost so badly he might as well have gone bankrupt at his grandmother's house.

So the earlier bottles had actually been the cheapest, especially the first one, which had sold for only 1.1 million Spirit Stones. If he had not greedily sought an even lower price and had taken it earlier, none of this bullshit would have happened.

Unfortunately, there was no medicine for regret in this world. His intestines had turned green with remorse.

The sky-high price of 2.8 million sent the entire venue into an uproar. Long Xuan in particular grinned so broadly that his mouth could not close. These Spirit Stones all belonged to him; this time, he had struck it rich.

He knew this was merely an appetizer. When the Fossil Ore Vein was auctioned later, the final price would only be higher. These Spirit Stones probably would not even count as a fraction of the Fossil Ore Vein's value, so it was still too early to get excited.

Once he successfully sold off the Fossil Ore Vein, he would not only have the money to refine the Divine Ice Flame, but also enough funds to refine his third and fourth Gu insects. It would be enough for him to squander for a long time. He could not help looking forward to the final price of the Fossil Ore Vein.

After the Spirit-Gathering Pill auction ended, the following auctions became steady and uneventful. The rear of the venue was quiet, nowhere near as heated as before.

The seven Lineage heads in the VIP seats all appeared uninterested and were rarely seen bidding on anything.

This had not been a particularly high-grade auction to begin with. Aside from the Spirit-Gathering Pills and the treasure map brought by Long Xuan, the rest of the auction items were quite ordinary.

Half the auction items were antiques brought out from that Empress's Ancient Tomb. Unfortunately, although antiques had been worth fortunes in his previous life, in this world where martial strength reigned supreme, they were far less valuable than things that could directly improve one's strength.

Though some people showed considerable interest and bid frequently, the prices were truly not high.

Long Xuan watched as one antique after another was auctioned off from the stage, a thoughtful expression appearing on his face.

As expected, he could see progress bars on every antique as well. But what did the progress on antiques represent? Their degree of damage? Their shelf life? Or would some change occur once the progress was full?

Just as Long Xuan was racking his brains, the main event of this auction finally arrived. At that moment, the various Lineage heads in the front rows all perked up and sat straight.

The crowd of onlookers in the back also became energized, whispering among themselves, no longer as drowsy as before.

"Is it finally starting?" The Feng Family head revealed a blazing gaze and licked his lips.

The Long Family head beside him, who had been yawning repeatedly, also jolted with vigor, his eyes turning sharp.

"Hehe! I'm sure all of you have been waiting impatiently." After sweeping her gaze around, Qian Jinjin smiled. "Although the auction house did not have time to promote this, there are truly quite a few well-informed people. All the heads of the Far West Seven Great Clans have actually arrived, which has surprised this little woman."

"To be honest, this is also the first time our Qian Clan Merchant Association has sold a Fossil Ore Vein Treasure Map. I must state in advance that our merchant association has no way to personally verify whether it is genuine. We can only use the Integrity Gu to confirm that the seller did not lie."

"But you all know that nothing is absolute. This world does possess methods capable of rendering the Integrity Gu's lie-detecting ability ineffective. Otherwise, if the power of Gu insects were truly so divine, there would not be so many wrongful cases in the world."

"Here, I can only guarantee that according to the Integrity Gu's inspection, that seller did not lie. But should the inspection be mistaken, the Qian Clan Auction House will not bear any responsibility."

Her meaning could not have been clearer: the auction house could only guarantee that it was most likely genuine, but if the information proved false, the auction house would not accept any responsibility.

She was not wrong. Every Gu insect's power had a way to crack it, including the Integrity Gu's ability to detect lies.

Yet under normal circumstances, no merchant would foolishly say such words. Her purpose in saying them was to scare away some people whose resolve was not firm.

As soon as her words fell, some people indeed wore uncertain expressions, considering whether they should take the risk.

But the heads of the Seven Great Clans merely sneered and were not frightened by her words.

Although what she said was true, and every Gu insect's power indeed had a method to break it, how could the Integrity Gu's power be so easily cracked?

If the Integrity Gu's power were truly that easy to break, why would Gu Masters across the world trust the Qian Clan Merchant Association so deeply? Nor would the Qian Clan Merchant Association have grown so large because of it.

The people from the other merchant associations, who understood the Integrity Gu best, all revealed disdainful smiles.

Qian Jinjin's words might fool others, but they could never fool those in the same trade. If this information truly carried even a certain degree of risk, would the Qian Clan Merchant Association have skipped all promotion and rushed to auction it off?

Their actions had already indirectly proven that the information was one hundred percent real. Whatever they said now was useless.