Spirit Stones in Hand

Because their conversation had been conducted through soul transmission, no one else noticed anything.

After each clan head secretly slipped the Long Family Head one hundred million, he rose to his feet with high spirits and shouted, "I bid seven hundred million!"

The entire hall instantly fell silent.

No one continued bidding. They all stood frozen in place, utterly stunned by that figure.

Qian Duoduo's face turned livid as he glared at him with a look that could eat someone alive. Him again—it was him again! Where on earth did he get so many Spirit Stones?

Qian Jinjin's expression also shifted slightly, revealing a flash of surprise, though it vanished in an instant.

Seven hundred million Spirit Stones had already far exceeded her limit. The rushed timing had limited the time each clan had to prepare Spirit Stones, but hadn't it limited her as well? She had not had time to prepare them either.

She could only hurriedly draw upon the working capital of every shop, but even then, she could not scrape together seven hundred million Spirit Stones.

She looked toward the other clan heads. Seeing that they did not appear overly surprised, she immediately understood and guessed where those seven hundred million Spirit Stones had come from.

In that case, even if she managed to squeeze out seven hundred million Spirit Stones, it would be useless. They could easily pool together one billion, or even one billion one hundred million. There was no meaning in continuing the bidding.

"What do we do? Where did that Long Family Head get so many Spirit Stones? He isn't bluffing, is he?" Qian Duoduo anxiously transmitted.

Qian Jinjin did not answer immediately. She considered whether she should cooperate with the other merchant associations as well, but quickly abandoned the thought.

The Qian Clan Merchant Association was, after all, an outsider. Their rash arrival here had already offended all the merchant associations. Even if those associations agreed to join forces, they would unite among themselves and would most likely exclude the Qian Clan Merchant Association.

With that thought, she sighed softly and helplessly transmitted, "The tide has already turned. Besides, this was a matter with both benefits and drawbacks. Even if we truly won this ore vein, we would offend the local powers and make business difficult."

"With several merchant associations secretly fanning the flames, the Qian Clan Merchant Association might even become the target of public criticism and invite disaster."

"So be it. Since we are fated to miss this ore vein, there is no need to force it."

Qian Jinjin was quite open-minded. Failing to win the ore vein did not leave her particularly dejected. After sweeping her gaze around the room, she smiled and said, "The Long Family Head has bid seven hundred million Spirit Stones. Is there anyone offering more?"

"Seven hundred million Spirit Stones, once!"

"Seven hundred million Spirit Stones, twice!"

"Seven hundred million Spirit Stones, three times!"

"Sold! Congratulations, Long Family Head!"

Qian Jinjin brought the little hammer down heavily upon the table.

"Damn it!" The leaders of those merchant associations all changed expression and anxiously rose to their feet, cursing loudly.

Their merchant associations had been discussing whether to join forces and bid for the ore vein. Who would have thought Qian Jinjin would speak so quickly? Before they had exchanged more than a few words, the hammer had already fallen. Caught utterly off guard, each of them was so frustrated they could vomit blood.

She did it on purpose. She absolutely did it on purpose. Despicable! Every merchant association leader wore an ashen expression.

"Hahaha... you let me win! You let me win!"

The Long Family Head smugly cupped his hands toward the surrounding crowd, then strode toward the auction platform, preparing to claim his prize.

Since the map was not in the auction house's possession, Long Xuan also rose and walked toward the auction platform.

Just as everyone wondered what he was going up there for, Long Xuan placed a rolled-up map on the table. Everyone suddenly understood—he was the seller auctioning off the Fossil Ore Vein.

This rolled-up map was not the original riddle map. It was a genuine terrain map he had personally drawn, so he was not afraid that the little medicine apprentice would recognize it.

The Long Family Head curiously examined the person across from him and found that he was wrapped up so tightly that not only were his features hidden, but even his age and gender were unknown. Even addressing him was difficult; if he addressed him incorrectly, he might instead offend him. Thus, he did not speak immediately.

At that moment, Qian Jinjin placed a golden toad on the table and solemnly asked, "Under the witness of the Integrity Gu, is it true that this map marks an ownerless ore vein?"

Long Xuan curiously examined the adorably shaped Integrity Gu and resisted the urge to reach out and pet it.

So this was the Integrity Gu? It was said that the Integrity Gu fed on the power of integrity and hated creatures who broke faith most of all. If anyone dared to be dishonest before it, it would angrily swallow that untrustworthy person in a single bite.

Not even its owner would be exempt. Moreover, when it devoured its owner, it would not suffer backlash from the blood contract's power. It was simply vicious beyond measure.

Long Xuan even considered refining an Integrity Gu himself, so that he would not be cheated in future transactions. But when he remembered that this was the Qian Clan Merchant Association's clan-treasured item, belonging to a unique Gu recipe, and that Gu insects of the same kind could sense one another, he abandoned the idea.

"Of course it is true. If it is false, may Heaven strike me dead!" Long Xuan immediately swore.

The Integrity Gu looked at him and nodded in satisfaction. It had not flown into a rage, which meant the speaker had not lied.

The Long Family Head's smile deepened. Although Long Xuan could alter his voice so that no one could determine his age, his gender could at least be distinguished. Therefore, the Long Family Head decided to address him as sir and said with a friendly expression, "Sir, these are seven hundred million Spirit Stones. Please count them."

Long Xuan reached out and accepted the storage bag.

Qian Jinjin stared fixedly at his hand and discovered that it too was covered by a black glove. She could not help but curse inwardly. This person truly left no crack for water to seep through.

After accepting the storage bag, Long Xuan casually swept it with his soul power. He was nearly blinded by the gleam of seven hundred million Spirit Stones—it was simply too dazzling.

But at that moment, he finally realized a terrifying fact: he was merely a Rogue Cultivator and had no means of obtaining a large-capacity storage bag.

His own storage bag could not possibly hold seven hundred million Spirit Stones. Yet he could not say so outright. Someone of such great background using the smallest kind of storage bag—wouldn't that expose him?

But he quickly thought of a way out and calmly said, "There is no need to count them. I completely trust the Long Family Head's character."

Trust his ass. He did not even know this Long Family Head, so what was there to trust? What he trusted was the Integrity Gu. He believed that before the Integrity Gu, the Long Family Head would not dare play any tricks, which was why he said that.

Long Xuan then changed the subject and said, "However, my large storage bag contains far too many spirit pills. I do not know whether it can hold so many Spirit Stones."

"How about this? Give me this large storage bag as well, and I will gift you a bottle of Spirit-Gathering Pills in return. Would that be acceptable?"

After finishing his boast, Long Xuan placed a bottle of Spirit-Gathering Pills on the table.

"Acceptable—of course it's acceptable!"

The Long Family Head's smile grew even wider. He hurriedly took the pill bottle, opened its lid, and deeply inhaled the fragrance of the pills within.

Storage bags were something everyone already had; they had long become commonplace. Even the largest ones were of limited value. Trading one for a bottle of Spirit-Gathering Pills was an absolute bargain.

At the same time, Qian Jinjin handed Long Xuan another storage bag and said, "These are the 6,700,000 Spirit Stones you earned from selling the Spirit-Gathering Pills just now."

"After deducting the five percent commission, 6,365,000 Spirit Stones remain."

"As for the seven hundred million Spirit Stones from selling the ore vein, our Qian Clan Auction House did not achieve an especially high price this time, so we will not charge a commission. Consider it our way of making a friend."

"And this storage bag can be considered a complimentary gift as well."

Upon hearing this, Long Xuan's smile deepened further. After accepting the storage bag, he said, "You know the ropes. Don't worry—if I discover another ore vein in the future, I'll definitely auction it through the Qian Clan Merchant Association again."

Qian Jinjin smiled, but inwardly she was frantically complaining. Discover another ore vein? Did he think ore veins were cabbages, there for the finding whenever he wanted? Discovering one was already like ancestral graves billowing green smoke. What family's ancestral graves could billow green smoke twice?