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The Flower Demon Card—Xie Mingzhe had happened to see one while running a dungeon with Chen today, and this card's stats were far better than the one Chen had obtained. Xie Mingzhe clearly remembered that Chen's four-star Flower Demon Card had only 3,000 base attack, while this one had 3,600. When cards evolved, their base attributes kept doubling. Cards with higher base stats were more valuable to develop later on. No wonder it had been brought to auction.

This card ultimately sold for 3,000 gold.

The auctioneer said, "Next up is another card: a five-star pet card—the Nine-Tailed Fox Card!"

As soon as she finished speaking, the card up for auction appeared before everyone, along with its corresponding Star Card illusion—a lifelike white nine-tailed fox. Its eyes were a clear jade green, and its nine snowy tails curled upward in a fluffy bundle. It looked especially adorable.

It was the first time Xie Mingzhe had ever seen such a beautiful fox. He really wanted to buy one to keep, but he wondered how much it would cost.

The auctioneer said, "This pet card can be taken out of the game and generate a Star Card illusion in the real world. The starting bid is 5,000 gold!"

"..." As a newbie with only 100 gold in his bag, Xie Mingzhe could only watch the show. Still, he was quite curious about the game's prices, so he leaned over and asked Senior Brother Qi, "What's the exchange rate between in-game gold and real currency?"

"Recently, it's around ten to one," Senior Brother Qi said.

"Oh." Xie Mingzhe did the math. Five thousand game coins meant 500 crystal coins in real life, and that was only the starting bid. People around them quickly began raising the price. The number on the screen jumped rapidly until it finally stopped at 8,000 gold.

"8,000 gold going once! 8,000 gold going twice! Any further bids? 8,000 gold going three times! Sold!"

With the fall of the hammer, the Nine-Tailed Fox Card was sold to a buyer.

Since everyone bid through the buttons on their seats, probably only the officials knew exactly who had bought it. That was also to protect the buyer's privacy.

Game prices were really high! A single pet card had actually sold for 800 bucks? That was practically his monthly rent.

Xie Mingzhe was extremely curious. The Flower Demon Card had sold for 300, so why had this Nine-Tailed Fox Card sold for 800? Was the difference really that huge? Thinking of this, he leaned close to Senior Brother Qi's ear and whispered, "Why is the Nine-Tailed Fox Card so expensive? Its base stats don't seem that great, and it doesn't even have any attack skills."

"Because it's an original card." Senior Brother Qi lowered his voice. "Original cards are made by players themselves and don't drop in the game. The copyright for this card belongs to its creator, who has the right to handle it however they want. The Nine-Tailed Fox Card is expensive because its creator is Man-jie, a well-known pet card designer in the community. Every month, Man-jie makes a limited number of copies of the Nine-Tailed Fox Card to sell. Girls love raising fluffy pets like this, so naturally people are willing to fight over them at high prices."

Xie Mingzhe suddenly understood—Flower Demon Cards were not worth much because dungeon bosses could drop them, and anyone who wanted one could farm for it. But the Nine-Tailed Fox Card was different. It could not be farmed in the game; it was an original card made by a player, and its copyright belonged to its creator, Man-jie. She could sell it whenever she wanted. If she copied a few dozen every month and sold each one for 800 bucks, the creator of the Nine-Tailed Fox Card must have been making a fortune!

Xie Mingzhe could not help feeling a little envious.

After the cards up front had been auctioned off, the beautiful auctioneer suddenly smiled mysteriously. "Now comes the highlight of today's auction: an exceptionally precious seven-star card!"

As soon as she finished speaking, a host came to the center of the stage carrying an exquisite box and slowly opened it beneath the spotlight.

Inside the velvet box lay a black card in silence.

Its card back was pure black, gleaming faintly with a metallic sheen, and decorated with pale green patterns.

Xie Mingzhe thought of his own two-star card. Its back was blue, with no pattern at all, and looked very plain. But this seven-star black card had gorgeous, exquisite designs on its back. Fine green lines, as thin as threads, wound and stretched across the black card back in raised and recessed patterns. The green lines followed no discernible pattern, yet they did not look messy in the slightest. Instead, they resembled a three-dimensional work of art meticulously carved by a master.

Just the card back alone was so beautiful that even an outsider like Xie Mingzhe could tell this card had to be worth a fortune.

What was more, he noticed a tiny character written in the lower-right corner of the card back—

Tang.

When the camera paused on the character "Tang," Xie Mingzhe heard a girl seated behind him suddenly scream, "Oh my god, could this be Tang God's work?!"

"Ahhh, it has to be my idol's work! Only he uses this logo—no one would dare imitate it!"

A middle-aged man sitting diagonally in front of him shouted, "Holy shit! So the rumors were true—there really is a Tang Muzhou card today? Why would Tang God's card end up at an auction house?"

The surrounding whispers gradually became noisy and chaotic, like a bomb thrown into a silent lake, suddenly stirring up towering waves. The waves of sound rolled on, instantly engulfing the entire venue.

Sitting among the crowd, Xie Mingzhe's ears were nearly deafened by the noise.

Who was Tang Muzhou? Did he really have that much influence?

The auctioneer picked up her microphone to maintain order. "Everyone, quiet down! Quiet down, please remain quiet!"

Only after she repeated herself three times did the excited audience finally settle down. The beautiful host continued, "This seven-star card was personally made by Tang Muzhou—Tang God himself!" She carefully turned over the black card. "Please take a look at the card's stats!"

On the electronic screen, Xie Mingzhe could also clearly see the front of the card.

The front depicted a cluster of blooming white flowers. The veins of every flower were rendered with extraordinary clarity, and some petals even bore crystal-clear droplets of dew. The little white flowers gathered together in layer upon layer, white as jade and lifelike, as though a faint fragrance could drift from the card itself.

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