After the drake-voiced man bid forty-one thousand spirit stones, silence fell over the venue. For a long while, no one made another bid.
"Forty-one thousand spirit stones, going once!" Ding Shisan waited a while, then, seeing no further bids, picked up his hammer and began the countdown.
"Forty-one thousand spirit stones, going twice!"
Xu Qingtong pondered briefly, then hurriedly called out, "Forty-five thousand spirit stones!"
"This fellow Daoist has bid forty-five thousand spirit stones. Would anyone else like to bid?" Ding Shisan seized the moment to stir the crowd.
"Forty-six thousand spirit stones!" The drake-voiced man clearly still wanted to try his luck and offered another bid of forty-six thousand.
"Forty-eight thousand spirit stones!" Xu Qingtong no longer hesitated. Since he had already made his move and offended the man, there was no need for further scruples!
"Forty-eight thousand spirit stones! Are there any further bids?"
"Forty-eight thousand spirit stones, going once!"
"Forty-eight thousand spirit stones, going twice!"
"Forty-eight thousand spirit stones, going three times!"
Clack!
As the hammer fell, the maid named Lan Xin came before Xu Qingtong again, carrying her tray.
Xu Qingtong took out forty-eight thousand spirit stones and placed them on the tray, while putting away the jade bottle and jade slip resting on it. The jade slip recorded the method for sealing the beast soul. That counted as buying one and getting one free!
As the items were auctioned off one after another, the auction gradually drew toward its close. Yet the tiger-patterned white jade lotus Xu Qingtong wanted had still not appeared.
"Next up is an artifact refining material called stardust soil. This material is not native to our world, but comes from beyond it. Adding stardust soil during artifact refining can greatly improve the resulting artifact's properties!" Ding Shisan said. "Without further ado,