Auction Return System

Lifting the curtain, Gu Fan narrowed his eyes at the auction house before him.

On the plaque above the entrance were five large gilded characters-the Profound Heaven Auction House!

The Profound Heaven Auction House.

One of the Great Qian Dynasty's three great auction houses, it possessed formidable strength and had branches throughout Great Qian.

Naturally, it was also one of the subordinate forces belonging to the dynasty's Gu Lineage.

This was Gu Fan's destination.

Although the elders had driven him away to Guangyang City to await death, they had cloaked it in the high-sounding claim that he was to manage the Lineage's auction house in Guangyang City!

He shook his head and stopped dwelling on it.

Then, supported by his coachman, Uncle Fu, Gu Fan stepped down from the carriage.

His body was so weak that he needed someone to support him even when walking.

The two were about to head into the auction house.

Just then.

A middle-aged man hurried out from inside the auction house.

"May I ask if you are Young Master Gu?"

The middle-aged man bowed slightly and cupped his fists in greeting.

"I am Gu Fan."

Hearing this, the middle-aged man finally raised his head to study the pale-faced Gu Fan, his brows drawing together slightly.

But he then said, "Young Master Gu, I am Zhu Huai, the steward of this auction house. I received word many days ago that you would be its new master, so I have been awaiting your arrival for some time."

"Sorry for the trouble."

"Not at all. Please, come inside."

Zhu Huai stepped halfway aside to let Gu Fan enter.

Gu Fan nodded, then walked into the auction house with Uncle Fu's support.

Behind them.

Zhu Huai followed closely, explaining as he went, "Young Master Gu, this is the auction house's front hall, where we receive visiting guests. Beyond the doors ahead is the hall where the auctions are held. I'll go ahead and open them for you..."

As he spoke, Zhu Huai passed the two of them and pushed open the heavy dragon-carved doors.

But when he turned back toward them, he discovered... Gu Fan had suddenly stopped, his brows tightly knitted.

This was because.

At that moment!

An exceedingly cold, mechanical voice rang out in Gu Fan's mind.

"Ding! System activating..."

"Ding! Auction Ten-Thousandfold Return System successfully activated..."

System?

A golden finger?!

Gu Fan was briefly stunned.

But soon, the system's voice echoed in his mind again.

"Note: after an item has been auctioned off in the host's auction house, the Auction Return System can grant the host a return worth a certain multiple of the item's value, up to ten thousandfold!"

"Note: this system designates ten auction items per auction for returns, once per day. Returned items cannot be used for further multiplied returns."

"Note: as this is the host's first use of the system, the host is rewarded with a ten-thousandfold return on the first item auctioned!"

After those three successive system announcements, Gu Fan quickly understood what they meant.

The Auction Return System.

As its name suggested, once an auction item he designated was sold, the system would multiply its value and return a more precious treasure to Gu Fan!

For example.

If a tier-one low-grade cold iron sword was successfully auctioned off, the system would apply a certain multiplier and return a treasure.

That multiplier was not fixed.

It could be a hundredfold, a thousandfold, or even ten thousandfold!

Of course, regardless of the multiplier.

It was all a free ride!

The items auctioned at an auction house were all entrusted to it by others.

In other words, this system used treasures that other people brought to auction to give Gu Fan more precious treasures for free!

And he had one opportunity each day, with ten auction items he could designate each time!

Still, something made Gu Fan shake his head a little.

The treasures returned by the system actually could not be used to generate further multiplied returns.

This simply cut off his path to soaring into the heavens in a single bound!

Otherwise.

If Gu Fan put every returned treasure up for auction, wouldn't he soon receive heaven-defying tier-nine treasures?!

Putting that dangerous thought aside, Gu Fan turned his attention to the system's final note.

A designated auction item... one ten-thousandfold return?!

Gu Fan's breathing grew heavy despite himself.

Ten thousandfold... just how precious a treasure would that return?

Even an ordinary object would probably yield something at least tier four... or tier five, wouldn't it?

Didn't that mean he had a lead on a treasure that could awaken the God-Devouring Physique?!

The God-Devouring Physique!

This physique had previously been nothing short of a death warrant, making Gu Fan believe for a time that he would not live much longer either.

But now.

An intense yearning could not help rising in Gu Fan's heart!

The God-Devouring Physique had tormented this body for so many years, but at its core, it was still a divine physique!

A divine physique?

Having transmigrated from Earth, Gu Fan naturally knew what those words meant.

They meant one of the world's greatest physiques, one that might not appear even once in a million or even ten million years?!

And he... possessed one!

Moreover, he now had complete confidence that he could awaken it and become the master of the God-Devouring Physique!

Because... he had a pill on him that the elderly Lineage head had given him before his departure.

A tier-one high-grade pill-the Four Symbols Pill.

The ultimate four symbols, boundless creation!

Even among the many tier-one pills, this pill ranked among the very highest in value!

And if it yielded a ten-thousandfold return, just how precious a pill would he receive?

Tier five... or tier six?

After all, even a single tier-four pill was difficult to find in the Great Qian Dynasty!

And such a precious treasure would naturally be more than sufficient to awaken the God-Devouring Physique!

But the prerequisite for all this was holding an auction!

He acted as soon as the thought came.

Gu Fan quickly calmed his surging emotions and looked at Steward Zhu ahead of him with exceptionally bright eyes.

Zhu Huai had been wondering why neither of them was moving.

And just as he was about to ask.

He discovered.

That Young Master Gu, who resembled a candle flickering in the wind, had suddenly revealed a pair of dazzling eyes as brilliant as shining stars.

At that instant.

Zhu Huai's heart involuntarily trembled.

"Steward Zhu, how long until the Profound Heaven Auction House holds its next auction?"

A smile spread across Gu Fan's face as he asked.

The starlight in his eyes vanished in a flash, and after a single breath, they became dull and lifeless again.

Zhu Huai soon composed himself as well and answered truthfully.

"Young Master Gu, there are twenty-three days until the next auction."

"Twenty-three days?"

"That's right."

"Why so long?"

Gu Fan's brows knitted deeply.

He was not certain he could live that long. Perhaps by then, the mound over his grave would already be piled high.

"Young Master Gu, auctions are held once a month because gathering auction items takes time to prepare, and the Profound Heaven Auction House only held an auction seven days ago..."

"Is that so?"

Understanding dawned slightly on Gu Fan, but then his gaze turned resolute. "I cannot wait twenty-three days. Today, I want to see an auction held."

"Today?! But Young Master Gu..."

"No more buts. Whatever the consequences, can my surname, Gu, bear them?"

Gu Fan's words were utterly overbearing.

For the first twelve years of his life, he had been the Gu Lineage's qilin, and had long since developed an extremely domineering disposition.

Although he had endured all manner of suppression and neglect over the following six years, it had only tempered that disposition into something relatively more tactful.

Only... relatively more tactful!

"Yes, yes, yes, Young Master Gu. I'll make the preparations at once."

Gu Fan's words had frightened Zhu Huai as well.

To him, the surname Gu stood above the heavens!

Panic showed on his face, and he immediately rushed straight to the storeroom where the auction items were kept.