Braised Dragon with Soy Sauce

Chapter 307 Two Auctions

Auction No. 307, Second Session

"You!...Fine, fine, fine, a good man doesn't fight with a woman! If you want it, you can have it. I won't fight you for it, okay? It's just that we bid on a magical treasure. In the end, you still won it!"

Just as the Prince Qin was about to explode in anger, an old man who looked like a strategist leaned over and whispered a few words to him. He then suppressed his anger and sat down.

"Heh, what are you saying? If you want to bid, you should bid. Who wants you to go up there? And you're talking like such a righteous person. You're a prince, surely you can afford a mere few hundred gold coins! It's good that men don't argue with women, hmph!"

The lady in the opposite compartment showed no mercy whatsoever.

"I'll offer three hundred gold coins for this detoxifying pill!" Prince Qin was completely enraged. Ignoring the strategist's advice, he shouted loudly at the Hundred Treasures Platform.

"Prince Qin has now offered three hundred gold coins. Is there anyone else bidding?" Old Ran shouted loudly.

"Hehe, three hundred? I'll offer five hundred gold coins!" the noblewoman chuckled.

"Five hundred gold coins for a single Detoxification Pill! That's outrageous! Even the first batch of Heavenly Profound-grade pills produced on the Heavenly Profound Continent wouldn't be worth that much!"

"Rich people are just willful. Although five hundred gold coins are nothing to me, I still can't bring myself to buy a detoxification pill with five hundred gold coins."

"That's the difference between us who can only sit in the regular seats and them who sit in the private boxes. We earn our money through hard work, while their money is like it was picked up off the street, they don't care about the cost..."

"Don't you even know who they are? They're royalty. How can you compare to them?"

When the lady in the private room called out five hundred gold coins, the people below began to whisper among themselves again.

……

"Madam Xia has offered five hundred gold coins. Is there anyone else who will bid higher? Five hundred gold coins per bid..."

"Old Ran said loudly."

"Five hundred gold shells twice..."

"five hundred……"

"One thousand gold coins!"

Just as Master Ran was about to bring down the gavel, Prince Qin immediately shouted out a high price of one thousand gold coins.

"Prince Qin has offered one thousand gold coins! Is there anyone else who has raised the price?" Old Ran shouted almost like a roar.

"Hehe, Prince Qin is indeed rich! Since Your Highness wants this Detoxification Pill so much, let's give it to Your Highness. I, this lady, am willing to concede defeat!" Madam Xia said with a smile each time.

In other private rooms, some high-ranking officials and dignitaries who had recognized them, including Prince Geng, shook their heads helplessly.

"It's best not to offend women in the future! Hehe," the rich man chuckled softly.

"One thousand gold coins twice!"

"One thousand gold coins three times! Congratulations to Qin Wang for obtaining this second Detoxification Pill!" Elder Ran announced loudly.

"A detoxifying pill made from just a few copper shells per pill actually fetched a staggering price of a thousand gold shells! What's going on?"

"Because it is the second Heavenly Profound-grade Detoxification Pill in the Heavenly Profound Continent, unique and one of a kind!"

"If you get bitten by a poisonous insect or snake in a critical moment, you can take it directly without any worries or concerns about erysipelas. So if you have the money, you should keep a few on hand, just in case."

"I can buy several thousand bottles of detoxifying liquid with a thousand gold coins. Although the effect is not as good, five or ten bottles at a time should be enough. Besides, this detoxifying pill is only effective against the lowest level of snake and insect venom. Once my Xuan Gong cultivation reaches the Earth Rank or above, who will be harmed by these ordinary poisons!"

"If I don't need it, I'll give it to my family. Every family has descendants with low cultivation levels! What are a few thousand gold coins to a rich person!"

"Are these pills being auctioned off for you to use? They're for collecting, for showing off! You bumpkins, all you know is how to eat!"

……

The audience was a mess of trivialities.

After Prince Qin sent someone to retrieve the second Detoxifying Pill, Elder Ran continued the auction of the other pills. With this high-profile start, the other pills were quickly snapped up by the wealthy and powerful individuals in the private rooms at exorbitant prices. Each Detoxifying Pill fetched several hundred gold coins or more, while the Spirit Gathering Pill, with only nine available, sold for even higher prices. Although not hundreds of times higher than the Detoxifying Pill, each pill still sold for between one thousand and several thousand gold coins, several times, even ten times, the normal market price.

"I never expected that Elder Ran would sell these pills one by one, let alone fetch such a high price. It's practically a miracle in auction history, and the only one of its kind in the entire Tianxuan Continent! With him doing this, perhaps in just a few days, the whole Tianxuan Continent will know that someone has successfully refined a genuine Tianxuan Pill!"

"I don't know if this is good or bad, so we'll just have to take it one step at a time! If anyone's going to have a headache, it'll be him. Nobody could have predicted this outcome."

Inside the private room, Mr. Fu and Mo Wen quietly watched as everyone bid on the pills. Only after all the pills were sold out and the auction ended, and everyone had left the auction hall, did the two emerge from the private room and go directly to a quiet private room to await Elder Ran's arrival.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting! This auction was a great success, with all the pills selling for a total of 43,000 gold coins. Because I was also extremely curious about these pills, I kept one Spirit Gathering Pill without your permission, which violates the auction house's rules. To express my apologies, our auction house will not charge any commission on the proceeds from this auction, and I hope you won't mind. I will also pay you the full auction price for this Spirit Gathering Pill!" Elder Ran entered the private room with a beaming smile and excitedly told the two of them.

"Elder Ran did an excellent job this time. We originally thought that Elder Ran would auction all the pills together at once, but we didn't expect Elder Ran to sell them in such a way. How could we mind selling these pills for a Heavenly Rank? There couldn't be better. Consider that Spirit Gathering Pill as a gift to Elder Ran. As for the commission, just deduct it. It's what the auction house deserves."

"That's what the rich man said."

"No, I can't accept gifts. That's the rule of the auction house. At most, I can use the money I spent on this Spirit Gathering Pill as your commission, okay? If that's not acceptable, I'll return the Spirit Gathering Pill to you. I can't accept your things for nothing!"

After several polite refusals, an agreement was finally reached to use the Spirit Gathering Pill to offset the auction commission.

"Thank you both very much! I hope you will come to the auction house often in the future."

After the two agreed, Old Master Ran handed over all the gold coins obtained from the auction to Master Fu. He then personally escorted the two out of the auction house.

Although this unusual auction appeared to have concluded successfully on the surface, it secretly acted like a fuse igniting a powder keg, causing an uproar throughout the entire Tianxuan Continent. Those who won the auction and those who didn't, after leaving the auction house, didn't stop; news and intelligence spread rapidly, with message talismans and carrier pigeons flying all over the land. Even the two Earth-level Blood Fiends who had originally come to monitor the materials for refining weapons changed their minds at the last minute, spending money to buy a pill before leaving the city that very night, their whereabouts unknown.

Although it was late at night when they left the auction house, the two did not stop at the Wushuang Hotel for a rest, but instead drove directly to the Fuyuan Restaurant to meet up with Shi Potian and the others who were staying there.

When the two placed more than 40,000 gold coins in front of everyone, everyone was stunned. They never expected that a few bottles of inconspicuous pills would sell for so many gold coins.

"Now we don't have to worry about tomorrow's auction. Based on the usual market conditions, these gold shells are enough to bid for those two materials."

Gan Ran said.

“Yes, given the interference of that unknown force, it’s best to buy directly with gold coins. If possible, avoid using black iron weapons instead. This will minimize the risk,” Jia Shan said.

"Iron Bridge recently sent word that we must secure the Thunder Concealing Stone we bid on this morning, no matter what. We've gathered enough of the other items through various means to last us a while, but we only have three portions of Thunder Concealing Stone. This is his first time refining a Xuan Iron Spiritual Treasure, so he only has a 50% chance of success. Therefore, three portions of Thunder Concealing Stone may only be enough to refine one weapon. As for the Earth Flame Crystal we bid on this afternoon, we've already obtained some from the Homo sapiens, about a dozen portions. So it's best to bid on it if we can, but don't force it if we can't. Better safe than sorry."

Shi Potian said.

"Given this situation, Qingjie and Sirong will take these gold coins to bid for the Thunder Concealing Stone. We'll see how things go this afternoon. That organization has already sent Earth-level Blood Fiends to Tianxin City. Gan Ran, your backgrounds may have been exposed. Don't show up at the auction tomorrow. Mo-ge and I will go this afternoon. You two will go outside the city to meet them as planned. Also, Liu Nianlin and Xiao Bohong, who are coming from Liang Kingdom to join us, are already waiting outside Tianxin City..."

After some planning, everyone dispersed to rest and await the arrival of the next day.

As the first rays of sunlight touched the roof of the building in the center of the square, the first auction began in the auction hall on the seventh floor. The corridors outside the halls were packed with people who had come to participate in the auction. Shi Potian, Mo Wen, and others had also arrived at the auction site. Shi Potian, disguised as a mercenary, stood intentionally or unintentionally in the open space between the first and second auction halls, while Mo Wen, dressed as a fortune teller, lingered at the stairwell. The wealthy man, still dressed in his ostentatious attire, sat in the rest area sipping tea. Although there were several rest areas outside the auction hall, few people actually went in to drink tea, because seats in the rest areas required payment, and the price was not low—one gold coin per hour, with tea and other drinks charged separately.

Although the auction in the second venue had not yet started, those who intended to participate had already begun to enter and wait. Qing Xiuniang, dressed as a noblewoman, and Si Rongnong also received masks and entered the venue, finding a seat on the side.

Unlike most auction houses, the Qiu Family Auction House does not have private boxes or VIP seating; all participants are treated equally. Each person has one seat and cannot change seats arbitrarily.

Participants in the auction raise their seat number to bid. After a successful bid, Qiu family staff immediately deliver the item to the bidder's seat for on-site settlement. If a final loser is unwilling to accept the loss and still wishes to obtain the item, they can challenge for a duel. With mutual agreement, the Qiu family will seal the item and the challenger's money. Accompanied by Qiu family members, the challenger will proceed to the arena for the duel. To ensure fairness, the challenged party can refuse, but must pay double the commission to the Qiu family. If the challenger accepts, they must hand over their final bid to the Qiu family for safekeeping, to be determined after the duel based on the final result.

Since everyone at the auction wore masks specially made by the Qiu family, and no one was allowed to reveal their personal cultivation level, the challenge was risky for both sides.

However, this unique gambling style also made the Qiu Family Auction House stand out and gain widespread fame. It became unparalleled among major auction houses in mainland China.

Soon the second auction began. As soon as the auctioneer took the stage, he immediately placed the first item on the auction table and announced the starting price, inviting everyone to bid.

"The third treasure is the Crescent Moon Blade, an ancient artifact made of fire-attribute Xuan Iron. It is finely crafted with exquisitely engraved runes and enhanced with fire-attribute gems. Judging from its workmanship, it is a top-grade Xuan Iron artifact. However, there is a noticeable crack in the middle of the blade, and the edge is also broken in several places. It needs to be repaired before it can be used again. Starting bid: ten gold coins."

……

"The fifth item is a barite ore, weighing three hundred catties, with a starting bid of five gold coins..."

The Qiu Family Auction House differs from the Qin Kingdom Royal Auction House. The Royal Auction House auctions items worth at least several hundred to several thousand gold coins, with an entrance fee of ten gold coins for a regular seat and even more exorbitant prices for private boxes. In contrast, the Qiu Family Auction House charges only one gold coin for entry, with no distinction between regular and VIP seats. Any item valued at over one gold coin can be auctioned. Therefore, the Qiu Family Auction House offers a wide variety of treasures at vastly different prices.

"The eleventh item is a box of top-grade Thunder Concealing Stone ore, weighing a thousand catties. Thunder Concealing Stone has many uses. It can be used to cultivate thunder-attribute profound arts, to set up lightning-type magic arrays, and to forge thunder-attribute weapons, etc. The starting bid is three thousand gold coins."

Finally, the most important item of the auction was brought to the auction stage. Although this box of ore weighed a thousand pounds, because the Thunderstone was extremely heavy, the wooden box containing it wasn't very large. The box was only a little over five feet long, and a little over three feet wide and high. The box was made of high-quality lightning-struck wood, an excellent material for refining artifacts, a rare type of wood that is resistant to fire and lightning. Only this kind of wood could be used to make a box for the Thunderstone; otherwise, the lightning energy contained within the ore would dissipate rapidly, affecting the quality of the Thunderstone.

"Five thousand gold coins!" At this moment, a person sitting very close to the Hundred Treasures Platform raised their bidding paddle.

"Number 38, five thousand gold coins!" The auctioneer on the stage immediately announced the bidder's paddle number.

"Number 19, eight thousand gold coins!"

"Number Seven, Nine Thousand Gold Coins!"

……

As bidders raised their paddles one by one, the price of the box of Thunder Concealing Stones soon exceeded ten thousand gold coins. However, fewer people raised their paddles, and each bid became more cautious, as the price was getting closer and closer to the normal market price, and it was no longer very attractive to those who didn't care about it.

Qing Xiuniang has not made a bid yet; she is waiting.

"Number thirteen, eleven thousand gold coins!"

"11,000 gold coins per time!"

"Eleven thousand..."

As the auctioneer announced the countdown, the embroiderer raised her paddle.

"Thirteen thousand gold coins!"