Suddenly, the lights in the hall slowly dimmed. All the lights were focused on the auction stage. Anyone who had been here before knew that this was the prelude to the auction itself. Everyone waited with bated breaths. However, the more attentive individuals in the crowd noticed that one of the VIP rooms on the balcony above had lit up. This meant that someone was in that room.
Wun Ching Yeung and Hung Yun Zak noticed this detail as well. They knew the rules of Thousand Relics Auction. To be able to sit in a private room, you would have to own a bronze medallion from the Chan Clan. That was not something that could come into the possession of anyone. They couldn’t help but wonder what important person it was that had come to this auction.
An elderly man slowly walked out from backstage. He wore a simple but patterned blue shirt, narrow at the sleeves and well-fitted. The man had white hair, fierce eyes, and a serious expression. He walked in big steps and with his head raised, showing no signs of his age. He stared at the audience beneath silently but with a certain gravitas. Everyone immediately shut up and the hall fell silent.
The old man finally spoke after a few seconds. His voice was strong and loud. The very back of the hall was over a hundred steps away from the stage, yet even the people seated there could hear what he said clearly, “Welcome, esteemed guests, to our humble enterprise. It is our honor to have you here. I am Chan Goh Shue, Grade Nine appraiser of Thousand Relics Auction. I am here to host this auction today for everyone.”
“All sixty items being auctioned today have been appraised and verified by me personally. If anyone has any doubts about what you are bidding for, you may raise your concerns at any time.”
Someone in the audience replied humbly, “You are the synonym for genuine, sir! How could we possibly say anything about it?” It was a strange thing to say, but it was the truth. In all the years that Chan Goh Shue had served as an appraiser for Thousand Relics Auction, there had never been an incident of him letting a fake slip by him.
“If no one has any concerns, then let’s cut to the chase. Let us begin.”
The first auction of the new year begins now.
270Please respect copyright.PENANAjHbYw9dRIq
Wun Fan was being a spoiled little brat in the private room. He laid down on the couch, enjoying grapes with juice while Siu Ji massaged his shoulders.
Chan Chi Yuet returned to the room and saw Siu Ji blushing while Wun Fan enjoyed himself on the couch. She gritted her teeth in annoyance.
“Oh? You’re back!” Wun Fan waved at Chan Chi Yuet and patted the couch, “Come, come. I wanted to ask you something serious.”
Chan Chi Yuet pouted and looked at Wun Fan unamusedly, “Speak. I’m very busy.” She sat down and crossed her legs. Her thighs were very visible where the slit of the dress was.
Wun Fan forced himself to look away. He picked up a dozen grapes with one hand and gobbled them as he spoke a little unclearly as he chewed, “How many guests are there today that are seated in private rooms like this one?”
“Just you.”
“That’s good.”
“What do you mean?”
“Heh…” Wun Fan didn’t intend to reply. She would understand soon, anyway. He continued asking, “So, Miss Chan, why don’t you guess how much my Pills of Meridian Fortification are going to sell for?”
Wun Fan had quickly read through the book while Chan Chi Yuet went downstairs to greet the guests, but he didn’t see the price for the Pills of Meridian Fortification. As such, he couldn’t help but ask. It would allow him to better understand how much money he had to spend if he wanted to bid on the other items.
“Hmm…the starting bid for one of those pills is 800 gold coins. I think it could easily go for 4,000,” Chan Chi Yuet placed her fingers around her chin while counting with her other hand, estimating the price for the four pills that Wun Fan had brought to her.
“4,000 gold coins for a single pill?!” Wun Fan was practically drooling now. He felt like he had suddenly turned into a millionaire when he heard Chan Chi Yuet’s estimation.
Chan Chi Yuet thought Wun Fan forgot about their deal and reminded him, “Hey, don’t say that I didn’t remind you, but fifty-five percent of the profits go to me.”
Wun Fan immediately did some calculations and said, “16,000 gold coins, forty-five percent of which belongs to me, which makes it 7,200 gold coins.” He knew Wun Siu Lan had two gold coins with her, for which he called her a rich little girl. He didn’t expect himself to have 7,000 more than that amount soon. It made him incredibly excited.
In truth, the original ingredients used for the pills were not cheap either. In particular, the ten-year-old treeheart and the giant purplebee honey cost at least a hundred gold coins per portion. It was six portions in total between the two ingredients, which came out to six hundred gold coins. Your ordinary alchemist would have a very mediocre success rate when synthesizing pills. Moreover, even if they did succeed, they would often waste a lot of the medicinal effect. It would be amazing if they were able to concoct a single pill with three sets of ingredients.
Concocting five pills with three sets of ingredients was an incredible feat. The person behind Wun Fan’s back was probably the only person in Green Sea Town capable of something like that. Naturally, Chan Chi Yuet understood all that, but she couldn’t be bothered to explain it to Wun Fan.
Just then, Chan Goh Shue’s voice rang out in the room, “The first item, purplestrand crystal. Net weight, 0.85 kilograms. Starting price is five hundred gold coins, minimum bid increment is twenty gold coins.”
Wun Fan flipped the book. The first page was about this purplestrand crystal. As Chan Chi Yuet wrote:
Gleaming crystal hides purple strand, scorpion’s poison finds its end.
Purplestrand crystal, a crystal that grows alongside a magical beast known as the purple-spotted scorpion.
When the scorpion’s poison evaporates, the crystal absorbs the poison.
Overtime, the poison settles in the crystal, turning it into purplestrand crystal.
By wearing it on the chest, the crystal is effective at suppressing most ordinary poisons. Crushing the crystal and consuming it can dispel even the most potent of poisons.
Market price: 70 gold/100g270Please respect copyright.PENANAZAIsM6gVhX
Someone in the audience below immediately started bidding and the price immediately surged.
“520 gold.”
“580 gold.”
“800 gold!”
“890.”
In a matter of seconds, the price had reached 1000 gold coins. Wun Fan was speechless. This purplestrand crystal was sold at 1000 gold coins. This amount was completely beyond the reach of the average citizen, who couldn’t accumulate that much money even if they were to work tirelessly for decades. And that was just the price of a few pieces of crystal.
Chan Chi Yuet stretched lazily, putting her curves on full display. Her black dress gave her an unusually elegant feeling. She asked, “So, do you have anything you want to buy?”
Part of Wun Fan’s deal with Chan Chi Yuet was that the Chan Clan would pay for all their expenses. However, that didn’t include the items put on auction, or Chan Chi Yuet be suffering ridiculous losses.
That said, Wun Fan wasn’t sure what he wanted to buy, so he asked Old Lei, “Old Lei, can you read this book?”
“Mm.”
“Then is there anything you want to buy?”
“Forty-four, forty-five, fifty-nine.”
“Understood.”
Wan Fan immediately cited these listings to Chan Chi Yuet. She suddenly started laughing, “Kid, these three things are a little expensive.”
“Is it?” Wun Fan wasn’t too bothered. His eyes swept past those few pages and he was stunned by the prices he saw. He coughed softly and said, “Well, worst comes to worst, we can put it on the tab first.”
Chan Chi Yuet chuckled and her shoulders shook as she did so. This little kid was just too funny. Time slowly passed as the two of them continued to make conversation. The first forty-three items had all been sold. Most of these were ordinary medicine and items. There were a few other pills used for fortifying the meridians put on auction, but their effect paled in comparison to the Pill of Meridian Fortification.
“Item No.44, five bottles of the four-taloned nightfrost’s blood. Starting price is 1,200 gold coins, minimum bid increment is fifty gold coins.”
Seeing as the four-taloned nightfrost’s blood was finally being auctioned, Wun Fan turned the book to the forty-fourth page. Chan Chi Yuet’s handwriting was starting to get a little sloppy here. After all, she was already tired from writing for so many pages at that point.
On a lonely village dusk’s remnants fall, on a night-fogged tree frost ravens call.
A red silhouette, four taloned shadows, blood upon the dried leaves and fallen blooms.
The four-taloned nightfrost only appeared in sparsely-populated locations.
These speedy ravens hunt viciously tear their prey into pieces with their four talons, splattering blood across the ground.
Its own blood is cold in nature, and is best mixed with herbs that contain potent heat poison.
Certain martial artists with frost-aligned martial souls can consume directly.
Market price: 350 gold coins per bottle
Wun Fan priced the bidding button without thinking. The light outside the private room lit up. Chan Goh Shue smiled when he saw that. He knew about Wun Fan and was prepared to help him.
He said, “The most esteemed guest in the private room bids 1250 gold coins. Do we have another bid?”
Several people in the audience wanted to bid for this item as well, but they held back. Even Chan Goh Shue had to refer to the VIP as ‘the most esteemed guest’. It seemed like the person in the room was either incredibly powerful or very well-connected. It made sense after all. Only someone with sufficient power or influence would be able to sit in the private room. Most of the competitors immediately gave up on bidding to avoid offending this mysterious and powerful individual.
“1250 gold coins.”
“Going once, going twice.”
Chan Goh Shue waved his hand and looked up as he shouted, “Sold! Congratulations, sir, on obtaining five bottles of nightfrost blood.”
Chan Chi Yuet was sitting beside Wun Fan. She couldn’t help but pinch Wun Fan between the ribs, “So this is what you meant when you asked me that question. Absolutely despicable.”
Chan Chi Yuet gritted her teeth and turned her fingers that were pinching Wun Fan’s soft spot. She had a menacing expression on her face!270Please respect copyright.PENANA8ZnozwFM0j