Chapter 417: A Million
Chapter 417: A Million
Translator: Swammped Editor: Hitesh_
"Brothers, we won't be able to consume this Demonic Evil Stone by ourselves. Why don't we join hands to get this thing, then divide it later?"
As the pie was too big, enough one person alone couldn't eat it all. Among the ordinary seats, many Astral Reaching experts started to rack their brains and talk to others nearby.
"Then, who will hand over the spirit stones so that we all can be assured? If something went wrong later, we would suffer two folds." Someone raised the problem.
"Simple. Nobody needs to hand over the spirit stones. As long as we claim it, everybody could hand over their share together. Then, we will cut the stone equally in front of everybody, and all of us will get an equal share. What do you think?" There was no such thing as an unsolvable problem in the world. A problem that could be pointed out was never a problem to begin with.
"This method is good, now all that remains is whether our spirit stones are enough."
"Rest assured, I've already contacted the others. This Demonic Evil Stone is equivalent to fifteen small ones, so inviting fifteen people is not an issue. Then, every person will take out fifty thousand mid grade spirit stones, which would equal seven hundred and fifty thousand spirit stones in total. If someone can't do it, they would naturally be out. Of course, loaning your possessions to the auction is also good."
"I have seventy thousand mid grade spirit stones. Later on, my portion should be a bit bigger."
"That's possible!"
In a few moments, a lot of people thought of this method, forming multiple groups. Some Astral Reaching experts with low wealth even formed twenty member groups. Even if one of the members had thirty thousand spirit stones, when combined, they had six-seven hundred thousand spirit stones.
"Three hundred thousand!"
Eventually, someone issued the first bid.
"Three hundred and fifty thousand!"
"Four hundred thousand!"
"Four hundred and fifty thousand!"
"Five hundred thousand."
Like a plague spreading, raises of fifty thousand were issued one after another, stupefying a few people who didn't know what had transpired. Of course, some people sniffed out what was going on, and they proceeded onto forming their own groups.
The old man on the stage had seen through everything, but he didn't say anything. As far as the auction was concerned, as long as one could produce the price, the means didn't matter. Even if one could gather a hundred, or even a thousand people, that would be one's skill. However, in case one couldn't, they would be very sorry. At best, they would be killed to make an example, and at worst, enslaved to the auction for the entire lifetime.
"Six hundred thousand."
"Six hundred and fifty thousand."
The prices kept on increasing, making the Astral Reaching experts in the VIP rooms crease their brows and leaving them with no choice but to contact other VIP rooms near them.
Murong Qingchen said to Ye Chen," I have hundred and thirty thousand spirit stones left. I can lend them to you, but it seems that without eight hundred or nine hundred spirit stones, you won't be able to win."
"No worries. I can manage eight to nine hundred thousand." Ye Chen was not worried about others banding together at all. After all, regardless of how good something was, its worth had a limit. This Demonic Evil Stone was quite big, and if divided evenly, it would become increasingly smaller. Therefore, a twenty man group was the limit. There was no meaning in forming a group with more than twenty members, since the size of the divisions would become small enough that it wouldn't be much useful.
Moreover, the experts that were competing were peak Astral Reaching realm and extreme Reaching realm martial artists. How could they not tell how many people banding together would be beneficial for them?
Hearing Ye Chen, Murong Qingcheng couldn't help but raise her brows. In the end, how rich was he? He could even come up with eight or nine hundred thousand spirit stones. Moreover, it didn't look like his limit either.
As Ye Chen expected, as the bid reached eight hundred thousand, seventy percent of the bidders gave up, leaving behind thirty percent that desperately held on.
"Eight hundred and fifty thousand."
Duan Lingyun didn't expect so many people would be bidding, and was dazed for a short while. By the time he recovered, the price had already exceeded his range. Fortunately, Ghost Moon lent him five hundred thousand spirit stones, taking his wealth to nine hundred snf fifty thousand.
As soon as eight hundred fifty thousand bid was issued, the remaining thirty percent lost further seventy percent, leaving behind even fewer bidders.
Ye Chen didn't bid, as he liked to strike the nail with one hammer. There was not much meaning in issuing a bid at this point.
"Eight hundred and sixty thousand."
Eventually, the raises slowed down.
"Eight hundred and seventy thousand."
"Eight hundred and eighty thousand."
"Eight hundred and ninety thousand."
"F*ck! Even eighteen of us can't win. What's going on?" The people in the ordinary seats had all given up. Only a few rich people in the VIP rooms remained.
"Nine hundred thousand."
Duan Lingyun didn't hear Ye Chen's voice, so he assumed that the latter had given up long since. He thought, 'After getting my hands on this big chunk of Demonic Evil Stone, I'll share a bit with Qingchen. She'll surely be grateful to me, and the distance between us will certainly reduce."
"Nine hundred and twenty thousand."
The bidder was an Extreme Astral Reaching expert. His own wealth was of course not this high, just a few hundred thousand. He had joined hands with a dozen other experts. But unfortunately, most of the others members didn't have that many spirit stones, as they had already bought a few items before.
Duan Lingyun coldly sneered," Nine hundred and fifty thousand."
"Let it be. That guy is on the fifth floor. There is certainly a Sea of Soul realm expert behind him. It's not worth."
At this moment, nobody made another bid.
Just as the old man opened his mouth, a clear voice sounded, "One million."
The entire venue turned absolutely silent. A million… this was an amount that even many Sea of Soul realm expert might not be able to produce. Even though nine hundred and fifty thousand was not much different from one million, one million was still one million. The impact these two figures had in people's mind were completely different.
"It's the same guy who bought the Demonic Evil Stone before. His wealth is too frightening."
"Could it be that he teamed up with other Astral Reaching experts like us?"
"Doesn't matter. His own wealth has to be quite high. He bought that Demonic Evil Stone before, and now he has set his sight on this one. It's impossible for someone who is not filthy rich."
"It's that b*stard again."
Duan Lingyun gnashed his teeth, while wondering where did the former get so many spirit stones. Could Murong Qingcheng have lent him? But, she had already spent three hundred thousand, so she couldn't have much remaining for herself. Of course, she might have lent the remaining ones. As soon as he thought up to this, his insides burned with anger. He involuntarily turned his head towards Ghost Moon, hoping that the latter would help him out again.
Ghost Moon shook his head, "Lending you five hundred thousand is already my limit, but even if had more, I wouldn't have lent you more. Your thought process is wrong. Why do you need show your dominance over him in the auction? If it's yours, it will be in your hands in the end. "
"Supreme Elder, you are saying…?" Duan Lingyun was stumped momentarily before he thought of a possibility.
Ghost Moon revealed a strange smile, not saying a word.
Duan Lingyun's mind relaxed and he no longer made a bid, 'You can continue to be arrogant for now. Once you leave the city, I'll personally fight you, and return the favor from that time with interest. My Soul Sunder Eyes will best evolve through battling. That time, I merely underestimated you.'
Although Soul Sunder Eyes was quite a powerful eye technique, battle power was battle power. Solely relying on eyes wouldn't fill the gap. If he knew how powerful Ye Chen's sword intent was, he would absolutely not use Soul Sunder Eyes to fight against him, 'His sword intent will only amplify his battle power, but my Soul Sunder Eyes can influence his sword intent, which will greatly reduce his battle power."
Feeling that the situation was under control again, Duan Lingyun felt much better.
A million mid grade spirit stones had already exceeded the physiological limit of the spectators. Completely devoid of vigor, they blankly stared Demonic Evil Stone's falling into Ye Chen's hands.
"These three are for you." With the big Demonic Evil Stone, Ye Chen decided to give the three small ones to Murong Qingcheng.
Actually, Murong Qingcheng herself was thinking of buying the three smaller ones from Ye Chen by loaning a few spirit stones from the supreme elders of the sect. How could she have anticipated Ye Chen would give them on his own accord? Her beautiful eyes stared at Ye Chen, "That's not right. These three stones cost you three hundred thousand spirit stones!"
"Then, just give me the remaining spirit stones you have with you." Ye Chen had never been strict on formalities over trivial matters.
"Here are hundred and thirty thousand mid grade spirit stones."
Murong Qingcheng directly handed over a low grade storage ring.
Ye Chen put it away without batting an eye.
"Many thanks!"
With three stones in her hand, Murong Qingcheng revealed a faint smile. This auction for her was perfect. She got her hands on a glove type mid grade artifact, then the rarely seen Bodhi Pearl. And now, she even had Demonic Evil Stones. What more could she ask for?
After the commotion of Demonic Evil Stone passed, the auction stage boiled with excitement. The next treasure stupefied all the Astral Reaching excerpts.
"The fiftieth item is an upper grade artifact, the Three Scythed Spear- medium quality. The starting price is thirty thousand upper grade stones, and minimum raise should be one thousand upper grade spirit stones."
Not to mention other Astral Reaching experts, even Ye Chen didn't have the qualifications to enter the bidding. Even ordinary Sea of Soul realm experts didn't have thirty thousand upper grade spirit stones. Ye Chen merely had three thousand upper grade stones, nowhere close to buying this scythed spear.
"Thirty two thousand!"
"Thirty three thousand!"
…
The bidding war of Sea of Soul realm was quite reserved. It was not that they didn't wish to settle the outcome swiftly, but there weren't that many upper grade spirit stones to begin with. Spirit stones were extracted from spirit veins. There were a lot of low grade spirit stones veins. Mid grade spirit stone veins were sparse in comparison, whereas upper grade spirit stones were exceptionally rare. A sixth grade sect couldn't occupy a whole upper grade spirit stone vein alone, and many spirit stones had to divide it among themselves. There weren't many upper grade spirit stones extracted every year. Apart from finding a new upper grade spirit stone vein, there was one more method, which was to look for ancient ruins. In some important ancient ruins, many upper grade spirit veins could appear, and every time such a ruin was discovered, it led to life and death battles among several sixth grade sects. Sometimes, even fifth grade sects were involved.
In the end, the scythed spear was claimed by Old Man Sky Eagle at a cost of forty two thousand upper grade spirit stones.
After that, one precious treasure after another kept appearing, the most expensive among which was a palm-sized Demonic Evil Crystal, the highest quality of Demonic Evil Stone. It could help Sea of Soul realm experts refine their martial souls. It looked different from the Demonic Evil Crystal- like a crystalline coal. The person who claimed it was obviously no ordinary expert. It was a Sea of Soul Master who paid eighty three thousand upper grade spirit stones.
"The following item is set at a very low base price. However, if it's genuine, its value is far above that. I assume everybody has heard of the legend of the undying body before Life and Death realm. This item is precisely related to the secrets of the undying body."
Undying body!
The old man's words immediately provoked everybody's interest. Be it Clasping Yuan martial artists or Sea of Soul realm, there was nobody who was not interested. The undying body was a monopoly of Life and Death Kings. To gain an undying body before reaching Life and Death realm, how frightening that be? It would mean being a paragon in the same realm. Moreover, with an undying body, one would be able to charge through many Forbidden Zones.