Jacob was back in the Timeless City, but he wasn’t in the Infinite Space anymore for obvious reasons.
After Nyx alerted him about the Star Auction Virtual House and the Yang Flame, he had to come out. The reason for his reaction wasn’t that he wanted the ’data’, after all, he already had the Map of the Blazing Constellation. He wanted it to make sure others wouldn’t get in his way or ruin his plans.
After all, if that data turned out to be really leading towards the Yang Flame, Jacob would be forced to take action.
Although he was sure that the Map of the Blazing Constellation might be some kind of key or the only way towards the Yang Flame, he couldn’t take a risk or overlook this. In fact, he almost did, but Nyx alerted him in time.
Now, Nyx was participating in what was presumably the most significant auction of the Legendary Plains, and Jacob had to admit there was some merit to it, since the Yang Flame hadn’t even appeared yet; some items had already piqued his interest.
Especially the second item that extensively drew Jacob’s interest, the incomplete blueprint of the Soul Ballistic Spear.
While waiting for Nyx to win the item, he was studying the starry liquid in the vial, which was the Noble Revival Elixir, that he had only bought to research because it somewhat reminded him of the Titan Tears.
Yet at this moment, Nyx’s hesitant and somewhat frustrated voice sounded, "Umm, I lost the Soul Ballistic Spear!"
A hint of surprise flashed past Jacob’s eyes, and he coldly questioned, "What? There are 84.3 million Legendary Lord Rank Star Crystals in my ring. Don’t tell me that 10,000 worth of blueprints have crossed that threshold?! Why didn’t you tell me sooner?"
Jacob couldn’t believe this because he knew how rare these Star Crystals were, even those of Lord and King Rank, especially the latter. Yet, the Lord Rank Star Crystals were the second-rarest star crystals, and even having 84 million made Jacob one of the richest Legendary Kings.
Although he wasn’t able to plunder much after the Myriad Galaxy Palace, he didn’t think he would need them to buy things, and those already in his possession were more than enough for experimentation, at least for a while.
Granted, Jacob wasn’t the wealthiest person in the Legendary Plains, since he had never paid attention to making wealth. Wealth lacked appeal to him, at least to the ZC.
"Well, it’s not about Star Crystals actually, but you see, there is another option to make a bid called the ’Item Bid’ which allows the bidders to place items like anything precious as a bid.
"The person we were bidding against is the ’Blunt Alchemy Hammer,’ which is the star ID of the Hammer King, a King Alchemist! He seemed equally interested in that blueprint, or he might’ve felt provoked after I didn’t stop bidding against that hateful prick.
"But I didn’t think that cheap bastard would play such a trick when I bid directly 2 million star crystals. He placed an Advanced Legendary Lord weapon personally crafted by himself on the bid. And guess what happened?" Nyx’s voice was filled with indignation.
A cold light flashed past Jacob’s eyes, "You didn’t get the chance to counterbid because the seller directly accepted that weapon crafted by an Alchemist King. After all, they’re getting an advanced legendary lord weapon for an incomplete blueprint, and on top of that, a King Alchemist’s favor. Why would they want to miss this chance?"
"Yes! Those greedy bastards didn’t even hesitate and directly accepted the bid before the timer could reach the end. I even want to complain to the management, but that Stoic auction spirit sent a message saying that the auction house is only responsible for providing a platform to the others.
"If someone issued an ’item bid,’ the final decision to accept the item will fall into the hands of the seller. In our case, just as you said, that Hammer King’s reputation is too great and with the Alchemy Guild behind it, so he was able to snatch the blueprint by playing dirty tricks, that cheap bastard!" Nyx couldn’t help but curse and berate the Hammer King.
Jacob didn’t have any reason to blame Nyx, either, since everything was transparent, and there was nothing they could do if the seller no longer wanted to sell for Star Crystals, or even gave them the chance to counter the offer.
Nonetheless, Jacob really wanted that blueprint because he felt it could help him achieve a breakthrough in his own weapon technology, but now it was snatched away by the Hammer King.
A cold glint flashed past his eyes, "This Hammer King, is he a Magic Smith?"
"Yes, and not just any magic smith. He has a reputation for being the number one magic smith of the legendary plains. He’s even more famous than the Myriad Galaxy King because he’s also the King of the Magic Dwarf Race, a race known to possess the talent for magic craftsmanship."
Nyx told Jacob everything that she knew with a hint of gloating because she had already guessed why he was asking for this information: ’You’re cooked, tiny!’
"Since this is a race of craftsmen, it would be disrespectful not to visit them and witness their craftsmanship..." Jacob muttered with a hint of malice in his cold voice.
Pretend to not hear Jacob, Nyx quickly reported, "Hey, the next item is a teleportation talisman that can send anyone 100,000 miles away in a random direction! It’s crafted by another disciple of a King Alchemist, the ’Spirit Eye King,’ and this King Alchemist is also the Witch Queen of Legendary Plains!
"Like the Hammer King, she also has a reputation for being the number one Runic Artificer of the Legendary Plains! Its starting price is 30,000 Legendary Noble Rank Star Crystals!"
A peculiar glint flashed past Jacob’s eyes, ’Witch Race, huh? The Myriad Galaxy King was also a Witch...’
He thought for a moment before he shook his head, "No need. I already have a few of these talismans, I got from Myriad Galaxy King and Soulless Ghost King."
Then, suddenly, he commented meaningfully, "You seem to know a lot about these legendary kings... it seemed that gambling and squandering money wasn’t your only hobby in the Virtual Star World."
"W-what! I may have spent a little money, but I never squandered it! I’m very frugal! It was all Long Nose’s fault for bewitching me!" Nyx instantly retorted with a hint of panic while she blamed Constant Baron-0 with all her might.
Jacob merely shook his head, clearly didn’t want to deal with her, and sneered, "Just pay attention to the auction. Now that we know we can directly affect the seller with the item bid, let’s take advantage of this function before others can!"