Chapter 433: Bidding War.
Arthur in particular was so adamant about keeping his identity a secret that he didn’t take off the mask for long. That is if he ever took the mask off at all.
The mask was an object that blocked the scanning of divine sense, so it was a must-have in a place where he doesn’t want his identity to be revealed when he is surrounded by people who don’t need to see him with their eyes to know his identity.
After an hour of waiting, the auction finally started. The first auction item was ten bottles of mind concentration pills.
The mind concentration pills were pills used to replenish mental energy. With it, cultivators won’t have to stop to rest their minds after a period of intensive cultivation.
The pills can even help people go without sleep for days. So the pill was important to cultivators.
The pills that were being auctioned were of rank 2. So they were mostly useful for those at the second mortal coil. But this didn’t diminish the demand for it. Even some cultivators at the third mortal coil wanted to buy it for themselves or for their juniors.
Many people wanted to buy the pill, but Arthur wasn’t interested. He could get the pill in the sect for cheaper, and it would be one with higher quality too. So he didn’t bid for the pill.
Next up were rank 2 energy pills. These were used to replenish the internal energy. Its most important use is to replenish internal energy during a battle.
Many cultivators scrambled for it too, but Arthur remained silent. He remained silent during the bids of many more items too.
They auctioned weapons and armor of various grades, but none of them could move Arthur. The only thing that moved him was a special material that can increase the chances of transcension of a beast at the peak of the second mortal coil to the third.
He was interested in it because of Roar. He had left Roar behind in the secret realm, so Roar should be back in the sect by now.
He thought to himself, "I promised him that I would help him transcend, so he will be glad to receive this."
Unfortunately, he wasn’t the only one interested in the material. This kind of special material is just like the kind of rare material that can help cultivators at the peak of the second mortal coil transcend. It is very rare.
The material itself is rank 3. That means that it can’t grow in the outside world. It could only have been acquired from the secret realm.
So even though the material isn’t useful to humans, many people still wanted to acquire it for their battle pets. Most of these people were cultivators at the third mortal coil.
Arthur sneered and said in disdain, "It is just a material, not even the pill. Why are they fighting over it like their lives depend on it?"
He said that, but he still joined in the bidding war. He wrote his bid on the bidding tablet that had been placed on the table.
He wrote, "5,000 energy stones."
The price to beat had been 2,400. So he had more than doubled it.
His move made many people give up immediately. Frankly, 5,000 energy stones was too much for a single material.
The value of the shoot is around 3,000. No one should bid more than 3,000 unless they are rich or desperate for it.
So when the auctioneer had said, "5,000 low-grade energy stones from room 21. Going once. Going twice. Sold."
Most of the people at the scene had looked at his booth, not the item that was being sold. They felt that he was very rich.
They would be right to think so. But the money he was spending wasn’t exactly his. Elder Storm Hawk had given it to him to spend.
If she hadn’t given him the money, it was unlikely that he wouldn’t have tried to spend so much on just a small material. He certainly wouldn’t have tried to bid for another portion of the same material.
Because of last time, the bidding war this time quickly escalated. It reached 3,000 low-grade energy stones quickly. It was at that time that Arthur swooped in again.
The gentleman on the platform with gravel called out excitedly, "5,000 low-grade energy stones from room 21. That’s a bid of 5,000."
This time, Arthur had gone too far. A cultivator at the third mortal coil nearby couldn’t take it anymore.
The lady called out loudly to Arthur, "Fellow Daoist, you’re going too far. One is already enough. You should stop when you’re ahead."
Arthur asked, "Or what?"
The lady replied, "Or you will bite off more than you can chew."
Arthur assured her, "Don’t worry about me. The material is for my dog. I am not going to bite it no matter how much of it I buy."
The lady’s forehead creased as she frowned. Then she spat out, "Good luck then."
The auction resumed shortly after. The auctioneer called out for everyone to beat the bid of 5,000 energy stones. But no one was willing to spend that much on the item, so Arthur got the second portion of the material.
Unfortunately, the rest of the auction was bound to be unpeaceful because the next item was still the same material. The next item was the third portion of the same material that can help beasts transcend the second mortal coil.
The material itself is the shoot of a plant. This shoot is succulent like cabbage. But it is bright red and doesn’t look like something good to eat.
The auctioneer explained to them, "The original shoot was cut into three pieces. So this portion is the last batch for this auction."
This statement riled up everyone again. But even before the price could reach 1,000 energy stones, Arthur had dropped his signature bid to cut everyone off.