1RomanceEB Chapter 696 - 131: East Continent’s Yao Xinghai
Chapter 696 - 131: East Continent’s Yao Xinghai
Ji Yaohua put on a sycophantic smile, left the railing, and approached Mu Qingge cautiously to discuss, "Qingge, I am your brother after all, our friendship is eternal! We shouldn’t let these external things affect it, right? So, can you offer me a little discount in private? I don’t ask for much, just as we agreed before, five thousand intermediate spirit stones, how about that?"
Mu Qingge raised an eyebrow and glanced over, her smile deepening, "Since it’s eternal, why would it be affected by little external things? Besides, if I discount it, wouldn’t that mean I’m looking down on you as the Young Master of the Ji Family?"
"No way! Absolutely not!" Ji Yaohua quickly said.
Mu Qingge still shook her head slowly, "We agreed beforehand. If we don’t stick to the arrangement, it will greatly impact your glorious image as the Young Master of the Ji Family!"
Ji Yaohua’s face fell, grimacing, "Brother, I only have this meager stash of private money. If you do this, I’ll become a pauper!"
Mu Qingge laughed unmoved, "Things outside of oneself cannot be brought at birth nor taken at death, wealth disappears and returns, only through giving can one gain."
"But my heart still aches," Ji Yaohua gritted his teeth.
Mu Qingge chuckled and gave him a suggestion. "This elixir, if you buy it and don’t use it yourself, you can sell it to someone else. You know, after today’s auction on the first floor, the black market prices for these elixirs will only go higher. By then, you’ll have the goods in hand, essentially exchanging them for spirit stones everywhere!"
Ji Yaohua was enlightened by Mu Qingge’s words, nodding in agreement, "Not bad, not bad! Although losing eight thousand nine hundred intermediate spirit stones will be painful for a while, having the elixir isn’t a loss. If I need spirit stones, I can sell it at the black market for double!"
As Ji Yaohua spoke, he held his breath, then immediately beamed as he tucked the elixir into his chest and waved his hand, causing eight thousand nine hundred intermediate spirit stones to clang on the floor of the room.
Luckily the room was big enough; otherwise, this pile of eight thousand nine hundred spirit stones would leave no room to stand.
"Here are eight thousand nine hundred intermediate spirit stones, count them." Although convinced by Mu Qingge, Ji Yaohua still felt a pinch seeing the small mountain of spirit stones.
Mu Qingge waved her hand grandly, collecting all the spirit stones into her space, generously saying, "No need to count, I trust you."
Her words of ’trust’ instantly touched Ji Yaohua deeply, feeling that Qingge finally saw his sincere heart, prompting him to refine the fan diligently.
...
On the first floor of the hall, the auction continued.
After a divine level elixir was auctioned off, the items that followed were no longer divine level elixirs but ordinary treasure level weapons.
These weapons, although not fetching sky-high prices, were mostly auctioned off for prices exceeding retail.
Next came the Divine Artifacts forged by the Sang Clan.
These Divine Artifacts had been exhibited to the crowd for two days, making many eager to own them.
Naturally, this ignited another fierce competition.
Eventually, the first Divine Artifact, a Divine Sword, was bought for thirty-nine thousand two hundred intermediate spirit stones.
This competition left everyone exhausted, but Xuan Ya then presented a second divine level elixir.
Seeing the elixir bottle in her hand, the previously fatigued crowd suddenly regained their spirits.
Xuan Ya smiled and addressed the crowd, "This elixir is of perfect quality divine level; however, it serves a different purpose. This elixir is meant for realm enhancement. It can safely elevate the user from Silver Realm Sixth Layer to Golden Realm First Layer, without any side effects."
"What!"
"A divine level elixir that breaks through bottlenecks!"
"Isn’t this defying the heavens?"
"To have such an elixir, I’ve been stuck at Silver Realm Sixth Layer for ages, I must have this elixir!"
"Too shocking! How can the first floor have so many great items!"
"This elixir is much more potent than the previous ones!"
"You can’t say that, one extends life, the other breaks through bottlenecks. Either way, they are all amazing!"
"Why are there so many perfect quality elixirs?"
Caught among the crowd, Xuan Ya heard the question and smiled slightly in the direction of the voice, "Since that alchemist can create a perfect grade once, naturally he can craft the second, third, fourth. What? Need me to prove it again?"
"No no no! It’s not needed! We trust your word, Hyeon-a!"
"Exactly! We believe you!"
What a joke!
Such precious elixirs decrease with every consumption; if this breakthrough elixir is the only one on the first floor and Xuan Ya used it, wouldn’t they have waited for nothing?
"Let’s start already!" urged someone.
Xuan Ya maintained her smile, calmly announcing the starting bid: "One hundred low-level spirit stones."
"Damn! The first floor is really stirring things up!"
"I bid one hundred intermediate spirit stones!"
"You jerk! Is that how you bid? Didn’t you hear the starting bid is in low-level spirit stones?"
"Of course I know! It’ll eventually get to intermediate spirit stones, might as well elevate the bidding now and not waste time! Hahaha—"
"I bid one hundred fifty intermediate spirit stones!"
"I bid..."
"A realm breakthrough elixir? It’s getting more interesting." In the corner, the man chuckled softly.
In a room on the third floor, Xi Qianxue watched Xuan Ya’s elixir, contemplating.
Her maid, Wu-er, spoke up, "Goddess, this elixir is fantastic, should we bid for it?"
Xi Qianxue mused aloud, "Though I’m not yet at Silver Realm Sixth Layer, securing this elixir would be wise for when I reach Silver Realm Sixth Layer to easily advance to Golden Realm First Layer."
After voicing her thought, she decisively said, "Bid for it, at all costs."
"Yes, Goddess."
Wu-er bowed slightly.
She approached the railing, and loudly announced outside, "Our Goddess bids one thousand five hundred intermediate spirit stones."
Upon her call, the surroundings fell silent.
The bidding had reached one thousand, yet Xi Qianxue raised it by five hundred all at once.
This made people wonder momentarily, is Xi Qianxue genuinely interested or merely stirring things up? But then they considered how rare the elixir was, deciding it was worth going against her even if they had to offend her.
Thus, many gritted their teeth and continued bidding.
Rooms on the second and third floors, like those of Ying Ze and Han Caicai, were occupied by individuals deeply interested in this breakthrough elixir, although before they could bid, Xi Qianxue made her move.
Her status represented two major forces.
Thus, after pondering, these people gave up on competing with her, thinking there were two remaining, right?
In the fifth-floor room, upon hearing the bid from Xi Qianxue’s maid, Mu Qingge frowned.
Ji Yaohua looked at her gleefully, "With this disruption from Xi Family’s Goddess, I fear your elixir won’t fetch a high price."
Mu Qingge pressed her lips silently.
The reality was as Ji Yaohua suggested; Xi Qianxue’s status was prominent enough that many would hesitate to compete against her, likely making the elixir bound for her possession, only the final price remained unknown.
However...
Mu Qingge considered the previous issues between them and sighed inwardly, ’Well! Let it be compensation for the previous rudeness.’
Seeing Mu Qingge silent, Ji Yaohua asked, "Qingge, do you still have more of these divine level elixirs for realm breakthrough?"
Mu Qingge raised an eyebrow and looked at him, asking, "Do you want it?"
Ji Yaohua chuckled, "I’ve been stuck at the Silver Realm Sixth Layer for a long time. I’m practically in the Golden Realm, but I just can’t break through. If I had a Divine Pill to help me break through, I would definitely enter the Golden Realm!"
Mu Qingge laughed playfully and held up two fingers, "Twenty thousand intermediate Spirit Stones."
"Damn!" Ji Yaohua was taken aback.
He said angrily, "Are you trying to recover what you lost at Xi Qianxue’s expense from me? I’ll tell you, I really don’t have that many Spirit Stones."
"You don’t, but the Ji Family does. I suppose if the Ji Family Young Master could immediately step into the Golden Realm, elevating the Ji Family to greater heights, the Family Head would be more than willing to spend those twenty thousand intermediate Spirit Stones," Mu Qingge said with a gentle smile.
Ji Yaohua turned pale and squatted on the ground, saying, "I don’t want to trouble the family."
"Then I’m afraid I can’t help you," Mu Qingge said with a helpless shrug.
Ji Yaohua looked up pitifully at her, "Brother Mu, dear Qingge... can’t you help your big brother out? It would benefit you too if my cultivation improved!"
Unfortunately, Mu Qingge slowly shook her head, unmoved, "I always believe that improving one’s own strength is true improvement. If you really have no money and don’t want to ask your family for help, you could borrow from your friend, Young Master Ying. If you still can’t gather enough, I can make an exception and let you write a promissory note to pay it back later. But remember, the debt will incur three percent interest."
Ji Yaohua glared at her angrily but finally said resentfully, "Heart of stone!"
...
The outcome of the auction was just as Mu Qingge had anticipated.
Xi Qianxue won the elixir that could break through realms with five thousand two hundred intermediate Spirit Stones, a price that made countless people envious but could only remain so.
Next came the auction of some Treasure Artifacts and Treasure Level Elixirs.
When the second Divine Artifact was brought out, Mu Qingge summoned a maid and whispered something in her ear.
After the maid left, Ji Yaohua curiously asked, "What did you say to her? I feel like you’re plotting something!"
Mu Qingge smirked nonchalantly, "I just felt a bit tired watching and wanted the auction to end soon, that’s all."
Ji Yaohua tugged at the corner of his mouth, refusing to believe her lies.
He continued to lean on the railing and watch, and sure enough, he saw the maid exit the room, walk towards the auction stage, whisper a few words to Hyeon-a, and then retreat.
Hyeon-a didn’t show any strange expressions, but after auctioning off the second Divine Artifact, she wore a charming smile and said to the audience, "The last auction item is the remaining two Divine Level Elixirs. Our Young Master said that these last two will be auctioned together."
The crowd burst into an uproar!
What happened to auctioning them one by one?
What kind of commotion will auctioning two together cause?
Ignoring the crowd’s shock and unpreparedness, Hyeon-a continued, "These two elixirs, one is a holy healing elixir, and the other is a realm-breaking elixir, just like the previous two auctioned. I should clarify that these are the last two Divine Level Elixirs of the day. I don’t know when they’ll appear again, so don’t miss this opportunity."
"..." Ji Yaohua turned to Mu Qingge, eyes wide open.
However, someone was leisurely sipping tea, seemingly unconcerned about the commotion outside.
He said helplessly, "I’ve never truly admired anyone, but you are the first." With his intelligence, how could he not know that Mu Qingge was bundling the two elixirs together at the last moment to inflate the price and compensate for the previous loss at Xi Qianxue’s?
These two kinds of elixirs, losing one might not sting too much, but missing out on both would undoubtedly be heartbreaking!
Besides, Xi Qianxue had already acquired the elixir she wanted and couldn’t continue to compete. Wouldn’t everyone else be fighting fiercely?
"Auctioning two elixirs together? Interesting," in a corner of the ground floor hall, a man grinned playfully.
He gestured to his attendant, who leaned in to listen.
"You can make your move," he ordered.
The attendant nodded, indicating understanding.
"The starting price for these two elixirs is also one hundred low-level Spirit Stones," Hyeon-a announced an astonishing price.
"I’ll bid five hundred!"
"I’ll bid nine hundred!"
"Nonsense, can you buy at that price? I’ll bid one thousand intermediate Spirit Stones."
"One thousand intermediate Spirit Stones won’t be enough! I’ll bid four thousand intermediate Spirit Stones!"
"Five thousand!"
"Five thousand five hundred!"
"Six thousand!"
"Seven thousand five!"
"Eight thousand!"
"..."
"Hey, even that guy Ying Ze spoke up," Ji Yaohua recognized Ying Ze’s voice immediately.
Not only Ying Ze, but the three giants of the Flowing Guest Realm were also getting involved.
They weren’t interested in the realm-breaking elixir since they were already in the Golden Realm, but they were very interested in the healing elixir. After all, living on the edge of a blade, having such a healing holy product provides a guarantee.
However, since both elixirs were being auctioned together, they had to buy both.
In other words, whether interested in the healing Divine Level Elixir or the realm-breaking elixir, everyone had to compete. Otherwise, they wouldn’t get anything.
"Twelve thousand!"
"Sixteen thousand!"
"Eighteen thousand!"
"Twenty thousand!"
"Twenty-five thousand!"
"I’ll bid one hundred thousand intermediate Spirit Stones," suddenly, a voice calmly spoke out, contrasting with the surrounding excitement.
The voice wasn’t loud, but it silenced everyone around.
One hundred thousand intermediate Spirit Stones!
Where did this prodigal son come from?
Mu Qingge’s eyes narrowed, and for the first time, she stood up from her chair in the room and walked to the railing.
"Damn! Where did this tycoon come from!" Ji Yaohua quickly scanned the crowd, suddenly his eyes narrowed sharply, and he exclaimed, "It’s him!"
Mu Qingge’s gaze fell on him, only to see Ji Yaohua show a rare serious expression, "Yao Xinghai, he actually came."
"Yao Xinghai, third on the Green Talent List?" Mu Qingge murmured.
Ji Yaohua nodded heavily, adding, "Not only that, but he’s also the Young Master of the Yao Family in East Continent and the prized student of the Alchemy Institute’s head, as well as a Divine Level Alchemist himself!"
Alchemy Institute, Divine Level Alchemist...
Mu Qingge savored these keywords in her mind, her eyes following Ji Yaohua’s gaze to a young man in a corner on the ground floor.
When she looked over, the young man seemed to deliberately or subconsciously raise his head to meet her gaze.