Chapter 893: A Whopping Price
Clear breezes blew away the mists on the platform.
The auction house was dead silent as everyone stared at the private room on the second floor with their pupils shrunk inward. It was the room where Ou Yangming was in.
Song Qing was doing the same as well, but he gasped and was delighted.
At the spur of the moment, Li Tianyu clenched his fists and uttered coldly, “510,000 spirit ores!”
“610,000 spirit ores!” Ou Yangming shouted without any hesitation. He was not loud, but his voice swept away like a strong wind. Once again, he increased the bidding price by 100,000 spirit ores in one go. This time, as capable as the Li family was, they also began to feel nervous. Everyone in the main hall was stupefied whether it was the disciples from aristocratic families or the rogue cultivators. The several 10,000 people instantly fell silent, hence the auction hall was so quiet not a single sound could be heard.
After 4 to 5 breaths, a rogue cultivator remarked in a dry voice and a mad look on his face, “Damn it! That’s 610,000 spirit ores. Judging from his voice, he doesn’t seem to care at all. He’s simply… A lunatic!”
“Yes, he must be a madman. Those spirit ores could be piled up into a small mountain!”
As for the female cultivators, they had limpid eyes and were biting their lower lips. They looked as fervent as how they felt as they wondered, ‘If I’m able to cling to this person, I probably won’t need to worry about cultivation resources anymore.’
Xue Xiaoqin, who was on the platform, was stunned for a second. Monstrous waves surged inside her heart as she turned to look deeply at the Dongju Room.
On the other hand, Song Qing breathed heavily and shivered a little. He knew his worth would at least be doubled after this Auction Meet, where he would become the greatest auction master in Huixun City. As such, the man was extremely agitated.
Outside the Wang family’s private room, the red “Wang” letter, which was embroidered using Heavenly Silk, gently fluttered in the wind along with the brocade cloth. Nonetheless, it seemed soft and powerless. Wang Weinian was pale, and he quivered as he noted helplessly, “Our clan can only offer 700,000 spirit ores at most. If the bidding price gets higher than that, we won’t be able to continue anymore. Let’s see—we’ll fight if we can but if we can’t, it can only mean that we’re not fated for this.”
Wang Haobin frowned and sighed. “This person’s not simple at all! I wonder which clan he’s from.”
The patriarch kept quiet for some time and nodded in agreement. “Given that he could offer so many spirit ores, how could be a simple person? It goes without saying that he’s backed by a formidable force. This time, it’ll be up to the Li family’s decision. Heh, I hope that this person will have a bigger conflict with the Li family.”
It was dead silent in the room.
Li Tianyu shook his shoulders and spoke coldly, “Friend, you’re being very generous but let me warn you—it’s rainy and slippery in Huixun City during winter, so you need to be more careful on the streets… Don’t fall.” He was being soft and hard at the same time. Being the greatest aristocratic family in the city, the Li family had the capital to be proud indeed.
“State your offer!” Ou Yangming’s voice was plain as usual.
His calm attitude made Li Tianyu furious because the young master felt like he was hitting a bunch of cotton despite having gone all-out. This made him feel helpless.
“690,000 spirit ores!” Who knew, Wang Haobin spoke first. He gritted his teeth and added, “My friends, if you’re going to offer a higher price than this, I won’t be following anymore. If that happens, the Wang family’s just not fated with the Heavenly Fire Ore.”
“700,000 spirit ores!” Ou Yangming took his time.
“710,000 spirit ores!” Li Tianyu was determined to give him tit for tat.
“720,000 spirit ores!” Ou Yangming was not going to show a weak impression.
They continued to bid for the ore without any hesitation, and the fight between them caused all of the rogue cultivators in the main hall to be dumbfounded. The cultivators thought, ‘Is this the foundation of a top-notch aristocratic family?’ They did not believe that the person in the Dongju Room was a rogue cultivator; they were certain that he was a disciple from a mighty aristocratic family.
At last, the intense round of bidding was over.
When Ou Yangming offered 830,000 spirit ores, Li Tianyu kept quiet.
Song Qing waited for a brief moment without saying a word. In fact, nobody else was talking so whistles from the breezes in the air could be heard. Afterward, the host chuckled and announced, “Alright, I hereby announce that the Heavenly Fire Ore is sold to the friend in the Dongju Room. Congratulations!” His face was glowing as he was in a great mood.
Li Tianyu was frustrated but there was nothing he could do.
At his level, he was well aware that Su Tianqian was closely connected to the Beyond Heaven Pavilion, so he dared not do things forcibly.
Before long, Xue Xiaoqin arrived gracefully and knocked on the door. Once Xue Xuanle opened the door, she greeted her, “Greetings, Miss Xuanle.”
Xue Xuanle returned the salutation with a smile but was having a complicated feeling at the moment. She was afraid that Ou Yangming could not submit that many spirit ores, but she was also looking forward to it.
Ou Yangming breathed out some murky air and asked in a gentle voice, “Miss Xue, could you ask an appraising master to come? I don’t have that many spirit ores with me now, so I’ll need to exchange something for the item instead.”
Xue Xiaoqin responded to him with a smile and left.
Soon enough, Bai Qian came in a white outfit. He did not take big strides but every step he took was incredibly stunning and carried the natural law. Ou Yangming only took a glance at him but felt as if he saw an unpredictable sea. The elder seemed profound and had seen the vicissitudes of life but what frightened the young fellow the most was how the elder did not have spiritual power fluctuations at all. It was as though the elder was an ordinary person.
Ou Yangming welcomed the elder and greeted him softly, “I’m Yu Tianrui. Greetings, senior.”
Bai Qian waved his sleeve and grinned. “I’m Bai Qian. I’m only an ordinary appraiser, so you don’t need to be so polite.”
All of a sudden, Li Tianyu recalled something and questioned in a hellish voice, “Your Excellency, you didn’t anyhow bid for the item to amuse the crowd but don’t actually have that many spirit ores, did you?”
“Mm, it has been quite some time so that’s possible indeed.” Someone agreed with him.
Very few people were talking about it at first, but they had the force of prairie and influenced more people to discuss this matter.
Seeing as the situation was getting out of control, Xue Xiaoqin quickly tried to settle down the crowd. Her voice was pleasant to the ear and comforting. “Everyone, please calm down. Our friend here didn’t bring that many spirit ores with him, so he’s going to trade something for the item. This won’t take long.”
The clamor in the main hall instantly disappeared.
Even so, Li Tianyu would not stop just like that. He rolled his eyes and scoffed. “It’s well-known that the Five Elemental Ores comprises metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. The Heavenly Fire Ore is considered one of the top 3 ores among the Five Elemental Ores. I really want to see what can match its value.”
As soon as he finished, the crowd was in an uproar again.
Seeing as the scene was no longer under her control, Xue Xiaoqin twitched her nose and asked, “Young Master Yu, uhm…” She knew she was not going to make a reasonable request, thus she eventually lowered her voice.
Xue Xuanle looked worried. She tugged at the corner of Ou Yangming’s shirt.
Ou Yangming pondered for a long time. He had been wanting to befriend Su Tianqian. Now that he met Bai Qian, who was such an unpredictable figure, the thought became stronger like never before. The young fellow nodded with a smile.
With that, Ou Yangming walked out of his private room. The main hall fell silent at first but soon became noisy again.
“It’s him!” A rogue cultivator was surprised as though he had just seen the most unbelievable thing.
“What is it? Do you know him?” The rogue cultivator next to him became intrigued. He brushed his right hand across the longsword at his waist and asked softly.
“He’s the champion of the Hunting Meet this time.” The first rogue cultivator’s pupils shrunk inward, and his voice trembled when he spoke.
Similar discussions filled the air in the main hall.
In one of the private rooms, Xue Yan and Wu Xiaohuang exchanged glances as well and looked like they had just seen a ghost.
Wu Xiaohuang smiled bitterly. “I told you that he sounded familiar. Ah, it’s really Brother Tianrui!”
“Yes, it’s too… Too unbelievable.” Xue Yan nodded seriously.
They both knew that Ou Yangming was not one to make empty promises. Having said that, their hearts could not take it now that he had to submit 830,000 spirit ores.
Xue Yan smiled bitterly as well after some time. “Looks like we’ve still been underestimating Younger Brother Tianrui!”
Wu Xiaohuang kept quiet without saying a word. When he looked at the rather frail figure on the platform, he felt like he was looking at a towering mountain.
‘It’s him!’ Li Tianyu clenched his fists tightly such that his long fingernails cut through his palms. His palms were covered in blood in no time, but he did not say a single word. The young master felt like he had just been tossed into magma, and he was so furious that he might explode at any time.
Ou Yangming breathed out some white mists. Without any hesitation, he tapped his interspatial bag with his right hand, causing light breezes to blow past the platform. Following that, a warm white light shone out from the interspatial bag. By the time the light disappeared, a silver flying carpet appeared in everyone’s sight. The flying carpet was exceptionally smooth and emitted a light halo. Its material was valuable, and any sharp-eyed person would be able to tell that it was much more precious than that of Li Tianyu. They were not of the same level at all.
Xue Xuanle was struck dumb. Everything around her seemed to have disappeared be it the clamor, the crowd, and the gorgeous platform. Ou Yangming was the only person left spinning in her monochrome world.
It was as if time stopped for her. Her red lips parted, and her tongue was stuck on the roof of her mouth. It had only been 2 breaths, but a cycle seemed to have passed in her head. When the young lady finally came back to her senses, she sighed and thought, ‘You’re a proud sun, and you’re hotter and brighter than the sun, whereas I’m a ruined straw in a snowfield. We’re too, too far apart…’
At this time, everyone was staring fervently at the flying carpet while they breathed heavily.
Even Bai Qian was startled for a while, but he came back to his senses very quickly.
Ou Yangming paced toward Bai Qian to hand the flying carpet to him. “Senior, please appraise it.”
Bai Qian released his mental power with a flash of thought.
When Bai Qian opened his eyes slowly, Ou Yangming asked calmly, “Senior, is this flying carpet worthy of the Heavenly Fire Ore?” He spoke softly, but everyone knew he was making a tough response to what Li Tianyu said earlier. He was slapping the young master right in the face.
Bai Qian’s eyes were hollow and looked like spinning vortexes. He chuckled and replied to the young fellow, “This flying carpet’s a middle-grade item so of course, it’s worthy.”
Li Tianyu was surprised and angry at the same time when he heard the elder. A strong killing intent surged in his eyes.