Chapter 1215: First Confrontation
An Lin slowly dispelled his cloak of invisibility after finding a seat in some corner of the auction hall. Uncannily, however, none of the surrounding people noticed him. It was as though he was an ordinary cultivator with zero sense of presence.
“Let the auction begin!” the hostess shouted sweetly.
Right after she said this, a cultivator in the Earth-tier seating area upped the price to six hundred thousand spirit stones.
Immediately afterward, even cultivators seated in the Mortal tier started bidding. A cultivator in the Mortal-tier seating area raised the price to six hundred and fifty thousand spirit stones.
The cultivators continued to raise their bids, yet An Lin and Huang Fuwen both remained silent.
The price rose steadily, and before long, it had already reached one million spirit stones.
Right now, the number of bidders remaining was very few.
One million spirit stones for a suspected immortal-rank item was already the absolute limit for most cultivators. If they raised the price any higher, the risk they faced would very likely outweigh any potential gains.
“One million and one hundred thousand!” An Lin finally placed a bid.
He attracted the gazes of countless people after shouting this price. In fact, there were even some yelps of surprise.
The reason for this was obvious—he was a cultivator seated in the Mortal tier. There was practically no cultivator of this tier who could place a bid of one million spirit stones or more.
“Who is he?”
“No idea. He’s remained silent all the way up till now.”
“His appearance is fairly ordinary. Who would’ve thought that he’d be this rich…”
Numerous cultivators started chattering quietly with each other.
“One million and two hundred thousand!”
At this moment, a voice suddenly sounded from a Heaven-tier seat.
The bidders instantly shifted their gazes up toward the Heaven-tier seats. The bidder was none other than the azure-robed Huang Fuwen!
An Lin also glanced at Huang Fuwen. It’s this price-raising bastard again, he cursed in his mind. This c*nt is toxic!
He had no choice but to raise his bid. “One million and three hundred thousand!”
Surprised yelps washed over the auction hall once again.
“Heavens! This unknown cultivator actually dares to bid against a Heaven-tier cultivator? Is he crazy?”
“The Heaven-tier cultivator is called Huang Fuwen. He’s a very powerful prodigy from the Heavenly River State. It’s rumored that he’s going to battle against the Flaming River Imperial Family’s second princess, Yan Meng, due to her breaking a promise to marriage!”
“This is a Child of Destiny… That Mortal-tier cultivator is far too ignorant and foolish. Isn’t he afraid of being killed after provoking such a powerful being?”
Sure enough, Huang Fuwen’s expression darkened.
None of the cultivators present have recognized that treasure… Could it be that this cultivator can recognize it? Impossible! They’re clearly challenging me, Huang Fuwen!
“One million and five hundred thousand spirit stones!” Huang Fuwen continued to raise the price.
Right now, his bid was already one million spirit stones more than the starting price. Even the auctioneer’s expression changed upon hearing this.
Theoretically speaking, a mysterious immortal-ranked item wasn’t worth anywhere near this amount of spirit stones. Could it be… that these two cultivators know something?
Some cultivators started becoming restless.
“One million and six hundred thousand spirit stones,” An Lin continued to place bids.
Huang Fuwen glowered at An Lin. “Fellow cultivator, you’re playing with fire…” he growled in a beastly voice.
An Lin rolled his eyes and snapped, “Price-raising Demon, I’m genuinely interested in that piece of wood. No one can take it away from me. Be careful not to raise the price beyond what you can afford.”
Huang Fuwen shook in fury. He gritted his teeth and yelled, “One million and eight hundred thousand spirit stones!”
An Lin raised his hand calmly. “Two million spirit stones!”
The cultivators in the auction hall drew in a sharp breath. Did spirit stones grow on trees? These two cultivators were really willing to pay this much for an immortal-rank item?
Just as Huang Fuwen was about to raise his hand to bid, the black pearl in his hand flashed brilliantly. “Stop bidding,” Elder Ming said. “Don’t forget what we’re here for. Don’t waste all your spirit stones on this item.”
Huang Fuwen took a deep breath and glared at An Lin furiously. Then, he slowly lowered his hand.
“Going once, going twice… sold!” The beautiful auctioneer officially confirmed that An Lin was the new owner of the mysterious black piece of wood.
A victorious smile emerged on An Lin’s face.
This Dao Integration Stage True Dragon’s bone marrow essence was a divine-rank material. He would purchase it even if it cost twenty million spirit stones, let alone two million spirit stones!
Huang Fuwen shot a cold glance at An Lin. I’ll let you be smug for a while, he whispered in his mind. What’s mine… will definitely be mine! No one can take it away from me!
He was hell-bent on obtaining that Dao Integration Stage True Dragon’s bone marrow essence.
At this moment, a pretty female walked up to An Lin.
There was a faint smile on her face. “Hi, your purchase involves a large sum of money, so could you please prove your wealth? Our Heavenly Treasure Pagoda needs to confirm that you can afford your purchase.”
Numerous cultivators looked toward An Lin with a sense of schadenfreude.
Huang Fuwen also stared at An Lin intently.
If An Lin had raised the price out of malice and didn’t actually have sufficient purchasing power, then he would die without even knowing how it was that he had died!
An Lin wasn’t surprised or annoyed in the least. He opened his storage ring and said indifferently, “Have a look for yourself.”
The pretty female cultivator sent her divine sense into An Lin’s storage ring.
Then, she was blinded by An Lin’s mountainous piles of spirit stones!
“My God…” There was a shocked expression on the female cultivator’s face as she stumbled backward. At the same time, she hurriedly lowered her head and apologized, “I’m so sorry, fellow cultivator. Sorry for doubting your wealth. It was my mistake to doubt you!”
The gloating cultivators were all dumbfounded.
What the f*ck… her expression changed far too quickly!
This seems so unreal!
Waves surged through Huang Fuwen’s mind, and he also stared at An Lin in shock.
He understood perfectly well why the female cultivator’s expression changed so drastically. That was because the wealth of the Mortal-tier cultivator was extremely astonishing!
He’s willing to sit in the Mortal tier even though he’s so rich… Is this cultivator better at concealing his strength and wealth than me?
An Lin ignored the reactions of the cultivators around him.
He merely waved his hand and said indifferently, “No problem. If you’re done checking, then you can leave now.”
“Yes.” The female cultivator nodded obediently before leaving.
Although An Lin had already repaid one hundred million spirit stones to Chang’e, there were still fifty-five million spirit stones remaining in his storage ring.
He didn’t know of any Return to Void Stage supreme beings who were as wealthy as him. Thus, it wasn’t surprising that the female cultivator was so shocked. He wasn’t someone that she could offend!
The auction continued on.
Huang Fuwen stopped bidding on items as if he was waiting for something.
Soon after, the auction for the last item—the Mysterious Snow Heavenly Ice Root—
began.
The starting price was one million and five hundred thousand spirit stones!
This was an extremely rare herb, and its value was no lesser than that of a high-rank immortal pill. Even so, the bidders raised their bids endlessly. The cultivators in the Heaven tier were especially feverish, and they raised their bids without a shred of hesitation.
An Lin’s gaze swam over the cultivators as he attempted to find his enemy.
The Dark Essence Crystal wasn’t auctioned, meaning that the enemy was here to purchase items, not to sell items. Thus, there was a high probability that his enemy was among the bidders who had purchased items!