At the front left corner of the room stood an exquisite hourglass, with all the sand still in the upper half. It was apparently used for timing, and once the auction ended, all the sand would have fallen through.
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Nolan Auction House. I am Nalan Xiao, and I will be the auctioneer for today’s event. Please maintain order and refrain from doing anything inappropriate.”
As a melodious female voice echoed through the room, a voluptuous and stunning woman entered through the grand golden doors of the auction hall and stepped onto the auction stage. At the same time, the sand in the hourglass at the upper left corner of the room began to flow downward.
Li Tan swept his spiritual energy over the woman and muttered, “Late Xiantian, maybe even higher. This woman should only be in her early twenties; she must have an extraordinary background.”
The woman stepped onto the half-meter-high auction platform and turned around with a flirtatious smile, exuding extreme charm.
Instantly, a wave of youthful commotion erupted from the crowd.
“Ooooh! Isn’t that Miss Nalan? She’s truly as beautiful as a celestial being!”
“It’s actually her hosting the auction today. Hehe, even if I don’t get to bid on what I want, it’s still worth coming.”
“Worth it even if I don’t get anything!”
“Worth it even if I pay money and get nothing!”
Li Tan, inside the auction room—or more precisely, the VIP room—curled his lips in indifference.
No wonder Nolan Auction House is a seasoned veteran in the auction business. They’re willing to go to any lengths to maximize profits. Using a woman, and such a gorgeous one, as an auctioneer—what they’re after is as obvious as Sima Zhao’s ambitions.
Moreover, Li Tan had absolutely no interest in this woman. This wasn’t just a pretentious statement, nor was it implying anything about his sexual orientation—it was literally that he wasn’t interested; she just wasn’t his type.
Why was that? It wasn’t because he had any abnormal tendencies. It was simply because after spending so much time with Tang Leyin, he had become immune to ordinary levels of beauty.
Nalan Xiao didn’t seem to mind the lustful gazes around her. Instead, she smiled appreciatively, scanning the crowd before formally announcing, “The auction begins now. Next, I will introduce the first auction item.” Her voice stopped abruptly as the golden doors opened again. A dignified maid entered, carefully carrying a tray covered with red cloth. She walked along the red carpet to the auction stage, gently placed the tray down, and then left.
With a charming smile, Nalan Xiao theatrically lifted the red cloth, revealing an object resembling a bamboo scroll to everyone’s view.
She paused for several seconds, allowing everyone to see the item clearly before speaking, “This is a fire-attribute martial arts manual named Shui Yin Gong, ranked at the lower level of Xuan Tier.”
This announcement was like a nuclear bomb detonating, immediately causing a massive uproar.
Everyone in attendance widened their eyes in disbelief, exclaiming loudly.
Everyone knew that even a lower Xuan Tier manual was already a treasure-level asset for most families. Take Li Tan’s Li Clan as an example—the highest-tier martial arts they possessed was merely lower Xuan Tier, which Li Zhen cherished like a priceless treasure. Yet such a high-level martial technique was being presented as the very first item! Even Li Tan was somewhat surprised.
However, his surprise differed slightly from others’. While most were astonished that such a powerful item appeared so early, Li Tan was more surprised that something of lower Xuan Tier would appear so early in this place.
At the same time, he felt even more anticipation.
This indicated a greater possibility that he might encounter something he needed.
Even if he couldn’t afford it when he saw it, well, not being able to buy it didn’t mean he couldn’t “borrow” it. Once the item left the auction house, he could go “borrow” it and repay it later when he had the means.
After the waves of murmuring gradually subsided, Nalan Xiao continued her introduction, “This item was accidentally acquired by a senior cultivator. Since his martial arts attribute is water, which counters fire, he decided to sell it. With minor mastery, one can easily split solid rocks. With major mastery, one can manipulate all surrounding water for attacks. And if it happens to be raining…”
Her voice trailed off dramatically. Nalan Xiao smiled gently at the crowd, who had fallen into pin-drop silence, barely swallowing audibly.
“Ladies and gentlemen, if you’re tempted, then place your bids quickly! The starting price is fifty purple gold coins!”
Fifty purple gold coins equated to one thousand gold coins—roughly half a year’s income for many small families.
If that were all, it might not seem too unreasonable—a decent price, even.
But this was merely the starting bid.
“One hundred purple gold coins!”
“One hundred and fifty purple gold coins!”
“Two hundred purple gold coins!”
The price skyrocketed several times in quick succession, causing many eager gazes to dim. Inside the VIP room, Li Tan was speechless.
This was only the very beginning, yet the price had already soared past one hundred.
Forget purple gold coins—even if they were regular gold coins, he still couldn’t afford it.
Peacefully bidding for desired items at this auction now seemed like an impossible dream. If absolutely necessary, he might have no choice but to resort to underhanded methods.
Li Tan curled his lips again and silently observed the unfolding situation.
Eventually, the first item, Shui Yin Gong, was sold to someone from the regular seating area for two hundred and fifty purple gold coins.
Seeing this, Li Tan mused that he was likely the poorest person in the VIP section.
The auction continued.
After the maid removed the Shui Yin Gong, someone immediately brought up the second tray. It contained an herb commonly used for refining third-tier pills—something Li Tan somewhat desired, though he lacked the means.
Third, fourth, fifth—the auction items were successively presented, fetching decent prices. Finally, the tenth auction item arrived. Since there were twenty items in total, this meant the auction had reached its halfway point.
The tenth item was a cauldron nearly half a person tall.
Nalan Xiao introduced, “This item was accidentally acquired by a mercenary. After appraisal, it was confirmed to be forged from Xuan Iron, possessing excellent temperature-stabilizing properties. It is extremely beneficial for refining pills below the fourth tier. When refining first- or second-tier pills, it can even increase success rates by twenty percent. If there are any alchemists among us, you surely understand its value better than I do. The starting price is sixty purple gold coins.”
As her words ended, there were still some discussions, though not as intense as before. On the continent of Jiuzhou, alchemists were inherently rare. To ordinary people, a pill cauldron was no different from a random roadside stone.
Thus, for the first time in the auction, no one placed a bid.
Li Tan actually wanted to bid quite badly. But upon checking his funds, he realized he could barely scrape together sixty gold coins. He had no intention of bidding if he couldn’t afford to pay, as doing so might provoke trouble with the outside experts—especially that Master-level cultivator. He could only give up.
Nalan Xiao awkwardly asked, “Is there truly no one bidding?”
No one responded. This item would likely end up unsold.
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