Invincible Soul Emperor

Indeed, Liu Wan’er wasn’t the only one who was curious. After sitting down, Ye Qingchen realized he couldn’t directly find Deputy City Lord Xia Chengkai. Not wanting to waste time, his first action was to check the auction’s list of items to see if there was anything he needed.

However, the auction had already been underway for some time, and the initial lots had been sold. Although the remaining items were precious, they didn’t offer a significant improvement for Ye Qingchen. Ultimately, his gaze settled on the final auction item, and his pupils abruptly narrowed.

At that moment, the auctioneer’s gavel fell, announcing a successful sale. Just as everyone was eagerly awaiting the next item, the auctioneer adopted a mysterious expression and announced to the crowd, ”Ladies and gentlemen, due to the overwhelming success of this auction, the higher-ups at the First-Rate Pavilion have decided to add one last-minute item. This item is the corpse of a Beast King, a Spirit Beast whose strength in life reached the terrifying Sixth Layer of the Martial King Realm!”

The auctioneer’s words instantly ignited the atmosphere.

In the eyes of ordinary people, the Martial King Realm was an existence of supreme power; many lived their entire lives without ever witnessing such a being. Moreover, this was a Spirit Beast from the Sixth Layer of the Martial King Realm. Although it was dead, its value was immeasurable.

Watching the crowd below break into a buzz of discussion, the auctioneer smiled with satisfaction and continued, ”I’m sure you’re all curious about what kind of corpse could lead the First-Rate Pavilion to add it to the auction at the last minute. Now, please look this way.”

After speaking, the auctioneer pulled back a curtain behind him, revealing a huge Energy screen.

Ye Qingchen recognized this kind of screen as a type of Formation that wasn’t particularly high-level. Its principle was to transmit a scene from one location onto the screen via the Formation. A more advanced Formation could not only zoom in and out of the image at will but could also transmit the auras and energy signatures of the figures in the image. However, the Formation before them was not especially brilliant; it could only transmit the image itself.

As the screen lit up, the image of a massive Spirit Beast corpse appeared. It was the corpse of the Golden Star Lion King that Ye Qingchen had instructed Liu Wan’er to deliver.

The auctioneer pointed to the screen as he began his description. ”Ladies and gentlemen, this is a female Golden Star Lion King. Its corpse is perfectly preserved. The Golden Star Lion King is of the Metal Attribute, making its flesh an excellent choice for Qi Cultivation. Furthermore, its Beast Core Inner Pill is a great tonic for Martial Artists, and its fur is an essential material for crafting high-level Spiritual Artifacts. Of course, the uses for the Golden Star Lion King’s corpse are numerous, so I won’t list them all here. Now, I declare the starting bid at 60,000 Low-grade Spirit Stones! Each bid must be an increment of no less than 1,000 Low-grade Spirit Stones!”

After the auctioneer spoke, he struck his gavel, and the Martial Artists in the hall immediately began bidding. The Golden Star Lion King’s corpse had a wide range of uses. Even if one only took the parts they needed, the rest could be resold for Spirit Stones, making it an extremely worthwhile purchase. This motivated the Martial Artists to bid without reservation, as they knew they wouldn’t lose money no matter the final price.

Meanwhile, in one of the private rooms, Feng Yuan was exceptionally excited. He had been desperately searching for a Golden Star Lion King’s Beast Core and never expected to find one here. The Beast Core was of great use to him, as he needed it to forge a high-level Spiritual Artifact. He was only missing this one component, so he was determined to obtain the Golden Star Lion King’s corpse at all costs!

At this point, the enthusiasm of the bidders in the main hall was soaring. The price for the Golden Star Lion King’s corpse quickly climbed to 100,000 Low-grade Spirit Stones.

After the price broke 100,000 Low-grade Spirit Stones, the calls from the floor began to slow. Even the auctioneer figured that, at this rate, a final price of 150,000 Low-grade Spirit Stones would be quite good. For a Golden Star Lion King’s corpse, that price was still considered acceptable.

Liu Wan’er was overjoyed. She had never expected the Golden Star Lion King to be so valuable. The current price had already surpassed the Liu Family Commerce Guild’s annual profits.

”One hundred thirty thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones going once, one hundred thirty thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones going twice.”

The auctioneer swept his gaze over the crowd, slowly raising his gavel, but he held back, waiting to see if anyone would place another bid.

”Two hundred thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones!”

A light, airy voice drifted from a private room upstairs, silencing the entire venue. No one had expected someone to raise the bid by a full 70,000 Low-grade Spirit Stones in one go. This made it clear how determined the person was to acquire the Golden Star Lion King’s corpse. Moreover, anyone seated in a private room was undoubtedly a prominent figure in Northern Barrier City. With the price already at 200,000 Low-grade Spirit Stones, no one would dare to intentionally drive the price higher and offend someone in a private room.

Upon hearing the price jump to 200,000 Low-grade Spirit Stones, the auctioneer was ecstatic. He bowed respectfully in the direction of the private room, ready to declare the sale final. In his mind, this price was already quite high; any higher and it would exceed the Golden Star Lion King’s intrinsic value.

”Wait a moment. I bid three hundred thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones.”

Just as the auctioneer was about to bring his gavel down, Ye Qingchen slowly raised his hand and announced his bid.

The crowd stared in astonishment at the young man who had just raised the price by another 100,000 Low-grade Spirit Stones.

Liu Wan’er was even more puzzled. The Golden Star Lion King’s corpse originally belonged to Ye Qingchen, so why is he bidding on it? Is he not satisfied with two hundred thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones? But isn’t he afraid of raising the price too high and scaring the other bidder away? If he ends up buying back his own item, he’ll have to pay the First-Rate Pavilion’s commission fee for nothing. Why would he do that?

Little did Liu Wan’er know, Ye Qingchen had already recognized that the bidder who offered 200,000 Low-grade Spirit Stones was none other than Feng Yuan in his private room.

Of course, I don’t actually want to buy the Golden Star Lion King’s corpse. But this is a perfect opportunity to swindle Feng Yuan, so why not take it? Besides, he was confident that, given Feng Yuan’s arrogant and overbearing nature, a bid of 300,000 Low-grade Spirit Stones wouldn’t scare him off. On the contrary, it would ignite his competitive spirit.

Sure enough, after Ye Qingchen bid 300,000 Low-grade Spirit Stones, Feng Yuan barely hesitated before calling out, ”Three hundred fifty thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones!”

Normally, Feng Yuan wouldn’t be so impulsive, but seeing that the one bidding against him was Ye Qingchen, whom he despised, his anger flared.

It’s only a few hundred thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones. I am the son of the City Lord. You think I’m afraid of you?

Seeing that Feng Yuan had taken the bait, Ye Qingchen raised his placard again and called out a price of 370,000 Low-grade Spirit Stones.

Since I’m going to set a trap for him, I might as well make it a deep one!