Chapter 8: Auction (Part 2)

As they spoke, the Cave Thunder Lightning Talismans had already been bid at 36,000. Guo Shier said, “Don’t worry about the money. Heh, it seems the gold talismans here are really valuable.”
Nan You replied, “Of course they’re valuable…” Suddenly, he raised his voice, “37,000!”
An old man weakly said, “38,000!”
Guo Shier whispered, “Don’t argue over small amounts. Just bid 48,000!”
Nan You was shocked and said, “Isn’t that too high?”
Just then, Xian Xuan’s gentle voice rang out, “38,000. If no one bids any more, that will be the final price. Is there anyone else interested?”
Guo Shier gave Nan You a sharp push. Nan You immediately shouted, “48,000!”
This bid stunned everyone in the room. Who bid like this? This wasn’t the outside continent— the gold talismans of Da Qian Fort were backed by various rare materials and talismanic items.
The old man glanced at Nan You, sighed, and stopped bidding further. The set of Cave Thunder Lightning Talismans ended up in Nan You’s hands as he successfully won them. Yet he felt immense pain. Although Guo Shier had said he could use them freely without expecting repayment, he couldn’t really avoid paying back. So he still had to find a way to obtain those gold talismans.
Xian Xuan smiled satisfactorily and said, “The next treasure up for auction is a bottle of third-grade sacrificial pills, also known as Treasure Talisman Pills. These pills are of excellent quality, with a total of six pills. The auction begins now—starting price: 10,000 gold talismans!”
There was some stir among the crowd.
The handsome old man said, “Bid on it. No amount is too much for this!”
A few experts in virtual altar techniques began bidding, and the price of the Treasure Talisman Pills quickly rose from 10,000 gold talismans to 20,000. Guo Shier didn’t hesitate and said, “30,000!” That was a jump of 10,000 at once. The experts furious at the bid glared at Guo Shier intently.
One of them shouted, “31,000!”
Guo Shier casually replied, “40,000!”
That person grunted, “41,000!”
Guo Shier said, “50,000!”
Discussion arose everywhere. The price was far too high; bidding any more would be a loss.
The man snapped, “51,000!”
Guo Shier, also annoyed, calmly said, “60,000!” After all, many funds had been pledged with the Seven-Colored Star, so he didn’t care how much he spent on the Treasure Talisman Pills. Since it was something the handsome old man wanted, he definitely wouldn’t give up.
The man was furious and stared at Guo Shier fiercely, as if ready to devour him.
Guo Shier asked nonchalantly, “Nan You, who is this guy?”

Nanyou said, “It belongs to the Ancient Crane Family. It’s a Virtual Form Altar. He Da Ji is a rather domineering guy.”
He Da Ji didn’t expect someone as advanced as a Great Sage to compete with him. Fuming, he shouted, “Sixty-one thousand!”
Guo Shier thought, “Competing with me over money? Hehe.” He immediately called out, “One hundred thousand!” Then he gave He Da Ji a provocative glance. Professionals are very sensitive; those who have reached the Virtual Form Altar stage can clearly sense unhidden soul fluctuations. So He Da Ji knew full well Guo Shier’s disdainful attitude.
Angry, He Da Ji yelled, “One hundred and ten thousand!” This time he raised the price by ten thousand at once.
Guo Shier stood up and bowed, saying, “You win!” Then he sat down smiling, thinking, “I’m going to ruin you!”
Xianxuan laughed and said, “One hundred and ten thousand! One hundred and ten thousand… Is there any more bidding?”
Only a fool would raise the price further. This amount was already enough to buy five bottles of Treasure Talisman Pills, unless those pills were of the fifth rank. It was really not worth it to bid such a high price for just a third-rank pill. In fact, He Da Ji also planned to trick Guo Shier, intending to let Guo Shier bid again so he could watch the joke unfold. But unexpectedly, Guo Shier stopped first, leaving him so frustrated he almost spat blood.
Xianxuan said, “Alright, one hundred and ten thousand. This third-rank Treasure Talisman Pill is yours.” She paused, then a servant came in with a tray holding a small talisman box.
Xianxuan continued, “The next item for auction is a semi-finished sacrificial treasure, which is almost completely refined. It’s of the first rank and suitable for experts using Virtual Form Altars or first-layer Physical Form Altars. It consists of 108 green wood needles with wood attributes. The starting bid is two hundred thousand gold talisman coins. Auction begins now.”
The handsome old man said, “I don’t want this. Let someone else bid it.”
Nanyou became interested again, but he had borrowed money to buy the last item. He didn’t dare bid on these 108 green wood needles, so he could only watch as prices kept rising until they were finally bought by a professional who had just reached the Virtual Form Altar stage. He couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.
Xianxuan said, “Hehe, another bottle of Treasure Talisman Pills. This time they’re of the fourth rank, with ten pills in total. The starting bid is fifty thousand. Friends who need them may bid now.” She deliberately glanced at Guo Shier.

He Da Ji’s face was as black as the bottom of a pot, filled with hatred. He gritted his teeth in fury—how could he have spent 110,000 to buy a third-grade treasure pill? Although sacrificial pills were rare, they weren’t extremely precious. How had he lost his head and decided to compete with others? He wanted to get involved, but he was short of money. That single bid had already taken up most of his gold talisman funds. If he bid again, he would need to pledge more, but it was already too late for that.

Guo Shier directly said, “60,000!”

None of the professionals present raised their bids further. They all knew Guo Shier was a reckless guy. Getting tricked by him would be a huge loss. So, the item was sold to him for 60,000 gold talismans.

Xian Xuan shook her head secretly and said, “The next item for bidding is a complete set of materials… enough for a professional to advance from a high-level Great Sage to a Virtual Form Altar. This set includes both the main and auxiliary materials needed to construct the Virtual Form Altar. The starting bid is 300,000 gold talismans!”

Guo Shier immediately bid. The advancement materials he had collected weren’t useful to him, and what was left was only enough for Eagle Demon alone. By the time Luo Zhan reached the level of a high-level Great Sage, some materials would be missing. So, he joined the bidding without hesitation. With 2 million at his disposal, he had plenty of room to play around.

The bid kept rising from 300,000 to 900,000, with three people still competing. Among them, Guo Shier was the most aggressive. While others increased their bids by 10,000 at a time, he jumped by 100,000 each time, leaving the other two with no room to counter. Most of those bidding were professionals above the Virtual Form Altar level, preparing materials for their apprentices and disciples. If the price got too high, they would give up and wouldn’t act recklessly.

But Guo Shier didn’t care. He was determined to win at any cost.

After a while, the price soared to an alarming level, exceeding 1 million. Guo Shier calmly said, “1.2 million!” The price had quadrupled. Only one person was left competing, but his confidence was clearly waning.

Nervously, he called out 1.21 million, his forehead sweating from stress. Guo Shier said, “1.3 million.” After saying that, he glanced at the man, knowing he was just trying to hold on. Although it didn’t matter to him, if the man tried again, he wouldn’t hesitate to trick him.

After struggling for a while, the man finally stopped bidding.

A few more items were auctioned, but Guo Shier didn’t bid on any of them, mainly because Old Shuai didn’t think they were worth it.

Xianxuan said, “This item for auction is a set of three natural runes. They’re not original natural runes but replicated natural runes that have been processed again, retaining 40% of the original runes’ power. The starting bid is… 150,000. Bidding begins now.”

Guo Shier and the handsome old man exchanged words: “Should we bid on it?”

The handsome old man hesitated for a moment before saying, “Who replicated these? They only retain less than half of the original runes’ power. This person is really incompetent. If they could retain half of the power, it would be worth bidding on. With such low power… it’s not worth it. Well, if it’s bought at the reserve price, it might be usable, but at a higher price, it’s meaningless.”

Guo Shier also hesitated for a while, but he quickly realized that the handsome old man had high standards. Just because he disapproved didn’t mean the item was really poor—otherwise, it wouldn’t have been put up for auction here. He still had plenty of gold runes, so he simply joined the bidding.

In the end, the three runes went to Guo Shier, with the final bid reaching 370,000. After calculating, he still had hundreds of thousands left, so he should be able to bid on another item.

Many of the great sage masters present were puzzled. They didn’t understand why Guo Shier, who was also a great sage master, was participating in the auction so openly. This was an auction only super professionals could attend.

But after thinking it over, they understood. Given Guo Shier’s confidence, it was obvious he was a core or elite disciple of his family, full of self-assurance, and his wealth was even enough to overshadow some experts from the Virtual Altar sect. Everyone showed a hint of envy on their faces.

The auction was coming to an end. Xianxuan said, “The last two items for auction. First, the first item: ten high-quality colorful stars, with a reserve price of one million. Well, those interested can come up and take a look.”

Guo Shier was stunned and whispered, “Uncle Eagle Demon, the colorful stars we got should be worth twenty, right?”

Eagle Demon nodded. “Yes, those are our colorful stars. They should be auctioned in two batches. Ten will be auctioned now, and the other ten at the next auction. They explained this when I went to pledge them for auction.”

Guo Shier said, “I didn’t expect colorful stars to be so precious.”

Guo Shier noticed that not only many experts from the Virtual Altar sect came to take a look but also several experts from the Real Altar sect who hadn’t bid yet, including He Daming, Fahua, Mo Si Du, and Yuan Kaocheng from the Blood Clan.

After a while, everyone started bidding.

The price soared rapidly from the start, and after several rounds, only Mo Sidu, Fahua, and Yuan Kaocheng were left competing. Soon, the price reached one million six hundred thousand.
These experts in tangible altars bid more rationally than those specializing in intangible altars. When Yuan Kaocheng offered one million nine hundred thousand, Mo Sidu gave up. She laughed and said, “An old woman like me can’t compete with you guys. Hehe, I’ll give up. You go ahead and fight over it.”
Fahua said, “Two million!”
Yuan Kaocheng hesitated for a moment before saying, “Since Brother Fahua needs it so much, I won’t compete either.”
Guo Shier sighed secretly, thinking, “These old guys are too calm; they won’t lose their heads over a piece of material. Well, two million is not bad either. There will be another auction next time, and the gold talismans we get will be enough.”
Xianxuan said, “The last item up for auction.”
Everyone’s attention immediately focused on the stage, and Guo Shier also watched with interest.