Chapter 485: The Auction of Sacred Artifacts
On the third day of the auction, Cent City was far more bustling than the previous two days. Even before the auction hall opened, a dense crowd had already surrounded the entrance. Clearly, the appeal of sacred artifacts was unmatched by any other item. Although everyone knew there were only two sacred artifacts, and their ultimate owners would surely be two powerful figures from the VIP room, even the chance to watch couldn’t be easily missed.
Seeing this scene, Ye Feng shook his head helplessly and ordered the doors to be opened. The crowd surged in and quickly found their seats, waiting patiently. After some time, those from the VIP room also took their seats, while Ye Feng left Pearl and the others in the VIP room and entered the auction hall himself.
“I’m sorry for the wait. Today is the last day of this auction, and it’s the day when the last two items will be sold.” After two days, Long Tian’s delivery became smoother, and his control over the auction’s pace grew more precise. “I believe everyone knows what’s up for auction today—two mid-tier advanced sacred artifacts. Sacred artifacts aren’t from the divine realm, but since the sellers trust us enough to entrust these items to us for auction, we must not fail them. Now, let’s introduce our first item!”
Ye Feng slowly stepped onto the auction platform. At the moment of everyone’s surprise, he drew a long sword from his cloak behind him. The sword rose slowly from his hand, its tip pointing downward, stopping about five centimeters above his palm before beginning to spin under his control. A powerful pressure emanated from the sword, shocking many of the powerful figures present. “Is this a mid-tier sacred artifact?”
“The sword has no name. It will be named by someone destined to wield it,” Long Tian explained beside Ye Feng. “The starting bid is one billion. Each increase must be at least one billion. Auction begins!”
The reason for not setting a higher price was that Ye Feng took into account the ratio between Divine Realm crystals and divine artifacts: a lower-grade divine artifact required dozens of lower-grade divine crystals, a mid-grade one required hundreds, an upper-grade one required thousands, and an ultimate-grade divine artifact, being extremely rare, demanded hundreds of thousands of lower-grade divine crystals. As for super divine artifacts, their price was another twenty to thirty times higher, requiring at least millions. Sacred artifacts, in turn, had a price a hundred times higher, reaching hundreds of millions. The total number of such artifacts known in the entire Divine Realm could be counted on the fingers of one hand; even if someone could afford the price, it wasn’t certain they would be willing to sell. Mid-grade sacred artifacts were far more powerful than ordinary lower-grade ones, so it was normal for their price to be ten times higher. A billion? Honestly, this starting price wasn’t high at all. After all, these two weapons were the highest-grade weapons ever seen in the Divine Realm.
“The starting price is only a billion? I thought it would be between three and five billion. But this is fine too.” Many powerful figures secretly rejoiced.
However, their joy was only temporary, as bids kept coming in from the auction hall.
“One point one billion!”
“One point two billion!”
“One point five billion!”
“One point eight billion!”
“Two billion!”
……
In just a short while, the price doubled, reaching two billion.
“Two point one billion!”
“Two point two billion!”
“Two point four billion!”
“Two point seven billion!”
“Two point eight billion!”
“Two point nine billion!”
“Three billion!”
……
The frequency of bids gradually decreased, and the increments became smaller, but the price still quickly rose to the astronomical figure of three billion. At this point, the noise in the auction hall finally subsided, with the competition shifting to the VIP rooms.
“Three point one billion!”
“Three point three billion!”
“Three point eight billion!” Suddenly, an additional five billion was bid by VIP Room Number 6—the same one that had taken the last Ancestral God Core earlier. Hearing his bid, the other VIP rooms were stunned. After all, he had already spent two billion and could still afford three point eight billion—his wealth was truly astonishing.
“Hmph, let’s see how much more you can bid. Four billion!” A powerful figure from VIP Room Number 3 raised the bid again.
“Four point one billion,” came the voice from VIP Room Number 4.
“Four point three billion,” VIP Room Number 5 added without hesitation.
“Four point eight billion,” once again, it was VIP Room Number 6 with a large increase.
The other VIP rooms were filled with rage, but they couldn’t figure out who was in Room 6. The VIP rooms were protected by powerful isolation spells set up by Ye Feng, so even the strongest gods couldn’t detect any information at all. Moreover, as soon as a VIP arrived, staff would take them straight to their respective rooms, leaving no chance to see what the other VIPs looked like. After the auction ended, they were teleported directly to the entrance of the auction hall, with no spatial distortion. Upon arrival, they would find themselves among the departing crowd. Even if they occasionally encountered someone else who had been teleported out as well, they wouldn’t know which room that person came from.
“Hehe, it would be great if we could bid it away, but if not, we’ll still make you regret it.” There was only one person in Room 6—a round-faced young man with a slightly plump build, who was smiling wickedly as he watched the long sword in Ye Feng’s hands below.
“5 billion!” Voices of bidding could be heard from the VIP room again.
“5.1 billion!”
“5.2 billion!”
“5.4 billion!”
“5.9 billion!” This increase once again drew everyone’s attention to Room 6.
“Damn it, bastard! You’ve raised the bid by another 500 million in one go.”
“Who on earth is it? How much money do they have? 2 billion for just one divine essence, and nearly another 6 billion…”
“6.5 billion!” Room 3 suddenly became aggressive and raised the bid significantly. Inside Room 3, a middle-aged man with a fierce expression shouted, “I’m telling you to raise the bid!!!”
“6.6 billion.” After a brief silence, Room 6 raised the bid again.
“I don’t want to know who you are! If I do, I’ll skin you alive!!!” The middle-aged man in Room 3 was furious, his face twisted in anger. Gritting his teeth, he raised the bid further, “6.8 billion!!!”
The others found this amusing. They could easily imagine the furious expression of the strong man in Room 3.
“6.9 billion. Ah, please stop raising it…” A resigned voice came from Room 6.
“Hmph, 7 billion!” Room 3 snarled and continued to raise the bid without hesitation.
“Alright, you win!” It was one thing for Room 6 to stay silent, but those words made the strong man in Room 3 feel as if he were being mocked.
“Who on earth is it??? How dare they toy with me like this???” An extremely furious voice came from VIP Room Number 3. However, without pressing the bidding button, no sound from inside the VIP room could reach the outside.
“Seventy billion, first time… Seventy billion, second time… If no one bids higher, this sacred weapon will go to VIP Room Number 3. Seventy billion, third time! Congratulations to VIP Room Number 3 for bidding on this sacred weapon!!!” Long Tian’s voice echoed throughout the venue.
Ye Feng raised his head slightly with a smirk and glanced toward VIP Room Number 6. He naturally knew that the person in there was that young man with a round face, whose cultivation level wasn’t strong. Although he didn’t know his identity, his actions had undoubtedly helped Ye Feng by driving up the price. According to Ye Feng’s estimate, it would be good if the combined value of these two sacred weapons exceeded ten billion. But now, one of them was already selling for seventy billion, which made him extremely pleased.
After the first sacred weapon fetched such a high price, everyone had a rough idea of the price for the second one.
“Now, let’s begin bidding on the second sacred weapon,” Long Tian said, looking at Ye Feng.
Ye Feng once again took out another sacred weapon from his cloak—it was a long sword. This time, he held the hilt and displayed the sword with the blade pointing upward.
“The starting price is still one billion, with each increase being no less than one billion. Auction begins!” As soon as Long Tian finished speaking, a voice from VIP Room Number 6 rang out again.
“Sixty-nine billion! If no one bids higher, this sword is mine!”
At these words, everyone in the auction hall was stunned.
Even Ye Feng and Long Tian, two individuals with remarkable composure, were slightly taken aback.
Long Tian quickly reacted. “VIP Room Number 6 has bid sixty-nine billion. Is there anyone who can bid higher?”
“Seventy billion!” The voice from VIP Room Number 4 sounded somewhat resigned.
“Seventy-five billion!” VIP Room Number 5 suddenly raised the bid, clearly determined to get this long sword.
“Seventy-six billion!” VIP Room Number 4 refused to give up easily.
“Seventy-eight billion!” VIP Room Number 5 increased the bid by another two billion.
The venue fell into silence.
“Bid of 7.8 billion for VIP Room No. 5. Is there anyone offering more? 7.8 billion, first time… 7.8 billion, second time… Really, is there no one with a higher bid? 7.8 billion, third time. Congratulations to VIP Room No. 5 for winning the last item in today’s auction. The two items auctioned today have been acquired by VIP Room No. 3 and VIP Room No. 5 respectively. Staff will guide you to the trading hall shortly for the formal transaction. Those who need follow-up ordering services please press the service button, and staff will get in touch with you. The auction hall also offers escort services, but only for customers with a total transaction amount exceeding one billion. The escort fee is 10% of the transaction amount. Of course, customers who own VIP cards in the future can get a discount on the escort fee. Those who need this service please press the service button, and staff will contact you first.”
“Damn, they only take orders over one billion—meaning the escort fee alone is at least 100 million…” Such exorbitant fees indeed left everyone in the auction hall stunned.
“Hmm, if it’s Blade himself who provides the escort, the fee might be worth it,” said the young man with a round face from VIP Room No. 6, smiling as he pressed the service button.