Translator: Silavin & Tia
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
It was a pity that all the Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters were all intelligent people. How could they change their minds just because of somebody’s casual remarks?
Many of the cultivators in the hall secretly felt helpless. They originally thought that since the starting price for this Spirit Pill was only 2 million Open Heaven Pills, the final price would not be too high. Who could have thought that so many of the Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters would be so determined to bid for this item from the very beginning?
Therefore, many of the cultivators in the hall immediately gave up hope. This item was not something weaker cultivators like them could even dream about having. Only those backed by a powerful great force had the qualifications to participate in the competition.
After thirty breaths, the price had risen to a whopping 15 million Open Heaven Pills. In another ten breaths, the price became 19 million Open Heaven Pills.
The entire hall was in an uproar. Up until now, the Scarlet Yin Sand that Yang Kai acquired at a price of 26 million was the highest priced item sold at the auction. Since then, no other auction item has sold for more than 5 million. And now, the price of the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill in addition to its recipe had quickly broken through 20 million and might even surpass the price of the Scarlet Yin Sand.
It was just that a price like this had more or less reached the upper limits of the price range. There was only one Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill after all. The pill recipe might be valuable, but it was not guaranteed that one could obtain any results from researching it even after purchasing the item. If one could not figure out a replacement for the main ingredient, which was the famed World Source Liquid, then all the previous efforts would be in vain.
The Open Heaven Realm Masters present were not fools. Even with the backing of their respective great forces, 20 million was not a small sum. It was not an amount that could be waved around casually; hence, only three private rooms continued to bid for the auction item after the price exceeded 20 million.
A short while later, another party bowed out of the bidding. Only Room A5 and Room B2 continued to compete against each other fiercely. The moment one party made an offer, the other party would immediately follow suit. It would seem that they were extremely interested in the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill and its pill recipe.
When the price exceeded 25 million, the Open Heaven Realm Master in Room B2 suddenly let out a gloomy sigh and spoke up loudly, “Brother Teng Wang, this auction item is very useful for this Ye. Can you concede to me this once? This Ye will be very grateful and will owe you a favour, which will surely be repaid in the future!”
The moment this person’s voice rang out, the Proprietress looked pensive and soon muttered, “It’s those two?”
Yang Kai became curious, “Proprietress, do you know those two?”
She replied, “If I’m not wrong, then the person in Room B2 is Ye Jian of Thunderclap Hall while the other person Teng Wang of Clear Heart Palace. No wonder they are willing to go to such lengths to bid for this item.”
Sure enough, the person in Room A5 responded, “Brother Ye Jian, are you saying that this item is useless to me just because it is very useful for you? I am going to win this auction.”
Ye Jian sighed, “Why do you have to do this? Competing between ourselves will only benefit others. Why don’t we do it this way instead, Brother Teng Wang? This Ye only wants the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill. If you are willing to back down, this Ye will share the pill recipe with you. What do you think?”
Teng Wang laughed, “What a coincidence. I was just about to suggest the same thing. Brother Ye Jian, if you are willing to back down, then I can also share the pill recipe with you.”
Inside Room B2, Ye Jian fell silent for a moment before he revealed his dissatisfaction, “So, you plan to compete with this Ye to the end, Brother Teng Wang?”
“Brother Ye, feel free to quit early if you don’t think you can win. That way, both sides won’t have to suffer so much.”
“Hmph! You sure are arrogant, Brother Teng Wang. It’s not like this Ye does not know exactly how much Clear Heart Palace can afford to spend here. Since you stubbornly insist, Brother Teng Wang, then let’s compete to the end. We’ll see who has the last laugh!”
The conversation between those two ended there but nobody spoke another word and the auction hall suddenly fell into a strange silence.
Inside Room A3, Old Bai curiously wondered, “Proprietress, these two guys are only interested in the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill. Although they are doing this for their Juniors, isn’t the price a little too high?”
The Proprietress explained, “You don’t understand. They have their reasons to compete so desperately. Let’s talk about Teng Wang of Clear Heart Palace. He received a Legacy Disciple several hundred years ago. That disciple has extremely outstanding aptitude and was expected to advance into the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm directly. However, rumour has it that he damaged his Dao Seal during a battle; therefore, he has not dared to advance into the Open Heaven Realm even though hundreds of years had passed since then. He has been holding off on condensing his final Element Power. If Teng Wang could obtain the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill, then his disciple could try breaking through. It is very possible that it will lead to the birth of a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master in Clear Heart Palace.”
“So that’s how it is!” Yang Kai understood.
“What about Ye Jian of the Thunderclap Hall?” Old Bai asked.
The Proprietress continued her explanation, “Their situations are similar. It is just that, in the case of the Thunderclap Hall, it is one of Ye Jian’s sons who forcefully condensed Sixth-Order Elements despite not having the necessary aptitude. There was nothing to worry about at the beginning, but as the Powers condensed in his Dao Seal began to increase, the dangers subsequently became greater. Without some external aid to stabilize his breakthrough, I’m afraid Ye Jian’s son will never reach the Open Heaven Realm. He will die the moment he tries to advance. However, this dilemma will be solved with the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill.”
Yang Kai nodded in understanding, “Compared to a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, 20 million Open Heaven Pills is definitely a worthwhile investment. If they can obtain a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, then their heritage will increase like a rising tide that lifts all boats. Why would they worry about a trifling 20 or so million Open Heaven Pills?”
She nodded, “That is the case. Why else do you think these two parties are competing so fiercely?”
“I understand now.” Yang Kai nodded again and placed a bid without warning, “25 million!”
The Proprietress just glanced lightly at him, not feeling surprised. Since he had World Source Liquid in his possession, there was no reason for him to ignore this auction. If she were in his shoes, she would also participate in the bidding.
The reason Yang Kai kept quiet earlier was just that he could not be bothered to waste his energy. He currently had several billion Open Heaven Pills in hand so it could be said that he was very wealthy. Only by placing his bid at the last moment to finalise the offer could he display his overwhelming confidence. It also served as a method to screen out other bidders to a certain extent.
Almost everybody in the hall looked towards Room A3 the moment Yang Kai’s bid rang out. Ye Jian and Teng Wang’s last bid was only slightly over 20 million after all. Yang Kai had added almost 4 million Open Heaven Pills to the bid in one go. It truly was as the saying went, ‘It never rains but pours’. It was absolutely shocking the moment he made his move.
Nevertheless, they immediately understood when they realised that it was the private room belonging to the person who bought the Scarlet Yin Sand earlier. Yang Kai was a person who spent 26 million to purchase one portion of Scarlet Yin Sand. It stood to reason that he would not care to spend another 25 million to purchase the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill and its pill recipe.
“26 million!” Teng Wang’s voice came out from Room A5.
Yang Kai was stunned upon hearing that. Teng Wang and Ye Jian had clearly reached a point in their bidding where they could no longer afford to bear the cost. That was why the price increase was not large with each bid they made. If not for that, he would not have increased the price to 25 million in one go. It was to make Teng Wang and Ye Jian back down in the face of difficulties.
[Teng Wang had reached his limits, so why did he suddenly add another million to his bid this time?] Before Yang Kai could understand the situation, Ye Jian’s voice rang out from Room B2, “27 million!”
[Could it be that those two were just acting just now?] Yang Kai was a little confused. Nevertheless, he could not be bothered to think too much about it. Unlike these two who were interested in the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill, he was only interested in the pill recipe. More so since he had World Source Liquid in his possession. The pill recipe might be useless to others, but it had the potential to play a huge role in his hands.
Naturally, he needed to obtain the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill as well. If he could study the finished Spirit Pill, then he could understand the pill recipe much faster. Otherwise, it would take a lot of time and effort to refine a Spirit Pill just by referring to the pill recipe alone.
Yang Kai immediately followed up after Ye Jian, “30 million!”
The sound of people inhaling sharply could be heard throughout the hall. Even the old man presiding over the auction looked surprised. It would seem that he never expected this item to reach such a high price.
The auction house would assess the value of each item and estimate a price before the bidding even began. Red Clouds Auction House had estimated the value of this Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill and its pill recipe to be around 20 million or so. But now, it has exceeded their estimation by 50%. Moreover, it seemed that this was not the end yet. This was a huge pleasant surprise for the auction house. Be that as it may, the auction house would surely hope that the price would go as high as it possibly could; after all, who would dislike earning more money than expected?
“31 million!” Teng Wang’s voice sounded like he was gritting his teeth. It was no longer as calm and relaxed as before.
“32 million!” Similarly, Ye Jian’s voice was anxious and annoyed.
Yang Kai couldn’t help scratching his head and murmuring under his breath, “What is up with these two?”
He initially thought that 25 million Open Heaven Pills would be the final price for this item. Who could have expected Teng Wang and Ye Jian to continue even though he went so far as to raise the price to 30 million?
On the other hand, the Proprietress was as intelligent as she was beautiful and solved the mystery with a single sentence, “They are probably cooperating with others.”
“Cooperating?” Yang Kai glanced over suspiciously.
She replied, “Both Teng Wang and Ye Jian mentioned previously that they only wanted the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill. That was why they both refused to back down earlier; however, there are so many great forces present here. Not everybody desires the Spirit Pill. On the contrary, more people will be interested in the pill recipe. It is probably that one or more great forces have approached Teng Wang and Ye Jian with a proposal to share the pill recipe if they win the auction. In that case, those great forces will only need to contribute a few million Open Heaven Pills each. If they pooled their contributions together, they would gain the chance to obtain a rare pill recipe. Even if the pill recipe proves useless afterward, the losses for them will not be too large.”
After listening to her explanation, Yang Kai immediately understood. It was the truth that the previous price of over 20 million had reached the limits of what Teng Wang and Ye Jian could bear. Being so cautious when increasing their bid had not been an act. Rather, the reason they could be so bold at this point was that they received financial aid from others.
“If you wish to continue bidding, then you only need to bid once more.” She smiled slightly, “Even if they received funding from others, the amount would not be too large. Slightly over 30 million should be their limit. They won’t follow up again unless they are insane.”
As such, Yang Kai did not hesitate, “35 million!”
Inside Room A5, Teng Wang was furious and roared, “Who is this fellow who is playing jokes with this King!? Announce your name!”
Ye Jian also said, “Friend, you are being excessive.”
The Proprietress sneered and spoke for the first time, “Why are you making so much noise just because this Great Aunt is bidding for something? Go ahead and increase the price if you have the money. If not, then shut up. Don’t embarrass yourselves here!”
