“500 million!”
As expected, someone quickly made a bid; and it was from a customer in the second-floor pavilion. However, he did use the restriction to alter his voice; and no one was able to find out about his information.
“600 million!”
Another pavilion on the second floor made the bid, and before his voice even fell silent, an aged voice from the large pavilion on the third floor echoed, “One billion!”
Swish! Swish!
Many people swept a look at the pavilion. When they saw that it was the third pavilion that the Nangong Clan was in, they were all shock as this was the first time the four major clans made a bid.
After the Nangong Clan made their bid, there was silence as no one else dared to raise the price. There were still 500 hundred more Heaven Paintings, and there was no need for them to offend the Nangong Clan.
Who knew…?
The second batch of 100 Heaven Paintings was similarly bid by the Lei Clan while the third batch was bid by the Huangfu Clan. All of them were sold for one billion celestial stones, causing Qian Wanguan’s mouth to twitch as his heart could feel the extreme pain.
In the fourth batch, the Gu Clan of the 13 Clans made their bid and immediately raised the bid to one billion celestial stones. Immediately after, no one else increased the price.
During the last two hundred Heaven Paintings, those larger clans didn’t bother anymore. Even though the 13 Clans were also making their bids, they too started to compete. Otherwise, all the Heaven Paintings would be snatched by the 13 Clans, and there would be nothing left for them.
Just as Situ Yinian mentioned, the artist of the Heaven Paintings might become an Art Emperor. Since that artist could produce 600 Heaven Paintings, it meant that the artist already grasped the ability to condense the dao pattern into the painting. As soon as the artist’s painting skill improved and produce several high-standard Heaven Paintings, that artist would be titled as an Art Emperor.
The prices were increasing rapidly, and on the fifth batch of painting, the final bid was made by the 13 Clans’ Chen Clan who bought it for the sky-high price of three billion. As for the final 100 Heaven Paintings, the price was further increased to five billion.
“Such a huge loss, huge loss. Boss, I have let you down…”
Qian Wanguan was scowling miserably and howling at Jiang Yi. The latter smacked Qian Wanguan’s head and laughed with a little annoyance. “Fool, what huge loss? If the prices are higher now, our three paintings, later on, will definitely sell for an even higher extravagant price!”
“That’s true!”
Qian Wanguan was immediately cheerful while Feng Luan and the others had bright eyes. All of them were extremely excited. If such a standard of Heaven Paintings could be sold for such prices, what kind of price would the three paintings fetch later on? No one could imagine it.
The final batch of Heaven Paintings was bought by a pavilion on the third floor, but they didn’t seem to be from the 13 Clans as Situ Yinian didn’t announce their names. With the first segment of the auction ending, Situ Yinian went down for a rest, while a group of alluring women came on stage to perform a dance during the intermission.
“Twelve billion for 600 Heaven Paintings. Each painting was sold for an average of 20 million celestial stones. The Qu Clan just profited big time!”
Once Qian Wanguan calculated the profits, he felt pain once again. Jiang Yi didn’t bother at all as he concentrated on listening to the voices coming in through the crystal ball. He grinned when he heard many discussions on who exactly was Yi Piaopiao.
He believed the influential merchants from the East Imperial Continent were definitely in this auction. After all, with all the influential figures from the Gods Bestow Tribe in this place, this auction was the best place to earn a profit. There were plenty of rare treasures in the East Imperial Continent that couldn’t be found in Gods Bestow Tribe. In fact… he even suspected that the final batch of Heaven Paintings was actually bought by a huge merchant association from the East Imperial Continent. Otherwise, the price wouldn’t be so high.
After resting for 15 minutes, Situ Yinian came on-stage again, this time—with a different dress. The green long dress made her look exceptionally refreshing and had a drastic difference in atmosphere when compared to her earlier dress.
“Alright, the second segment of the auction shall now begin. The first item is also a pseudo-divine artifact!”
Situ Yinian first statement caused a huge commotion in the hall. In the past, the auctions would only have two to three pseudo-divine artifacts at best. This time, the second pseudo-divine artifact had already appeared in the second segment of the auction. Most importantly, how many more cardinal treasures would there be in the third segment?
Unimaginable…
When the 20th item appeared, the whole hall was flared up, and Jiang Yi was even more certain that the merchants from the East Imperial Continent were participating in the auction. The item was three stalks of Sky Aromatic Herb, which was only inferior to the Destitute Dragon Grass and was also meant for cleansing the marrow and meridians.
It was said that this item could only be found on the tallest Mt. East Imperial on the East Imperial Continent. Every year, only 100 stalks would be produced; and Mt. East Imperial was the She Clan’s territory. How could any regular individual obtain such a treasure?
The three stalks of Sky Aromatic Herb were sold for the drastic prices of eight billion, nine billion, and eight and a half billion. They were bought by the Lei Clan, the Huangfu Clan, and the Nangong Clan respectively. The rest of the 13 Clans had also competed during the auction. Although the herb was far inferior to the Destitute Dragon Grass, it was too rare; and the 13 Clans didn’t have a lack of wealth. They naturally wanted to bid it for their descendants to use and reform their bodies.
With the price of nine billion appearing, would ten billion be far away?
Everyone was having high expectations. Jiang Yi didn’t have any interest in the Sky Aromatic Herbs; neither did he have the celestial stones to bid for them. He was paying attention to Big Sister Bell and Huangfu Taotian. Big Sister Bell didn’t speak since the beginning of the auction while Huangfu Taotian merely lifted his head to take a glance at the Sky Aromatic Herb before closing his eyes to rest. It seemed as though he had simply come inside here to take a nap.
That demon race princess didn’t speak as well. She was merely curious about the human’s treasures and didn’t have any desire to purchase them. Of course, it was possible that she found it embarrassing to make a bid as it would seem like she was taking advantage of others, as many clans would take the initiative to pay the celestial stones for her. This would also mean that she would owe others a favor, and someone of such esteemed status would never want to owe someone else a favor.
As the items were sold one after the other, Qian Wanguan, Feng Luan, and the others were getting nervous. The second segment of the auction was about to end, and Situ Hong had mentioned that the three paintings were going to be used at the finale of the auction’s second segment.
“Alright!”
After an ancient seal had been auctioned, Situ Yinian let out a big smile and said, “The second segment of the auction has come to an end. Now it’s time for the finale auction item!”
The crowd was absolutely silent. The Heaven Paintings in the first segment had been sold for 12 billion celestial stones. How much would the finale item of the second segment be sold for?
Three female attendants walked onto the stage while carrying three wooden zen boxes. When Qian Wanguan saw the boxes he immediately laughed loudly. “Boss, it is those three paintings. The Situ Clan’s reputation isn’t bad; they really auctioned them as the finale items.”
Jiang Yi’s eyes lit up like stars. These three paintings didn’t merely represent celestial stones; he had hoped that the name “Yi Piaopiao” would be made known to the entire Stellarsky Domain. It would allow his mother to know how he… missed her.
With a wave of Situ Yinian’s hand, one of the female attendants brought the first painting forward and opened up the wooden zen box. She then carefully took out a painting which was framed and covered by a red cloth. The female attendant then gently tugged on the red cloth to reveal the painting to everyone.
This was the painting ‘Sorrow’ which was Jiang Bieli lifting a token with a single hand and rushing towards the giant palm print in the sky without second thoughts. This character painting was very lifelike as the unswerving determination in Jiang Bieli’s eyes and his resolute expression was vividly painted.
“Another Heaven Painting?”
“Yi Piaopiao? A character painting? This painting can be used as the finale item of the second segment? How much celestial stones could a painting be worth?”
“Something isn’t right… this painting isn’t like the earlier “Volcano Eruption in the Sea” painting. It seems like it is suffocating the heart…”
“That’s right. I have a feeling when I see this painting, an indescribable feeling of wanting to cry…”
“…”
There was a clamor at the bottom as many of the people were expressing doubts, but they gradually turned silent. The entire auction hall was in silence as they were all locking their eyes onto the painting. Many of them felt their hearts were touched and were immersed in this indescribable sorrow.
“That’s right! This is ‘Sorrow’. This is a mystical painting, and the artist is also Yi Piaopiao. This painting has a magical ability that could cause people to automatically sink into sorrow. Yinian has observed this painting multiple times, and every time, tears would stream down her face. Yinian isn’t someone who understands paintings, but she thinks if a simple painting could bring tears and sorrow to someone, it is a divine painting. Now we shall begin the auction of this painting. The base price is one billion, and every increase shall be no less than 100 million!”
Situ Yinian’s voice wasn’t able to maintain the steadiness this time as it was slightly trembling and softer. Her sobbing-like voice had made the entire hall even quieter as no one made a single sound for at least ten breaths of time.
“Eh… no one is making a bid? Damn it, why did the Situ Clan set such a high price? If not one is going to buy it, wouldn’t it be fraudulent?”
Qian Wanguan didn’t pay attention to the painting, and he got anxious when he saw that no one was making a bid after such a long time. He stood up and was prepared to go negotiate with the Situ Clan to bring the base price lower.
Yet!
At the moment Qian Wanguan stood up, an imperious shout came from the no.1 pavilion of the third floor, “Ten billion!”
