“It’s him!”
In the inconspicuous corner of the auction hall, Fang Qiu saw a familiar face. It was an old man with a ruddy round face. He had white eyebrows and no beard. He looked hale and hearty, like a retired man who still exercised regularly.
Fang Qiu remembered clearly that he was the elderly guru he met when he came to the Chic Cloud Pavilion the last time to auction a Guru Sword off. This man didn’t even know who He Gaoming was.
He searched his memory and found that this old man seemed to be sitting in the same position as he was the last time.
Like the last time, the old man’s senses were still very sharp. When Fang Qiu looked at him, he immediately turned around and glanced at Fang Qiu. The corners of his mouth curled up slightly, revealing a meaningful smile.
Seeing this, without thinking, Fang Qiu immediately gave a hold fist salute to the old man.
Since everyone’s attention had been on John Doe, when they saw Fang Qiu do the hold fist salute, they immediately followed his gaze with great curiosity and saw the old man.
“Who is that man?”
“Eh? Why is an ordinary person sitting here?”
“I guess this old guy just came to see what the fuss this is. He doesn’t even know what this place is for, does he?”
“If he is just an ordinary old man, why did John Doe hail him with the hold fist salute?”
Everyone was very puzzled.
Because in their eyes, there was nothing special about this old man. He was just one of the common people.
However, while everyone was discussing this in an undertone, some more experienced members of the forces on the scene couldn’t help but feel a chill entering their hearts after they saw Fang Qiu’s action and the old man’s face.
On the second floor.
The people in the VIP private rooms also followed Fang Qiu’s gaze in confusion.
As it turned out, most people here didn’t know this old man. They all had the same assumption as the people in the hall on the first floor did. Their first impression was that this old man was a mere ordinary person.
Yet, that was just the first impression.
Diwu Qian glanced around and secretly took a picture of the old man with her mobile phone. Then, she immediately sent the picture to her father, Diwu Mingchuan.
Just a few seconds later, Diwu Mingchuan’s reply arrived.
She clicked the message open.
“He is a guru. Don’t offend him!”
These few words made Diwu Qian’s heart jolt. When she looked at the old man again, she suddenly felt deep reverence for him.
As for the others, they didn’t care to probe into the matter. They simply roughly memorized the old man’s appearance, darted a curious look at Fang Qiu, and began to prepare for the upcoming auction.
Although this auction was particularly grand, the Four Great Families only sent their youngsters over. None of the Patriarches had come. After all, the Patriarches were among the most superior ones in Wulin. If the Patriarches of the Four Great Families fought over auction items, that would be too demeaning.
Moreover, the Patriarches were representatives of four families. If they were involved in a certain kind of competition, it was easy to arouse conflicts among the four families. However, things would be different if the younger generation were to handle this matter. After all, they were still young, so their behavior would not be blown out of proportion.
Soon, everyone took their seats.
Then, an extremely graceful and gentlemanly auctioneer stepped onto the stage. He made a very stirring speech to arouse everyone’s enthusiasm. After that, the auction officially began!
With the information of the Ambergris Grass as the tempting bait, the Chic Cloud Pavilion had naturally prepared more good items to auction off. They wanted to take this opportunity to sell goods for a good price.
As expected, when the auction started, all kinds of items that were particularly precious to Wulin people were auctioned one by one. Most of those were weapons and herbs. There were also some elixir formulas and a few books on ancient martial arts skills.
Owing to the auctioneer’s effort, everyone was in high spirits. The auction went very smoothly. The guests’ enthusiasm also soared.
Of course, none of the Four Great Families or other top forces made a bid for those items. They gave the chances to the medium-sized and small-sized forces.
Those medium-sized and small-sized forces also knew that they could not compete against the major forces. Hence, they simply decided to give up on the bidding for the last and the most valuable item. Instead, they spent all their money on things that could bring them benefits, such as herbs, elixir formulas, cultivation methods, and the like.
The exciting atmosphere at the auction lasted for an entire hour.
An hour later.
The auction was finally coming to an end.
“Everyone, thank you for your passion.”
On the auction stage, the auctioneer bowed very gentlemanly to all the people present. After that, he remarked, “Next, we’ll auction the final item on today’s unprecedented auction. This item is not substantial, so no one can see it. But I believe that all of you know how valuable it is, because you are all here for it, am I right?”
Everyone in the hall whooped in agreement.
The people in the VIP private rooms on the second floor were also all set for the final bidding!
“I know that all of you can’t wait to bid for the last item, so, I won’t waste time. The auction for the final item—the location of the Ambergris Grass that ranks eighth on the Heaven Treasure List—officially begins!
“The starting price of this item is 100 million yuan. As for the bid range, the sky is the limit!”
As soon as those words came out, all the people present gasped in astonishment.
The starting price of 100 million yuan was still within everyone’s expectations. Many even felt that this starting price was a little low.
However, there was no limit on the bid range. That made a huge difference.
The Chic Cloud Pavilion must be looking for trouble!
No limit on the bid range meant that a bidder could top the previous bid by one yuan or one billion yuan in an instant!
This auction method was highly aggressive. It would easily sow hatred among bidders. Also, it was likely to squeeze bidders dry!
Doubtlessly, this time, the Chic Cloud Pavilion was determined to take advantage of the auction to make a fortune!
“The bidding begins!” The auctioneer shouted.
The crowd instantly quieted down.
The people on the first floor all looked at those in the VIP private rooms on the second floor, looking forward to watching the most competitive bidding ever!
However—
The strange thing was that 30 seconds after the auction began, the people on the second floor just looked at one another. No one broke the silence.
There was a rule in the Chic Cloud Pavilion, which dictated that the first bid for an item should be made within one minute after the auction started.
If no one bid on the item within a minute, the item would be directly removed from the auction stage or be passed on to the next auction.
Time ticked by.
Even so, the auctioneer on the stage, the people in the hall, and the members from the prominent families and major forces in the VIP private room were not flustered at all.
Because they all knew that those who were interested in the information about the Ambergris Grass would not let it be passed onto the next auction.
In the blink of an eye, 45 seconds had passed.
The countdown timer of 15 seconds had begun to work.
Still, no one made a bid.
“Since no one wants to bid first, then let me do it.”
Fang Qiu lightly tapped his chair, then raised a hand and said, “I bid a Guru Sword for it!”
As soon as he said that, all the people present were astounded!
“What the f*ck?”
“Really? A Guru Sword?”
“Can you barter on an auction?”
“The value of a Guru Sword is absolute. It can totally serve as real money.”
“John Doe already auctioned a Guru Sword off last time. But he still has more?”
“How many Guru Swords does he have?”
For a moment, everyone on the scene began to discuss it.
On the second floor.
“Eh?”
Upon hearing Fang Qiu’s bid, Diwu Qian trembled all over. Then, she was completely stunned. She turned to look at Fang Qiu, a hint of surprise surfacing in her eyes.
While secretly marveling at this, Diwu Qian couldn’t help but give a dry laugh.
“This guy actually has another Guru Sword?”
“He has more?”
Yun Yangzi was also dazed. He looked Fang Qiu up and down. Eventually, his eyes rested on the huge case in Fang Qiu’s private room.
Looking at the big box, Yun Yangzi’s face darkened. He murmured with a bitter smile, “No way. He can’t have brought a case full of Guru Swords here, can he?”
“How could he possibly have more Guru Swords?”
Qian Xiao, the oldest son of the Qian Family, stared at Fang Qiu in shock. He had also participated in that auction of a Guru Sword. That time, he even fought fiercely against the bidders from the other three great families over the sword. Yet, he never knew that John Doe would offer another Guru Sword this time.
The Zhan family, the Xi family, and the major forces in Wulin were also in great shock.
They all knew clearly about John Doe selling a Guru Sword at an auction. At that time, they thought John Doe was a squanderer. They could not believe someone would put a Guru Sword on the market.
But now it seemed that John Doe still had more Guru Swords!
In the hall on the first floor.
Hearing Fang Qiu’s bid, the eyes of the ruddy-faced guru immediately lit up.
There was no need to mention how startled others were.
It should be noted that the hammer price of that last Guru Sword was 300 million yuan!
“Can I place a bid with a Guru Sword?”
After bidding, when everyone was still dumbfounded, Fang Qiu posed the question to the auctioneer.
Truthfully, in the past few days when Fang Qiu disappeared from the public eye, he had gone to forge more Guru Swords.
“As the auction agency, we’re not in the position to make the decision. But since you are our VIP, we can contact the person who entrusted the item to auction and ask for his opinion,” the auctioneer said with a smile.
He then added, “Everyone, you can continue to bid. As for whether a Guru Sword can be accepted as a bid, we will know the answer in moments.”
After that, he immediately sent a staff member to contact the client.
However, before the answer to whether a Guru Sword could be used to place a bid was clarified, no one dared to bid recklessly. Thus, everyone just waited quietly.
One minute later.
“Yes, it can.”
The auctioneer, who had received the answer from the client, said, “Now the client has agreed, Guru Swords can be accepted as bids. But there is still the problem of the price to discuss. How much do you think a Guru Sword is worth?”
“Two hundred million,” Fang Qiu replied decisively.
“Sure!”
Soon, the auction agency received the answer on this matter from the client.
Hearing this, Fang Qiu breathed a small sigh of relief. However, the people from other top forces frowned simultaneously when they heard this answer.
“In Wulin, who is able to master Guru Swords as well as offer the eighth Heaven Treasure, the Ambergris Grass?”
“Which force can be so capable?”
For a moment, all the major forces began to suspect one another.
“Mr. John Doe has bid 200 million!”
On the auction stage, the auctioneer repeated the bid.
Now, the others could no longer wait and eagerly placed their bid.
“Two hundred and fifty million!” Qian Xiao called out.
“Three hundred million.”
The Xi family also bid.
“Three hundred and fifty million!”
Yun Yangzi waved his hand and participated in the bidding.
Just as everyone was waiting for the great families and major forces on the second floor to continue bidding—
“Four hundred million.”
A sonorous voice rang out in the auction hall on the first floor!
