Chapter 598
The elder steward sighed, "It's best not to act impulsively. Wait until you encounter something he truly desires before making your move."
Qiao Ziyu's smile faltered, and he could only nod in agreement.
"The second item up for auction is a pair of Ruyi jade locks."
The jade locks were two pieces that could fit together or be separated, resembling the shape of yin and yang fish, shimmering with radiant light.
Then Lan Tian continued her introduction:
"This pair of jade locks is an ancient treasure from the ruins. The Yang jade strengthens the body and improves one's constitution, while the Yin jade can absorb the essence of heaven and earth, accelerating one's cultivation progress. They cannot be used together, but both are rare treasures."
"The starting bid is ten Xuanjing."
The Shiyun insect remained white.
Yet Li Mo still placed a bid this time, ultimately securing them for twelve Xuanjing.
Soon, the third and fourth items were presented.
Most of the earlier items were weapons, secret manuals, and rare treasures, none of which particularly interested Li Mo.
Qiao Ziyu also stopped raising the bids, allowing Li Mo to purchase casually.
Not just Qiao Ziyu, but everyone else was stunned. Why was the young hero buying everything?
Those attending the auction likely had clear goals, after all, budgets were limited...
What kind of family did Li Mo come from, buying one item after another?
Was he not afraid of running out of funds and missing out on what he truly wanted?
"What on earth is he interested in?"
Qiao Ziyu was equally perplexed.
At that moment, the elder steward beside him whispered, "The Shiyun insect has changed color!"
Indeed, the thumb-sized white insect was rapidly shifting to blue, then purple, and finally red!
It was as if it were about to explode.
This indicated that Li Mo's desire had reached its peak!
"What could it be that excites him so much?"
Qiao Ziyu quickly glanced at the stage.
Lan Tian was just introducing the next item:
"Three-thousand-year-old sea silk, now imbued with spirit, is one of a kind. The starting bid is three Xuanjing."
It wasn't expensive.
In fact, most people present were uninterested, as this item was merely valuable due to its rarity, with little practical use.
He glanced at the Shiyun insect, which was red and seemed ready to burst.
"?"
A question mark appeared over Qiao Ziyu's head.
What was Li Mo thinking, wanting this thing so badly?
---
"Li Mo bids six Xuanjing... Qiao Ziyu bids seven..."
The East Pearl Tower auction was now eerily quiet, with everyone staring blankly at the two nearby, their minds buzzing.
Qiao Ziyu occasionally shot Li Mo a resentful glance, then raised his paddle, clearly caught up in the moment.
Li Mo remained silent, simply raising his paddle, seemingly oblivious to how high the bidding had gone.
Oh, it had already reached five hundred Xuanjing.
No matter how high the sea silk's age, it was merely for making clothes, at most giving them a color-changing feature.
Three hundred Xuanjing?
Were they all crazy, or was the world going mad?
Even Qian Bufan's face twitched: "Xiao Mo, calm down. Maybe we should just let it go. If you keep bidding, I might just want to dig up some sea silk myself."
"I'm young and impulsive; how could I not bid?"
Li Mo raised his jade paddle once more.
"What on earth do you want this for?"
"To make clothes."
"You could use something else, really..."
"Other materials can't change color and aren't as easy to tear."
"???"
Qian Bufan's head was spinning, unable to comprehend this bizarre reasoning.
But then he thought, spending the money didn't really matter.
After all, the East Pearl Tower was now his; no matter how much he bid, it would ultimately come back to his own pocket...
If Li Mo was just burning through cash, what was Qiao Ziyu playing at?
"Li Mo bids three hundred fifty Xuanjing!"
As the words fell,
"I... uh..."
Qiao Ziyu instinctively wanted to raise his paddle again.
But before he could finish his sentence, a pig's trotter was shoved into his mouth.
The elder steward quickly interjected, "Young master, that's enough. We've already made him pay a hefty price. If we keep bidding and he backs out, what will we do then?"
"Don't forget, we have something important to secure this time."
Qiao Ziyu glanced at the price on stage, his expression softening a bit.
Indeed, he had already made Li Mo spend three hundred forty-seven Xuanjing.
This loss was greater than the two hundred Xuanjing he spent on a pig's trotter.
At the same time, a hint of fear crept into his heart.
What if Li Mo had decided not to bid? What would he have done then?
"Fine, I won't raise my paddle!"
Qiao Ziyu admitted defeat.
At that moment, Lan Tian brought down the hammer, announcing that the three-thousand-year-old sea silk had been sold to Li Mo for three hundred fifty Xuanjing.
The auction continued.
After that, Qiao Ziyu seemed to treat the sea silk as a starting point, relentlessly pushing the bids higher each time Li Mo raised his.
Nine-petal sea lotus carriage, heavy water cloud bed... no matter what it was, he was right behind, raising the price until he was satisfied.
Li Mo ended up spending at least a thousand Xuanjing more.
Yet he maintained a calm demeanor, making it feel like hitting a punch into cotton.
"This is equivalent to the entire fortune of the Zhenzhou sect, right?"
"Uh, perhaps even the Hengyun Sword City couldn't come up with that much."
"I heard Li Mo was extravagant in the imperial capital, but even then, it was only a few hundred Xuanjing. Can he really afford this much now?"
Whispers spread through the crowd.
"If he can't come up with that much money later, I wonder how he'll get out of this mess!"
Qiao Ziyu snorted coldly.
But the elder steward said, "We need to focus on the main event."
The auction was gradually nearing its end, yet the anticipation among the crowd only grew.
As is well known, the last item is usually the highlight.
"Our auction is about to conclude, and the final item we present is a fragment of the Guixu Atlas."
"It is said to depict the place where celestial traces appear and vanish, its value is self-evident, and it may contain the path to immortality..."
"Authenticated by the master of the Dantai sect from Penglai, this is undoubtedly a genuine artifact!"
With a flourish, the red cloth fell away, revealing a bronze plate engraved with divine patterns, shimmering with a faint starlight, exuding an air of antiquity and mystery.
At the sight of it, it felt as if one were gazing upon eternity itself.
The atmosphere in the room became so quiet that even breathing seemed lighter.
For most people, the Guixu had long existed only in legends.
Immortals...
What an ethereal and elusive word, yet it stirred a yearning in the heart.
Of course, this item had likely been studied by the Penglai Star Sect for a long time—perhaps hundreds or even thousands of years—yet they had evidently not yielded any results, which is why it appeared at the East Pearl Tower.
But... becoming an immortal requires opportunity.
What if the destined child of fate was actually oneself?
Many held such thoughts, but most merely dared to steal a glance...
"The starting bid is five hundred Xuanjing!"
This was a price that would deter most sects.
"Six hundred Xuanjing!"
Right from the start, someone called out, their voice tinged with urgency.
But as soon as the words left their lips, they were immediately overshadowed by another voice.
"Six hundred fifty! Plus a piece of dragon whale bone. I am the sect master of the Xing Sha sect; I hope everyone will give me some face."
"The sect master of Xing Sha? Aren't you just a fishmonger? Seven hundred! And two ports from Dongluo Bay."
"Hey, where's your decency? Is anyone even keeping track here?"
The scene became a bit chaotic.
It was no wonder the various sects were anxious; the prices they called out represented their entire fortunes.
"Young master, we only brought eight hundred Xuanjing. If it comes to that, we'll have to use other valuables to make up the difference."
The elder steward frowned.
Exchanging valuable items for cash during an auction would definitely yield less than market value, making it a poor deal.
"....."
Qiao Ziyu fell silent; he had originally planned for a thousand.
Unfortunately, he had spent two hundred Xuanjing on a pig's trotter, and now he couldn't trade the trotter for Xuanjing...
He hadn't anticipated the bidding would become this intense.
If he missed out on the Guixu Atlas by just two hundred Xuanjing, he could only imagine the punishment he would face upon returning to the sect.
"Eight hundred Xuanjing."
At this point, he shot Li Mo a resentful glance.
The room fell silent for a moment.
Clearly, this had exceeded the wealth of over ninety percent of the competitors, and the remaining sects had little Xuanjing left, all eyeing each other warily, waiting for someone else to make a move, trying to gauge each other's financial standing.
Just then, a familiar voice that had been silent for a while broke the silence:
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