Qi Feng's price wasn't high, only eight thousand three hundred gold.
However, this amount of coin clearly wouldn't make the other bidders give up. Many other bids were shouted out in quick succession. Not long after, the price already reached eight thousand nine hundred gold.
For small Families, such a small-scale pill cauldron was something they could chance upon, but not something they could find themselves. Qi Feng also wasn't going to back off.
Quickly, he uttered again: “Nine thousand one hundred gold!”
His voice was filled with determination.
Gu Zuo heard Qi Feng's voice and felt twitchy. Almost immediately, he recalled the time when he just crossed over and saw the deathly pale corpse of that youth lying abandoned on that bed.
At that time, Qi Tianyou used a sharp weapon to skewer his own throat. How could a youth, who was pure and good since childhood, turn such a ruthless hand onto himself if he weren't extremely depressed? In this world where martial arts was respected, Qi Tianyou never harmed others. The first one he killed was himself.
Gongyi Tianheng's voice snapped Gu Zuo from his disordered thoughts: “This small-scale pill cauldron wouldn't be worth it if the price surpa.s.ses eleven thousand gold.”
He raised his hand and gestured.
At this time, Dragon Two opened his mouth.
It was very strange. His voice was somewhat uncanny. Normally, his voice was a bit different. It sounded like the voice of a refreshing youth who carried remarkable dominance and pride: “Nine thousand five hundred gold!”
Gu Zuo's liveliness immediately returned as what he witnessed surprised him: “Young master Tianheng, Dragon Two also has this kind of ability?”
Gongyi Tianheng smiled: “It's only a minor skill.”
What followed that matter left Gu Zuo even more dumbstruck.
He was prepared to use a method of raising the bidding price to trap Qi Feng, but as to how to specifically implement it, he felt that without his awesome patron, he could only ask Tianheng for a helping hand.
However, he also didn't expect Dragon Two to grasp Qi Feng's psyche so accurately!
As it turned out, after Dragon Two played the role of a youth and called out bids, because other people were competing, Qi Feng didn't pay any mind to it. But afterwards, once the price exceeded ten thousand, the people bidding decreased. Only Dragon Two and Qi Feng rose to prominence.
Then when it reached the pill cauldron's highest price of seventeen thousand to eighteen thousand gold, only Dragon Two and Qi Feng, these two people, competed. Once Qi Feng called out a price, Dragon Two would hike it a few hundred more. He tenaciously pressured Qi Feng from behind and made Qi Feng feel wronged.
Qi Feng certainly wavered, but Dragon Two spoke with immense self-satisfaction: “This penniless country b.u.mpkin dares fight with your senior [1] over this thing, and still won't beat it and eat my dust? Hahahaha! This loser's acting like a complete dumba.s.s [2]!”
There was no difference between these spoken words and poking a hornets' nest.
What did the current Qi Feng care about the most? It was that he was merely the heir of a small Family. Don't focus on him riding roughshod over everyone who doted upon him at the Qi household. Once he arrived at the imperial capital, it all meant absolutely nothing.
Automatically, the treatment he received here was totally inferior to when he was at the Qi household.
With Qi Feng's disposition, he was someone who didn't want to lose out on what he desired, and didn't want to submit to any humiliation. The person who came to provoke Qi Feng was obviously someone from the imperial capital with a similar age to him. How could he possibly admit defeat after all that effort? Even if he was wavering a moment ago and had a thought of backing out, right now he'd rather die than retreat!
Therefore, Qi Feng continued to bid.
Dragon Two also continued raising the price with him.
One approached the other, and the Families' young masters struggled in their dispute with money-clenched fists. The auction hall personnel looked favorably upon this, and the other guests had fun watching.
Very quickly, the price level of that small pill cauldron rose to twenty two thousand gold!
Indeed, the price had fully doubled!
At this time, the battle between both sides already sparked a genuine fire, but Gongyi Tianheng once again lifted his hand.
Dragon Two understood his young master's signal. When it was time to place his bid, the pacing slowed down a bit.
Tianheng smiled: “Qi Feng likely shouldn't have come by himself. We'll quit while we're ahead; we can stop before he does.”
Gu Zuo naturally had faith in his patron. After listening to what he said, he promptly nodded.
Afterwards, Dragon Two lazily called out: “Twenty two thousand one hundred—”
Qi Feng almost immediately shouted: “Twenty two thousand five hundred!”
In a split second, Dragon Two let out a scoff: “Okay! It's seems you haven't seen the good stuff yet. There are tons of these toys lying around this senior's house, and this country b.u.mpkin considers this a treasured object! This senior is tired of playing around, so I'll give it back to you.”
Dragon Two let loose a peal of insolent laughter.
Qi Feng over yonder was choking on his words: “You—”
In the end, he might've been pulled down by someone, and he stopped talking.
However, Gu Zuo could already imagine how unsightly that arrogant Qi Feng's face became.
Instantly, he felt himself releasing a held breath.
Only, Gu Zuo quickly thought of something, and couldn't help turning to his patron: “Young master Tianheng, couldn't that Qi Feng find out we're the ones who did it?”
Tianheng answered: “In here, so long as the client refuses, the auction hall won't divulge our ident.i.ties. To remind you from before, the Gongyi Clan still has people who came here. Also, merely because I'm a member of the Gongyi Clan, I'll be given considerable service.”
Saying this, he gently laughed: “Besides, even if they knew, what could they do about it?”
Gu Zuo stared blankly.
Gongyi Tianheng saw this, and his expression was very gentle: “Ah Zuo, I can help you. You just need to do what I want you to do. As for everything else, don't worry about it.”
Under the gaze of his patron, Gu Zuo's face was a little hot. Some warmth blossomed in his heart.
Yes, what did Qi Feng matter? He was already hugging his patron's big thighs as… En, as a pharmacist.
Whatever the case, Qi Feng could previously meddle in any of Qi Tianyou's affairs, and he was unable to do the same. Instead, Gu Zuo now stood affixed in an invincible position.
Gu Zuo aggrievedly thought: In other words, Qi Tianyou was bullied by people who relied on power. Now I can rely on my patron's influence to bully Qi Feng? It was really cool to think about.
After being pacified by his patron, Gu Zuo's attention no longer remained on Qi Feng. Rather, it was shifted to the auction's newly revealed valuables.
From now on, the auction's goods would be even more precious. Gradually, Gu Zuo discovered some things worth taking — Certainly, those things were very rare. Even if the Gongyi Clan went to search for the medicinal herbs, it'd be a waste of time.
Gongyi Tianheng completely abided by his promise. As for everything that Gu Zuo fancied, it didn't require Gu Zuo explaining it to him. The auctioned items were all taken one after another.
While Gu Zuo wasn't fundamentally spending any money, it still inevitably pained him deep in his heart. Yet, spending without limits was actually…really cool.
As round after round of the auction pa.s.sed, the people in every private room would place several bids. The excitement rose many times in the seating below, so much so that the intensity of the fights would frequently burn white-hot. The atmosphere was on fire.
As more goods were revealed, the guests would become even more frantic.
Eventually, it was the last batch of auctioned goods — That is, it was time for the finale [3].
The first item was a stalk of medicinal herbs whose medicinal effects had ripened for a thousand years.
This kind of medicinal herb that could attain that particular age was very rare. Reportedly, no matter if one were refining pills or potions, it would have great benefits for martial artists.
It was only just that its base price was twenty thousand gold.
That kind of millennium herb was something one could encounter but not find. Gu Zuo looked towards his patron, his eyes gleaming meaningfully.
If he had this kind of medicinal herb, he could give his patron some great medicine to refine his qi and blood as well as his internal organs! Medicinal decoctions, cuisine, and pills — He could choose to refine as much as he wanted!
Gongyi Tianheng smiled: “Then I'll buy it at once.”
Dragon One accepted his order, and started partic.i.p.ating in the bidding.
The millennium herb's price continuously rose. As Dragon One got an order, he wasn't careless in the least as he ceaselessly bid higher. The price would often rise by a thousand gold each time, and the other compet.i.tors were all suppressed.
Soon, the price level reached sixty thousand. There were only a very few people who were bidding.
Dragon One instantly shouted: “Eighty thousand gold!”
With a disparity of twenty thousand gold and an unyielding demeanor, it made the other people give up in the end.
— Also, they still wanted the good stuff. As far as they were concerned, this millennium herb was something one required supreme effort to compete for. However, they were unlikely to go all-out today.
Gu Zuo saw the successful purchase and was very happy.
Tianheng said: “If it was in the past, I'm afraid we'd need a hundred thousand or more to get it. It could be considered convenient to pick it up today.”
Speaking up to here, he smirked: “I'd also like to say thanks to Ah Zuo for refining the high grade qi generating pills, which the Azure Dragon Trading Company cares so much about. Even this millennium herb, which was formerly the last item among the finale, was brought out as an exciting object for boosting the atmosphere.”
Gu Zuo listened to this, and blushed with a smile.
This was actually his patron's strategy…
Soon after, the second item of the finale was brought out. It was a human-level mid rank cultivation method. The base price was fifty thousand gold. Hearing that it was something with great power, the large Families all thought about competing. While the smaller Families practically wanted to hang their heads in defeat.
In the end, this cultivation method was sold for a hundred eighty thousand gold.
The third auctioned item was a very horrifying weapon. The resolute thousand stone bow [4]: made with special materials and holding immense power, the base price was twenty thousand gold. It was finally sold for ninety thousand gold.
Besides two other items, all were rare and valuable objects that could have been used as the last item in the finale in previous years.
At last, a remarkably beautiful lady walked onto the stone platform carrying a tray.
That emcee revealed an excited smile: “Ladies and gentlemen, many thanks to the guests who've supported us, the Azure Dragon Trading Company. At this time, I humbly present the last item of the auction. It's what everyone's been antic.i.p.ating for a long time. Qi generating pills with ten-fold medicinal effects—”
His voice was loud and clear, “As everyone knows, refining medicinal pills is difficult. Although the qi generating pill is the pill most commonly used by us martial artists, it can only support martial artists up to the Meridian Condensing realm for cultivation. And this qi generating pill with ten-fold effects can provide a Meridian Condensing martial artist the greatest benefits!”
Discussing up to here, the emcee's expression turned solemn: “Certainly, the production of these qi generating pills definitely isn't merely about the medicinal effects — Ladies and gentlemen, whomever purchases these medicinal pills will be able to get a pharmacist to intensely research. Whether or not they can obtain the refining secrets from within, who knows? Once this secret is unraveled, the entire continent's pill refinement will undergo a huge revolution!”
He never mentioned how these medicinal pills were obtained. And he also didn't mention that mysterious pharmacist who knew this 'secret.” He only needed to orate and incite the will of the people so that it'd make the minds of these guys feverish. Thinking about the profits and ignoring everything else!
The emcee said in a loud voice: “Six bottles of ten-fold qi generating pills, and each bottle contains two hundred pills. Every bottle will be auctioned off separately with a base price of — Ten thousand gold!”
Gu Zuo was immediately stunned.
This black hearted [5] auction was selling at a figure that was five times greater than his patron's price!
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[1] 小爷 - Xiao ye. Referring to oneself as father or grandfather is a way of showing your superiority over the other person.
[2] 装什么大瓣儿蒜 - Zhuang (shen me da ban er) suan, pretending to be garlic, an expression for someone who feigns ignorance.
[3] 压轴物 - Ya zhou wu, similar to 压轴戏, which is a theatrical climax.
[4] 千石强弓 - Qian shi jiang gong, direct translation.
[5] 黑心 - Hei xin, ruthless and lacking in conscience.