Even though everyone inwardly sneered at Qian Tong, what they felt even more strongly was envy. Who could blame him? He'd seized this golden opportunity to rake in the cash. The Gathering Treasures Pavilion held its auctions every two or three years across the territories of various major powers. Turning such a grand event into a money-making venture required both luck and sharp eyes.
No one bothered to speak up for Jiang Huaian. Setting aside the fact that Qian Tong had been making sense—at an auction, everyone was supposed to bid on items, or what was the point?—there were also existing grudges between Shadow Moon Hall and Sea Hall. That was why Qian Tong had been singling out Jiang Huaian so aggressively. This had already become a matter between two factions, and the other powers naturally wouldn't stick their noses into such muddy waters.
"I see now," Wu Yi murmured suddenly.
"See what?" Yang Kai looked at her.
"I understand why Jiang Huaian is willing to pay such an astronomical price for a single Condensing Void Pill." Wu Yi pressed her lips together and smiled. "He's the Third Hall Master of Sea Hall. Rumor has it he has an extremely pampered son named Jiang Zhiren. Unfortunately, Jiang Zhiren's aptitude is mediocre at best. Over the years, Jiang Huaian has poured countless rare treasures into forcing his cultivation up to the Saint King, Third Layer. But that's Jiang Zhiren's absolute limit—without a Condensing Void Pill, he'll never break through to the Return to Void Realm in this lifetime. I'd heard before that Jiang Huaian was scouring everywhere for a Condensing Void Pill. He even gathered several sets of refining materials and enlisted famous alchemists to try, but not a single attempt succeeded."
"So he's dead set on getting this Condensing Void Pill?" Yang Kai's eyes lit up. No wonder Qian Tong had so brazenly jacked up the price—he'd found Jiang Huaian's soft spot and wasn't afraid the man wouldn't bite.
"That has to be it. For the Third Hall Master of Sea Hall to offer such a sky-high price, he definitely wants to buy it back for Jiang Zhiren."
"But everything has its limits. They're not idiots. If Elder Qian keeps pushing the price, he might end up stuck with that Condensing Void Pill himself." Yang Kai felt a twinge of worry. Qian Tong had always been good to him, so naturally he didn't want to see the man take a loss.
Wu Yi smiled. "What's there to worry about? Didn't you hear Elder Qian say he'd picked up tens of millions of Holy Crystals? That may have been an exaggeration, but the man really is loaded. Oh, right—how much did he just give you?"
"I don't know." It was only then that Yang Kai remembered he was still holding a space ring. After Qian Tong had sent it over, he'd hurried off, and the Condensing Void Pill auction had started immediately. Yang Kai had been drawn in by the escalating bids from below and hadn't gotten around to checking.
He sent his Divine Sense sweeping through the space ring, and his expression froze instantly.
"How much?" Wu Yi noticed his face and asked nervously. For some reason, her heart was pounding like crazy. Even Yang Yan craned her neck, waiting for Yang Kai's answer.
Yang Kai took a deep breath and handed the space ring over. "See for yourselves."
Wu Yi took it with a skeptical look. The moment she scanned the contents with her Divine Sense and registered the number of Holy Crystals inside, she gasped and clapped a hand over her mouth, her beautiful eyes wide with shock.
Yang Yan snatched the ring away at once. After examining it, she looked no better than Wu Yi.
Three million high-grade Holy Crystals. The space ring Qian Tong had sent over contained a full three million high-grade Holy Crystals! This outrageous number was enough to drive Wu Yi and Yang Yan half-mad with excitement—even Yang Kai stood frozen on the spot.
He had assumed Qian Tong was just being courteous, sending him two or three hundred thousand high-grade Holy Crystals at most. Who could have imagined it would be ten times that? No wonder Qian Tong had said these Holy Crystals should last him as long as he didn't buy anything too extravagant.
Three million. How much stuff could that buy?
"So it seems Elder Qian really did pick up tens of millions of Holy Crystals. He wasn't just blowing smoke." Yang Kai's expression was peculiar. He knew these Holy Crystals were toll fees Qian Tong had collected, but he never expected the man to have had the audacity to pocket tens of millions. These three million were probably only a tenth—or even less.
Wu Yi stole a cautious glance at the two Shadow Moon Hall female disciples, then leaned in close to whisper in Yang Kai's ear: "Unsolicited generosity always comes with strings attached... watch yourself."
Yang Kai snorted. "What's there to worry about? That toll money was largely my doing. Without me, Elder Qian wouldn't have been able to collect so many Holy Crystals. We earned these three million fair and square—no need to lose sleep over it."
"That's good, then." Wu Yi still looked somewhat worried.
While the three of them were talking, Qian Tong and Jiang Huaian had been trading barbs for quite a while. Seeing that they showed no signs of stopping, Yan Pei—who had been sipping tea in one of the Jiazi-numbered private rooms—grew irritated and let out a cold snort. "Are you two ever going to finish? Everyone's waiting for the auction to move forward. If you really can't stand each other, step outside and have a real fight. What's the point of just flinging insults? Don't hold up my Pavilion's business!"
Coming from the chief steward of the Gathering Treasures Pavilion, those words finally made Qian Tong and Jiang Huaian back down. You could offend just about anyone, but you couldn't afford to offend the Gathering Treasures Pavilion—or you'd be barred from future auctions and suffer tremendous losses. Many of the rarest treasures on the Dark Star were brought out and auctioned by the Gathering Treasures Pavilion.
Qian Tong chuckled. "This old man simply can't stand watching certain people pinch every last coin. Fine—more talk won't change anything. What belongs to whom will stay with whom. Ah, Miss—where did the Condensing Void Pill bidding leave off?"
The beautiful auctioneer smiled. "Elder Qian, Hall Master Jiang has already bid nine hundred thousand."
"Nine hundred thousand—quite the price." Qian Tong clicked his tongue. "Enough to buy three Condensing Void Pills."