On the jade plate sat a chunk of ore the size of a fist, its surface pitted and uneven, its entire body a brilliant red-gold color — an unrecognizable mineral!
What truly shocked everyone was that runes flowed across the ore's surface, clearly the work of a powerful expert who had placed restrictions on it to suppress its aura. Even so, every participant at the auction could clearly sense waves of qi sharp as sword blades emanating from within the ore.
If it could produce such power with restrictions still in place, what would happen if those restrictions were removed?
Any martial artist of even slightly lower cultivation wouldn't dare get close to this ore!
This was no ordinary item. Very few people probably recognized it, but everyone knew that something like this was undoubtedly a rare treasure. No wonder the Gathering Treasure Tower had saved it for the auction's final items — it was clearly a showstopper.
"Excellent, excellent, excellent! Hahaha! I, Jin, have spent most of my life searching for this without success, and yet today I find it here. The Gathering Treasure Tower really does gather treasures from across the world — the reputation is well deserved!" From the Jia-Zi private room of the Demon Blood Sect, a powerful figure named Jin Shi burst into hearty laughter, clearly delighted with this ore and determined to claim it.
"You want this?" In the Yi-13 private room, Yang Yan glanced at Yang Kai with a hint of doubt.
Yang Kai's excitement was plainly visible. How could Yang Yan not read his thoughts?
"Mm." Yang Kai gave a slight nod.
Yang Yan simply said "oh" without bothering to ask Yang Kai what he intended to do with it.
The young maid Qing'er perked up at this, a flash of joy crossing her brows. But worry quickly followed. "Senior, it seems Elder Jin from the Demon Blood Sect wants it very much too."
"In an auction, the highest bidder wins!" Yang Kai grinned. He had brought seventy million Saint Crystals this time and wasn't afraid of being outbid by Jin Shi. After all, the Demon Blood Sect had already made several purchases during the earlier rounds of the auction and spent a considerable amount.
Qing'er nodded meekly and said, "Then I wish Senior a swift and decisive victory!"
"I'll take your good words!" Yang Kai grinned again. He naturally understood why the girl was so nervous — if he participated in the bidding and successfully won an item, then she, as the maid assigned to serve him, would receive a reward from the Gathering Treasure Tower. That reward was proportional to the price he paid. Up until now, he had held back and bought nothing, so the girl had received no rewards at all. But if he won this item, the Tower's reward to her would be enough to last her a very long time.
Qing'er herself had told him this. Yang Kai hadn't gone out of his way to pry — the girl's service had been attentive and diligent, and he had no objection to letting her reap a small benefit.
"Forgive this old man's poor eyesight, but what in the world is this thing? Old Jin, why are you losing your composure like this?" From another private room came an unfamiliar voice. From the tone of his words, he clearly didn't recognize the ore.
It wasn't that the man was ignorant. In truth, the Star Field contained materials so numerous they defied counting. Moreover, this particular ore was extraordinarily rare and virtually never seen. The only reason Jin Shi knew of it was that he cultivated a special technique requiring this very mineral, which was why he had studied and inquired about it so carefully.
Only an odd genius like Yang Yan could rattle off the names and properties of all manner of materials. But such people were few and far between.
"Heh heh, it's quite understandable for Senior Jin to be excited. After all, this Mysterious Gold is enormously beneficial to the Golden Cicada Extreme Demon Art he cultivates. With this Mysterious Gold to aid him, Senior Jin's grand mastery of the technique should be just around the corner!" Ren Tianrui blurted this out as if he were afraid no one knew Jin Shi's secrets.
"Mysterious Gold?" The man who had spoken earlier seemed to recall something upon hearing that name and couldn't help but cry out in surprise.
"Ren boy, you can run the auction however you like, but why did you have to bring up my Golden Cicada Extreme Demon Art?!" Jin Shi was furious. He could see Ren Tianrui's malicious intent perfectly well. Anywhere else, he would have taught the man a lesson right then and there, but this was the Gathering Treasure Tower after all. Even seething with anger, he was forced to suppress it. However, with that reminder, the difficulty of acquiring this Mysterious Gold had just increased considerably. The Demon Blood Sect had no shortage of enemies, and none of them would stand by and watch him win it and achieve mastery of his technique.
"Calm yourself, Senior! This junior misspoke!" Ren Tianrui seemed to realize his blunder as well, bowing apologetically with an air of belated regret.
But once words left the mouth, they could not be taken back. Beneath his veneer of nervous contrition, a flicker of smugness passed through the depths of his eyes. For the Gathering Treasure Tower, it made no difference who won the Mysterious Gold — as long as the price was driven high enough.
"Enough nonsense — start the bidding already!" Jin Shi snapped impatiently.
"Yes, indeed!" Ren Tianrui chuckled and pointed his folding fan at the ore. "One piece of fine Mysterious Gold, weighing one jin and three liang. Starting price: five million Saint Crystals. Minimum bid increment: one hundred thousand. Gentlemen, please!"
"Ten million!" The moment Ren Tianrui finished speaking, Jin Shi's voice boomed forth, instantly doubling the price and demonstrating his resolute determination to obtain this Mysterious Gold.
At this point, his need for the ore was no secret. He might as well bid with extravagant boldness — there was no point in holding back.