Let alone a starting price of twenty million — even if the opening bid had been two hundred million, Jiang Chen wouldn't have so much as furrowed his brow. That kind of money was nothing to him anymore.
Back when he had slain three thousand people in the Infant Weeping Valley, he'd already struck it rich. Converted into Holy Spirit Stones, that fortune alone amounted to several hundred million.
After arriving in the Glass King City, Jiang Chen had established the Taiyuan Pavilion, seized the Taiyuan Tower, and gone on to collect countless rewards in subsequent activities.
Jiang Chen's wealth, as things stood, was nothing short of staggering.
Moreover, if Jiang Chen so much as asked, the Wei family, the Panlong Great Clan, or even the Peacock Sacred Mountain would send shiploads of Spirit Stones his way without hesitation.
Jiang Chen simply had no shortage of money.
As for the Five Great Cauldrons — they were the treasures of the Dan Qian Palace. To put it plainly, they held the same significance for the Dan Qian Palace as the Northern Abyss Bell did for the Northern Abyss Sect.
They weren't the sect's sole treasure, but they were certainly among its most important.
The Dan Qian Palace had been founded on the art of alchemy, and these five cauldrons were practically its symbol — its very face. Without them, even if the Dan Qian Palace were rebuilt, it would remain incomplete.
Only the Five Great Cauldrons could represent the Dan Qian Palace's history and its glory.
For that reason, Jiang Chen was determined to obtain them. He already possessed a superior cauldron — the Heaven-Plundering Cauldron he had won at the Lianshan Monastery auction — but these five held a special meaning for him.
Wei Xing'er, meanwhile, was still recovering from her shock. Those expressive, almost dewy eyes of hers were fixed on Jiang Chen, unable to form words for what felt like an eternity.
Casually tossing out a hundred million? Wei Xing'er was now the young madam of Cuihua Pavilion, well-traveled and worldly. She had encountered her share of wealthy tycoons.
But every single one of them was a local powerhouse.
And even for those powerhouses, casually producing a hundred million Holy Spirit Stones at once wasn't something every one of them could manage.
Cuihua Pavilion certainly had that kind of capital, but its wealth came from a multitude of assets combined. Even Cuihua Pavilion would need some preparation to produce a hundred million in liquid Spirit Stones on the spot.
Yet Jiang Chen had thrown out a hundred million as if it were nothing — and if that weren't enough, he had more. Judging by his demeanor, he was carrying at least several hundred million in Holy Spirit Stones on his person.
Such wealth was truly astonishing.
Fortunately for her, Wei Xing'er didn't know that Jiang Chen was the owner of the Taiyuan Pavilion — that even the Peacock Sacred Mountain paid him tribute as a King of Pills. Had she known, she would likely have been struck speechless on the spot.
With a soft sigh, Wei Xing'er smiled bitterly. "It seems you've not only been living well, you've gotten rich. This kind of wealth — even the Palace Master of your Dan Qian Palace probably couldn't match it."
A hundred million Holy Spirit Stones amounted to a billion Yuan Spirit Stones.
Back then, Patriarch Xiang Wentian of the Great Sacred Hall had produced ten million Yuan Spirit Stones to bid on a single Myriad Longevity Pill, and that had been considered astonishing.
Jiang Chen's casual move just now was a hundred times that.
No wonder Wei Xing'er was so stunned.
She was representing Cuihua Pavilion here, but truth be told, she was also representing herself. The operating funds Cuihua Pavilion could give her for a single auction were only around fifty million.
Any more than that, and she would have to think twice.
The allure of the Five Great Cauldrons was indeed greater than the Northern Abyss Bell's — and the bidding pace was far more aggressive. Before long, the price had climbed to twenty-five million.
"Your turn," Jiang Chen reminded her.
Wei Xing'er blinked. "How should I bid?"
"However makes you feel best," Jiang Chen replied with a faint smile.
Bold and extravagant — that was the way.
A flicker of mischief passed through Wei Xing'er's eyes, a sultry smile playing at the corners of her lips. Her red lips parted, and she called out, "Thirty million."
A straight jump of five million. This bidding style was worlds apart from the others who had been inching up by five hundred thousand like penny-pinchers.
Sure enough, the thirty-million bid scared off a number of competitors on the spot.
Many in the audience recognized Wei Xing'er's voice and knew she was representing Cuihua Pavilion — the wealthy magnates from the Red Cauldron King City.
Normally, Wei Xing'er mostly bid on slaves rather than goods.
Now, suddenly dropping thirty million in one blow — the intimidation factor was enormous.
Still, a few stubborn holdouts continued to place bids. But their bids were timid, steadily adding five hundred thousand at a time.
So Wei Xing'er raised it straight to thirty-five million.
This overwhelming momentum crushed whatever speculative courage remained. The four great cauldrons were ultimately won by Wei Xing'er for thirty-five million.
Nobody found it surprising that Cuihua Pavilion's young madam had this kind of financial power. Cuihua Pavilion itself was a shop that collected all manner of rare curiosities — cauldrons like these were perfectly suited as collectibles.
Those who had wanted to compete knew full well that going up against Cuihua Pavilion in a battle of wealth would end badly. So after just two bids from Wei Xing'er, the four cauldrons were secured with ease.
The price was slightly on the high side, but for Jiang Chen, picking up four alchemy cauldrons for thirty-five million was still quite a bargain.
Back at Lianshan Monastery in the Glass King City, a single Heaven-Plundering Cauldron had cost more than that.