CHAPTER 545: CHAPTER 543: THE FINAL ITEM _1

This Blood Source Crystal is one of the main ingredients used to forge the Sky Apex Puppet, and extremely rare. Its appearance at this auction was a stroke of luck.

When Ling Chen initially acquired the method to create the Sky Apex Puppet, he had been very eager. However, as he learned more, he also came to understand the difficulty of its creation. Nevertheless, Ling Chen had never given up on collecting its ingredients.

Successfully refining a Sky Apex Puppet would undoubtedly be a significant achievement. Moreover, according to the description in "Secrets of Mechanism," the quality of the materials significantly determined the puppet’s strength. This Blood Source Crystal, judging by its weight, certainly satisfied Ling Chen.

"This item only seems to have good healing effects. Junior Brother Ling Chen, why are you so interested in it?" Liu Feiyue asked with some surprise.

"That’s a secret," Ling Chen shook his head, offering no further explanation. He didn’t want anyone else knowing about his plans to make the Sky Apex Puppet; the fewer people knew, the better.

This somewhat unusual auction item indeed caught the attention of many influential factions in the VIP seats. Although they weren’t as interested as Ling Chen, they reasoned that such an item would always be useful to have, potentially offering miraculous effects in critical moments.

On the auction stage, the white-haired old man watched the whispering guests in the VIP section with a smile. He knew these were the people with the most wealth, the only ones capable of bidding high prices.

"Heh heh, everyone," the white-haired old man said with a smile, "this Blood Source Crystal has been perfectly preserved since our Black Market obtained it. It hasn’t suffered the slightest damage, nor has anyone touched it. I once read in an ancient text that the Blood Source Crystal is an excellent material for refining high-grade puppets. The starting bid for this item is 4,000,000 taels of gold."

Upon hearing this, many in the VIP seats frowned, and a silence fell over them. Although this item was rare, a starting bid of 4,000,000 taels of gold? That was a bit too much. Given the typical behavior of this auction house, the final price would likely be at least two or three times the starting bid. Moreover, many in the VIP seats planned to save their wealth to compete for the grand finale item. If they wasted their funds here, their chances in the later competition would be significantly diminished.

Observing the silent auction floor, though the white-haired elder maintained his smile, cold sweat had begun to seep from his forehead. In truth, this Blood Source Crystal wasn’t as valuable as he made it out to be; otherwise, the Black Market wouldn’t have auctioned it. After all, if it was purely for its healing effects, buying some rapid-healing elixirs would be far more economical. As for it being a main material for refining puppets, that was merely something written in ancient texts; no one had ever verified its truth. This meant that whoever wanted to bid on this Blood Source Crystal had to be prepared for a gamble. If this item truly had great use, then they would make a fortune. But if it only contained a dense mass of life energy, then they had to be prepared to suffer a loss...

And these people in the VIP seats were no fools. They understood this point clearly. In their eyes, the white-haired elder’s full-throated guarantees were about as credible as a prostitute’s promise—utterly worthless. Therefore, many were uncertain whether they should actually bid.

Time passed, second by second. The auction hall remained silent, and the back of the white-haired elder’s clothes was now soaked with sweat. The auction had reached its fever pitch. If this item couldn’t even be auctioned off, he would be deemed incompetent and face punishment from his sect.

The silence continued, and just as the white-haired elder was about to lose his composure, a young man in scholarly attire slowly rose from the VIP seats. His faint voice broke the silence of the auction hall.

"Four million one hundred thousand."

The sudden bid instantly caused an uproar throughout the auction hall, yet it allowed the white-haired elder to heave a sigh of relief.

"Four million two hundred thousand."

"Four million three hundred thousand."

With Ling Chen’s initial bid, some scattered bids began to sound out in the hall.

Although the responses were sparse, the price of the Blood Source Crystal was still pushed up to 6,000,000 taels.

"Weren’t they all uninterested just a moment ago? How did the price shoot up so quickly?" Ling Chen furrowed his brows.

"This is likely an unspoken rule of the Black Market," Liu Feiyue said faintly. "When an auction item’s price is lower than the predetermined auction price, designated individuals will appear to compete with the buyer, raising the price to a level they find acceptable."

"There’s such a thing?" Ling Chen’s expression darkened slightly. No wonder it was always those two or three people competing with me from the start. There really is something fishy.

This Black Market is, after all, a profit-obsessed underground commercial organization. This way, they’ll never lose money. It seems I’ll have to slow down the pace of my bidding, or I’ll likely be thoroughly fleeced by these fellows.

Seeing Ling Chen gradually seem to lose interest in the Blood Source Crystal, those few bidders also successively stopped increasing their bids. In the end, the Blood Source Crystal fell into Ling Chen’s hands for a price of 6,500,000 taels.

Although he had spent a considerable sum, Ling Chen felt much more settled after obtaining the Blood Source Crystal. The money had all been extorted from Black Snake anyway. To him, if he successfully refined the Sky Apex Puppet, what would a mere 6,500,000 taels amount to? The value of this Blood Source Crystal was simply not something that could be measured by money. Therefore, while this deal seemed enormously risky to others—one misstep and they could lose everything—in Ling Chen’s eyes, it was a guaranteed profit.

On the stage, after the Blood Source Crystal was auctioned off to Ling Chen for 6,500,000 taels, the smile on the white-haired elder’s face was barely concealed. He clapped his hands lightly, and the Blood Source Crystal was taken away.

As he waved his hand, several elderly men dressed in black, their expressions cold and stern, walked out slowly. One of them, in the center, held a small box covered with a red cloth. As these elderly men moved, they all maintained a fixed distance from each other. Faint, sharp True Qi swirled around their bodies, and their hawk-like, sharp gazes slowly swept across the surroundings. At this moment, any slight disturbance in the vicinity would cause these men to enter combat readiness instantly.

Seeing such a cautious, on-guard formation, as if facing a great enemy, the auction hall gradually quieted down. A peculiar atmosphere enveloped the hall, making people feel somewhat oppressed.

"Everyone," the white-haired elder announced, "these next three auction items are the grand finale of our auction. They are all absolutely rare treasures in this world and will definitely satisfy all our honored guests."

"This first item... is this!" The white-haired elder then swept away the red cloth.

As the red cloth was lifted, what came into view was a transparent cabinet. Inside it, a completely fiery-red Long Spear was displayed. This Long Spear exuded an extremely powerful and scorching aura fluctuation.

Judging by its aura, this was a top-tier artifact-level Treasure Spear.