CHAPTER 46: USELESS METEORITE

The auctioneer gestured, and an assistant brought out the first item, covered by a silk cloth. The audience shifted, eager murmurs rippling like wind through dry grass.

As the cloth was pulled away, revealing a weapon that gleamed faintly under the warm light, Ling Yu barely glanced at it. She wasn’t here for these opening teasers. Still, she cataloged what she saw: daggers with strange inscriptions, vials of beast blood, and crystal fragments humming with restrained energy. Every piece could be dangerous in the right hands.

She kept her posture relaxed, but her eyes remained alert, noting bidders’ subtle gestures. Some raised fingers, others tapped the armrests of their chairs, quiet signals to the attendants recording offers.

When the third lot sold for a staggering amount of gold credits, Ling Yu’s gaze flicked toward the guards at the entrance. The staff who had been so "respectful" earlier still stood rigid, scanning the room with a faint edge of tension. Not an ordinary muscle. Their eyes followed her once, then deliberately moved on.

’Gosh, just what kind of things did he do to make them walk on an eggshell around me like this?’

She thought, suppressing the smile that threatened to escape.

"Our next item is a very important and special one; many customers have been trying to buy it for a while!" The auctioneer seemed cheerful to bring out something very valuable after going off with some valuable stolen paintings and other items.

"All the guests who are attending the auction today are truly lucky to witness this special item at today’s function!" The assistant entered the podium with a trolley as he walked up to the middle of the podium, and the item was hidden beneath a purple silk veil.

"Let’s appreciate today’s special item! Dear Auction participants!" Ling Yu’s eyes followed his actions as he lifted the veil from the item in one go. "We present you with the long-awaited item: ’Crown of Hollow Kings!’"

"Yes! It’s a tarnished crown that is said to let its wearer command the spirits of ancient rulers and even summon low-level spirits!"

The audience all seemed excited just from one look at the item, as they made a noise of appreciation; it seemed that all of them had their eyes on this item. If the function of this crown was true, then no one knew what kind of strong power one would be able to wield. That is to say, it was a desirable item among the pack of hyenas surrounding this auction place.

"Dear guests, this item arrived in the country today at the latest. As you can see, this item’s value is already priceless. Even so, we must start with a proper price. So we shall start the bid with ten million Yuan! The rules are the same as always: the highest bidder shall win the item and buy it!" The auctioneer seemed excited as he announced the price.

The moment the bid started, the price started going upwards at a fast pace. Ling Yu only sat back and saw as the people bid the item to a sky-high price, a mocking smile hanging on the corner of her lips.

Because she knew already that whoever wins this bid is going to become a huge loser.

As dangerous as the function of this crown seemed to be, in reality, this is just a copy of the real item. Although it can summon low-class spirits in real life, it can never summon spirit lords. That’s why those fools who didn’t know any better were fighting so much to buy this stupid second-hand fake item.

Of course, she knew where the real item was, because she saw it in her system’s shop before. But she wasn’t interested in this kind of summoning items since they consumed too much mana. So she will hold back doing those things till the Gates open and people can use mana naturally, or else those damned summoning items will suck out her life force to use as their essence, which will become a risk for her life.

Besides, it seems that this bastard of an auctioneer didn’t disclose the backlash one will receive for summoning those spirits.

Because, be it summoning spirits or demons, one must pay some kind of price to keep the balance between both worlds. and this balance is made at the cost of slowly losing their own identity.

After the crown was successfully won over, the auctioneer bought out some other normal items. Fortunately, it seemed that the thing Ling Yu was aiming for was within those ’normal’ items.

"This is a piece of an original seven colored star meteorite, bought from a foreign merchant, the bid starts from 10,000 Yuan!"

Since it was a normal item, people wouldn’t show much interest in its description, so the auctioneer didn’t give much detail. However, scornful comments still came from third and fourth-floor guests.

"Come on, why would you put up such a useless item for auction? Would it even sell?"

"Whoever buys it must be a poor guy who doesn’t have enough money to get good items!"

"Instead of wasting our time, bring out the special items like the crown and similar!"

This made the auctioneer feel on edge as he stammered, only to hear the first bid from the second floor.

"20,000 Yuan."

The first bid came from Ling Yu, who was staring at the chunk of stone with sparkling eyes. If she wasn’t mistaken, then this so-called meteorite was actually the Aether core she was looking for!

"Looks like there are truly idiots who would bid for a useless thing like that, how boring."

Even though the ridiculing laughter sounded pretty bad, she was in no mind to take them personally.

"Guest No. 232 from the second floor bid on the meteorite for 20,000 Yuan! Alright! Is there anyone else bidding?" The auctioneer’s face lit up when he saw the bid go up.

Even if he were to sell it at the lowest price, it was a waste material anyway, so they’ll still make a profit!