“Current bid, six hundred. Anyone else?” the old man casually asked the crowd.

He didn’t exactly get a response as they were all too busy staring up at the Spirit Grove booth, gossiping about the high price people were willing to pay for a space ring. A rank three space ring was definitely a treasure, but it would normally be at most four to five hundred red crystals. It was rare for it to be more expensive than offensive artifacts.

“Umm, Li Lang,” Sima Xue whispered. “They might be targeting you, so I advise you to give up for now.”

“Y-yea, boss. We s-should back off here,” Wei Ping added.

Li Lang didn’t need his friends to tell him the obvious. The three musketeers from Spirit Grove stared at them with so much animosity, that one had to be blind to have not noticed it. It wasn’t surprising considering Li Lang could think of two reasons on the spot.

One, the three had greatly admired Ling Xue back in the sect, so seeing him with her now could be mistaken as eloping with their idol. Even now, as Sima Xue leaned in to whisper her warning, he could see the animosity behind their eyes intensify.

Two, they both had departed Spirit Grove on bad terms. Sima Xue especially, was outright a traitor to the sect, while Li Lang had come under great suspicion. It was confirmed that Ling Xue was a demonic cultivator in disguise, so seeing her with Li Lang led to the conclusion that they were in cahoots all along.

Combined with the fact the two of them were freely living their lives without suffering any repercussions despite the alleged wrongdoings, the Spirit Grove disciple was understandably hostile against them.

Despite realizing they were out for him, Li Lang surprised his companions and raised his hands to declare another bid.

“Seven hundred!”

Gasps could be heard from all over the venue. Even some Young Masters up on the floors above peeked out from behind their curtains to take a look at the fun.

Seven hundred red Qi crystals were not a small amount whatsoever. It was equivalent to seven orange crystals. An amount that could only be easily earned by those in the Violet Core realm or above.

“Li Lang, did you not hear me? You should give up. A rank three space ring isn’t worth this much. While they aren’t common, it shouldn’t be too hard to come across another one. In fact, you could even settle for—”

Li Lang held up a hand to ease his friend’s worry.

“It’s okay. I know what I’m doing.”

Before he had a chance to elaborate, the Spirit Grove disciples took action once more.

“We bid Eight hundred red crystals!”

The crowd was prepared for it this time. They simply didn’t make a noise as they watched the apparent drama unfold.

They could recognize the robes of Spirit Grove with ease, and Sima Xue wasn’t someone who could escape the observant eyes of experts. She was famous throughout both factions, so many saw this as Spirit Grove challenging Nightmoon Valley.

A majority of the spectators didn’t know the history between these two parties and simply thought it was another classic righteous sect versus demonic sect squabble. This caused each respective faction to chant out in support of their representatives.

“Don’t falter, Nightmoon Valley! Teach these so-called righteous hypocrites a lesson!”

“Hmph, these pathetic groups of rabble only live at our mercy, yet they dare bark so loud? Have no fear friends from Spirit Grove. No matter how powerful Nightmoon Valley may be, they don’t have the qualification to oppress members of the righteous path.”

Even in the background, both parties received secret communications from people offering support. They came in the form of loans, but at the end of the day, they were only vague verbal promises. Both parties were smart enough to politely decline them.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Li Lang took a few moments to survey the venue. He could feel the excitement in the air as they became the spectacle for all to enjoy. Breathing in deeply, he raised his hand once more.

“Nine hundred red crystals!”

“You’ve sure done it this time, Li Lang,” Long Yi cried while holding his hand with both hands. “Nine hundred? That’s enough for materials to make many attempts at creating our own artifact.”

The bids were like fuel to a fire. Each one fired up the crowd. Some spectators could be seen with a transmission jade in hand, spreading the news of what was taking place.

The event engulfed everyone within the halls, and could no longer be said to be a simple bidding war between two parties. The spectators created a momentum that pressured the war to continue.

Under all this pressure, the trio from Spirit Grove moved closer in a huddle to discuss their strategy.

“Lu Hong, we’re reaching our limit. My family won’t be happy if I spend all my money on a space ring that we will have to split ownership of.”

“Yeah, Zhang Bai isn’t the only one. My family handed four hundred crystals to me in hopes of attaining pills or artifacts. I think we’ve raised the price enough for that rascal. We should be satisfied at getting him to fork over nine hundred crystals.”

Lu Hong himself frowned upon hearing his partners’ words.

“You guys…He’s obviously dead set on attaining a space ring. That rat must’ve gotten into Nightmoon Valley’s good grace in exchange for selling our sect out. Nightmoon Valley must be buying the ring for him. There’s no way he has that much money himself. We should at least make them pay a heavy price. Trust me, we can keep going. Bumpkins like him are easily bewitched by space rings.”

“That…”

Zhang Bai and Pei Fong exchanged looks. They both didn’t know what to say to dissuade their friend from continuing their vendetta. Their expressions betrayed them, and Lu Hong could see their hesitation.

“Fine! If you cowards are too afraid to continue, then any extra crystals I commit from hereon will be paid by me.”

“But we still need our three—”

Before Lu Hong could be reasoned with, he shouted out another astronomical number and got the crowd so riled up that they could no longer speak over it.

“One thousand red crystals!”

Throughout the chaos, Sima Xue took the opportunity to grab onto Li Lang’s arm.

“Enough is enough! Don’t do it!”

“I said not to worry. Why are you grabbing onto me now? Do you really think I’d be that stupid?”

Li Lang wanted to say how it would be preposterous to think he would fail in reading the minds of a bunch of teenagers who were still wet behind the ears. The three Spirit Grove cultivators may have been slightly older than them, but Li Lang knew the life experiences cultivators had in this world were much more limited.

Not only did they spend large chunks of time in solitude, cultivating, but the little social time they did get was often trapped in a small echo chamber. Transportation in this world wasn’t the most convenient. The information didn’t flow freely without the internet. Every day, the cultivators would be around their own circle of acquaintances, causing their emotional intelligence to develop at a slower rate.

This was doubly so for arrogant young masters. Their demeanor was a sign they often got what they wanted, adding to their childishness. This all made them poor actors and lacked control over their emotions. Li Lang could read them as if they were beginner poker players.

Which was exactly why he chose to stop bidding here.

“Anyone else more than one thousand crystals?” the old auctioneer finally took rein of the venue once more.

His voice reached everyone’s ear no matter how loud the auditorium was. It instantly silenced the place. He glanced around for a few more moments before continuing.

“One thousand going once.”

His words made Zhang Bai and Pei Fong lean over their balcony, looking down in search of Li Lang.

“One thousand going twice.”

Now even Lu Hong’s face paled, as he had a sudden revelation. He began to suspect Li Lang hadn’t been so simple-minded after all.

“And so—”

“Wait!” the young man in green robes abruptly shouted.

It caused all attention to be drawn to him, but he didn’t have a choice. Losing this much money at this point in time would cause severe repercussions. He didn’t think it would come to this, but he had a fallback plan before he decided to target Li Lang in this manner.

His family had been to numerous auctions throughout their history. From a young age, he would hear stories about some of them, and from these stories, he found a loophole he could use in case his plans failed. It was still a gamble, but it was now or never. The existence of Sima Xue beside Li Lang gave him confidence in his theory.

Seeing how he hadn’t said a word after calling out, the old auctioneer admonished him.

“What is it, young man? You better have good reason to ask me to wait. There are rules here.”

“Yes…I am familiar with the rules. The reason why I stopped you is that I believe the other party has broken one of the ten rules of the auction!”

At his declaration, the clamor of the crowd grew. They all sensed drama and were dying to see how it would unfold.

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