Chapter 81

Chapter 81: Malicious Bidding
“Even if she is Master Qing Yan’s disciple, so what? Just wait and see.”

Wang Qian forced himself to boast, and Tian Han and Guo Ming En immediately showered him with praise.

His tense mood slowly eased, and the arrogance hidden between his eyebrows emerged again.

After the Violet Illusion Teapot, several more rare items appeared one after another, setting off frenzied bidding. In the end, they were all won by people in the honored guest seats.

An hour later, Yu Zhao finally saw the True Essence Water she had been waiting for.

“True Essence Water is taken from a place of extreme cold. It is colorless and tasteless, extremely yin and extremely gentle. It is the best Artifact Forging material for cultivators with the Water Spiritual Root. There are fifty drops of True Essence Water in this jade vial. The starting price is thirty high-grade Spirit Stones, and each raise must be no less than one high-grade Spirit Stone…”

Furong stood on the auction stage and explained in detail.

The True Essence Water was the second-to-last item of the Blackwater City Auction, also known as a finale item. Its rarity was obvious.

Before Furong finished speaking, someone could not wait and began bidding.

“Thirty-five high-grade Spirit Stones!”

“I bid thirty-eight!”

“Forty…”

“…”

Most of the people shouting prices were in the honored guest seats. As soon as one person called out a number, someone else immediately followed. The price quickly broke through fifty high-grade Spirit Stones.

Wang Qian had a fire-wood dual Spiritual Root, which was the most suitable for Alchemy, so he was not interested in the True Essence Water. His goal this time was that Fourth-grade Pill Recipe.

So when he heard others shouting prices, he narrowed his eyes in comfort and did not care at all.

Only when Yu Zhao’s cool voice suddenly rang out did his eyes sharpen and he sit up straight.

As soon as Yu Zhao joined the bidding, the competition became different in his eyes.

“Eighty high-grade Spirit Stones.” It was Wang Qian’s first time raising his number plate.

Furong’s smile grew brighter, and she said with delight: “Honored guest number one bids eighty high-grade Spirit Stones.”

Most of the people in the honored guest seats were great clans from Blackwater City or from nearby cities. They had long ago received messages from the auction house and knew the identities of Wang Qian and the others.

After hearing Wang Qian’s bid, the people who had still wanted to compete immediately lost the thought.

Leaving aside whether they dared offend Wang Qian, eighty high-grade Spirit Stones was already very close to the highest price they were willing to pay.

On top of that, there was still one last finale item that had not appeared. If they used up their effort on the True Essence Water, they would certainly miss the Fourth-grade Pill Recipe.

Backing down now was also a way of giving face to the people from Greenwood Sect, so later, when they bid, they would not have too many worries.

After weighing the pros and cons, the people who had been bidding fiercely all shook their heads and chose to give up on the True Essence Water.

Just when everyone thought the True Essence Water was about to become Wang Qian’s, Yu Zhao raised her number plate again: “Eighty-eight high-grade Spirit Stones.”

Gasps rippled through the crowd.

Everyone looked at Yu Zhao in shock.

Anyone with eyes could see that the big family clans in the honored guest seats were all making way for Wang Qian. Yet someone chose to go against the flow. They did not know whether to praise her courage or call her foolish.

“Sister Yu…” Meng Yue looked at her with worry.

Yu Zhao shook her head at her, signaling her not to worry.

“One hundred high-grade Spirit Stones!”

Wang Qian was not angry but happy.

He had really been afraid that Yu Zhao would stop bidding.

He had no use for the True Essence Water. He just wanted to disgust Yu Zhao.

Among everyone present, probably only Tian Han and Guo Ming En understood his thoughts. While they were happy, they also felt a bit of contempt.

On the surface, Wang Qian acted fearless, but in truth he still did not dare openly oppose someone from Five Elements Dao Sect. He could only use this method to indirectly express his dissatisfaction.

[So cowardly.]

At first, Yu Zhao did not notice that Wang Qian was deliberately targeting her.

Only when the price of the True Essence Water climbed and climbed until it was far beyond its real value, and Wang Qian still refused to give up, did Yu Zhao realize that he was deliberately pushing up the price, for reasons unknown.

Yu Zhao’s gaze turned a bit colder: “One hundred and sixty-six high-grade Spirit Stones. If honored guest number one continues to raise the price, I will withdraw.”

Wang Qian’s face stiffened.

Yu Zhao had suddenly revealed her bottom line, catching him off guard.

For a moment, he could not tell if Yu Zhao’s words were meant to provoke him or if they came from her heart.

Tian Han and Guo Ming En really wanted to egg Wang Qian on to keep bidding, but they were also afraid Yu Zhao would actually stop, and the True Essence Water would land in Wang Qian’s hands, causing him to blame them again.

So the two of them kept their mouths shut and let Wang Qian decide for himself.

“Phew.”

After a short silence, Wang Qian let out a long breath and shook his head at Furong, indicating that he was withdrawing from the bidding.

Wang Qian told himself to quit while he was ahead. He had already made Yu Zhao spend almost double the Spirit Stones. If he kept going, he might truly become enemies with her.

A trace of surprise flashed through Furong’s eyes, but she still smiled and congratulated Yu Zhao on successfully winning the True Essence Water.

Yu Zhao’s expression stayed calm, but the hearts of the others were far from calm.

Especially Young Master Fan and Chen Tian Dong, who had interacted with Yu Zhao before. Their gazes on Yu Zhao were very complicated.

Meng Yue had a simple mind and did not think as much as the others. Seeing Yu Zhao win the True Essence Water, she was happy for her from the bottom of her heart. The two small dimples at the corners of her mouth appeared and disappeared.

“Honored guests, next is the last item of our Auction Gathering. I believe many of you came especially for it. When Furong first heard about it, I was shocked too.

“Now, please welcome the last item of our Blackwater City Auction: the pill recipe for the Fourth-grade Evil-Warding Pill.”

The entire hall boiled over like oil in a hot pan.

Some impatient people even stood up from their seats, staring fixedly at the tray carried up by the female cultivator.

Furong said: “The Evil-Warding Pill clears the heart and brightens the mind. Taking this pill can lessen the disturbance of heart devils and increase the chance of breaking through. You may all rest assured. The Auction Gathering has already consulted a Master Alchemist and confirmed the authenticity of this Evil-Warding Pill Formula.”

Wang Qian’s eyes burned with madness.

The Master Alchemist that the Blackwater City Auction consulted was an elder of Greenwood Sect. Wang Qian had spent a huge amount of Spirit Stones to finally buy this information from him.

Greenwood Sect had a long history. Among the pill recipes stored in the sect were formulas with medicinal effects similar to the Evil-Warding Pill, and they required fewer Spirit Herbs. So Greenwood Sect did not value this particular recipe.

But Wang Qian was only an Alchemy Hall disciple, and a very ambitious one at that.

A Fourth-grade Pill Recipe meant everything to him.

That was why he had traveled so far to Blackwater City, just to get this Evil-Warding Pill recipe.

“The starting price for the Fourth-grade Evil-Warding Pill recipe is one thousand high-grade Spirit Stones. Each raise must be no less than ten high-grade Spirit Stones.”

“One thousand high-grade Spirit Stones! The highest price the Blackwater City Auction House ever sold for before was only eight hundred and eighty-eight high-grade Spirit Stones. This already broke the record!”

“Didn’t you hear? This is a Fourth-grade Pill Recipe! If it falls into the hands of a Qi Refining Master Alchemist, wouldn’t they earn it back easily?”

“Where did the Blackwater City Auction House get a Fourth-grade Pill Recipe, and they are actually willing to sell it?”

“…”

Most cultivators had enough self-awareness. An auction at this level no longer had anything to do with them. They could not even raise the thought of coveting it. They were only curious about where this Fourth-grade Pill Recipe came from and whose hands it would end up in.