The Black Seal Auction Begins!
"Appraisal. Arrange a private room for me," Li Xiao replied calmly.
The maid looked Li Xiao and Zi Yan up and down, then covered her mouth with a delicate laugh. "Sir, as you might know, it's our policy at the Black Seal Auction House that we can't arrange a room without first seeing proof of your assets."
Without hesitation, Li Xiao pulled out a purple-gold card worth ten million gold coins. The maid's eyes sparkled upon seeing it—she hadn't expected this guest to be such a wealthy individual.
"My apologies for the earlier misunderstanding, sir. Please, follow me." The maid respectfully led the way, guiding Li Xiao and Zi Yan to the second floor of the auction house.
By this time, the auction was already bustling with strong figures from the Black-Corner Region. Li Xiao noticed some familiar faces, including Elder Qing from the Sky Serpent Mansion. She had attended Heaven Ascending Pavillion's auction once along with the other members of the Sky Serpent Mansion, however, due to her only a mere Dou King, Elder Lu Man decided not to bring her along anymore.
Another figure, cloaked in black, caught his attention—Xiao Yan. Judging by his aura, Xiao Yan had already reached the Nine-Star Dou Grandmaster realm. This rapid progress was clearly thanks to Yao Chen's guidance. To think that he had risen from a One-Star Dou Grandmaster to Nine-Star in such a short time—truly remarkable.
"What a gratifying auction! I must win the upcoming item at all costs!" Fan Ling, the young master of the Blood Sect, smirked, a determined glint in his eyes. He was dead set on obtaining the next item, and whoever dared to outbid him would not leave Black Mark City alive.
Behind him, a Blood Sect elder chuckled darkly, reassuring him, "Rest assured, young master. With our strength, that item is as good as ours. Even if someone else manages to get their hands on it, we can easily eliminate them before they make it ten miles out of Black Mark City!"
The items at the Black Seal Auction House were generally low-grade. If it weren't for the Eight Gates' master, Yuan Yi, spending a considerable amount of spirit crystals to help the Alchemy Emperor Han Feng auction his items, such frequent auctions wouldn't even be held here.
In any case, this period of auctions had earned Yuan Yi quite a fortune, though the Eight Gates were still leagues behind the Heaven Ascending Pavilion in terms of prestige.
The first item up for bid was a familiar one, a Two-Lined Green Spirit Pill—one of the items Xiao Yan had put up for auction. It quickly became a hotly contested item.
However, Li Xiao remained uninterested, leaning his head on his hand. Low-level pills like these held no appeal for him. He had an abundance of them and could even use the more advanced Three Lines Green Spirit Pills as candy if he wished.
A mere Two-Lined Green Spirit Pill didn't even warrant his attention.
In the end, the two Two-Lined Green Spirit Pills were successfully won by Fan Ling, the young master of the Blood Sect, for 1.5 million gold coins each.
Elder Qing from Sky Serpent Mansion smiled seductively, "What an exciting auction."
The auctioneer from the Eight Gates stepped forward, clasping his hands together as he addressed the crowd, "The next item is quite peculiar. Our master once had the fortune of encountering it in the Heaven Ascending Pavilion within the Magic Beast Mountain Range."
"This item is none other than a fragment of the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame's treasure map."
The room fell into dead silence.
Then, all at once, the crowd erupted into a frenzy. The Purifying Lotus Demon Flame! Wasn't it said that obtaining it would grant one the power to unify the entire Dou Qi Continent? To think that such a treasure would appear here!
Fan Ling's pupils contracted sharply. "A fragment of the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame's map… I never imagined the Eight Gates would auction something like this."
Xiao Yan, too, found himself unable to stay calm. He never expected to encounter another fragment of the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame map here.
Xiao Yan knew that he already possessed one fragment of the map, while Pill King Gu He had another. Now, to find yet another fragment at the Eight Gates Auction House—was this not a sign that he was fated to obtain the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame?
"The starting bid is two million gold coins!" the auctioneer announced.
The auctioneer announced the fragment of the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame, but the number of bidders was surprisingly low. Many participants hesitated, knowing that a single fragment was useless without the others. Without the guarantee of obtaining the remaining pieces, investing a large amount of gold could easily turn into a waste.
As a result, only a few major powers were truly interested in bidding. Though they didn't know when or how they might acquire the remaining fragments, their influence and connections gave them a much better chance of doing so.
"Eight million gold coins," a Dou Spirit from Black Skull Tomb slowly raised his hand, a cold glint in his eyes. "Our Black Skull Tomb has always had a fondness for rare treasures. If you know what's good for you, you'll let me have this. Otherwise... heh heh heh."
"Mo Erhan, do you really think Black Skull Tomb can act with impunity in the Black-Corner Region? I fancy this item as well," Fan Ling, the young master of the Blood Sect, snorted. His pale face reflected a blood-red aura that sent shivers down the spines of those who saw it.
"Oh?" Mo Erhan of Black Skull Tomb smirked. "Since the young master feels that way, then let's settle this through a proper bidding war, shall we? Heh heh heh."
At that moment, Li Xiao calmly raised his right hand. "Ten million gold coins."
The room erupted in shock.
All eyes immediately focused on the man who had just bid ten million gold coins. Their gazes were filled with astonishment—what kind of person was this?
Starting with ten million gold coins? Does this guy own a gold mine?
Everyone was taken aback.
Some of the attendees felt their hearts race and their blood boil just hearing such an astronomical sum. Most of them had never seen that much gold in their entire lives, let alone imagined having it.
Fan Ling's brow furrowed, his face contorting with anger. "Who are you, daring to snatch something that belongs to the Blood Sect?!"
"Heh, you don't need to concern yourself with that," Li Xiao responded casually, popping a piece of dried apricot into his mouth, completely indifferent to the attention and hostility directed his way.
Fan Ling clenched the teacup in his hand so tightly that it shattered, yet he remained unfazed as his blood dripped onto the floor.
"No matter. Whatever you take from me, you'll pay for later," Fan Ling growled, drawing his curved eagle-claw blade. His father had already prepared to deal with anyone who dared steal his treasure—those who crossed him would die.
Zi Yan, wide-eyed, whispered, "Is that piece of cloth really worth that much? Ten million gold coins could feed us for ages!"
Li Xiao chuckled and replied, "That's a fragment of the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame, a Heavenly Flame ranked third on the Heavenly Flame list. Its value goes far beyond what gold can measure. If we auctioned it at the Ascending Heaven Pavilion, it would fetch many times more than what it's going for here."
Hearing this, Zi Yan blinked her big, adorable eyes but quickly returned her focus to her food, as if the entire auction had nothing to do with her. After all, what was more important than eating good food?
Chomp.
Hmph!