Li Bai's Bids

A group of men led Li Bai and Li Bao to a VIP seat in the auction. Their items were to be sold this very day, as there were slots vacant.

Li Bai was seated at the back of the VIP area, while they led Li Bao further in. Li Bao was furious. They were mistreating her brother yet again!

"Bai didi, come here, I'll sit there."

Li Bai was content with his seat, but when his sister offered him a higher seat, he was elated. Of course, he would accept!

"Many thanks to Bao jie-jie."

A small figure was walking through the VIP area, passing through all the high ranking people on chairs. All of them were mocking and insulting the young man, as they heard that it was supposed to be Li Bao who was going to sit there, but she felt pity for her brother and offered to exchange seats. They were siblings, after all.

During this time, the auction was ongoing. The person on the stage was the popular Yu Fang (余芳), known for her mature beauty. People all throughout the auction hall were drooling. Some even came just to see her.

Li Bai was drooling as well, not to Yu Fang though, but to the item up for auction instead! It was the rare Fools' Gold! This was a very worthy item for him, as only the chosen ones knew how to use it. He was one of the chosen ones... because he was the one who made it.

"This is the Golden Pot! Made by an ancient master, we don't know any of its uses. But, it exudes a mysterious aura. The starting price is 500 gold!"

Yu Fang's introduction to the pot was very unconvincing, so only diehard Yu Fang fans bid on it. It only reached about 600 gold.

Li Bai was confused. Golden Pot? What the heck is that? He then remembered that he had put up an illusion formation around it, so strong that only Fifth Level Marks could see through it. He, however, wasn't a Fifth Level Mark, so how did he recognize Fools' Gold immediately?

"Is no one going to bid more? 600 gold, going once-"

Nevertheless, he bid on it as well.

"5000 gold."

As soon as his voice echoed throughout the entire hall, people were baffled as to why he would raise the price so far. They looked for the man who said this price. It sounded like it came from a child.

Li Bao was very shocked! Where is her brother going to get the money to pay 5000 gold for this?!

Li Bai was the only one who remained calm. The 5000 gold isn't even going to make a dent in the profits he's going to get for all of those pills. Plus, the real worth of the Fools' Gold exceeded thousands of diamond coins! A diamond coin is a thousand platinum coins, and a platinum coin is a thousand gold coins, so 5000 gold is just a measly 5 platinum coins. He found one of his ancient artifacts, and even got it for cheap!

Yu Fang was the most shocked. When an item sold exceeded its price it was appraised for, some of the extras go to the presenters. The price for this Golden Pot was told as a mere 510 gold. She was going to earn tons for this! She thought that the man that bid 5000 gold was an avid fan of hers, so she couldn't help but thank herself for her own beautiful face.

"Uh... 5000 gold, anyone else...?"

After that, no one else bid on this item - Li Bai won the Fools' Gold!

Li Bai was to receive the artifacts he bought when all his pills were sold. Yu Fang introduced the next item as well. The item on the stand was a pot. It had all of the zodiacs marked on it.

"This one's called the Zodiac Pot! We obtained this from a wandering traveler. We tested it and found that it absorbs the excess energy that you waste - it stores it for future use!"

The crowd went wild when the item's function was said. This was an extremely useful item! Everyone knew that one wasted a ton of energy when circulating it through the gems. Earth energy is depletable and takes time to regenerate. With this item, you won't waste Earth energy at all!

Li Bai had a contemplating face when this item was introduced.

"A pot that has all of the marks, absorbs all excess energy? All of the marks..."

He realized something. He needed this pot! He had never seen it before, so it must be much more ancient than these people think! He needed to study this!

"The starting price is... 2000 gold!"

"What?! It's this cheap?"

"This is a bargain!"

"I need to get this!"

Almost everyone fought over this incredibly precious pot. One by one, they dropped out of the bidding.

"2500 gold? Anyone else?"

"5000 gold."

A man just bid 5000 gold again! It wasn't Li Bai however, it was the Liu clan's representative! This representative came with a servant.

"See? I told you I had good foresight!"

"Yes, sir. You have good foresight."

This bid overwhelmed everyone. No one was rich enough to outbid the Liu clan. They were one of the top clans in the city!

Someone else suddenly spoke up.

"6000 gold!"

The man that spoke this time was the Lu (吕) clan's representative. He was wearing more luxurious clothing than the Liu clan's representative.

"Ha! Who has good foresight now?"

The Liu and Lu clans have always been in a dispute. Since they started as the same clan, but eventually two factions within the clan fought. The faction that was kicked out changed their surname to Liu, while the ones that remained changed theirs to Lu.

Li Bai saw this and laughed inside. He was waiting for the perfect time to strike. This was when one of the two quarreling clans outbid the other one. Li Bai would then make them feel a sense of victory until Li Bai suddenly stole it from them!

With these two powerhouses here, Li Bai was guaranteed even more of a haul for his pills, and therefore didn't cautiously spend. Instead, he would spend more lavishly on every opportunity he got.

"7000 gold!"

"7100 gold!"

.....

"10000 gold!"

"10500 gold!"

The Liu and Lu clans were still at war as to who would obtain this Zodiac Pot. They were rapidly running out of money.

"No! The Lu clan is much richer than us. I can't afford to spend my reserves."

The Liu clan's representative finally gave up. He had brought less money than his Lu clan counterpart. The Lu clan's representative smiled in glee.

"Haha!"

"Anyone else?"

Yu Fang was looking for her avid fan earlier, with expectations. But the price was way too high now! How would she expect him to raise the price?

"10500 gold, going once-"

"20000 gold."

Li Bai had struck again! Once again, everyone heard this extravagant young man's voice. The voice sounded like it came from a child, not even 12 years old!

Li Bao almost fainted. The annual profit of the Li clan had been only 100000 gold! Where did Li Bai get so much money?! But when she saw her brother's confident face, her heart was cleared of worry. Seeing this confident face he made was so refreshing because, for the past ten years of her little brother's life, his face was always filled with disappointment and regret.

The low ranked nobles who were in the normal area heard the voice coming from the VIP area and looked for the young man who said it.

The Lu clan's representative was filled with fury towards the voice owner. How dare he outbid me?! This was a slap in the face towards him and the entire Lu clan! Doesn't he know the consequences of disrespecting the Lu clan, one of the most influential in this city?

Yu Fang, however, was delighted! Whoever this avid fan was, she had to give him a visit! To support her this much... she had to give him a reward, or else she'll feel guilty.

"20000 gold... going once, going twice, going thrice..."

Outside the auction hall...

A number of people that came from the auction hall spread the news.

"They were selling a national treasure!"

"Did you hear? It was sold for 20000 gold!"

"Who is so rich as to spend 20000 gold like a child?"

This news spread like wildfire, eventually reaching the ears of the top clans in the city. They all sent representatives and supplied them with a big sum of money.

Inside the auction hall...

Li Bai had already spent 50000 gold, acquiring all the treasures, whether they were worthless or precious in everyone's eyes. He could tell at first glance what the treasure was used for. The only treasure so far that made him confused was the Zodiac Pot.

Everyone already noticed Li Bai's presence but didn't know that it was him. When they looked for the extravagant spender and saw Li Bai, they brushed it off as if it was their imagination only, because Li Bai is a well-known trash. It would be impossible for the massive spender to be him - the Li clan wouldn't impart that much money for him. Even the clan head didn't have that much money! Besides, the Li clan was only a mediocre clan, they wouldn't have that much money to spare, much less to give to Li Bai.

Suddenly, a clan representative arrived. Soon after, a lot more clan representatives arrived. A lot of the crowd were shocked by the number of clans that sent their representatives!

They heard about the luxurious spender and wanted to invite him into their clan. They didn't think about if he was already part of a clan or not because it should be common sense that no commoner from a clan was this rich.

They also heard about the priceless Zodiac Pot, which was ultimately sold for 20000 gold. They wanted to see more treasures like the Zodiac Pot, so they had expectant looks towards the next items.

Yu Fang was in turmoil inside. When she was the presenter, she didn't ever reach these high amounts of excessively high prices. She definitely had to give a reward towards this obsessed fan of hers!

When Yu Fang saw the clan representatives arrive, she was extremely overjoyed. If these powerhouses were here, while she was presenting, she would without a doubt get tons of gold! This was only made possible because of two things: the clans were seeking to invite the mysterious spender, and they were also planning to buy priceless treasures as precious as the Zodiac Pot. She deduced this all by herself. She owed this fan of hers another favor. How thirsty this fan is!