Chapter 23 Auction

It seems to be just one Miracle Card, but in reality, it was a hundred. Even if one could only obtain one card per month, its terrifying value was unaffected.

After all, that was a complete set of hundred Miracle Cards, an irresistible temptation in an era where the average person owned merely one Miracle Card.

Moreover, it had a chance to refresh and produce "Silver" quality cards, which undoubtedly drove the crowd watching into a frenzy.

As for the odds, no one cared—wasn't everyone in this vast world a gambler?

In front of the crowd, Gu Ran's attention differed from most onlookers; his gaze lingered on the first card of the refreshed set and the introduction regarding the card quality levels.

Azurestone, Black Iron, Red Copper, Silver...

"So it turns out that above Azurestone quality lies Black Iron, and above Black Iron is the Red Copper quality of my own 'Void Trading Ground Card,' and above Red Copper, there's an even higher Silver quality."

His mind pondered, and he subconsciously nodded his head, formally confirming the various quality divisions of Miracle Cards, or at least some of them, since there might be even higher tiers above Silver Quality.

With that thought, Gu Ran's gaze returned to the first Miracle Card that had been refreshed in the Hundred Card Set.

Perhaps due to being the first refresh, the quality of this card was not low. It wasn't one of the ninety percent chance Azurestone Cards but a Black Iron Quality Card, which had less than a ten percent chance of appearing.

[Black Iron Card•Gathering Master]

[Quality: Black Iron one-star (Common)]

[Passive: Equipping this card, you automatically gain the medium talent "Dexterous Mind," increasing the dexterity of your hands by 30% and the success rate of casting various high-difficulty two-handed skills by 50%. (Note: Passive does not consume card points)]

[Active (Gathering Technique): Consume 1/3/9 card points to gather from a designated creature's corpse, able to harvest various valuable items from the body (including but not limited to flesh, materials, organs, Battle Pet Eggs, essence blood, etc.) (no cooldown time)

Note 1: Each creature's corpse can only be gathered from once.

Note 2: Depending on the card points spent, the probability, integrity, quality, and quantity of the harvested items can vary.

Note 3: The higher the level and life rank the gathering target had in life, the smaller the chance to harvest items.]

…

Although it was just a Black Iron Card, it was this card that greatly strengthened Gu Ran's determination to bid for the Hundred Card Set.

As for the ethereal set of a hundred Miracle Cards, he wasn't so concerned, considering it would take a full nine years to draw one card per month.

Nine years—before the cataclysmic changes to heaven and earth, that might have been barely acceptable. But under current circumstances, let alone nine years, even a single year carried too much uncertainty.

After all, no one knew how long they could hold on.

…

By comparison, Gu Ran prioritized the practical, and the "Gathering Master" perfectly matched his needs.

In the current environment where ninety-nine percent of Miracle Cards are Azurestone Quality, the value of a Black Iron Quality Card was self-evident. Merely because of this, securing the Hundred Card Set was sure to be profitable.

As he contemplated this, the girl vendor, under the crowd's urging, started the auction for the "Hundred Card Set" in her hands.

"That, the starting bid is 100 points, no... 50 card points, and each raise must be no less than 5 points. You can start bidding now."

The girl obviously wasn't fully aware of the value of the card in her hand, setting the starting bid at just 50 card points, but that didn't matter.

Looking at the group around her with almost avaricious gleams in their eyes, it was foreseeable that the ensuing bidding war would be incredibly fierce. The starting bid had become entirely irrelevant at this moment.

Perhaps sensing the tense atmosphere like the calm before a storm, Gu Ran felt somewhat nervous, but when he brought his attention to his nominal card booklet in his mind and saw the number of card points displayed, his anxiety slowly stabilized.

"378 points"!

Indeed, he had nearly four hundred card points on hand; with such an amount, he believed his chances of obtaining the Hundred Card Set were high.

While he checked his card points, the bidding voices around him had already started to rise consecutively.

"55 points, I'm securing this Hundred Card Set!!"

"Get lost, you dare show your face with just 5 points, I bid 70 card points!!"

"80 points!"

...…

When Gu Ran heard these bidding calls, his first instinct was to be stunned; he really hadn't expected there to be so many heavy card point players.

With his Mechanical Compound Bow and his willingness to fight and charge, he had considered that over the past six days, his development must have been quite good, if not surpassing ninety percent of the people in Jiang City, then at least seventy percent.

But even so, before activating the Void Trading Ground card, he had at most just over 40 points at any one time, never reaching 50 points.

Now, seeing this sudden emergence of so many card point magnates truly filled him with confusion.

One should know that this auction only covered a part of the northern suburbs of Jiang City, and before the anomaly, the number of people that had lived there was at most only tens of thousands.

Amidst his confusion, when he saw that nearly all the bidders were accompanied by groups of three to four people, or even five to six, Gu Ran quickly caught on.

Clearly, these were teams pooling together the assets of all members, capable of presenting a large number of card points in a short time.

This realization made him tense up once more.

However, before he could think further, as time passed, the auction had already reached its most intense phase.

"210 card points is my limit, if any of you can go higher, just say the word!!"

"220 points!!"

...…

Seeing that the pace of the bids in the hall had begun to slow down, Gu Ran finally made his first bid.

"240 card points!!"

His direct increase of 20 points thinned out the number of ongoing bidders, leaving only the final three.

Apart from Gu Ran, the second was a middle-aged man with a scar on his face, looking somewhat ferocious, and the last was an elderly man who carried a faint aura of superiority.

Hearing Gu Ran's bid, the fierce-looking man's expression shifted slightly, and then he clenched his teeth:

"250 points!"

As for the elder, his expression remained unchanged as he spoke indifferently, "260 points!"

...…

"280 points!" Gu Ran's second bid was just as decisive.

By then, although the fierce man appeared reluctant, he eventually gave up unwillingly.

The elder continued to speak:

"290 points!"

"300 points!"

As the words left Gu Ran's mouth, the crowd suddenly buzzed in astonishment, 300 card points, a number most people wouldn't even dare to dream of.

"Sigh!"

The elder let out a soft sigh and chose not to continue bidding higher.