Chapter 505 The Grand Auction (final)
Owner: N/A
Grade: N/A
Description: This unnamed box was forged by melting down a number of Voidstones, a unique material that only grows in the Banished realm or the Void realm at the pace of 1 millimeter every 834,996 years. Due to their nullification properties, the box is nearly indestructible against the attack of any force under 15-circle (Elder God realm).
Weakness: The box is weak against forces such as Protos energy, anti-matter, Natural energy, pure divine energy, and Chaos energy.
Contents: It contains one of two keys to the Heavenly Palace's treasury. In the battle against the Chaos Lord, the Jade emperor lost his key to the cosmos, drifting in space for hundreds of millions of years.
Effect: The Box is immune to attacks and also weighs roughly 1.32 billion kg on the current planet.
***
*Ding! You triggered an emergency quest.
Quest: Acquire the Unnamed Box and submit it to the system.
Reward: Voidstones (unlock), M999 Minigun, Rare material purchase (unlock), Upgrade crystal (superior), Credit limit increases to 2 billion.
"Hmm?" A look of surprise appeared on Mark's face. He went into quick analysis, "I never heard of the M999 model Minigun but seeing the other rewards, it looks like a high-grade one. Something is indeed fishy. Furthermore, my 189k credit limit is directly increased by 2,000,000%?"
"With this, the system would no longer charge me high interest as my loan amount in the future wouldn't go out of credit limit. Perhaps, I would, anyway… the auction has already started. Let's think about this later and focus on the auction, right now. I wonder how high this bid will go."
"160 million" "170 million" "180 million" "190 million"
"200 million, Box no. 14," announced Xin Rui. She added, "From now onwards, the bid raise will be 20 million. Bids please…"
This was the special privilege of the final item. Its bidding raise amount will change after 200 million, 500 million, and 1 billion, not that this item will attract such high bid because of its unknown properties and high bids already occurring four times already and forced several big players out of the race.
"220 million" "240 million" "260 million"… "340 million" "360 million" "380 million"…
Three bidders were in the race, which reduced to two after 300 million. But, it went at a snail's pace. For every bid raised, there was so much discussion happening among the bidder and their respective associates.
"440 million" "460 million" "480 million"
"500 million, Box no. 22," Xin Rui made another announcement, "from now onwards, the bid raise will be 50 million, and the timeout is 10 minutes. Bids please…"
VIP Box no. 14;
"Lord Mu, I think you should give up," The attendant of Mu Tianlong advised his master, who was about to raise the paddle.
Mu Tianlong furrowed his brows in displeasure, "But, why? Don't you think the elders will find this thing interesting?"
"550 million gold coins is no joke, Lord Mu," replied the servant. He further explained, "To get 400 million, we had to give away a bunch of Earth-grade weapons to the Azure Cloud Pavilion. If this goes any longer, we have to sell more. It is not worth spending much. Just think about it for once."
Mu Tianlong, who appeared to be an Exalt realm cultivator on the surface, fell into deep thoughts.
Eventually, he raised the paddle as he said, "Not a problem, Fu Ruyi. We have more in our clan treasury anyway. If we go empty-handed, my brothers would make fun of me." "550 million, Box no. 14" Xin Rui announced the bid, taking the remaining bidder by surprise.
He didn't have the time to react to the bid raise and Xin Rui made another announcement, almost in just ten seconds, "600 million, Box no. 8."
Box no. 8 became quite famous for winning several battles in challenging rounds and the presence of supreme beings. After the whole intrusion incident, people had actually forgotten about them, many of them thinking that the supreme beings had fled as they could no longer sense their presence.
Shen Ling's joining as the bidder for the final item reminded them of her existence. While they were no longer aware of whether the three supreme beings were still there or not, at the very least, they remembered the name, Shen Ling as she aggressively bid under Mark's instructions without taking too much time.
"650 million" "700 million"
"750 million" "800 million"
Neither Mark nor Mu Tianlong stopped their bidding, even after it reached a record-breaking price. One was doing it to complete the mission while the other wanted to protect his pride in front of his clansmen.
"850 million" "900 million"
"950 million" "1 billion"
In the end, Mu Tianlong withdrew and let Shen Ling win it, making the unnamed box the costliest item of this auction.
"Congratulations, Shen Ling on winning the item for 1 billion gold coins."
As Xin Rui announced her as the winner, the imperial prince of the Tang Dynasty mumbled, "Who could have expected that our treasure would end up in his hands of Lu Zhen, of all the people in the world? Since this guy did give a lot of money, worth more than that entire Vermillion bird continent, let's do a small favor on my part by not informing this piece of news to Eldest Brother. He has yet to send any news regarding the founder, anyway."
Meanwhile, at Box no. 14, Mu Tianlong's face turned serious as he ordered his servant, "Fu Ruyi, it appears that there is something more to this item than it meets the eye. Or else, no one would be so stubborn to acquire it at such a price, and that too, someone from this backward realm. I want it now at all costs."
The old man in standard butler robes answered, "Lord Mu, it is Box no. 8, the one with three supreme beings."
"I know," Mu Tianlong nodded. "But, you have seen their actions earlier. Forget about attacking the immortal realm cultivator, even when he suppressed his aura to the demigod realm, but they even suppressed their auras to stay hidden. They were clearly not risk-takers. Put a powerful demigod before them as an opponent and they will voluntarily give it up. Send a message to Elder Wan."
"But…" Fu Ruyi tried to convince his master of this crazy idea, but Mu Tianlong looked stubborn as he said, "Do it."
"As you wish, Milord," the butler bowed with a resigned look on his face. ***
A few hours later;
Past midnight, As the rest of the civilians and tourists were sleeping, at the Hotel, Mark was awake in his room and focused on counting his winnings from the auction without being tired or so whatever.
"The Flag of Huangdi that increases my robot army's strength. With Staff of Blessing on the side, my robotic army could become invincible."
His eyes then shifted to the inventory slot with a staff. "This one only has one use."
The Staff of Horus
Grade: Diamond
Recommended: Mage, Summoner
Description: The weapon is forged with 92% Mythril and a myriad of other metals. The core is the goblin's brain.
*
"System, activate Transmutation"
A new holographic screen opened on the side with a huge circle in the middle. He clicked and held on it for a couple of seconds, and dragged it to the new window.
The item disappeared into specks of light, followed by a notification.
*Ding! You received 5.94 kg of pure Mythril, 516.5 gm of tungsten alloy, 1.6 kg of ether powder, and meat paste of goblin's brain.
"For a mere 21000 gold coins, I struck a treasure. Just 1 gram of Mythril is worth 100 gold coins in the store. Okay, next item…" Scroll of Thousand Blossoms
Grade: N/A
Recommended: anyone n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
Effects: Each petal has incredible healing properties, capable of healing any kind of injury. A 1% probability of reviving the dead when used within one hour of death. Description: A one-time painted scroll that unleashes a thousand petals of mystical cherry blossoms, only grown in the Celestial plane of existence.
"Hmm… I don't think this one is much useful for me. Let's keep this in inventory and give it to Allen as a gift once his metamorphosis is over. Next…"
*
Fan of Ephemeral storms
Grade: Crystal
Recommended: anyone
Description: This delicate folding fan possesses the power to summon ephemeral storms. With a flick of the fan, the user can conjure thunder, lightning, and rain, creating a tempest that disorients enemies and bolsters the wielder's agility. This item only has the power to alter weather in the region and doesn't contain either offensive or defensive techniques.
"This is a good item, useful in a war, more than a battle. Well, I can also use this to ambush the enemy boss with a lightning strike. This stays with me…"
*
Elixir of Eternal Spring
Grade: N/A
Recommended: anyone
Description: This elixir bestows the drinker with eternal youth and vitality. It halts the aging process and grants resistance to diseases. The amount of elixir is sufficient for two people. Please do note that it doesn't change one's lifespan.
"The Elixir can be shared by Shen Ling and Schatz. I guess the ladies will love this item. Sylvandria was once a High Priestess. She won't like such a thing, although not like she needed it."
*
"Now, coming for the Unnamed box…" He stared at the image of the black box in the inventory and then at the Quest and its reward. "Hmm… System, I paid 1 billion to win this box and the key inside it. If I submit this item, along with the promised rewards, will you let me have this box too? You can have the key. What do you say?"