Chapter 143: Chapter 133: Sure Enough, You Can’t Win a Bidding War Against Xiao Chen

Xiao Chen immediately followed up: "Four thousand!"

Four thousand was already on the high side. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Last time at the Bat Tower, he had bought a small bottle with half the capacity for two thousand Spirit Stones.

As a Black Market, the Bat Tower naturally had a significant premium on its prices.

Seeing Xiao Chen’s determined-to-win attitude once again, everyone on the third floor ultimately gave up on competing.

And so, the all-purpose Five-Colored Profound Water unexpectedly became the auction item with the fewest bids so far.

The auctioneer loudly hyped up the item, deliberately slowing down his count as he tried to drive up the price.

’How can this be?’ He was getting anxious.

If the Five-Colored Profound Water only sold for four thousand, it would clearly be a failed lot.

Normally, at an auction like this, such a versatile Spiritual Object should have fetched a new high price.

But no matter what he said, no one else raised the bid.

As an experienced auctioneer, he immediately understood Xiao Chen’s bidding strategy.

This was a series of consecutive auctions, and the bidders weren’t that familiar with one another.

Therefore, to apply psychological pressure on opponents in the upcoming bidding wars, one had to create an impression of having deep pockets right from the start by aggressively jacking up the price to showcase one’s wealth.

If done correctly, it could actually deter potential competitors later on.

’It’s all a calculated strategy!’

The auctioneer looked at Xiao Chen, surprised. The young man looked so green, seemingly not very old, yet his auction experience was so extensive. He’d probably attended quite a few auctions.

.

When the other Cultivators saw Xiao Chen spend another four thousand Spirit Stones to acquire a large bottle of top-grade Spiritual Liquid, they grew even more curious about him, their appraising gazes falling on him one after another.

Some female Cultivators, in particular, began asking their acquaintances from the Li Huo Sect about Xiao Chen’s background.

Throughout the rest of the first half, Xiao Chen did not bid on any other items.

This allowed the auctioneer to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Fellow Daoists, the second half of the auction will begin at 7 p.m."

"Any Daoists who wish to add items for auction should come to the second floor to consign them at least half an hour beforehand."

"Now, please enjoy the banquet."

A lavish spread of fine wine and delicacies was immediately served to everyone’s tables.

This was no ordinary meal. All the ingredients were either Spirit Plants or Spirit Beast Meat, including flesh from Tier Two Spirit Beasts.

Xiao Chen did a rough mental calculation. The cost of the ingredients for such a meal alone was likely two to three thousand Spirit Stones.

Factoring in the all-you-can-drink Spirit Wine, the cost would be much higher.

It seemed that even though every guest had been given a gift of one thousand Spirit Stones, the hosts could recoup a third of that amount from the cost of the meal alone.

Clearly, Master Ming Yue, or perhaps Thousand Bamboo True Man who was in charge of the event, was very generous.

All the Cultivators present were full of praise for this generosity.

After the meal, Xiao Chen went to the second floor. Using his bidding number, he collected 17,575 Spirit Stones, the amount remaining after a five percent commission was deducted.

He had bid twice during the first half of the auction, spending a total of nine thousand Spirit Stones.

As a result, not only had the number of Spirit Stones in his Storage Bag not decreased, it had actually increased by 8,575.

’It seems only special Elixirs like the Foundation Establishment Elixir can bring in this much profit,’ Xiao Chen couldn’t help but muse. ’It’s time-saving, labor-saving, and highly profitable.’

However, being able to reap such high profits was naturally the result of a fortunate coincidence, plus the combined effects of two of his Augments.

Under normal circumstances, after subtracting the costs, making a profit of two thousand Spirit Stones from a single refinement of a Foundation Establishment Elixir would already be considered very impressive.

After all, the Five-Colored Golden Lotus wasn’t cheap, its price usually fluctuating between three and four thousand Spirit Stones.

Furthermore, due to the rarity of the raw materials and the issue of proficiency, there was no guarantee of making a profit at all.

One of the biggest hidden difficulties was the cost of practice.

It’s impossible to succeed at refining the Foundation Establishment Elixir on the first try, and every failure means wasting a precious Five-Colored Golden Lotus.

If someone could master a new Elixir after only ten failures, they would already be considered a one-in-ten-thousand talent in Alchemy.

But even so, that meant at least thirty thousand Spirit Stones would simply evaporate. That was an extraordinarily expensive tuition fee.

But Xiao Chen, thanks to his Heart of the Alchemist Augment, had a 100% success rate from the start.

Otherwise, judging by his experience practicing with the Qi Nourishing Pill, he would have likely failed dozens, if not hundreds, of times.

Moreover, he could also gain an additional Foundation Establishment Elixir through his "Buy One, Get One Free" Augment.

This was a special Elixir where the cost of the Spirit Grass alone accounted for nearly eighty percent of the final price. Even if other alchemists had a perfect refinement, they would only make a twenty percent profit.

But he made a one hundred and twenty percent profit, a full six times more than anyone else!!!

One times one is one, two times two is four... after rounding, that’s basically a lead of a hundred million.

After running the numbers, an idea sparked in Xiao Chen’s mind. ’No, after I get back to the Sect, I have to go to the Alchemy Hall and see if I can make some more Spirit Stones.’

Before, he could only make Qi Nourishing Pills, and the profits were very limited.

But now, with the Heart of the Alchemist, he was poised to take off. It was time to adjust his plans.

’Then again, opportunities like the Foundation Establishment Elixir are rare,’ Xiao Chen thought seriously as he returned to the third floor. ’If I switched to other Elixirs, I probably wouldn’t be able to earn this much.’

That was completely predictable. Ordinary Tier Two Elixirs would never be as profitable as the Foundation Establishment Elixir.

’From now on, my main goal should be to focus on other types of special Elixirs, taking a high-end, niche approach.’

’I wonder if I can earn eighty or a hundred thousand Spirit Stones by the end of the year.’