Chapter 150: Chapter 135: Wind and Thunder’s Wood Attribute, Perhaps an Opportunity for the Golden Core

Zhang Ruihao’s plan was simple. If Xiao Chen could borrow from the Liu Family, so could he.

The Yu Yu Commerce Association had brought a considerable amount of Spirit Stones with them.

Yan Hui was more than happy to make the deal, but he had two conditions.

First, the loan had to be repaid within ten years. Any delay past the deadline would incur double the interest.

Second, regardless of when Zhang Ruihao repaid the loan—even if he lost the bid and returned the money immediately—the Yu Yu Commerce Association would charge a twenty-percent interest fee.

Talk about daylight robbery.

This was it.

His face grim, Zhang Ruihao nevertheless signed the contract and borrowed forty thousand Spirit Stones.

Back on the third floor, he shot another venomous glare at Xiao Chen. "I bid ninety thousand!"

In an instant, the price of the Wind and Thunder Dual Swords had shot up by another twenty thousand Spirit Stones.

The Loose Cultivators were still excitedly watching the drama unfold.

But some observers had already begun to sense that something was off.

Cheng Qihong, Sect Leader of the Azure Flame Sect, for one, was taking another hard look at the Wind and Thunder Dual Swords resting on the tray.

He could have written off any high bid from Xiao Chen as a fit of youthful pique—an impulsive move to save face.

But Zhang Ruihao’s willingness to go into debt to make such a high bid could not be just for the sake of venting his anger.

There had to be more to these Dual Swords than just being an ordinary Top-Grade Magical Artifact.

For the moment, however, he couldn’t figure out what secret they held.

Other shrewd observers had the same idea, but sometimes, an idea alone wasn’t enough.

At this price point, you needed a mountain of Spirit Stones just to throw your hat in the ring.

Besides, even if the Wind and Thunder Dual Swords did hold some special opportunity, there was no guarantee it wouldn’t be something only useful to Zhang Ruihao or Xiao Chen.

After a quick exchange of glances, they all ultimately decided to remain on the sidelines.

"Tsk tsk tsk."

Listening to Zhang Ruihao’s bid, Xiao Chen feigned fear and said, "Adding so much all at once? Oh, you’re scaring me."

"I’ll just add one Spirit Stone. My bid is ninety thousand and one."

The auctioneer cleared his throat to remind him, "Ahem, Xiao, the minimum bid increment for this item is one thousand Spirit Stones."

Xiao Chen corrected him with a beaming smile, "Oh, is that so? In that case, forget the ’and one.’ I bid ninety-one thousand."

SLAM!

Zhang Ruihao slammed the table and shot to his feet. "What do you think you’re doing?"

Xiao Chen was intentionally sticking to the minimum bid increment. This was a blatant insult.

In fact, this tactic of bidding the minimum increment had only occurred once before during the auction.

That was when Zhang Ruihao had intentionally driven up the price of the Five-Colored Golden Lotus.

Now, Xiao Chen was giving him a taste of his own medicine. His intentions couldn’t have been more obvious.

Xiao Chen just kept smiling, not saying a word.

Realizing he’d lost his composure, Zhang Ruihao sat back down, fuming. "I bid ninety-three thousand."

"Ninety-four thousand."

Xiao Chen’s voice followed right behind, still only raising the bid by a thousand.

"You... Ninety-six thousand."

"I’ll raise it by a thousand."

"I bid one hundred thousand!"

"Let’s add another thousand."

Xiao Chen’s tone was languid, his voice laced with a lazy indifference. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Zhang Ruihao felt as if the very air around him was growing thick and heavy, making him unbearably agitated.

Even with the loan from the Yu Yu Commerce Association, he only had a total of one hundred and seven thousand Spirit Stones.

But from Xiao Chen’s relaxed and effortless demeanor, it was clear he was nowhere near his limit.

Zhang Ruihao wished he could draw his sword right then and there and cleanly slice Xiao Chen in two.

But this was Master Ming Yue’s Immortal Ascension Ceremony, and he didn’t have the nerve to cause a scene.

He could only act like a desperate gambler, roaring as he threw down all his chips: "I bid one hundred and seven thousand Spirit Stones!"

This was it. He was all in.

Everyone realized this had to be every last Spirit Stone Zhang Ruihao possessed.

They turned to look at Xiao Chen, only to see him once again utter three words in a steady voice: "Add one thousand."

The auctioneer’s face was already beet red. "Xiao, are you saying your bid is one hundred and eight thousand Spirit Stones, is that correct?"

Seeing Xiao Chen nod, he immediately bellowed with excitement, "Xiao bids one hundred and eight thousand Spirit Stones! Are there any higher bids?"

"One hundred and eight thousand Spirit Stones, going once!"

"One hundred and eight thousand Spirit Stones, going twice!!"

"One hundred and eight thousand Spirit Stones for the third time... SOLD!!!"

The thought of his commission from this auction skyrocketing made his voice grow louder and more feverish with each call.

He had called out the three counts with barely a pause in between, but at this point, such details were irrelevant.

A long procession of maids, each holding a tray with both hands, came to stand before Xiao Chen.

Aside from Zhang Ruihao, who sat with his head bowed in silence, even the other Cultivators from the Ruibao Commerce Association were looking in his direction.

Under the glow of the Everlasting Lamps, tray after tray of glittering Spirit Stones were carried away.

It was as if the Storage Bag in Xiao Chen’s hand contained an endless supply of Spirit Stones.

Only after a full twenty-two maids had passed did the crowd, as if waking from a trance, erupt into discussion.

"In all my years, I’ve never heard of a Magical Artifact going for over one hundred thousand Spirit Stones."

"More than that? Nothing this expensive has come up for auction in a thousand years. He must be unimaginably wealthy."

"You’ll all laugh, but the most Spirit Stones I’ve ever had at one time was less than eight thousand. That’s not even a fraction of what he just spent."

"It was truly worth coming to this grand event today. It’ll probably be decades, even a century, before we see a spectacle like this again."

The auctioneer himself presented the Wind and Thunder Dual Swords to Xiao Chen.

He presented them along with the Jade Slot and the tray they rested on.

At the same time, he secretly apologized to Xiao Chen in his heart.

’I’d previously thought Xiao Chen’s aggressive bidding was just a strategy.’

’Later, when no one else bid on the Five-Colored Golden Lotus, I was so worried about my commission that I secretly cursed him.’

’It turns out I was the one who misunderstood. I was judging a gentleman by my own petty standards. It wasn’t some bullshit tactic at all; the man truly has the means.’