I Am The Young Master-Chapter 172 Second-Hand Goods
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Li Huang and his fellow sect members were all enthralled by the stage. They had no intention of obtaining the item, but treasures were always appealing to individuals on the path of cultivation. Well, Li Huang was probably the only one who considered purchasing it rather than simply admiring it if it was of significant worth to him.
After a pause that let everyone in the auction house think and gather themselves mentally, the auctioneer continued, "This year we have the Golden Dragon Pearl, the invaluable ancestral treasure of the Xu family, as today's final item." This was followed by another pause and you could hear gasps and hushed voices from all around the auction house.
Li Huang was taken aback, he couldn't figure out the logic behind this sale. Although his Li family and the Xu family would inevitably clash soon, It wasn't like any of them were short on cash.
Li Huang was still trying to figure out a plausible reason for this move from the Xu family but he was interrupted by the auctioneer's voice, "As you all know, this item has a mistreasious power that helps the ones close to it have a calmer heart and also improve their cultivation speed." The auctioneer said with a professional smile.
Of course, almost all the cultivators in the auction house were aware of these facts but now they were reminded of the true value of this treasure again.
~"Get it for the family, no matter the cost."~ Li Huang was thinking about this situation when he heard his grandpa's sound transmission.
~"I will."~ Li Huang answered. There was no reason to overthink things now as no matter what scheme or plan the Xu family had in mind, they could deal with it after they had the treasure secured.
"As the Xu family was generous enough to auction the Golden Dragon Pearl here, today this treasure will have a new owner." The auctioneer said and another employee brought a box to the stage.
Li Huang couldn't help but smile a little, at least with his Peeping eye of Heaven, they wouldn't be scammed with a fake item.
~"Elder, I'm going to our family's balcony. We have to win this auction."~ Li Huang sent a sound transmission to Elder Zhong Zedong and after receiving a confirmation he rose from his seat and walked towards the door.
Everybody turned to look at him, Cai ZhenKang where about to question him when Hu Anjing beat him to it, "Junior uncle, where are you going?" She asked.
"Well, people are going to complain if the winner of this item is also from this balcony so I'm gonna move to my family's for the moment." Li Huang said and shrugged. It wasn't the real reason but he was sure Hu Anjing could read between the lines.
Hu Anjing chuckled a little and Cai ZhenKang's eyes shone for a second. Li Huang nodded with a weak smile and exited the room.
The real reason he decided to go to the Li family's balcony was to lessen the possibility of more sects joining the bidding war. The other families would fight for this item regardless, but sects would probably refrain as this would not be something that helps the majority of their sect members.
The walk wasn't long and Li Huang was in front of the Li Family's balcony. Turning the doorknob he entered the room and it seemed that Elder Zhong Zedong had notified everyone about his plan to come over.
"Elders, everyone." Li Huang said, cupping his fists, "The family head has sent a message about this item and wants us to obtain it for the family." Li Huang explained and walked toward a seat that was free beside Li Wanrou.
'They probably moved around a little to free this chair for me. It was nice of them to do so but honestly, I would be okay with any chair; or even no chair…' Li Huang shook himself out of his thoughts as he sat on the chair.
"Do you know why we have to win this item?" Li Wanrou turned toward Li Huang and asked him.
"Other than the obvious, not really." Li Huang shrugged and said with a smile, "I'm just following the orders."
Li Wanrou simply nodded and turned to face the stage, and Li Huang did the same just as the auctioneer opened the box containing the Golden Dragon Pearl.
"We would like to remind everyone as a part of the formality that this item has been verified by the head appraisers of the Feng family." The auctioneer said cautiously and chose his words carefully. It was clear that they had to assure the authenticity of the item but there was no reason to make the Xu family hostile to them.
'It's not for nothing that they say merchants don't choose sides.' Li Huang smirked a little and thought. It wasn't that he expected anything else from them, but it was amusing to see nonetheless.
Li Huang didn't waste more time in his thought and looked at the presented item with his Peeping eye of Heaven activated.
A surge of information went through his mind and Li Huang leaned forward involuntarily in surprise. The item was as advertised, the Golden Dragon Peal, and there was nothing wrong with it. What surprised Li Haung was the additional information that the Peeping eye of Heaven provided him. The effects of this item were not just an increased speed in cultivation and a calmer Dao heart, this item was one of the main ingredients in creating the cultivation formation that he used in the Eternal Wail Chasm.
Li Huang didn't know how he had this knowledge now but it seemed that the Peeping eye of Heaven had some sort of reverse engineering capabilities.
'The peeping eye of heaven might have the ability to find what has made an item but it's not like it would provide me with the ingredient list, I have to check different items to see which one could be a part of that item's creation.' Li Huang hypothesized. He was happy to find an ingredient to recreate that formation, but he was even more elated to find a new capability of the Peeping eye of Heaven. 𝐛𝐞𝗱𝗻𝐨𝐯𝗲𝗹.𝐜𝐨𝐦
Li Wanrou and elders looked at Li Huang when he nearly jumped out of his chair but they didn't put much thought into it and put it as Li Huang being captivated by the treasure.
The auctioneer didn't give them much time and started talking again, "For the Golden Dragon Pearl we have a starting price of 100 million high-grade spirit stones and the minimum increase is 100,000 high-grade spirit stones." The auctioneer said and the auction house got so silent that you could hear one cultivator uneasily swallowing his saliva.
Even for large families, this sum is not to be taken lightly, and it becomes even more so when you realize that it is only the starting price. However, because this item is one of a kind, no one could argue that this assessment is unfair.
"The auction starts now." The auctioneer said.
Just as everyone was contemplating whether or not to buy it, Li Huang placed his bet.
"Two hundred million." He said and the silence filled the auction house again.
The auctioneer was somewhat taken aback as well but quickly gathered himself, "Two hundred million high-grade spirit stones from the Li family, does anyone want to bid higher?" He asked with a smile on his face.
On the Heavenly Sword Sect's balcony, Cai ZhenKang was laughing out loud, "Hahaha, he is crazy, hahaha…" Even Hu Anjing in the room couldn't help but agree with him.
Li Huang who was somewhat pleased with this turn of events, felt a gaze on him and turned to face the direction he felt the gaze from. His gaze stopped on the Xu family's balcony where Xu Xian was looking straight at him with a smile. As they looked gazes, He nodded toward Li Huang and Li Huang nodded back with a smile of his own but inside he was cursing mentally.
'How in the hell did I not figure this out sooner? It's obvious why they are selling this thing now that we are here.' Li Huang mentally reprimanded himself for making this oversight, but he was able to keep his face expressionless.