Chương 136: Chapter25: A Sudden Intervention

The bid jumped by two thousand stones in an instant. Most bidders hesitated and sat back down, leaving only a few who practiced Earth-attribute techniques to linger.

"Four thousand one hundred!"

"Four thousand two hundred!" After a brief pause, only an old man and a young cultivator remained in the fray.

"Five thousand stones," the voice from the booth said calmly, as if such a sum were mere pocket change. The young cultivator sighed and sat down, looking dejected. The old man gritted his teeth, his voice cold.

"Five thousand one hundred!"

"Six thousand!" Mo Shuaishao sat in his booth, his hands wandering over the body of a scantily clad female cultivator. A smirk played on his lips. Feeling the woman's admiring gaze, his ego swelled to new heights. The old man glared at the booth, snorted, and sat down. He wouldn't go higher.

"Does anyone else wish to bid? If not, this item shall belong to the guest on the second floor," Elder Sun said. Six thousand was already well above the core's market value; he didn't expect more. But then, a voice rang out from a different booth on the second floor—the voice of an old man.

"Seven thousand stones." Mo Shuaishao's face darkened. He withdrew his hand from the woman's thigh, wiped his fingers on a white silk handkerchief, and stared toward the source of the voice like a hawk.

"Eight thousand!" he spat, his voice turning icy.

"Nine thousand!" the voice from the other booth replied instantly, flat and devoid of emotion. Mo Shuaishao's expression turned livid. He gripped the woman's breast with such force that she winced, though she dared not make a sound, forcing a smile of feigned pleasure instead.

"Ten thousand!" Mo Shuaishao's voice was now sharp with killing intent. He was making it clear that he was losing his patience. Inside his booth, Reyn's lips curled into a faint smile. He signaled Hu San to stop. Hu San nearly collapsed in relief. His heart was still hammering against his ribs; the thought that he had just casually thrown around thousands of spirit stones made his head spin. After paying for the item, Mo Shuaishao stashed the Pangolin core away with a dark expression.

He tossed a few stones to the woman to dismiss her and stared at Reyn's booth, his eyes smoldering with unspoken thoughts. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"The fourth item is a top-grade weapon: the Pure Yang Flame Sword! Forged from Sun-Yang Crystal and imbued with a Fire Array, it can automatically condense wisps of Solar True Fire. In the hands of a fire cultivator, its power is devastating!" Elder Sun was beaming, riding the momentum of the ten-thousand-stone sale.

"Starting price for the Pure Yang Flame Sword: eight thousand stones!"... The auction proceeded smoothly. Item after item was brought out and snatched up at high prices. Reyn, however, remained unimpressed. While there were many rarities, none were what he truly needed.

"Fellow Daoists, the next item is a fragment of an ancient map." Elder Sun held up a tattered piece of parchment. He channeled his spiritual power and tried to tear it, but the map remained perfectly intact.

"I pride myself on my experience, yet I cannot see through this map. It is impervious to spiritual power and cannot be harmed by standard Spiritual Artifacts. Whoever tore this map originally must have possessed a cultivation level beyond our imagination!"

"Though its origin and purpose are unknown—and it may well be a useless scrap—it could also hide a world-shaking secret. The seller has set a starting price of ten thousand spirit stones. If anyone is interested, please begin." Ten thousand stones was a fortune to most. While the map was clearly extraordinary, it was just a fragment. If it turned out to be junk, the loss would be devastating. The hall fell into an eerie silence.

Just as Elder Sun was about to declare it a failed lot, a raspy voice came from the easternmost booth on the third floor.

"Heh, this thing is a bit peculiar. Since no one wants it, I'll take it for ten thousand."

"Wait." A second raspy voice emerged from the central booth on the third floor.

"I find myself interested in this fragment as well. Perhaps Fellow Daoist Jin Jupeng could let me have it?"

"Hmph!" Jin Jupeng paused before growling, "Since Matriarch Ghost-Controller is also interested, we shall have to let our purses do the talking."

"Twenty thousand stones!"

"Twenty-five thousand!"

"Thirty thousand!"... The sudden aggression from the third floor signaled to everyone that the map was far from ordinary. Two Golden Core eccentrics were fighting for it. Despite their curiosity, no one dared to interfere. Both Jin Jupeng and Matriarch Ghost-Controller were known for being ruthless and difficult to deal with. In his booth, Reyn stood up abruptly, his eyes locked onto the parchment. After a long moment, his breathing steadied, and he sat back down, lost in thought.

'Both of them are Golden Core cultivators. If I interfere, I'll likely draw their ire. Once I leave the auction, there will be trouble. But this map... I have a powerful premonition. If I don't take it now, I will never uncover the secret behind it.'

'If I hesitate today, it will leave a shadow on my heart, a knot in my cultivation. So be it. They are just two Golden Core cultivators. I killed that old devil Ming Diao when I was far weaker than I am now. Why should I be scared of these two?' Reyn's eyes flashed with cold resolve.

"Hu San, bid for me."... Everyone knew Golden Core cultivators were wealthy, but the bidding war between Jin Jupeng and the Matriarch left the lower-level cultivators breathless.

"Sixty-three thousand stones! Matriarch, I am determined to have this. If you step down, I shall owe you a favor. How about it?" Jin Jupeng's voice boomed through the hall.

"Fellow Daoist Jin, I am just as determined. Why don't you let me have it instead?" the Matriarch countered with a cold snort. She had sensed a faint, ancient aura from the map that convinced her it was a priceless treasure. The two were at each other's throats, the price climbing with every breath, their voices growing increasingly murderous.

"One hundred thousand spirit stones!" Suddenly, a voice rang out from a booth on the second floor. After a brief, stunned silence, every eye in the hall turned toward that booth with an expression of utter disbelief.