After the bid of twenty million came out, Fang Xiuxian for a moment did not know what to do.
Although this Middle Grade Dharma Treasure was not bad, buying it could bring him a good improvement, but this was just the beginning, there was completely no need to pay such a high price, otherwise later if there were good things, he might miss them.
"I don't want it."
Fang Xiuxian finally chose to give up; after all, it was only the first auction item, and there really was no need to clash with the other party to the death.
Moreover, he also worried that once he engaged in a bidding war, the other party might trick him. Twenty million was already his bottom line, so since the other party called it out, he would simply give up.
"Since no one is raising the bid, this sword belongs to the third private room on the fourth floor."
Seeing one party withdraw, Cai Mu did not delay and directly announced the result.
"Very well, the first auction item has concluded. Next is the second auction item: a bottle of ten High Grade Spirit-Burst Pills. Consuming them temporarily increases one's Spiritual Qi, and for those in the Nascent Soul stage, it can directly raise their cultivation by a small realm. The starting bid is one million, with each increment no less than fifty thousand."
Cai Mu gave a casual introduction before announcing the starting price.
"Damn, Miss Ling, is your auction house specifically targeting us competing disciples? Every single item seems tailored for us."
Seeing the pills, Qin Xiao finally understood what Ling Ruoxue had meant after they finished eating earlier.
"Of course. Since you all have a competition coming up, aren't I just trying to help?"
Ling Ruoxue did not deny it. If she didn't fleece their Spirit Stones now, when would she?
"That's fair. My two disciples, do you need these?"
Qin Xiao had no counter-argument to that logic, so he turned to ask his disciples.
"Buy them. Having more methods is always better."
Without waiting for Lin Shimeng to speak, Yun Man stated that they should buy them.
"Alright, then we'll buy them."
Qin Xiao did not waste words. If they wanted them, they would buy them.
Ordinary factions and average city lords would not contend for these Spirit-Burst Pills because they lacked Nascent Soul stage competitors. The primary bidders were naturally the six most promising contenders.
"Hold on, Brother Qin. Didn't you say the three of us each have a ten-million quota? Can we participate in the bidding too?"
Luo Yunshuang was also very interested in the pills and turned to ask Qin Xiao.
"That's right, the three of you each have a ten-million quota. What, want to give it a try?"
Qin Xiao hadn't expected them to take an interest in the Spirit-Burst Pills.
"I want to try."
Seeing Qin Xiao confirm it, Luo Yunshuang expressed her desire to bid.
"Go ahead. You place your bids, and I'll place mine, as long as it doesn't exceed your quota."
Qin Xiao replied nonchalantly. The more they spent, the better-once they squandered all their Spirit Stones and lost the bet, they wouldn't have any excuse to refuse becoming his disciples.
Meanwhile, the bidding on the third floor had reached a fever pitch.
"Five million Spirit Stones."
The voice calling out five million belonged to none other than Lin Tiancheng. To secure a top-five spot, he had to make a move, and the Spirit-Burst Pills were undoubtedly the best option.
"Six million."
Luo Yunshuang immediately countered with six million.
"Eight million."
The Mysterious Yin Sect entered the fray. Unaware that the bidder was actually their own disciple, they began pushing hard to secure the pills.
"Ten million."
Fang Xiuxian chimed in once more. These pills offered a solid boost that could help guarantee his victory, so he had no intention of missing out.
"What should I do? My quota isn't enough! Sister, lend me your ten million, and we'll split the pills equally."
Seeing Fang Xiuxian push the price straight to ten million, Luo Yunshuang panicked and sought help from her older sister, Luo Yunbing.
"Granted."
Luo Yunbing kept her words brief.
"I knew my sister was the best."
Luo Yunshuang instantly regained her confidence.
"Eleven million."
With her confidence restored, Luo Yunshuang naturally raised the bid by another million.
"Who on earth is this? It's just a mere batch of pills, yet the price has already surpassed ten million?"
Lin Tiancheng felt a headache coming on. It wasn't that he lacked the Spirit Stones, but rather that the price simply wasn't worth it anymore.
"Eleven million five hundred thousand."
Deciding to make one last stand, Lin Tiancheng added fifty thousand.
"Fifteen million."
This fifteen million didn't come from Qin Xiao's private room; the Pure Yang Sect's private room had finally entered the bidding.
"Sixteen million."
Gritting his teeth, Lin Tiancheng pushed out another million. If the price went any higher, he would have no choice but to drop out.
"Seventeen million."
Fang Xiuxian added another million.
"Eighteen million."
This was the Mysterious Yin Sect's final bid. After all, the items weren't truly worth such an exorbitant sum, and had it not been for the emergence of two late-stage Nascent Soul opponents, he wouldn't even have bothered bidding.
"Nineteen million."
This was the Pure Yang Sect's bottom line. The utility of these pills was limited for them, and any higher price would make it a losing proposition, especially since they didn't need to secure qualification.
"Twenty million!"
Luo Yunshuang quickly shouted out twenty million. This was her absolute limit; she and her sister shared a joint quota of twenty million. They rarely traveled away from home and usually carried only a few hundred thousand Spirit Stones on their persons-a negligible amount in this setting-so they had relied entirely on Qin Xiao's quota.
Twenty million far exceeded everyone's initial projections. These were merely ten ephemeral pills, whereas the first item had been a Middle Grade Dharma Treasure that went for twenty million. Pushing a single bottle of pills to this price point was already over the top.
"No one else is bidding? Haha, that was close..."
Seeing that the shouting had stopped, Luo Yunshuang finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Who said no one else is bidding? I haven't even placed my bid yet."
Noticing that the competition had died down, Qin Xiao figured it was his turn. While he had no personal use for the pills, his disciples certainly did.
"Twenty-one million."
Qin Xiao directly added another million.
Having the same private room place consecutive bids left everyone else completely bewildered. What kind of game were these people playing?
"What? Qin Xiao, are you toying with me?"
Seeing Qin Xiao tack on another million, Luo Yunshuang felt a surge of rage, convinced she was being played.
"Don't misunderstand. I never said I wouldn't bid; I just hadn't gotten around to it yet. How can you call that playing with you?"
Qin Xiao replied speechlessly. She was the one jumping to conclusions-why blame him?
"This is bad. Sister, think of something! If he gets these pills, we won't stand a chance against them, and if we lose, we'll have no choice but to become his disciples!"
Growing frantic, Luo Yunshuang immediately appealed to Luo Yunbing for assistance.
Her initial plan hadn't even been to rely on the Spirit-Burst Pills to secure victory; she had simply wanted to buy them to prevent Qin Xiao from getting his hands on them, thereby ensuring she won their wager. Keeping up the bidding war was out of fear that some accomplice of Qin Xiao might snap them up, so keeping them in her own hands-using Qin Xiao's own Spirit Stones-was the safest bet.
Now everything was ruined because Qin Xiao had stepped in, and both sisters' quotas were completely exhausted.
"Don't panic. Panic leads to rash mistakes. Isn't Junior Brother Cang still here?"
Luo Yunbing remained far more composed. If Qin Xiao acquired the pills, Cang Chen would be disadvantaged as well, and presumably, he wouldn't want to see that happen. They just needed to requisition his quota too.
"Right! Junior Brother Cang, hand over your quota as well! Otherwise, we're all going to lose the bet, and you don't want to become his disciple either, do you?"
Prompted by these words, Luo Yunshuang snapped to her senses and hurriedly turned to Cang Chen.
"Fine, I agree."
Cang Chen hadn't expected that even though he had stayed completely quiet, he would still get dragged into the mess in the end. Still, it seemed he didn't have much of a choice.
"Qin Xiao, is this allowed under the rules?"
Luo Yunshuang called out to Qin Xiao.
Naturally unbothered, Qin Xiao replied smoothly:
"Of course it is."