Chapter 4019 — An Outright Bid

Watching this scene unfold, even Wei Zhao was struck dumb. After all, on the journey to this island at the far northern edge of the world, they had just been attacked by one of these legendary sea beasts. At the time, they had only suffered an assault on their consciousness from the Siren's Song and never glimpsed the Siren itself, so now the picture was complete.

"An auction house like this can openly put sea beasts up for sale?" Wei Zhao found it hard to believe. He had heard Ghost Thing say that, although the spirit beast clan could not completely stamp out human cultivators' hunting of spirit beasts, at least in formal public settings like this, surely no one would dare lay hands on spirit beasts so brazenly.

"Sea beasts are sea beasts, spirit beasts are spirit beasts. Those are two entirely different matters. The spirit beast clan has never conquered the ocean, so naturally they would not be so idle as to protect any sea beasts." Ghost Thing's voice rang out in his mind with a note of disdain.

Wei Zhao had no retort to that. At first glance, the sea beast cub looked no different from a human infant; even its wailing cry was identical. Still, he had no intention of interfering. His supply of spirit jade was limited, and he needed to save it for the six kinds of artifact-crafting materials that the King of Junk had listed. He could not afford any slip-ups.

But Wei Zhao's disinterest did not mean everyone else felt the same.

The Siren clan's heaven-defying innate talent meant that once one was subdued and made into a spirit pet, it would inevitably become a red-hot engine of slaughter. And so, among the crowd present, there were in fact many who had their eyes on this Siren cub, and before long someone raised a paddle and called out a bid.

"Three thousand one hundred spirit jade."

"Three thousand two hundred spirit jade."

"..."

For a time, bids rose and fell in a ceaseless clamor. A starting price of three thousand spirit jade was no small sum for the vast majority of people, yet still so many flocked to it like ducks to water. The value of a Siren cub was plain for all to see.

Yet the very next voice silenced the entire hall: "Six thousand spirit jade. I have heard that if you kill a Siren cub and stew it into soup, it works wonders for nourishing the body and preserving one's looks. It would suit you perfectly, Junior Sister Tianchan. Your senior brother shall take the liberty of securing it for you."

The speaker was none other than the red-haired man from Middle Island, Zheng Tianjie.

Hearing this, the crowd could not help but show looks of reluctance, yet there was nothing they could do. The price had leapt from just over three thousand straight to six thousand spirit jade, nearly doubling in an instant, leaving everyone else far behind.

No one qualified to be present at this auction had shallow pockets, but spirit jade did not fall from the sky for free. Everyone had their own budgets, and to wreck their plans over a mere Siren cub was clearly not worth it.

For six thousand spirit jade, Zheng Tianjie took the Siren cub without hesitation, yet Tianchan, the object of his lavish attentions, said not a word throughout, her expression never shifting in the slightest from beginning to end.

Zheng Tianjie seemed long accustomed to this and did not find it dull in the least. Tianchan had always been a cold beauty before him, but it did not matter. He had deep pockets, and on a rare occasion like today when he had a chance to show off, there would always be some way to coax a smile from a beauty!

In the several rounds of bidding that followed, this Four Islands Auction Exposition became a one-man show for Zheng Tianjie. Each time, others raised their bids by one or two hundred, while he simply doubled the price outright, without even batting an eye.

His grandfather was a deputy hall master of the Pill Hall, so spirit jade was something his family had in abundance, enough to squander endlessly without ever running dry. Unless the top merchant guilds stepped forward to compete with him, no one else present was his match, not even in the same league.

"This country bumpkin..." Wei Zhao cursed inwardly, at a loss for words. If this fellow had not been at Tianchan's side, he would not even have bothered to spare him a glance, but now he had no choice but to keep a close eye on him.

Yet in the very next moment, Wei Zhao discovered that he had run into trouble. This country bumpkin who did not lack for spirit jade was, at certain times, nothing short of a top-tier pain in the neck.

"A ten-piece artifact-crafting set, every piece recognized by artifact masters as superior crafting material, with a compatibility rate of over eighty percent. Starting price: ten thousand spirit jade." No sooner had Steward Song finished his introduction than the hall surged into its first small climax. This was the first lot in the entire auction to carry a starting price in five figures.

Hearing this description, Wei Zhao could not help but freeze. On the very first day he arrived on this far northern island, he had already scouted the area and found four of the six artifact-crafting materials he needed. Yesterday he had tracked down the remaining two as well. To bid on and win all of these materials, he had expected today to be a drawn-out battle, never anticipating such an unexpected turn of events.

A great many crafting materials had actually been combined into a single set and put up for auction together, and all six of the materials he needed were among them!

This turn caught Wei Zhao completely off guard. He had never even considered a bidding strategy for such a scenario, and more critically, this was still Zheng Tianjie's personal showcase.

Wei Zhao currently had fifteen thousand spirit jade on hand. If the six materials had been auctioned separately, that would have been more than enough, but with this ten-piece set, he found himself somewhat outmatched.

There was no time to lose. Wei Zhao could only grit his teeth and strike first: "Fifteen thousand spirit jade."

The hall erupted in an uproar, and every gaze instantly converged on Wei Zhao. They had all along assumed, as a matter of first impression, that Wei Zhao was nothing more than a lowly clerk in the Hong Clan Merchant Guild. But clearly that was no longer the case. After all, at an occasion this important, what merchant guild would be so frivolous as to send a mere clerk out to bid?

The crowd was merely astonished, but among them were three whose gazes fell on Wei Zhao and who were left dumbstruck. These three were none other than Nan Tianba, Nan Tianguan, and Yu Zhe, the very men Wei Zhao had been cautiously guarding against all along!

With Nan Tianba's background and status, he naturally had ways to secure entry slots to a grand affair like the North Island Auction. However, they had come purely to bid, so unlike Wei Zhao and Hong Zhong, they had not arrived early; they had only reached the far northern island last night and were utterly unaware of the commotion that had previously roiled the merchant guilds.

No sane person would ever believe that a grassroots newcomer like Wei Zhao could show up in such an exclusive place. Had he not spoken up to bid, Nan Tianba and the other two might never have noticed his presence even after the auction ended.

"How did that brat end up here? Narrow paths for foes indeed. Looks like even if we don't win anything good this trip, it won't be a wasted journey." Nan Tianba bared his teeth, and Nan Tianguan and Yu Zhe both flashed savage grins.

Without question, after the last birthday banquet, they had shifted their sights back onto Wei Zhao. On the Threefold Pavilion's turf they could not act freely, but now that they had come to this far northern island, they had no scruples at all. R1152

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