Chapter 292: Painting of a Cloud Dragon
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
“The auction today is surely grand. The Master of the Yuntai Suzerain and the Palace Master of Tai Qing Palace are both attending personally.”
“Naturally. I’ve heard that not only are there Space Treasures at this auction, but also are some other special treasures.”
…
Endless discussions could be heard on the whole Auction House.
Suddenly, a washbasin sized Spiritual Crystal of light nature floated up in the center of the Auction House. It hovered about 66 meters in the air radiating a brilliant light.
It lit up the entire Auction House like a bright full moon.
A graceful woman in translucent white cloth flew down from the air and landed lightly, with jade white feet, in the center of the auction stage. Her long white hair cascaded like a waterfall down her back.
“Junior fellow apprentice Zhang, do you know who she is?”
Chang Qiqi stared at the enchanting woman on the auction stage, his eyes were as round as coins and he spoke in a very excited way.
Zhang Ruochen also glanced towards the woman and his eyes lit up a little. No wonder Chang Qiqi was so excited. The white-haired woman was extremely beautiful and also very alluring. The long, snow-white legs that peaked out from her dress were particularly seductive.
Many warriors’ gazes were locked on her body. They looked as if they wanted to devour her.
“Indeed she is a rare beauty.”
Zhang Ruochen smiled, “The Martial Market Bank is very good at doing business. By having such a beauty host the auctions, many young warriors will become hot in the head and recklessly bid high prices.”
“Don’t underestimate her.”
Chang Qiqi glanced towards Si Xingkong and smiled. “Her name is Bai Xuling, one of the top ten beauties of Omen Ridge. She is also one of the martial arts legends at the Initial Stage of the Heaven Realm, and an important member of the Martial Market Bank. Most importantly, she is our eldest brother’s confidant.”
“Oh!”
Zhang Ruochen revealed a trace of a smile and turned his gaze to Si Xingkong.
Sure enough, Si Xingkong appeared unusually awkward. “Don’t listen to him, he is blabbering. Ms. Bai and I have only completed a mission together. It is nothing like what he said.”
The people around them continued to tease Si Xingkong about Bai Xuling until finally Si Xingkong became tired of acknowledging them and resumed drinking his wine. However, his glances continued to return periodically to Bai Xuling and he would smile lightly each time.
Bai Xuling stood on the auction stage and began to warm up the audience as well as relay the rules of the auction. Following this, she said, “Now, please give your attention to the first item of the auction, the Painting of a Cloud Dragon, personally painted by an art master.”
“The Painting of a Cloud Dragon is created with ink made from the blood of a Flood Dragon. The blood is combined with the power of Art. By simply injecting Genuine Qi into the Painting, a warrior can summon seven Flood Dragons simultaneously to aid them in battle.”
“The starting bid for the Painting of the Cloud Dragon is 5,000 Spiritual Crystals. Each raise is not to be below 100 Spiritual Crystals. Let the auction begin.”
“5,000 Spiritual Crystals!”
“5,500 Spiritual Crystals!”
…
Bai Xuling’s voice had just faded when the bidding began relentlessly.
Huang Yanchen’s mind clicked. “The Flood Dragon is an inferior fourth level savage beast. Its power is equal to that of a warrior at the Mid Stage of the Heaven Realm. If someone could call forth seven Flood Dragons at the same time, they could challenge a warrior at the Advanced Stage of the Heaven Realm. However, the power of the War Map decreases with each use, so regardless of how powerful it is the first time, the second use would see a major decrease in power.”
The power of the Painting of a Cloud Dragon was awe inspiring. It would be enough to kill a warrior at the Initial Stage of the Heaven Realm and threaten the life of a warrior at the Mid Stage of the Heaven Realm.
Zhang Ruochen naturally understood Huang Yanchen’s meaning. She wanted to buy the Painting of a Cloud Dragon since they were about to enter the Underwater Dragon Palace.
If she could control a Painting of the Cloud Dragon, it would be much easier to deal with any danger that could arise.
“I’ll help you buy it!”
Zhang Ruochen raised the crystal sign in his hands and waved it in the air. The crystal sign displayed his price, “7,600 Spiritual Crystals.”
Very quickly someone else called, “7,700 Spiritual Crystals.”
“7,900 Spiritual Crystals!”
Zhang Ruochen raised his sign again. “9,000 Spiritual Crystals!”
Huang Yanchen sat beside Zhang Ruochen and glanced at him. Although her expression remained nonchalant, she was very happy inside.
Although she could command large amounts of Spiritual Crystals and could have bought the Painting of a Cloud Dragon by herself, she liked watching Zhang Ruochen buy it for her. It was a strange kind of joy.
Yan Yunhuan revealed an expression of disdain. “It is only a mere War Map of an inferior fourth level savage beast. In the Yan’s family, we have as many of those as we want.”
Yan Yunhuan already owned many War Map treasures. He never even considered auctioning for the Painting of a Cloud Dragon.
In just a few moments, the price of the Painting had risen to more than 10,000 Spiritual Crystals, which were equivalent to ten million silver coins.
Of course, as the price rose higher, fewer and fewer people were in competition for it.
Although the Painting of a Cloud Dragon was very powerful, it was mainly attractive to warriors of the younger generation.
Warriors of the older generation were powerful in and of themselves. They had already surpassed the Heaven Realm and had no need to spend large amounts of wealth on a War Map.
Other older warriors whose cultivation had not yet reached the Advanced Stage of the Heaven Realm did not wish to spend that much on a War Map. For them, it was much more practical to purchase panacea that would improve their cultivation.
At the moment, there were only four people still in competition, they were almost all warriors of the younger generation. Aside from Zhang Ruochen, the other three were members of the Ten Prodigies of the Omen Ridge.
“15,000 Spiritual Crystals! If the price goes up again, I’m not adding any more!”
Zeng Qingyu from the Tai Qing Palace, held up the crystal sign, which showed his final price.
Zeng Qingyu was ranked eighth of the Ten Prodigies of the Omen Ridge and was also considered a Three-realm Fighting Genius. For him, 15,000 Spiritual Crystals was a very high price.
Any higher and it would be beyond his means.
The other two competitors were also showing hesitation. After all, the Painting of a Cloud Dragon was only powerful on its first use. The second use had little value for them.
When Zeng Qingyu called out his price of 15,000 Spiritual Crystals, they had already decided to give up their bids.
Rather than spend a fortune buying the War Map, they could buy some Spiritual Doses and break into the Heaven Realm.
Once they broke into the Heaven Realm and became powerful themselves, they would reach a whole new level.
For members of the Ten Prodigies of the Omen Ridge, once they broke into the Heaven Realm, they would have enough power to at least challenge a warrior at the Advanced Stage of the Heaven Realm.
Zhang Ruochen raised his sign again. “16,000 Spiritual Crystals!”
Seeing this price, Zeng Qingyu glanced in Zhang Ruochen’s direction and seemed to recognize his status. He nodded slightly towards Zhang Ruochen.
Previously, Zeng Qingyu had said that he would not compete for the Painting of a Cloud Dragon if the price increased.
In this kind of situation, Zhang Ruochen could simply have added another 100 Spiritual Crystals and easily claimed the Painting of a Cloud Dragon. However, Zhang Ruochen had added another 1,000 Spiritual Crystals in one go. This gave Zeng Qingyu a lot of face and could be considered an act of respect.
And so, Zeng Qingyu had nodded in a friendly way towards Zhang Ruochen to show his thanks.
Not all at the Auction House were enemies.
“16,000 Spiritual Crystals, going once!”
“16,000 Spiritual Crystals, going twice!”
“16,000 Spiritual Crystals…!”
Just as Bai Xuling was about to call out for the third time, Yan Yunhuan glanced meaningfully at Qiu Lin who was sitting next to him. Qiu Lin smiled and nodded, and immediately raised his crystal sign. “17,000 Spiritual Crystals.”
Qiu Lin naturally enraged Huang Yanchen by raising his sign.
Huang Yanchen clenched her fists tightly and suddenly stood up. In a rage, she asked, “Qiu Lin, what are you doing? Zhang Ruochen had already clearly bought the Painting of a Cloud Dragon. What are you trying to do?”
Qiu Lin smiled lightly. “Junior sister apprentice Huang, I think you are mistaken! Clearly, the Painting of a Cloud Dragon’s price has not yet been set. Junior fellow apprentice Zhang Ruochen has not yet secured the price, right?”
“You…”
Huang Yanchen gritted her teeth. “You never even raised your sign before. It wasn’t until Zhang Ruochen was about to buy the Painting of a Cloud Dragon that you purposely called a price. I think you just want to raise the price!”
“How does that make any sense, junior sister apprentice Huang? Anyone may call a price in an auction. Why is it that only Zhang Ruochen can, but I cannot?” Qiu Lin asked.
Chang Qiqi sneered coldly. “I think junior sister apprentice Huang is right. Someone is angry they lost to junior fellow apprentice Zhang and purposely raising the price.”
Qiu Lin said coldly, “Chang Qiqi, don’t speak nonsense. Be careful, you don’t want to sprain your tongue.”
Chang Qiqi did not like Qiu Lin. He swept up his sleeves, about to charge forward and fight Qiu Lin.
Zhang Ruochen pulled Chang Qiqi back. “Elder brother Qiu is right. He can participate in the bidding. Since it is so, then we will compete fairly!”
“No wonder junior fellow apprentice Zhang is Master Lei’s disciple. Indeed, some people are better at understanding such affairs than others.” Qiu Lin laughed.
Zhang Ruochen raised his sign again and immediately raised the price to 20,000 Spiritual Crystals.
Zhang Ruochen said, “If you raise the price higher, the Painting of a Cloud Dragon is yours!”
Qiu Lin furrowed his brows in thought. 20,000 Spiritual Crystals were practically his entire fortune. It did not seem worth it to spend his entire fortune on a War Map.
His gaze swung to Yan Yunhuan, asking is he should raise the price.
Yan Yunhuan shook his head. They had forced Zhang Ruochen to spend another 4,000 Spiritual Crystals and had achieved their goal. There was no need to actually buy the Painting of a Cloud Dragon.
Qiu Lin understood. “Since junior fellow apprentice Zhang really wants the Painting of a Cloud Dragon, then I shall surrender it to you!”
“20,000 Spiritual Crystals, going once!”
“20,000 Spiritual Crystals, going twice!”
“20,000 Spiritual Crystals, three times! Sold! The Painting of a Cloud Dragon is sold to client number 743. Please come to the back after the auction to collect your item and complete the transaction.”
Bai Xuling continued, “Now, for the second treasure. A 300-year-old White Ginseng Fruit.”
“The most powerful use of the White Ginseng Fruit is to raise cultivation. If a warrior of the Black Realm takes it, he could rise through two small realms. If a warrior of the Earth Realm takes it, he could rise one small realm.”