Chapter 410: Bidding
Now it was clear why Felix had been so surprised.
That being said, the Perfect Brushwork still appeared to be rather unremarkable in the cyan dragon's eyes. The upper world was just too vast and massive. Even amongst all of the various species, powers, and influences, talents almost seemed like they came a dime a dozen.
In order to achieve excellency in the mastery of the divine texture, one must first become proficient in the basic skill called the Perfect Brushwork.
But Zen managed to leave the cyan dragon quite amazed after finding out that he was able to comprehend the Perfect Brushwork within a span of just one day. That was also the main reason why the cyan dragon cursed both Felix and Lasseter, referring to them as stupid idiots. They were nowhere near being qualified to give any remarks on the divine texture.
Even though the cyan dragon was under the assumption that the Perfect Brushwork wasn't that big a deal, that wouldn't necessarily mean that Felix would also have the same point of view.
The fact of the matter was that Felix wasn't really able to fully grasp the Perfect Brushwork. And it wasn't just him either. Of all the runic experts residing in the Central Region, none were able to get the hang of it.
The Perfect Brushwork had been in existence for such a long time in the history of the Central Region, but that was almost eons ago. Two millennia prior to this day, a runic expert named Arnold Feng had unravelled the secrets of the Perfect Brushwork and activated the properties and energy of the materials while drawing the runes. Therefore, from that moment onwards, he became known as the “son of runes”.
Up until now, a huge portion of his works was still being kept by the people in the world. Of those works, the most famous piece of work was the sect protecting array belonging to the Ethereal Spirit Sect, making it the lone fifth-grade sect located in the Central Region. That sect protecting array was an outstanding example of Arnold Feng's masterful skills. Thanks to the sect protecting array, the Ethereal Spirit Sect was able to survive a string of catastrophic events and develop from a simple third-grade sect and end up being the strongest as well as the only fifth-grade sect in the Central Region at present.
Ethereal Spirit Sect was able to become a fifth-grade sect, largely thanks to the verity that it was able to bring forth a number of gifted people from generation to generation. However, the sect protecting array was also a very significant component to that. If not anything else, it somehow sheltered the Ethereal Spirit Sect from being annihilated by a cataclysm.
Arnold Feng had a lot of accomplishments under his belt. Of course, the sect protecting array surely wasn't the only surviving piece left in the world. There were numerous other rune fragments, a large portion of which had already been through the passage of time, therefore, there was no way for them to be activated ever again. Having said that, one could still say that there were still a lot of collectors enticed by them for the sole reason that they had been crafted by the renowned Arnold Feng. Generally speaking, they could go for outrageous prices beneath the black market or possibly inside an auction.
It seemed like Felix had been blessed with enough luck to be able to witness the Perfect Brushwork be performed once. It happened during the time when he went along with the head of the Cloud Hall to go for a visit on the Ethereal Spirit Sect. The Ethereal Spirit Sect was so eager to put on airs so they activated a small portion of their sect protecting array. It was at that moment that he got extremely amazed by the Perfect Brushwork of Arnold Feng. Even at present day, he could still vividly see the scene playing out in front of him, making his heart start racing. It was a feeling filled with not just adulations, but most importantly, reverence toward the master who mastered the Perfect Brushwork.
So when he finally laid his eyes on the execution of the Perfect Brushwork for a second time, he was so captivated by the meticulous Perfect Brushwork before his very eyes, somehow forgetting the fact that it had been done by Zen himself.
Lasseter just stood there completely dumbfounded as he had no idea just what to make of it. He had a much too different perspective compared to Felix. As a trader, a merchant, of course he had heard of the Perfect Brushwork. Despite the fact that he had never seen it before himself, he was quite aware of how much the runes works of Arnold Feng were priced in the market even if they had already lost their effects.
As one would expect, the runes constructed by Arnold Feng were being sold at such ridiculous rates only because of his fame. The Perfect Brushwork, on the other hand, seemed like it would be such a good selling point. And it could even be activated, so what more could one ask for?
With a simple whistling noise, Felix shifted his gaze over to Zen. Resting his hands on Zen's shoulders and shaking them, he enthusiastically asked him in high spirits, “Do...Do you know who created this meditation rune? Could you please tell me?”
Watching Felix's behavior, Zen rolled his eyes and glared at him intensely. 'Is this truly the mightiest runic expert at the Cloud Hall? Surely, he must be a fraud.' Zen was in doubt. Then, he tried to reply as calmly as he could, “Would you please take your hands off me? I'll tell you once you let me go!”
“Please forgive me. I'm sorry about that,” Felix instantly loosened his grip and apologized. He realized that he was indeed acting impolitely. Nevertheless, he didn't really care, for he must know the answer to his question. “So, now, would you mind telling me the name of the person who created this meditation rune?”
Puckering his lips, Zen replied, “Haven't I told you already a second ago? Weren't you listening?”
“Who?” Felix and Lasseter asked simultaneously, clearly a bit confused.
Zen felt like he was about to lose his mind, because he honestly thought that he had already made it clear enough for them. Even the dumbest of people in the world would be able to figure out that he was talking about himself. Sadly, these two men were real birdbrains who couldn't understand that at all. Heaving a heavy sigh, he said, “This meditation rune was my own creation.”
Fixating their gaze upon Zen, the two men promptly shook their heads almost instantaneously and blurted out in unison, “I don't believe you!”
“Believe it or not, I couldn't care less. Boss, would you mind helping me appraise the worth of this meditation rune?” Zen couldn't afford to waste any more time arguing with Felix right there. After all, he didn't owe him anything to indulge his curiosity.
Squinting his eyes, Lasseter simply bobbed his head. Being the businessman that he was, he never really dwelled on stuff like doubting things presented in front of him. The only thing that mattered to him was how much it was going to sell, not who made it or where it came from. That was how the mindset of a businessman should always be.
“Appraise? Evaluate? No, no, no, you can't just go on selling something like that!” Felix stopped Zen in his tracks, much like a deranged man.
Hearing Felix's remark, Lasseter and Zen got so upset. Even though Lasseter and Felix were quite fond of each other, business was strictly business, and an acquaintance was just an acquaintance. They were two quite different kettles of fish altogether!
The reason why Zen came here was to make some money from selling his work of meditation divine texture, but Felix, for whatever reason he might have, was trying to get in his way from doing that.
“What I'm trying to say is that if you're planning to sell it, then it would be best for you to only sell it to me!” Felix interjected.
Shrugging his shoulders, Zen made it obvious that it didn't really matter who would buy it, for as long that he could make some money out of it. But Lasseter and Felix couldn't see eye to eye. Lasseter blurted out, “Felix, what are you trying to do? Zen came to my store of his own volition to do business with me, but you just randomly broke into my store and what? You went ahead and tried to steal my customer!”
“So, what? Why should it matter? When you get right down to it, this place is under the ownership of the Cloud Hall. So, why shouldn't I be allowed to come here and do my business as well?” Being the runic expert of Cloud Hall, despite the fact that Felix was merely at the medium stage of the Internal Elixir Realm, he had the privilege of having a high position in the Cloud Hall. His position was actually just a tad bit lower than that of Emanuel, Saint Morphens, and Elder Osmond. He wasn't inferior to any of the other general elders.
Be that as it might, Lasseter wasn't fazed in any way, and still didn't have the slightest intention to give in. “This place belongs to the Cloud Hall? Are you trying to pull my leg right now? This market was built by the World Commercial Alliance. In fact, it's still sponsored by them. Do you have the nerve to say that straight to the face of the head of the World Commercial Alliance that this market is owned by the Cloud Hall? If you dare say something like that, then I will cease going on with this meaningless banter and leave the premises at once!”
Watching in the sidelines as these two were having a discussion just made Zen even more restless. 'For what logical reason could I be wasting time standing here in silence not having sold my meditation divine texture yet?' he was lost in thought. Zen interrupted them and said, “Stop arguing. I'm the owner of this rune, so it's only right that I get to decide whom I want to sell it to. Let's make this simple, the one who has the better offer gets to have it, understood?”
The men had been left at such a loss for words upon hearing the proposal. Only then were they able to come to the realization that the best way to address the issue lay in Zen himself.
“Did I hear that right? Bidding? I think that's a great idea!” Lasseter was a little surprised at first, but after just a moment, he was already grinning like a Cheshire cat. As a part of the World Commercial Alliance, he had an edge whenever it came to things like auctions and bidding as opposed to Felix, and most of all, he had a lot of money to burn.
Felix clenched his jaw and pried, “For how much would you be willing to let it go? Just give me any amount and I will give you the money right away. It doesn't matter how much.”
A broad smile crept onto Zen's face as he listened to them. 'Well, isn't this just great? This is precisely what I have been looking for, ' he thought, trying to hide his excitement. After pondering about it for a while, Zen said, “Considering how much money I have forked out for the materials the day before, the meditation rune cost me just about ten thousand low-grade life vitality crystals. So, now, I'm thinking of doubling that, making it twenty, so it should be about twenty thousand.”
“Are you serious?” The starting bid Zen had recommended utterly baffled them.
A meager twenty thousand life vitality crystals... Was that really all that he wanted? Was this guy serious?
Had it only been a common rune, it would still go for a price significantly higher than that. Was this guy out of his mind?
“Five hundred thousand low-grade life vitality crystals.” For the reason that they would have to make him an offer he couldn't refuse for the rune, Lasseter decided to go at it rationally and started bidding immediately, a hint of excitement filled his eyes. In terms of runic knowledge, he indeed couldn't hope to measure up to Felix, but if it was all about business, Felix wouldn't be able to hold a candle against him.
Since Felix detested Lasseter so much for arguing with him, he shot him an intense glare and yelled, “One million low-grade life vitality crystals! I'm more than willing to trade for it with a supreme life vitality crystal.”
A single supreme life vitality crystal was worth one million low-grade life vitality crystals. Felix jumped the gun and offered a price twice as much as that of Lasseter's.
“Two supreme life vitality crystals.” Lasseter doubled the amount without batting an eye. There was just no way he'd lose to someone like Felix.
“How about four supreme life vitality crystals?” Without letting Zen get a chance to think about Lasseter's offer, Felix shouted out and just continued bidding a higher amount.
Listening as the price kept rising up, Zen could literally feel the blood surging to his brain that he was beginning to get a little lightheaded. Just imagine, a single supreme life vitality crystal would be equal to one million cubic crystals! Meaning four supreme life vitality crystals would be worth as much as four million cubic crystals! Never would he have thought that making the divine texture could be of great help for him to earn a huge sum of money! But how was it that a simple meditation divine texture piece could be valued at such an absurd amount?
Truth be told, this meditation divine texture wouldn't really be worth that much anywhere else. In reality, the meditation divine texture was not that powerful. However, what piqued Lasseter's and Felix's interest the most was not its function, but the technique of the Perfect Brushwork which could be utilized through it.
And solely for that purpose, namely, the Perfect Brushwork, this divine texture could be much sought-after and worth a lot of money.
“F...Five...” At that point, Lasseter started to get reluctant. Because he was a businessman first and foremost, he was well aware of his limitations. It was true that the Perfect Brushwork was employed in this meditation divine texture work, but the true worth of this work would only be put on display through the way of trading. Offering too high an amount, he could end up losing a lot of money in the process.
And yet Felix's eyes still brightened up even after hearing that. Letting a conceited smile slip, he yelled again, “Ten! I offer you ten supreme life vitality crystals!”
It was evident that, at that very moment, he had, without a doubt, absolutely forgotten his goal to stop Zen.