"I didn't want this crap so much at first, but now that you're all fighting for it, I think I'm going to buy it after all. 36,000 king coins." Xuanyuan snorted. He was fearless. Since everyone was fighting with him, he'd have to fight back. He estimated carefully, he could afford the bid up until 150,000 king coins with his golden moon status and the discount Bai would give him.
"Well, brother Xuanyuan has a lot of money to spare, but I'm really curious about this stone. Why don't you let me buy it. When I'm done studying it, I'll give it to you. How about that?" Xiang Tianku continued to bid, "40,000 king coins." Then he turned to the servant girl sitting next to him. With a bag of money in his hand, he asked. "Tell me what is that thing? If you can give me any information at all, this will be yours."
"Well..." The pretty girl stared at the bag. It had at least a thousand king coins inside. She could afford to buy everything she wanted with the money. "Well... okay. But master Xiang, you can't let people know that I told you or I'll be punished." She took the bag and whispered.
"This strange stone was found not long ago by an elder from the Cave of Full Moon in a desolate mountain. It does look suspicious, like young master Xuanyuan said, but everyone in the cave examined it, no one could find out what it was. It's probably just an ordinary stone, they said.“
Xiang Tianku nodded. Xuanyuan would likely become a powerful competitor once he arrived at the sect, he thought, he would gain his trust and then kill him when the opportunity arose.
Biyue also pressed the servant girl with money in exchange for information.
"What's the top price of this stone?" She asked.
The girl took the money sheepishly, and said, "The master of the cave examined the stone. It doesn't seem to do much. They put it on the manifest as the last item because they wanted it to look like a treasure. This is probably a scheme to earn money from ignorant people. You know, people always think the last item is usually the most valuable."
Biyue was satisfied. As long as Xuanyuan bought the useless stone for a ridiculous price, she was happy.
"Brother Xuanyuan, I won't quit the fight. My bid is 45,000!" She called out.
"50,000!" Xuanyuan closed his eyes.
"Ah, I think I'm done, brother Xuanyuan. Even though I'm not poor, I shouldn't put my money into this, especially when you seem to want the stone so badly. Let's not fight. I don't want us to fall into bad terms." Xiang Tianku smiled brilliantly, but there was venom hidden in the smile. His plan was to turn Xuanyuan's anger towards Biyue.
"Oh? It's great that brother Tianku doesn't want to fight for it. It's only between me and brother Xuanyuan. 60,000." Biyue was beaming. She didn't want the stone. She just wanted Xuanyuan to spend a lot of money.
Xuanyuan smiled coldly, "This old hag, Biyue. This stone is more precious to me than all the money combined. She just wants to make me bleed. All right, we're going to have a dog fight."
Xuanyuan pulled the crystal drapes to the side and looked straight at Biyue. He beamed.
"80,000. Sister Biyue. Don't say I didn't warn you. If you bid higher than that, I might not want it anymore." He said.
Biyue's heart skipped a beat. She already learnt the secret of the stone, Xuanyuan might know it as well. It looked like he had the same idea as she did – making the other person spend as much as possible.
After a moment of consideration, she smiled. "Well, brother Xuanyuan. If you really want it, I'll let you have it. You know, 80,000 king coins is a lot of money. You're young. Don't be so reckless with your money. You can buy a lot of fine lower rank earth instruments with that money. Hahaha...."
Xuanyuan shot a malicious glance at her, but he said nothing. "Wait until the greedy old bugger absorbs the Origin of Memory... Wait until I arrive at the sect... I'll see to it that you die." He thought.
"Then this last item is sold for 80,000 king coins to young master Xuanyuan. The auction has ended. We'll see you again in five years!" Huayu beamed. She picked up the stone and headed to the box number six.
All the audience was leaving.
---
The tall figure of Huayu came into box number six and handed Xuanyuan the strangely shaped stone. Xuanyuan took it and threw it into his fighting ring immediately. He said in his mind, "Greedy old bugger, take care of it yourself."
Greed couldn't hide his excitement, "It's worth it. If you didn't see it here, you'll never know where to find an Origin of Memory for me."
"For this stone, young master Xuanyuan only needs to pay 40,000 king coins." Huayu gave out the price tag herself. Her voice was soft, velvety, and seductive. Xuanyuan was easily seduced by it. He took a deep breath to calm himself. Then took out two boxes filled with coins before he headed to the door.
"Where is young master Xuanyuan going? You helped me earn a lot of money today, I can't let you go without a thanks." She said while giggling. The slight blush on Huayu's white skin and the voluptuous chest of Bai made Xuanyuan's head spin.
He tried his best to concentrate, "What do you want to do with me? Are you going to give me an earth instrument as thanks?"
Huayu toned down her smile and looked serious. She said, "You guessed right. I have had this upper rank earth instrument, the Jade of Water, for many years. Since you did me a great favour, I'm giving it to you."
She took off a jade pendant from around her neck. The pendant was connected to a chain made from snow silk. She wrapped it around Xuanyuan's neck and kissed his forehead lightly, startling him.
"This is my gift to you."
His face was burning. Huayu laughed at his embarrassment. Yan Ziyun didn't know it was possible to embarrass Xuanyuan. Only someone like Huayu would be able to succeed in teasing him.
Xuanyuan wiped the lipstick stain from his head and looked at Huayu sulkily. "Lady Huayu, I've made a lot of enemies during the auction. I'm afraid people will harm me. Perhaps you can protect me while I'm here?" Xuanyuan asked.
"Don't worry about it. The most dangerous place is often the safest place. You won't be harmed in Moonsky City. The sect, on the other hand, is very dangerous."
Huayu saw that Xuanyuan was confused, but she wouldn't explain any further. "You'll understand when you get there. The next stop is the Judgment Stand, right? Shall we go there together?"
The original plan was to buy a few pieces of upper rank earth instruments, but he already spent most of his money. He still had various medicines and pills that Wu Dong and Wu Ming left behind. After today, Xuanyuan realized exactly how important money was. Without money, there's no way he could continue practising!
"Yes! Let's go then. I want to see what I'll get as a reward."