After escorting Zhu Dingxiang to the VIP room, Su Mei said a few words and left the room with a smile.
"Well, I will excuse myself. The auction will be starting soon, and a servant will stand outside the door in case you have any questions later."
"Thank you, Lady Su." After thanking her, he and Xue Yuying sit down on the chair and calmly wait for the auction to commence.
Approximately thirty minutes later, Su Mei finally steps onto the middle of the platform and announces the auction's start.
Looking from the VIP rooms, Zhu Dingxiang feels like he was looking at a movie theater, except the atmosphere was more overwhelming. Below, roughly a few hundred cultivators are sitting on the neatly arranged rows of seats.
Excluding the area on stage where Su Mei was standing, which is brightened vividly by a few unique lamps, the entire space was dusky.
"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for your patience; the monthly auction will now officially begin!" With her captivating voice and beautiful figure, Su Mei was an expert at creating the atmosphere.
"Oh. It's lady Su Mei!"
"I can't believe Lady Su Mei's the auctioneer this month! To be able to see her today, my ten gold coins is indeed not wasted."
The crowd down below was thrilled, especially the men. The manager of Rainbow Auction house, Su Mei, was an extremely famous beauty within Blue Lake-town; with her vixen-like looks and charming voice, many were attracted to her.
...
Ignoring the energetic discussion of the mob, she began to explain the rule.
It was simple.
In today's auction, there will be 50 items will be sold.
The top items are secret and will only be exhibited at the end of the auction.
The highest bidder will win the item if no one overbid after three calls.
...
"The first item for today is a High-grade sword forged from refined iron. Its sharpness is unquestionable for a normal weapon and is almost on spar with a spiritual weapon!"
As she spoke, the servant pushed out a wooden cart; on it was a stand holding a sword that gives out a sharp iron luster.
"The starting price is 90 gold coins!" Swaying her hip, Su mei said with an alluring smile.
"100 gold coins!"
"130 gold coins!"
...
"305 gold coins!"
Under the mind-numbing effect of her voices, many of the cultivators downstairs start to bid furiously. The sword that doesn't worth much is beginning to increase manifolds.
Observing what was happening below, Zhu Dingxiang praises himself inwardly. 'If it wasn't for my thoughtfulness to borrow some money last night, I probably couldn't afford anything here.'
After traveling with Qiao Qiuyue for two weeks, he had already developed some resistance toward a beautiful woman to a certain extent, not to mention that his gorgeous future mother-in-law also sits beside him.
Zhu Dingxiang, of course, wasn't fazed by this provocative evil villainess...
（.-＿-.）
Looking at the item displayed on the stand, he lost quickly lost interest. Even though he had a lot of money at the moment, he didn't want to waste it casually because he would later use them for something else.
Although these items didn't pique Zhu Dingxiang's interest, it couldn't be said the same for others.
The servant keeps bought out many things one after another. Su Mei held the atmosphere in the auction house was at a climax with her smile and expertise.
Martial techniques, Mortal rank weapons, unknown scraps...
"Hehe, everyone! This month, the auction happens to get our hand on a rare pill, and I believe you all will be interested in it." Looking at the audience, Su Mei pause and waved her hand. A servant quickly walked up the stage while holding a box; in it was a white jade bottle.
"Inside this jade bottle contained a Qi Condensation Pill." Su Mei picked up the white jade bottle with her delicate hands and showed it to the audience.
"Some of you might have heard of it before; Qi Condensation Pill is a (Low-tier) Rank 2 pill, concocted from many rare medicinal plants. Its effect is to assist those stuck at stage 9 Body Refining with a greater chance to break through to the next realm."
Listening to her words, the yells from the crow were getting louder and louder; they are all excited. No one doubts the authenticity of her words; after all, the Rainbow Auction house wouldn't need to ruin its reputation for a meager profit.
Zhu Dingxiang casually leaned on the back of his chair, resting his chin on his right hand, and watched the exciting atmosphere below the stage. He was a little curious about the pill since he never sees one before, but he didn't bid for it.
Averting his gaze from the white jade bottle, he looks at Xue Yuying.
'Hmmm?'
"Matriarch Qiao, you seem interested in this pill?" Zhu Dingxiang asked her in a low voice.
Hearing him, she replied in a somewhat distracted tone.
"Well, yes."
"My goal for this time's auction is this Qi Condensation Pill. If I manage to win the bid for it, I will have a better chance to break through to the next realm in the future. My talent is limited; without external help, I wouldn't dare to attempt a breakthrough; there are many things at stake." She said with a slight smile, then focused her attention on the stage.
"Make sense..."
Although he didn't experience any bottleneck when he breaks through to the Qi Condensation Realm from before, he still knows some commonsense.
For an ordinary cultivator, once they failed in their attempt to break through to the Qi Condensation realm, they would suffer a backlash from the disordered spiritual Qi. If one were lucky, their cultivation would regress by a few stages; in the worse case, their dantian and veins would be destroyed and die.
For Xue Yuying, an outsider and not born a Qiao, there is too much risk involved.
"The starting price is 10,000 gold coins!"
"10,500 gold coins!" Right after Su Mei's voice ended, someone from a VIP room yelled out a price.
"11,000 gold coins!"
"12,000 gold coins! Ol' Ru, you were getting old and senile already; give up and let me have this pill." Patriarch Shi said from a private room.
"13,000 gold coins! Ol' Shi, it's you who should give up; I am determined to get this pill no matters what! so back down and give me some face."
...
The price quickly skyrockets. In only a few seconds, the price already went over 25,000 gold coins!
Many rogue cultivators couldn't help but sighs; they didn't have the wealth to compete with the big shot. Nonetheless, many enjoyed watching the bidding war between the major families' heads.
"32,000 gold coins!" Xue Yuying called out her bid; the previous calm expression on her face has slightly changed; she was at her limit. Although she was the Qiao family matriarch, she doesn't possess enough authority to use all its resources.
If the price goes any higher, she would have to give up on this pill.
This also applies to the other three family heads; they were also approaching their limit. The current price of the Qi Condensation Pill could be said to have exceeded the market price by 10%.
"35,000 gold coins!" Gnashing his teeth tightly, Patriarch Shi shouted. 'Damn, this is my final struggle; I can't increase the price anymore after this. It required funds to keep the family alive. Although the pill is important, I can't damage the family's foundation because of it.'
After calling out that price, the voice in the auction died down; the air was tense.
At this time, Zhu Dingxiang let out a small whisper.
"Matriarch Qiao, you can increase the price; I can lend it to you, don't worry."
( ๑‾̀◡‾́)σ»
"But this..."
"(´≖ ‸ ≖｀)"
Sighs~
Contemplating for a second, she replied decisively.
"Thank you."