Chapter 409: Chapter 409: 109: Successful Auction

Before long, all the participants of the auction had arrived one after another, and the entire auction hall was filled to capacity.

Just at that moment, a beautiful female cultivator, clad in a tight-fitting red dress and of a tall stature, stepped onto the auction stage.

This woman knew how to play to her strengths; her red dress clung to her body, perfectly showcasing her figure.

Furthermore, she seemed to possess a special aura that made anyone who glanced at her feel an impulsive desire.

However.

After giving the woman a single look, Lin Jing immediately realized something.

She must be practicing some kind of enchantment technique, which explained the effect she had on them.

As the beautiful cultivator stepped up, a buzz of excitement ran through the crowd below.

She then faced the audience with a smile and said:

“Fellow Daoists, welcome to our Black Shark Auction House’s auction.”

“I will be presiding over this auction. If there are any shortcomings, I hope fellow Daoists will forgive me.”

The voice of the woman also seemed to have its own magic, as it excited many of the cultivators in the audience.

Smiling charmingly at the crowd below, the beautiful host went on to say:

“I’m sure everyone has already perused the auction list and is eagerly anticipating the items they wish to acquire…”

“So, without further ado, I will not dwell on any more trivialities.”

“This auction will now begin.”

“We now invite the first item for this session of the auction to the stage.”

As soon as the host finished speaking, a specially made cage was rolled out onto the stage.

This cage was different from the others.

It was only half the size of the other cages, and the half facing the audience had been removed and sealed with a formation instead.

The purpose was to present the auction item to the crowd better.

At this moment, in the cage, a young girl sat in terror and confusion, hugging herself tightly and curling up in one corner of the cage.

Then, the beautiful host continued:

“The starting bid for this first item is five thousand Spirit Stones, with each increment not less than one thousand Midium Grade Spirit Stones.”

“Additionally, this item, much like myself, is of the Yin Body constitution.”

“Whoever successfully bids for this item must cherish it greatly.”

“Now, the bidding for this first item begins…”

The words of the beautiful host on the stage undeniably ignited the entire auction hall, sending the multitude of cultivators below into an uproar.

“Six thousand Midium Grade Spirit Stones…”

Someone immediately started to bid.

However, before this person could finish speaking, another called out:

“I bid eight thousand Midium Grade Spirit Stones…”

At this point, the beautiful host judiciously spoke up, fanning the flames:

“Eight thousand Midium Grade Spirit Stones, any further bids?”

“Nine thousand, Midium Grade Spirit Stones…”

No sooner had this person spoken than someone else shouted:

“I bid ten thousand…”

And so, under the influence of the beautiful host, the bid for this first ‘item’ quickly whipped the atmosphere of the entire place into a frenzy.

After a period of ferocious bidding, this ‘item’ was finally sold for the price of forty thousand Midium Grade Spirit Stones to a brawny man.

Indeed, driven by the beautiful host, the price of the item skyrocketed.

Otherwise, this first ‘item’ might not have fetched even twenty thousand Spirit Stones.

After the sale of this item, another item was quickly brought up for auction.

This item up for auction is still a woman.

Thus, with the beautiful host setting the stage, the second round of bidding soon began.

Others would bid more or less.

While Lin Jing, from beginning to end, never spoke up, just watching others incessantly place bids…

Most of the auction items were female Cultivators; male Cultivators like Lin Jue were even less than the number of fingers on one’s hand.

There was no helping it, the value of female Cultivators, as a whole, tended to be higher than that of male Cultivators.

Therefore, most of the ‘items’ at this auction were female Cultivators.

Only male Cultivators with special attributes were sent to this auction.

Presumably, this was why the Black Shark Auction House had arranged for such a beauty, skilled in the arts of charm, to stir up the atmosphere in the venue.

In any case, after several auctions, there were those who were joyful and those who were annoyed.

Once an item was successfully bid upon, a maidservant would immediately bring the ‘item’ directly to the middle of the venue to transact with the bidder.

Hand over the Spirit Stones, hand over the person…

And with that, the auction was considered complete.

It wasn’t long before the bidding for the first few items had ended.

The prices for these items all exceeded expectations.

……

Next.

A maidservant then wheeled out a cage from backstage, and inside it, looking fearful and at a loss, was Lin Jue.

Seeing Lin Jue being wheeled up onto the stage, Lin Jing immediately straightened up, ready to seize the moment and bid for Lin Jue.

However, unlike Lin Jing, when they saw the ‘item’ pushed onto the stage was a male Cultivator, the atmosphere in the venue suddenly cooled down.

Seeing this, the beautiful host quickly spoke up with a smile, attempting to warm up the atmosphere again:

“Ladies and gentlemen, it seems that you are not very interested in this Cultivator…”

“This item is a Second-Grade Alchemist. If anyone has plans for him, you can actually buy him to cultivate for a while. Who knows, he might advance to a Third-Grade Alchemist. By then, the value of this item will be incomparable to today’s.”

However, the host’s words failed to stir up the mood among the audience.

Some in the audience even began to shout out:

“Host, let’s start the auction quickly…”

“Let’s see who needs him and quickly auction this male Cultivator off to avoid dampening our spirits here.”

The one who spoke was enveloped in Demonic Qi, his eyes greedily fixed on the beautiful host, obviously a Demon Cultivator.

As soon as the Demon Cultivator’s words ended, another voice quickly spoke up:

“Indeed…”

“You speak of advancing to a Third-Grade Alchemist, but is that so easy?”

“Do you know how much effort and how many Medium Grade Spirit Stones that would cost us?”

“Goods will always just be goods. Using Spirit Stones on them is a waste. Let’s just get on with the auction.”

Seeing that many in the crowd were getting impatient, the host promptly said:

“If that’s the case…”

“The starting bid for item number sixty-two is ten thousand Medium Grade Spirit Stones, with each bid increase not to be less than one thousand Medium Grade Spirit Stones.”

“Now the auction begins…”

As the host’s words fell, there was complete silence in the venue; for a moment, no one made an offer.

Faced with this situation, Lin Jing was a bit stunned as well.

But more flustered than him was the beautiful host on the stage.

She had thought that her cultivation in the art of charm would help to manipulate the atmosphere, but she hadn’t anticipated that when auctioning a male Cultivator, it would have the opposite effect.

The beautiful host then regained her composure and asked again:

“Ladies and gentlemen, is there no one placing a bid for item number sixty-two?”

As the host finished speaking, Lin Jing glanced around, noticing that some people were starting to get restless.

So he quickly took the initiative, saying:

“Ten thousand, Medium Grade Spirit Stones…”

As Lin Jing’s voice fell, the beautiful host immediately said:

“Someone has offered ten thousand Medium Grade Spirit Stones, any other bids?”

After waiting a while and seeing no one else raising the bid, the beautiful host couldn’t help but feel somewhat disappointed, so she began to call out:

“Ten thousand Medium Grade Spirit Stones, going once…”

…

“Ten thousand Medium Grade Spirit Stones, going twice…”

…

…

Just as Lin Jing thought he was about to win, and the host on stage was preparing to make the next call.

Suddenly.

A voice came from a luxurious private box upstairs.

“Fifteen thousand, Medium Grade Spirit Stones…”

This voice, reaching Lin Jing’s ears, immediately caused his brows to furrow.

Because the one who made this bid was none other than the Young Gang Leader of the Black Shark Gang.

After this bid was called, many people downstairs looked up at the luxurious box upstairs.

The beautiful female cultivator on the auction stage seized the opportunity, quickly saying:

“There’s already a bid of fifteen thousand Medium Grade Spirit Stones, any higher offers?”

……

At this time, inside that luxurious box upstairs…

The Young Gang Leader of the Black Shark Gang and ‘Uncle Yin’ were sitting side by side, looking down at the auction hall below.

And the black-robed cultivator, still with a cold expression, stood silently beside the purple-clothed youth.

“Young Gang Leader…”

“You actually shouldn’t have bid just now…”

The middle-aged man began.

The Young Gang Leader of the Black Shark Gang appeared somewhat dissatisfied:

“Uncle Yin, the item below could be worth at least thirty thousand Spirit Stones, so should we just let him take it for ten thousand Medium Grade Spirit Stones?”

“That would be too much of a bargain for him.”

The middle-aged man explained:

“That’s how auctions work. Even though it is estimated to be worth thirty thousand Spirit Stones, the real price still depends on the specific circumstances at the time.”

“You see, in the current auction, it’s quite obvious that female cultivators are more popular.”

“We only need to stir up the atmosphere a bit when the female cultivator is being auctioned. As for this male cultivator, there is no need to get involved at all.”

The Young Gang Leader glanced at the auction stage and Lin Jue inside the cage, then said:

“Uncle Yin, I understand…”

“Next, I won’t bid anymore.”

The middle-aged man nodded, replying:

“Young Gang Leader, in fact, even if it sells for ten thousand Spirit Stones, we wouldn’t be at a loss, so you really don’t need to worry.”

The purple-clothed youth nodded, saying:

“Alright…”

“I get it, Uncle Yin.”

After the bid from the luxurious box, the cultivators below were even less inclined to bid.

Seeing this, the host on stage started the countdown:

“Fifteen thousand Medium Grade Spirit Stones, going once…”

After finishing, the host surveyed the audience, seeing no one moving, she then looked toward the cultivator who had bid earlier.

At this moment, that cultivator was frowning, seemingly deep in thought.

Seeing the atmosphere in the room dip, the host had to speed up the process, wanting to sell off Lot number 62 as quickly as possible.

“Fifteen thousand Spirit Stones, going twice…”

As the host finished speaking.

Lin Jing also lifted his head at this moment.

Seeing this, the host quickly halted her decision to finish the auction, looking towards Lin Jing…

“Fifteen thousand Medium Grade Spirit Stones, going twice now, any more bids? If not, then Lot number 62 will be sold.”

While saying this, the host’s eyes were fixed on Lin Jing. At this very moment, his brows were still furrowed.

However, what came next.

Lin Jing spoke up again:

“Then, I bid sixteen thousand Medium Grade Spirit Stones…”

Lin Jing looked somewhat hesitant.

Actually, the reason for Lin Jing’s hesitation.

Was the Young Gang Leader of the Black Shark Gang. Lin Jing wasn’t sure what his intentions were.

But bidding against him was clearly unwise.

Lin Jing dared not let Lin Jue fall into his hands.

After all, Lin Jue and Li Qingqing were not the same.

Li Qingqing had value as a tool, while Lin Jue did not.

If the Young Gang Leader were to win Lin Jue, Lin Jing wasn’t sure what would happen next.

So.

He was definitely not going to let Lin Jue go.

But he also couldn’t show how determined he was to win Lin Jue.

Therefore, Lin Jing appeared somewhat hesitant while bidding.

Meanwhile, in the luxurious box upstairs.

The middle-aged man said to the Young Gang Leader:

“Young Gang Leader, you see…”

“Just for a bit more than ten thousand Spirit Stones, this person already seems so hesitant.”

“If you were to raise the bid again, I have no doubt that the fellow below would immediately stop bidding.”

The Young Gang Leader also nodded in agreement, saying:

“Uncle Yin is right…”

“Indeed, I also noticed that ever since this male cultivator was brought up, the atmosphere in the hall has cooled down significantly.”

“Next, I won’t raise the bid anymore, let’s just let the item be sold quickly.”

……

Then, the beautiful host began the countdown.

“Sixteen thousand Medium Grade Spirit Stones, going once…”

“Sixteen thousand Medium Grade Spirit Stones, going twice…”

“Sixteen thousand Medium Grade Spirit Stones, going thrice…”

“Sold!”

“Congratulations, fellow daoist, on winning Lot number 62.”