317: Chapter 311 Auction of the Fire-Spotted Armor

She slumped to the ground, her face as pale as paper.

She knew that she had lost her gamble.

Not only had she lost her dignity, but she had also lost her final opportunity.

"Yes..." Xu Shanshan replied, trembling.

She climbed up from the ground, looking utterly despondent, her hands tightly clutching those ten Mid-Grade Spirit Stones; they were her final fig leaf.

She took a deep look at Chen Zhiwen's back.

That back was cold, heartless, yet unattainable.

Finally, she turned around silently and, like a walking corpse, staggered out of the private room.

As the door closed, the private room returned to silence.

Huang Yu stood to the side, watching this scene, feeling deeply emotional in his heart.

He hurriedly stepped forward two paces, breaking the awkward silence.

"Senior, please calm your anger; Senior, please calm your anger." Huang Yu accompanied his words with a flattering smile, explaining on behalf of Xu Shanshan.

"This girl was raised and trained in the deep boudoir since childhood; she truly does not understand the ways of the world."

"She is afraid of poverty and afraid in general; upon seeing a towering tree like Senior, it is inevitable that she would harbor some inappropriate thoughts."

"I only hope that Senior is magnanimous and will not lower yourself to the level of such an inexperienced young woman."

He was terrified that because of this woman's greed, he would ruin the relationship he had worked so hard to establish.

Chen Zhiwen waved his hand and sat back down in the grandmaster chair.

"It is of no matter."

"It is merely a passing cloud; this seat is not so petty."

To him, Xu Shanshan was just a small interlude on the long path of cultivation.

Slept with, paid, left.

Nothing more.

Seeing that Chen Zhiwen was not angry, Huang Yu finally breathed a sigh of relief.

His eyes rolled, as if he had thought of something that could please this Great Master.

Thus, he leaned in mysteriously, lowered his voice, and wore the expression of someone presenting a treasure.

"Senior, let us not speak of that scene just now."

"This Junior has some incredible news, which I am sure Senior will be interested in."

Chen Zhiwen raised an eyebrow and took a sip of tea.

"Oh? Tell me about it."

Huang Yu chuckled and pointed to the high platform outside where an auction was taking place.

"Originally, the finale item for this auction had already been decided."

"However, just a moment ago, a big figure suddenly sent over an item and specifically requested it be added to the finale segment."

"Guess who it is?"

Huang Yu deliberately kept him in suspense, but seeing that Chen Zhiwen had no intention of responding, he did not dare to delay further and hurriedly said, "It is Senior Xia Yu!"

Mentioning this name, the expression on Huang Yu's face became filled with awe and respect.

"That Senior Xia Yu is a famous Nascent Soul Loose Cultivator in our Eastern Continent!"

"Since he personally sent the item, how could it be an ordinary object?"

"It is said that it is an extremely rare fourth-grade ore!"

"The specific type has not been announced, but according to internal information I have received, there is a faint glimmer of lightning on the Ore, and it is highly likely to be the legendary 'Heavenly Thunder Meteorite Iron'!"

Saying this, Huang Yu rubbed his hands in excitement.

"Senior, you are also a Nascent Soul expert. If you can win this fourth-grade ore, whether you use it to forge a Lifebound Treasure or strengthen existing treasures in the future, it would be like adding wings to a tiger!"

He was fully convinced that upon hearing the words "fourth-grade ore," "Xia Yu," and "Heavenly Thunder Meteorite Iron," Chen Zhiwen would surely be shocked, or even overjoyed.

After all, for a Nascent Soul Cultivator, fourth-grade Materials are their lifeline.

However, to his slight disappointment, Chen Zhiwen's face was as still as a stagnant pool, without a single ripple.

He did not even lift an eyelid.

"fourth-grade ore?" Chen Zhiwen repeated faintly, his tone as calm as if he were speaking about a pebble on the side of the road.

"Oh." Only one word.

No other reaction.

Huang Yu was stunned.

This reaction... something is wrong!

Could it be that this gentleman has such vast wealth that he doesn't even care about fourth-grade ore?

Or is it that he has never even heard of Xia Yu's reputation?

"Senior... that was consigned by Senior Xia Yu..." Huang Yu, unwilling to give up, emphasized it once more.

Chen Zhiwen sneered internally.

Xia Yu?

Just an alias used by that old ghost, Pu Yuanji.

He had long been monitoring the entire venue through his Divine Sense; that so-called "Xia Yu" was currently hiding in the shadows, observing everything.

As for that fourth-grade ore.

If it were any other type, he might have been slightly interested.

But if it were a lightning-attribute Ore...

Chen Zhiwen subconsciously thought of those two Thunder Cultivator Nascent Soul experts from the Wan Family. This was quite a coincidence.

"That is enough; I know." Chen Zhiwen interrupted Huang Yu's chatter.

He set down his teacup and asked in a calm tone, "When is this Ore scheduled to be auctioned?"

Seeing that Chen Zhiwen finally asked the right question, Huang Yu hurriedly replied, "It is scheduled as the very last item!"

"It will appear as the finale of the finales!"

"It is estimated that in another half an hour, it will be its turn."

"Please wait a moment, Senior Chen; good food is worth waiting for!"

Chen Zhiwen nodded slightly.

"Hmm."

"You may withdraw."

"Do not disturb my peace here."

Upon hearing this, Huang Yu did not dare to linger any longer.

He knew that such experts often had eccentric temperaments; since the other party was not interested, for him to keep talking would just be annoying.

"Yes, yes, yes, this Junior will take his leave now."

"If Senior has any instructions, please summon me at any time."

As Huang Yu said this, he bowed his body and retreated toward the door.

Just as his hand touched the doorknob, Chen Zhiwen's faint voice suddenly came from behind him.

"Right."

"After the auction ends, come back here once more."

"I have something to ask you."

Huang Yu felt a shiver in his heart.

Something to ask?

Could it still be about the Wan Family?

Or perhaps he has taken a liking to something else?

Although he was puzzled, he did not dare to show the slightest neglect on his face; he immediately turned around, nodded, and bowed, agreeing.

"Yes! This Junior understands!"

"As soon as the auction ends, this Junior will come immediately to await your orders!"

Having said that, he carefully closed the door and retreated outside.

...

In the hall outside, the auction had already entered a white-hot stage.

That crazy atmosphere felt as if it would blow the roof off.

Lin Jin stood on the stage, his face radiant; his throat was already hoarse from shouting, but he remained impassioned.

"Everyone!"

"The exciting moment has arrived!"

"Next, we will introduce the third finale treasure of this auction!"

With a wave of his hand, four burly men struggled to carry a huge tray onto the stage.

The tray was covered with a heavy red silk, but it still could not conceal the scorching aura faintly emanating from beneath.

"Whoosh!" Lin Jin flipped open the red silk.

Instantly, a dazzling crimson light shot into the sky, and the temperature of the entire hall rose by several degrees in an instant.

On the tray, a crimson battle armor lay quietly.

This armor was woven entirely from fine scales, and on each scale, magma-like patterns flowed, as if it were still breathing.

"This armor is named — Fire-Spotted Imperial Armor!" Lin Jin's voice was extremely high-pitched.

"It is the finest among the third-grade Late Stage defensive Magic Treasures!"

"It was hand-crafted by the Alliance Leader of the Artifact Refining Alliance, Great Master Liu Shengli!"

"Its main material was taken from a third-grade Peak Fire-Spotted Fish King that had just failed its Undergoing Tribulation!"

"Those are the hardest and most spiritual heart-protecting scales on the Fish King's body!"

"The defensive power of this armor is terrifying!"

"Wearing it not only makes you immune to water and fire, but in critical moments, it can automatically trigger the 'Radiant Flame Shield'!"

"How strong is this shield?" Lin Jin paused, scanned the audience, and then threw out a shocking statement.

"It can withstand the full-force blow of an early Nascent Soul stage cultivator without breaking!"

"Whoa—" Once these words were spoken, the whole hall was in an uproar.

Able to withstand a blow from an Early Nascent Soul Stage expert?

This is practically like having an extra life!

In this era where Nascent Soul Old Monsters do not appear and Golden Core experts dominate, having this treasured armor means one can practically walk sideways!

"However..." Lin Jin changed his tone, a hint of regret appearing on his face.

"Although this item is strong, it also has a small flaw."

"That is, although this 'Radiant Flame Shield' is strong, it cannot be used infinitely."

"Each time it is used, the spirituality within the scales will be depleted by one-third."

"After three times, the shield function will fail, and the grade of this armor will drop to third-grade Low Grade."

"But what does that matter?!" Lin Jin raised his voice again, his tone filled with seductive power.

"Three chances to save your life!"

"For those of us licking blood on the tip of a blade, a single chance is enough to reverse life and death!"

"Fellow Daoists, what are you still hesitating about?"

The atmosphere in the auction house became increasingly heavy as time passed.

The original noisy and lively feeling seemed to be slowly drawn away by an invisible pressure.

What remained was only heavy desire, and the smell of Spirit Stones permeating the air.

Lin Jin stood on the high platform and took a deep breath.

The two burly men behind him had just steadily placed the tray holding the "Fire-Spotted Imperial Armor" down.

The crimson treasured armor flowed with magma-like luster under the lights, emitting a suffocating heat wave.

"Fellow Daoists, I have already introduced the preciousness of this armor."

Lin Jin's voice was no longer high-pitched and impassioned as before; instead, it became somewhat low and serious.

That was respect for a precious treasure.

"Because the Rank of this item is too high and involves Nascent Soul level defensive power."

"Therefore, for the upcoming bidding, we will no longer use Low-Grade Spirit Stones as the currency unit."

This sentence instantly extinguished the flames in the eyes of ninety percent of the Cultivators in the hall.

No Low-Grade Spirit Stones?

That meant the threshold had been raised to a level they could only look up to.

"The starting price is one thousand Mid-Grade Spirit Stones!"

"Each bid increment must not be lower than one hundred Mid-Grade Spirit Stones!"

The wooden gavel in Lin Jin's hand fell lightly, but it was like a heavy hammer striking everyone's heart.

One thousand Mid-Grade Spirit Stones.

Converted, that is a full one hundred thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones!

And this was only the starting price.

The scene fell into a brief silence.

Those Early Golden Core Stage and Middle Stage Cultivators sitting in the hall looked at each other, their faces full of bitterness.

Although they coveted the three life-saving chances to withstand a Nascent Soul blow, their pockets were empty, and they were truly unable to do anything about it.

This level of competition was no longer something they could participate in.

After a long while, in a corner by the window, a hoarse and aged voice came.

"One thousand one hundred Mid-Grade Spirit Stones."

Everyone looked in the direction of the voice.

They saw an old man wearing gray linen clothes, his figure as thin as a stick, slowly raising the number plate in his hand.

The aura on his body was obscure and unclear; although he looked like he was about to die, the occasional fluctuation of spiritual power revealed his profound cultivation of Golden Core Great Perfection.

This old man was clearly staking his entire fortune in order to break through to the Nascent Soul stage, or to risk his life in some dangerous place before his Lifespan ran out.

Lin Jin's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly shouted, "This Fellow Daoist bids one thousand one hundred! Is there any higher bid?"

His gaze drifted toward the VIP private rooms on the second floor.

He knew clearly in his heart that the real buyers were up there.

"One thousand two hundred." Another voice rang out, coming from a middle-aged burly man on the other side of the hall, also with Late Golden Core Stage cultivation.

"One thousand three hundred." The thin old man gritted his teeth and raised his plate again.

His hand trembled slightly; this was already reaching his bottom line.

"One thousand four hundred." The burly man hesitated for a moment, finally shook his head, and chose to give up.

The thin old man breathed a sigh of relief, a glimmer of hope flashing in his eyes.

If he could win it at this price, it wouldn't be too much of a loss.

However, just as Lin Jin was about to drop the gavel, a gentle but powerful voice suddenly came from the number one private room on the second floor.

"One thousand five hundred."

The voice was not loud, but it clearly spread throughout the entire hall.

That calm and unhurried tone formed a sharp contrast with the teeth-gritting bidding downstairs.

The thin old man looked up abruptly, looking toward the direction of the number one private room.

That was the private room where Senior Xia Yu was located.

A Nascent Soul Cultivator has made a move.

The light in the old man's eyes instantly dimmed.

He opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to fight for it a bit more.

But in the end, reason conquered desire.

Competing for a treasure with a Nascent Soul Old Monster, not only is it highly likely that one cannot compete financially, but it is even more likely to invite a fatal disaster afterward.

"Forget it..." The old man sighed deeply, dejectedly put down the number plate in his hand, and bowed to the number one private room from afar, signaling that he was withdrawing.

Seeing this, Lin Jin did not waste any more words trying to persuade others to raise the bid.

He knew the ropes very well.

"One thousand five hundred, going once!"

"One thousand five hundred, going twice!"

"One thousand five hundred, three times! Sold!"

With a crisp "bang," this third-grade Late Stage top-grade treasured armor, which was enough to cause a bloodbath, fell into the hands of the number one private room without any waves.

Inside private room no. 3, Chen Zhiwen was still leaning against the back of the chair, his expression indifferent.

He was toying with a jade teacup in his hand, a sneer of having seen through the ways of the world curling at the corner of his mouth.

"This Artifact Refining Alliance certainly knows how to conduct themselves," he mused to himself.

If this Fire-Spotted Imperial Armor were placed in an outside black market, or if it encountered two buyers fighting to the death, the price would definitely be more than one thousand five hundred Mid-Grade Spirit Stones.

It could easily reach around two thousand.

But the Artifact Refining Alliance did not arrange for any shills to drive up the price, and Lin Jin did not deliberately incite emotions.

This was clearly a gesture of goodwill.

Half-sold, half-given.

Using the profit of a few hundred Mid-Grade Spirit Stones to trade for the favor of a Nascent Soul Cultivator—this business deal was executed shrewdly.