59: Chapter 59 Peerless Sword Formation

Inside the auction hall, the lights were bright and the atmosphere was gradually heating up.

The burly boss, Hong Wuliang, didn't serve as the auctioneer himself; instead, he invited a beautiful and articulate young girl to host. He sat in an inconspicuous spot in the front row below the stage, appearing relaxed, but his eyes were sharp as torches, constantly monitoring the movements within the hall, especially the VIP rooms on the second floor.

His gaze would unconsciously drift toward two specific rooms above.

One was the room where Lin Muyang was located.

The other was the room of that mysterious female swordsman in red.

"I really never expected this..." Hong Wuliang muttered to himself, even carrying a trace of subtle nervousness, "Even this young miss was attracted by this skill book..."

He was very clear about the identity of that red-clad female swordsman—Liu Hongyuan! She was a Nation-Guarding Level Expert and the biological granddaughter of the man hailed as the Sword Saint of the Xia Kingdom, Liu Qingtian!

"For her to show up in person..." Hong Wuliang calculated in his heart, "It seems there's no suspense in today's competition. This origin skill book is ninety-nine percent likely to fall into her hands."

In his view, even if everyone else in the hall pooled their financial resources together, they probably wouldn't be qualified to compete with Liu Hongyuan. The only thing that made him a bit uncertain was the mysterious 'big shot' behind Lin Muyang. Could that existence perhaps talk to the Liu family on equal footing?

But on second thought, even if the person behind Lin Muyang was qualified to compete, they might not necessarily take action. After all, whether it was Lin Muyang himself or that violent little elf by his side, neither seemed related to the swordsman profession. What use would they have for this swordsman-exclusive origin skill book?

...

The auction proceeded step by step.

The earlier items were mostly Gold or Platinum-tier equipment, materials, or consumables. Although they sparked some bidding, they didn't cause much of a stir.

In the VIP room, Lin Muyang was watching so intently he became drowsy, yawning several times in a row. These things really lacked appeal to him.

It wasn't until after the midpoint that an item was carefully brought up by a lady attendant.

It wasn't equipment, but a simple scroll emitting faint magical fluctuations.

The beautiful auctioneer introduced it in a clear voice: "The next item is a Level 30 Diamond-quality secret realm scroll! The scale of the secret realm is for a 20-person team. The starting price is 3 million magic crystals, with each bid increment no less than 100,000 magic crystals!"

"Oh? This is good stuff!" The originally sluggish Lin Muyang's eyes instantly lit up.

Diamond-tier secret realm scrolls usually only have an extremely low probability of dropping when clearing Platinum-tier or higher difficulty Dungeons and secret realms. He had farmed Platinum Dungeons so many times before and hadn't seen a single one, let alone a 20-person team secret realm scroll!

In the current surrounding areas of Zhongnan City, the number of Platinum-tier Dungeons that naturally refresh daily is limited, not even enough to be divided among several powerful teams. As for Diamond-tier secret realms, their wilderness refresh cycle is longer, and the appearance of one often triggers a struggle.

Now that there was a chance to directly take a finished secret realm scroll, saving the trouble of waiting and fighting, Lin Muyang was naturally unwilling to miss out.

Thus, when the bidding began, he joined the fray without hesitation.

"3.5 million!"

"3.8 million!"

"4 million!"

"5 million!"

Lin Muyang directly called out a price far exceeding the current bid, showing his determination to win.

This price clearly intimidated the other competitors. After all, this was only a Level 30 secret realm scroll. While rare, spending over six million magic crystals was no longer cost-effective for many teams.

In the end, no one else raised the price, and Lin Muyang successfully secured this Diamond-tier secret realm scroll for 5 million magic crystals.

To him, this expenditure was but a drop in the bucket; he didn't even take it to heart.

However, Hong Wuliang, presiding below, took another deep look toward Lin Muyang's VIP room, inwardly shocked: "Already starting to plan for Level 30 Diamond secret realms? This Lin Muyang... the growth speed of him and his team is simply too astonishing, isn't it?"

...

Time passed slowly, and items were successfully sold one by one. Hong Wuliang's face was constantly smiling; tonight's auction was making him a fortune.

But everyone knew that the true highlight, the grand finale treasure, was still to come!

Around 9:30 PM, after all other items had found their owners, the atmosphere of the entire hall instantly became heavy and expectant.

The beautiful auctioneer took a deep breath and shouted in a voice trembling with excitement: "Distinguished guests! Next will be the final grand finale of this auction—the Swordsman profession, origin skill book, 'Peerless Sword Formation'!"

As soon as she finished speaking, a staff member carefully presented an ancient jade slip emitting a desolate Aura onto the display stage.

When the detailed attributes of the skill book were projected onto the light screen in mid-air, the entire hall first fell into a dead silence, followed immediately by a world-shaking uproar, like a volcanic eruption!

【Peerless Sword Formation (Origin)】:

Activate a sharp sword formation, launching 10 sword qi attacks per second at all enemies within the formation's range, dealing massive physical damage. The sword formation lasts for 10 seconds. Cooldown time: 300 seconds.

Level Up Effects: Increases sword qi attacks per second, base damage, duration, and range.

Level 20 Special Effect: Sword qi attacks will ignore the target's defense!

【Note: Initial 10 attacks per second. For every 1 level the skill increases, the number of sword qi attacks per second increases by 10.】

"10 attacks per second? If it reaches Level 20, isn't that 200 sword qi attacks per second?!"

"My god! Area-of-effect damage and it can ignore defense? This skill is too broken!"

"As expected of an origin skill book! This effect is simply heaven-defying!"

"Crazy! This is crazy! Those swordsman big shots are going to fight to the death for this!"

Exclamations and discussions rose one after another. Everyone's gaze became incredibly fiery, especially the swordsman class holders, whose breathing became ragged.

In the VIP room next to Lin Muyang, the red-clad female swordsman who had been resting with her eyes closed—Liu Hongyuan—finally slowly opened her eyes. In those eyes, which were like cold stars, the attributes of the skill book on the light screen were reflected. The corners of her mouth curled into an extremely faint arc, one that carried the intent of certain victory. Clearly, she was very satisfied with the attributes of this skill book.

The beautiful auctioneer waited for the commotion to subside slightly before shouting with all her might: "Now, the bidding for the origin skill book 'Peerless Sword Formation' officially begins! The starting price—10 billion magic crystals! Each bid increment must not be less than 1 billion magic crystals!"

This astronomical starting price instantly disqualified ninety-nine percent of the people in the hall, but it didn't affect the intensity of the competition in the slightest.

"10 billion!" A bid immediately came from a VIP room.

"11 billion!"

"13 billion!"

"15 billion!"

The price soared like a rocket, with almost no pause.

Lin Muyang remained seated calmly, not in a hurry to bid. Looking at the skill's attributes, he was also full of praise inwardly.

"The Level 20 effect is actually ignoring defense... this effect is indeed too fierce!" He couldn't help but think of one of his God-Tier Auras, which had the effect of weakening the defense of enemies within range by 90%. Comparing the two, although his Aura had a wider range of application, the extreme offensiveness of this 'Peerless Sword Formation' was still startling.

When the price reached "16 billion" from the VIP room where Zhao Kai and Yan Zhengshan were located, a brief silence occurred in the hall. This price was already enough to deter many competitors.

It was at this moment that a cold and calm female voice drifted out from the VIP room where Liu Hongyuan was located:

"17 billion."

Her voice wasn't loud, yet it clearly spread throughout the entire hall. Very few people in Zhongnan City knew her, but this composed demeanor already made many people take notice.

However, not everyone didn't know her.

In the VIP room where Zhao Kai was, the old man Li Zhengshan, who had been closing his eyes coldly, suddenly snapped them open the moment he heard this voice, looking toward the source in horror!

"This voice... could it be her?" Li Zhengshan's face changed drastically, his tone filled with disbelief.

"Uncle Li, who is it?" Zhao Kai asked hurriedly, noticing the old man's loss of composure.

"Liu Hongyuan!" Li Zhengshan's expression was grave as he squeezed those three words out from between his teeth, "It seems... we can no longer compete for this skill book."

"Liu Hongyuan? The Sword Saint's granddaughter?!" Zhao Kai gasped upon hearing this, his face instantly losing all color. That legendary favored daughter of heaven would actually appear here? To snatch something from her? He wouldn't dare even if given ten times the courage! Even if he did, in terms of financial power, it would be like a mantis trying to stop a carriage!

Just when everyone thought this skill book would belong to Liu Hongyuan without any suspense—

Another cold and pleasant female voice, but carrying a completely different charm, leisurely drifted out from the VIP room next to Liu Hongyuan's:

"Eighteen billion."

This voice was the price called out by Elabess, whom Lin Muyang had simulate Ao Qingyan's voice!

He didn't know who was next door, nor did he care what background the other party had.

He only knew that today, he was determined to get this 'Peerless Sword Formation'!

This sudden bid was like a giant boulder thrown into a calm lake, instantly causing a massive shock throughout the entire auction hall!