Immortal God of War-Chapter 768 - 733: Auction House, Invisible Struggle _1
Seeing Qin Feiyang and Fatty exchanging looks, Li Li knew they were communicating secretly, but he didn’t ask or say anything.
「About an hour passed.」
BOOM!
A loud bell rang throughout the auction venue.
Immediately, silence fell over the crowd, all eyes turned to the auction stage in the center.
Not long after, an old man in white appeared in everyone’s view. It was Sun Dahai!
Standing in the middle of the stage, Sun Dahai chuckled and said, "I believe all of you can’t wait any longer!"
"Indeed!"
"Enough talk already, hurry and start!"
The crowd burst into laughter.
Sun Dahai said, "I don’t want to waste time either, but there are things I must say."
The crowd fell silent, waiting for his next words.
Sun Dahai continued, "As everyone knows, the Potential Elixir was created by Qin Feiyang."
People nodded in acknowledgment. This was a well-known fact.
"If Qin Feiyang were still around, we at the Grand Pavilion surely wouldn’t run out of stock. No matter the cost, we would purchase them from Qin Feiyang. But things are different now. Qin Feiyang is a wanted man, his whereabouts unknown, and no one can supply us with the Potential Elixir. Because of this, the value of the Potential Elixir is undoubtedly greater than before. I might as well reveal to all that we in the Treasure Pavilion currently have only five Potential Elixirs in our possession. We could say that there’s one fewer each time one is used!" Sun Dahai sighed.
The people in the audience couldn’t help but lament.
Indeed! With Qin Feiyang gone, the Potential Elixir is about to become a thing of the past. These remaining five Potential Elixirs are even more precious than the world’s rarest treasures!
Fatty furrowed his brows in dissatisfaction and said, "Just get on with the auction, why all this chatter?"
"Business people will always use emotional tactics first to raise the value of the items up for auction," Li Li replied with a laugh.
"Did Master Fatty ask you to speak? Who asked for your opinion?" Fatty shot a cold glance at Li Li. "Besides, how could Master Fatty not understand such a simple principle?"
Li Li was taken aback. He smiled wryly and said, "Alright, it’s my fault. I’ll shut up."
"You’d better." Fatty snorted and then said to Qin Feiyang via voice transmission, "Boss, why don’t we continue to cooperate with the Grand Pavilion secretly?"
"No," Qin Feiyang replied via voice transmission. "The man behind the Grand Pavilion is the Emperor. If Potential Elixirs keep appearing at auction, it will surely raise suspicions."
The most crucial point, he thought, was that he was no longer in need of money, so there was no need to take such a risk.
Sun Dahai continued to stir up the crowd with a series of emotional appeals, until finally, everyone at the auction showed an eager determination to win.
Seeing this effect, Sun Dahai was quite satisfied and said with a smile, "Okay, enough has been said. Let’s start the auction."
With that, he took out a jade box and opened the lid.
The instant the lid opened, a rich medicinal aroma instantly spread through the auction venue. Everyone’s eyes immediately glowed with desire.
Sun Dahai’s expression turned serious as he announced, "The old rules apply: bid freely, no ceiling. Begin!"
"Two hundred and fifty billion!"
The words had barely left his lips when an arrogant voice called out from one of the VIP rooms.
"What?"
"The opening bid is two hundred and fifty billion?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the auction venue erupted.
You have to understand, the highest bid for previous Potential Elixirs had only reached about this price! To open with such a high figure—how could others possibly compete?
"The Potential Elixir, a treasure of such value, isn’t something everyone is qualified to bid for," the arrogant voice echoed again.
"Is that the Second Prince’s voice?" Fatty furrowed his brows.
"Yes, it’s him," Qin Feiyang nodded.
Li Li laughed. "Today’s auction is bound to be more intense than before. It could even be called an invisible fight to the death."
Qin Feiyang nodded in agreement. Now that the Eldest Prince was dead, the position of Crown Prince was vacant. To compete for this position, each Prince would try every means to make themselves more prominent. And the most effective, direct, and fastest way was undoubtedly the Potential Elixir. As long as they obtained a Potential Elixir and opened their Door of Potential, their talent would undergo an earth-shattering transformation. Then, their chances of succeeding to the position of Crown Prince would naturally be greater. Coupled with the fact that the Treasure Pavilion now only had five Potential Elixirs, the various Princes would inevitably scramble for them.
"Second Brother is absolutely right. Before bidding for the Potential Elixir, one should seriously consider if they have the means," another cold and proud voice rang out, its words clearly carrying a hint of threat. "I bid two hundred and fifty billion and one." This was a threat directed at everyone except the other Princes.
"The Third Prince!" A chill ran through the crowd. Those with the means to participate in the auction were either extremely wealthy or of noble birth. Each of them was an astute individual and naturally understood the implied threat in the Third Prince’s words. Therefore, no one else dared to bid; no one wished to offend these sons of the Emperor.
"Third Brother, I know very well how much wealth you possess. Why bother competing?" the Second Prince jeered as he outbid him. "Two hundred and fifty billion and two."
"We’ll see about that," the Third Prince retorted, showing no signs of backing down. "Two hundred and fifty billion and three."
"Then let us join in as well."
"Two hundred and fifty billion and four!"
"Two hundred and fifty billion and five!"
The other Princes also began to eagerly join the fray, bidding one after another.
For a moment, the auction floor transformed into an exclusive, fierce battleground for the Princes. As for the others, they had simply become spectators.
Fatty watched this scene, a sneer playing on his lips. Back at the Imperial Palace, every single one of them had wanted Qin Feiyang dead. And now? Here they were, frantically bidding for the elixirs Qin Feiyang himself had refined. Wasn’t it laughable?
Suddenly, Fatty turned to Qin Feiyang and said, "Boss, I have a question."
"What is it?" Qin Feiyang asked.
Fatty inquired, "Since the owner behind the Treasure Pavilion is also the Emperor, why didn’t he just directly give the Potential Elixirs to them?"
Qin Feiyang shook his head with a smile and replied, "Doing so would create many conflicts.
"Firstly, to whom should the Potential Elixirs be given? If they are given to the Second Prince, the other Princes would certainly be dissatisfied. And if they are given to another Prince, the Second Prince would be unhappy. Eventually, they would argue over the Emperor’s favoritism towards certain Princes.
"Secondly, a Prince is not raised like an ordinary child. An ordinary family’s child might be given everything they desire, with parents trying all means possible. However, a Prince must learn to be self-reliant from a young age because they are destined to be extraordinary. If a Prince lacks capabilities, he will be abandoned sooner or later, left to fend for himself.
"So, in some respects, the Emperor won’t interfere, allowing them to strive based on their own merits," Qin Feiyang explained.
"I used to envy them," Fatty shook his head and commented, "being born so high above everyone, without a care in the world for food or clothing.
"But now, after hearing you, I think I’d rather lead an ordinary life than endure such hardship."
"I disagree," Li Li interjected. "The poor have their troubles, and the rich have theirs. The only difference is that different people worry about different problems.
"Actually, when you get to the bottom of it, it’s all the same; there isn’t much difference."
Fatty scowled, retorting angrily, "Didn’t I tell you to shut up?"
"Okay, okay, I’ll shut up, I’ll shut up." Li Li looked somewhat helpless.
Qin Feiyang glanced at Li Li, then, while still watching the auction, said to Fatty via voice transmission, "He does make some sense."
"Nonsense," Fatty snorted coldly. He just didn’t like the guy.
Qin Feiyang dropped the subject and asked Fatty via voice transmission, "How many Gold Coins do we have?"
"Over three hundred billion. Why?" Fatty asked.
"Nothing," Qin Feiyang responded and said no more, a thoughtful gleam in his eyes.
Soon, the Princes had bid up the price of the Potential Elixir to two hundred and sixty billion. This price already far exceeded those of previous auctions.
But Sun Dahai was not satisfied. He wanted the price of the Potential Elixir to double. But with the Princes dominating the bidding like this, no one else dared to compete. At this rate, the final price would likely be three hundred billion at most.
I need to find a way! he pondered.
"Two hundred and seventy billion!"
But just then, a calm voice interjected.
"Huh?" Everyone immediately looked towards the VIP room from which the voice had come. A wave of confusion passed through them. That voice... it sounds so familiar. Yes, I feel like I’ve heard it somewhere before too.
That sounds like Zhuge Mingyang’s voice... Is he planning to get involved too?
At the same time, Fatty furrowed his brows slightly.
"To raise the bid by ten billion in one go—he’s not just getting involved; he’s determined to win it.
"And I can assure you, none of the Princes will compete with Zhuge Mingyang," Qin Feiyang said.
Zhuge Mingyang, relying on his own abilities, has already opened the second layer of his Door of Potential. If he were to obtain another Potential Elixir, he could open the Third Layer, and his talent would become even more formidable. At the same time, this also indicated that Zhuge Mingyang wasn’t very confident about opening the Third Layer of his Door of Potential on his own; otherwise, he wouldn’t be here bidding for a Potential Elixir.
Similarly, and just as Qin Feiyang had predicted, once Zhuge Mingyang made his bid, the Princes fell silent.
"They’re really not going to compete?" Fatty asked in surprise.
"If I were them, I wouldn’t compete either," Qin Feiyang said. This man, in terms of both talent and intellect, is a prodigy of demonic proportions. Previously, he followed the Eldest Prince, and the other Princes could do nothing about it. But now, with the Eldest Prince dead, these Princes will surely try to win him over. Therefore, they would rather forgo this Potential Elixir than offend Zhuge Mingyang.
"Is there any further bidding?" Seeing the auction hall fall silent, Sun Dahai frowned and asked loudly.
He was getting a headache. He had thought Zhuge Mingyang’s bid would stir things up, but he hadn’t expected the Princes to give up bidding so directly. Of course, he understood their reasoning. It was just this price... he really couldn’t accept it.
But after waiting for a long while, still no one spoke. Sun Dahai couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. Today has really gotten off to a bad start!
"Since no one else is bidding, I shall declare the result.
"The final winner of the Potential Elixir is Zhuge—" Sun Dahai was announcing loudly, but just then, a seemingly frail voice interjected, "Two hundred and eighty billion."
As this voice sounded, expressions of shocked disbelief appeared on everyone’s faces. Even the Princes had backed down, yet someone still dared to compete with Zhuge Mingyang. Who on earth could this person be?
