Chapter 28: Penniless Again

The gathered crowd had all gone silent.

300,000 points? Double the last bid? What kind of rich asshole was this? No matter how many points he had, who would be so wasteful as to do something like this?!

They all turned toward Zhang Lie, but unfortunately, all they could see was a black cloak.

Even the loudmouthed VIPs had gone silent. Pinnacle-grade techniques tended to go for 200,000 points or so, and the fact that this hunter was bidding 300,000 points meant that this was a technique that he sorely needed.

They had no intention to compete with him: after all, there were more techniques they could bid for instead.

The host, Daffodil, waited for a few moments, surveying the crowd, before rapping her knuckles on the table again. "300,000 points from the honored guest in black! The [Fists of the Silent Sea] will go to you!"

He swiped his point card and inputted the ID of the teleportation apparatus in his room. The purchase arrived not fifteen seconds later. It was divided into two parts, a manual detailing the technique and a holographic recording of a robot using the technique.

After he confirmed receipt of the item, the points were transferred to Daffodil.

The auction was still in progress, but Zhang Lie wasn't too interested in the remaining items up for bidding. However, just as he was about to leave, he found a few herbs that he was interested in, as well as another advanced water-attuned technique.

In particular, the eye-of-night flower was yet another main ingredient for Potion #2. It was generally only available from the second realm onwards, so Zhang Lie was very surprised to see it on auction.

With these discoveries, Zhang Lie certainly had to stay for the remainder of the auction.

Since pillmaking wasn't yet a mature field, these herbs weren't worth very much, and Zhang Lie managed to obtain the eye-of-night at a shockingly cheap price of 10,000 points.

Zhang Lie sat through the rest of the auction in boredom. After an entire hour, it was finally time for that genetic technique that he had been eyeing to come up for auction.

Daffodil's face turned serious. "Finally, our last and most valuable item for today: [The Boundless Blade]."

On stage, a worn, ancient manual appeared in front of the hunters' eyes.

"[The Boundless Blade], a mythic-grade sword technique: starting bid, 150,000 points."

"A mythic-grade technique?! Are you joking?" Zhang Lie was also somewhat skeptical, but someone else spoke up before he could.

A mythic-grade technique could easily become the signature technique of a dojo. For example, the premier dojo of Ning, the Blizzard Dojo, had been named after its signature mythic-grade technique, [Blizzard's Eye]. Zhang Lie hadn't expected that someone would be willing to trade a mythic-grade technique for points, at least not in the first realm.

Daffodil didn't seem too bothered. Instead, she motioned to the robot beside her, which headed to center stage. The robot was so advanced that, from its outer appearance alone, it looked no different from a regular human.

It placed one hand on the hilt of his sword, then froze at the precise moment of activation of the technique. Just this simple action was enough to reveal the technique's majesty: behind the robot flared the backdrop of a vast ocean, seeming to endow the robot with its strength.

This was undoubtedly a mythic-grade technique, and even one that was water-attuned! He had to obtain this technique by any means!

"Does anyone still doubt the authenticity of this technique?" Daffodil asked. "This holographic display simulates the technique as a novice would activate it, and more specialized use of the technique is certainly possible with further study."

From the crowd, a hunter piped up, "Isn't it daylight robbery to try to sell a mythic-grade technique for 1.5 million? This is a technique, not a framework! I'll pay 1.2 million at most—"

"If you don't have points, screw off and stop embarrassing yourself! I'll bid 1.6 million!"

"You think you can get a mythic-grade technique with just 1.6 million points? I'll bid 1.8 million! I'm Sun Mu from the Greenforest settlement—do you know who I am? Don't you dare try to outbid me!"

"What Greenforest settlement? What Sun clan? Why should I care who you are? This is an anonymous auction! How do you expect to take revenge on me when you don't even know my identity? I, a roadside weed, will bid two million points!"

Indeed, it wasn't a smart move for hunters to reveal their identity in such auctions. Not only did their name not mean anything, they were easily targeted by the rest of the anonymous crowd.

"You dare?! Reveal your identity, and I'll—"

"Are you an idiot? ?Of course I'm not telling you that! Now, if you're not going to keep bidding, why don't you shut up?"

Sun Mu was so enraged he could hardly speak.

"You'd better not let me find out who you are, you bastard! I'll bid 2.5 million!"

"Ha! 2.6 million!"

The hunter seemed more invested in enraging Sun Mu than winning the auction.

Sun Mu clearly didn't expect the other hunter to keep outbidding him. 2.5 million was as high as he could go, and all he could do was stare at the offending party in resentful anger. 2.6 million was already a high price for such a technique, especially given the relatively nameless auction.

There were perhaps a few rich hunters scattered throughout the attendees, but no one present was spectacularly rich. Even those who had sufficiently many points to bid had to think carefully about whether it was worth it.

"Three million!"

Just as the crowd thought that the nameless bidder was about to obtain the water-attuned technique for 2.6 million, the blue-clad hunter sitting in the first row, who had initially claimed to want to buy a technique for his sister, made a new bid.

Increasing the bid by 400,000 at this juncture was a ploy to deter others from bidding, but it also showed how invested he was in it.

Three million points was worth 300 million dollars on Earth. Given how impactful genetic techniques were, however, 300 million dollars wasn't too extreme a price to pay for additional power. Even a billion dollars wouldn't be too pricey for a mythic-grade technique of particular compatibility.

However, the problem was that no hunter could be certain that any given technique would be so compatible with their framework. Furthermore, water-attuned frameworks were a relative rarity, so there were few hunters for whom it would be useful in the first place.

A hush descended on the crowd: the bidding seemed to have come to a close.

Just then, as everyone thought that the auction was over, Zhang Lie raised his hand. "Four million points!"

Everyone turned to look at him, but all they saw was a hooded robe.

The blue-clad man scowled, mumbling, "Is there a need to act so mysteriously? What an annoyance!"

Zhang Lie smiled and bowed in his direction.

Four million points—an increment of a million over the last bid—was about as high as the price of this technique could feasibly go. Other potential bidders had given up at three million, and a bid of four million was sufficient to silence them.

Even Daffodil only waited for a few seconds of silence from the crowd before rapping her knuckles on the table again. "The winning bid is four million points! ?[The Boundless Blade] goes to the man in black!"

Zhang Lie couldn't help but smile. After all, four million points was as high as he could go. If someone were to continue bidding, Zhang Lie would have been able to match that bid, but he would have to mortgage some of his fire-attuned techniques to do so.

He sighed as he swiped the four million points on his card away—he had acquired such wealth just a few days ago, and here he was spending it all already. Zhang Lie was again all but penniless.

But it was a worthwhile investment, after all, and he was eagerly anticipating [The Boundless Blade]. Just as before, the technique arrived in his room within half a minute.

.

After the auction was over, Zhang Lie waited by his seat until the other hunters left. Naturally, Daffodil took notice of him. Once everyone else was gone, she closed the virtual auction hall and set up a personalized meeting room instead.

"Congratulations on becoming the thirtieth million-class customer of the Thousand-Treasure Pavilion! May I help you with anything?"

Zhang Lie could hear faint notes of happiness in her voice from the magnitude of her sales today.

"I do have two questions. First, could you tell me about the origin of this technique? I would hate to have to hide it from the public eye after learning it! Second, does your establishment also offer acquisition-related services?"

Upon hearing Zhang Lie's two questions, Daffodil smiled. "I can assure you that this technique was acquired through a reputable source. No one—neither in the dimensional world nor in reality—will give you any trouble with regards to this technique. In fact, it was a recent find by one of our employees, and it's never been revealed to the public before."

Zhang Lie immediately relaxed.

"As for your second question, given your status as an honored million-class customer here with us at the Thousand-Treasure Pavilion, your needs are our needs. We will do everything we can to satisfy your requests."

Zhang Lie had to admit that Daffodil was very skilled at customer service.

"In that case, I have to praise your dedication to your customers."

He visualized a list of herbal ingredients that he needed for one potion or another, actualized it in the virtual space, and then handed it to Daffodil. The list detailed the quantity and purchase price that Zhang Lie was willing to accept for each ingredient.

Daffodil scanned the list, then bowed in Zhang Lie's direction. "I've received your request, and will contact you as soon as I acquire the listed ingredients. Might I ask how I should address you, honored customer?"

Zhang Lie smiled. "You can call me Peppercorn!"

"Very good, Mr. Peppercorn. On behalf of the Thousand-Treasure Pavilion, I thank you for your support, and I wish you luck with mastering your new techniques."

After the exchange, Zhang Lie left the virtual space.