Chapter 1500: Malicious Competition

"What do you think will be the final price of the Soul Scourge Whip?"

Murong Mingyue was sitting at the window sill. She had pulled away the leaves of decorative plants obstructing the view to get a better look at the auction stage. The way her impressive breasts were lifted into the air was a sight to look at.

"The base price is 10 million gold, right? I bet that the final price will exceed 80 million gold," Beiming Xue said.

Lian Xin’s pale, slender neck became revealed as she leaned closer to the window as well. "This is the first ever Twelve Divine Armaments auction in Heavenblessed. The place is packed after just a couple of hours, and there are a lot of Chinese players who are acting as agents for their foreigner friends to bid for the Soul Scourge Whip. It’s hard to way if this Divine Armament will ultimately remain in the China server."

Beiming Xue blinked. "Is the Soul Scourge Whip really that powerful?"

Lin Yixin nodded smilingly. While hugging the Wind Severing Sword, she explained, "You saw its stats. Its ability to lower the stats of anyone it strikes by 40% is already godlike be it against players or bosses, but it also drastically increases a summoned beast’s offensive and defensive stats, and allows for infinite pet revival. If this whip isn’t worth a fortune, then nothing is. You can ask your big bro if you don’t believe me. This whip’s practical value is top-tier even among the Twelve Divine Armaments. At the very least, it is superior to my Wind Severing Sword and perhaps inferior only to your big bro’s Xuanyuan Sword."

I smiled. "It’s okay. While it is true that any tamer with the Soul Scourge Whip will become very OP—they don’t even need to fight themselves, all they need to do is to send out their boss-tier pets to do their dirty work for them—they are by no means the best players in the world. In the end, the tamers themselves have low HP and Defense. If they run into a party of first-rate cavalrymen, mages or archers, they can be one-shot before they put up much of a struggle. Not even the Soul Scourge Whip can help them there."

Lin Yixin giggled. "This is especially true if their opponent is someone with a ridiculous amount of explosive power such as Candlelight Shadow. Shattering Sword and Shield does 150% of defense-breaking damage, and Dragon Tooth Arm can multiply that damage by 9. Unless his opponent is someone with 50% damage reduction and high health like Little Cheat, he will never have any problems against an opponent like that."

I added while looking at the ground from above, "One more thing. A tamer with the Soul Scourge Whip is powerful, but that is only if they possess an extremely high level of control. They must be capable of controlling four or even five units at once, or they won’t be able to kill any first-rate player. Anyway, the important thing is that this whip will definitely fetch a good price!"

"Mn mn!"

……

Meanwhile, after taking a few steps closer to the audience, Fei’er held up the Soul Scourge Whip and declared with a smile, "I’m sure everyone here knows what this auction is about, right? That’s right! The weapon in my hand is none other than the fabled Soul Scourge Whip itself! It increases its user’s Attack by 295%, max HP by 500k, and all of their summoned beasts’ stats by 250%. Besides that, it also grants the ability to reduce any target’s stats by 40% via whipping. Increases the rank and summon count of the user’s pets, and most importantly, gives them infinite revival. This means that a summoned beast may as well be unkillable. The Soul Scourge Whip is the whip of the Twelve Divine Armaments and literally the best weapon a tamer could hope to get, so make sure you don’t miss out on it!

The base price is 10 million gold, and the markup price cannot be less than 1 million gold! As usual, the highest bidder will get this equipment, and please make sure that you have enough money in your accounts before making a bid."

Thud!

Fei’er slammed the Soul Scourge Whip on the table to great effect. She then declared with a beautiful smile, "Without further ado, let the bidding begin!"

She didn’t even finish her sentence when Warsky raised his hand and shouted, "18 million!"

Clearly, Warsky was seeking to better his guild’s number one tamer. He had always been an excellent guild leader. He was willing to spend both cash and effort to strengthen his guild. It was no wonder Warsky Alliance had become the equal of Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls, Candle Dragon, Snowy Cathaya and more super guilds.

Another man raised his hand from a different corner of the hall and called, "25 million!"

This time, it was Candlelight Shadow who made a bid. He was covered in godlike equipment from head to toe just like Warsky was, and I reckoned that the heavy sword he carried behind his back was at least a Middle Divine Armament. The gorgeous wristguard on his arm was the Dragon Tooth Arm of course. No one had been idle while I was grinding in the Purgatory. They were all killing bosses to improve their equipment probably because they could sense that the lull they were enjoying now was but the calm before the storm. If they didn’t strengthen themselves as much as they could before its arrival, they could very well become obsolete.

"Candlelight Shadow is purchasing this for Floating Dream, right?" He Yi said smilingly, "He must be aiming to create the number one tamer of the China server…"

Lin Yixin drew back some of her hair while saying, "But of course. The number one tactician and bard are both in Ancient Sword. How can he live with himself if he doesn’t create his brand soon? Also, I heard that he has been collecting tons of Perfect Divine Crystals as of late. He wants to ascend so much that the madness is getting to him…"

I looked back and forth between Lin Yixin and He Yi before asking, "You’re both Level 255 now. How many Divine Crystals have you collected?"

He Yi replied, "I have 94 now. I should be able to make an attempt very soon, but whether I’ll succeed is a completely different story. The success rate is just too low…"

I licked my lips. "Well, Luck can probably increase the success rate, and both you and Yiyi have a lot of Luck. I dare say that your success rate is around 25%, which isn’t low at all considering the reward. You should be able to ascend in just a couple of tries!"

"Mn!"

……

Meanwhile, the bid price had jumped to 45 million. Everyone was going all out to get the whip of the Twelve Divine Armaments. It was almost as if the winner of the Soul Scourge Whip would become the champion of the jianghu.

"70 million!"

Suddenly, a sweet voice cut through the cacophony of shouts. It came from a group of female players and belonged to none other than Zhou Ping of Twelve Musicians. She had waited for a long time before making her bid. Although the Dragonbone Whip was strong, it was insufficient to satisfy her needs at all. Zhou Ping was a very ambitious woman who hoped to turn Twelve Musicians into a Top 10 guild[1]. However, it required a massive leap of power that the average guild couldn’t hope to match. Otherwise, her dream would forever remain just a dream.

"Haha, Beauty Chance Meeting is a true woman…"

Warsky commented with a smirk before raising his hand again, "90 million!"

Warsky had obviously decided to battle against Zhou Ping. I wondered whose wallets would be slaughtered today.

Candlelight Shadow was frowning deeply, but he raised his hands again and declared, "95 million gold!"

Not only was Candlelight Shadow a guild master, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that he had created his empire via his two virtual hands. You could see that he knew the value of RMB from the fact that he never made an exceedingly large bid.

Zhou Ping puffed up her chest and declared without hesitation, "100 million!"

This time, both Warsky and Candlelight Shadow gritted their teeth in frustration.

Suddenly, a plump man stood up from the southeast corner and said leisurely, "110 million!"

For the first time since entering the auction house, Zhou Ping wrinkled her brows and swore, "Fuck! It’s Fatty Liu!"

"Fatty Liu who?" Hugging Bears in Silence asked.

Zhou Ping replied, "He’s a famous coal boss. I heard that his net worth is over 300 million…"

Hugging Bears in Silence stuck out her tongue. "No wonder his tummy is so huge…"

Zhou Ping: "..."

Another voice answered the bid in no time, "140 million!"

The guy wore dark gold-colored armor and the emblem of Purgatory Mad Dragon on his arm. He was none other than Wang Dongliang. Roaming Dragon, Coldmoon Rose, Ray of Sunshine and the usual faces were present as well.

He Yi couldn’t help but smile at the sight of them. "They still haven’t given up on their world domination dream despite being destroyed repeatedly by Little Piglet in the outer lands, I see. Do they really think that the Soul Scourge Whip can pull them out of their rut? Say, how good is the Soul Scourge Whip in the hands of a fighter?"

I nodded. "Not bad at all, actually. It boosts the user’s HP and Attack, drastically improves their pets, and gives them the ability to reduce all of their opponent’s stats by 40% in a single hit. A fighter with the Soul Scourging Whip can be nearly unbeatable."

Lin Yixin giggled. “Heehee. Does this mean that Wang Dongliang and Lu Chao are still going to support Ray of Sunshine despite him losing the Heaven Suppressing Necklace?"

I shrugged. "Perhaps. Ray of Sunshine is the strongest player in Purgatory Mad Dragon, and it’s not his fault that he lost the Heaven Suppressing Necklace. And even if he was, do they really have any other choice with Little Piglet constantly breathing down their necks?

Beiming Xue chuckled. "But of course. There was no chance Ray of Sunshine was ever going to keep the equipment from the moment he decided to duel big bro, not to mention that Little Piglet was present as well. It would’ve been a miracle if he managed to save the Heaven Suppressing Necklace…"

……

Meanwhile, the bid price was still rising far beyond our expectations. It was sitting at 190 million now!

A young warrior from the southwest corner raised his arm and declared, "210 million gold!"

Warsky frowned and shot Candlelight Shadow a look. Candlelight Shadow looked puzzled himself. "Where did that guy come from? How can a guy wearing Dark Gold–grade equipment possibly have 210 million in his bank account?!"

Zhou Ping bit her lips. "Is he the agent of a foreign financial group?"

She then raised her hand and made another bid, "240 million!"

Hugging Bears in Silence hurriedly pulled Zhou Ping’s hand and said, "Sister Zhou Ping, that’s more than what we expected to pay for this Soul Scourge Whip! It’s not worth that much…"

However, Zhou Ping replied through gritted teeth, "I must have this Soul Scourge Whip! Don’t you understand? I… I won’t stand being powerless while our sisters are bullied anymore. With this item, I’m going to bully everyone who has ever bullied us!"

Another female player rose to her feet and declared, "270 million gold!"

Everyone was turning numb by this point. At this point, no one could tell how much higher the bid price was going to rise. Candlelight Shadow was rich, but he was also just a player. He shrugged once before declaring with a helpless smile, "Yes, yes, I see now that this is the game of those with too much money. I withdraw. I don’t care who gets this Soul Scourge Whip anymore…"

Warsky also shook his head and took a seat, unwilling to make another bid for the Divine Armament.

……

At the distance, the fighter shot Zhou Ping a taunting smirk. "You wanna go some more, Beauty Zhou Ping? Come on then! You’d better make sure you have enough money though!"

Zhou Ping clenched her fists angrily.

Finally, I couldn’t stand the guy’s smug face any longer. Without changing my expression or twitching a muscle, I sent Zhou Ping a message saying, "Keep bidding, Zhou Ping, those players are clearly hired by foreign players, but too bad for them, I’m the one who put the Soul Scourge Whip for auction. I’ll just give you 50% of your winning bid back."

On the ground, Zhou Ping shuddered for a second. Then, she broke into a small grin.

1. E/N: And to think our first interaction with them was them getting farmed to Level 0 by Japanese. They’ve come a long way huh ☜