Chapter 695 - 692: A Crushing Bid

Chapter 695: Chapter 692: A Crushing Bid

Even Jiang Jichen couldn’t help but frown.

’This Young Master Jin is really just looking for trouble!’

"Young Brother Wentian, don’t pay any mind to a dead man walking. Hurry and bid. Win that Nether Blood Fruit."

Seeing the young cultivator Wentian’s face flush red with anger, Jiang Jichen stepped in to calm him.

Wentian had a youthful temperament and was easily agitated.

Without Jiang Jichen’s reminder, he had almost forgotten that winning the Nether Blood Fruit was his main reason for being here.

At this moment, the bidding for the Nether Blood Fruit had reached twenty thousand Low-grade Holy Spirit Stones.

The bid was called twice with no one else raising the price. If it was called a third time without a higher offer, the item would be sold to the current bidder.

Apparently, just as the young cultivator Wentian had said, not many people needed the Nether Blood Fruit enough to compete for it.

The bidding was surprisingly tame, with few people participating.

Heeding Jiang Jichen’s reminder, Wentian picked up the Quotation Jade and quickly bid twenty-five thousand Low-grade Holy Spirit Stones!

The Quotation Jade was just a common Secret Artifact connected to the auction stage; everyone who entered the venue received one.

The holder simply had to state their bid into the Quotation Jade, and both the price and the bidder’s information would be transmitted to the auction stage.

As expected, after Wentian placed his bid, no one else followed.

Sure enough, hardly anyone was interested in the Nether Blood Fruit.

In truth, this was mainly because those with the Netherworld King’s Blood were long extinct.

"The Nether Blood Fruit, for twenty-five thousand Low-grade Holy Spirit Stones, going for the third and final time! If there are no more bids, then this..."

Hearing the Auctioneer’s voice, a smile spread across Wentian’s face.

’Just as I thought,’ he mused. ’I can get the Nether Blood Fruit for only twenty-five thousand Low-grade Holy Spirit Stones.’

’As long as I have the Nether Blood Fruit, I...’

However, just as the Auctioneer was about to finish his call and Wentian’s heart was swelling with joy, a calm voice echoed through the hall.

"Thirty thousand Low-grade Holy Spirit Stones!"

Upon hearing that voice, knowing smirks appeared on many faces.

Most people, after all, knew of Young Master Jin from the Eastern Five Domains Square.

Young Master Jin bidding thirty thousand Low-grade Holy Spirit Stones was clearly a deliberate attempt to stop the young cultivator from winning the Nether Blood Fruit.

"You... You’ve gone too far!"

Wentian was furious. The Nether Blood Fruit had been within his grasp, but that detestable Young Master Jin had to interfere.

Hearing Wentian’s outburst, Young Master Jin sneered. "If you don’t have the Holy Spirit Stones, then shut your trap. The auction house has always been a place where the highest bidder wins."

"A piece of trash like you probably doesn’t even have a few Holy Spirit Stones to your name. How dare you come here to bid on anything? This is no place for you. Get the hell out!"

Wentian’s eyes were bloodshot, but the man was right. In an auction, the highest bidder always wins.

"Thirty-one thousand Low-grade Holy Spirit Stones!"

Wentian could only grit his teeth and call out his bid.

His entire fortune, which he had scraped together by borrowing from everyone he could, amounted to only forty thousand Low-grade Holy Spirit Stones.

According to his original estimate, this should have been more than enough to secure the Nether Blood Fruit.

And that had been true—if Young Master Jin hadn’t interfered, he could have won the Nether Blood Fruit for just twenty-five thousand Low-grade Holy Spirit Stones.

But now...

Wentian had just gritted his teeth and made his bid when Young Master Jin shot him a mocking look and leisurely countered, "Thirty-five thousand Low-grade Holy Spirit Stones!"

The friends around Young Master Jin roared with laughter, some sucking up to him while others mocked Wentian for not knowing his place.

They even directed their ridicule and sarcasm toward Jiang Jichen, who was sitting beside Wentian.

"Forty thousand Low-grade Holy Spirit Stones!"

Wentian called out his absolute limit. He couldn’t afford a single stone more; otherwise, the Nether Blood Fruit would fall into another’s hands.

The Nether Blood Fruit was clearly useless to Young Master Jin. He was just driving up the price to ridicule and humiliate Wentian, to make a fool out of him.

"Haha... That must be your entire fortune, right? Excellent. In that case, I bid forty thousand and one Low-grade Holy Spirit Stones!"

Young Master Jin let out a wild, arrogant laugh, looking incredibly smug.

"You..."

Hearing Young Master Jin’s bid, Wentian slumped weakly in his seat, a feeling of despair and fury welling up inside him.

From the stage, the Auctioneer’s indifferent voice rang out: "Forty thousand and one Low-grade Holy Spirit Stones, going once! Forty thousand and one Low-grade Holy Spirit Stones, going twice! Forty thousand and one Low-grade Holy Spirit Stones, for the third and final time! With no other bids, it will be sold to Young Master J—"

Listening to the Auctioneer’s call, many in the crowd sighed with pity.

But even more people looked at Wentian with contempt.

As for Jiang Jichen, he had been completely overlooked by the crowd.

"A mere Loose Cultivator who hasn’t even entered the Holy Dao dares to challenge Young Master Jin? He’s got a death wish!"

"Indeed. Among the cultivators in these lower seats, Young Master Jin’s power is near the top. Offending him is suicide."

"That boy might have some latent Netherworld King’s Blood, or maybe he just wanted to try his luck and change his destiny. A pity..."

...

Such were the murmurs from the crowd. Some sighed, sympathizing with his plight, while others mocked him for overestimating his abilities and courting his own ruin.

Of course, they were all united in one thought: the matter was settled, a foregone conclusion.

However, just as this thought crossed everyone’s mind, and just as the Auctioneer’s call was about to end, a calm voice rang out: "One hundred thousand Low-grade Holy Spirit Stones!"

The moment the voice faded, the entire hall fell dead silent.

Every single gaze was locked onto the spot where the bid had come from.

It was precisely where Jiang Jichen sat, and the bid, of course, had come from him.

"This..."

Who could have predicted such a shocking turn of events?

Even more unbelievable, the young man in the lower seating area had casually bid one hundred thousand Low-grade Holy Spirit Stones, more than doubling the price of the Nether Blood Fruit in a single stroke.

Wentian stared blankly at Jiang Jichen, hardly daring to believe what he’d heard.

The expressions on the faces of Young Master Jin and his friends turned sour.

Young Master Jin had dared to challenge Wentian precisely because he knew the boy couldn’t have many Holy Spirit Stones.

Wasting a few tens of thousands of Low-grade Holy Spirit Stones was still within his acceptable limits.

But spending over a hundred thousand Holy Spirit Stones on a Nether Blood Fruit that was useless to him was simply not worth it.

Furthermore, Jiang Jichen’s bid was too shocking, too confident. He had casually called out one hundred thousand Low-grade Holy Spirit Stones, yet his expression remained perfectly calm.

But this was an insult Young Master Jin simply could not swallow.

"One hundred and ten thousand Low-grade Holy Spirit Stones!"

Young Master Jin gritted his teeth and continued to bid, his expression turning grim.

"Three hundred thousand Low-grade Holy Spirit Stones!"

Jiang Jichen countered casually, an absolutely crushing display of bidding power.

Then, he shot a cold glance at Young Master Jin. "Feel free to raise my bid, as long as you can offer more than three hundred thousand Low-grade Holy Spirit Stones!"

Jiang Jichen’s meaning was clear: he had just announced his final price.

But only someone with immense confidence and vast wealth would dare to make such a move.