Chapter Ninety: Exceptional Inscribed Ancient Treasure

A voluptuous woman led him into the private room and presented a jade slip that contained the list of items up for auction.

Wu Hao laughed heartily, groped her, and sent her away.

“Brother Tu, take a look.”

As he spoke, he handed the jade slip to Tu Lu.

Tu Lu took it and asked, “Do auctions usually offer this sort of service?”

Wu Hao shook his head.

“Of course they can’t let everyone know the contents in advance. This privilege belongs only to the VIP rooms. Still, it is actually of little significance.”

Tu Lu froze, then glanced over the scroll. His expression changed first, then gave way to understanding.

“Most of the valuable items, including the final showpiece, have had their information erased. For those qualified to stay in a private room, those are the real prizes, yet they’ve been wiped clean, leaving only worthless scraps.”

“Just as I thought.”

Tu Lu studied the scroll carefully and nodded.

As Wu Hao had said, more than a dozen items had been blurred out. Though the total number could still be seen, the truly valuable goods were unknown.

“No Spirit of Grass and Wood?”

Suddenly, Tu Lu’s expression changed.

However precious the Spirit of Grass and Wood might be, it was still only useful to Body Tempering cultivators, worth at most a few tens of thousands of Thunder Stones.

Even a special-use Spirit of Grass and Wood, such as one that could ward off curses, could not reasonably be valued above two hundred thousand Thunder Stones. In an auction of this scale, it certainly would not count as something precious.

And yet its information had been erased!

“Now you understand.”

Wu Hao let go of him and said helplessly, “That’s why I came with you. In case something unexpected happens, if you can’t win the bid, I’ll step in.”

“Many thanks, Brother Wu!”

Wu Hao shook his head.

By then, after a brief introduction from a slightly plump old man, the auction finally began.

“The first item, a top-grade magical treasure: the Firecloud Staff!”

The old man lifted the red cloth, revealing a treasure radiating brilliant spiritual light in the center of the auction hall.

“Condensing spirit into light, laws arising of themselves. Could this be an ancient treasure?”

A shocked voice suddenly rang out from the crowd below.

The plump old man smiled faintly. “Indeed. This is a top-grade ancient treasure discovered by our merchant house in the Firecloud Secret Realm!

“This treasure descends from antiquity. Not only is its power formidable in its own right, but it is also engraved with the ancient rune pattern of the Firebird. It can raise a cultivator of the Violet Mansion realm’s combat strength by at least double!”

As he spoke, the old man infused the Firecloud Staff with a trace of pure Violet Mansion realm spiritual power.

In an instant, flames surged and a firebird roared forth, radiating the pressure of the Violet Mansion realm; even the air seemed to warp under the searing heat.

The old man’s face reddened slightly, and with a wave of his hand, the firebird dispersed.

“Did everyone see that? This is the inscribed technique of the Firebird Pattern. It can briefly split off a firebird clone at the same level as the original. Its upper limit reaches the middle stage of Spirit Transformation, and it possesses pure yang flame. Even for Spirit Transformation venerables, it is of great use!”

With a smile, the old man set the Firecloud Staff back in place.

“The starting price for this top-grade inscribed ancient treasure is five hundred thousand Thunder Stones, with each raise no less than ten thousand!”

At those words, Tu Lu nearly bit off his own tongue.

Truly worthy of a top-grade ancient treasure—the starting price alone was five hundred thousand. It was terrifying!

“Five hundred and ten thousand!”

“Five hundred and fifty thousand!”

“Six hundred thousand!”

In just a few breaths, the crowd below had driven it to an astronomical eight hundred thousand.

Although the bids came less and less frequently, they still did not stop.

Tu Lu swallowed hard.

Then, from a VIP private room nearby, a rough voice suddenly rang out.

“Hmph, a bunch of bumpkins. You think eighty thousand can buy a top-grade inscribed ancient treasure? A top-grade inscribed magical treasure would be more like it. Two million!”

Tu Lu’s heart jolted.

But Wu Hao merely smiled. “It’s begun.”

The moment he finished speaking, another voice came from a private room on the other side.

“Purple-Red Venerable, this item is fated to me. You need not compete. Two million five hundred thousand.”

“Hmph, so it’s the Fiery Evil Old Monster. Fire-element treasures are indeed not suited to me, but I recently took in a disciple. Two million eight hundred thousand!”

“Three million!”

Yet another voice joined in.

In the end, the Firecloud Staff was taken away by that Spirit Transformation venerable known as the Fiery Evil Old Monster, at the sky-high price of four million five hundred thousand Thunder Stones.

“How can this be?”

Wu Hao shook his head. “The value of a top-grade magical treasure is around five hundred thousand Thunder Stones. If it is an ancient treasure, the price rises again by half. Add the fact that this is an inscribed ancient treasure, and it rises again. In other words, that top-grade ancient treasure was worth over two million Thunder Stones to begin with.”

“But four million five hundred thousand... even with competition, anything over three million is already abnormal, isn’t it?” Tu Lu asked uncertainly.

Wu Hao nodded. “That’s true enough, but within the borders of the Southern Cloud Kingdom, there are far too few treasures suited for Spirit Transformation venerables. Rarity gives them value.

“Not to mention it was an ancient treasure aligned with his own attribute. The Fiery Evil Old Monster would naturally bid without restraint. As for Purple-Red Venerable’s bidding, perhaps he was simply trying to disgust the Fiery Evil Old Monster.”

Tu Lu opened his mouth.

Soon after, the second auction item was brought up, but this time it was only an ordinary object. It had been described in the jade slip as well, and it was sold for a mere thirty thousand Thunder Stones.

At last, Tu Lu breathed a sigh of relief.