Volume Two The Anbei Consortium Chapter Five Speculations About Blue Star

"Antiques? I remember the first few items are, and they're quite nice," Chen Chengde said.

He had already received the auction catalog in advance. Except for the two grand finale items, whose details remained a mystery, he had studied the illustrated descriptions of all the rest.

"Thank you, Grandpa," Huang Xiu nodded. "I’ll wait and see. If there’s something suitable, I’ll buy one."

"The first few aren’t expensive—about a million yuan each," Chen Chengde replied with a kindly smile. Judging from the way this well-mannered girl interacted with Li Yu, their relationship seemed close. Perhaps this could be an opening to draw closer to Li Yu himself.

Not expensive...

Only about a million...

Hearing Chen Chengde’s words, Huang Xiu was stunned. She recalled that she’d managed to save quite a bit over the past few years—over fifty thousand yuan. That was no small sum for a high schooler with no income of her own, relying solely on holiday gifts and pocket money.

But this was an auction. The final price would likely surpass a million. She sighed inwardly: You can do it. You’ve already saved half the price of an item. If someone offered it at half price, you could buy it with ease!

At the back of the room, Li Gang’s expression was dark. He stared fixedly at a table in the front row.

"Damn it, why is it like this?" he muttered through clenched teeth. Why was he stuck in the last row, while Li Yu—the one who had humiliated him and made him lose face in front of his classmates—sat at the very front?

Li Gang’s father, seated beside him, noticed his son’s odd mood. "Gang’er, what’s wrong?"

"Nothing, Father," Li Gang replied, lowering his gaze to hide the hatred burning in his eyes. He knew that if his father found out he’d offended someone who could sit in the front row, he’d be forced to apologize. And he could never accept that outcome.

...

A young woman stepped onto the stage. "We apologize for the delay caused by an earlier incident. Now, let us officially begin today’s auction."

"This is our first lot!" Le Lin turned slightly, allowing two staff members to bring forward a bulletproof glass case and set it at the very front.

Li Yu now understood why Chen Chengde had said these were the best seats.

The auction items were placed barely a meter away—those with good eyesight could examine them in perfect detail.

What surprised him more was that the auctioneer was the very girl he’d shared a taxi with earlier.

Le Lin also noticed the young man in the front row. He, too, had ridden in the same cab. To sit at the front of this auction, one must possess assets worth at least a billion yuan. And to have a seat at the very front spoke of even greater power. She had even tried to offer a hundred yuan so he could switch cabs with her? Le Lin’s cheeks flushed, but she quickly composed herself and introduced the first lot.

"A Guangxu Treasure Coin. It is reported that there are three known types. The one we are auctioning today is the seven-mace-two-candareens variety, of which only trial-strike specimens exist—an extremely rare mintage," she paused. "Apart from two held in national collections, this is the only known example! Experts believe it to be one of the rarest Chinese silver coins in existence—a true once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

"The starting bid is eight hundred thousand, with increments of fifty thousand."

As soon as she finished, only one middle-aged woman placed a bid.

"This one’s quite nice," Chen Chengde remarked.

Huang Xiu was tempted. She had taken a liking to this coin at first glance, and her elders happened to have collected the other two varieties. With this one, the set would be complete! Most importantly, the starting bid of eight hundred thousand for the first item already exceeded her budget. The later lots would only climb higher.

She looked at Li Yu. "Brother Yu..."

Li Yu nodded. "Raise by fifty thousand."

A young woman seated at their table, receiving the signal, raised her paddle.

She was assigned by the event organizers; her task was to help them bid.

"Eight hundred and fifty thousand. Any higher offers?" Le Lin asked.

"Nine hundred thousand."

"Nine hundred and fifty thousand."

"Looks like there are several interested parties," Chen Chengde commented. "I estimate it’ll go to about one point six or one point seven million."

Li Yu nodded. Sensing that the bidding would drag on unless he made a bold move, he said, "Raise to one point five million."

The young woman at their side, having received the cue, flashed her beautiful eyes. "One point five million." Her gaze lingered on Li Yu. Sitting in the front row already signified considerable power, and she could see there were two groups at the table. That meant Li Yu might be bidding with his own money.

This was no small sum, and he was so young. If only she could catch such a man...

Le Lin announced, "One point five million—any higher offers?"

She repeated the call several times. No one else raised their paddle. With the fall of the gavel, the coin would soon belong to Li Yu, pending payment.

In truth, the coin could have fetched an even higher price, but the true value of an object is always influenced by the environment. When other bidders saw a front-row buyer determined to win, they had to consider whether it was really worth pushing the price further.

Huang Xiu whispered, "Brother Yu, I don’t have that much money."

This was far beyond what she had prepared.

Li Yu smiled. "Don’t worry. Just give me what you have, and I’ll make up the difference as a gift for Grandma." For him, a million was a mere trifle.

Backed by a powerful family in another world, if he wished, he could buy ginseng by the ton.

The next few lots included porcelain and jade artifacts, none selling for less than five million.

Huang Xiu felt a great sense of relief that she had managed to buy the first lot. Otherwise, she would have had to sell herself to afford any of the subsequent items.

Li Yu found himself growing drowsy. At first, he was curious about the auction format, as he’d never attended one before. He was also interested in seeing what Chen Chengde expected from this event. But so far, none of the items intrigued him.

He had no particular taste for such things. Ever since he began cultivating in the other world, he had become enthralled by the sensation of spiritual power coursing through his body.

In the blink of an eye, he realized he’d already been practicing for four or five days.

Wait a minute.

Could he still circulate spiritual energy?

Suddenly, Li Yu remembered something: when Chen Chengde had grabbed his arm earlier, he had instinctively used his spiritual power to break free with ease.

Before, when he obtained the Thunder Vein, he could only sense that torrential power at the moment of inheritance. Otherwise, he could barely feel its existence.

With this in mind, Li Yu closed his eyes and began to practice the "Guiding Method," a technique that allowed him to sense and absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, or the elemental energy within spiritual objects.

"Nothing," Li Yu frowned. He couldn’t sense any spiritual energy in the void around him. "Could it be that Blue Star once had spiritual energy, but now it’s gone?"

He muttered to himself. Despite not sensing any spiritual energy, he did feel faint traces of energy fluctuations behind him—and at the back of the auction hall as well.

Compared to the weak energy behind him, the spiritual energy at the rear of the auction hall was much more abundant and intense.

From idle conversation earlier, Li Yu had learned that the back of the hall was used to store auction items.

Suddenly, he found himself growing very interested in the lots that were yet to come.