Chapter 148: A Comic Bidding Blunder

Even the Heavenly Fiend was stirred, suddenly speaking within his own mind: "Qin Feng, that mysterious scale-iron should be a fragment of Chongwu. You must get it!"

"Yes, I had already guessed as much!"

Qin Feng nodded. Though his heart burned with intense fervor, on the surface he maintained Xing Bing's calm demeanor and indifferent gaze to the utmost.

Chongwu was a Heaven-reaching Profound Treasure, but for some unknown reason, the sword had been broken, and its sword spirit sealed away by a mysterious power. Encountering a fragment of Chongwu here meant that no matter the cost, it had to be secured. With this fragment, perhaps Chongwu could recover some of its divine abilities?

However, Qin Feng was wise enough not to bid too early. Items of such unknown origin and function were rather niche auction pieces; while everyone knew they were extremely precious, very few cultivators could actually make use of them. Though many cultivators were curious, they were unwilling to spend such a massive price on something they could not use. Rather than wasting eighteen thousand profound stones on this, it was far more practical to buy a few bottles of pills to enhance one's realm and strength.

As Qin Feng had anticipated, the moment Ye Youyou's voice fell, not a single person in the entire hall was willing to bid, resulting in an awkward moment of silence.

"Uh..."

Even Ye Youyou choked slightly. Although she had anticipated this outcome beforehand, she still asked again: "One piece of mysterious scale-iron, please place your bids, everyone!"

After all, she did not wish to see the item go unsold.

"Eighteen thousand profound stones, I'll take it!"

At that moment, a somewhat hesitant voice rang out, attempting to buy the mysterious item at the base price, which immediately brought a trace of joy to Ye Youyou's heart.

The crowd looked toward the source of the voice and were surprised to find that the bidder was none other than Xing Bing in the very back row corner, his expression extremely calm under Qin Feng's control, giving the impression that he was buying the item with an attitude of indifference as to whether he got it or not.

"It's actually him?"

Ye Youyou was also quite surprised, not expecting it to be the mysterious fellow she had noticed earlier.

"Eighteen thousand profound stones, are there any further bids from anyone?"

This time Ye Youyou did not try to stir up emotions; she merely asked symbolically, seemingly aware that while this piece of mysterious scale-iron was exceptionally precious, it was indeed too niche. Avoiding a failed auction altogether would already be quite good.

"Very well, if there are no further bids, this mysterious scale-iron belongs to this cultivator..." Just one second before Ye Youyou was about to strike the hammer to finalize the deal, another lazy voice drifted into the host's ears—

"Wait, I bid twenty thousand profound stones!"

To have a duck about to reach one's mouth snatched away by a sudden interference naturally irritated Qin Feng. Following the sound, he saw that the bidder was Yan Wen, with whom he had previously crossed paths. At that moment, Yan Wen was looking at him with a malicious grin, his eyes full of schadenfreude!

Ye Youyou was stunned for a moment, then overwhelmed with joy, secretly rejoicing that she hadn't dropped the hammer too quickly. She hadn't expected someone else to jump into the fray to compete for this mysterious scale-iron. As long as there was competition, there was no need to worry about driving up the price. Thinking of this, Ye Youyou immediately enticed the direction where Qin Feng was: "The gentleman just now bids twenty thousand profound stones, are there any higher bids?"

Qin Feng frowned. Yan Wen was clearly seeking revenge out of malice, intentionally crossing paths with him!

"Failed once, and now wants to play the game of seizing a favorite from another's grasp?"

"Humph!"

Qin Feng was no fool. Since Yan Wen chose to pick a fight deliberately, even if he could get his hands on this scale-iron, he would have to pay a hefty price. In an instant, Qin Feng turned over several methods in his mind, finally curving the corners of his mouth as he settled on a plan. He then controlled Xing Bing and coldly raised the bid: "Twenty-one thousand profound stones!"

Having made up his mind, Qin Feng carefully added just a little bit.

"Thirty thousand profound stones!" Yan Wen smiled malevolently, raising the bid to thirty thousand without a moment's hesitation, and the margin of increase was astonishing.

"Hiss!~"

This time, not only Qin Feng, but other cultivators in the hall as well could see what was going on. Yan Wen was clearly inflating the price to make it difficult for Qin Feng to acquire the item easily.

Consequently, many people cast meaningful glances toward the two of them.

A battle like this carried an extremely intense atmosphere of gunpowder, precisely the kind of spectacle everyone loved to watch.

Qin Feng controlled Xing Bing, feigning a trace of angry expression while thinking inwardly: As expected! This kid really has it in for me. Want to make trouble, do you? Then I'll play along with you properly!

"Thirty thousand profound stones, any other bids?" Ye Youyou was also surprised, but she keenly seized the opportunity to add fuel to the fiery sparks between the two.

"Forty thousand profound stones!" Qin Feng raised the bid once more. This time, the margin of increase was noticeably larger than before.

"Fifty thousand!" The moment Qin Feng's voice fell, Yan Wen immediately followed up by raising the price again without the slightest hesitation, determined to make a laughingstock out of Qin Feng.

...

The scene at this moment was exceptionally interesting. Two men standing side by side, left and right, called out their bids in turn, attracting the gazes of the vast majority of cultivators present, their heads swaying back and forth.

The scent of gunpowder grew heavier, and their tones grew colder!

Everyone could imagine that if they weren't on Tianzhi's turf, the two would have already come to blows!

"One hundred and fifty thousand!"

Qin Feng sneered inwardly, yet Xing Bing's face remained light as breeze, seeming to feel that the exorbitant price before him was still worth every coin.

"One hundred and sixty thousand!"

Yan Wen frowned, but seeing Xing Bing's unsatisfied expression, he hesitated slightly and still continued to raise the price.

"Two hundred thousand!"

Xing Bing, controlled by Qin Feng, grew somewhat annoyed and directly raised the bid by a fierce margin, appearing utterly determined to secure the item, completely unconcerned about the price and hesitating not at all in raising it.

Such a high price made everyone present gasp in astonishment.

One had to know that only the previously mysterious medicinal pill had ever sold for such a high price. But the piece of black iron before them, even if it were a fragment of an ancient profound treasure, was simply not worth this price, not even a third of it.

This time, Yan Wen hesitated. The price of two hundred thousand already approached the limit of what he could bear. However, casting a sideways glance at Xing Bing—whose eyes were bloodshot and determined to win—Yan Wen gritted his teeth and raised the price once more.

"Two hundred and ten thousand!"

"Two hundred and ten thousand, two hundred and ten thousand! May I ask if this gentleman wishes to continue bidding?"

Ye Youyou's face was flushed red at this moment, as if she had been pushed to the ecstatic peak by a man, feeling dreamlike and surreal. She thoroughly enjoyed this auction process, especially when a worthless item reached an astronomical price right in her hands, making her tremble all over with intense pleasure!

She had never dreamed in her wildest dreams that such a niche piece of scale-iron would be bid up to such a soaring price. Although its origin was somewhat mysterious, a sky-high price of two hundred and ten thousand profound stones was truly a bit too high.

Therefore, Ye Youyou, bursting with joy, pulled out all the stops. She picked up the mysterious scale-iron directly, pressed a fiery red lipstick imprint upon it, waved it toward Qin Feng's direction, and continued to fan the flames. It was clear she was tempting Qin Feng: hurry and bid, just one more bid and this mysterious scale-iron you yearn for will be yours!

Of course, Qin Feng understood Ye Youyou's little trick. Controlling Xing Bing, he chuckled honestly, stood up, swept his gaze around to ensure everyone's eyes were fixed upon him, twitched the flesh on his face, and gave a slight cupped-fist salute toward Yan Wen—

"Hehe, since Your Excellency is so deeply fond of this piece of junk, a gentleman does not seize what others love. I'll yield it to Your Excellency!" With that, Xing Bing flicked his robes and sat down with an evil smile.

"Swish~"

Qin Feng's anti-climactic withdrawal from the bidding instantly caused an uproar throughout the hall. Everyone looked at Xing Bing with surprise, while casting playful glances at Yan Wen—who had spent such a colossal sum of profound stones to buy a tasteless piece of chicken ribs—desperately holding back their laughter.

"That brat is playing with people!"

"Indeed, quite some nerve! He actually dares to play with Yan Wen! I just wonder if he'll live to tell the tale."

"Haha, well said, full of grit!"

...

Whispers echoed continuously through the hall. When they reached Yan Wen's ears, his face flushed a purplish-eggplant color from shame and annoyance. Originally, he had assumed Qin Feng was dead set on winning this bid and that abandonment was utterly out of the question, which was why he had calmly driven up the price. He never expected this brat to pull a reverse-flop trick on him at the end!

"Two hundred and ten thousand profound stones! That's half my entire fortune!"

Yan Wen's heart was bleeding. He wanted to go back on his word, but he couldn't afford to lose face—especially with so many experts from the Seven Rankings present. Damn it, how humiliating!

"Very well, two hundred and ten thousand profound stones. This mysterious scale-iron belongs to Young Master Yan. Congratulations!"

Although Qin Feng chose to give up at the very last moment and withdrew from the competition, the final transaction price vastly exceeded Ye Youyou's expectations by more than a dozen times, bringing a successful completion to the sale. Exceedingly excited, she wasted no words and struck while the iron was hot, hammering down the sale of this mysterious black iron to Yan Wen at the exorbitant price of two hundred and ten thousand profound stones.

"Congratulations my ass!"

Glaring fiercely at Xing Bing, Yan Wen felt the urge to commit murder on the spot. Especially seeing Xing Bing's smug look, he wished he could tear him to pieces instantly. Yet could he do it? On Tianzhi's turf, even if he had a fire burning inside, he had to forcefully swallow it down—the feeling was so agonizing Yan Wen wanted to curse out loud.

Even so, he still had to pay for the item.

Sensibly counting out two hundred and ten thousand lower-grade profound stones from his storage bag, he completed the transaction, picked up the mysterious scale-iron of unknown utility without even looking at it, and tossed it straight into his storage bag. Then, with an iron-blue complexion, he sat back down in his seat and closed his eyes in silence.

"Young Master, are you alright...?"

"Shut your trap!"

Yan Wen's mood right now was atrocious, driven to absolute distraction. Throwing away over two hundred thousand profound stones into the water ruined his mood to the extreme. He eagerly wished for the auction to end soon so he could slaughter Xing Bing and vent his anger.

"That fat pig actually dared to toy with me, truly courting death!"

Yan Wen gnashed his teeth in hatred, his handsome face not only iron-blue but twisted completely out of shape!

Qin Feng looked on coldly, sneering inwardly. This fellow had been sufficiently provoked by him. If they weren't on Tianzhi's turf, the guy probably would have erupted and started killing. However, this outcome was well within Qin Feng's calculations. That mysterious black iron was something he was determined to get; he would just let it warm up in Yan Wen's storage bag for a while. In any case, a reckoning between the two of them was bound to happen sooner or later, and the item would eventually be his anyway. Using someone else's money to buy things for oneself was actually a rather gratifying matter.

"The next item, a Four-Mystery Flowing Wood Comb..."

"The next item, four God-Severing Talismans..."

...

Having obtained an unexpected windfall, Ye Youyou was even more full of enthusiasm, spittle flying as she continued the auction activities. She rattled off dozens of items in one breath without even taking a sip of tea—truly high-spirited and full of drive. Among these dozens of auction lots, pills, magical treasures, talismans, spiritual herbs, weapon-refining materials, and various special items were dazzling and encompassed everything imaginable, opening the eyes of everyone present.

Naturally, Qin Feng did not remain idle. He made several bids during this time, acquiring a few bottles of pills and four God-Severing Talismans at moderately low prices. As for Yan Wen, who had previously competed with him, after being thoroughly disciplined by Qin Feng, he had completely lost his spirit and no longer dared to rashly bid against him. Even some of the other cultivators in the auction house seemed to fear him; after raising the price a couple of times and seeing him still casually driving the bids higher, they decisively abandoned competition with him.

Nothing could be done; everyone feared a madman, and a madman feared someone who didn't value their life.

Qin Feng was the type to strap his head to his belt without even knowing if his life could be saved. Competing with such a desperate person would only mean spending foolishly large sums of money.

Gradually, the auction drew toward its finale.

After a brief intermission, Ye Youyou appeared on stage once again, shining brilliantly!

"Everyone!"

"Next, the final three items we will auction off will be the grand finale of this auction. These are three treasured artifacts of the highest grade; everyone keep your eyes peeled!" This time Ye Youyou did not resort to mystery-mongering. Clearly, she possessed immense confidence in these three items, and her voice and confidence suddenly swelled by a full thirty percent along with it.

"The first auction item, please take a look—"

With that, Ye Youyou pulled down a fabric curtain on the display stage, and as everyone's eyes locked onto it, they widened in astonishment.