Evan Chu stopped cultivating and, without hesitation, pressed the ten-thousand Starstone button ten times in a row on the auction table—bidding a total of one hundred thousand Starstones.
This move stunned Gavin Wei into speechlessness once again, and a yellow light flashed on the auction stage.
Lynn glanced up at VIP Room Three, then announced: "VIP Room Three has bid one hundred thousand Starstones. Is there any bid higher than one hundred thousand?"
Her words struck the crowd like a bolt from the blue. The starting price was only ten thousand Starstones, and this guy just jumped straight to one hundred thousand—seriously, a real tycoon.
The Great Return Pills at the start were bought for five thousand Starstones—no one thought much of it. For someone in a VIP room, raising the price by a few thousand was normal. But now, jumping ninety thousand at once was something no one could accept.
Everyone started talking at once, especially those eyeing the Blaze-Fire Sword—some now hated Evan Chu to the bone. He was outright denying others a chance, completely ignoring their feelings.
All the hostility converged on VIP Room Three, where Evan Chu was seated. Many even began to curse him; the atmosphere instantly reached a fever pitch.
"Everyone quiet down! Quiet down! If no one bids higher than one hundred thousand Starstones, the Blaze-Fire Sword will go to the guest in VIP Room Three," Lynn announced.
The hall quieted down noticeably. Suddenly, someone called out, "I bid one hundred ten thousand Starstones for the Blaze-Fire Sword. Please, everyone, let me have it—I really need a fire-attribute weapon!"
"A VIP has bid one hundred ten thousand! Is there any bid higher than one hundred ten thousand?" Lynn continued.
Suddenly, a green light flashed on the auction stage. Everyone looked curiously at VIP Room Four. Lynn announced, "VIP Room Four bids one hundred fifty thousand Starstones. Any bids higher than one hundred fifty thousand?"
(Forgot to explain earlier—this is Xiaoxiao’s oversight. There are seven VIP rooms, each with a button that triggers a different colored light: red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple.)
The auction stage displays the data from each button press, so everyone can see the current bids.
The bidding had reached one hundred fifty thousand Starstones—a figure far beyond most people’s reach. After all, a top-grade spiritual sword wasn’t worth that much, so many competitors gave up.
The bidder who’d offered one hundred ten thousand instantly became disgruntled and shouted, "Who’s messing with me? If I find out, you’re dead! Dammit, I really need a weapon and you’re fighting me for it!"
Gavin Wei looked at Evan Chu and asked, "Xiaotian, they’ve already bid one hundred fifty thousand. Aren’t you going to bid?"
"No rush. I think someone else will bid. If not, I’ll consider it. Right now, all the attention is on VIP Room Four—get it?" Evan Chu grinned.
His earlier antics had already drawn attention from certain people—he’d need to keep a lower profile. He understood the saying, “the bird that sticks its head out gets shot.”
Everyone speculated about who was in VIP Room Four. In Bastion City, only a handful of families had access to VIP rooms—if you investigated carefully, you could figure it out.
While everyone wondered if VIP Room Three would raise the bid, a red light flashed on the auction stage—the mark of VIP Room One.
"VIP Room One has bid two hundred thousand Starstones. Any bids higher than two hundred thousand?" Lynn announced.
"Heh, couldn’t hold back, huh? Interesting," Evan Chu chuckled.
"Should we bid again?" Gavin Wei now saw Evan Chu as a true tycoon; his earlier worries had vanished.
"No rush. Let’s wait a bit. I don’t even need this sword, but if I can get everyone to hate someone else, it’ll help me in future auctions," Evan Chu grinned.
Gavin Wei didn’t understand Evan Chu’s meaning and was about to ask when VIP Room Four placed another bid.
Lynn quickly announced, "VIP Room Four bids two hundred fifty thousand Starstones. Any bids higher than two hundred fifty thousand?"
No one expected the final auction item of the day to reach such a sky-high price—everyone was shocked.
"Let’s play along. Gavin, add ten thousand!" Evan Chu grinned.
Gavin Wei glanced at Evan Chu in confusion, then walked over and pressed the plus-ten-thousand button.
"VIP Room Three: two hundred sixty thousand Starstones!"
"VIP Room One: three hundred thousand Starstones!"
"Why did you only add ten thousand this time?" Gavin Wei asked.
"If I added too much, others might drop out. Then I’d lose big. The Blaze-Fire Sword is worth at most one hundred thousand Starstones—now it’s already way above that. I should quit while I’m ahead." Evan Chu grinned, clearly signaling he was ready to give up.
Any bids higher than three hundred thousand Starstones? Any bids higher than three hundred thousand? ... Lynn repeated three times, but no one raised the bid. "The Blaze-Fire Sword goes to the guest in VIP Room One. Today’s auction is over. Tomorrow, Wenqin and Pingwu will host a joint auction. Tomorrow’s items are all extremely rare, so please prepare enough Starstones to purchase even better treasures."
Afterwards, it was time to exchange Starstones for the items. Evan Chu didn’t have enough Starstones, so he could only wait in the VIP room for someone to come find him.
"Xiaotian, why aren’t you going to exchange your items?" Gavin Wei asked, seeing Evan Chu sitting there without moving.
"I don’t have any Starstones, so what’s the point?" Evan Chu grinned.
That sentence scared Gavin Wei so much that he fell to the floor, staring at Evan Chu in shock. "You really don’t have any?" he asked.
"I told you, I don’t. Why don’t you believe me? I’m just waiting here for someone to come handle it." Evan Chu still looked completely unconcerned.
"Oh my god, you’ve really ruined me this time! No Starstones and you still act rich—now we’re done for. My dream of becoming a Royal Capital Guard is finished," Gavin Wei said, looking utterly deflated and worried.
"What are you worrying about? If you don’t have Starstones, you just don’t buy anything. You’re really spineless—getting scared over nothing," Evan Chu said.
"I’ve got an elderly mother, a wife, and kids. I was counting on becoming a Royal Capital Guard to support my family, but now you’ve ruined everything," Gavin Wei said, nearly in tears.
"Don’t worry, I said it’ll be fine, so it’ll be fine. Trust me." Evan Chu decided he’d better stop teasing, or Gavin Wei really might die of anxiety.
Just then, a knock sounded at the door, making Gavin Wei tremble as if stabbed.
"Young master, may I come in?" Lynn's voice came from outside.
"Come in!" Evan Chu replied with a smile.
Lynn walked in holding the red bottle containing the Great Return Pills. She came up to Evan Chu and said, "Young master, here are the Great Return Pills you won at auction!" Then she handed him the bottle.
"Good! Send up some food later. I’m not leaving tonight, and my identity needs to be kept secret." Evan Chu said with a smile.
"Do you have any other instructions, young master?" Lynn asked respectfully.
"No, that’s all. If there’s anything else, have your auction master come chat with me. Just say I requested it." Evan Chu said with a grin.
"Then I'll take my leave. I’ll relay your words to the auction master." Lynn said, closing the door as she left.
At that moment, Gavin Wei looked at Evan Chu as if he were a monster. After a long silence, he finally stammered, "How can we possibly be fine? And you... you even asked for the auction master. Xiaotian, who are you really?"
"Haha! I’m just me. I told you there’s no problem, but you didn’t believe me. Do you believe me now?" Evan Chu laughed.
"I believe! I believe!" Gavin Wei answered in terror, his sense of Evan Chu’s mystery rising yet again...