"Are you sure you only want to add five hundred?" Kimmie asked, her face full of doubt. This young lord really has an odd way of bidding—sometimes he jumps by a huge amount, sometimes he barely raises it at all. She really couldn't figure out what he was trying to do.
Soon, the number for Room 28’s five-hundred Violet Cloud Crystal bid appeared on the screen. Instantly, the crowd erupted—some people cursed, others jeered, and a few even banged on their tables in frustration. The air buzzed with complaints and muttered threats, as cultivators glared at the screen. It was obvious Room 28 was just messing with the auction! The first item had already taken forever to sell, and now everyone worried the rest would drag on even longer.
Impatient attendees started cursing, and some couldn’t help but issue challenges, planning to settle things with Room 28 once the auction ended. The bidder in Room 3, insulted by Room 28’s antics, was especially angry and immediately raised the bid by two hundred thousand, hoping to force him to back off.
Lena Zhong glanced at the screen and smiled faintly. "Room 28 really is interesting. I wonder who's bidding—could it be that kid? No way, right!"
Evan Chu knew that if he kept this up, real trouble would break out. So he said to Kimmie, "Alright, that's enough fun. Raise the bid to one million! Maybe that'll be enough to win the battle armor."
A moment later, the screen displayed the one-million figure. No one wanted to compete with the lunatic in Room 28 anymore—even those who’d hoped to win the battle armor gave up. Evan Chu got it easily, and honestly, that price was fair for the armor—maybe even a steal.
On this first item, Evan Chu really scored. If the true VIP rooms had joined the bidding, the battle armor might have gone for over two million.
"Congratulations to the friend in VIP Room 28 for winning this upper-grade divine artifact battle armor at the price of one million Violet Cloud Crystals! Now, let’s move on to our second auction item, which is..." the elder woman announced.
"How many rounds of elemental crystal auctions are there this time?" Evan Chu asked Kimmie.
"There should be four rounds. Only the last one is a grand finale item, but I’m not sure which type of elemental crystal it’ll be. Please forgive me, young lord. It seems you’re really interested in elemental crystals!" Kimmie said.
"That's right. This time, I'm determined to get the elemental crystals—no matter what it costs. Everything else I'll bid for depending on my mood and interests. Of course, if there's something you want, you can bid too. Consider it a gift from me!" Evan Chu said.
Kimmie glanced at Evan Chu and asked, teasing but half-serious, "Young lord, are you trying to win my heart or something? Why would you make such a generous offer?"
"No, that's not it. Don't lump me in with those types. Just pour me a drink, alright? This auction is going to drag on for days, so we’ll just have to wait it out," Evan Chu replied, his tone light but firm.
The auction was in full swing. From the second item all the way to the sixteenth, Evan Chu didn’t place a single bid. Room 28 quieted down, and many found it odd—some even forgot about it entirely.
"This is our seventeenth auction item—a fourth-rank Light-elemental crystal! As everyone knows, the Light element is incredibly rare, with invisibility powers, and it’s very hard to acquire. So the starting price is high: two hundred thousand Violet Cloud Crystals, with minimum bid increments of ten thousand. Let the bidding begin!" the elder woman announced, her voice echoing through the hall as cultivators leaned forward, eyes blazing with anticipation. The hall grew tense; some people whispered excitedly, others clenched their fists, and all eyes locked onto the glowing crystal on stage.
Finally, an elemental crystal appeared. Evan Chu’s eyes lit up, but he didn’t rush to bid—he just sipped his wine, watching the numbers on the screen change.
It didn’t take long for the price of the fourth-rank Light-elemental crystal to reach 1.2 million—the bidding was fierce. "Young lord, didn’t you say you had to get an elemental crystal? Do you want to bid on this Light-elemental one?" Kimmie couldn’t help but ask.
"Of course I do. Raise the bid to two million. Let everyone know Room 28 is interested in the Light-elemental crystal," Evan Chu said calmly.
Kimmie had been waiting for this moment. She immediately wrote down the two-million Violet Cloud Crystal bid on the screen—a sudden jump of eight hundred thousand. It was the biggest increase so far, and everyone was shocked to see it came from Room 28.
All at once, Room 28 became the center of attention again. Sometimes he didn’t bid at all, sometimes he made huge jumps, sometimes just tiny ones—having someone like this as a competitor was seriously annoying.
After Room 28 joined the bidding, several people gave up on buying the crystal—there was no point in competing with someone who might be crazy, it'd only hurt their own reputation. Still, four rooms kept fighting for the Light-elemental crystal.
One of them was VIP Room 7—the first time a true VIP room had bid. But Room 7 only joined after Evan Chu’s price jump, and only raised by two hundred thousand. Evan then went silent, letting the four rooms battle it out.
"Which force controls VIP Room 7?" Evan Chu asked Kimmie.
"That's Stormtower. Inside is either a Grand Elder or Master Wan himself. If you want this elemental crystal, you'd better be careful—offending Stormtower is a huge headache," Kimmie warned.
"I know, I've got it handled—don't worry." Evan Chu smiled. He knew Stormtower was probably bidding for Lena Zhong, since she'd mastered the Light element. This time, the price might really soar.
Soon, two more bidders dropped out. Only VIP Room 7 and Second-Class VIP Room 146 were left, and the price had hit three million—way above the crystal’s actual value.
"Add two million. Let’s see if anyone still wants to fight me once it hits five million," Evan Chu said, his voice ringing out clearly. Instantly, the atmosphere in the hall grew electric—cultivators murmured in disbelief, some gasped, and others looked at each other in shock. The tension was palpable, and excitement rippled through the crowd as everyone braced for the next move.
"Madman!" Kimmie muttered to herself. He treated Violet Cloud Crystals like they were nothing. Everyone else wanted to pay as little as possible—he just threw money around. If the crystal only needed three and a half million, he’d be wasting a whole extra million and a half.
Kimmie wanted to ask what he was thinking, but as an auction attendant, she couldn’t take sides. Facing such a crazy bidder, she was utterly speechless.
"Five million! Room 28 bids five million Violet Cloud Crystals—a two-million jump! That’s the biggest increase we’ve seen today. It looks like our friend in Room 28 is determined to win the Light-elemental crystal. Does anyone want to stop him? If so, keep bidding!" the elder woman declared, almost gleeful as the crowd erupted into chaos. Some cultivators shouted, others booed, and the whole hall buzzed with excitement and disbelief.
"Who's in VIP Room 28? Secretly investigate. For an elemental crystal, they actually dare to challenge Stormtower," a middle-aged man in Room 7 whispered to an elderly companion...