Winning the darkness elemental crystal so easily was a huge win for Evan Chu, and he couldn’t help feeling thrilled. The final price was way lower than he’d expected—no doubt, it was all thanks to the auction tactics he’d played earlier. His methods had made all the difference.
More and more people were catching on to the tricks used by VIP Room 28. The ones in VIP Room 3, who’d just been ruthlessly played by Evan, were so frustrated they could cough up blood. All their earlier moves had just paved the way for the darkness elemental crystal, and if they’d wanted to get back at him, now would’ve been the perfect chance. But they’d missed it—now all they could do was stew in their own regret.
With only two items left in the auction, everyone was waiting with bated breath for the final lot—and for the mysterious master of VIP Room 28 to show their true colors. Maybe when the auction ended, that’s when things would really get wild.
Evan Chu didn’t care about the next item at all. He had to save every last God Stone and supreme Violet Cloud Crystal for the grand finale. All he could do now was sit tight and wait for the second-to-last auction to finish.
After nearly half an hour, the second-to-last item was finally sold to Skysoar Sect—one of the Ten Great Powers—for seventy-three million Violet Cloud Crystals. No one was surprised; that kind of outcome was just business as usual for the big players.
Finally, the moment everyone had been waiting for arrived. Every eye in the hall locked onto the stage as Rainbow Court Mistress Rainveil herself stepped up to the auction platform—this last item would be auctioned off by her personally.
“Friends, this auction has been more exciting than anyone could’ve imagined—so many wild surprises, and I know you all know exactly what I mean. For the final item, I’ll be handling the auction myself.”
“This is the God Realm’s top-tier divine artifact—once the town-sect treasure of Frostbane Divine Palace. After countless ages, it’s taken some damage, but even now it’s leagues above anything else. Its name: the Ethereal Divine Shuttle.” Mistress Rainveil paused for effect, letting the tension build.
The auction hall exploded with applause and cheers. Everyone knew the final item would pull in a jaw-dropping number—most people figured it would smash past one hundred million. The real suspense was over which of the Ten Great Powers would end up with it.
VIP Room 28 might’ve been the dark horse so far, but nobody believed they could actually grab the Ethereal Divine Shuttle. After all, Room 28 had already spent close to a hundred million Violet Cloud Crystals—a sum so huge even most city lords would struggle to cough it up.
Mistress Rainveil glanced at the buzzing crowd and smiled. “Most of you know exactly what the Ethereal Divine Shuttle can do, and I know you’ve all waited long enough. So let’s kick things off—the starting price is thirty million Violet Cloud Crystals, with each raise no less than three million. Who’ll walk away with it in the end? Let’s find out together!”
In an instant, at least fifty bids flashed up on the screens—meaning at least fifty powers had come just for the Ethereal Divine Shuttle. Some rich sects hadn’t bid on anything else all night, saving every Violet Cloud Crystal for this moment. Four of the Ten Great Powers’ VIP rooms hadn’t made a single move until now.
“Looks like winning the Ethereal Divine Shuttle is going to cost a fortune. Kimmie, check how many God Stones I’ve got left.” Evan Chu turned to his attendant, voice calm but eyes sharp.
Kimmie looked at Evan, utterly baffled. Judging by his tone, it sounded like he actually meant to bid for the Ethereal Divine Shuttle. That was impossible—he only had about twenty-three million Violet Cloud Crystals left, not even enough to qualify. Unless he had more God Stones or some supreme Violet Cloud Crystals hidden away somewhere...
The thought sent a jolt through Kimmie’s heart. If Evan Chu really could pull out an insane amount of God Stones or Violet Cloud Crystals, it’d be beyond belief. She just couldn’t figure out where a mere God-Lord could have gotten so much wealth.
“Young Master, you’ve got about twenty-three million Violet Cloud Crystals left. That’s nowhere near enough—the current bid for the Ethereal Divine Shuttle is already at fifty million. Are you really planning to bid?” Kimmie asked, her voice full of doubt.
“That’s right, but there’s no rush. Let them keep raising the price—I’ll make my move at the critical moment. For now, let’s watch and see which factions are dead set on getting the Ethereal Divine Shuttle.” Evan replied, eyes gleaming with calculation.
The numbers on the screen kept changing, and the number of bidders slowly shrank. Once the price hit over seventy million, only nine contenders remained, and everyone was raising by the bare minimum—nobody wanted to go a single crystal higher than necessary.
Just then, Evan Chu reached into his Coiling-Dragon Ring and pulled out hundreds of supreme-grade God Stones and dozens of God Crystals. He dumped out all his upper-grade God Stones too, plus a mountain of upper- and supreme-grade Violet Cloud Crystals. The sight was so shocking that Kimmie nearly collapsed to the floor.
“Kimmie, help me figure out how much all these God Stones and supreme Violet Cloud Crystals would be worth in regular Violet Cloud Crystals.” Evan said coolly. He was really going all in—his Coiling-Dragon Ring now had less than a thousand supreme God Stones and under twenty God Crystals left. Just thinking about blowing so much made his heart ache.
Kimmie scrambled up from the floor, eyes still wide as saucers at the mountain of God Stones and Violet Cloud Crystals Evan had dumped out. After a long moment, she finally managed, “I’ll get it calculated right away, Young Master. Please wait a bit.”
Meanwhile, the price for the Ethereal Divine Shuttle had already soared to ninety-one million. That bid came from First-Class VIP Room 1, the Heavenblade Sect—the strongest of the Ten Great Powers. Clearly, they were determined to win it.
“Young Master, your total resources add up to about two hundred seventy million Violet Cloud Crystals. I never imagined you’d be this loaded—please forgive me for doubting you earlier.” Kimmie said, still half in shock.
“No worries. Whether we can win the Ethereal Divine Shuttle is still anyone’s guess. But now that the bidders are thinning out, it’s time for us to step in!” Evan Chu declared, eyes gleaming with resolve.
“Young Master, how much do you want to raise the bid by? I doubt these people will back down easily—they’ve already been burned once, and nobody’s going to fall for the same trick twice. You should keep that in mind.” Kimmie warned.
“I know, so don’t worry about it. Let’s raise the bid by five million each time—just five million, nice and steady. Let’s see if our two hundred seventy million Violet Cloud Crystals are enough to win the Ethereal Divine Shuttle.” Evan said, voice steady and full of confidence.
Kimmie’s hand trembled as she slowly wrote down the massive figure: ninety-six million. Instantly, the screen behind the auction platform lit up with VIP Room 28’s bid—a number even more dazzling and electrifying than any before.
Because this was the price offered by VIP Room 28—the dark horse everyone thought was already out of the running. In that instant, the entire hall erupted in a frenzy once again...