Chapter 36 - Bidding
All of the nicknames the crowd exclaimed, were for the square-faced man in front of them. He was actually the General of the Security Guard in Guanan, usually he was referred to as “General Gao”.
As previously mentioned, the local security department was categorized into five gradations, represented by five colors – gold, purple, black, white and green. General Gao wore black clothing, indicating that he was in the third ranking. So it was no wonder that he was called “Black Clothing Gao”.
General Gao cultivated a special technique, the Seven Fatal Sword, which had gotten him the nickname “Seven Sword Gao”.
“Would you allow me to be the tester of this item?” General Go bowed to the audience gently, while he made his request.
The crowd responded with a loud applause.
General Gao took out a shiny sword from his waist, ready to stab at the scalp.
“Wait!”
The old man in the robe hurriedly stepped forward: “The Long’er Scalp is a newly-purchased item, so we don’t know its limits. I mean, I don’t know how much strength it could possibly bear. General Gao’s Seven Fatal Sword is peerless, everyone in Guanan knows the power of his swordsmanship. If the Long’er Scalp tears open under the strength of his Seven Fatal Sword, we’ll heavily suffer financially. I, as representative of the Exquisite Pavilion, request General Go to refrain himself from using any techniques, but to merely exert pure strength. If the scalp breaks then, it’ll only proof that it doesn’t deserve its reputation. If the scalp remains intact, we’ll continue the auction.”
Everyone knew the power of the Seven Fatal Sword, so there was no naysayer. After all, the Long’er Scalp was not from heaven, it was discovered in this mortal world, where everything had its limitations.
Xu Yi sat on his seat, leaning forward. Once again, he felt that techniques played an irreplaceable role in the process of cultivation. General Gao’s Seven Fatal Sword was a striking example.
As required, General Gao stabbed his sword at the scalp and with a thud, the tip of the sword pressed against the surface, but it couldn’t actually penetrate the scalp. Even with General Gao’s strength, he failed to penetrate the sword into the scalp.
- hua! -
The audience cried out with expressions full of disbelief and their wide open mouths were big enough to tuck an egg in. General Gu was a cultivator who had long entered the realm of an ocean of qi, a height only very few could ever reach. Out of the audience’s expectations, he had actually failed to tear a mere piece of scalp! Or more accurately, they were amazed at the defensive ability of the Long’er Scalp.
Everyone was convinced that the Long’er Scalp was perfect material to make protective clothing of, which would surely be an extra life insurance. Everyone was allured by this life-saving function. Xu Yi gripped his fist, determined to outbid anyone in this room and buy the Long’er Scalp, which he could use in his fight against the Black Dragon Palace.
Looking ahead, Xu Yi found that General Gao had spread the scalp on a piece of wood - Jinsi Nanmu. It seemed that another test was going on. General Go let out a horrible roar before he threw his fist on the scalp-covered wood. With a thud, the wood was split into two sections, while the scalp fell on the floor, not taking any kind of damage.
- Ooooooh! -
Clapping and cheering sounds exploded in the auction room, as everyone was excited.
Due to the powerful soul and its hypersensitivity, Xu Yi was able to observe that the strength exerted by General Gao, was several times stronger than Elder Feng’s Tranquil Fist. More surprisingly, the scalp was intact against the impact of such a strong flow of strength. Plus, the piece of wood made of Jinsi Nanmu was also something worth mentioning, it broke into two pieces, rather than it being reduced into powder. Jinsi Nanmu was also famous for its rare quality – as hard as a diamond, which made it the most luxurious material for making furniture, only those families who had exceedingly deep pockets could afford it.
In the peak state of a forged body, Xu Yi possessed ox-like skin and iron-like bones. His body was absolutely harder than the piece of Jinsi Nanmu, which broke into two sections. Xu Yi calculated, that if he was hit by the attack from General Gao and he wore the Long’er Scalp protective clothing, that he might only end up with a couple of bruises.
The impenetrable and shock absorption function made the Long’er Scalp a popular item. All of the remaining attendants to this auctions felt their fingers itch, as they planned on obtaining this item. The man in the silver gown threw a wicked smile at the audience, as he predicted that the final bidding price would be high.
“All the tests and demonstrations of this item are over, now let the bidding commence. The starting price is 500 gold coins and the price increment should be no less than 50 gold coins.” The old man announced the start of the bid for the Long’er Scalp.
“500 gold coins!”
“550 gold coins!”
“700 gold coins!”
“.....”
The bidding didn’t seem to stop any time soon, as the price had already spiraled to 1,000 gold coins!
Protective clothing that was capable of defending against opponents who had entered the realm of an ocean of qi, this was definitely a dream-come-true item for most of the guests – those in the stage of a forged body.
However, as the bidding reached 1,000 gold coins, the bidding seemed to gradually calm down.
For one thing, the Long’er Scalp did have its limits in value, it was far from priceless. Previously, for example, the Refined Gold Sword, which could cut off 10 pieces of armors piled together, ended up being sold for merely 500 gold coins.
For the other, most bidders were in the forged body stage, which meant, they were financially restrained from buying this item for such a high price. Plus, with 1,000 gold coins, there were a variety of other defensive items they could choose from. Probably, with this amount of money, they could buy two or three comparatively ordinary weapons.
But there were exceptions, three bidders continued to compete with each other.
“1050 gold coins!” No. 7 growled.
“1100 gold coins!” General Gao exclaimed. He had tested the quality of this item and he was sure, even if he exerted the full power of his Seven Fetal Sword, the scalp wouldn’t break under the pressure. He knew he wouldn’t stumble upon another item like this one, so he was determined to tuck this scalp into his own pocket as soon as possible.
“1150 gold coins!” No.29 shouted, with a slight sneer.
Xu Yi looked around and found that this No.29 was only several seats away from him. He could sense the strong flow of qi that was emanated from this man, which meant that he had most likely already entered the realm of an ocean of qi. Xu Yi remembered that this man had already bought three other items, which had cost him almost 4,000 gold coins!
“The Long’er Scalp was not all-powerful. An ordinary cassock from Refined Gold Palace was less than 2,000 gold coins. It makes no sense that you keep bidding and let me lose face. Why not just stop here, and let me get it.” No.29 added after bidding his price.
“You lose face? Excuse me, who the hell do you think you are? This is an auction, whoever bids the highest price gets the Long’er Scalp. I’m afraid you don’t even know the rules here.” No.7 replied coldly.
“Who the hell am I? Honestly, no one in Guanan dares to speak to me like this.” No.29 took off his cloak and exposed a stout build.
“Elder Shui!”
“Is he.. From.. One of the four prominent families – The Shui Family?’
“You’re right! He is Elder Shui, who has already entered the realm of an ocean of qi.”
The crowd, once again, burst out into a fierce discussion.
At the same time, Elder Shui glanced at General Gao, “General, my old friend. Would you please just give up and let me get the Long’er Scalp?”
General Gao frowned, “Er.. Okay. But do remember, the Shui Family owes me a favor because of this.” He neatly finished his remarks and strode away.
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