"Is there a problem, Scarlett?"
Red asked curiously.
"That... That sword is made from dragon bones. It is completely unacceptable for anyone who is not from the dragon clan to own a weapon made from the dragon bones!"
"Then just buy it. You are a member, so it should be fine, no?"
"I... I probably don't have enough spirit stones."
"That's fine. I'll just buy it for you."
"No! You already bought me the stone tablet!"
"So what? I have too many spirit stones... Just give me another kiss for this."
"You! Okay..."
Scarlett felt both happy and embarrassed.
"The starting bid is 700 high-grade spirit stones. This weapon is of a very high grade, even though we can't determine it, and it's basically indestructible. You can start bidding!"
"700 high-grade spirit stones!"
"750 high-grade spirit stones!"
"800 high-grade spirit stones!"
"850 high-grade spirit stones!"
The guests started bidding again. There were more guests interested in this item than the stone tablet. It was natural since this item was a sword that can be used for fighting.
"2,000 high-grade spirit stones."
Red announced his price directly.
Guests below gasped again. This guy was insane!
He had just spent so much money and wants to continue?
"3,000 high grade spirit stones!"
Prince Doneveer raised the price.
The Prince was not too interested in the item, but he wanted to beat Red! He suffered a great loss earlier and wanted to get back at him.
He wouldn't believe that the other party still had money left to compete with him.
But...
"4,000 high grade spirit stones."
"You! 5,000 high-grade spirit stones!"
"6,000 high-grade spirit stones."
"6,500 high-grade spirit stones."
'This guy never gives up, ha? I'm done playing with you.' Red thought inwardly.
"20,000 high-grade spirit stones."
The whole auction hall went completely silent. They were in a complete daze.
20,000? That was even more than what he payed for the Wyvern Egg!
How was it even possible to have so much money?
Prince Doneveer was livid. He had lost twice. He secretly vowed to torture Red before killing him later.
"20,000 high-grade spirit stones going once! Going twice! And... Sold to Patriarch Vaelanor!"
Servants quickly carried the sword to Red's private room.
He casually paid 20,000 high-grade spirit stones as if paying for a candy.
The servants were already numb to this display.
"Here..."
He directly threw the sword to Scarlett.
"Thank you! But... you didn't have to spend that much!"
"There is no difference between a 1,000 and 20,000. Just make sure to keep your promise. Hehe..."
"O-Okay... Chuu.~"
Scarlett shyly kissed him on the cheek again.
The auction continued. There were a few more items being auctioned, but none of them caught their eyes.
There was also a medical pill that the old man August wanted. Even though he didn't need it anymore, he still managed to buy it.
"Okay, so... There shouldn't be any more items before they reveal the final item of the auction, right?"
"There shouldn't be... We will see..."
They looked towards the auction hall again.
"And now, we have reached the finale! The final item that will be auctioned..."
The servants brought a tray to the stage again.
The auctioneer slowly removed the red cloth and revealed another box.
This box looked special. It was white and looked like it was made from the purest jade.
She slowly opened the box, and instantly, everyone could feel a strong medical smell spreading through the whole auction hall.
Looking closely, there was a small green pill with intricate patterns around it, placed carefully in the center of the box.
Everyone could feel their cultivation increasing, and some weaker guests directly managed to break through just from the smell of the pill.
The auctioneer carefully closed the box. Such pills needed to be placed in special boxes that would keep the pill intact.
If the pill was exposed for longer periods of time it would lose some of its power.
"This pill is called the Five Heavens Spirit Pill. The recipe for this pill is long lost in time and there were only 3 of these pills auctioned in the past 10,000 years. This pill has been found in one of the secret realms in the past and was being kept by a collector. This year, the collector ran into some trouble and needed to funds, so he provided this pill to be auctioned."
"Wow!"
"I heard about that pill! It's a pill that can help even Martial Emperors to break through easily. It even boosts the chance for peak-stage Martial Emperors to break through to the Celestial Realm!"
"Is it that amazing?"
"You don't know anything. This pill is a divine item! Even if Martial Emperors don't save the pill until they reach the peak, it will still have the effect of boosting the chance to ascend when they reach the peak!"
"Hiss! Simply unbelievable!"
"I heard that the last time such a pill was auctioned off it sold for more than 50,000 high-grade spirit stones!"
"50,000!? Do you know how much that is? That is enough to build multiple cities! Even the royal clans wouldn't have so much money saved up!"
"How can someone have so much money?"
"I heard that the last person who bought it was the legendary Nine Rivers Emperor!"
"The Nine Rivers Emperor! That was a legendary emperor that ascended to the Celestial Realm 2,000 years ago!"
"So that's how the legendary Emperor managed to ascend!"
"Did you know that the Nine Rivers Emperor was actually a woman?"
"What!? How do you know this?"
"The Nine Rivers Emperor used to hide their identity! How can you know such a thing?"
"I have read it in some ancient book that there was once a traveler who accidentally saw the face of the Nine Rivers Emperor! I don't know if it's true."
"Ah. Don't trust everything you read. But still, it's not impossible. We will probably never know."
The discussion continued among the guests. Everyone was amazed by the medical pill and also about the Nine Rivers Emperor who was famous as the strongest emperor in the past. That legendary figure ascended to the higher realms just 2,000 years ago, so their fame was still quite known.
At that moment, the auctioneer continued.
"The starting price will be 20,000 high-grade spirit stones. Please start bidding."
"20,000 high-grade spirit stones!"
"21,000 high-grade spirit stones!"
"22,000 high-grade spirit stones!"
"23,000 high-grade spirit stones!"
"24,000 high-grade spirit stones!"
Some high-ranking guests immediately started bidding. Most of them didn't even bid for previous items.
It seemed like they already knew about the final item that was going to be auctioned and had prepared just for this.
......
Back in Red's room.
"This is quite interesting. Do you know about this Nine Rivers Emperor?"
Red asked Scarlett.
"I know as much as everyone else. You heard their discussion? I don't know anything more than them."
"Hmm... Fine."
"Are you interested to buy this pill?"
Scarlett asked curiously.
"Nah... I have no need for this. I already have similar pills."
Red lied, but not entirely. He could get many of these pills from the system whenever he wanted.
"Oh... Doesn't even surprise me anymore..."
Scarlett pouted.
"Hahahaha..."
Red found her incredibly cute every time she pouted.
She usually had a heroic look on her face and a fierce aura surrounding her. It was quite a contrast to see her pouting.
At that moment, Red heard a familiar voice.
"30,000 high-grade spirit stones."
'Hmm? Is that Aeriel's voice?'
He looked towards the biggest private room on the 3rd floor.
"Is that the Empress?"
Scarlett asked curiously.
"Yes, it's her voice."
"It seems she is quite interested in this pill."
"Of course she is. She is at the peak of the Emperor Realm. This is exactly what she needs to ascend in the future."
Then...
"31,000 high-grade spirit stones!"
Prince Doneveer's voice was heard.
It seemed that his empire was also aware of the final item of the auction and had sent him to get it.
"32,000 high-grade spirit stones."
The Empress Aeriel continued bidding.
"33,000 high-grade spirit stones!"
"34,000..."
"35,000..."
They continued until they reached 45,000 high-grade spirit stones.
At that moment, Red sent a voice transmission to Aeriel. It was quite easy for him to avoid spirit barriers around the rooms and do this.
"Little phoenix, how have you been?"
Aeriel was startled. Then she became angry.
"You! What do you want!? You ignore my calls and act as if I don't exist, and now you distract me in such an important moment?"
"Hahahaha... Don't be so angry, little phoenix. I didn't ignore your calls. Didn't you say to visit you when I have some free time? If you needed me earlier, why didn't you say so?"
Red decided to tease her.
"I... I... Hmph!"
Aeriel didn't know what to say. She had indeed said that, but... She was still angry!
"Hahahaha... Okay, okay... I will visit you later. For now, stop bidding."
"What do you mean? I need this pill?"
"No, you don't. I have similar pills to give you so this one pill is not so important. And... even if you don't buy it, you will still get this exact pill."
"What do you mean?"
"This Prince wants to look for trouble with me and is probably planning to assassinate me later and take my Wyvern Egg. At that time, I will naturally kill him and take this pill from him."
"Oh! I understand now! But... won't that make problems with the Azure Empire?"
"Hahahahaha... What Azure Empire? What can they do to me? If they want, let them come! I'll erase them too and give you another empire. HAHAHAHAHAHA...."
Was this man crazy? Even his laugh sounded crazy! But... Aeriel quite liked his personality. Strong men should be bold and decisive. She also knew that nobody could do anything to Red or her empire as long as he was around.
"Okay... I'll listen to you."
She smiled.
"45,000 high-grade spirit stones going once! Going twice! And... sold to the Prince Doneveer! Congratulations on obtaining this year's finale item!"
Servants quickly brought the box that contained the pill to Prince's private room.
The Prince Doneveer was feeling quite smug now. He managed to beat the Empress in bidding and that stupid Patriarch Vaelanor wasn't competing with him anymore!
He stored the box into his spatial ring and happily took out a badge from his pocket.
The badge was crimson in color and there was a crimson sword on the badge.
It was the badge of the Azure Empire's ruling clan. Only the direct descendants of the royal clan Vanevador were qualified to have it.
The badge also had a function of sending messages, so he happily sent a message to his father, the Emperor. Informing him that he managed to acquire the pill he wanted.
His father would definitely reward him handsomely when he got back.
Then he turned around and a smile disappeared from his face.
"Follow that Patriarch Vaelanor when he leaves the auction hall. When you get the chance, capture him and bring him to my residence."
"Yes! Your Highness!"
The servants around him quickly left the private room and spread through the auction hall, watching for any signs of movement from the private room where Red stayed at.
"Again, thank you, everyone, for attending this year's auction! We will be happy to welcome you all again next year!"
The auctioneer lady announced.
With that, the auction was finally over and the guests started leaving the auction hall slowly.
......
Back in Red's room.
"Okay, let's go."
Red turned around, took Eve's hand, and headed towards the door of the private room.
"Darling, are we not teleporting back home?"
"No, my dear. We will have some visitors soon, the Prince surely sent someone to follow us, so let's play with them for a bit."
"Okay, darling.~"
Scarlett also started to follow them. She wanted to have some fun too.
* * * * * *
[A/N: I hope you liked this chapter! If you have any suggestions, please comment.]