But just thinking about how the other party kept increasing the price by only 100 spirit stones each time, clearly intending to torment him mentally, made Xiao Chen even more furious!
“Fight! Fight without regret! One last try!” Xiao Chen gritted his teeth, “If you dare to bid again, I don’t care about face anymore—I’ll find out who you are and make sure you regret it!”
His eyes were already turning red. He immediately picked up the sound transmission talisman and called out his final bottom line price, “200,000!”
Yet before Xue Ya could even begin the first count, a voice from the opposite side responded, “200,100!”
Still only an increase of 100 spirit stones!
“I’ll *** your ***, you ************!” Xiao Chen finally lost control and began swearing uncontrollably inside his VIP room.
“Xiao Chen, stop! The other side is clearly targeting you. If you keep bidding, you’ll go bankrupt!” Han Feng reminded in time, “This beast blood is indeed rare… but you have to let it go…”
“Yes, Master… but… but I’m not willing!” Xiao Chen roared in frustration. “I can’t let that bastard get it so easily. Even if I don’t buy it, I have to make him bleed more!”
After venting his anger, he calmed down. A sinister expression appeared on his face.
Using fake bidding to make an enemy overpay—that was a must-have skill for the Child of Destiny.
“220,000.” Xiao Chen raised the bid again.
“220,100.” As expected, the other party followed up again.
“The fish has taken the bait!” Xiao Chen sneered and continued raising, “250,000.”
“250,100.”
…
As the two sides kept competing, the price quickly soared to 490,000.
Feeling the time was ripe, Xiao Chen prepared to make his final move.
“Idiot, you dared to oppose me? Now I’ll force you to pay 500,000 spirit stones, and later, I’ll track you down, take the item back, and maybe even kill you for it!” He had already made up his mind to seize it through force if needed.
“500,000!”
This time, surprisingly, the voice from VIP Room Seven went silent.
As Xue Ya struck the auction hammer, the bidding war finally ended. The crowd was thrilled, cheering at the exciting spectacle.
Xiao Chen, however, was frozen in his seat.
“You… you son of a… why didn’t you bid?! Why the hell didn’t you bid again?! I’ll *** your ***, you *************!” Xiao Chen completely broke down.
He had only wanted to raise the price, not actually win the beast blood!
500,000 spirit stones!
Even if he sold off everything he owned, he might still not have enough to pay. After all, he was just one of the princes, not the emperor himself. His wealth had clear limits.
Now he had really screwed himself!
…
After the auction ended, Xiao Chen was led, looking soulless, to the transaction hall.
“Honored guest, the Divine Fire Realm beast blood you purchased was sold at a final price of 500,000 spirit stones. As a VIP client of our auction house, you receive a 2% discount. You only need to pay 490,000 spirit stones!” Xue Ya said with a sweet smile.
Xiao Chen’s purchase had been the highest bid of the entire auction. By custom, Xue Ya personally handled the transaction.
“Uh… well…” Xiao Chen clutched his mask tightly, his voice filled with awkwardness. “Sorry, can I cancel the transaction? I… I don’t want to buy it anymore…”
“Ah? That might be difficult…” Xue Ya’s brows furrowed as she explained with some displeasure, “According to our rules, you would need to pay a penalty of half the transaction amount, which is 245,000 spirit stones.”
“Damn it!” Xiao Chen clenched his jaw so hard he nearly crushed his teeth.
Even paying that penalty meant he had to go back to get more spirit stones first!
He was truly stuck.
Buy it? He’d go bankrupt.
Don’t buy it? He’d still lose over 200,000 spirit stones for nothing.
Xiao Chen was about to cough up blood.
“Honored guest, are you perhaps short on spirit stones at the moment? Our auction house also offers loan services. You can sign a debt slip now, complete the transaction, and return later to repay the remaining amount,” Xue Ya asked tactfully after seeing his expression.
“Disciple, just buy it,” Han Feng’s voice echoed in his ears. “This beast blood is from the rare Golden-Eyed Sun-Ni, extremely precious! Its real value isn’t less than 500,000 spirit stones. Not buying it is a complete loss. Buying it at least lets you break even.” This story is hosted at novelping.com.
“This… fine then…” Xiao Chen said with deep reluctance. He turned to Xue Ya and said, “I’ll pay 200,000 spirit stones now, and sign a debt note for the rest.”
“Very well, please wait a moment.” Xue Ya quickly received the payment, had him sign the debt slip, and added a soul-binding contract.
This soul contract would cause unbearable pain from soul burning if not repaid on time.
Xiao Chen was forced to sign it. His face looked like he’d just eaten a fly.
“Damn it!” Xiao Chen cursed internally. “If that Great Saint’s cave dwelling hadn’t been looted by that good-for-nothing Lin Xingyun, I’d have had more than enough spirit stones to spend freely by now. Lin Xingyun, you really deserve to die!”
The moment he remembered that cave, his hatred for Lin Xingyun deepened even more.
Not long after, Xue Ya completed the procedures and had someone deliver the cauldron containing the beast blood.
As soon as Xiao Chen received it, Han Feng’s voice came from within the Qiankun Ring.
“Hmm? Disciple, something’s wrong. This blood smells off. It’s just regular Divine Fire Realm beast blood—not from the Golden-Eyed Sun-Ni!”
“What?!” Xiao Chen’s face turned pale. “Did this royal auction house switch the item?!”
He glared furiously at Xue Ya and snapped, “Miss, your auction house has gone too far! How dare you switch the auction item and give me this trash instead of the real thing!”
“Sir, please don’t make false accusations,” Xue Ya replied calmly, clearly prepared. “This auction house is run by the Heavenly Enlightenment Empire and is known for its integrity. The item you won is indeed Divine Fire Realm beast blood. You can have it appraised—there will be no mistake.”
“You… you!” Xiao Chen was livid.
Sure enough, what he held was Divine Fire Realm beast blood. No one could say otherwise. But he had no way to prove it was fake!
That the blood wasn’t from a Golden-Eyed Sun-Ni was something only Han Feng had sensed. And Xiao Chen couldn’t expose the existence of Han Feng’s remnant soul!
Clearly, the other side had calculated this, and boldly made the switch.
“Fine! Very clever!” Xiao Chen sneered. “But don’t think I’m easy to mess with! Take me to see whoever’s in charge here. I have some things to discuss!”
At this point, he no longer cared about saving face. He planned to reveal his identity as the Ninth Prince—he didn’t believe they’d dare scam a prince in broad daylight.
“This… very well, please come with me.” Xue Ya feigned helplessness and led Xiao Chen to the top floor of the auction house.
Inside a lavishly decorated study…
“Sir, this guest wishes to meet with you.”