Chapter 1235: 100,000,000
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Everyone became really confused when they saw the item being auctioned. No one had a clue what it was. It looked like neither a magical crystal nor a magical gemstone.
Even Lin Li, who claimed to be extremely knowledgeable, could not help but frown in puzzlement upon seeing the item. Although it had been contained in a crystal box, Lin Li’s formidable mental strength helped him detect some unusual waves within the box. He could sense that there were not only elements of evilness and filthiness, but also elements of holiness that were emitted by the item inside. It was a very strange feeling.
However, while Auctioneer Vidi wanted to create suspense, he would not want to keep the audience guessing. After all, it was an auction, and not a show. The audience’s expressions put a smile on Vidi’s face. “Everybody, I’m sure you’re all wondering about this item. This means that I would have to share about its origin and a disaster in the history of the Endless Sea,” he started as he rested his hand on the crystal box.
Vidi’s words did not wash the look of wonder from the people’s faces. That was because there were just too many different kinds of disasters that happened in the Endless Ocean in the tens of millions of years. Just recently, they suffered from an attack by the ancient dragon that descended upon the Gilded Kingdom. While the Gilded Kingdom took the most damage, it was considered one of the disasters of the Endless Ocean. And the catastrophe that impacted the Sea Clan the most was a random one that led to the fall of the oceanic dynasty. It not only doomed the dynasty, but also resulted in battles that swept the entire Endless Ocean. Hence, Auctioneer Vidi wasn’t helping the audience when all he mentioned was a catastrophe.
“Auctioneer Vidi, can you just tell us directly? What’s so special about this item for it to be arranged as the final piece?” cried the audience exasperatedly. Although all of them were well-respected representatives, their curiosity about the item made them neglect their manners.
“I would need more than a day and a night to share about the disasters that happened at the Endless Ocean. But, the disaster that is related to this item is definitely the most horrifying catastrophe that has been recorded in the history of the ocean. And the culprit of the disaster was also known as the All Evils!” shared Vidi gravely.
The atmosphere changed when the audience heard the name. As residents of the Endless Ocean, they ought to be familiar with the term regardless if they belonged to the human race or Sea Clan.
All Evil? What the h.e.l.l is that? Lin Li thought as he became even more confused. While he had knowledge of the Endless Ocean, he wasn’t as informed about the whole of their history. And the term “All Evils” only reminded him of the phrase “lewdness is the worst of all evils”.
Not to mention Lin Li, Connoris, who was once an ancient deity, had no idea what Vidi was talking about as well. Connoris shook his head helplessly when he saw Lin Li’s inquiring eyes. After all, Connoris did not explore the Endless Ocean when he was still an ancient deity. He later devoted all his time with the other ancient deities to the creation of the Endless Abyss, and thus strayed from the Endless Ocean.
However, there were a significant number of people who were not sure what an ‘All Evil’ was. After all, the partic.i.p.ants of the auction were not only forces from the Endless Ocean, but also those from Anril. Hence, Vidi did not wait for the audience to discuss it among themselves. “The All Evil is an ancient beast in the Endless Ocean that was formed out of an acc.u.mulation of hatred and lewdness,” Vidi explained.
Vidi’s words reminded Lin Li of something similar to the All Evil—the Whispering G.o.d he met at Prince Brahere’s mausoleum. That Whispering G.o.d was formed out of an acc.u.mulation of the grievances of countless evil spirits that even Sanctuary powerhouses did not have a way to deal with. If Lin Li had not found Whispering G.o.d’s magical crystal, it would’ve been impossible for him to defeat the Whispering G.o.d that day.
“The All Evil took thousands of years to gain its physical body, and was born with power comparable to the Sanctuary-realm. It was considered the most malefic existence of the Endless Ocean. In its historical records, an All Evil once appeared in the Endless Ocean tens or thousands of years ago. Its birth set off a reign of terror and the deaths of countless powerhouses and people of the sea,” continued Vidi.
In reality, it was difficult for the disaster caused by the All Evil to incite much emotion in the people of the sea. After all, it had been a long time since the catastrophe happened. As the auctioneer, however, Vidi would definitely not let the air turn stale. He followed up with his vivid story in a very grave tone.
“At that time, Amithlon, the king of the Ocean Dynasty, gathered over 20 Sanctuary powerhouses from different forces to raze the nest of the All Evil. That battle created an uproar in the entire region of the ocean. The waves were surging over a few hundreds in height, and the seawater was steaming so much that the sky was covered. The All Evil was provoked, and the air was filled with grievances that melted the s.p.a.ce s.h.i.+eld,” said Vidi. It was obvious that Vidi had done his homework for this auction to be able to make a historical story come to life. Even those who were familiar with the story were immersed in it.
Vidi’s voice dominated the auction. Everyone was sitting extremely uptight. There were even some that were slightly trembling with nervousness.
There were over 20 Sanctuary powerhouses during the Ocean Dynasty, of which eight were at their peak. With the help of magical equipment that was close to the Divine-level, they would be able to challenge a real divine. Of course, the other Sanctuary powerhouses were not common people, either. Every one of them had his stories recorded in the history of the Endless Ocean.
That battle lasted over a month, and affected a few hundred thousand square meters of sea area as well as countless people of the sea. There were also close to 10 Sanctuary powerhouses who died from the battle with the All Evil. The h.e.l.lish region had over 10,000,000 grieving souls shrieking in the air, covering the sky with a thick death aura that no thread of sunlight could penetrate.
In the end, it was Amithlon, the king of the Ocean Dynasty, who gathered the eight ocean G.o.ds to summon the will of the Endless Sea and killed the monstrous beast. But, the birth of the All Evil created great losses for the ocean dynasty that it could not even recover from after thousands of years. There were even people who said that the decline of the Ocean Dynasty began from the appearance of the All Evil.
“And now, what you see on this stage is the heart of All Evil. It not only has a great amount of peak Sanctuary-realm mana, but also an energy that can suppress all evils.” Vidi finally shared the origin of the item after recounting it.
Although the audience would have been in awe when they heard Vidi’s narrative, the final reveal was what caused them to gasp in unison. This was not excluding the big shots who were staying in their cabins.
To these people, it wasn’t important whether the thrilling story was true or fabricated. It was the name ‘All Evil’ that caught their attention. They knew that it had to be something impressive for it to have its name recorded in history.
At this time, Grand Duke Vidi fiddled with the display table, and projected the image of the heart onto the big screen behind him. “Well, I believe you already have some preliminary understanding of the Heart of All Evil. We are going to proceed with the auction now. The starting price is 10,000,000 gold coins.”
The starting price of 10,000,000 gold coins was definitely not a lot for the people partic.i.p.ating in the auction. Even the person with the least wealth would be able to retrieve this amount of money readily. However, most of them were aware that the heart would definitely not be sold at a few millions. Hence, there was a period of silence while they waited for Grand Duke Vidi to start the bidding.
“50,000,000 gold coins!” Falth’s voice was the first to be heard sounding from his cabin.
The jump from 10,000,000 gold coins to 50,000,000 gold coins was a huge but reasonable one. In doing so, Falth bypa.s.sed many other compet.i.tors who had their eyes on the heart. To him, the two values were not of a great difference, and definitely were not reflections of its true value.
Indeed, his offer brought out disappointment on the faces of many. The excitement in the hall dampened as these people lowered their plates helplessly.
Right after Falth was Grina from the Giant Shark Clan. “60,000,000 gold coins!” he called out as he raised his number plate.
Originally, according to the rules of the auction, the norm for raising the price was 1,000,000 gold coins. This much was nothing for a dominant power like the Giant Shark Clan. The rate of increase would only slow down if the bidding price reached their limit.
As soon as Grina’s voice fell, various cabins started to offer their bids. Very quickly, they raised the price of the Heart of All Evil to 90,000,000 gold coins.
Although the Heart of All Evil was the mysterious item of this auction, it was not difficult for these forces to gain information about it before coming here. It was obvious that they were all vying for the heart, and all came prepared.
“100,000,000 gold coins,” Falth called out. Although he did not have so many gold coins on hand, he had 10 Legendary magical crystals that were worth over 30,000,000 gold coins. In reality, no one would be able to offer hundreds of millions of gold coins in cash at once.
Moreover, even if one had this much cash, it was not possible to trade all of it. Although the value of gold coins was not high, they were crucial for the financial stability of organizations. This was especially for several Sea Clans and human kingdoms. If they were to trade all of their coins, they would risk a collapsing economy.
Strictly speaking, “100,000,000 gold coins” was merely a number. It would be impossible for anyone to offer 100,000,000 actual gold coins. Of course, this was not a random number, either. Before attending a large auction like this, the partic.i.p.ants would usually go to financial inst.i.tutions like the Glittergold Trade Union to convert some of their items into coins to be credited onto their crystal cards.
The most common item to be used was magical crystals that were below the Legendary magical crystals. There had been a consensus reached by each of the forces about the value of these crystals according to their level of power. Hence, it would be easy for them to trade them among themselves. However, they would need the financial inst.i.tution to approve their decision to retrieve their crystals at a premium.
Hence, there would rarely be anyone who would use their Legendary magical crystals to exchange for gold coins. This was especially so in their preparation for an auction. If they failed to obtain anything from the auction, it would not be easy for them to retrieve their precious crystals. After all, Legendary magical crystals and common magical crystals were two different concepts.
Apart from Legendary magical crystals, financial inst.i.tutions would also accept other resources such as magical metals and mineral veins in exchange for gold coins. Yet, there were also desperate people such as the Bellerophons that would convert all of them into gold coins to ensure that they had the highest chance of getting what they wanted at the auction.
Falth’s latest bid of 100,000,000 gold coins was without the mentioning of his 10 Legendary magic crystals. This was because he had already obtained an estimate of their value when he tried to bid for the Coral Staff earlier. Even if he had yet to convert them into gold coins, he would be able to use them like gold coins here.
But, it was obvious for Falth that he had accounted for the value of his Legendary magical crystals and had reached his limit. He knew he would really hurt if he were to add to the bidding.