Chapter 1214: The Auction BeginsTranslator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
The belle stared blankly before her expression changed into a surprised one. She originally thought that Tang Xiu was at most only a security guard of Genesis Auction House. It never came to her that he was the owner.
He’s not ordinary.
The thought flashed in her mind and she immediately said faintly, “Since Mr. Tang personally took action, then I won’t care about this minor wolf cub anymore. Anyway, may I have the honor to invite you to dinner, Mr. Tang?”
The expression of Ankeanu beside the belle changed before he looked a bit humiliated. He cried out in a low voice, “Shania…”
The belle glanced at him with indifference and lightly said, “Having dinner with Mr. Tang is quite an honor, but you can scram and hit the bunk if you don’t like it.”
“What do you mean by that?” yelled Ankeanu.
Tang Xiu secretly shook his head and raised his hand. “Cut it out, both of you! I still have something else to do this evening, so I’m afraid I can’t accompany you for dinner. Please leave after you both have registered yourselves.”
Having said that, his eyes instantly turned fierce and filled with killing intent as he spoke with a heavy voice, “The Genesis Auction House has a rule that no one is allowed to fight and make a scene here! Those who do so will tear all decorum with us and no one can afford the consequences should they try it!”
The short storm ended after Tang Xiu revealed his strength, but the news about the incident spread very fast and became known to these rich people from various countries in just a few hours. Many of whom then began sending their people to investigate it and finally affirmed that the owner of the Genesis Auction house was also the owner of the Magnificent Tang Corporation… Tang Xiu.
Furthermore, even the news that Tang Xiu was actually a cultivator also proliferated. Immediately afterward, these wealthy people issued invitations to Tang Xiu, hoping that they could invite him to dinner. It was just common knowledge for anyone concerned that the main purpose of these invitations was nothing else but an attempt to be on good terms with Tang Xiu, so they could obtain better advantages and more benefits in the auction.
After Tang Xiu declined all of them, he didn’t return to the Bluestar Villa Complex and kept staying at the Genesis Auction House. Aside from spending the last few days in cultivation, he also refined several kinds of exquisite tools, most of which were accessories that didn’t have any functions to help to improve the strength of cultivators as its only function was for defense.
December 1st.
At 6 in the morning, Tang Xiu appeared at the rooftop of Genesis Auction House with Ji Chimei, who had been standing there quietly while watching the streams of people at the entrance.
The number of people attending the auction was more than 2,400.
Each registered magnate could only bring one subordinate, which meant that the number of people attending the auction was more than 4,800. The venue itself was large enough to accommodate five-thousand-plus people, so the number of attendees was still acceptable.
“Is it time to open the entrance, my Lord?” Ji Chimei turned around and asked.
“It is.” Tang Xiu nodded. “But this auction is very important, so I need you to use your spiritual sense to check everyone if they bring any weapons.”
“I already checked these people with my spiritual sense and nearly all of them are carrying weapons; some are even carrying magic weapons.” Ji Chimei replied, “I think it will be rather troublesome if we forbid them to carry weapons into the auction venue.”
Tang Xiu pondered about it for a short while and immediately forced a smile. “Since there’s no way we can forbid them to do so, then forget it. But if anyone dares to make trouble at the auction, kill them directly.”
Afterward, he took out his cell phone and dialed Hao Lei’s number, saying, “Open the gate and verify the attendees’ ident.i.ties. Let them enter the auction venue according to their number plate. And do remember to warn them seriously that anyone who doesn’t take the seat according to their number plate will be expelled from the auction house once they are found.”
“Understood!”
Hao Lei curtly replied. After she hung up, she quickly appeared at the auction house’s entrance. Tens of stalwart men then moved to control the situation and Hao Lei began speaking in a deep voice, “Ladies and Gentlemen, we will now check and verify the number plate given to you when you registered before. You can enter the auction venue after the verification procedure. Also, I’d like to remind you of another thing. Please take a seat according to your number plate. If our staff finds out someone took someone else’s seat, they will expel you from the auction venue.”
In the next two hours, more than 4,800 people entered the auction venue one after another. s.p.a.cious sofas had been lined with a small wooden cabinet between each with drinks, fruits, and snacks already served. The auction platform itself was set on the innermost side with two meters in height and over 100 square meters in size, while several large projectors played the advertis.e.m.e.nts of the products of the Magnificent Tang Corporation and Grand Fortune Jewelry.
At exactly 8 o’clock.
The golden host, Higgert, who was invited by Hao Lei and Ouyang Lulu from the Red Spider Auction House in Las Vegas, United States, appeared on the auction stage with a beaming smile on his face. His blonde hair and blue eyes, as well as his tall figure dressed in a tuxedo, made the man look attractive and handsome.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to this mysterious, magical and beautiful oriental country of China. And welcome to Shanghai, the Pearl of the East. And lastly, I welcome everyone to our Genesis Auction House and thank you for your partic.i.p.ation in our first auction! My name is Higgert, the golden host of the Genesis Auction House and also the host of this auction.
“Well, I’m very excited at this moment since I’ve never hosted a grand auction like this one and I’ve never been the focus of attention from these many super-rich people all over the world. Fortunately, the articles being auctioned by our Genesis Auction House gave me the confidence and energy. Otherwise, I’d have to bow and lower my head to speak in front of such big personages like yourselves, right?”
The simple opening with a fine sense of humor quickly won a favorable impression from many people. Immediately after, Higgert announced that the auction had officially started.
“Alright. The first item to be auctioned is a set of precious and incomparable jewelry. Apart from being beautiful, this jewelry also has another effect which, well, even I’m not familiar with this “defense” term. But according to our a.s.signor, any guest who wears this jewelry can withstand the full blow of a Nascent Soul Stage pract.i.tioner. However, as I’ve been told, this effect will only last thrice facing the blow of such a degree. In other words, having this set of jewelry equals to having three more lives. The base price for this item is 1 billion US dollars with the bid increment of at least 50 million dollars, so without further ado, let us begin the auction now.”
Higgert then turned to the beautiful staffer beside him. He lifted the cover on the tray and a set of exquisite jewelry then appeared on the projector screens.
“Wow…”
At least one-third of the guests in the entire auction venue was in an uproar. They never dreamed that the first auctioned article of the Genesis Auction House turned out to be a magic tool manufactured for cultivators.
Moreover, it was a defensive type tool—a magic tool in the form of jewelry.
The guests’ reaction made Higgert excited inwardly. In order to raise the price of the jewelry further, he added, “Honorable Ladies and Gentlemen, even if you don’t need it, you can give this exquisite defensive jewelry to the person you care most such as your wife or your child. We all know that our society is fraught with dangers nowadays and I’m sure many of you have also watched the Final Destination movie, right? Dangers and death are probably around us all the time, so please start bidding if you want to avoid those dangers and protect your own life. And as mentioned before, each bid increment is set to at least 50 million US dollars.”
“2 billion!”
A Caucasian man grabbed a loudspeaker and cried out aloud. His eyes weren’t looking at Higgert nor glancing at the others around but fixedly stared jewelry showed on the projector screen.
“2.1 billion!”
“2.2 billion!”
“2…”
Although the Caucasian man directly doubled the price, he still couldn’t stop the increased price of the bids. As many people already aware of, what Higgert said was right that having this jewelry was equal to having three more lives.
The price kept increasing dramatically and its dramatic increase made Higgert flabbergasted. His heart pounded harder and beat faster than when he hosted his first auction.
“4 billion dollars!”
A loud voice came from the audience and a white-haired old man with a walking stick quoted his bid.
Higgert felt like his scalp went a bit numb. He had hosted hundreds of auctions and sometimes, money earned at the end of the auction could exceed 4 billion USD. However, the number was the total sum of the whole auction! What about the 4 billion dollars now? It was just from the first article being auctioned?!
The white-haired man got up and his other hand grabbed the loudspeaker and asked, “Mr. Host, why don’t you announce that this jewelry is mine since no one else is bidding?”
Higgert was as though awakened from a dream and hurriedly replied, “Honorable Sir, please don’t laugh at me. I’m really shocked by your amazing bid which made me a bit disoriented. I hope you don’t laugh at me, a dirt-poor man who has never seen so much money. Alright, I hereby announce that this jewelry now belongs to this gentleman for 4 billion dollars. Please send someone to the backstage to finalize the procedure now, Sir.”
The old man slightly smiled and nodded to a man next to him after sitting down.
Higgert calmed himself down first and then continued, “The second article to be auctioned is a magic weapon. It is said that this magic weapon has been used to slay some fierce beasts and even split a mountain several hundreds of meters high. Well, although I think the script given to me is rather exaggerated, it was the a.s.signor who told me so, so I can only convey it to everyone here. The floor price for this item is 500 million dollars. Ah, that’s right, the person who trusted this item to us also mentioned that this lance is a very powerful magic weapon.”