Chapter 439: Insane Expenses
Compared to Lu Yin and Lulu, Big Pao and Little Pao behaved themselves quite well. Also, they had not received a token, so they would have to pay themselves if they wanted to buy anything, and their financial situation forced them to carefully consider any such expenditures.
“Next, ladies and gentlemen, you can decide for yourselves what this next item is worth, because no one knows what it might be used for. All that I can reveal is that this next item comes from the Astral Beast Domain.” The auctioneer waved a hand as a beautiful, slender woman with a pale face walked out while carrying a black box that was covered with a white cloth.
The auctioneer walked over and immediately removed the white cloth.
A very disgusting-looking piece of flesh was revealed to the crowd, and it even had traces of blood on it. Also, the occasional bit of electricity could be seen on the flesh.
The crowd was bewildered; what was that?
The auctioneer covered the flesh once more with the white cloth. “The bidding begins: a piece of flesh that holds lightning. The price begins at a hundred star essence.”
Someone below shouted, “Hey, do you think that you can sell just any random thing? No one knows what that thing can be used for, but you’re setting the price at a hundred essence? Only an idiot would buy it! Does anyone else agree with me?”
“That’s right! How can you put such a high starting price on an unknown object? Take it away!”
“Take it away!”
…
The auctioneer was helpless. “Everyone, the owner of this piece of lightning-imbued flesh requested us to auction it here. We can’t refuse them, either, since they are a powerhouse with a power level over 200,000.”
The crowd was shocked, but they did not heckle the auctioneer anymore. An almighty Enlighter with a power level of 200,000 was indeed a powerhouse in the universe. Such people rarely appeared in public, and they should be accorded the appropriate respect.
At this moment, someone in a guest room placed a bid, and the auction began.
The others exchanged glances, caught off guard that someone could ignore the hundred star essence price and bid in such a cavalier matter. After all, the item being sold came from an Enlighter.
There were too many wealthy people in the universe, and anyone who could visit the Sea King"s Dome was someone rich. Everyone present was willing to spend a hundred star essence to take the piece of flesh back to study.
The auctioneer relaxed, as this was at least better than having no bids.
A new round of bidding began, and the flesh was finally won by the person in the guest room. Some in the crowd had recognized that the person in that room had bought quite a few items already, and they were curious as to who was inside.
Not much time pa.s.sed before Lu Yin received that piece of lightning flesh; he was naturally the one who had bid first on the item. He had placed that bid because the Ghost Monkey had told him to.
“Tell me, what is this thing?” Lu Yin asked as he looked at the lightning-imbued piece of flesh within the box. It seemed rather disgusting.
The monkey, however, was excited. “Seventh Bro, you’re pretty lucky! This thing carries a Void Thunderbeast’s innate gift of lightning.”
Lu Yin was astounded. “A Void Thunderbeast’s innate gift of lightning?”
“That’s right! It’s precisely this strand of lightning that gives a Void Thunderbeast the ability to shuttle through the void and escape. The person who provided this thing is not simple, since they were able to kill a Void Thunderbeast and even cut off this piece of flesh. It’s just like what the auctioneer said: only an almighty Enlighter could’ve done such a thing.”
“What can I use this for?” Lu Yin asked.
The monkey rolled his eyes. “Idiot! To escape, of course! If you release the lightning, then you can escape just like a Void Thunderbeast. Of course, the distance that you travel depends on how powerful this Void Thunderbeast was when it was alive.”
Lu Yin was delighted. “Are you saying that I can use it’s innate gift too?”
“Of course! Having this is the same as having an extra life! Your luck is just too good! Now, even if that Feng Mo catches up to you again, you can effortlessly leave him in the dust.” The monkey smiled.
Lu Yin was stunned, as this piece of flesh was very valuable indeed. Even if its price was increased twofold, it would have been worth it.
Before too long, the auction took a midway intermission. All the items that Lu Yin had successfully bid on were sent to him. He flashed the Sea King’s token at them, and everything was quickly delivered to him.
Lu Yin did not pause and left the auction house. He immediately headed for the next one so as not to gather too much attention on him.
Inside the auction house on the west side of the street, Lulu acted in the same manner as Lu Yin. She confidently flashed the Sea King’s token, stuffed a pile of items into her cosmic ring, and then strutted off.
“Manager, don’t we have to report this to our superiors?”
“There’s no need. Every month, all of the shops will send their bills to Lord Sea King at the peak of the Dome.”
“But that Mavis girl bought too much, I’m afraid that the Sea King will blame us.”
“You think too much. The Sea King is loaded.”
…
If one looked down from the middle of the Sea King"s Dome’ mountain, everything was clearly visible. There were countless buildings arranged in a terraced formation as well as trees and forests, and waterfalls and fields. It was extremely picturesque, making for an idyllic scenery.
Lu Yin wondered if, after he resolved his personal matters, if he could even settle down here with Ming Yan.
No, if he wanted to stay here in the future, then he could not stand out too much, nor could he offend the Sea King. In that case, he needed to make sure that his purchases amounted to a reasonable sum since he could not afford to draw the Sea King’s attention.
Coincidentally, at that moment, Lulu happily walked over, looking quite pleased.
Lu Yin’s eyes lit up when he saw her, and he rushed up to welcome her. “Lulu, did you buy a bunch of good items?”
Lulu became guarded. “Why? They’re mine!”
“I know! I bought quite a few things too. I bought everything from that auction house!” Lu Yin bristled with pride.
Lulu was shocked! “Everything? Are you crazy? Aren’t you afraid of offending the Sea King?”
Lu Yin laughed. “The Sea King is a super powerhouse and has unlimited resources. Why would he care about this little bit of money? It’s even possible that the more you spend, the happier that senior will become.”
“Are you sure?” Lulu asked suspiciously.
Lu Yin replied, “Of course. Think about it. The richer one becomes, the better they understand how to spend their money.”
Lulu thought about it, but Lu Yin’s words were right. Did that mean that she had spent too little? No, she could not lose face for the Mavis family! She raised her head and looked towards the other side of the mountain, where there was another auction house. She immediately came to a decision. “I’m leaving. I’ll see you in three days.”
Lu Yin beamed and waved a hand, bidding goodbye. Perfect. With Lulu tanking from the front, the Sea King would definitely not notice Lu Yin’s spending. That brat was from the Mavis family, and the Sea King would be able to demand repayment from them. Lu Yin would spend much less than her and thus not attract too much attention.
As he thought things over, he looked into the distance. Since Lulu had headed towards that direction, Lu Yin decided to head in the opposite direction.
The Sea King"s Dome was shaped like a conical mountain, so it had ports in all directions. Not long after Lu Yin’s ship had arrived, another ship arrived from a slightly different direction. Given the Sea King"s Dome’ size, such a slight deviation had amounted to a vast distance.
There were five waterfalls that fell down the Sea King’s Dome, and they were known as the Skyfall Cascades. There were five Skyfall Cascades, each of which lay in one of the five main directions. They were also the destination for five large ships.
Lu Yin’s ship had arrived from the southeast of the Sea King’s Dome, and the second ship arrived from the southwest.
Just like Lu Yin’s ship, when the second one anch.o.r.ed, the ushering maid escorted ten handsome men to the upper regions of the Sea King"s Dome. Even more noteworthy was that there were actually three people aboard the second ship who had qualified for the selection through their own strength.
One carried a simple wooden flute, and he stepped into the port with a calm and tranquil expression, while the other two were obviously traveling together.
There were few people under the age of twenty five who could rival the strength of a Cruiser, and it was possible to not find even one within an entire Weave. But now, two such people had arrived together, which attracted a great deal of commotion and sp.a.w.ned numerous conversations concerning the duo’s ident.i.ties.
It didn’t take long for one of the two to be recognized: Lan Yu, the top expert of the Boundless Continent’s younger generation, was someone qualified to challenge the Top 100 Rankings. He was an influential figure in the Starfall Sea, but he also had another ident.i.ty as the Ten Arbiters’ Divine Fist’s younger brother.
Lan Yu’s appearance was not entirely unexpected, as there had already been rumors that the Boundless Continent wanted to establish marital relations with the Sea King"s Dome, but they had never been agreed to by the Sea King. Now, it seemed that Lan Yu wanted to use his own strength to wed the Sea King"s daughter.
However, although Lan Yu was strong, he was not actually in the Top 100 Rankings. From the perspective of many, the only ones who could reach the end of the selection process were the experts truly on the Top 100 Rankings, such as Qin Chen.
The other person who had arrived with Lan Yu was also quickly recognized: Lan Dao. He was a genius who had been roped in by the Arbiter Divine Fist to support the Lan Family, and he was always following behind Lan Yu. He enjoyed some fame in the Boundless Continent, but more importantly, he was still only a Limiteer, which was something that shocked many people.
In this selection, many could see that their odds of victory were higher when these two youths joined forces. No one, aside from the experts in the Top 100 Rankings, could challenge these two together.
Lan Yu brought Lan Dao to the Sea King"s Dome. They were also informed that all of their expenses would be reimbursed, but the two did not pay any attention to that bit since they were not lacking in money.
Not long after the two arrived, another ship stopped at the northwest Skyfall Cascade, and the surface of the sea quickly froze. A cold-looking man with a long weapon on his back walked up, and he did not look back.
Few would leave their weapons exposed, as such items were usually carried in cosmic rings. This man’s strange appearance attracted a lot of attention and murmurs.
Fortunately for him, too many strange people had arrived recently, and this was also not the first batch to arrive. Another batch had arrived before them, and they had experienced much worse luck than the current group; they had been waiting in the Sea King’s Dome for three months already, but the most recent arrivals only needed to wait for three days before the selection process began.
On the ship, the ushering maid escorted a few handsome men away before Qin Chen appeared on the deck.
His appearance attracted a great deal of excitement: the reputation of any expert on the Top 100 Rankings was just too impressive. The Sea King had specified that, to qualify to partic.i.p.ate in the son-in-law selection, one could not be more than twenty five years old, and since most of the experts on the Top 100 Rankings were over twenty five, it meant that Qin Chen could practically be considered to be the strongest partic.i.p.ant.
Outside the port, many excited looks were thrown his way. “Trapper Qin Chen! I’ll defeat you during this selection and step onto the Top 100 Rankings!”
The appearance of a Top Hundred expert caused many to become compet.i.tive, but they also knew they could not attack at will. After all, the Top 100 Rankings was a merit-based appraisal system, and one’s standing could not be faked.
Ling Que had also arrived on the northeastern ship.
He was blessed, as he qualified not only through power, but also through his looks. The Lingling Clan’s innate gift was too unique, and regardless of if it was their looks or battle prowess, both were outstanding. Ling Que in particular was even more exceptional.
On the way, the escorting maid’s gaze never really drifted away from him. He was like a bright light in the darkness, and he was the center of attention wherever he went.
The Daynight Feast had raised his reputation to the peak, as he had increased his standing by using Lu Yin’s name as a footstool. He had come to the Starfall Sea this time with the intention of challenging an expert on the Top 100 Rankings. Coincidentally, he had arrived in time to partic.i.p.ate in the selection. Since Qin Chen and Northgate Lie were also partic.i.p.ating, he had rushed over. He wanted to step foot in the Top 100 Rankings, and he was not satisfied with just having Lu Yin alone as a stepping stone.
Experts from all walks of life had gathered at the Sea King"s Dome, and the selection process had caused countless people to rush over. They were all expectantly waiting to enjoy this grand event that would decide the future of the entire Starfall Sea.
There was only one day left before the start of the selection process, and many screens appeared in the sky around the Sea King"s Dome. They all displayed scenes of the Skyfall Cascades, and many people guessed that the waterfalls would have something to do with the selection process.
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