Chapter 761: The Goldencrown Cloudcrane
One had to admit, the scene which young master Ji San had delivered a sound face slapping to Wang Teng had been very memorable. The feverish atmosphere of the auction instantly chilled the moment he upped the bid. Although Wang Teng still wanted to cross paths against young master Ji San a little longer, he was once bitten, twice shy. He too was worried that he would be tricked by the young master again. Most importantly, they had reached the bottom of their pockets after the farce that was the Longevity Pill. There was no way he could afford tens of millions for the Skysnatcher Cauldron.
Two great clan members at the back tentatively increased the price twice for the cauldron, but both their attempts were thwarted by a Ji San who looked like he would devour them alive. In the end, young master Ji San successfully took home the Skysnatcher Cauldron at the price of fifty six million saint spirit stones. Although Joined Ridges Pavilion young master wasn’t too pleased with this final price, it was almost at his target goal. Most importantly, he couldn’t fault young master Ji San for winning the bid. The Longevity Pill wouldn’t have ended at such an insane price if young master Ji San hadn’t competed for it.
Jiang Chen let out a sigh of relief when he saw that young master Ji San had successfully won the Skysnatcher Cauldron. Upgrading his equipment was a necessity if he were to establish himself in Veluriyam Capital, and the cauldron was one equipment he absolutely needed to improve. Although the price of fifty six million saint spirit stones was a little higher than he would’ve liked, it didn’t make that big of a dent in his current wealth. This cauldron was absolutely worth hundreds and thousands times the cost in his hands.
After the Skysnatcher Cauldron was bid, the sixth auctioned item showed up on stage. It was an ancient formation disk that caused the crowd to fight crazily for it once more. This time, Jiang Chen showed no interest even though this type of formation disk was very rare. He had obtained several himself at the forbidden grounds of the Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect. The quality of this formation disk was about the same level as the Minor Artifice Formation, and that made it of little value to him. After all, Jiang Chen possessed the Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect most precious Ancient Crimson formation disk. It was capable of emulating the ten great formations of the Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect! To this day, Jiang Chen was only able to use it once and barely summon ten to twenty percent of its true strength, but there was no denying its might.
But to other people, this formation disk was without a doubt a precious treasure. The price quickly soared to over sixty million saint spirit stones. In the end, the disk was won by a great clan member at the price of eighty million saint spirit stones. The greatest advantage of such formation disk was that it could instantly be deployed. Unlike the normal formations, it neither needed a formation flag or set up to be deployed. This instantaneous reaction saved time, and while it might not be able to kill the enemy in the critical moment, it would be able to delay the enemy long enough to save one’s life. After all, even the strongest expert would be caught by surprise if a formation had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. An abrupt moment of surprise might be all that was needed to save a person’s life in battle.
Two more items was put up after the ancient formation was won, but Jiang Chen was still uninterested in either of them. Jiang Chen held no expectations whatsoever considering that the auction was about to end.
However, his heart skipped a beat when he heard the name of the ninth auctioned item from the Joined Ridges Pavilion young master. “The ninth auctioned item is a Goldencrown Cloudcrane.”
A Goldencrown Cloudcrane! Jiang Chen couldn’t help but cast a glance at young master Ji San after he heard these two words. Now this was what young master Ji San should spare no effort in obtaining, no matter what! He never imagined a coincidence like this would happen. He’d just been thinking about the Pine Crane Pill when the Longevity Pill had been auctioned. He’d never thought that a spirit beast like the Goldencrown Cloudcrane would then show up in an auction like this.
The Goldencrown Cloudcrane’s rank wasn’t too high, and its combat power was average at best. However, it was an incredibly rare species. It was a species of the Cloudcranes, but the one with a golden crown on its head was incredibly rare. Every part of a Goldencrown Cloudcrane’s body was precious. There was even a wealthy man who’d once used the feathers to weave a robe that was impervious to water and fire, and also reduced all metal attribute attacks by half. It was incredibly precious equipment. Moreover, the Cloudcrane’s flesh was also extraordinarily tasty. It was publicly acknowledged as a delicious delicacy in the world of martial dao. The heart especially, was a famous medicinal ingredient in the pill making industry.
The two main ingredients of the Pine Crane Pill was the Invisible Chameleon Cloudpine pine cone and the Goldencrown Cloudcrane heart. This was why Jiang Chen had been startled when he heard the Goldencrown Cloudcrane being announced. As the last item of the auction, it was obviously set at an expensive price. Its starting bid was thirty million saint spirit stones, and many parties were bidding madly for the creature.
Unexpectedly, young master Ji San himself didn’t seem all that interested in this item at all. He wore an indifferent look on his face, and his mind didn’t even seem to be on the auction anymore. Jiang Chen couldn’t help but sigh helplessly on the inside when he saw this. This was what the young master should’ve staked his life to bid, but the man himself was showing no reaction at all.
Jiang Chen was hesitant. Should he remind this fellow to make a bid? After all, a creature like the Goldencrown Cloudcrane was a priceless creature that could only be encountered serendipitously. There might not be another in ten or even twenty years. But how should he remind the young master? Would young master Ji San suddenly bid for a spirit animal he had zero interest in at all? Would he even listen? Jiang Chen wasn’t sure either how he should answer young master Ji San if pressed for a reason.
After all, Jiang Chen couldn’t tell him about the Pine Crane Pill. The pill’s influence was too great, and even he dared not imagine the consequences if its existence were to be revealed. That being said, Jiang Chen couldn’t help but feel a bit impressed by young master Ji San’s spirit and heart when he recalled that the young master had won the Skysnatcher Cauldron on his behalf without asking a single question. A moment of hesitation later, Jiang Chen ultimately decided to give young master Ji San a reminder. “Young master Ji San, this Goldencrown Cloudcrane is very important for you. You should bid on it. If you still have enough spirit stones, you should be ready to do everything in your power to win this Goldencrown Cloudcrane.”
Jiang Chen’s reminder obviously caught young master Ji San off guard. He hadn’t hesitated at all when he bid on the Skysnatcher Cauldron for Jiang Chen earlier. However, he couldn’t help but feel a bit of puzzled astonishment this time, because he couldn’t fathom how this Goldencrown Cloudcrane could be useful to him in any way. “My friend, it’s not that I don’t trust you, but this spirit animal can only be used to weave a feathered robe. It’s not all that useful to me, not to mention only a single one isn’t even enough to weave a complete robe,” young master Ji San labored to explain his thoughts.
“Young master Ji San, you were willing to spend a hundred million saint spirit stones to bid for the Longevity Pill earlier, weren’t you? I can tell you now that this Goldencrown Cloudcrane is worth that price more than the Longevity Pill is. If you trust me, then bid for the Goldencrown Cloudcrane. If you don’t, the just pretend that I’ve not said anything. I’m just reminding you out of goodwill.” This was as far as Jiang Chen could advise him.
If young master Ji San trusted him, then he could consider revealing more of the secret. If young master Ji San couldn’t trust him, it still wouldn’t change the fact that Jiang Chen had reminded him out of a sense of obligation. Morally speaking, Jiang Chen would be in the right. After all, he didn’t need to say anything in the first place.
Young master Ji San had helped him bid for the Skysnatcher Cauldron, but Jiang Chen had saved him from the trap that was the Longevity Pill as well. The exchange of favors was equal at best, and Jiang Chen owed Ji San nothing at all. Young master Ji San pondered over the choice for a moment. Although a brief moment of hesitation did pass through his mind, he ultimately decided to trust Jiang Chen. Trust the people you chose, and forego the ones you doubt.
He had chosen to trust Jiang Chen once on the Longevity Pill, so what was the harm in trusting him once more? If he were to lose, he might as well lose completely. And in the same vein, a total victory was better than a partial victory. When his thoughts travelled to this point, young master Ji San once again displayed his ultimate dandiness and declared, “Sixty million!”
Everyone was guessing that the next bid was going to be forty million or so, but his bid had suddenly come in and shattered everyone’s expectations. He even casted a taunting glance at Wang Teng after making the declaration. His meaning was obvious. I’m making another bid, and I dare you play this game with me again!
Wang Teng’s face was livid. This auction was a complete wash. He had sunk all of his money into the Longevity Pill, so where on earth was he going to find the spare change to accept Ji San’s challenge? Moreover, he suspected that young master Ji San was only trying to drag him down further. He had already fallen for the ploy once, and Wang Teng would rather suffer a bit more humiliation than lose even more money. He couldn’t afford tens of millions at the moment anyways.
Jiang Chen was amused when he saw young master Ji San’s actions. He was inwardly impressed by the young master. As expected, there were no easy pickings amongst the great clans at all. Young master Ji San’s unpredictable actions was obviously a cat and mouse tactic. He wanted very much to win the Goldencrown Cloudcrane, but had purposely taunted Wang Teng into bidding against him. As a result, Wang Teng actually didn’t dare to raise the bid. After all, Wang Teng had suffered a loss in Ji San’s hands already. He was still reeling from the blow right now.
That being said, though Wang Teng didn’t try to compete this time, there were a few great clans who were also interested in this auction. In the end, young master Ji San won the Goldencrown Cloudcrane at the tall price of eighty million saint spirit stones without even batting an eyelid. He left all other bidders in dust. This outcome stunned everyone present. The foremost clan was still the foremost clan alright! His ability to spend spirit stones like water was shocking.
He had casually raised the bid of a mere Longevity Pill to a hundred million saint spirit stones. Although he didn’t win it in the end, his charisma was undeniably astounding. Now, he had spent slightly over a hundred million to buy a single cauldron and a single spirit animal. It was unlikely that an ordinary clan member could do the same. It was obvious that young master Ji San had prepared more than enough money to win the bids with ease. He had become the main focus of the event and Joined Ridges Pavilion’s favorite customer. Young master Ji San had not only made two amazing final bids himself, he’d also been the number one contributor in raising the price of the Longevity Pill to one hundred and twenty million saint spirit stones.
Joined Ridges Pavilion only wished that they could find a way to better welcome such a wonderful customer. This extraordinarily entertaining auction ended perfectly with the wide smile on Joined Ridges Pavilion’s young master’s face. They were obviously the biggest winner of this auction.
The most dejected of them all was without a doubt Wang Teng’s group. Although everyone else had splashed out just as much money to win, they had at least gotten what they wanted. However, the bid he’d won had belonged to him in the first place, and as a result he had to hand over a twenty percent commission for free. That twenty four million saint spirit stones! Wang Teng was enraged when he saw young master Ji San’s smile, “Ji Ole Third, I dare you to smile again when your clan lord’s cultivation dissipates!”
He was feeling pretty wretched, and so he left the scene with his subordinates and a dark look on his face. Meanwhile, young master Ji San made his way leisurely outside the entrance, waiting for Wei Jie and Jiang Chen outside the courtyard.