Chapter 70: Obtaining the Artifact

Soon, the auction officially began.

Although this was only a small auction for the upper class, its formality was no less than that of a regular auction house.

For guests participating in the auction, each membership card number corresponded to an auction paddle. Ye Bufan came with Qin Chuchu, so the two of them shared one paddle.

A female Auctioneer in professional attire with a graceful figure walked onto the stage. After a few polite words, she announced that the auction had officially begun.

The order of items in the auction was exactly the opposite of the promotional poster. The hongyun tianzhu (good fortune celestial pearl) on the first page of the poster was saved as the final, climactic item, while the unknown small black bottle became the first item to be auctioned.

The Auctioneer announced the start of the auction, and a server in a red cheongsam walked onto the stage carrying a tray.

When he saw the small black bottle on the tray, Ye Bufan trembled all over.

Others couldn't tell, but as a Cultivator, he immediately felt the rich Spiritual Qi emanating from that small black bottle. This was not a fake, but a genuine Divine Artifact, the Demon Refining Bottle.

Qin Chuchu noticed his change and asked in surprise, “What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing, maybe I caught a cold these past few days, and my leg is cramping a bit.”

Ye Bufan said, taking a deep breath to suppress his excitement. It was certainly not good to show it too obviously at this time, otherwise it would attract others' attention to the Demon Refining Bottle and raise the bidding cost.

At this moment, the Auctioneer took the Demon Refining Bottle and introduced it to the crowd below: “Ladies and gentlemen, this is an item brought by the Qin Family.

I'm sorry to say that there isn't much information about this item, we don't even know its name, but the more mysterious something is, the more surprises it might bring you. The starting bid is 100,000 chinese yuan, and each increment must be no less than 10,000. Bidding starts now!”

As an experienced Auctioneer, she naturally knew that the first item auctioned was generally not something valuable, especially an item whose attributes and name were unclear.

So she didn't waste too much breath and directly announced the start of the auction.

As soon as her voice fell, before anyone else could react, Luo Wentao stood up, cupped his hands to the crowd below, and said, “Everyone, I apologize to inform you.

This item has been taken a liking to by Great Master Xuanji, who entrusted me to bid on his behalf. I now bid 1,000,000.”

In his opinion, no one would dare to participate in bidding for something Great Master Xuanji had taken a liking to. The reason he offered such a high price was entirely to give Qin Chuchu Face, after all, this was an item from the Qin Family.

“What exactly is this bottle? I didn’t see anything special about it. How could Great Master Xuanji take a liking to it?”

“I originally wanted to bid on it to see what it was, but since Great Master Xuanji has taken a liking to it, I can only give up.”

Everyone knew the name of Great Master Xuanji, so after Luo Wentao announced that he was bidding on behalf of Great Master Xuanji for this bottle, although there was a lot of discussion below the stage, not a single paddle was raised.

Qin Chuchu looked astonished. This small bottle had been in their Qin Family for an unknown number of years and had never been taken seriously by anyone before. Now that it was brought to the auction, it was actually taken a liking to by Great Master Xuanji.

Originally, she wanted to bid on it and give it to Ye Bufan, but now it was difficult. She could only whisper, “Xiao Fan, how about we don’t want this bottle?”

Ye Bufan shook his head: “No, I must bid on it.”

Facing such a Divine Artifact, even if the other party were the King of Heaven, it wouldn't matter, let alone a Great Master Xuanji who was full of doubts.

Qin Chuchu was about to say something when Luo Wentao said to the Auctioneer on stage: “Alright, you can strike the gavel now!”

“1,000,000 once, 1,000,000 twice…”

The Auctioneer mechanically called out twice, then raised the small hammer in her hand about to drop it, when suddenly someone shouted, “I bid 2,000,000.”

Everyone was quite surprised, especially Luo Wentao. He had already stated that Great Master Xuanji wanted this item, yet someone still dared to raise a paddle to bid.

He turned his head and saw that the person holding the paddle was Ye Bufan, who was sitting next to him.

He said angrily, “Ye, what are you trying to do? Didn’t you hear me say that this is something Great Master Xuanji has taken a liking to?”

Ye Bufan shook his head: “I don’t know any Great Master Xuanji. I only know that this is an auction, and the highest bidder wins.”

Qin Chuchu didn't expect him to be so persistent and quickly advised, “Xiao Fan, let's just forget about this bottle. Whatever else you like, I'll bid on it for you.”

Ye Bufan said, “I only like this bottle.”

He was telling the truth, but in Luo Wentao's ears, it sounded like he was directly challenging him.

“Fine, since you like it, then go ahead and bid for it.”

At this moment, in his eyes, Ye Bufan was already a dead man. Through so many years of contact, he knew Great Master Xuanji's temper perfectly. No matter who took this bottle, they were certainly doomed.

After speaking, he didn't raise his paddle again and directly sat back down.

Seeing this scene, everyone else was stunned, and then they started to get noisy again.

“Who is this person? He actually dares to snatch something from Great Master Xuanji. Isn’t he tired of living?”

“Truly a newborn calf not afraid of a tiger. This kid is too ignorant, he doesn’t even put Great Master Xuanji in his eyes…”

“It’s over, it’s over. Great Master Xuanji is such an eminent person; he can turn this guy into ashes with just a flick of his finger…”

Qin Chuchu was even more anxious but helpless.

Great Master Xuanji absolutely could not be offended. It seemed she could only try to persuade Ye Bufan later and send the bidded bottle to the Great Master.

The Auctioneer stood on the stage looking bewildered, unsure of what to do next.

Ye Bufan smiled slightly at her: “Miss, since no one is bidding against me, shouldn’t you strike the gavel?”

The Auctioneer gritted her teeth and finally called out: “This gentleman bids 2,000,000, 2,000,000 once, 2,000,000 twice…”

Everyone knew that this bottle was trouble, so others naturally wouldn't participate in the bidding. After she called out three times in a row, she struck down the auction hammer in her hand.

From this moment on, the Demon Refining Bottle belonged to Ye Bufan.

Soon, the server walked over with the tray. Ye Bufan excitedly took the bottle into his hands, then took out his bank card and swiped 2,000,000 on the POS machine the server handed him.

Although the bottle was brought by Qin Chuchu, the auction payment still had to be given to the venue first. The venue would take a 10% commission and then return the rest to the Qin Family.

Luo Wentao snorted coldly, thinking to himself, “You snatched something from Great Master Xuanji, let’s see how long you can be smug.”

Ye Bufan had no mood to pay attention to him. He held the Demon Refining Bottle in his hand as if he were holding a rare treasure. To him, this was even more precious than a rare treasure.

Qin Chuchu sighed, it seemed it couldn't be returned for now, she could only wait and see later.

At this point, the auction continued. Soon, the second item began to be auctioned. This was a vase from the Qing Dynasty, Qianlong period, and was finally sold for 1,500,000 to a wealthy businessman.

Ye Bufan had no interest in these antique items. After that, the auction proceeded very smoothly, and soon it was time for the transfer contract of the Shìwài Táoyuán (Secluded Paradise) Community.

The Auctioneer held up the contract in her hand and said: “This is the well-known Shìwài Táoyuán (Secluded Paradise) Community. It is nestled by mountains and water, with beautiful scenery. The initial investment alone has already exceeded 1.5 billion.

This contract auction, whoever bids on it will own 100% of the Shìwài Táoyuán (Secluded Paradise) Community. The starting bid is 100,000,000 chinese yuan, and each increment must be no less than 10,000,000.

Friends, this is absolutely a golden opportunity for a huge profit. Don’t miss it. Bidding starts now!”