Golden Tiger

Following Yao Niqian's movements, the center of the stage slowly rose, opening like flower petals to reveal a small stone platform.

It was a mechanism, not very intricate, but the entire device was crafted from ivory, pure white as jade, which truly shocked many people; this was a grand gesture.

On that small stone platform, a golden, shining suit of armor floated in mid-air. Long Chen was startled by this sight.

The armor plates were thick and shone with a golden luster; one could tell at a glance that it weighed at least a hundred catties. With such weight, let alone Long Chen, even Great Master Yun Qi could not make it float in the air using Soul power.

When Long Chen swept his Soul through the inside of the armor, he couldn't help but shake his head, cursing himself for being fooled.

It turned out that underneath the armor, there was an extremely thin pillar supporting the entire suit. However, because of the length of the armor, it perfectly obscured the angle of the pillar, leading Long Chen to overthink.

Yao Niqian's charming voice came through: "This Gilded Armor is crafted from gilded gold mixed with a small amount of wind copper. It comes from the hands of a master and has astonishing defensive power."

"Clang."

A long sword appeared in Yao Niqian's hand out of nowhere. With a flick of her jade hand, the light flashed like silk, and a sharp sword wind rose. By the time everyone reacted, the long sword in her hand had already struck heavily against the Gilded Armor, emitting a crisp sound.

Yao Niqian's sudden move made everyone present feel a chill. The Huayun Pavilion was indeed powerful; even an auctioneer was an expert at the Blood Condensation Realm.

Moreover, judging by the speed of her strike, which was without the slightest hesitation, she was undoubtedly a top-tier expert in the Blood Condensation Realm.

Those who had originally planned to take this enchanting woman into their chambers after the auction ended began to back down.

"Everyone, please look. My full-force sword strike could not leave even the slightest mark on this Gilded Armor, which shows that its hardness is truly shocking," Yao Niqian said, looking at the crowd.

However, when many people heard her mention "hardness," they couldn't help but feel a stir in their hearts. Looking at the ripples caused by her previous sword strike, combined with her Soul-snatching gaze, many people had already begun to feel "hardness that was truly shocking" themselves.

"The Gilded Armor, as the first auction item of this event, starts at a bid of one hundred thousand gold coins. Each increment must not be less than ten thousand gold coins. Now, the bidding—begins."

Yao Niqian smiled slightly, and a small wooden mallet in her hand fell lightly in front of her, emitting a crisp sound.

"One hundred fifty thousand."

"One hundred eighty thousand."

"Two hundred thousand."

As soon as Yao Niqian finished speaking, countless bidders immediately began raising their placards, shouting their prices.

The auction had just begun, so everyone was still very conservative, only increasing by a few tens of thousands.

However, there were so many people that the price rose rapidly. Even Shi Feng couldn't resist the temptation and shouted a price twice, but was quickly drowned out.

Long Chen couldn't help but shake his head. Indeed, profiteers are profiteers; there is no business without deceit. Yao Niqian's name was truly not called that for nothing.

Since it sounds like "want your money," she definitely had the ability to make people hand over their money willingly. The value of this Gilded Armor was definitely over a million.

The reason Yao Niqian threw out this tempting low price was to slowly hook everyone's appetite and stir up all their emotions little by little.

This was a classic case of boiling a frog in warm water. At the beginning, Yao Niqian's performance was too enchanting, making many people secretly vigilant. Although most men are animals that think with their lower bodies, it didn't mean everyone was a fool.

At this moment, Yao Niqian appeared very calm, only interjecting occasionally, her eyes slowly scanning the crowd. Whenever someone shouted a high price, her beautiful eyes would "brighten," and she would linger on that person for a moment.

"Shi Feng, give it up. That thing definitely won't be cheap; don't be fooled by this low threshold," Long Chen advised.

Although the Gilded Armor looked good and its defense was beyond reproach, its practicality was not high. Except for fighting between two armies in the midst of thousands, where someone would wear such armor to fight, wearing such heavy armor at other times was just asking for death.

Besides, even when two armies were at war, wearing such a suit of golden, shining armor, without powerful martial strength, was no different from seeking death.

When two armies were at war, the person they most wanted to kill was the enemy commander. Wearing this outfit was purely a way to generate hatred.

To put it bluntly, this was a Divine Artifact for showing off, with no real use. If it were truly a good thing, the Huayun Pavilion wouldn't be idiots; why would they throw it out first?

Often, the first item in an auction is the hardest to choose. First, it must attract attention; second, it cannot be too valuable, otherwise, it would affect the attention given to the subsequent items.

And this majestic, yet impractical Gilded Armor became today's opening act. Sure enough, relying on its appearance, it moved quite a few people.

Hearing Long Chen say this, Shi Feng gave up the idea of competing for the Gilded Armor. He had originally thought that with a base price of one hundred thousand, he could take it for three hundred thousand, but he hadn't expected the trickery behind it.

In less than a few breaths, the price of the Gilded Armor had soared to eight hundred thousand, and people below were still bidding, making Shi Feng give up completely.

"Damn, are these guys human? It feels like they are buying cabbage. How can they have so much money?" Monkey swallowed his saliva and said with difficulty.

"Those invited to the auction are indeed rich as oil. If the first item is like this, I can hardly imagine how intense the competition will be later," Fatty Yu also sighed.

Although they were also scions with the status of marquises, for them, talking about hundreds of thousands of gold coins was still a bit jaw-dropping. One must know that when Long Chen dueled Li Hao, Fatty Yu was the richest among them, and his total savings from childhood to adulthood were only eighty thousand gold coins.

Just as everyone was sighing, as Long Chen had predicted, the bidding easily exceeded one million.

"One million fifty thousand."

"One million eighty thousand."

"One million one hundred thousand."

After passing one million, there were still more than ten people continuously bidding, obviously shaken by the majestic appearance of the Gilded Armor, their eyes becoming somewhat red.

"One million five hundred thousand."

Just then, Xia Changfeng's voice came from the private room, causing the entire scene to quiet down significantly.

"As expected of the Great Xia Prince, you truly have a sharp eye, seeing the preciousness of the Gilded Armor at a glance. The Great Xia Prince has already bid one million five hundred thousand. Is there anyone willing to bid higher?" Yao Niqian praised in a charming voice.

"One million five hundred ten thousand," said a middle-aged man.

"One million eight hundred thousand."

Xia Changfeng's voice remained calm, making people feel as if he were just speaking casually, which made people feel uncomfortable.

The middle-aged man's expression was slightly ugly, but he shook his head and did not continue to bid. Clearly, one million eight hundred thousand had far exceeded his endurance.

"One million eight hundred thousand, once."

"One million eight hundred thousand, twice."

"One million eight hundred thousand—three times. Very good, congratulations to the Great Xia Prince for taking the Gilded Armor into his possession, becoming the first winner of this auction. Congratulations."

Yao Niqian's words were very on point, making people feel comfortable. Long Chen had to admit that she was a qualified profiteer.

"Haha, it's just a little pocket money. I wonder if I, Xia, have the qualification to have dinner with Young Miss?" Xia Changfeng suddenly walked out of the private room and looked at Yao Niqian with a smile.

"I am flattered by the Great Xia Prince's regard; this humble girl is honored. However, now is not the time to discuss private matters, oh," Yao Niqian smiled and said, her words inscrutable.

"It is I who was abrupt. Please continue, Miss," Xia Changfeng smiled faintly, flicked his sleeves, and turned to enter the private room very stylishly.

Long Chen looked at Xia Changfeng's back, a sneer appearing on the corner of his mouth. With your little bit of intelligence, you dare to fight with Yao Niqian, who is like a seasoned spirit? Little one, if she doesn't squeeze your entire country dry, then consider it your ancestors accumulating virtue.

As Long Chen was deep in thought, the second item came up. Indeed, just as Long Chen had predicted, the first Gilded Armor was flashy but impractical.

The second item, however, was practical but not flashy; it was actually a land deed. Long Chen didn't understand it very well, but when that land deed was announced, it caused a commotion.

It seemed that the land deed had a great attraction for some people. This was also the brilliance of the Huayun Pavilion.

The items they auctioned had a huge audience; almost anyone who came here would encounter something they were interested in.

The diversity of items was the reason why the Huayun Pavilion auction was getting bigger year by year. However, to prepare for such an auction, they needed to invest countless manpower and material resources.

After some bidding, the land deed was obtained by a wealthy merchant for eight hundred thousand. Getting that deed made the man extremely excited; it was estimated that he had made a profit.

Following the end of the two rounds of bidding, three more auctions were conducted in succession. Although the items were very novel, there were none that Long Chen was interested in.

But by the sixth round, to Long Chen's surprise, the auction item was actually a living creature.

In the middle of a square cage was a small tiger cub, looking over five feet long. However, its fur was brand new, obviously born not long ago, its eyes just opened, and it looked very cute.

"Second-rank Demonic Beast, Golden-Spotted Tiger. It has unique golden stripes on its body, and the color will become more vibrant when it grows up.

Moreover, as everyone knows, the Golden-Spotted Tiger is the easiest Demonic Beast to tame among second-rank Demonic Beasts. That is to say, even a person without any cultivation can control it.

The Golden-Spotted Tiger only mates five times in its life, so this cub is very precious. Everyone, please cherish the opportunity.

The Golden-Spotted Tiger cub, starting bid five hundred thousand gold coins. The bidding—begins."

As Yao Niqian's voice fell, the whole arena suddenly boiled over, with shouting voices rising one after another.

"Six hundred thousand."

"Eight hundred thousand."

"One million one hundred thousand."

That was a cub of a second-rank Demonic Beast. Once raised, it would be equivalent to an expert at the Blood Condensation Realm, and its combat power would be even more terrifying than an average Blood Condensation Realm expert. Who wouldn't be tempted?

"Damn, I really want to get one. It's a pity that this will inevitably be a sky-high price," Shi Feng rarely cursed, but this time he couldn't help it. The Golden-Spotted Tiger was simply too tempting.

Let alone Shi Feng, even Long Chen couldn't help but be moved. He had especially envied Meng Qi's Demonic Beast back then. Although he wasn't a Beast Tamer, as long as he fostered the Demonic Beast's trust, he could equally drive the Demonic Beast to fight.

Seeing that the price had already broken through to one million five hundred thousand, Long Chen suddenly shouted:

"Three million."

Long Chen doubled the price all at once, causing many people to choke. The price of three million made many people shy away, and the whole arena fell into silence.

Long Chen couldn't help but be overjoyed. If it went on like this, I'm afraid three million wouldn't stop it. Now that he had raised it all at once, he should be able to take it.

"Three million one hundred thousand."

Just as Long Chen thought he could take the Golden-Spotted Tiger cub into his possession, a woman's voice filled with hatred came.