King of Creation
Chapter 277 - 274: Ye Zhen’s Brilliant Move (Seeking Guaranteed Monthly Votes!)

Chapter 277: Chapter 274: Ye Zhen’s Brilliant Move (Seeking Guaranteed Monthly Votes!)

"I called a halt because naturally, I intended to make a bid. I came to this auction exactly for the Spirit Storage Pill; how could I possibly let you snatch it away?"

Ye Zhen’s firm statement made Hu Shuai laugh in anger, "You want to take away the Spirit Storage Pill, then raise your bid."

At this point, Hu Shuai sneered sinisterly, "I don’t believe that after you’ve thrown out more than thirty million taels of gold, you could still compete with me for the Spirit Storage Pill? If so, many here might take an interest in you."

Upon hearing this, the corners of the mouths of the Soul Sea Realm powerhouses in the entire auction venue revealed a hint of a smile. If what Hu Shuai said was true, then perhaps some of them would don night clothes and secretly pay Ye Zhen a visit.

This was the maliciousness of Hu Shuai.

A Martial Artist at the peak of the Spirit Summoning Realm, possessing wealth that rivalled or even surpassed that of the Soul Sea Realm powerhouses, was itself a sin.

"Unfortunately, you are doomed to be disappointed. After throwing out those thirty million taels of gold, I only have a few tens of thousands of Low Grade Spirit Crystals left," Ye Zhen’s eyes also turned extremely cold; he was lucky to have been prepared today, otherwise, he really would have fallen into this guy’s trap.

"No money, then you can’t raise the bid, can you? So why did you call to stop?" saying this, Hu Shuai smiled smugly, "How is it, got tricked by me, huh? Heh heh."

"Auctioneer, since no one is raising the bid, should the Spirit Storage Pill be decided then?" turning his head, Hu Shuai urged the auctioneer.

No matter how proud he was at this moment, it was best to secure the Spirit Storage Pill first. This Spirit Storage Pill was his future and hope.

"Young Master Zheng, if you’re not raising the bid, then this Spirit Storage Pill will belong to...."

"Who said I’m not raising the bid?" Ye Zhen said.

"Hm?" Hu Shuai spun around like a whirlwind, and stared at Ye Zhen with an extremely sharp gaze, "Then go ahead and raise it! You said you only have a few tens of thousands of Low Grade Spirit Crystals left, how can you raise the bid?

You wouldn’t be foolish enough to think about sham bidding, would you?"

"I don’t have Spirit Crystals, but I have this!" A flash of light, and a parchment manual appeared in Ye Zhen’s hand, "No Spirit Crystals, but other treasures can serve as the price too!"

"A secret manual?"

Hu Shuai scoffed, "You want to use a secret manual as payment, not knowing whether it’s a Mid-grade Earth Level secret manual or an Upper-grade Earth Level one? Is it a mental method or a martial skill?"

Generally speaking, a Mid-grade Earth Level mental method secret manual is only worth between fifty to a hundred thousand Low Grade Spirit Crystals at most, even an Upper-grade Earth Level cultivation technique manual is just worth over two hundred thousand Low Grade Spirit Crystals, and that’s for a top-quality mental method."

Ye Zhen, however, ignored Hu Shuai and snapped his fingers, "Steward Gu!"

"Young Master Zheng, we have top appraisers here today. If you have a Cultivation Technique Manual or other treasures to offset the price, there are two options: one is for us to directly purchase it at market price, allowing you to continue participating in the auction.

Alternatively, hand it directly to the auctioneer and have him auction it on the spot."

The butler of the Fragrant Pill King Mansion approached Ye Zhen and said lightly, "May I know the grade of Young Master Zheng’s manual?"

"The grade, I’m not quite sure."

"Hahaha, you are not even sure of the grade, and you dare to bring it out. Are you trying to fool everyone present here?" Upon hearing Ye Zhen’s words, Hu Shuai laughed, not forgetting to further stir up enmity against Ye Zhen.

Ye Zhen, however, ignored Hu Shuai’s mockery and continued leisurely, "My manual is named the Five Poison Seal, it is a Divine Power Martial Skill. I estimate, at the very least, it should be of Heavenly Level Lower Grade...."

"Divine Power Martial...."Hu Shuai, who was laughing at Ye Zhen, suddenly froze, his mouth gaping open, instantly feeling a sense of suffocation.

The next moment, all the Soul Sea Realm powerhouses in the garden immediately stood up, even True Master Tianzhu was no exception, staring intently at the parchment manual in Ye Zhen’s hands — if glares could rob, the manual in Ye Zhen’s hands would have been flying around the sky already.

It could be said, it was already showing signs of flying.

Several of the Soul Sea Realm powerhouses staring at the Five Poison Seal manual unconsciously summoned their Divine Soul Power, causing the parchment to flutter without wind.

"Really?"

Even the butler of the Fragrant Pill King Mansion became excited.

It was because Divine Power Martial Skills were exceedingly rare.

Even for a Great Sect like Phantom Divine Sect, the Divine Power Martial Skills available for them to cultivate and choose from were very limited — currently, the Phantom Divine Sect had no more than six Divine Power Martial Skills available to Soul Sea Realm powerhouses for cultivation.

This was because the Phantom Divine Sect was the foremost sect in the Black Dragon Domain. Like the Qiyun Sect, the Sect Elders only had access to two Vital Vein Forging Divine Abilities.

Most importantly, cultivating a Divine Power Martial Skill sometimes required very rare Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures to aid in the cultivation, and if someone within the Sect chose a Divine Power Martial Skill for their training, then the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures required for that technique became very scarce.

If a second or third person also chose the same Divine Power Martial Skill for cultivation, the cultivation process would become extremely difficult and slow.

Having one more type of Divine Power Martial Skill increased the choices again—that’s different. If one can’t cultivate this Divine Power Martial Skill, they could switch to another.

The number of Divine Power Martial Skills almost serves as a marker of a sect or noble family’s strength.

Over nearly a thousand years, Phantom Divine Sect had accumulated only six Divine Power Martial Skills, not to mention some noble families or sects had only one or two Divine Soul Martial Techniques, or even none at all.

To encounter an entirely new Divine Power Secret Technique at an auction, how could they not be excited?

"You may call an appraiser to examine it! Hmm, part of it is sealed by my Spiritual Power."

"Understood, understood!"

Steward Gu busily took the Five Poison Seal manual from Ye Zhen and handed it to the appraiser. To ensure more accurate assessment, they even invited two highly respected Soul Sea Realm powerhouses to validate it.

As for the Spiritual Power Seal, it’s essentially a minor tactic to defend against the unscrupulous while not precluding the honest. Its main purpose is to hide the most crucial content when the manual is handed over for appraisal, preventing the appraiser from viewing it, being effective only in public settings.

For some Martial Artists, particularly those Soul Sea Realm Martial Artists with very strong Divine Soul Power, having a photographic memory is the most common skill.

Although Divine Soul Power could not enhance a martial artist’s intelligence, it greatly bolstered their memory. If someone could memorize the contents of a secret manual after just one glance, Ye Zhen wouldn’t need to auction off this Divine Power Secret Manual.

Of course, since Ye Zhen had decided to auction off the Divine Power Martial Skill Five Poison Seal today, he naturally had copied a version beforehand.

According to the notes of Floating Cloud Master, the Divine Power Martial Skill Five Poison Seal was extremely difficult to master. Despite Floating Cloud Master’s dedicated cultivation for over a decade, he had not succeeded. However, Ye Zhen would not forget the Qiyun Sect.

The copy of the Divine Power Martial Skill Five Poison Seal that Ye Zhen had made would eventually be contributed to the Qiyun Sect, whether anyone could successfully cultivate it or not was no longer Ye Zhen’s concern.

"Yes, it indeed is a Divine Power Martial Skill, and its grade should be Heavenly Level Lower Grade! Truly, a Divine Power Martial Skill!"

Half a quarter-hour later, the appraiser and those two Soul Sea Realm powerhouses simultaneously made their judgment.

The moment Hu Shuai heard this judgment, his face suddenly turned pale.

A Divine Power Martial Skill of Heavenly Level Lower Grade was absolutely invaluable.

But if placed at an auction, the final price certainly wouldn’t be absurd. After all, even the wealth of these Soul Sea Realm powerhouses was limited.

Three hundred thousand, perhaps four hundred thousand or even five hundred thousand Low Grade Spirit Crystals?

If it truly came to a bidding war, he might not necessarily be outbid.

The most crucial point was to see what price this Divine Power Martial Skill Five Poison Seal would fetch.

If this Five Poison Seal had appeared on the auction list in advance and some noble families or sects, or even major sect families, had come to bid, it would definitely have fetched a sky-high price.

But now, being introduced so abruptly, these Soul Sea Realm strongmen, unprepared, likely wouldn’t bid too high.

"I still have a chance!"

After calculating briefly, Hu Shuai’s expression became even more stern.

"If you’re going to auction, then do it quickly. Let’s fight over it after the auction, don’t delay me from getting the Spirit Storage Pill!" Hu Shuai urged.

However, Butler Gu from the Fragrant Pill King Mansion seemed a bit troubled.

"Young Master Zheng, to tell you the truth, this Divine Power Martial Skill Five Poison Seal is very precious, and its exact value is also beyond our estimation, it can only be auctioned. But if the auction is rushed now, it might not fetch an ideal price, maybe even a low one!"

Hearing Butler Gu’s words, Hu Shuai laughed, it was exactly as he had imagined.

This item, had it been advertised even a day beforehand, not to mention three, could have fetched an extremely high price, possibly a million Low Grade Spirit Crystals, but now...

"Heh, Butler Gu, I wasn’t planning to auction it at all!"

"Not planning to auction it?" Butler Gu furrowed his brows, his expression becoming somewhat displeased. Was this Young Master Zheng trying to fool them?

"Yes, I wasn’t planning to auction. I only intend to trade!"

As he spoke, Ye Zhen raised the sheepskin secret manual of the Divine Power Martial Skill Five Poison Seal in his hand, "The primary purpose for my presence here is to acquire a Spirit Storage Pill to break through to the Spirit Transformation Realm.

Today, I am offering up this accidentally acquired Divine Power Martial Skill Five Poison Seal with only one request, whichever senior can help me bid for the Spirit Storage Pill can trade it for this Divine Power Martial Skill Five Poison Seal!"

Butler Gu was stunned!

The various Soul Sea Realm powerhouses in the garden were also stunned.

Hu Shuai paused for a moment, his face turning utterly pale in an instant.

If Ye Zhen had auctioned the Divine Power Martial Skill Five Poison Seal first and then used the earnings to bid for the Spirit Storage Pill, his chances of winning the Spirit Storage Pill in the bidding war would have been very high.

But now, with Ye Zhen merely trading the Five Poison Seal for the Spirit Storage Pill, although the essence of the transaction hadn’t changed, the method had! The change of method turned Hu Shuai’s competitors into these immense Soul Sea Realm figures.

From the fervent expressions in those Soul Sea Realm figures’ eyes, it was clear they were determined to bid for and trade the Spirit Storage Pill for the Five Poison Seal. The energy and reputation these Soul Sea Realm figures held were undoubtedly beyond his comparison.

One thing was clear to Hu Shuai: if these powerful Soul Sea Realm figures, even if not having many Spirit Crystals in their pockets, still happened to bid a heaven-high price and won the Spirit Storage Pill, the Fragrant Pill King Mansion would never suspect them of fraudulent bidding.

Because the reputation of today’s entering Soul Sea Realm powerhouses was their asset!

If Ye Zhen were to auction the Five Poison Seal, the Spirit Crystals would be paid to Ye Zhen in actual money, their reputation wouldn’t matter.

But at their old friend Fragrant Pill King’s place, they could pay by face!

Pay first, settle later!

But he, Hu Shuai, Young Master Hu did not have that kind of influence!

"To trade for the Spirit Storage Pill with the Five Poison Seal, well, I bid three hundred thousand Low Grade Spirit Crystals for the Spirit Storage Pill!"

"Hmph, Linglong Old Demon, you bid three hundred thousand, I’ll bid four hundred thousand Low Grade Spirit Crystals!"

"I’m here too, four hundred and fifty thousand!"

"Five hundred thousand!"

"Six hundred thousand..."

Listening to the wave after wave of rising bids, Hu Shuai suddenly realized that this auction for the Spirit Storage Pill suddenly had nothing to do with him, who was absolutely determined to acquire it...

His eyes instantly filled with deep resentment! (To be continued. If you like this series, welcome to visit qidian.com to cast a vote of recommendation, monthly ticket, and your support will be my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)