"Hehe, since no one wants to speak first, I'll start. 110,000!"
After a period of silence, a voice finally rang out from VIP Private Room No. 10.
As for who was inside that room, Xiao Lin didn't actually know them.
Furthermore, he had no intention of bidding on this Mid-Level Xuan Grade cultivation technique that so many others seemed determined to get. After all, he was currently practicing a Mid-Level Earth Grade cultivation technique himself—why would he need a Xuan Grade one?
Besides, this cultivation technique called the Water Transformation Spiritual Manual was clearly a Water-attribute technique, which didn't suit him at all. As for the members of the Xiao Clan, they similarly had no need for this Mid-Level Xuan Grade cultivation technique.
Don't forget, after exposing Intel Mo Ya's treasonous plot, the Jia Ma Imperial Family had already rewarded the Xiao Clan with a Mid-Level Xuan Grade cultivation technique.
Additionally, when the Xiao, Nalan, and Mu Clans split the assets of the Yinter Clan, they had obtained another Mid-Level Xuan Grade cultivation technique. Therefore, to the Xiao Clan, this manual was merely something to add to their collection at best; it wasn't a necessity.
The same applied to the Nalan and Mu Clans.
This was even truer for giants like the Jia Ma Imperial Family and the Yun Lan Sect, who looked down even more on a single Mid-Level Xuan Grade cultivation technique. At this moment, most of the people participating in the bidding were members of various Dou Ling clans.
Regarding this, Xiao Lin and the four members of the Xiao Clan were purely watching for the entertainment.
"120,000!"
At this time, someone else placed a bid.
"Tch, adding 10,000 at a time, how long is this going to take? I bid 150,000!"
This time, someone instantly raised the price by 30,000 gold coins. However, even this failed to scare off those who wanted to fight for this Mid-Level Xuan Grade cultivation technique.
"Since you've put it that way, I'll go straight to 200,000."
The person in VIP Private Room No. 12 also spoke up.
"Why are you young people in such a hurry? Then I'll bid 210,000."
This time, the price was called by someone down in the main auction hall.
"Stop dawdling, 250,000!"
"260,000!"
"300,000!"
"350,000!"
...
Quickly, the price of this Mid-Level Xuan Grade cultivation technique had doubled, breaking through the 350,000 mark. By this point, many people with insufficient financial resources had already given up the fight.
"360,000!"
"370,000!"
"I bid 400,000! If any of you can exceed that, I won't follow anymore!"
In the end, only the occupants of Room No. 10, Room No. 12, and one person in the hall below were still bidding. This final 400,000 was called out by the man in the hall.
Clearly, by holding on until now, his finances had reached their limit.
Although he could technically continue for another 100,000 or so, this was only the first item; there was truly no need to dump his entire net worth into it. That would be too desperate. So, at this stage, he was prepared to stop.
Even though he still coveted this Mid-Level Xuan Grade cultivation technique, he couldn't go so far as to sell everything he owned just to keep up!
"410,000!"
When this number echoed from VIP Private Room No. 10, the man in the hall below let out a helpless sigh. Just as he said, if someone continued, he wouldn't be able to handle it.
"450,000!"
However, this wasn't the end. When the occupant of VIP Private Room No. 12 shouted this price, the person in Room No. 10 also fell silent.
Clearly, they weren't planning to follow anymore either. Being able to raise the price by 40,000 in one go at the very end showed that the opponent was absolutely determined to get this Mid-Level Xuan Grade cultivation technique.
Although the person in Room 10 still had the strength to raise the price, it really wasn't necessary. Aside from the high probability that the opponent would just keep adding more, if he fought them to the bitter end, he would clearly be offending them to death. It just wasn't worth it!
Since the other party occupied a private room, regardless of how they got it, they were clearly someone of status. There was no need to completely offend such a person over a Mid-Level Xuan Grade cultivation technique.
Therefore, even though the person in Room 10 really wanted the manual, they ultimately chose to give up.
"Alright, the honored guest in Room 12 bids 450,000 gold coins. Is there anyone willing to offer a higher price?"
Seeing the scene fall silent for about ten seconds, the auctioneer, Mittel Tengshan, knew that there was a high probability no one would continue the chase, so he spoke up.
Another ten seconds passed, and Mittel Tengshan struck his small wooden gavel for the first time, saying: "450,000 gold coins going once!"
Bang.
Another five seconds passed.
Bang!
"450,000 gold coins going twice!"
Then, another five seconds.
Bang.
"450,000 gold coins going thrice! Congratulations to the honored guest in Room 12 for successfully bidding 450,000 gold coins to obtain the first item of this auction, the Mid-Level Xuan Grade cultivation technique—Water Transformation Spiritual Manual!"
With that, the first item of the auction was successfully sold. Soon, the manual was delivered to VIP Private Room No. 12. Taking the opportunity, Xiao Lin swept his Heaven Realm soul power across Room 12.
"A peak Nine-Star Dou Ling, and with Water-attribute Dou Qi as well. No wonder they wanted to win this Mid-Level Xuan Grade Water-attribute cultivation technique regardless of the cost."
After clarifying the situation of the person in Room 12, a look of realization appeared on Xiao Lin's face. Clearly, the person in VIP Room 12 was preparing for a breakthrough to Dou Wang. Once he figured this out, Xiao Lin stopped paying attention to them.
At the same time, the second auction item was quickly brought onto the stage.
"Alright, next is the second item: a Mid-Level Xuan Grade Dou Technique—Vigorous Thunder Force. The starting price is 30,000 gold coins!"
Although this second item couldn't compare to the first, it was still decent.
Consequently, people quickly began raising the price. In the end, this Mid-Level Xuan Grade Dou Technique was taken for 150,000. This fit the price-to-performance ratio most people recognized for cultivation techniques versus Dou Techniques of the same level, which was roughly 3 to 1.
Similarly, neither Xiao Lin nor the Xiao Clan had any need for a Mid-Level Xuan Grade Dou Technique. The ones fighting for it were still those at the Dou Ling level and below.
Following that, several more items were auctioned off in succession. Among them were cultivation techniques, Dou Techniques, medicinal pills, various precious medicinal herbs, and even intelligence reports and treasure maps of unknown authenticity.
During this period, Xiao Lin only placed bids when medicinal pills or precious herbs appeared.
While he didn't win every single item he bid on, he still managed to buy several things he liked that could be used to improve the clan's strength. Among them, Xiao Zhen took a liking to a Tier 4 pill, and Xiao Lin casually spent several tens of thousands of gold coins to bid for it.
With the Xiao Clan's current wealth, this small amount of money was like a drop in the bucket; after all, the current Xiao Clan hadn't yet fallen to the low point seen at the start of the original story. If a Dou Wang clan couldn't even produce this much money, they would be laughed to death.
Xiao Zhen was excited for a long time after receiving the pill. Although Xiao Ze and Xiao Yi were envious, they slowly calmed down when they remembered they would also get to bid on an item.
The auction continued, and soon, an item appeared that Xiao Lin had been determined to get since he first saw the auction list—Foundation Building Elixir!
Or rather, for Xiao Lin, other things in this auction were secondary. The Foundation Building Elixir was one of the two items he absolutely had to obtain!