"Hmph, trying to use the same trick twice? That's treating us like we're not even human. I bid 110,000 gold coins!"
"Exactly! I'll bid 120,000 gold coins!"
"130,000!"
"150,000!"
"180,000!"
...
Following the first person to speak, everyone else instantly entered bidding mode. Before long, this second group of ten bottles of Foundation Building Elixir had already reached the price of 180,000 gold coins.
This was already more than half as expensive as the group Xiao Lin had just bid for!
However, the upward trend of the price showed no signs of stopping.
"200,000 gold coins!"
Xiao Lin placed another bid at this time.
"220,000 gold coins!"
It was unclear if Xiao Lin's earlier success in taking the first group for 100,000 had drawn some resentment, but the moment he spoke this time, someone immediately raised the price. Yet, that was not the end.
"250,000 gold coins!"
The person in VIP Private Room No. 2 spoke up now, raising the price to 250,000 in one go.
At this point, the bidders began to stop one by one. After all, normally speaking, ten bottles of Foundation Building Elixir were worth this much at most. If they went higher, it wasn't that the others lacked the money, but it would be too wasteful.
Even though the Foundation Building Elixir was comparable to a Tier 4 pill in terms of preciousness, it was ultimately just Tier 2. Therefore, after the person in VIP Private Room No. 2 spoke, the others fell silent as well.
Even Xiao Lin had no intention of continuing to bid. It wasn't that he didn't want to take this second group of ten bottles; for his son, let alone a mere 250,000, Xiao Lin wouldn't even blink at 2,500,000.
However, the identity of the person in VIP Private Room No. 2 was somewhat special. Xiao Lin didn't want his bidding to cause the other party to harbor any resentment toward the Xiao Clan. As for the identity of the person in VIP Private Room No. 2?
That was naturally the ruler of the Jia Ma Empire—the Imperial Family!
Think about it: the Xiao Clan still had to survive in the Jia Ma Imperial Capital; offending the Imperial Family offered no benefits whatsoever!
While the Imperial Family might not harbor resentment just because of a bid, it was extremely unwise to let the current Xiao Clan offend them even if there was only a sliver of a possibility.
Unless one day Xiao Lin no longer wanted to pretend and directly showed his hand regarding his own strength, then he truly wouldn't need to care about the Jia Ma Imperial Family.
But would Xiao Lin do that now? The answer was clearly no.
Of course, the most important reason was that Xiao Lin had already successfully "stolen the win" on the first group of ten bottles. At this moment, there was no need to risk offending the Jia Ma Imperial Family to fight over the second group.
In the end, this second group of ten bottles of Foundation Building Elixir smoothly fell into the hands of the Jia Ma Imperial Family. However, the closing price was more than double that of the first group!
Although the Imperial Family didn't care much about this amount of money, outsiders still sighed in amazement.
Next, the third group of ten bottles of Foundation Building Elixir began its auction.
During this period, Xiao Lin bid twice or thrice again. However, with the Yun Lan Sect joining the fray, this third group finally landed in the hands of Yun Shan. The closing price for this third group was 270,000 gold coins!
One could say that the closing price for these three groups was higher every single time!
Similarly, the reason Xiao Lin didn't fight to the end for the third group was because the Yun Lan Sect had stepped in. As everyone knows, to survive in the Jia Ma Empire, there are two factions you cannot offend: the first is the Jia Ma Imperial Family, and the second is the Yun Lan Sect.
Thus, when these two entered the bidding, the other forces chose to avoid their edge, let alone Xiao Lin and the Xiao Clan behind him. Of course, this only applied when the price of the auctioned item had already exceeded its upper limit; only then would others show such respect.
Otherwise, if you tried to bid at the base price and forced others not to compete, you would be offending everyone! Neither the Jia Ma Imperial Family nor the Yun Lan Sect would be so foolish.
As for why the Alchemist Association did not participate in the bidding for these three groups of Foundation Building Elixir.
It was because those items were provided by the Alchemist Association to the Mittel Clan for auction in the first place—why on earth would they bid on their own stuff!
Therefore, although Xiao Lin felt it was a bit of a pity not to win the remaining bottles, he was still satisfied. After all, besides the Jia Ma Imperial Family and the Yun Lan Sect, he was the only one who had successfully bid for ten bottles, and at a price far lower than the other two factions.
What did he have to complain about?
"Alchemists... truly an enviable profession. Selling medicine is simply pure profit! It's a pity I don't meet the requirements to become an Alchemist."
"It seems that before my grandson rises to prominence, I must consider cultivating or recruiting a few Alchemists for the Xiao Clan. Otherwise, the Xiao Clan's expenditure on medicinal pills is simply too high!"
This was the thought that arose in Xiao Lin's mind after the third group of ten bottles was taken by Yun Shan of the Yun Lan Sect.
One must know that Xiao Lin's own Dou Qi attribute was Earth. To become an Alchemist, one needs a special Dou Qi attribute: Fire with a hint of Wood, and the Fire attribute must be stronger than the Wood attribute. Those are the conditions for becoming an Alchemist!
Clearly, Xiao Lin did not possess them. Previously, the Xiao Clan was not a Dou Wang level clan, and the resources they possessed naturally couldn't sustain an Alchemist. But things were different now.
After becoming a Dou Wang clan, recruiting some Tier 2 or Tier 3 Alchemists was actually achievable. Of course, in Xiao Lin's mind, the best choice was actually to cultivate someone from the Xiao Clan to become an Alchemist.
After all, one's own people are more reliable. Thinking of this, Xiao Lin had already made a decision. However, because the auction was still ongoing, he temporarily suppressed this idea in the depths of his heart.
Next, various cultivation techniques, Dou Techniques, medicinal pills, herbs, remnant maps, pill formulas, weapons, and equipment were auctioned off one after another.
During this time, Xiao Ze took a liking to a long spear.
In the end, Xiao Lin spent 70,000 gold coins to win it for him. After receiving the spear, Xiao Ze hugged it in his arms, unable to put it down. Looking at him, Xiao Lin estimated that Xiao Ze would probably sleep while hugging that spear tonight!
After Xiao Ze obtained his desired item, only the last one, Xiao Yi, had not yet acquired what he wanted. However, Xiao Yi himself was not in a hurry. Because Xiao Lin had already shown him the auction list, he naturally already knew what he wanted.
It was just that the item had not yet come up for bidding.
Finally, Xiao Yi's desired item arrived: a precious herb used for body tempering!
That's right, Xiao Yi followed the path of Body Tempering.
Xiao Lin spent about 130,000 gold coins to secure this herb. At this point, Xiao Ze, Xiao Zhen, and Xiao Yi had all realized their wishes!