Chapter 160: The Auction Begins

He struggled to stand, finally succeeding after several attempts.

He was a miserable sight, his clothes in tatters, a far cry from his usual suave demeanor.

He was really cured! The surrounding crowd was utterly shocked.

Zhao Yang had cured an illness that Shi Huiguang could not.

What did this prove? That Zhao Yang was far more skilled than Shi Huiguang!

Shi Huiguang roared in anger, "Impossible! Even I couldn't cure him, so how could you possibly succeed? There must be some trickery involved! Some trickery!"

But he was a washed-up influencer now; no one paid him any attention.

No matter how you spun it, it was Divine Doctor Zhao who had cured Qi Shengyang. If Shi Huiguang was so capable, he should have done it himself.

All this shouting was just a pathetic attempt to save face, and it was an ugly sight.

And here he was, a supposed renowned doctor of his generation, thinking he could replace Zhao Yang.

Not a chance.

'You, Zhao, just you wait! You'll be crying soon enough!'

'The Bai Family is still around. The moment you leave this manor will be the moment your head rolls!'

Having lost all face, Shi Huiguang hurried away.

Mu Lin glanced at Qi Shengyang, who was staring at him fearfully.

"Why aren't you leaving yet? Haven't had enough pain?"

Qi Shengyang hastily waved his hands. "You really cured it for good, right? If the pain comes back, I'll have no one to turn to!"

Mu Lin sneered. "As long as you stop causing trouble, I guarantee you won't be in pain again."

Qi Shengyang let out a long sigh of relief at his words. But then he saw Zhao Ling'Er, and a flicker of resentment crossed his mind.

Zhao Ling'Er raised her chin, revealing her long, slender white neck and delicate collarbones.

Qi Shengyang sighed and turned to leave.

As he walked away, he was already plotting how to deal with Mu Lin.

'The only one backing Zhao Yang and Zhao Ling'Er is Mu Lin.'

'So if I just get him killed, the problem's solved, right?'

'The old saying goes, the higher you climb, the harder you fall.'

'Zhao Ling'Er must be so proud, thinking she's finally found someone to rely on.'

'Once I've taken care of Mu Lin, she'll be isolated and helpless. She'll be so utterly lost.'

'That's when I'll make my move and reclaim my dignity.'

The more he thought, the brighter Qi Shengyang's eyes became.

After the commotion died down, the surrounding people all crowded over.

Entering in an orderly fashion wasn't important. After all, seats were assigned by number, so there was no need to rush.

But building a good relationship with a Divine Doctor like Zhao Yang was a real, tangible benefit.

Even Mu Lin had several people trying to recruit him, offering him positions as a technical director.

Mu Lin cheerfully refused. If he wanted a position, he had the offer of Vice President from Qiao Canhua, which was much more impressive than some technical director.

After all, Qiao Canhua had promised that the VP position would always be open for him.

Even Ding Xiangyang ran up to Mu Lin and handed him a business card. "Mu Xiaoyou, are you looking for a good job? That move you pulled just now was incredible! I'm thoroughly impressed!"

Mu Lin took the business card and raised his eyebrows. "Not interested."

Ding Xiangyang was the type to kiss up and kick down, and Mu Lin really couldn't bring himself to like the man.

After this burst of excitement, the crowd finally began to enter the venue.

Mu Lin and his group found their seats. Each number corresponded to a block of ten, so they had plenty of empty seats to themselves.

It was quite comfortable.

The auction was held in a converted stadium. Upstairs, there were private booths fitted with one-way mirrors, making it impossible to see what was happening inside.

Mu Lin felt waves of powerful auras.

It wasn't enough to frighten him, but it did surprise him.

'There are over a dozen on the same level as Liu Yiming, making up more than half of the powerful people here.'

'That old geezer was right... This world is full of crouching tigers and hidden dragons. It's best to keep a low profile.'

'If I act too flashy and displease some old monster, it could cause big trouble.'

"Elder Zhao, what are those mysterious private booths upstairs for?"

Zhao Yang raised his eyebrows. "They're mysterious for a reason. Those are for big shots who can't show their faces in public. If they were to appear openly, it would likely cause a huge uproar."

Mu Lin slowly nodded. "I see. Good to know."

Zhao Yang said, "I don't necessarily know a great deal about these things myself. It's just that when you've been in the Jianghu for a long time, you naturally learn a thing or two."

GONG!

A melodious gong announced the official start of the auction.

A woman with a graceful figure and a sexy outfit walked onto the stage.

"Hello everyone, my name is Jiang Lan!"

"Hidden Sword Manor is greatly honored by everyone's presence," Jiang Lan said slowly. "After six months of careful collection and selection, this auction features over a hundred lots. The catalog should have been sent to you all already—otherwise, I doubt any of my friends here would come to an auction just to watch for fun."

Jiang Lan's witty and humorous speech drew waves of laughter from the audience.

Most importantly, she was beautiful, which made the audience more forgiving. Had an ordinary person said such things, they would have been booed off stage.

"Alright, without further ado, the auction will begin now!"

"Next, I will introduce the first item..."

Lots were brought up one after another, and under Jiang Lan's introductions, which seemed to hold some kind of Magic Power, bidders flocked like clouds.

From Mu Lin's perspective, however, they were all rather lacking.

"It's all run-of-the-mill stuff, just selling for their age," Mu Lin muttered. "Elder Zhao, if you see anything you like, let me know, and I'll buy it for you!"

Zhao Yang had no interest in antiques. "No thanks. Anyone who wants this stuff can have it. But if there are any ancient medical texts, it might be worth getting them."

Mu Lin nodded. "That's easy."

Unfortunately, there was nothing of the sort among the auction items, so Mu Lin couldn't spend his money even if he wanted to.

The auction reached a new section, and Jiang Lan smiled. "Everyone here is a person of the Jianghu, and many are surely people of the Martial Dao. You must have found the antiques and curios just now terribly boring, didn't you?"

A few scattered voices of agreement came from the audience.

Jiang Lan smiled. "Now, we come to the exciting part! The Spirit Medicines in this auction have all been painstakingly collected by Hidden Sword Manor. Some were even brought back by the Manor Master himself from forbidden lands, and are incredibly precious!"

Mu Lin couldn't be bothered with this. All he wanted was the Vermilion Fruit. The other items weren't particularly rare to him.

'Of course, if something useful comes up, it wouldn't hurt to get it.'

Divine Doctor Zhao said to Mu Lin, "Mu Xiaoyou, pay attention. It's starting!"

Zhao Ling'Er also picked up the auction catalog on the table and flipped to the Spirit Medicine section.

She took one look and exclaimed, "Good heavens, these are all legendary Spirit Medicines!"

Divine Doctor Zhao tapped Zhao Ling'Er on the head. "Isn't that obvious? But just like antiques, Spirit Medicines are also graded. Different qualities have different levels of preciousness."

"The truly top-grade, legendary items are definitely the exclusive treasures of the major powers and would never be shown to the public. Only these ones of average quality have a chance of being seen by outsiders."

"However, for those who need them, they are things worth going to incredible lengths for, even resorting to violence."

Zhao Ling'Er slowly nodded. This was the first time she had heard about these underhanded details.

She scanned the list, her eyes lit up, and she grabbed Mu Lin's hand. "Brother Mu, look at this! The Vermilion Fruit! It's really here!"

Mu Lin thought, 'Didn't Uncle Zhou already tell us? What's all the fuss about?' But when he read the description, his expression became conflicted.

One Vermilion Fruit, top grade, picked by the Manor Master of Hidden Sword Manor from the Ten Thousand Ridges Forbidden Land, with extraordinary effects.

'Only one, and it comes with the Manor Master's name attached as a selling point. The bidding is going to be fierce.'

But for now, Jiang Lan had already finished her introduction and started the next round of bidding.

Jiang Lan opened the first glass case. Inside was a bottle containing a liter of pitch-black liquid.

"One liter of Celestial Demon Blood, starting price five hundred thousand!"

Immediately, someone bid, "Six hundred thousand!"

"Seven hundred thousand!"

Zhao Ling'Er was puzzled. "Grandpa, what is this Celestial Demon Blood? Are gods and demons real?"

Zhao Yang lowered his voice. "You have that stuff every month!"

Zhao Ling'Er's face immediately turned red. She instantly knew what it was.

"People sell this kind of stuff?"

Zhao Yang said, "Its value lies in the fact that it's all from virgins, not to mention the cost of collecting such a large quantity. Think about it, how much do you produce each time? How many women do you think this represents?"

Zhao Ling'Er thought, 'That's terrifying. Every time I change a sanitary napkin, I could be losing several thousand dollars.'

But that was just a passing thought. There was no way she would ever be willing to sell something so private.

'So embarrassing!'

In the end, the liter of Celestial Demon Blood was sold to an unknown person for a whopping 1.8 million.

It was an astronomical price.