End of the Magic Era
chapter-38

After Cadgar announced that the next item was the Red Flame Fish Oil, Lin Yun suddenly became lively. In fact, it wasn't just Lin Yun; the eyes of the numerous alchemists of the venue instantly fell upon that small glass bottle. The bottle on the auction stand was the size of a person's thumb and was filled with a red liquid. This was the rumored Red Flame Fish Oil.

The Red Flame Fish Oil didn't add any special effects, but it could neutralize the negative reactions between all kinds of materials. This was something of incalculable value to any alchemist. A peak Alchemist could rely on a bottle of Red Flame Fish Oil to compound a potion of the Great Alchemist rank, while a peak Great Alchemist could even touch the realm of a Master Alchemist with a bottle of Red Flame Fish Oil.

This was like raising the best potion one could make by an entire rank!

Moreover, Red Flame Fish Oil was extremely rare on the market. Even an event like the Black Horn Auction hadn't seen the slightest shadow of Red Flame Fish Oil for several years.

Nothing could be done about it, as Red Flame Fish could only be found in the sea neighboring Spark Island. This wasn't a place one could casually visit, as there would frequently be King Level Sea Beasts roaming the place. If an ordinary mercenary group entered that part of the sea, they would probably be swallowed by a frightening Sea Beast within a few minutes. Without one or two powerful High Mages to keep watch, they simply couldn't go there, and if insisted on going anyways, they would be throwing their lives away.

Furthermore, the Red Flame Fish wasn't easy to handle either. They had no fighting strength, but they naturally had extremely high temperatures and always moved in groups, often numbering in the thousands. When they swam together, the entire area around them would be constantly boiling and even many frightening King Level Sea Beasts weren't willing to appear in front of them.

A group of Red Flame Fish swimming through the vast sea, causing the water to boil wherever they went... No matter how powerful a fleet was, in front of this terrifying power, they might have trouble just surviving.

The one who procured this small bottle of Red Flame Fish Oil had likely suffered great difficulties in procuring it.

The alchemists in the venue instantly sank into a fanatical state once this bottle of Red Flame Fish Oil appeared in the auction.

Cadgar had yet to declare the starting price when a middle-aged alchemist called out his bid of one hundred thousand gold.

"Hey, Alchemist Mana, you are a bit too anxious…" Cadgar rubbed his forehead, not knowing whether to laugh or cry at the alchemist's reaction.

"I can't do anything about it, all my liquid assets add up to a total of a hundred thousand gold. I can't compete with others, so I might as well call the first price to get over it…" This middle-aged man named Mana had a pretty good attitude, and following Cadgar's teasing, he actually pointed at the rest of the venue and smiled bitterly, somewhat easing the tension brought by the Red Flame Fish Oil.

"Haha, very well. Since Alchemist Mana already made an offer, then the starting price of this bottle of Red Flame Fish Oil will be one hundred thousand gold, and the minimum bid increment will be ten thousand."

"One hundred fifty thousand gold."

"One hundred seventy thousand."

"Two hundred thousand gold..."

...

Cadgar had barely finished his sentence when voices began calling out their bids. The relatively poor Alchemist Mana truly didn't have the chance to bid.

Lin Yun knew that he wouldn't get this one without spending a large amount.

"Three hundred thousand gold." Just as Lin Yun was hesitating on whether he should bid early or wait, Monchi announced a new price.

Lin Yun closed his mouth.

'Good, even the Monchi Family wants this item. It seems that this Red Flame Fish Oil truly won't be sold for a low price.'

Lin Yun's guess was right. Monchi's bid couldn't quell the fervor of the many alchemists, as it was immediately followed by a bid of four hundred fifty thousand. The jump in price was crazily high.

"700 000 gold."

When Monchi increased the price to 700 000, the enthusiasm of the alchemists began to cool down. That price was truly a bit too high, and many of the alchemists who had just wanted to try putting in a bid were eliminated at this point. The only ones left that could participate were a few Great Alchemists.

Because the average alchemist couldn't afford this kind of money, even if this bottle of Red Flame Fish Oil could let them compound a potion that exceeded their level, it would only be a Great Alchemist level potion. Such a potion wouldn't sell for enough to warrant such a high price.

But if it was for a Master level potion, this bottle of Red Flame Fish Potion could still be considered a decent investment at its current price.

Obviously, Monchi was very pleased with the price he had quoted. After the venue calmed down, Monchi slowly sat down at his seat, faintly leaning toward the back of his chair and smiling as if everything was going as planned.

But that smile didn't last long as the young Mage sitting not far from him stood up.

"800 000 gold."

The smile on Monchi's face became strange.

Monchi had considered many possible turns that the bidding war could have taken, such as the Great Alchemist of the Silver Moon Mercenaries bidding against him, or Solomon deciding to join in, or Thorpe wishing to acquire it. He'd even considered the possibility that Cadgar would personally try to bid, but Monchi definitely hadn't thought that after his bid of 700 000 gold, the young Merlin would place the next bid.

This was 800 000 gold after all, not 80 000 gold or 8000 gold!

A few months ago, that young Merlin couldn't even pay the debt to his uncle and had almost been forced to give up his house. How could he suddenly place a bid of 800 000 gold now?

'What's going on?'

Monchi couldn't make sense of this. 'Did I guess wrong? Was that Merlin brat not backed up by Faleau of the Black Horn Auction? It might really be the case…'

He glanced around the box again and noted, 'Mafa Merlin is clearly sitting next to Solomon while Faleau was sitting with Solon. This obviously shows his status relative to the others here. In this box, Solomon and Merlin have far higher status than Solon and Faleau.'

'What's more, even if Faleau is thought highly of by Cadgar, he definitely can't take out a huge sum of 800 000 gold. This Mafa Merlin definitely has another source of funding.'

'But if it's not Faleau, who is it? Solomon?'

At this point, Monchi gave Solomon a suspicious glance.

Solomon grinned as he noticed the strange look, but simply turned a blind eye.

This time, Solomon's mood was actually quite good, especially when he saw Monchi's puzzled expression.

"850 000 gold." Monchi was thinking, but unfortunately, the auction wouldn't wait, so he had no choice but to make a new bid after some hesitation.

This was a price that was already painful to Monchi. The Twin Moons chamber of commerce was extremely rich in Thousand Sails City, and their wealth couldn't be easily challenged. But paying so much for a bottle of Red Flame Fish Oil couldn't but make him feel bad.

And without giving him any time to feel better, that wretched Merlin's voice echoed again.

"900 000 gold."

Monchi frowned and stared at Lin Yun for a while before asking in a cold voice, "It seems that Mage Merlin is quite interested in this bottle of Red Flame Fish Oil?"

"It's not bad," Lin Yun calmly said while thinking, 'You two old foxes have been acting for a while, shouldn't it be my turn now?'

When he heard Lin Yun's nonchalant answer, Monchi frowned, and a twitching vein could be seen on his forehead.

But regardless of what happened, the competition for the Red Flame Fish Oil would continue, as this was something that the Great Alchemist of his family wanted.

"950 000 gold," Monchi bid. Every syllable gave him the urge to spit blood.

"1 000 000 gold."

But immediately, another bid was made. And it still came from the young Mage next to him. Monchi couldn't accept this. Monchi very much wanted to ask, 'Isn't your Flashing Gold chamber of commerce nearly bankrupt, how could you act so improper at an auction? It would be fine if it was others, but how could you do this to me, the family head of the Monchi Family!'

"1 100 000 golds!" Monchi clenched his teeth and added another hundred thousand gold to the bid, hoping that it would scare away that wretched Mafa Merlin.

But...

"1 200 000 gold."

"..." Monchi's face was already pale. He looked at Lin Yun with murder in his eyes. His next words didn't contain the slightest hint of hypocritical courtesy, only dripping unconcealed hostility. "Mage Merlin, going against the Monchi Family isn't a wise decision."

"Haha, the weather is pretty good today."

"Good, good, good…" Monchi muttered three times in a row and suddenly stood up, before taking Mason and leaving the Sage Tower's box. He didn't even bid farewell to Solomon on his way out.

"President Monchi's poise is truly…" Looking at Monchi's retreating back, Lin Yun made a sneering comment but trailed off.

"Haha…" Solomon smiled, not denying his words, yet not agreeing.

In fact, the doubt in Solomon's heart wasn't inferior to Monchi's.