Martial Universe (Wu Dong Qian Kun)
chapter-244

“Oh?”

At Little Marten’s sudden words, Lin Dong was a little taken aback, and soon after, he concentrated on the old yellow praying mat. If this praying mat truly only possessed some Mental Energy nourishing ability, it would definitely not be worth forty thousand Pure Yuan pills. Yet, from the fact that the auctioneer had given such a high starting bid showed that although the appraisal expert from the Martial Alliance were not completely sure about the mysteries of this praying mat, they sensed that this praying mat indeed had its unique points, and hence, gave such a starting price.

Therefore, bidding for this praying mat was a little similar to a gamble, if one was lucky and discovered that this praying mat had other abilities, he would have won, but if one did not, then it would be a huge loss.

Thus, after hearing Little Marten’s words, Lin Dong hesitated for a moment in his heart, however, in the end, the trust he had in the former gained the upper hand. Although this guy was not too reliable at times, at the crucial moment, it was trustworthy to a certain degree.

This so-called Spirit Accumulation Praying Mat clearly drew some whispers in the auction area. Lin Dong could feel countless Mental Energy probes spreading out, sweeping over the praying mat, trying to discover if there were any mysteries in this item. To think that it started at such a price, however, one did not know if this was due to some special point of the praying mat. Hence, some people tried their means to probe it, yet, these Mental Energy probes were unable to achieve much effect like Lin Dong.

“Forty one thousand Pure Yuan pills!”

The whispers in the area did not last for long, before someone did a probing bid, evidently trying his luck. Although forty thousand Pure Yuan pills was not a small sum, the people who could take out such a sum here was not few.

“Forty three thousand!”

“Forty five thousand!”

“……”

With someone to start the bid, others immediately followed. However, they did not raise the price especially high. Evidently, they were a little apprehensive of the unclear effects of this praying mat.

While the price was going up in such a way, the bidding for the praying mat gradually reached fifty thousand Pure Yuan pills, and following this, the bidders became much more cautious.

“Sixty thousand Pure Yuan pills.”

When the bidding became sparse, a soft and indifferent voice suddenly rang out, immediately causing some of the interested contestants to be suppressed. As they looked towards the source of the voice, they found that this bidder was actually the Ghastly Puppet Cult’s Hua Zong, who was seated at the very front.

Upon seeing this rich master make his move, many people helplessly shook their heads, clearly unable to compete. Hence, after Hua Zong shouted out his bid, the auction was silent for a while, but just as everyone thought that Hua Zong’s bid was going to be successful, a voice suddenly interjected.

“Seventy thousand Pure Yuan pills.”

“Hua…”

This voice instantly caused an uproar in the auction. One by one, astonished gazes turned towards the voice, and when they saw the figure covered by a bamboo hat, they immediately broke out in whispers.

This increase in price clearly caused Hua Zong to be taken aback. Soon after, his eyebrows furrowed a little, as he tilted his head, his soft gaze looking towards the figure behind.

After becoming the focus of everyone’s attention, Lin Dong’s expression remained calm. Soon after, his mind moved a little, as a gloomy Mental Energy quietly spread out, seemingly intent on peeking on the face below the bamboo hat.

“Humph!”

Snorting in his heart, the Destiny Soul Symbols in his Niwan Palace slightly trembled, as a Mental Energy wave swept out, reflecting the probing Mental Energy. The eyes under the bamboo hat turned to stare at Hua Zong, evidently, that probe should be from the latter.

“Oh?”

After his Mental Energy probing was reflected back by Lin Dong, Hua Zong was clearly a little surprised, as he let out a soft ‘oh’. Soon after, an excited smile formed on his lips. Like a venomous snake, he cast a glance at Lin Dong before withdrawing his gaze. as a lazy voice sounded out: “Eighty thousand.”

This huge increase caused many people’s faces to change a little. Soon after, they felt secretly envious. This was a truly wealthy person, eighty thousand Pure Yuan pills was thrown out without blinking, and most importantly, he had used such a huge sum to bid on a praying mat which capabilities were still not completely clear.

“One hundred thousand!”

However, just as the crowd’s envy appeared, Lin Dong’s following words, which were said in a voice that was akin to an ancient well without any ripples, directly caused quite a number of people to gasp. In fact, even Mu Qianqian could not help but turn her head, as her peach flower-like eyes glanced at him in astonishment. One hundred thousand Pure Yuan pills, without a little boldness, one could not possibly shout out such a sum in such a calm and collected manner.

Lin Dong’s bid caused even Hua Zong’s face to slightly twitch for a moment, as his eyes turned a little dark. However, he did not once again raise the bid this time. At times, it might be fine to let one’s emotions affect one’s decisions, but one still had to look at the cost. If this praying mat was a high-grade Soul Treasure, perhaps he would be very interested to continue bidding. Yet, in this case, if his father found out he had spent one hundred thousand Pure Yuan pills to buy a praying mat of unclear capabilities, that would really be too extravagant.

Lin Dong’s bid this time undoubtedly subdued the entire auction, and for a long time after, no one spoke. Upon seeing this, the white haired elder was also a little excited as he shouted a few times, before slamming down his hammer and sealing the deal.

Throughout this entire process, Lin Dong did not move at all. Even the tone of his voice did not change in the slightest. From this appearance, it was as if one hundred Pure Yuan pills did not mean anything to him. This caused quite a few people to guess which great faction he hailed from.

Of course, no one knew that under this seemingly calm body, a flushed neck was exerting all its strength to roar out: “One hundred thousand Pure Yuan pills, god dammit, if this wretched praying mat has no uses, I will definitely make you pay!”

Lin Dong’s roar was naturally aimed at Little Marten. Truth be told, when Hua Zong had previously shouted out a bid of eighty thousand, Lin Dong had already planned to give up. Using this kind of price to bet on one’s luck was truly a little too disturbing. Yet, just as he was about to give up, Little Marten endlessly butt in to incite him. In the end, this caused him to painfully shout out this flesh cutting bid.

Of course, when he shouted out this bid, Lin Dong’s heart was already extremely regretful. He frantically hoped that Zong Hua would bid once again, but what caused the scene before his eyes to turn black, was that this guy actually turned soft at this moment…

“Gutless coward!”

Lin Dong fumed in his heart as he cursed. Once this one hundred thousand Pure Yuan pills was tossed out, his funds would have practically shrunk by more than half. Looks like he would have to live frugally again in future…

“Kid, you really do not have courage or insight. What is a mere one hundred Pure Yuan pills, even grandfather marten cannot understand some of the symbols on this praying mat. It is definitely no ordinary item!” While Lin Dong was wallowing in regret, Little Marten’s voice was full of disdain as it sounded out in his mind.

“You better pray that you are right!” Lin Dong firmly said.

On the auction stage, following the successful auction of the Spirit Accumulation Praying Mat at a rather good price, quite a few good things were presented on stage. Among them, Lin Dong saw a martial art that had reached upper rank eight grade. However, bidding that reached eighty thousand straightaway caused him to give up. In his current state, he could no longer purchase these luxurious goods.

Now that his money bag had gradually shrivelled up, in the following few auctions, Lin Dong was practically reduced to a spectator, with the exception of the one time towards the end when he once again made a move, using twenty thousand Pure Yuan pills to buy a rare elixir known as ‘Starry Yang Fruit’. This was one of the vital items to tame the berserk energy within the ‘Thousand Beast Fruit’, thus, Lin Dong would not tolerate taking no action.

After this twenty thousand Pure Yuan pills was fished out, it also caused Lin Dong to turn completely poor. His remaining Pure Yuan pills could no longer be used because he still needed a considerable sum of Pure Yuan pills to request a Soul Symbol Master to upgrade the Ancient Heavenly Scales Halberd.

In a short hour, Lin Dong’s original funds of over two hundred thousand Pure Yuan pills had once again been wiped clean. This caused him to deeply understand how impoverish he was in a place like the Great Desolate Province…

Fortunately, although he had spent quite a sum of Pure Yuan pills, everything Lin Dong needed was practically all successfully purchased.

As the auction gradually neared its end, the articles that appeared became more and more valuable, and the higher the bids became, causing Lin Dong to feel rather envious.

The highlight of the auction this time was a high-grade Soul Treasure called ‘Mysterious Earth Armor’. It was said to a treasure that had been handed down, and had originated from within the Great Wastelands Tablet. Its price started at one hundred and twenty thousand Pure Yuan pills, and its defensive powers was astonishingly strong. If a mere Yuan Dan stage practitioner wore it, he would be able to directly disregard a Form Creation stage practitioner’s attacks. In fact, this Soul Treasure also had a certain resistance against Mental Energy attacks. Wearing it was undoubtedly akin to having an additional life. This caused Lin Dong mouth to drool, but of course…with this high price, even if he would not be able to afford it even if he were to sell himself.

In the end, this ‘Mysterious Earth Armor’ was auctioned at a price of one hundred and eighty thousand Pure Yuan pills, and the recipient was none other than the one who had contested against Lin Dong for the Spirit Accumulation Praying Mat, Zong Hua…

With the Ghastly Puppet Cult’s backing, this guy was indeed genuinely wealthy.

As he gazed at the auction which had reached its peak, Lin Dong stretched his body, and directly stood up, heading outside of the auction area. This time, had had quite a harvest, and should now go to upgrade the Ancient Heavenly Scales Halberd. If the Ancient Heavenly Scales Halberd was able to be upgraded to a high-grade Soul Treasure, Lin Dong’s battle power would undoubtedly rise a level!