489 The Grand Auction (part-1)
A few hourster;
Leaving the rest of them at the hotel, Mark and his two sons left for the Auction House. Qing Jie tagged along with them as they traveled in LMV, instead of taking a traditional horse carriage.
Mark wanted attention from everyone. He wanted rumors to spread like wildfire. While his name wasn''t spread around, LMV''s unique appearance indeed did the job for him.
After an hour of travel, they reached a coliseum-type structure and stepped out when stopped by the guards at one of the entrances that led to the VIP area.
The guards didn''t recognize Mark or Qing Jie but thetter''s special invitation badge helped them to get through it without any issues.
From there, they walked on foot, although purposely done to showcase the two teenage supreme beings walking behind Mark like subordinates.
It wasn''t clear because of the supreme beings or Qing Jie; Mark and others were personally received by the Auction House Master.
After a brief introduction, Qing Jie left Mark and the other two with the head of the building and left for the Appraisal chamber in a hurry.
Named Wang Rui, the 8-circle-realm mage took Mark on a tour.
The tour onlysted for 15 minutes or so, as there was nothing special to see anyway.
However, they didn''t return to the VIP lounge. Instead, they went to the field that is usually used for battles, during most of the days.
The Auction House of Dragon Empire conducts Auctions regrly on the first Sunday of every month. It was done by local authorities. The chance of a treasure appearing here is close to nil.
Then, there will be an annual auction at the end of each year, conducted by Void Temple. Here, there will be a significant chance of a treasure to appear.
But, the one Mark arrived coincidentally happened to be a grand world auction that only urs randomly, depending upon the items gathered by the temple. As for this type of auction, there is no question of doubt. The chance will be 100%.
As Mark heard it from Qing Jie, he decided to bank on this opportunity to introduce sophisticated firearms to the world which could bepared with artifacts and treasures.
That is why he offered to showcase something to the Auction House Master and asked for arge space.
The Auction House Master wasn''t sure what Mark wanted to show him, instead of their Master Appraiser, but due to the appearance of supreme beings, he couldn''t help but be curious.
What could it be that he needed so much space for? Any demonstration of a spell or a skill from a spell/skill book? Divine weapon? Or any potion/pill?
There is a lot to think about.
Little did he expect Mark to pull out something that indeed took him by surprise. The following demonstration made an even greater impact on his mind that he almost begged Mark to sell it to the Void Temple.
Obviously, Mark isn''t interested in just money. He rejected even an exorbitant offer of 100 million gold coins without any hesitation. In the meantime, some people who coincidentally witnessed the demonstration passed the information to their colleagues/friends/bosses, etc...
After a while, Mark and Wang Rui returned to the VIP lounge, where Qing Jie was waiting for them.
The prince-turned-weapon-seller let out a gasp of surprise when he saw them. He couldn''t help but ask, "Brother Wang, what happened to you? You looked like a beggar." The Auction house master''s clothes appeared ruined and dust smeared all over his body. Yet, he didn''t care about his image and only ced his focus on showing hospitality to Mark. It was only when Qing Jie pointed it out that he realized why the staff members on the way were whispering among themselves in surprise. He thought it was because of supreme beings.
"I… I… I… it''s nothing, Brother Qing. Please excuse me for a second…" He bowed to Mark and his sons from the future before leaving in a hurry.
Qing Jie looked at Mark in curiosity, "Did something happen, Mr. Lu?"
Mark shrugged his shoulders, "Nothing. Just a result of a challenge."
Qing Jie misunderstood that the Auction house Master probably challenged Mark or one of the supreme beings and lost badly. His curiosity about Mark''s backing increased further when thetter took out a bunch of semi-divine weapons to put up in the auction. He ims to be amoner, who owns a weapon store, but he has a princess of a kingdom as fiancée, two supreme beings as underlings, and an elven Supreme Being as an ally, and uses a divine-grade item as a transportation vehicle.
Surely, this new acquaintance of his must have a hidden identity. Maybe, he is from a higher ne of existence, or so thought Qing Jie as he apanied Mark back to the hotel.
A few days passed away in the blink of an eye.
During this period, Mark just spent on touring the imperial city, which was far bigger than any city he had visited in his current life. It was also so developed that even nine days weren''t enough to cover the major tourist attractions. Not that he was greatly impressed, but since Song Yue cheered up, he was happy.
In the meantime, he surprisingly became lucky in the lottery wheel and won a superior-grade upgrade crystal from the mystery box.
However, since Alina is currently in the body of Robotic Cerberus and Allen is in the hibernation stage to be a human, Mark has to hold his temptation to use it on Android Ark. There should always be a powerful active Android for security purposes, right?
On the morning of the third week of the ninth month, the entire coliseum was jam-packed with more than a hundred thousand spectators, all just to watch the battle between wealthy powers in the grand auction.
Unlike in usual auctions, here, there are no anonymities for the bidders. The option is only avable for the sellers who wish to do it.
Void Temple believes that the one who won the item in the auction should also have the power to protect their treasure. Even the royal families from various empires aren''t exempted from this.
It is a twisted sense of logic, but it is what it is. If one has a problem, then, they don''t have toe. Void Temple would tell the same to everyone who objects to it.
Then, why would one even want toe when there is such a heavy risk of death? Well, the first reason is probably because of the fact that the Dragon Empire''s imperial family guarantees safety as long as the participant stays in the Imperial City.
As for the second reason, it is the challenge round that offers lucrative rewards for the warriors. This is what that brings the citizens to the coliseum and be spectators.
Mark and his group made their way to room no. 8, parting ways with Qing Jie as thetter gave an excuse that there were unmarrieddies in the group and it was not appropriate for him to sit with them.
Mark knew the cultural difference between this world and his previous world. Even if Qing Jie isfortable, Song Yue and Shen Ling might be ufortable. So, he didn''t try to convince him out of it, despite the fact that he intends to discuss a partnership with Qing Jie.
Since there is no anonymity in the bidding process, he decided to showcase his wealth to create a nice impression, and of course, to tempt prospective buyers.
But, before that, he made sure not to get any attraction by asking Sylvandria and the two kids from the future to mask their auras. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
Meanwhile, the other royal princes and various envoys also arrived and upied their allotted chambers, which were more like small rooms with an exclusive tiny balcony.
Arge b of concrete covering a wide area abruptly erupted from the ground, resulting in cheers from the audience that settled in. Along with therge podium, the Auction House Master apanied ady whose attire resembled that of a shaman and also rose with it, making some experts wonder what kind of technique they used.
"Wee to the Grand Auction. I''m your host, Wang Zhongwei, and this is Elder Xin Rui of Void Temple, the overseer of the auction."
The legendary realm expert raised her eyes a little and scanned the bidding rooms. Upon finding the sixth imperial prince of the Dragon Empire representing the imperial family, she clenched her fist for a moment and released it immediately before averting her gaze back to the audience.
She then opened her mouth, "Before Mr. Wang proceed with the rules and regtions, let me remind everyone that those who won''t adhere to the rules shall be expelled after one warning and those who cause trouble using violence shall meet with death no matter who it is. So, I ask everyone to cooperate and let us have a smooth auction."
As her words echoed throughout the coliseum, a moment of silence descended among the spectators.