Chapter 332

Chapter 332: A Perfect Performance

"It’s actually Thunderbolt Spirit Marrow!" a shocked Cultivator exclaimed.

As soon as these words left his mouth, the other Cultivators who were unaware gasped in surprise, their eyes filled with greed!

Thunderbolt Spirit Marrow is a special treasure from heaven and earth, formed after Spirit Marrow undergoes a transformation through countless years of thunder’s wrath.

Spirit Marrow can absorb Nascent Soul energy and transform it into Spiritual Energy. Thunderbolt Spirit Marrow goes even further, directly converting Nascent Soul energy into thunder power, with an astonishing efficiency. Just a piece of Thunderbolt Spirit Marrow, with a bit of refining (ritual), can create a treasured item with the power of a Seventh-rank Treasure.

In the hands of a master alchemist, with the addition of some special spiritual materials, it wouldn’t be surprising to directly refine an Eighth-rank Treasure.

Moreover, this item is truly a ninth-rank material; the treasures crafted from it will qualify to advance to Ninth-Rank, which are the ultimate treasures that can suppress the mountain gate.

For the Mo Sect, this item is even more important. They have many mechanical puppets and treasure ships that require such a thing. If it falls into their hands, within a thousand years, they will surely produce a powerful treasure, at least of mid-grade Eighth-rank.

Such items appear only once every few thousand years. The people present are representatives from major powers, so their desire for it is incredibly urgent. Almost everyone has secretly made up their minds that they will go to great lengths, even if it means losing everything, to obtain it.

Seeing the eager expressions on everyone’s faces, Immortal Fire Cloud realized it was time to begin. He stopped talking and laughed, "Starting at four million small spirit pearls, each bid must increase by no less than one hundred thousand!"

"Four hundred fifty thousand! We at Putuo Temple will take it!"

"Five hundred fifty thousand! Blood Sea Sect has secured it!"

"Seven million! Ten-Thousand Gu Sect is the real owner!"

Fang Lie and Mo Lanyun hardly had time to react, and in the blink of an eye, the price nearly doubled!

However, Mo Lanyun wasn’t in a hurry; she smiled at Fang Lie and said, "Senior brother, who do you think will win this?"

"I have no idea," Fang Lie replied with a wry smile. "They look like they’re ready to fight for it; anyone could end up winning!"

"Don’t kid around!" Mo Lanyun laughed. "Who in the world can match the Mo Sect? Since we’re here, this item can only be ours!"

With that, Mo Lanyun boldly shouted, "Ten million!"

The originally noisy venue instantly fell silent. Ten million is a staggering amount—two and a half times the original price, three million more than the previous seven million; it could almost buy a Seventh-rank Treasure.

Everyone then turned to Mo Lanyun with a mix of envy, jealousy, and resentment.

"Mo family sister, you already got the Black Tortoise Seal; why are you fighting us for Thunderbolt Spirit Marrow?"

"Exactly! You got the main treasure; do you really want to take the final treasure too? That’s a bit greedy, isn’t it?"

"We know you Mo Sect has money, but you can’t be this arrogant!"

The surrounding people complained angrily, clearly trying to pressure the Mo Sect to back down.

But Mo Lanyun remained unfazed, smiling as she said, "Dear senior brothers and sisters, I’m truly sorry. You know, for our Mo Sect to gather such fine materials, if I see it and don’t bid, I won’t have anything to explain when I return. How about this: I’ll call out three bids, and if it still doesn’t work, I’ll accept defeat, okay?"

"Sure! I don’t believe you can win after three bids!"

"It’s a deal! If we still lose to you, we’ll accept it!"

"I bid eleven million! What do you say, Mo family sister? How much will you go up to?"

The others quickly became excited, calling out.

Mo Lanyun smiled slightly and said, "Then I’ll place my second bid: fifteen million!"

"What?!" The crowd suddenly looked shocked, shouting, "You just increased it by so much? Are you trying to ruin us?"

"Damn it, will her third bid be her entire amount? The Mo Sect has money, but they can’t waste it like this!"

"Damn, such a large amount, we can’t handle it anymore, let’s stop playing with her."

This number exceeded most people’s psychological price point, and many quickly backed out. The only ones still in the game were a few wealthy sects, like the Ten-Thousand Gu Sect.

The Gu Master from the Ten-Thousand Gu Sect had just lost the bid for the Black Tortoise Seal and was feeling embarrassed. Now, he considered the Thunderbolt Spirit Marrow a must-have and wanted to secure at least some face.

So, he gritted his teeth and shouted, "Sixteen million!"

Mo Lanyun frowned and secretly transmitted a message to Fang Lie: "Oh no, I miscalculated, senior brother. I only have twenty-five million small spirit pearls, but judging by the situation, I might be able to scare him off with just twenty million. But I’m worried he might raise the bid again, and if I use all my chances, I’ll have to watch him take the Thunderbolt Spirit Marrow. Yet, putting everything on the line feels too risky. What should I do?"

Fang Lie smiled slightly and replied through thought, "You bid twenty million first; I’ll handle the rest!"

"Okay!" Trusting Fang Lie, Mo Lanyun boldly shouted, "Twenty million!"

As soon as Mo Lanyun said this, the Gu Master’s face lit up with joy, and he laughed heartily, "Haha, I knew you would bid this amount. You must have figured out that I didn’t bring twenty million small spirit pearls, right?"

"Yes~" Mo Lanyun replied coolly, "We’ve been doing business for a long time; we estimate that you at the Ten-Thousand Gu Sect don’t have more than twenty million small spirit pearls. Any more would affect your overall operations!"

"That’s right. It seems the Mo Sect has indeed had extraordinary people over the years who can calculate our cash flow." The Gu Master grinned slyly. "However, you overlooked one thing: treasures!"

Saying this, the Gu Master directly addressed Immortal Fire Cloud, "I have eighteen million small spirit pearls and a Seventh-rank Earth True Locust Banner worth three million, totaling twenty-one million small spirit pearls. Is that acceptable?"

Normally, the Earth True Locust Banner, capable of producing Essence of Earth Element, would be priced higher, around five million. But since it’s being used as a supplement, it requires a significant discount, hence the three-million small spirit pearls price tag.

Immortal Fire Cloud nodded and said, "That’s a fair price; I can accept that."

Then, he looked at Mo Lanyun and said, "Miss, if you don’t raise your bid, we will have to sell this item to the Gu Master!"

"My junior sister is young but keeps her word. Having used her three chances, she won’t compete anymore!" Mo Lanyun said solemnly.

"Haha, thank you!" the Gu Master laughed smugly.

"Cough, cough~" At this moment, Fang Lie suddenly coughed twice and pretended to look confused, gently adding, "Twenty-two million~"

"What?" The Gu Master was taken aback. He immediately shouted, "What is your Mo Sect doing? Didn’t we agree to only bid three times? Mo Lanyun, aren’t you going back on your word?"

"No, no~" Mo Lanyun hurriedly said, "This time it’s not someone else bidding; it’s my senior brother!"

"But you just said that the Mo Sect is out of the bidding!" The Gu Master was furious.

"Well…" Mo Lanyun looked awkwardly at Fang Lie.

Fang Lie shrugged casually, "My junior sister is the representative of the Mo Sect and has the qualification to speak for us. If she said we’re out, then we are. My bid just now didn’t represent the Mo Sect; it was my personal bid!"

Fang Lie looked very serious as he spoke.

"Personal bid?" The Gu Master turned green with anger and shouted, "Who do you think you are? Even a Semi-Immortal can’t produce ten million spirit pearls! How could you, a mere Qi Sea cultivator, possibly have that much money?"

"Borrow from the sect!" Fang Lie replied earnestly. "Junior sister, I want to buy the Thunderbolt Spirit Marrow, but I’m out of money. Could you lend me twenty-two million small spirit pearls?"

"Of course, senior brother, feel free to use it!" Mo Lanyun said without hesitation, handing Fang Lie a storage pouch.

Fang Lie then smiled at Immortal Fire Cloud and asked, "Excuse me, Immortal, I have the funds now. Can I buy this item?"

Immortal Fire Cloud naturally couldn’t refuse; he quickly smiled wryly and said, "Yes, yes, you are a VIP after all. Everyone, twenty-two million, is there a higher bid?"

"You~" The Gu Master trembled with anger, but there was nothing he could do. Even though he knew this was a trick, he had no way to deal with the Mo Sect.

In a fit of rage, he wanted to sell another Earth True Locust Banner. However, he was stopped by a protector behind him.

The Earth True Locust Banner was hard-won; raising ten billion Earth True Locusts was not easy, and the banner itself was a Seventh-rank treasure requiring thousands of years of nurturing to succeed.

Originally worth over five million, it could even auction for seven to eight million. Now using it as collateral for just three hundred thousand small spirit pearls was a huge loss.

One banner was one thing; losing a bit was acceptable for the Thunderbolt Spirit Marrow, but two banners meant he would effectively lose two Seventh-rank treasures, an unbearable price.

Moreover, the Earth True Locust Banners were sold as a set; losing one was manageable, but losing two was tough and would weaken the entire formation’s power.

It simply wasn’t worth it to lose so much for one piece of Thunderbolt Spirit Marrow.

In this situation, Fang Lie easily acquired the last mysterious treasure.

After the exchange, Fang Lie handed the remaining small spirit pearls and the Thunderbolt Spirit Marrow to Mo Lanyun in front of everyone and said seriously, "Junior sister, I’m really poor and can’t pay off the sect’s debt. Do you think this Thunderbolt Spirit Marrow could be collateral for twenty-two million?"

"Of course!" Mo Lanyun put it away and cheerfully replied, "Senior brother, now you and the sect are clear of debts!"

Watching these two act, everyone was left speechless.

The Gu Master, however, was livid as he turned on his heel and flew away. Having lost face to the Mo Sect financially twice in a row, he was bound to be reprimanded by his elders upon returning.