Chapter 831: Malicious Bidding

"The Minor Annihilation Art has no reserve price, and there are no limits on bidding—highest bidder wins."

After speaking, Peng Fu raised his hand and sent out a wooden box.

The seals on the wooden box were relatively simple, but no one dared use their spiritual sense to probe it at this moment.

As soon as the wooden box appeared, the bidding screen in the auction hall already displayed a bid.

The first bid was one hundred million high-grade spiritual crystals, plus two high-grade spiritual veins.

This price eliminated everyone who had hoped to snag a bargain.

In the Lesser Heaven Ruins, spiritual crystals and spiritual veins were the scarcest resources.

Thus, this trivial price was considered high here.

Before Ding Huan could bid, a new bid appeared on the bidding screen:

Twenty high-grade spiritual veins, plus one supreme-grade spiritual vein.

Unlike other bids, this one clearly marked the private suite number.

The suite number was One.

Upon seeing this suite number, the bidding screen stopped updating.

Those who knew Suite One were not ones they could oppose.

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Whoever dared bid now would be slapping Suite One in the face.

Ding Huan saw the suite number too, but he paid it no mind and simply bid ten supreme-grade spiritual veins.

In his world, there were not ten thousand supreme-grade spiritual veins, but thousands at least.

As for high-grade spiritual veins, he didn't even look at them.

They were piled up like mountains in his world.

Ten supreme-grade spiritual veins would certainly crush the opponent's twenty high-grade spiritual veins plus one supreme-grade spiritual vein.

"Ding Huan brother, the man who just bid was Chen Chi." Guan Huan reminded Ding Huan.

Ding Huan chuckled: "So what?"

Chen Chi was the Dao Master of the Great Wheel Dao Court; for other matters, he might have granted some face.

On his path to pursuing the Dao, no one's face mattered.

But the fact that Suite One belonged to Chen Chi did surprise Ding Huan—he had assumed it was the Chairman of the Great Wheel Trading Guild.

Chen Chi was truly shameless—he was already a Dao Master,

yet still played these games with his bidding.

If someone else had competed with Chen Chi for the Minor Annihilation Art, Peng Fu would have clearly named the suite number, urging them to withdraw gracefully.

But since Ding Huan was bidding, he dared not interfere.

What relieved him was that Chen Chi did not raise his bid further.

Clearly, the Dao Master of the Great Wheel Dao Court, Chen Chi, had granted Ding Huan this face.

"Ten supreme-grade spiritual veins once, ten supreme-grade spiritual veins twice…"

As Peng Fu's gavel fell, Ding Huan acquired the Minor Annihilation Art.

Even the Minor Annihilation Art was extremely cheap at ten supreme-grade spiritual veins.

This was not only because Peng Fu had said no one had ever successfully cultivated the Minor Annihilation Art.

More importantly, Suite One had bid on it.

Suite One belonged to the Dao Master of the Great Wheel Dao Court.

Who in the Great Wheel Dao Court would dare offend Dao Master Chen Chi?

Perhaps only Ding Huan—the one who had once destroyed the Qu Clan Dao Court—would dare.

Seeing Ding Huan's successful transaction, Bai Yue's gaze toward Ding Huan filled with reverence.

This Ding Huan was truly no different from his Mo Senior Brother—he, Bai Yue, had survived to this point through several cosmic calamities

solely because he had a great Senior Brother, whose Dao was unlike any other.

Now he had met Ding Huan.

No matter what, he must cultivate a good relationship with Ding Huan; only then would he have a chance to leave the Lesser Heaven Ruins.

Peng Fu didn't even congratulate Ding Huan on acquiring the Minor Annihilation Art—he wished the whole affair would just be over quickly.

So he produced the second treasure: "This is an Yongsheng Dao Fruit—a top-tier item surpassing even the Divine Dao Fruit.

Anyone who has used the Yongsheng Dao Fruit knows it allows a Ninth-Transformation Saint to comprehend the Dao of an Eternal Life Saint.

The reserve price for the Yongsheng Dao Fruit is one hundred high-grade spiritual veins; each bid must increase by at least ten high-grade spiritual veins. Auction now begins."

For the Minor Annihilation Art, Peng Fu had set no reserve price, hoping bidders would raise without limit and inflate its value.

But then Suite One's Dao Master Chen Chi appeared—this man never played by the rules when he wanted something.

If he simply bought it without following protocol, at least the Great Wheel Trading Guild would gain a favor.

But then Ding Huan barged in—he bid even more irrationally and snatched the Minor Annihilation Art outright.

Now the Great Wheel Trading Guild gained no favor from Chen Chi, and failed to sell the Minor Annihilation Art at a high price.

This time, he learned his lesson—he simply set a reserve price.

The Yongsheng Dao Fruit's reputation was indeed great, but Peng Fu knew its actual effect was quite mediocre.

He himself had used such a Dao Fruit—and still failed to attain the Eternal Life Saint realm.

If the Yongsheng Dao Fruit were truly that effective, it wouldn't appear at an auction, and he wouldn't still be stuck at the Ninth-Transformation Saint realm.

Peng Fu was clever, but clearly others weren't fools.

Anyone who could afford the Yongsheng Dao Fruit had likely realized: Peng Fu himself is already at the peak of the Ninth Step.

If the Yongsheng Dao Fruit could allow someone to enter the Eternal Realm, you, Peng Fu, would have claimed it long ago.

With Peng Fu's abilities, securing one Yongsheng Dao Fruit should be simple enough.

"This Dao Fruit isn't very useful—its reputation outweighs its actual effect," Bai Yue whispered to Ding Huan.

He was worried Ding Huan would buy it.

Ding Huan originally had no intention of purchasing this Dao Fruit.

Now that he saw no one bidding, he casually offered one hundred ten superior Spirit Veins.

"Ding Huan brother, you'd better not use this kind of Dao Fruit to attain Dao. For cultivators, relying on Dao Fruits to attain Dao is a last resort—given your talent…"

"…"

Guan Huan, seeing Ding Huan's bid, quickly spoke up from the side.

Ding Huan smiled: "Might as well buy it and take a look."

A hundred or so superior Spirit Veins meant nothing to Ding Huan.

He wasn't buying the Yongsheng Dao Fruit to use it to attain the Eternal Realm.

He mainly wanted to examine what laws it contained that could allow one to comprehend the Eternal Realm.

Neither Ding Huan nor anyone else had expected this.

The Yongsheng Dao Fruit, which had been about to go unsold, suddenly drew a bid the moment Ding Huan spoke up.

The bidding screen updated with a second price: one hundred twenty superior Spirit Veins.

Ding Huan was speechless—this thing had no takers, yet someone still competed with him after he bid?

"This guy's insane," Bai Yue muttered under his breath.

"No problem—I don't have much else, but I've got plenty of Spirit Veins," Ding Huan chuckled, immediately bidding two hundred superior Spirit Veins and ten top-grade Spirit Veins.

He didn't want to waste time.

He just wanted the auction to move quickly.

He wanted to get the Light Dao Scroll as soon as possible and leave.

The moment Ding Huan placed his bid, the bidding screen refreshed again: "Two hundred and ten superior Spirit Veins, twelve top-grade Spirit Veins."

At that moment, everyone in the auction hall froze.

Could the Yongsheng Dao Fruit truly be valuable? Could it really allow one to attain Dao as an Eternal Realm Sage?

Otherwise, why would anyone bid?

In truth, this amount of Spirit Veins meant nothing to Ding Huan either.

But this was the Small Tian Xu.

The Small Tian Xu's heavenly laws were complete, yet it lacked cultivation resources above all.

For cultivators of the Sage realm, the best cultivation resource was Spirit Veins.

"Ding Huan brother, are you going to raise your bid?" Guan Huan looked at Ding Huan, trying to persuade him to give up.

The Yongsheng Dao Fruit simply wasn't worth this price.

Ding Huan smiled: "Of course I'll give up—since this man desires the Yongsheng Dao Fruit so much, why not let him have it?"

Ding Huan didn't know who was bidding against him.

But from this bidding, he could tell the opponent didn't truly desire the Yongsheng Dao Fruit.

If he truly desired it, he would have bid from the start—why wait until the auction was about to fail and only then compete after I bid?

Seeing Ding Huan didn't raise further, Peng Fu began the final call: "Two hundred and ten superior Spirit Veins, twelve top-grade Spirit Veins… once…"

A woman in Chamber 35, hearing the call, immediately turned pale.

She hadn't expected Ding Huan to stop bidding.

Ding Huan naturally didn't know that those in the auction hall couldn't tell who was bidding against him.

But those in the private chambers could clearly see who placed each bid.

The woman in Chamber 35 had bid

because she was furious that Ding Huan dared to snatch the Dao Lord's Minor Destruction Art, and she wanted him to lose more Spirit Veins—so she deliberately made a false bid.

The Dao Lord was magnanimous and didn't care, but she wasn't.

If she knew that hundreds of superior Spirit Veins meant nothing to Ding Huan, perhaps she wouldn't have done such a pointless thing.

"... Congratulations to the friend in Chamber 35 for acquiring this Yongsheng Dao Fruit."

As Peng Fu called the price three times and the "sold" announcement echoed, the woman in Chamber 35 stood up in terror.

She knew perfectly well what happened if you couldn't pay the Spirit Veins after bidding.

Ding Huan's spiritual sense immediately swept over Chamber 35, then slipped inside without hesitation—he wanted to see who this fool was.

These chamber seals were merely warning mechanisms; with Ding Huan's abilities, his spiritual sense slipped in without triggering any alert.

When Ding Huan saw a young, beautiful woman, pale-faced, staring at the flickering teleportation array runes before her but not activating it,

he knew she'd hoped to make him spend more Spirit Veins.

As the teleportation deadline neared, the woman finally snapped to her senses and hurriedly said:

"When I bid, I didn't count my own Spirit Veins—I just realized I don't have enough."

Peng Fu received this message and his expression instantly turned cold.

Anyone who made false bids at an auction jointly hosted by the Three Great Merchants had only one path: death.

And they had to be executed on the spot for all to see—to increase deterrence.

Just as Peng Fu was about to order the woman's immediate execution, an unexpected voice landed in his ear:

"Manager Peng, could you, for my sake, let this go this time?"

Ding Huan's spiritual sense had already settled on Peng Fu—he'd been waiting to see how this Manager Peng would act.

Yet he never expected to hear this transmitted message.

Based on Ding Huan's understanding of the laws of heaven and earth, combined with the fact that his divine sense at this moment covered the space around Peng Fu.

And since Shen Chi transmitted the message casually, it was naturally intercepted by Ding Huan.

Although Ding Huan had never heard Shen Chi's voice before, he could still guess that this absolutely had to be Shen Chi.

An ordinary person would not dare to say such words to Peng Fu.