Chapter 767: Golden Core

"Sixty-eight million nine hundred thousand, going once!"

"Sixty-eight million nine hundred thousand, going twice..."

"Sold!"

Finally, this string of Five Emperors Coins, with its extraordinary quality and significance, was auctioned off for the high price of nearly seventy million, purchased by a young man from the local Jiangnan area.

His expression remained calm from start to finish, as if any further bidding would have been nothing more than a drop in the bucket.

But to be fair, there are indeed many super-rich people in the Southeast, both those in the public eye and the invisible ones.

Take this young man who bought the Five Emperors Coin bracelet, for instance; Luo Quan hadn't even heard of him before, and after staring at his face for a long time, she still had no impression of him.

"There really are a lot of rich people in China," Luo Quan remarked with a smile.

Lu Yao turned her head: "If we're talking about money earned by oneself, you're probably the one with the most."

That was the truth; most of the children of the super-rich in the country currently spent their time in debauchery using their parents' money.

There were a few who ventured into the business world, perhaps making a small profit at the start by relying on their fathers' connections, but in the end, they invariably lost everything, even needing their families to help pay off their debts.

By comparison, Luo Quan was currently thriving in the automotive and antique industries, so it was no wonder she had been listed on the Forbes New Century Most Successful Young Billionaires list.

The auction continued, and five or six more antiques of decent quality appeared.

Not only were they of great age, but their provenance and history were also quite extraordinary.

They either came from prosperous dynasties like the Han or Tang, or they had emerged from ancient Daoist temples or monasteries, carrying with them the power of incense and vows.

Anything like this was guaranteed not to be a loss once acquired.

Therefore, the final price for each item was over fifty million, and two of them, which were of particularly high quality, sold directly for the astronomical price of one hundred and fifty million.

Of course, compared to the scenes at those international auctions, this could only be described as ordinary.

But the next collection was not ordinary; the rich second-generation heirs present were basically all here because of it.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I now invite my assistant to bring up the protagonist of tonight."

The main event began, and the auctioneer's tone became much more excited.

A sexy female assistant in a qipao held a long wooden box in her hands, raised to her chest.

Inside the wooden box, lined with red silk, lay a long, pitch-black sword.

Through the reflection of the lights, one could see that the jet-black blade was densely covered with gracefully curved cloud patterns; at a glance, it was a masterpiece that had undergone thousands of refinements!

The auctioneer cleared his throat and then said in a deep voice: "This sword is nameless, and its origin cannot be verified, but its age is not far from the time the Sword of Goujian, King of Yue, was forged, and its form is identical."

"Therefore, one can draw a conclusion: this is a king's sword, once carrying the destiny of a nation, and the possibility of its spiritual intelligence awakening is extremely high!"

"More importantly, this sword is not only exquisitely crafted but also cuts through iron like mud; it is a top-tier weapon of conquest, absolutely not a fragile vase-like object!"

"Such a treasure, I believe everyone here wants to add it to their collection. The starting bid is one hundred million RMB, with each increment no less than ten million."

"One hundred and fifty million!"

As soon as the auctioneer finished speaking, someone immediately increased the bid by fifty percent.

Luo Quan looked over; it was Si Cong, who hadn't made a move since the auction started. He was likely here just for this sword.

However, in this auction, Si Cong wasn't the only one eyeing this sword.

"Two hundred million!"

The person raising the paddle was a rich second-generation heir Luo Quan didn't recognize, older than Si Cong, with visible nasolabial folds.

Si Cong glanced at the heir competing with him and raised his paddle again: "Three hundred and fifty million."

"Four hundred million!"

This time it was Ye Kai; he had also joined the bidding.

Following Ye Kai's bid, others no longer cared about friendships; they had to get this King's Road first—no friendship was worth more than an antique.

Don't forget, at the last auction, Luo Quan had acquired the Imperial Jade Seal for only two hundred million dollars; although it seemed like a loss when she donated it, the benefits she gained were completely immeasurable by money.

What she gained was an incredibly solid backer, a backer that would unconditionally stand by her side as long as she didn't court death!

Although this nameless ancient sword certainly couldn't compare to the Jade Seal, it was still a thousands-year-old antique; whether she used it herself or donated it, it could bring huge returns.

Never mind four hundred million; even at one billion, they felt it was worth it.

Of course, whether it was worth it was one thing, and whether they could afford it was another.

Everyone present was wealthy, but there were limits; after all, they couldn't directly use their parents' assets, and the cash flow they could mobilize wasn't as much as one might imagine.

After more than twenty rounds of alternating bids, the sword was taken by Si Cong for the price of one billion eight million.

As expected of the son of a former richest man, even if he wasn't what he used to be, the wealth in his hands was still quite exaggerated; when he bought the sword, he didn't even blink an eye.

And the looks others gave him were, more or less, filled with helplessness.

Competing with Si Cong in wealth was truly a bit beyond their reach.

After the nameless ancient sword was sold, the auction was basically drawing to a close; the few items that appeared afterward were somewhat mediocre compared to the previous ones, and there were even cases where items failed to sell.

That was until a peach-shaped carving appeared.

"This is an iron longevity peach, with an immortal carved on it; it was excavated from a collapsed Daoist temple in the Southeast, and it is nearly two thousand years old."

"What this age implies goes without saying. The starting bid is twenty million, with each increment no less than two million."

"There is something good inside; buy it."

The System, which had been silent for almost the entire auction, spoke up, stating directly that there was something good inside.

It had scoffed at and dismissed so many treasures before, but as soon as this longevity peach appeared, the System couldn't sit still, which showed that the true value of this item was not as simple as the starting bid.

Luo Quan waited a little while, and seeing that no one seemed interested in the longevity peach, she raised her paddle: "Twenty million."

The auctioneer had originally thought this longevity peach would fail to sell and was wondering if his pricing was too high, but seeing Luo Quan bid, he was immediately overjoyed:

"This beautiful lady bids twenty million! Is there anyone higher than her? This is a two-thousand-year-old Daoist relic; perhaps it is a magical artifact of some Daoist master!"

If someone else had bid, it would have been fine, but seeing that it was Luo Quan, the people present instantly couldn't stay calm.

Last time, she had picked up a bargain with the Imperial Jade Seal; could this longevity peach also be a huge oversight?

No one knew, but holding the mindset of "better to kill by mistake than to let go," someone soon followed with a bid.

"Thirty million!"

It was a young woman, slightly older than Luo Quan, wearing light makeup and looking delicate.

According to Lu Yao, she seemed to be a child of a wealthy family from the capital.

"Forty million." Luo Quan was expressionless, not letting anyone read her inner thoughts; her bid was steady, not pulling the price directly over one hundred million like a nouveau riche.

However, the moment she bid, she had already attracted everyone's attention.

There were many rich second-generation heirs in China, both low-key and high-profile, but the most famous was definitely Luo Quan; even the "national husband" Si Cong couldn't compare.

However, Luo Quan wasn't strictly a rich second-generation heir, because her wealth was all created by herself; she didn't rely on the towering tree of the Albert Group, which was fundamentally different from other heirs.

Therefore, when the price of the longevity peach was called over two hundred million, many heirs chose to give up.

The few who were still bidding also showed worried expressions.

And Luo Quan remained quite calm from start to finish.

Most of her wealth had been poured into Nikola's car company, but even the small portion that remained still exceeded five hundred million dollars.

And if she wanted, she could easily borrow hundreds of millions more from her brother and Seifert.

That's not even counting her dad and grandpa; those two are the real big spenders.

Therefore, she was determined to get this longevity peach; it was just a matter of spending a little more money.

With the alternating bids between others and Luo Quan, this longevity peach, which had almost failed to sell, was bid up to eight hundred million RMB.

Eight hundred million was Luo Quan's bid; after this price was set, the entire auction venue fell into silence.

It wasn't that they didn't have the money to go higher, but they were considering whether it was worth it.

After all, this peach looked very ordinary, and its volume wasn't large; even if it really contained something, it couldn't be a treasure like the Imperial Jade Seal.

Generally speaking, such national treasures were relatively large in volume, far from what an iron-forged longevity peach could contain.

Moreover, they didn't know how deep Luo Quan's financial resources were, and continuing to bid might not necessarily lead to a result.

Therefore, after weighing the pros and cons, everyone unanimously chose to give up, and the longevity peach was finally bought by Luo Quan.

Although spending several hundred million more to get this thing made her feel a bit heartbroken.

But since it was something the System had taken a fancy to, spending a bit more money was worth it.

After buying the longevity peach, Lu Yao didn't ask Luo Quan much.

Once something like this was in someone's hands, it was their business, and if one kept asking, it would easily hurt their relationship.

The auction ended, and Luo Quan went backstage to pay and pick up the goods, along with a few certificates proving that the iron longevity peach was indeed genuine.

Originally, there was a TV station interview segment afterward, but Luo Quan had no interest in that, so she took the longevity peach and the packed food and returned to the hotel.

Putting the food in the refrigerator, Luo Quan returned to the bedroom, closed the door, and took out the longevity peach.

"Tell me, what is extraordinary about this thing?"

"Simple, first crush its outer shell."

Luo Quan's eyes lit up; as expected, the exterior of this thing was just protection, and what was hidden inside was the main point.

Under her brute force, she snapped the iron longevity peach directly into two halves from the middle.

It wasn't solid; it was spliced together, and the connection point happened to be in the middle, so Luo Quan didn't have much trouble snapping it.

The longevity peach was opened, and a golden pill rolled out from inside; a rich medicinal fragrance immediately rushed toward her, mixed with an indescribable aroma.

"This is... a Golden Core?"

Luo Quan held the pill in her hand, looking incredulous.

Although many ancient Daoists and alchemists refined Golden Cores, either for themselves or for the Emperor, this was her first time seeing the real thing.

"This is a Golden Core refined by an enlightened master; the longevity peach wrapped around it, reducing the loss of spiritual energy."

"Although it can't compare to when it was fresh out of the furnace, the effect must be extraordinary!"

Luo Quan asked curiously: "Then what is the specific effect? Do I become an immortal if I eat it?"

"You are not a practitioner of the Dao; eating the Golden Core is no different from eating a pile of heavy metals—expired heavy metals at that."

"However, you can let me absorb the spiritual energy on it, and then extract the effect to nourish your body."

"You should have said so earlier."

Hearing about heavy metals, Luo Quan hurriedly put the Golden Core down.

It seemed this thing wasn't something an ordinary person could touch; fortunately, it had fallen into her hands—if someone else had eaten it, they might have really "become an immortal."

Soon, the System began its work.

Under Luo Quan's gaze, a wisp of white smoke seeped out from inside the Golden Core and then surged into the center of her brow.

After about a minute, the System's prompt sounded:

"Congratulations to the host for obtaining the Immaculate Golden Core, but due to the large gap between your cultivation realm and the hard requirements for directly obtaining the Golden Core's power, you can only settle for the next best thing and use a portion of the Golden Core's power to obtain the Golden Body Dao Physique."

"Golden Body Dao Physique (Primary), an advanced version of the Pure Yang Body, immune to the Five Afflictions and Three Disasters; its physical defense even surpasses the Buddhist 'Indestructible Jin Gang'!"

The Golden Body Dao Physique was the benefit this Golden Core brought her.

And it was only a portion, because her cultivation realm wasn't high enough to fully accept the Golden Core's power.

But the physique improvement from just a portion of the Golden Core's power was already fiercer than the Indestructible Jin Gang.

At this moment, Luo Quan's mind was filled with the scene from *The World's Number One* where Cheng Shifei was covered in golden light, making loud clanging sounds when fighting others.

However, she lifted her clothes to look, and her skin hadn't changed color; it was still white.

She rubbed it, and the texture was no different from before.

She blinked, thought for a moment, and took a fruit knife from her backpack.

She lightly drew it across her arm; although the skin sank in and she could feel the sharpness of the blade, she couldn't see a single drop of blood. Even the fine hairs on her skin weren't damaged in the slightest.

Seeing this, Luo Quan boldly used a bit more force, and there was still no damage.

"Damn, this is too fierce!"

Luo Quan beamed; this was basically equivalent to having an extra human bulletproof vest!

"If it weren't fierce, it wouldn't be called the Golden Body Dao Physique. The highest realm of the ancient Golden Bell Cover and Iron Shirt is nothing more than this."

The System's answer made Luo Quan show a satisfied smile.

"I wonder if the weakness at the waist will be completely compensated for. Next time I have a chance, I'll let Wen Xia experiment; if the weakness really disappears..."

Luo Quan chuckled strangely; in that case, she would never have to fear her tickling attacks again.

A huge sum of nearly one billion, and she got a human bulletproof vest.

And it was one that could grow; later, when her Daoist cultivation realm went up, it could continue to improve.

Tonight, for Luo Quan, was definitely a harvest. ===== CHAPTER 768 =====