Chapter 169: Great Yin Dynasty

Long Lao had drunk too much and had already fallen asleep, his snoring shaking the heavens.

Without the nagging of the person before him, Long Xuan finally focused his attention on the auction.

Only then did he realize that the auction had unknowingly entered its final stages, and was about to commence bidding on the very last item.

And the final grand finale auction item was undoubtedly that Living Wood; Long Xuan immediately perked up, directing all his attention toward the Living Wood that had just been placed on the Auction Stage.

As soon as the Living Wood appeared, unsurprisingly, the entire hall erupted into chaos; everyone gazed at the Living Wood on the Auction Stage with greedy eyes, their faces flushed and their breathing rapid.

Many Gu Kings stood up from their seats, staring intently at the Living Wood as if gazing upon a peerless beauty, impatient to possess it.

Although the Living Wood was not tall, its shape resembled a human; there were even hollow eyes and a mouth on its trunk, making its appearance extremely bizarre.

As soon as the Living Wood appeared, it immediately captured the gaze of everyone; the crowd of Gu Kings simply could not tear their eyes away, as if their souls had been captured by the Living Wood.

"Hehe, as expected of the Qian Clan Merchant Association, truly valuing trust; this Living Wood has been in your association's hands for so long, yet not a single piece of bark has fallen from it."

City Lord Yan Pojun carefully scanned the Living Wood, discovering absolutely no traces of damage, and sincerely offered a word of praise.

Asking his own heart, he reasoned that if it were himself guarding the Living Wood, he would certainly have tried every method to chip off a piece of bark, and at worst, find a scapegoat; in this world, excuses are the easiest thing to find, and he had too many reasons to fob people off with.

The merchants of the Qian Clan Merchant Association are the cleverest; they could certainly have devised a reasonable explanation, yet they did not do so, forcing him to feel admiration for the Qian Clan Merchant Association's conduct.

Qian Jinjin, who had already appeared on the Auction Stage, smiled and said, "The Qian Clan Merchant Association has always valued trust; valuing trust is the foundation upon which a merchant association stands, so how would I, the Qian Clan Merchant Association, dare forget our roots?"

"Though the Living Wood is heavy, it is not heavier than trust; the reputation of the Qian Clan Merchant Association cannot be exchanged for anything."

Upon these words, all the Gu Kings in the hall nodded with smiles; even Long Xuan, far away in the Long Clan Residence, revealed an expression of approval. Do not ask how he heard these people speaking; his Clone is eager to learn and had long since taught himself lip reading, making this explanation perfectly reasonable.

As the saying goes, having many skills is no burden; the obscure knowledge Long Xuan currently mastered went far beyond just lip reading—he even knew how to pick locks.

"The sky is already late, so I will not delay any longer; as for the uses of the Living Wood and its value, I believe everyone present understands."

"The starting price for the Living Wood is one billion! Bidding opens now!"

Qian Jinjin's crisp voice suddenly rang out, causing everyone in the hall to inhale a sharp breath of cold air.

A starting price of one billion Spirit Stones; although they had mentally prepared themselves, they were still startled by this astronomical price.

What concept does one billion Spirit Stones represent? For the vast majority of powers in the Western Lands, even selling off their clan assets would not yield one billion Spirit Stones; this figure was truly too exaggerated.

However, there were quite a few powers capable of producing one billion Spirit Stones; the Qian Clan Merchant Association had given a full three months of preparation time, allowing the Ten Great Clans of Black Stone City to scrape together one billion.

But this did not include the Western Earth Long Clan; the Western Earth Long Clan insisted on researching the Dragon Blood Battle Gu Formula, and researching a Top Grade Gu Formula is an incredibly money-burning endeavor—it is a bottomless pit, and even throwing one billion into it might not be enough.

It was already good enough that they did not owe money; where would they go to get one billion?

All the Long Clan Gu Kings present revealed bitter expressions; they had no qualification to contend for the Living Wood and could only sit below, watching helplessly.

Their pockets were empty; they had not even bid much on the other treasures auctioned at this event, having come entirely to watch the excitement and see if any chaos might occur later, offering an opportunity to exploit.

The Yao Clan seemed to have withdrawn from the contention as well; now, the wealthiest in Black Stone City was likely the Dan Clan, after all, they were in the Pill business, and the Pill trade was absolutely one of the most profitable businesses.

The Family Head of the Dan Clan immediately could not wait and shouted, "My Dan Clan offers one billion one hundred million!"

Everyone in the hall immediately turned their gaze toward the Family Head of the Dan Clan, secretly clicking their tongues in their hearts.

What a fellow, directly bidding one billion one hundred million without even blinking; it seemed one billion one hundred million was far from the Dan Clan's limit, proving their wealth truly lived up to its reputation.

However, although the Family Head of the Dan Clan had already shouted an astronomical price of one billion one hundred million, compared to the value of the Living Wood, it was still too cheap, far from enough; how could adding merely one hundred million scare anyone off?

Very quickly, another person shouted, "I offer one billion five hundred million!"

The suddenly appearing voice startled everyone; what a fellow, directly increasing the bid by four hundred million, simply insane; who exactly is so wealthy? Everyone turned their gaze toward the bidder.

They discovered that the person in Private Room Number Three had a large character 'Cai' embroidered on their clothes, causing a chill in everyone's hearts.

What a fellow, it was actually the Cai Clan Merchant Association; only Cai Clan merchants dress this way, wearing hats shaped like gold ingots, radiating an aura of wealth.

The Cai Clan Merchant Association possesses the God of Wealth Gu, capable of gathering fortune and luck; it is a cross-region merchant association on par with the Qian Clan Merchant Association, truly immensely wealthy.

I'm afraid only the Cai Clan Merchant Association could casually bid one billion five hundred million, treating this exaggerated figure with complete disregard.

Seeing that the bidder was the Cai Clan Merchant Association, no one felt this price was surprising anymore.

Seeing that the bidder was the Cai Clan Merchant Association, the Family Head of the Dan Clan immediately felt his heart sink.

No matter how wealthy his Dan Clan was, how could they be wealthier than a Large Merchant Guild?

Those Large Merchant Guilds all possessed means to avoid various dangers along the route, allowing them to travel to various Great Regions to conduct business buying low and selling high; they were simply too profitable.

Do not look at how his Dan Clan made a fortune selling King-Breaking Pills; compared to those Large Merchant Guilds, it was like a small witch seeing a great wizard; in terms of Wealth, his Dan Clan had no hope of competing with the Cai Clan Merchant Association.

With a difficult expression on his face, the Family Head of the Dan Clan slowly sat down; he had already abandoned the thought of bidding.

Although his Dan Clan could still produce a higher price, he knew that competing with the Cai Clan Merchant Association in terms of Wealth was impossible; it was better to simply give up, as continuing to raise the bid was purely a waste of time.

At this moment, all the Gu Kings of Black Stone City revealed bitter expressions; it now seemed that no local power within Black Stone City had the qualification to contend for the Living Wood.

The Living Wood would ultimately be auctioned off by powers from the border regions, and they could only act as spectators in their own home territory.

There was no help for it; the promotion period had been truly too long, attracting too many external powers who did not lack money.

The Cai Clan Merchant Association originally did not conduct business in the Western Lands, yet unexpectedly, they too had been drawn here by a single Living Wood.

With the Cai Clan Merchant Association joining the bidding, not a single power within the entire Black Stone City was capable of fighting back.

"One billion five hundred million, are there any higher prices? One billion five hundred million, going once!"

Qian Jinjin's suddenly ringing voice finally brought the stunned crowd back to their senses.

Just as they thought no one dared to compete with the Cai Clan Merchant Association in terms of Wealth, another voice rang out from Number One Private Room.

"My Great Yin Dynasty offers two billion Spirit Stones!"

Once the astronomical price of two billion was announced, the entire hall inhaled a sharp breath of cold air again; everyone immediately focused their gaze on Number One Private Room, their eyes revealing shock.

It was actually the Great Yin Dynasty, a nation.

If there was any power whose Wealth could contend with a Large Merchant Guild, it could only be a national treasury.

The Great Yin Dynasty is a super empire from the Moon Region; the finances of a super empire can fully compete with the Cai Clan Merchant Association in terms of Wealth.

Seeing a national-level power join the contention for the Living Wood, everyone's eyes flickered slightly.

In this place, the Western Lands, powers are organized in units of Cultivation Clans, with not a single nation existing.

National civilizations are only seen when moving toward the center of the Gu World, and adjacent to the east of the Western Lands lies the Moon Region, which possesses national civilizations, the Great Yin Dynasty being one of them.

Clearly, the three-month promotional period had been sufficient to attract national-level powers.

No nation lacks money; with the Great Yin Dynasty participating in the bidding, the transaction price for the Living Wood would likely break through the sky.

In Private Room Number Three, a middle-aged fat man emitting a Gu King Peak aura stood up, turned his head to glance at Private Room Number One, frowned slightly, and revealed a grave expression.

He hadn't expected a nation to make a move; for a nation to produce several tens of billions was hardly difficult. It seemed that if the Cai Clan wanted to secure this Living Wood, they would have to bleed heavily!

After a moment of silence, Cai Xuan directly called out a price: "The Cai Clan Merchant Association offers four hundred billion Spirit Stones!"

He knew that for a nation to produce four hundred billion was by no means difficult, so he bothered not with gradual increments, instead directly stating the Cai Clan Merchant Association's bottom line; if the Great Yin Dynasty could exceed this price, then his Cai Clan Merchant Association would abandon the contest for the Living Wood.

Once this price was announced, the entire hall was shocked again; four hundred billion was simply a terrifying figure, truly too domineering—a number no one dared to imagine. At this moment, they clearly realized just how horrifying the Wealth of a Large Merchant Guild truly was.

And a person who could casually produce so many Spirit Stones—how many Gu Kings could they cultivate? No one dared to imagine.

Inside Private Room Number One sat five people; among them was an elder clad in splendid silver robes, his face filled with majesty, releasing a terrifying Gu King Peak aura.

Luo Yu glanced askance toward Private Room Number Three, revealed a look of disdain, and spoke: "Four hundred billion Spirit Stones should be your bottom line, yes?"

"Then I won't bid much more; I will offer just four hundred and one billion Spirit Stones."

In Private Room Number Three, Cai Xuan chuckled: "Heh, four hundred billion is far from the Cai Clan Merchant Association's bottom line. Our foundation extends far beyond a hundred billion."

"It's just that bidding any higher would not be worth it; for any commodity, one must consider not only its intrinsic value but also the risks accompanying it."

"Even if our Cai Clan Merchant Association were to successfully auction off the Living Wood today, there is no guarantee we could take it away. Offering four hundred billion entails immense risk; it is quite possible those four hundred billion would go down the drain."

"Considering the risks inherent to the Living Wood itself, our Cai Clan Merchant Association has therefore chosen to cease bidding."

"Although you have outbid me by one hundred million Spirit Stones today to secure this Living Wood, I shall wait and see whether you can safely take it away today."

"With so many Gu Kings gathered here, how great is the likelihood that you will be attacked once you leave the City?"

"The distance from Black Stone City to the Great Yin Imperial City is truly too vast; over such a long journey, far too many accidents can occur."

"I predict you will be unable to safely return the Living Wood to the Great Yin Imperial City," Cai Xuan sneered coldly.

"Heh! Whether I can safely return the Living Wood is not something you need to worry about."

"Since I dared to make a move, I possess absolute confidence in bringing the Living Wood back."

Luo Yu glanced toward Cai Xuan, revealing a smile of confidence.

(End of Chapter)