Chapter 317: The First Cross-Sea Auction

The sea breeze of Dream Island still carried a salty tang, yet it held more bustle than usual.

A Lan stood atop a massive boulder carved with the four great characters "Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce," his black robes fluttering and dancing in the sea breeze.

Gazing toward the alien merchant ships constantly emerging on the distant horizon, the corners of his mouth lifted slightly.

Finally, it has become lively.

Dream Island, which had been forced to cease operations days ago due to the maritime crisis brought by the Mingwu Clan, had now restored its former prosperity.

One by one, merchant ships of various designs slowly sailed into the harbor.

There were the Pearl Shell Ships of the Sea Demon Clan, their hulls inlaid with spirit pearls that glowed with fluorescence, refracting colorful halos under the sunlight.

There were the Black Tide Wood Boats of the Scale Clan, and the Abyssal Whale Tugboats of the Howling Spirit Clan; massive whale shadows loomed faintly beneath the surface, dragging rafts laden with cargo.

On the docks, members of the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce were busily directing the unloading of goods.

Since this batch of Moon Pattern Algae isn't meant for long-term storage, send it directly to Warehouse No. 3; you handle the moving yourselves, as having our player clan do the moving incurs a fee.

"Newcomers, be careful; the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce assumes no responsibility if Ghost Crystals are shattered, and no security guarantees will be provided without completed registration."

"Inventory complete; take this list, and once you've confirmed the exchange ratio between resources and gold coins is correct, you may enter the island."

Shouts, haggling, and the clatter of colliding goods intertwined, creating a scene that was noisy yet vibrant with life.

A Lan's gaze swept across the dock; confirming everything was orderly, he nodded slightly.

The plan was proceeding steadily.

The cooperation between the Mingwu Clan and the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce had officially elevated Dream Island to become the trade hub of the Cangxing Sea Region.

Before this, some clans might have felt the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce lacked sufficient strength, and despite its integrity, it could not guarantee the safety of resources.

But after attaching the label of "Strategic Partner" from the Mingwu Clan, whenever members of the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce approached to converse, most were willing to cooperate with the chamber and hoped to be included on the "Safety List."

Among the races arriving this time, there was a batch of new trading clans.

Resources brought by all clans were gathered and tallied at the dock, then, using slips provided by the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce, they entered the island to conduct transactions.

Every transaction would ultimately be handled by members of the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce, and profit could be extracted from each one.

Coupled with the extra revenue from the Gold Coin Life Soul, this brought substantial sacrificial power income to the chamber every day.

"President."

Just then, a player hurried over, stopping below the massive boulder and looking up to say:

"The trade teams I coordinated have all entered the island; what are the arrangements for next?"

Facing the inquiry, A Lan nodded:

"Return to the island to rest; it will be very busy during the auction tonight... by the way, remember to check if there are any issues with the debugging of the bidding devices."

After the guild member departed, A Lan leaped down from the boulder.

What was just mentioned was the bidding device, the core item of this auction.

During the bidding process, every alien representative entering the venue received a bidding device with a random number.

There were no racial markers, no identity tags, and even the seats held by the owners were assigned in a shuffled manner.

Brothers from the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce were responsible for the coordination.

This arrangement was naturally deliberate on his part, all done for the sake of safety.

If a rare treasure was bought by a certain clan, and other races also happened to want it, then after the auction ended, those races might target the clan that successfully secured the item, and vice versa.

Anonymous bidding allowed the winners to safely obtain the auctioned items; aside from the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce, no one would know who took which item.

This model enabled clans wishing to participate to raise their bids without any worries, without needing to heed the expressions of any other clan.

However, these bidding devices were not easy to create.

The Monster World had neither electronic chips nor wireless signals; to achieve real-time bid display, they could only seek out the Arms Merchant Guild, which already possessed relevant technology.

The Arms Merchant Guild originally did not want to take this order, as it was a one-time-use item and could not build an assembly line for continuous profit generation.

It did not align with the profit-seeking interests of the Arms Merchant Guild.

But the root of everything was price, so he offered a price that satisfied the Arms Merchant Guild to customize this batch of equipment.

The creation of the equipment was also extremely complex; the technical personnel of the Arms Merchant Guild used the most primitive methods to hand-craft them.

The casing of the bidding device was smelted and cast from the shells of "Black Iron Crabs" from the Colorful Mist Coast region, while hundreds of hand-crafted micro-gears were embedded inside, each gear engraved with numerals corresponding to the digits 0 through 9.

When a bidder turned the crank on the side, the gear assembly would rotate with a "click-clack" sound, combining to form the corresponding numbers.

Since wireless data transmission was impossible, the Arms Merchant Guild simply sealed a seed of the "Sound-Transmitting Grass" from the Senluo Forest Realm region inside each bidding device; these seeds could transmit information through sound wave resonance.

When aliens used the bidding devices to place bids, the numbers given would be transmitted via the Sound-Transmitting Grass to the Sound-Transmitting Grass beneath the Bone Crystal Screen of the auction house, then converted into gear commands to display on the Bone Crystal Screen.

Even to prevent accidents with the Sound-Transmitting Grass seeds that might cause bid information to fail transmission.

Behind the auction house, twelve members of the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce were stationed, specifically responsible for manually copying bids in case of emergencies.

Once a failure occurred in the information transmission layer, they would continue maintaining the auction by holding up wooden signs.

This entire set of equipment was like a patchwork of steampunk and natural technology.

But as long as it could operate, nothing else mattered.

In the original plan, the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce would soon be able to use various new technological products.

Alas, unexpected incidents in the Monster World were hard to predict, true for aliens and true for players alike.

In the plan, the Moon Eclipse Clan would soon occupy the base of the Machine Guard Clan in the Underground World, and after restarting the base, a new arsenal could be established upon the ruins.

Although not intended for warfare, it would at least allow the technological level of the player faction to be rapidly raised to Earth standards.

Producing various technological products would be no difficulty at all.

But the appearance of the Blue Lamp Clan completely shattered his future plans.

The entire Underground World had been reshaped by the Blue Lamp Clan into an Adventurer World.

This was a great thing for all players, yet it indirectly affected his plan to update the supporting equipment for the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce.

But none of this counted as a difficult problem; issues of technological development could be addressed after the Star Net entered the scene.

The core of the Monster World remained the Star Vein system.

At the beginning of the Moon Eclipse Clan's layout in the Monster World, the Star Net had stated that in the future, the Moon Eclipse Clan would also develop with the Star Vein system as its core, with the technological system serving more as a developmental aid, providing convenience in certain specific fields.

Amidst surging thoughts, A Lan crossed the crowded dock area and walked along a path paved with fluorescent shells toward the auction venue deep within the island.

Many facilities on the island were the responsibility of the Tian Duo Clan.

Besides the initial dock construction, this included the shell path beneath his feet; from materials to design plans, and subsequent construction, all were carried out by the Tian Duo Clan.

This was also the reason he chose to protect the Tian Duo Clan.

The appearance fees for his own players were expensive, and they refused to do this or that.

In comparison, as long as the Tian Duo Clan was paid, they would do anything.

They could be called the best service provider in the Colorful Mist Coast region.

Back then, he had fought to protect this race precisely because he valued their pragmatic style of working for money without any nonsense.

The construction of Dream Island would continue in the future, and cooperation with the Tian Duo Clan would persist as well.

Time moved to evening.

As the last wisp of sunset sank below the horizon, the phosphorescent corals transplanted by the Tian Duo Clan on Dream Island lit up one by one; cold, dark blue light flowed like water waves, enveloping the entire open-air auction venue in a hazy atmosphere.

The venue was located in the East District of Dream Island; here there were no golden and splendid halls, only an open-air assembly ground.

The seating here was all modified from the skeletons of various giant sea beasts.

For instance, the ribs of Abyssal Whales were inverted and planted in the sand, forming natural curved backrests.

Lighting relied on clusters of glowing corals, shaped into various forms around the perimeter of the auction venue, swaying gently with the sea breeze and casting a cold, dark blue light.

In the center of the venue was the auction platform, its edges carved with a circle of dense runes used to stabilize the projection image of the "Bone Crystal Screen."

As for a rain canopy, it was utterly unnecessary.

All the races had come through great winds and waves; even a torrential downpour would not cause any harm to their bodies.

At this moment, with the auction about to begin, representatives of all races held their bidding devices and entered their seats one after another.

They took their seats according to randomly assigned numbers, keeping distance from one another, and interference stones designed to prevent spiritual perception were placed near the seats.

Perception could only scan from the seats to the auction platform, but could not scan other races nearby.

Spirit Chef players invited by the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce from their own forum were already pushing "Seaweed Wine Carts" weaving between the seats.

The drinks provided were naturally not free; each cup required payment in gold coins.

This was also a welfare support from the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce for its own players; all earnings of the Spirit Chef players here belonged entirely to themselves, with no need to turn anything over to the chamber.

How much could be sold depended entirely on individual skill.

"Honey-Brewed Sea Fruit Juice, 80 gold coins a cup, who wants a cup?"

"Abyssal Fire Wine, 300 gold coins a cup, guaranteed to make you drink your fill."

"Phantom Dream Sparkling Drink, mixed with extract from Divine Jellyfish, limited supply of 50 cups, 1500 gold coins a cup."

A player squatted beside the wine cart, deftly collecting money with the trading device provided by the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce, while muttering:

"Big Brother Sea Demon, want to try the new Coral Agate Jelly?... What, too expensive? This price is very honest; how could I cheat you? Drink it and you'll become stronger."

On the other side, two representatives of the Bu Xing Clan were frowning as they tasted the "Abyssal Fire Wine," so spicy they stuck out their tongues, wisps of white smoke rising from their throats.

The currency used on Gold Coin Island was called Gold Coins.

Every 10 Gold Coins were worth approximately 1 point of Sacrificial Power.

Although within the player faction, Sacrificial Power was the purest currency, usable for strengthening Life Souls, purchasing items from the Mall, and even other functional services.

It could even be directly converted into Life Soul experience.

But the problem was that Sacrificial Power was an exclusive resource only players could use; essentially a "Power of Rules," it was bound to the players' consciousness.

Aliens could neither perceive it nor touch it.

Players could transfer Sacrificial Power among themselves, but could not materialize it; it existed only as a balance within the player's Storage Sack panel.

To solve the trading problem, A Lan introduced a more refined currency unit on Dream Island: the "Gold Coin."

The smallest unit was 1, valued at 0.1 points of Sacrificial Power; it could be used for trading various goods on the island and could be converted into physical resources at the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce at any time.

The auction being held now was conducted using Gold Coins as currency.

Every clan participating in the bidding had already deposited the resources they brought onto Dream Island; players responsible for liaison calculated their value and then issued the corresponding amount of Gold Coins.

This ensured no invalid bids occurred during the auction; one could only bid as high as the Gold Coins one possessed allowed.

The capital verification stage had been completed before the auction opened.

As time passed, a long conch horn sounded, and the clamor within the open-air auction ground gradually subsided.

The auction officially began.

Liu Yi, the Vice President of the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce, stepped onto the auction platform.

He wore a dark golden robe, its hem embroidered with fine copper coin patterns, and a gold-coin-shaped tally hung from his waist.

This attire had been custom-made by players from the forum.

"Everyone."

His voice was not loud, yet through the resonance of the Sound-Transmitting Conch, it clearly reached every corner of the venue.

"Welcome to the first Cross-Sea Domain Auction on Dream Island. The rules are simple: if you have sufficient wealth, you can take away anything you desire; if not, you can only sit below the stage and watch helplessly as other clans claim it."

"There is no room for sentiment here; no credit is extended, and no post-payment is allowed. Every increase in bid must be backed by tangible Gold Coins."

"Without further ado, let us begin this auction. There are twenty items up for bid today; first, we present the initial item."

Liu Yi waved his hand, and the particles on the Bone Crystal Screen behind him shifted abruptly, revealing the form of the first auction item.

It was a battle spear, entirely pitch-black, its shaft entwined with wisps of Bone-Eroding Power.

Mere images clearly could not convey the full picture, so a display platform rose before Liu Yi, holding the physical spear shown on the Bone Crystal Screen.

Since players' analysis content could not be displayed to the alien races, Liu Yi proceeded to give a detailed explanation of the weapon:

"Everyone, this Bone-Eroding Battle Spear originates from an ancient battlefield in the Skeletal Swamp region and was once the personal weapon of a Great Priest of a certain clan."

"Its trait is simple: anyone wounded by this spear will suffer festering wounds; their bones will begin to rot from within, eventually turning them into an empty shell."

"Of course, it currently has a minor issue." Speaking thus, Liu Yi pointed to an obvious crack in the middle section of the spear shaft.

The image shifted again, displaying a clear fissure in the mid-section of the spear.

"This weapon was damaged in battle and can currently only exert seventy percent of its power... Those who wish to learn more may come forward to inspect it."

At this moment, A Lan sat in the audience seats of the auction venue, watching the proceedings.

The items in this auction could mostly be inspected up close by the alien races, so there was no worry about them grabbing the goods and fleeing.

After all, the resources of every race were still held by the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce; for such ordinary goods, there was no need to fear the risk of snatching.

He turned his head to look beside him.

There sat a tall figure quietly in a specially designated seat: Ye Ming, who had been invited.

He wore a black robe, its heavy fabric draping to the ground; mist patterns were embroidered on the gown, and the shadow of the hood completely obscured his Iron Face, revealing only a cold, sharp jawline from the silhouette.

At this moment, his gaze was focused on the Bone-Eroding Battle Spear on the auction platform, scanning the fluctuating aura emanating from it with his perception.

"Interested?"

"Not interested." Ye Ming shook his head.

The quality of this weapon was not low, but it was merely a damaged artifact; its strength was far inferior to his own physique, so what use would it be?

"Later, there may be items that interest you," A Lan said, turning his gaze back to the auction platform.

After the detailed introduction, several clans voluntarily stepped forward to inspect the weapon firsthand, some even attempting to wield it.

Once this viewing phase concluded, the bidding commenced:

"The starting price for the Bone-Eroding Battle Spear is 30,000 Gold Coins. Please place your bids."

Representatives of the clans below whispered among themselves; shortly after, a number jumped onto the Bone Crystal Screen. [Bidder No. 329 offers: 30,001 Gold Coins.]

Then a second price appeared.

[Bidder No. 23 offers: 30,002 Gold Coins.]

Seeing this price, A Lan below the stage felt utterly speechless.

These alien races were truly stingy; everyone wanted to secure the auction items at the lowest possible price.

As time passed, the numbers continued to climb.

Each item had a bidding window of thirty minutes; the clan with the highest bid within this timeframe would win the item.

The display time was measured not by numbers or markings, since the various races could not read Earth's script; instead, the most primitive hourglass was used.

When the sand in the hourglass flask ran out, it signaled the end of the bidding time for that item.

When the bidding price reached 120,000 Gold Coins, Vice President Liu Yi on the stage smiled and said:

"The hourglass is flowing; hesitation leads to defeat. The power of this weapon will not disappoint you. Are there any higher bids?"

Hearing these words, the bidding price suddenly surged rapidly.

At this moment, the players in the livestream room went wild.

The quality rating of this weapon was 67; sacrificing it to Emperor Omen would yield only 8,500 points of Sacrificial Power, and listing it on the Exchange would only fetch a premium of about 7% to 10%; after deducting handling fees, there was hardly any profit to be made.

But now the auction price had already reached 20,000 points of Sacrificial Power and was still rising.

As the timer entered its final minute, the price of the Bone-Eroding Battle Spear had reached 380,000 Gold Coins, entering the final sprint phase.

[Bidder No. 12 offers: 500,000 Gold Coins.]

Bidder No. 12's sudden price hike sparked another wave of heated discussion among the players in the livestream.

They had never expected that what they considered mere sacrificial offerings could be sold by the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce at such a high price.

The player who had provided this item, while vacationing on the Colorful Mist Coast and watching the livestream, could not help but let out an excited roar, drawing glances from nearby players.

The Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce took only a 10% cut; he had truly made a killing, and could now update his Star Vein combinations.

When the countdown ended, the Bone-Eroding Battle Spear was finally sold for 620,000 Gold Coins, equivalent to 62,000 points of Sacrificial Power.

However, the clan that won the item did not appear; Vice President Liu Yi directly stored the Bone-Eroding Battle Spear into his Storage Sack.

The subsequent transportation would be handled by members of the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce, who would personally escort it onto the island; the handover would take place within the tribal lands of the clan that purchased the item.

This method ensured the safety of the clans participating in the auction and eliminated potential risks of snatching.

The second item appeared at this moment.

With a wave of Liu Yi's hand, the image on the Bone Crystal Screen switched, revealing a whole crate of glass bottles glowing with an emerald green light before the representatives of the various races.

Then, the physical display platform rose.

The various races turned their heads in unison; inside the crate, the bottles were transparent, the liquid within flowing like jade, refracting an intoxicating luster under the glow of the phosphorescent coral.

"Everyone, the next item is surely familiar to you all."

Liu Yi casually picked up a bottle and gave it a gentle shake; the medicinal liquid inside immediately rippled with fine golden starlight.

"The second auction item is the Premium Life Restoration Potion, exclusively supplied by our Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce. There are ten bottles in total, available in limited supply. They can be used to repair damaged bodies; the specific effect depends on the consumer's physical constitution—the stronger the constitution, the more Life Restoration Potions are required."

He paused deliberately, sweeping his gaze across the hall:

"As long as one is still alive, even in a state of near-death with severe injuries, severed limbs can be regrown and status quickly restored."

The moment his voice fell, the entire hall erupted into an uproar.

Such potions were not considered rare in the eyes of players, but for the various races of the Pale Star Sea Domain, they were akin to a second life.

"Starting price: 100,000 Gold Coins."

The price of a single Premium Restoration Potion in the player mall was 1,000 points of Sacrificial Power; 100,000 Gold Coins meant the starting bid was set at cost price.

The moment Liu Yi finished speaking, the bidding ignited instantly.

Bidder No. 17 immediately raised the price to 200,000 Gold Coins.

Bidder No. 42, unwilling to be outdone, doubled the price on top of the 200,000 Gold Coins, offering 400,000 Gold Coins.

But this price lasted only one second; the next second, the price jumped to 500,000 Gold Coins.

Even Ye Ming, who had been watching coldly from the sidelines, slightly raised his head, then manipulated the pricing device in his hand, doubling the price again to 1,000,000 Gold Coins.

This scene truly left the players in the livestream room stunned; instantly, A Lan's livestream chat exploded with flying comments:

"Holy crap, this isn't making money, it's literally printing money; that's too ruthless."

"Just came over from the Liver Emperor's livestream; he's still grinding training to save up Sacrificial Power, while here they've already started an assembly line for printing cash; I'm getting green with envy."

"Even capitalists would cry tears seeing this; making money this hard? Just click the function panel, open the mall, click buy, and sell it for ten times the price; you've made me cry."

"The Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce probably won't sell in bulk; they're taking the luxury route, limited supply, driving the price sky-high, reaping huge profits from a single investment; they might even use the potions to facilitate various trades for the Chamber; pity ordinary players don't have the channels; the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce has made a killing."

Veteran players now commonly used Advanced Restoration Potions priced at 500; the Premium Restoration Potions of the Divine Hall Society's Damage-Taking Group were already standard equipment, and some had even begun using "Blood-Stabilizing Potions" priced at 2,000 points of Sacrificial Power.

In the eyes of players, although Premium Restoration Potions were valuable, they were not worth this much.

The price for ten bottles of Premium Restoration Potions had actually reached 1,000,000 Gold Coins, equivalent to 100,000 points of Sacrificial Power.

Items readily available in the mall were auctioned off by the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce at astronomical prices, truly shattering the worldview of the spectating players.

Ultimately, this item was sold for 1,350,000 Gold Coins, purchased by Ye Ming.

Next came the third item, another product from the Adventurer Dungeon: the Star Vortex Soul-Condensing Bead.

This item was not a weapon but more like an ornament; it was only the size of a fingertip and, when worn on the body, could automatically absorb spiritual energy to nourish the physique.

But for players, this thing only held value as a sacrificial offering to Emperor Omen, far less useful than the Qi-Devouring trait.

Under Liu Yi's commentary, the emotions of the clan representatives were stirred, and they competed to place bids once the display phase ended.

Time passed as item after item was presented.

Unknowingly, the auction had continued throughout the entire night.

Dawn arrived.

The sky gradually whitened, and a fish-belly glow rose from the sea horizon, shrouding Dream Island in a hazy morning mist.

The light of the phosphorescent coral gradually dimmed, replaced by a pale gold woven from dawn light and sea fog, coating the entire island in a soft filter.

A gentle breeze swept through, carrying the salty scent of seawater and dispersing the stifling heat within the auction hall.

Many alien representatives remained mentally excited, all anticipating the finale item to be presented last by the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce.

When Liu Yi concluded the bidding for the 19th item, the spirits of all races perked up instantly.

The image on the bone crystal screen suddenly changed.

An irregular black-purple fragment hovered in midair, its surface covered in cracks, appearing plain and unadorned.

Just as everyone wondered why such a broken shard could serve as the finale item, the display platform rose, and the expressions of the racial representatives present shifted abruptly.

The picture revealed nothing, but upon seeing the actual object, they felt an indescribable aura of pressure.

Liu Yi smiled and introduced at this moment:

"This object is neither weapon nor equipment, nor is it a potion or tool; it is the concretization of rules condensed from the power of the world's origin. In its complete state, it indeed contains supreme mystery, allowing one to establish their own rules within the logic of rules."

Speaking thus, Liu Yi suddenly changed his tone, saying with some helplessness:

Regrettably... the original power contained within this rule fragment has been completely drained; now only an empty shell remains, and even that is only a fragmented portion.

"Simply put, it currently holds no practical use; it possesses neither rule logic nor can it be used to forge various weapons and equipment."

Upon hearing the four words 'rule fragment,' the various races present immediately lost their composure.

Liu Yi's words not only failed to dampen the enthusiasm of the racial representatives but instead made the atmosphere in the hall even more agitated.

Because a rule fragment, even if just an empty shell, was a symbol of the supreme.

For a race to seek broader development space and become a hegemonic power, possessing rules was merely the first step.

Without rules, one was destined to be mere nourishment at the mercy of others in the Monster World.

Whispers constantly arose throughout the scene:

"The Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce actually possesses such a supreme treasure; even with its origin power scattered, it is still priceless, perhaps capable of being crafted into a pseudo-rule type tool."

"If our race can obtain this object, we will surely possess a broader future."

"How many gold coins does our race have left? Even if we exhaust all resources stored in the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce, we must secure this."

Even Ye Ming, who had been watching coldly from the sidelines, suddenly stood up, the eyes formed from converging soul fire twinkling uncontrollably.

The Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce pursued profit, but profit was ultimately meant to be converted into strength.

It could not understand how the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce could bring out such a precious rule fragment for auction.

This behavior was simply utterly foolish.

Even a pseudo-rule type tool could not be measured by ordinary resources.

The Mingwu Clan now possessed two rules, but in its eyes, rules were never enough, fundamentally incomparable to the top-tier powerful races of the Monster World.

This rule fragment made its heart pound wildly, even sparking the thought of rushing forward to snatch it directly.

Just then, Liu Yi on the stage suddenly stored the rule fragment into his spatial travel bag:

"The final finale item is rather special; the display phase has ended, and we will proceed directly to the bidding phase."

"The starting price for the rule fragment is: 1 gold coin."

Speaking, Liu Yi inverted the hourglass.

As soon as Liu Yi's voice fell, the bidding numbers erupted like a raging Black Tide.

[Number 382, bid: 100,000 gold coins.]

[Number 220, bid: 500,000 gold coins.]

[Number 9, bid: 2 million gold coins.]

[Number 33, bid: 10 million gold coins.]

The representatives of all races had turned red-eyed, with prices climbing at an astonishing speed.

It was as if they were not fighting over an empty shell fragment, but rather the opportunity for their own race to become a powerful clan.

Liu Yi surveyed the entire hall, his smile profound.

Indeed, the value of some things depended on environmental judgment, on how much others were willing to pay for them.

If this item were placed in the player camp, no player would treat it as a treasure; the ultimate result would always be sale, with absolutely no possibility of personal use.

Picking any item at random from their own Soul Soul Repository would be stronger than a complete rule, let alone a rule fragment.

If it could not be sold, it would be merely an ornament, holding no value in the eyes of players.

But placed on Dream Island, it could create unimaginable wealth.

This was still because the scale of the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce had not yet grown; if in the future it could establish trade relations with thousands, tens of thousands, or even more races.

The auction could introduce more competitors.

Such scarce supreme treasures could then fetch even higher values.

[Number 313 bids: 30 million gold coins.]

Ye Ming finally could not sit still; he turned the bidding device and offered a bid worth 3 million sacrificial power.

But this number was quickly suppressed by another race bidding 32 million gold coins.

This instantly enraged Ye Ming; he surged to his feet, his black robes moving without wind.

The black mist churning around his body suddenly exploded, sweeping across the entire auction hall like an angry Black Tide!

Crack!

The few coral lamp stands nearest to him instantly shattered.

His gaze swept coldly over the entire hall; every alien representative he fixed his eyes upon felt as though they had fallen into an ice cave.

Only then did they realize that the Mingwu Clan actually had a representative present.

A representative from a certain small race even collapsed directly onto their seat, their Iron Face deathly pale.

Ye Ming turned the bidding device at this moment, raising the price to 35 million gold coins.

The air seemed to solidify, even the sound of breathing becoming clearly audible.

However, amidst this suffocating oppression, the number on the bone crystal screen suddenly jumped:

[Number 89, bid: 36 million gold coins.]

Ye Ming's pupils contracted sharply, the black mist around his body churning violently.

Who?

His gaze swept across the scene like a blade, but the bidding device did not display numbers; he simply could not identify which race was bidding secretly.

"General Ye Ming, do not be angry; items at an auction have always been spoken for with financial power."

A Lan smiled and soothed.

On the other side, Liu Yi stood on the auction platform, the corner of his mouth lifting imperceptibly.

"The current highest price is 36 million gold coins; are there any higher bids?"

His voice was exceptionally clear in the deathly silent hall, like a drop of water falling into boiling oil.

Immediately, new prices appeared once again.

36.5 million... 37 million... 38 million, the price continued to climb; Ye Ming, who had sat back down, looked at A Lan and said in a deep voice:

"I want this rule fragment."

"The bidding price determines ownership." A Lan showed not the slightest intention of compromising.

"I did not bring sufficient resources this time; wait until I return, and I will make up the difference for you."

"These are the rules of the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce; external resources cannot be counted toward the bid; perhaps next time you can store more resources here at the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce to avoid such incidents."

The aura spilling from within the shadows of Ye Ming's hood suddenly turned icy cold; his voice was pressed extremely low, yet carried an unquestionable threat:

"Collector Shou Jili, you should be clear on one thing: things that my Mingwu Clan desires do not necessarily need to be obtained through bidding."

"Actually... rather than being threatened by you frequently, I think you could truly try to see if you can take anything from my Player Clan; otherwise, you will never give up, believing yourself capable of coercing my Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce." A Lan smiled calmly and unhurriedly.

Staring at A Lan for a long moment, Ye Ming suddenly stood up, his figure shooting straight into the sky.

In the blink of an eye, he vanished into the morning light.

8,300 words served~

(End of Chapter)