Chapter 552: Meeting Gift |
"This... I—"
Li Xiangrou looked at the treasured armor he handed over, still hesitating.
She had never expected that the armor was meant for her.
"Just accept it."
Ning Qi glanced at her and smiled, "I spent a large sum to buy this for you at auction. Don't waste my goodwill."
"Then I won't be polite."
Li Xiangrou finally accepted his treasure armor.
The moment it entered her hands, she felt a cool, tingling sensation.
However, it did not feel icy.
Seeing her accept it, Ning Qi showed a look of satisfaction, "It's for you, so don't be shy."
"All right!"
Li Xiangrou gave a slight nod, a trace of something unusual flashing through her beautiful eyes.
She then put it away.
Her gaze was full of gratitude.
"Everyone, next up is an Immortal Sword for auction!"
At that moment, the auctioneer spoke again.
After he finished speaking, assistants behind him carried up a long sword box.
Just its presence radiated oppressive pressure.
"A fine sword."
Ning Qi only glanced at it and made the judgment.
His eyes were full of curiosity, "I wonder what kind of sword it will be?"
"Is that so?"
"Maybe my strength is insufficient, I can't tell."
Hearing him, Li Xiangrou also grew curious.
But she couldn't see what was so special about the sword.
"Everyone, I won't say much about this sword."
"The starting price is ten million!"
The auctioneer announced once more.
"What? Only ten million? That's nothing."
"I thought it would be better!"
"That's underwhelming!"
The crowd below started to comment, many showing disappointment.
Clearly, their expectations for the sword were low.
"Ten million spirit marrow!"
Just as people sneered, the auctioneer added, "Each raise must be at least one million spirit marrow!"
"What? Spirit marrow?"
"This is too expensive!"
"The issue is spirit marrow is so rare, few possess it!"
...
His words made the crowd below widen their eyes.
One by one they stared greedily at the sword box, faces full of curiosity.
What could be inside to fetch such an exorbitant price?
"Everyone, since you're curious, let's show you!"
"This Immortal Sword comes from the Immortal Realm!"
"Rumor says it was once used by a Golden Immortal."
The auctioneer smiled at the curious faces, then called out, "Open!"
"Yes!"
After his command, two or three assistants stepped forward.
Together they removed the Immortal Sword from its case.
"Whoosh!"
The instant it appeared, a cold gleam flashed.
"Pop!"
The cold light surged; two assistants failed to dodge in time.
Their arms were cleanly sliced off.
"Ah!"
They screamed, faces drained of blood.
"Take them away!"
The auctioneer showed no emotion and ordered them carried off.
"Damn, that's terrifying!"
"Just the cold can hurt people!"
...
Everyone stared in disbelief at the scene.
No one expected the Immortal Sword to be so strong.
All eyes were drawn to this sword.
The blade shimmered with refined light, making it hard to look directly at it. The edge alone sent chills down spines.
Its slender form gave an especially piercing impression.
"Fine sword!"
Ning Qi looked at it and chuckled, "It should be a decent meeting gift for Miss Xu's master."
"Master, this is too precious, I'm reluctant!"
The Pill Spirit said, "Her master doesn't deserve this sword."
The Pill Spirit had met Xu Qingqiu's master and knew exactly what kind of person he was.
Only Ning Qi had not met him yet, which was why he prepared a meeting gift.
The Pill Spirit only complained a bit and said no more.
"Never mind, your master here owns the Chaos Sword!"
"It is the Immortal-Slaying Sword that Di Xi once spoke of."
"In front of my Immortal-Slaying Sword, this one is worthless!"
Ning Qi was unconcerned and smiled, "All right, prepare to bid."
"Everyone, the bidding can begin!"
At that moment, the auctioneer downstairs announced, "Eleven million!"
After he spoke, someone raised the price.
"Fifteen million!"
Ning Qi did not hold back; before the sentence even ended, he increased the bid.
"Again with this kid!"
"He must be from the Myriad Swords Sect!"
"Such wealth!"
...
The crowd had grown numb. Ning Qi's wealth intimidated everyone.
He raised the bid by four million right away. What kind of power was that?
"Twenty million."
After he spoke, a voice—sounding like a young woman—also raised the price.
"This sword is indeed good, it makes people bid so wildly!"
"Yeah, too bad we don't have spirit marrow!"
...
Many began to discuss.
"Thirty million!"
When the woman raised the price, Ning Qi smiled.
Spirit marrow? He had the most of that.
He himself didn't even know how much spirit marrow his storage bag contained.
As long as she dared to raise, he could keep raising.
"Forty million!"
He raised the bid and the woman countered again.
"My god, forty million, isn't that too much?"
"Didn't you see they're trying to one-up each other?"
"Yes, these are two powerful people!"
...
Many began to speculate; clearly they suspected posturing.
"Sixty million!"
Ning Qi stated another price.
"My god, it's that young man again!"
"It's already six times the starting price!"
"Heavens, today we really opened our eyes!"
"In front of those with power, these resources are just numbers."
...
After his price was announced, chatter downstairs intensified. Everyone grew curious about Ning Qi.
"Everyone, to prevent false posturing and price inflation,"
"From now on, if you continue bidding, whether you win or not, twenty percent of your spirit marrow will be deducted."
At that moment the auctioneer said, "Our team will now verify your resources."
"If anyone lacks the resources for their current bid, we will expel them!"
"Additionally, the previous bidder will be reduced by fifty percent of the spirit marrow price!"
The auction house couldn't accept such astronomical bids lightly.
Anyone offering such sums must have power and backing.
If they returned home and their family learned they'd spent that much here, someone would surely come to settle accounts.
Such violent disputes had happened before.
So when Ning Qi arrived, the auctioneer made this decision.
"That's right."
"I think they were just shouting empty numbers!"
"Let's see who's fake!"
...
The spectators started to debate.
On Ning Qi's side, an assistant had already come up.
Seeing Ning Qi, he respectfully stepped forward.
"Young Master, pardon the interruption. I'll verify your resources."
The assistant approached and politely spoke again.
"Here."
Ning Qi handed over his storage bag without concern.
The assistant took it with both hands and began to probe seriously.
At first all seemed fine, but after a moment his face showed astonishment.
It wasn't that there wasn't enough, but that there was far too much.
He couldn't even discern how much there was.
"How is it?"
Ning Qi smiled and asked the assistant.
"Young Master, pardon me, your spirit marrow is excessive!"
"More than enough."
The assistant hurriedly returned the bag to Ning Qi and said, "I take my leave!"
"Ning Qi, where did you get so much spirit marrow?"
"Word is it's rare in this world!"
Li Xiangrou asked curiously.
"That's a secret!"
Ning Qi deliberately kept the mystery.
At this time, several assistants had gone downstairs.
"Everyone, this Immortal Sword is sold at twenty million to this Young Master!"
The auctioneer pointed toward Ning Qi.
"Haha, I knew that girl didn't have that much spirit marrow!"
"Exactly, she doesn't, yet she pretended!"
"Now she's been exposed!"
...
The crowd began to jeer.
Apparently that woman's spirit marrow only reached twenty million. After inspection she lost her qualification.
Given her limit, the sword was awarded to Ning Qi.
Thus Ning Qi's spending was not too great, and he retained plenty of face.
After the announcement, in another private room, several people looked displeased.
"Qianqian, this... I'll teach that bastard a lesson!"
A young man raged.
"You don't need to meddle!"
The girl called Qianqian snorted, "I will personally teach that kid a lesson!"
"Miss, but there are restrictions here, we don't know who he is!"
A maid hurriedly warned, "And rules apply. We can't know his identity."
"That's your problem, not mine!"
Qianqian smiled, then continued, "Xu Feng! Let's go."
"All right, tell me what to do."
Xu Feng, the young man, cheered at Qianqian's intent to act and eagerly followed.
"Find an assistant, feed him a craving gu, make him lead us to the Young Master."
Qianqian smiled, "We'll disguise ourselves as assistants too, and it will be done!"
"Yes, good idea!"
"I'll take care of it now!"
Xu Feng clapped and excitedly headed out.
Qianqian followed.
They found a secluded spot, singled out an assistant, knocked him unconscious, and fed him a craving gu.
While they schemed against Ning Qi, Ning Qi and the Pill Spirit continued to admire the Immortal Sword.
By now the sword had been brought to them.
"Master, this Immortal Sword is excellent. Its sword qi alone makes people fear it!"
The Pill Spirit praised the sword repeatedly.
"Indeed, it is a fine sword!"
"If it weren't for my Immortal-Slaying Sword, I truly wouldn't be willing to give this away!"
Ning Qi held the sword and smiled.
"This sword is indeed good, I can feel its sword qi!"
Li Xiangrou also looked at it, admiration flashing across her eyes.
"Young Master!"
Just then an assistant knocked on his door.
"What is it?"
Ning Qi heard and looked toward the entrance.
"We brought you pastries!"
The assistant carried pastries with two people behind him.
They were Qianqian and Xu Feng in disguise.
Dressed as assistants, no one could tell they were nobility. They looked like ordinary staff.
"Oh? Thoughtful."
"Set them down."
Ning Qi, without suspicion, had them put the items down.
"Yes!"
The assistant obliged and left with the two.
During this time, Qianqian and Xu Feng had clearly observed and memorized two people, then hurriedly left.
Ning Qi didn't notice he'd been watched the entire time.
"Try the taste!"
He picked up a pastry and sampled it. "Not bad!"
Li Xiangrou took a piece, tasted it, and praised it.
"Master, it's excellent!"
The Pill Spirit took a bite and gave a thumbs-up.
"Eat a couple bites, we're about to leave!"
Ning Qi began to feast, "Our purpose is achieved; staying longer is pointless."
"Mm!"
The Pill Spirit nodded and ate.
Li Xiangrou also partook without reserve.
The three ate with relish and soon finished everything.
"All right, let's go!"
Ning Qi clapped his hands and glanced downward.
At this time the auctioneer had moved on to another item, but Ning Qi had no interest.
His objective had been accomplished.
"All right!"
Li Xiangrou agreed and rose.
The Pill Spirit resumed his place on Ning Qi's shoulder.
They went downstairs and soon reached the auction house's exit.
Night had fully fallen, but the streets were increasingly crowded.
"Let's go, it's late. We'll head back!"
Ning Qi looked around and smiled.
"Okay!"
Li Xiangrou didn't want to continue wandering and agreed, following him back toward their inn.
Because the crowds were thick, they didn't notice they were being followed the whole way.
Only when they reached the inn did the tailing continue, with people shadowing them furtively.
"Did you get a clear look?"
Qianqian peered in and asked in a low voice.
"Clear. It's this inn, no mistake!"
Xu Feng nodded seriously, "Let's ask the assistants where they stay."
"Mm, good! Let's go!"
Qianqian agreed and hurried toward the inn.
Xu Feng led the way, and soon they arrived at the inn's entrance.
"Two of you looking for rooms?"
As they arrived, an attendant greeted them with a smile.
"Yes."
Qianqian answered and gave Xu Feng a glance.
"By the way, we want to ask you something."
Xu Feng caught her meaning and stepped forward to speak.