Chapter 148: Auction
"Foundation Establishment Pill? What's that?" Neither of the two present had any experience with web novels, so they naturally knew nothing about cultivation knowledge or the ways of Daoism.
"Nothing." Bai Mo felt he hadn't been this awkward in a long time.
Seeing his unwillingness to elaborate, the two didn't press further.
"So, you witnessed the birth of a Ghost King?! How did you escape?" Although Ji Xuan instinctively felt that the person before him was very strong, compared to a Ghost King that permeated an entire city like a natural disaster, he was clearly not on the same scale.
"I 'created' half of an unrestrained Ghost King," he stated a terrifying fact in a flat tone.
"That kind of thing, with only a will for destruction, why did you release it? What do you mean by 'half'? And what does 'create' mean?" Ji Xuan, highly interested in such mysterious events, immediately latched onto a series of key questions.
"I fostered another minor ghost, allowing it to devour the other five Ghost King candidates. In exchange, I took that Soul-Gathering Flower."
"Furthermore, 'it' can communicate. It's not purely destructive. To be precise, it's more like a severe case of dissociative identity disorder, with countless independent personalities within it. But without completing its metamorphosis, its combat strength is equivalent to a Spirit Animation Stage ninth-tier ability user, though its abilities are a bit tricky."
"Can communicate? But the Ghost King of Tianzhou, all I felt was chaos and madness."
"Have you had surgery recently?" Bai Mo then asked.
"How did you know?!" "My apologies, I misspoke." Ji Xuan's expression changed, but he quickly composed himself, remembering that the other party was a major client and also high-ranking and influential. He quickly apologized.
"Was it a transplant surgery?" Seeing the fat man before him emit a blue light, representing panic, he voiced his conjecture.
The moment he first saw Ji Xuan, he noticed an unhealed surgical scar on his body. Scanning inwards along the scar, he found the Spirit Hub right inside.
Ji Xuan felt as if the person before him had already seen through his every secret. Nervously, his palms began to sweat, and cold sweat seeped from his temples. He started speaking with honorifics again.
"Don't be so nervous. It's just a minor Spirit Hub transplantation surgery, not some shocking case that's been exposed. The possibility of successful Spirit Hub transplantation isn't a top-secret anymore. Most of the organizations buying Spirit Hubs from you are likely related to this, so could you tell me about the person who performed your surgery?"
"I'm sorry."
"Twenty million. Can you take me to see him?" Bai Mo extended a single finger, directly naming a large sum.
Ji Xuan hesitated. Although he was a manager in the underground market, he was only a manager. The vast majority of profits had to be handed over to those supporting him from behind. Twenty million was not a small sum for him.
"Forty million." He extended a second finger.
"Sir, why are you looking for them?" His attitude softened further under the bombardment of silver bullets.
"Purely for academic exchange. I don't need to find them for transplantation surgery myself. I even feel forty million for a guide's fee is a bit extravagant."
"My friend who performed the surgery is a lone wolf who loves freedom. He was worried you might be representing the higher-ups to recruit him. Since it's an academic exchange, I'm sure he'd be delighted. I can't accept this money."
"Suit yourself. Just contact him and mention Chen Xi."
"Alright." Ji Xuan forced himself to resist the heartache of rejecting the forty million, because he felt that connecting with Bai Mo would definitely be worth more than that. After all, the other party was a key figure of interest to the Central Government and a powerful ability user who didn't even care about Spirit Animation Stage ninth-tier ghosts.
"If you don't plan to use that Soul-Gathering Flower, Mr. Bai, you could consider auctioning it in this underground market. It would certainly be the headlining item and fetch an astronomical price."
"Ever since the Spirit River Autumn, some people have been selecting items that clearly don't look mundane from the unknown materials acquired from adventurers worldwide, using them to replace the boring antiques of the past for our monthly large-scale auctions here."
"If someone truly finds a fortuitous encounter, would they sell it?" He was a bit puzzled.
"On one side, you have something that looks extraordinary but you have no idea what it's for; on the other, you have a large sum of money that can immediately change your life. How many of the people who become adventurers and venture into various Heaven and Earth Secret Realms are rich? It's better to exchange it for tangible cash to improve their lives."
"Most of them have worthless lives. They recklessly gained some power, but they can't rob the state or defeat the Dragon Group. As long as we promote stories of treasure hunting, creating the illusion that people win prizes and strike it rich every day, we'll never lack expeditionary daredevil teams."
"The next auction is tomorrow at noon. You can consider it." Ji Xuan still hadn't given up on that flower.
"I've already used the Soul-Gathering Flower, and I'm not short on money anyway. However, I'll still go to the auction tomorrow to take a look. Please have anything I buy sent to the testing ground in Tianqing." Bai Mo decided to use a clone to handle the players injured in the competition who needed to be sent to the medical bay.
"In that case, please condescend to stay at the hotel here for a night."
"Mm."
"It's still a bit early. Would you like to try your luck at the casino over there?"
"No need for gambling, it's meaningless. It's purely bullying. But taking a stroll after dinner would be nice."
The splendid underground casino was in another corner of the underground city. At around nine in the evening, when nightlife was just beginning, many people were inside, enjoying themselves and gambling.
Many of them were leaders of black organizations, or desperate individuals who had just completed a lawless transaction. They sat in executive chairs, embracing scantily clad women, spending vast sums of cash freely in this den of indulgence. Behind each executive chair stood a server, ready to attend to their needs at any moment.
The casino never cared if the money was stained with blood; as long as it wasn't counterfeit, everything was fine.
On the stage outside the casino, there was also a sizzling striptease performance. A crowd surrounded the dancer in the center, frantically stuffing money into every conceivable crevice on her body.
"If I were to sweep through this place once, the crime rate across the entire Huaxia would probably show a visually discernible drop?" He sensed everything within his divine sense and said with a chuckle to the other two.
"Those who have the ability to do so wouldn't do something that would grievously offend so many people. This underground city has the backing of many powerful figures. As for those without the ability, well, there's no need to mention them."
"Who knows." Bai Mo shrugged, continuing deeper into the casino.
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