"What? He increased the bid by a full billion!"
"Either he's gone crazy in his bidding war with that private booth, or he really wants the lightning core! That's almost double the value it's truly worth!"
"Who knew he had so many spirit crystals though. This definitely confirms that he was toying with whoever is in that private booth!"
"I wonder who's in there? They can't be feeling good about this auction right now."
The crowd continued to discuss the bidding war, which had surprisingly increased by a full billion for the last bid.
John's calm gaze continued to stare at Vivian's private booth, as if taunting her to bid once more. Meanwhile, Vivian's face had turned completely red with anger, as she finally realized the truth of the situation.
"That fucking brat! I'll kill him!" she yelled angrily as she threw her wine cup away, smashing it against the booth wall.
The nearby Xander wanted to tell Vivian to calm down, but decided against it, as he knew it would only make the situation worse. After a short while of anger, Vivian sat back down in her chair while she gazed at John like a hawk. However, she didn't place another bid, as the amount was truly too much for even her to waste on something she didn't need at all.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"Tch, fine you fucking brat. You win this round, but this is not over. I'll have my revenge before long," she grumbled coldly with a murderous glint in her eyes.
"Going once!"
"Going twice!"
"Sold!" the female auctioneer exclaimed, putting an end to the exciting bidding war.
The end of the bidding war naturally ignited further heated discussions, while a satisfied smile appeared on John's face, as his assumption of Vivian had been correct.
"Congratulations on winning the lightning core," Caz congratulated John.
"Thanks," John nodded, and turned around as a person suddenly entered the semi-private booth. It was a young man dressed in the clothing the other auction house staff wore, and he walked up to John.
"Congratulations on your bid," the young man said sincerely before stretching his hand out before John. "May I please have proof of funds for this item."
"Oh, right. Here you go," John replied as he handed the young man a spatial ring with four billion spirit crystals within. The young man took the ring and quickly inspected it, and then nodded his head towards the distant auctioneer on the stage, verifying the funds.
The auctioneer quickly proceeded with the next item, while the young attendant handed back the spatial ring to John.
"Thank you for verification, and congratulations once again," he said before turning and leaving the booth.
"So when do I get the item?" John asked Caz curiously.
"After the auction," Caz explained to John. "All winning bidders are recorded, and you can collect your own items afterwards. When the auction is done, I'll show you where to collect your winning bids."
"Thanks," John thanked Caz for his assistance, while his gaze turned back to the stage as the next item appeared on it. With this victorious blow to Vivian, he no longer had to worry about future bidding interference from her.
…
The auction continued to pass by, as hundreds of items were bid on and sold during the next day. John placed several bids on some of the items of interest, but didn't find anything that truly caught his eye. As such, he had not obtained any additional items yet, but his bidding amounts revealed that he still had at least several billion spirit crystals remaining, which served as further deterrent for Vivian to interfere.
As expected, she did not place any more counter bids, and instead had yet to make a move at all since losing her bidding war to John.
Some time later, another item was being revealed, and as before, John felt a familiar aura coming out from beneath the stage, causing his interest to pique up once more. The crowd also felt the aura emerge as the item appeared on the stage, and many couldn't help but feel suffocated by the regal and powerful aura emanating from the item. However, the aura was scattered and diffused, as if the item were currently slumbering, revealing only a portion of its power.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"Thats!"
"Is it really?"
"I thought those had all been claimed, or had vanished from the world! Where did someone find such a thing?"
"Should we bid on it? Even if you obtain it, its use is quite limited. But just having the item is a status symbol that only a rare few on this world can claim to have!"
Many in the crowd gasped, finding it hard to believe that such an item would be up for auction. Even John raised an eyebrow in surprise as he stared at the distant item, which suddenly started to tremble as if stirred by something.
"The next item is-" the auctioneer started the bidding process on the next item, but her words cut off suddenly as the aura coming from the item suddenly increased several times over, becoming nearly suffocating for many within.
Che!
The item suddenly pierced through the air, leaving the bidding podium on its own accord and shooting out into the crowd above. Gasps of surprise filled the auction theater as all eyes locked onto the item, which had clearly been inactive before, but suddenly took action on its own.
Meanwhile, John raised an eyebrow in slight surprise as the item shot directly towards him, and stopped just two feet away from him, hovering in the air before him. The powerful aura pressed down on John as if testing him, and after a brief test, the item fell into his lap, as if it had found its rightful owner, and its aura retracted inwards once more as if falling back into a slumber.</anda>
Looks of absolute shock filled the crowd as all eyes focused on John, who didn't know what to say at the moment. He knew why the item had come to him, but couldn't explain it to anyone in the crowd.
"Ah…sir!" The auctioneer eventually recovered from her shock and called out to John. "Could you please return that Ancient Dragon Reverse Scale?"