Immediately, the others attending the auction started chatting. "That person’s name is Xuan Qi, right? I heard that his talent is even greater than Shao Qingfeng’s when it comes to voidforce energy."
"He's monstrously talented, but I don't know if he’ll go to the Great Academy."
"It isn’t easy to get in there. Maybe he’ll visit the other schools first."
Jiang Xiaodao proclaimed loudly, "Surpassing Shao Qingfeng? Hmph, he has some skills. I hope that he comes to the Lost Clan institute. I will reluctantly accept him as my little brother and show him off in front of Shao Qingfeng."
Mu Mu sneered. "Aren't you afraid of getting beat up by Shao Qingfeng?"
"Get lost! I'll give you this woman. She's too big, so I'm not interested," Jiang Xiaodao said.
In the end, the subhuman went to Mu Mu.
Some distance away, Luo Lao'er whispered, "Seventh Bro, don't pay him any mind. This is just how he always is, a typical ignorant young man. He'll offend anyone and everyone. If it weren’t for his father, Sage Jiang, always protecting him, he would have died countless times already."
"What’s Mu Mu like?" Lu Yin asked. He could not care less about Jiang Xiaodao. The guy was nothing more than another Ku Wei. He simply needed to be beaten into submission, or else he would continue to strut over everyone.
Luo Lao'er replied, "I haven't learned much about Mu Mu, but she has to be someone else with an amazing background. She must be supported by someone who can rival Sage Jiang."
Lu Yin looked at Jiang Xiaodao and then at Mu Mu. He rubbed his chin. He should find an opportunity to capture both of them on Zenith Mountain. If he did that, chaos would likely break out within the Sixverse Association.
"Now we have our final item for today, a calligraphy scroll." The auctioneer raised a communication crystal, and an image appeared in it. Sure enough, it was a calligraphy scroll that was covered with characters, but in contrast to everyone's expectations, the characters on the scroll were horrendously ugly. They looked like nothing more than a child's scribbles.
As soon as the crowd saw the writing on the scroll, a wave of curses erupted. Jiang Xiaodao was especially vocal. "Are you seriously trying to make money from this? I can write better with my feet! What sort of bullshit is this? I can't even make out a single character!"
"The fact that it’s illegible doesn’t have anything to do with the fact that it’s hideous."
"That handwriting is truly ugly."
The auctioneer sighed before plastering a bitter smile on his face. "Everyone, please listen to my explanation: while the handwriting is undeniably ugly, it contains a unique comprehension. Every stroke carries a special charm, which means that anyone who sees the true writing on the physical scroll will be able to unconsciously receive some sort of insight. The scenes that each person sees will also be different. Some people will witness battle techniques, while others might see a landscape. Some have even witnessed strange phenomena. In short, this calligraphy scroll is the highlight of this auction."
"Why should we believe you? What evidence do you have?" Jiang Xiaodao yelled as a challenge.
The auctioneer replied with a shrug, "If you don't believe me, then there's nothing I can do. All that can be done is to withdraw the scroll from the auction. Fortunately, the first six items were enough to satisfy your interest, which means that everyone did not waste the trip here."
Not one bid was placed. The handwriting was truly revolting. It would not be any surprise at all if the scroll was withdrawn from the auction.
"Luo Lao'er, do you have any money? How much?" Lu Yin asked quietly as he stared at the calligraphy. While the characters were indeed ugly, they were ancient characters, just like the ones that the Wen family used for their Literary Prison or the ones that the ancient Daosource Sect had used.
Lu Yin wanted the scroll. He had never expected to see these ancient characters from the Fifth Mainland in the Sixverse Academy.
The fact that it bore ancient characters meant that there was something exceptional about the scroll, and he wanted it badly.
Luo Lao'er rummaged through what he had before pursing his lips. "Seventh Bro, I really don't have much money. I'm not lying to you."
"Just give me whatever you have," Lu Yin said.
Luo Lao'er sighed. "Seventh Bro, just forget about it. Every item in this auction has a starting price, or else someone like Jiang Xiaodao would threaten everyone so that he could take everything while barely spending anything."
Lu Yin had not considered that.
Luo Lao'er explained, "This scroll definitely has a higher starting price than any of the previous items. Just think about what the starting price for that first energy converter was. I don't have anywhere close to enough money on me to buy even that energy converter."
Lu Yin felt disappointed. He observed the appearance of the person below. At the same time, he marked the person with his domain. He was determined to obtain this calligraphy scroll. It seemed like he had done something similar before, and more than once at that.
He assumed that the calligraphy scroll would simply be withdrawn from the auction.
No one knew what happened to start it, but Jiang Xiaodao ended up getting into another argument with Mu Mu, and the two started another bidding war, this time for the scroll.
The bids jumped higher and higher, to the point where even Lu Yin’s brow started to rise. If star essence could be used as funds in this auction, he could terrify everyone with a random amount.
The atmosphere grew increasingly tense as the bidding war continued. They were no longer simply competing for the scroll, but rather for their pride.
In the end, Mu Mu lost due to her previous purchase of the subhuman woman, so the scroll went to Jiang Xiaodao.
"Hahaha, in the end, you're still just a woman! I wasn’t even competing with you last time, but you still had to show off. Just a flick of my finger would be enough to make you kneel," Jiang Xiaodao boasted.
Mu Mu snorted contemptuously. "You paid so much for such an ugly calligraphy scroll. Jiang Sheng’s going to kill you when you take that back to show him."
Jiang Xiaodao glared at the woman. "I'll kill that freak of yours first! I'll teach him how to behave properly and that there are people he should never offend!"
"Jiang Xiaodao, how dare you!" Mu Mu yelled threateningly.
"Keep an eye on me, if you dare."
"You must be itching for a fight. Today, I'll help Sage Jiang finally discipline his son."
"Bring it on."
"Anytime."
The two quickly left the auction cave.
The rest of the crowd quickly followed, eager to see the rest of the confrontation.
Luo Lao'er was also excited. "Seventh Bro, Jiang Xiaodao and Mu Mu are going to fight! Let's go watch the show!"
Lu Yin was also a bit interested. One of the two was the child of a Progenitor-level figure from the Cyclic Universe, while the other came from the Arboreal Realm. Since they had both studied in the Sixverse Academy for quite some time, they should already have picked up some of the other universes’ tricks as well. Watching their match should give Lu Yin a better understanding of the Sixverse Association.
There were plenty of open spaces throughout Cliff Town. It was not set up like a regular market town where the stalls were grouped together. Instead, all of the stalls were spaced a great distance apart.
After leaving the cave, the various people who had attended the secret auction all continued on in the same direction, though some moved faster than others.
Lu Yin chose not to stand out, so he stayed behind the majority of the crowd.
The fastest person had long since disappeared.
Boom!