Chapter 69: Chapter 69: Ancestral Blood (I’ve heard that those who binge read are super handsome)
The hesitation stemmed from Song Chi’s thoughts on the incident at the Tros Mechanical House a few days ago. After he left the shop that day, he noticed nearly ten figures shadowing him. Regardless of any claims to the contrary, he simply couldn’t believe it was unrelated to the Tros Mechanical House.
Granted, the Tros Mechanical House had a reasonable interest in identifying him and tracking his whereabouts given the scarce resources like Void Crystals, but Song Chi couldn’t help but take extra precautions, especially considering that the auctioneer below on the stage was the patriarch of the Tros family himself, prompting Song Chi to be wary.
After much deliberation, Song Chi ultimately decided to use the Void Crystal. After all, among his possessions, the Void Crystal was the only item substantial enough to present. Not rushing to place his bid, Song Chi stood up and swiftly left the Tianhe Auction House under the watchful eyes of the various onlookers.
Several seconds later, a figure clad in a cloak and long robe returned along the same route and sat down in the seat Song Chi had been in before, also picking up the bid device next to the seat.
“800 Zero Rank Void Crystals.”
The puppet under the cloak tapped the bid device several times, and Song Chi successfully submitted his bid.
Indeed, it was not Song Chi himself at the auction, but a Fire Peony Soldier Figurine controlled via a Brainwave Remote Control System. Uncertain of the Tros Family’s urgent need for the Void Crystal and to guard against any potential outburst from “John Tros,” the Second Rank Torch Ship Captain conducting the auction, Song Chi had taken these precautions.
However, what he didn’t realize—or perhaps John Tros was simply that adept at concealing his motives—was that at the moment Song Chi submitted his bid, a subtle change flickered across John Tros’s unperturbed expression, a fleeting sign expertly masked, yet his gaze stealthily scanned the crowd, with a sweeping glance inadvertently passing over seat number 235 where Song Chi was located.
Song Chi had absolutely no inkling of this. Despite his vigilance, the difference in the level of existence between him and John Tros was too vast, and he couldn’t detect the discreet glance sent his way—not with the enhanced perception granted by his level 7 Guidance Technique.
Even though he was diligently practicing with the Mythical Mech Imprint, he had only been at it for two months.
After a brief wait, a voice came through the bid device, a response from the commissioner.
Song Chi was somewhat elated; regardless of whether the offer was accepted or not, the commissioner’s response indicated that Song Chi’s Void Crystals were seen as valuable.
“800 Zero Rank Void Crystals are not enough. You’ll need to offer a higher rank.”
Seeing the message on the bid device, Song Chi pondered for a while before sending another bid.
“Then how about 500 Zero Rank plus 100 First Rank Void Crystals?”
The response came quickly this time, “600 Zero Rank + 100 First Rank, that’s the final offer. Take it or leave it.”
Song Chi did the math in his head; according to the normal market price, 600 Zero Rank plus 100 First Rank Void Crystals were equivalent to 1600 strands of First Rank Floating Land Origin, or 16,000 strands of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin.
Of course, the actual value was likely a bit higher, but not by much, and this price was roughly equal to that of a Blue Quality component. And so, Song Chi ultimately agreed to the deal.
Once both parties had agreed, John Tros, the auctioneer below, quickly announced the result. The “Abnormal Status Purifier” with Blue Quality was officially won by Song Chi.
Finally, Song Chi could relax completely; he just needed to wait for the auction to end, return to Zhu Tian Ruins Market to install the “Abnormal Status Purifier,” and with its Blue Level Quality, purifying the mark left by the First Rank Void Demon should be straightforward.
But before that, there was one thing he had to take care of.
He needed to change the engine, even if it was just a basic white one. The Colorless Quality Spectral Engine had too many restrictions, completely blocking any further enhancements for the Cang Qiong.
Regrettably, even after the final highlight item of the auction was revealed, no other engine components emerged, leaving Song Chi without an opportunity to bid.
Before he could feel too disappointed, his attention was wholly captured by the highlight item now presented on the auction stage.
Not just him—all the hundreds of Torch Ship Captains in the auction house felt the same. In that moment, everyone understood why the auction had attracted ten Second Rank Torch Ship Captains.
Even though John Tros had yet to disclose the details about the final auction item, the dazzling purple light emanating from within the wooden box declared its importance to everyone present.
The highlight item was, unmistakably, a Purple Quality shipborne component.
And it was certain that to draw the interest of so many Second Rank Torch Ship Captains, the attributes of this unknown Purple Component had to be quite exceptional, and certainly not one of those mediocre Purple Components from the White Tower local area network marketplace.
Curious, all the Torch Ship Captains watched as John Tros did not delay and revealed the attributes of the Purple Component right away.
[Strange Object: Primogenitor Blood]
[Quality: Purple]
[Evolvable: 1｛Red Cross Medical Pod｝, 2｛Blood Light Protective Layer｝, 3｛Scarlet Blood Clan Genetic Modification Pod · Incomplete｝]
[Remarks: A drop of Primogenitor Vampire’s blood lost thousands of years ago, which has evolved over the long years into a Purple Relic with an extremely wide range of effects.]
All the captains present were somewhat surprised to see a drop of fresh blood shimmering with a purple glow before their eyes, which had not yet been converted into a ship-borne component and still retained its form as a strange object.
After examining the attributes of this strange object, the Torch Ship Captains realized that the relic known as “Ancestor’s Blood” could evolve into as many as three different ship-borne components.
Although once the evolutionary direction was confirmed, it could no longer be changed at will, unless the enhancement level was completely reset, there was no denying that this strange object offered a great deal of flexibility. Song Chi even guessed that all ten Second Rank Torch Ship Captains attending the auction might find a use for this drop of “Ancestor’s Blood.”
“John, your auction house must have tested it already. Please list the attribute diagrams for the three components it can be converted into,” someone commanded.
At that moment, the room fell eerily silent, and a deep male voice emanated from one of the upper-level private rooms.
On the auction stage, John Tros nodded gently.
Red Cross Medical Cabin lv0
Quality: Purple
Feature: Increase healing effect by 30%
Consumption: 7/s
Effect: Increases the healing effect on bleeding internal and external injuries by 260%.
UpRank Requirement: 7 threads of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin, 700 Spectral Energy Points, 1 drop of zero rank living creature essential blood
…
Blood Light Protective Layer lv0
Quality: Purple
Feature: After damage, shield value recovers 10 points per second
Consumption: 7/s (Spectral Energy Points)
Defence: 17
Shield Value: 170/170
Charge: 30s; Post-overload Buffer: 1 hour
UpRank Requirement: 7 threads of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin, 700 Spectral Energy Points, 1 ton of Blood Source Crystal
…
Scarlet Blood Clan Genetic Modification Cabin · Defect lv0
Quality: Purple
Feature: Increases genetic modification success rate by 1%
Consumption: 7/s (Spectral Energy Points)
Effect: Modifies living creatures with the Scarlet Blood Clan’s genetic material, with a success rate of 1%
Modification Time: 1 hour; Buffer: 720 hours
UpRank Requirement: 7 threads of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin, 700 Spectral Energy Points, 1 drop of zero rank Scarlet Vampire essential blood
After reviewing the three attribute panels, more than ninety percent of the captains immediately discounted the third component.
The reason for this was the terrifyingly low success rate of the Scarlet Blood Clan modification cabin due to its “defective” state. Although the success rate could be increased through strengthening and upgrading, the catch was that, apart from the Floating Land Origin and Spectral Energy Points, it also required a specific type of “Scarlet Vampire essential blood” for enhancement.
There were not a few vampires bred within the Torch Human Civilization. As a species capable of bestowing longevity, this alien race, after successfully converting other living beings, could grant their converts extremely long lifespans, which made them creatures that many of the dying Torch Ship Captains often sought out.
However, the difficulty of extending one’s life through conversion was fairly high. The higher the rank of the Torch Ship Captain, the lower the probability of a successful conversion. Even if the conversion was successful, the chance of the vampire taking control and reversing the roles was equally frightening.