The auction was a new and exciting thing for people from mainland China, such as Qiu Yilun. He had accompanied his parents to two charity auctions so far and had never been to an actual commercial auction before. Hong Kong was a much more open society than the mainland in accepting new western ideas; therefore, there were many auction houses in the city. Some were world-famous such as Sotheby’s and Christie’s.
In addition to the international big names, there were often smaller auctions held every few days. In order to make it easier for their customers who liked to stay at luxury hotels, these auctions were often held there as well. After all, only those who could afford to stay in five-star hotels could afford expensive auction items
“Let’s go take a look then! So exciting! It’s my first time ever joining an auction like this.” Qian Lulu said.
Qiu Yilun was also excited by the event. Qi Wangsun was the only one who was not so interested in the idea. However, since everyone else wanted to go, he agreed to tag along as well.
Chen Fan was interested in the event because he wagered that since Hong Kong was the capital of Dharma Spells and was full of Spellcasters and Feng Shui Masters, there ought to be some useful Dharma Artifacts and Spirit Medicines kicking around in the city. He might even be able to use some of them to set up the array.
Everyone was led by a greeter of the auction event to the ground floor of the hotel. The auction was hosted at a large conference room. When they arrived, the room was already packed. Most of the attendees were tourists, some of them were couples and only a handful of them were Hong Kong local residence. Everyone looked calm and experienced in attending such high-class events and no one seemed to be overly-excited.
“Sir, this is the catalog for today’s auction. If you are interested in any item, feel free to shout out your offer.” A waitress wearing Qipao came over to them to hand them over a piece of paper on a platter.
Chen Fan flipped the list and started to read the catalog.
This auction at the Hilton hotel was modest in scale. Most of the items were Chinaware and antiques from a couple of hundred years ago that would be worth at most a few million yuan. The rest of the items were simply trinkets such as Jadeite Bracelet, wooden beads bracelet, rosewood Buddhism figurines, and swiss watches.
Chen Fan didn’t expect to find a true gem here but he still kept on flipping through the pages.
To his surprise, he found one that had piqued his interest.
“A pouch filled with an unknown herb. Its aroma could last over a few decades. However, the herb had already gone extinct and therefore this was the only one left in the world. The item starts at ten thousand.”
Chen Fan didn’t pay attention to the elaborately embroidered work that depicted a Phoenix, instead, he looked towards the dark seeds beside the pouch
“That’s the seed of Heavenly Fragrance Grass!”
Chen Fan was elated by the discovery. Although the Heavenly Fragrance Grass was not considered a spirit herb, its persistent and unique fragrance could be extracted to create a Heavenly Fragrance Spray.
The Heavenly Fragrance Spray was a very common perfume worn by female cultivators. Whenever they went out they would dapple some on themselves which gave them an unearthly scent. It was many times better than conventional perfumes made out of synthetic materials. Chen Fan had never thought that he was able to find Heavenly Fragrance Grass on earth.
Those seeds were already dead, but Chen Fan could revive these seeds using the Azure Thearch Longevity Body with ease. By then, he could start to cultivate these grass to create Heavenly Fragrance Spray from its extract. Those would be perfect gifts for Sister An and Xiao Qiong.
Even as Chen Fan thought about that, the auction finally started.
Chen Fan and his friends were not serious bidders and therefore, other than Qiu Yilun won the bit on a Jadeite Bracelet, Chen Fan was the only other members of his group that won the bid on the perfume pouch.
After he won the bid, everyone looked at him suspiciously.
These perfume pouches were usually used by girls, so everyone wondered if Chen Fan had bought it for Fang Qiong.
Zhou Qinya kept her calm, but she couldn’t hide the disappointment in her eyes.
Chen Fan didn’t care about the attention on him and went straight to pay for the pouch. After he finished the transaction, Chen Fan opened up the pouch and fished out the grass seed.
“Lo and behold, Heavenly Fragrance Grass!”
He nodded and thought to himself.
The extraction of the Heavenly Fragrance Grass could not only be used to create perfumes but it also could help to ward off bugs in the summer and give the user a refreshing feeling during the hot summer days. It would be useful for those workaholics such as Sister An, his mother, and Fang Qiong as a substitute for coffee.
The auction ended very quickly, and even as Chen Fan was about to leave the room, the auction sale cracked a mysterious smile and announced:
“Ladies and gentlemen, the actual auction is just about to start.”
“The next item is a Dharma Artifact.”
Even as he said that a girl walked onto the stage, holding a platter covered by a piece of red velvet.
“Dharma Artifact? What the heck is that? Is that used for Feng Shui?” Those people who had no idea what a Dharma Artifact is murmured to each other while a few billionaires suddenly looked excited as lights flashed in their eyes.
They had heard about the Dharma Artifacts many times in their circles. Rumors tend to exaggerate the effects of these Dharma Artifacts and rarely anyone has seen one with their own eyes. They had heard that each Dharma Artifact was worth well over ten million Yuan and were very hard to come by.
There were a few people who had been sitting uninterested with the auction suddenly they opened their half-closed eyes and looked elated after hearing the announcement. It was as if they had been waiting for the announcement from the beginning.
“This item was from an anonymous client. The client is in a hurry to sell this in three days and therefore was added into this auction session with very short notice.” The host went to the platter and lifted the velvet veil, revealing a palm-size Jade Gourd
“Jade Gourd, starting five million. The bid increment is a minimum of a hundred thousand.”
After the auctioneer announced the price, the crowd boiled over.
“That’s bull crap! A Gourd that’s worth five million? Look how old it is. The jade itself is not pure at all. I can get one of such cheap chintzy crap for twenty yuan each.”
“The owner must be crazy! Who would by a jade Gourd for five million?”
“Preposterous!”
Many people cracked a cold smile and shook their heads. They were waiting to see how the auctioneer was going to end this farce. Qiu Yilun also cracked a smile and said: “Are People from Hong Kong really that superstitious? A Feng Shui toy would be worth as much a Rolls-Royce car!”
Chen Fan smiled lightly. He reckoned that this Jade Gourd was indeed a Dharma Artifact. Its power was on par with the geomantic compass used by Wu Shanhe. That geomantic compass was used to improve the Feng Shui by forming a lesser version of the Spirit Gathering Array. Meanwhile, this Jade Gourd offered a buff to its wearers abilities. There was a talisman inscription carved on its surface and it would help the wearer to clear his mind and improve his physique.
This was not a rare Dharma Artifact, and Chen Fan could have created hundreds of them with ease. They would pale in comparison with the jade talisman he gave to Sister An and his family.
“Hold on… Uh?”
Something suddenly caught Chen Fan’s attention. He sent out his Divine Will to investigate the Jade Gourd.
Meanwhile, a few bidders eyes lit up as soon as the Jade Gourd was revealed from under the cover.
“Five million and five hundred thousand.”
“Six million!”
“Seven million!”
In a blink, the price had surged to over ten million.
By then a swell of surprised murmurs rose from the other bidders. No one had ever thought that such a cheap ornament could have attracted so much attention. Qiu Yilun was so surprised that he could only stare.
“Could it be fake bidding? A show put up by the auction house to incite a bidding war?”
“Nah! I have recognized one of the bidders. He is the eldest son of the Zheng family, Zheng Anpin.”
“Oh-yea! That is indeed Zheng Anpin! The one who was having a fling with one of the actresses. I read about it in the news many times.”
Zheng Anpin was a young man in his early thirties. He was wearing a fashionable outfit, complete with shiny Italian leather shoes. He crossed his legs and gestured the attractive secretary beside him to offer his bid.
“Only the Zheng family of Hong Kong would offer fifteen million for cheap crappy trinket.”
Some people lamented.
After Zheng Anpin called out the price of fifteen million, most of his competitors started to hesitate. Unlike China, Hong Kong had abundant spell casters as well as Dharma Artifacts and therefore, the price of a Dharma Artifact usually wouldn’t go too high.
“Fifteen million once”
“Fifteen million twice”
“Fifteen million Trice!”
Zheng Anpin crossed his leg and half-closed his eyes as if he had fallen into a reverie. He didn’t expect to meet any competitor during the auction today, so to him, the item was already in the bag.
“It is going to be grandpa’s ninety-third birthday. He loves Dharma Artifacts the most, so he would definitely love this present.”
“Over the last half-year, the ninth uncle’s family had gained full control of the family business and bullied everyone else ever since they saved the old man. Even Zheng Anqi that little shit had tried to step on my toes many times. I can’t believe she would be so lucky as to find such an effective medicine for grandpa.”
Even as Zheng Anpin thought that the auction had ended, he heard a calm voice. “Twenty million!”
A silence fell over the entire room.
Everyone looked toward the bidder and saw an average-looking young man.
“OMG! Twenty million? For that junk looking thing? Twenty million?”
“Which family is he from? How dare he compete with Young Lord Zheng?”
“No idea… He sounds like a tourist from the mainland.”
Everyone looked toward Chen Fan with surprise. Qiu Yilun could only gape at Chen Fan. He still had second thoughts on spending so much money on booking the five-star hotel, yet Chen Fan had just thrown away twenty million like it was nothing.
“Who is that?”
Zheng Anpin opened his eyes and looked over toward Chen Fan. Seeing how young his competitor was, he pulled a taut face and said: “Twenty-one million!”
If he backed down, the entire Hong Kong was going to know that he chickened out from a bidding war with a teenage boy. That would bring shame to him and his family, and give Zheng Anqi even more reason to look down on him.
Zheng Anpin thought that his new offer would deter the bidder. After all, this Jade Gourd was not priceless and twenty-five million was beyond what it was actually worth.
To his surprise, Chen Fan counter offered again: “Thirty Million!