The bidding started at a rather high number, which surprised Alex quite a lot toward the start.
40 thousand Saint spirit stones.
In other words, enough spirit stones to last the machine for 40 days at the lowest possible setting. There was no way it was going to stay at 40 thousand spirit stones for any longer than a fraction of a second.
It didn't even take that long.
The moment Alex turned his head toward the bid counter, it flickered through numbers faster than mortal eyes could see.
Bids from 50,000 through 80,000 were essentially non-existent as everyone realized the big was going to cross 100 thousand without a doubt.
Alex waited for the numbers to slow down before he planned on bidding at all. When he saw it cross 100 thousand, his heart skipped a beat.
"Can you check how much money you have?" he asked the elders and checked his own. After adding each other's Spirit stones, minus the ones that they had to pay for next, the total came to be about 78 thousand.
With the 50,000 that the Emerald King had promised him, Alex was set for about 130 thousand Saint Spirit stones.
However, given the situation, he found that unlikely to be enough. The number was growing too fast and showed no signs of stopping at any moment.
As he watched the number move up from 110 thousand to 120 thousand, Alex knew he could not win this artifact at all. At least, not without a bit of help.
He thought for a moment about who to ask for help. When he landed on who he should ask first, his heart sank a bit in fear.
As far as he could tell, there was a single person in the entire auction house that he could ask for money that he knew could afford the thing.
That was the Crown Prince.
However at the same time, if the Crown Prince wanted this as well, there was not a single person he could ask money from that could have more than the Crown Prince.
Fearing what was going to happen next a bit, Alex pulled out his talisman and contacted the Crown Prince. He simply asked him if he was willing to help him with a bit of financial aid for the bidding.
He hoped the answer that he was going hear was the Crown Prince's agreement to help him. The answer he did not want to hear was that the Crown Prince was against him in the bidding and would thus not help him.
And yet, somehow, the answer he got was neither of the two.
"I am no longer in the Gold Kingdom, Your Majesty," the Crown Prince replied half a minute later. "Something came up with the military, so I left early. I cannot help you with financial aid while I am away."
That was a shame… and a relief.
Alex paused, thinking for a while. Who could he ask?
"Maybe the Gold King?" he wondered and messaged the Gold King.
"I am sorry, Your Majesty," the Gold King said. "I cannot help you. You were a step late."
'A step late?' Alex wondered what that meant. 'Did someone else ask him?'
"I should've asked him faster," Alex thought with a sigh. He then pulled out another talisman and messaged the other person he could think of currently.
The Queen of the Silver Kingdom, Mao Yingtai.
He asked her the same thing he asked everyone. "Hope I'm not too late," he thought with a frustrated look on his face.
The Mountain Crushing artifact was so important to him, to continue growing as a cultivator. If he couldn't have it, it was going to be a sad day for sure.
The queen replied to the message with a short answer. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty," she said.
Alex couldn't help but sigh in disappointment. "Did someone get to you before me?" he asked back and quickly got a message back.
"Got to me?" the woman asked. "Your Majesty, I am bidding for the artifact myself. As the Queen of the Kingdom where lies the Transcendent Martial ground and where takes place the Continental Tournament, I must acquire it."
Alex frowned when he realized that he wasn't late or anything. She was just his competition.
"Did you ask the Gold King as well?" he asked.
"I did," the queen replied. "And King Jin, but he said he had already promised to lend you his spirit stones."
Alex didn't bother replying after that. He looked at the counter in the screen and it had long past crossed 140 thousand and was keeping a steady pace.
"This is going to go far above," Alex said, looking at the screen.
"What do we do now?" the Elders asked. "We don't have nearly enough to get the artifact."
"If only we could use the money I earned," Alex said. However, due to the possibility of the seller never receiving any money from the buyer, they did not allow for sellers to use money they did not yet have.
"Do we give up then?" Elder Liang asked, looking back at Alex.
Alex thought for a moment and said, "Let me try one last time. If that doesn't work, we give up."
He took out a talisman and called for someone he wasn't sure if he could rely on for financial aid or not. He didn't even know if the person was in the auction or not.
He asked the person if they were still in the auction house or not.
He waited for a few seconds and received a message back.
"I am still in the auction house, Your Majesty." Alex heard the voice that came from the talisman.
That was a step forward, but he was still nowhere.
"Are you trying to bid on the final item?" he asked.
"No," the other person replied.
Alex was happy but there was still one more step to go.
"Have you promised to lend anyone any spirit stones?" he asked.
"Not yet," the person replied.
Alex finally smiled as he saw a ray of hope. "Lady Zhan, would you mind lending me some?"
