"12000!" The Xiao Clan Leader quoted the price.
"13000!" The Yan Clan Leader followed up immediately after, glaring at the other party.
The Han Clan and the Shi Clan too joined the bidding war, for they were all aware of the importance of this auction item. That one vial was enough to develop ten geniuses or two legendary geniuses, enough to bring their respective Clan to greater heights.
And, if there existed someone talented enough to consume all ten Triple-Patterned Retainer Pills, his foundation would become so overwhelming that they would even exhibit all the powers of an Ancient Mystic Beast bloodline.
So, the four Clan Leaders were rather willing to let go of the Grade 4 Inscription and bid for this instead.
It wasn't surprising since they weren't sure as to what type of inscription it was, not to mention that they all had a Grade 4 Inscription in their Clans already. But, obtaining the pills would give them a major boost, allowing them to gather more wealth in the future.
After all, in this world, strength was justice.
"Xiaoan! You must definitely get your hands on this Triple-Patterned Retainer Pill!" His master warned him, "To get the bloodline of an Ancient Mystic Beast, you need this."
Even the Expert-In-The-Ring System was somewhat nervous regarding this. After all, opportunities wouldn't just knock up their door often. Having done such stuff innumerous times, it was aware that if Xiaoan were to let go of this opportunity now, he would have to endanger himself further in the subsequent opportunity.
And the chances of him obtaining the same pills there would be even lower than now. Moreover, the quality might even be subpar.
Originally, the act of it making Xiaoan sell the Grade 4 Inscription was to trigger this auction event and allow Xiaoan to obtain money to train, pills to upgrade his foundation, and elevate his status in his Clan while making him the centre of conflict between the Xiao and Yan Clans.
This was what happened all the time. But this time, the way things proceeded made it seem like Xiaoan might miss the opportunity. And if this happened, there was only one cause.
System Slayer!
'Who? Who the fuck is the System Slayer here?' It was alarmed, looking around as it activated various Skills but failed to find the target.
This was why Gahrat labelled it a fat System. For, the Exert-In-The-Ring System, in extension, none of the Systems from the Sealed Experts genre were good at finding System Slayers.
Though of course, thanks to the nature of things at play, their Hosts were always overpowered among their peers, preventing them from actually coming under harm even if System Slayers were to target them.
But things were different now, for they were being targeted by the Main Character.
"17000!" Xiaoan raised his hand, stating his bid, drawing gazes of suspicion from the four Clan Leaders.
This was a large sum of money that even they couldn't fork out casually. But a mere Clansmen was able to do that?
Had Xiaoan succeeded in the first bid, their reactions wouldn't have been like this. They would instead wonder if he had really obtained the backing of some mysterious expert.
After all, the act of him defeating Yanyuan would have reached their ears by now.
But now, things were different as Xiaoan came off as a spoiled brat from a rich family, which wasn't the case as Xiaoan's parents had died for the Xiao Clan and he was being looked after by his uncle, the current Xiao Clan Leader.
'What are you doing, Xiaoan?' The Xiao Clan Leader frowned in distaste, watching Xiaoan continue to bid for the item furiously.
The Xiao Clan leader, and in extension, all the four Clan Leaders were buying the pill for their respective Clan's growth. But Xiaoan was bidding personally for it instead. So, just the difference in their objective painted Xiaoan in a bad light.
Originally, Luosha might have interfered to secretively help Xiaoan. But that route had been closed the moment Xiaoan embarrassingly lost the first bid. So, she refrained from helping him.
After all, she too was a Grade 4 Inscriptionist. She had her pride. As Xiaoan hadn't made a good impression on her yet, she refrained from helping him.
Before Xiaoan realised, a net of public opinion had been weaved around him, the trigger for that was the verbal exchange between him and Yanyuan. And he, at the centre of it, was trapped, unable to extricate himself for the time being, at least until the auction ends.
"22000!" Xiaoan shouted furiously, eyes red.
Cheur looked at him in concern before her expression turned cold, snorting as she turned around and stopped looking at him anymore.
All along, whenever Xiaoan made a bid, Yanyuan made exaggerated motions from nearby, further exuberating his negative image.
"Say…" Suddenly, Gahrat's cold voice resounded in the auction house as she glared at Luosha, "Is he a plant of the Inscriptionist Guild to spike the prices?"
"You are…?" Luosha frowned, wondering about the identity of the old lady
"I'm known as Granny Kiyo," Gahrat said calmly.
'She's Granny Kiyo?' Luosha's eyes lit up in response, 'We've been trying everything the past few months to get her to join us to no avail. This is bad. A Grade 2 Inscriptionist she might be, but her experience puts even me to shame.'
"She's Granny Kiyo?" The Xiao Clan Leader's eyes widened in shock as he stared at the Yan Clan Leader with an incredulous gaze, "Great move, great move…"
He then muttered under his breath, "Cunning fox."
"The Yan Clan has indeed spent a lot to rope in Granny Kiyo." Public opinion sided with the Yan Clan immediately as even Luosha was unable to appease things for the time being.
Gahrat then hit the nail on the head, "This child had been bidding furiously from the start. But, does he have the money to do so?"
"What?" Xiaoan's eyes widened in shock, alarmed as he didn't even have a penny on him. He then looked at Luosha, hoping for her to take his side, alarmed when the other party avoided eye contact.
After all, Granny Kiyo's fame surpassed an unknown Grade 4 Inscriptionist, especially since the Inscriptionist Guild attached significant value to her.
"Can you display your wealth to us?" Luosha stared at Xiaoan, asking calmly. After a minute of awkward silence, she sighed, motioning at the guards, "Please escort him out of the premises."
