Chapter 167: The Auction [7]

“1,100,000.” Derrick did not hesitate to raise the price straight past the million mark without missing a single beat.

The Vice Chairman’s face turned bright red, his hand trembling over his digital interface.

He opened his mouth to raise it again, but his aide frantically grabbed his arm, whispering in panic, “Sir, stop! If he backs off now like he did with the Lotus, we’ll be stuck paying over a million credits for a Tier 2 formula!”

Gritting his teeth, the Vice Chairman backed down, glaring bitterly at Derrick’s table.

The rest of the room fell dead silent. No one else dared to push the price further.

BAM!

“Sold to the representative of Myriad Pill Palace for 1.1 million social credits!” Vanya announced, flashing Derrick a captivating, lingering smile from the stage.

“Moving on!”

After a couple more items, the thing Derrick had been waiting for finally appeared on the stage before him.

A thick crimson mist swirled over the central podium as the fifth holographic projection materialized.

Inside a vacuum-sealed, high-grade stasis container sat a strange, pulsing plant.

Its stem was pitch-black, but its petals were a vivid, translucent red, laced with thick, vein-like patterns that rhythmically throbbed as if pumping real blood through the stalk.

The temperature in the hall seemed to drop, a faint, oppressive energy lingering in the air.

‘They have brought out the real thing.’ Derrick’s eyes narrowed slightly.

The projection faded but the special herb stayed still in the middle of the air. The chilling sensation in the room intensified a couple of degrees.

Vanya stepped forward, the crimson slit of her dress catching the dark red light as a sharp, alluring smile touched her lips.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Vanya’s purring voice echoed through the speakers, laced with subtle drama. “For our fifth item, we present a very peculiar and rare ingredient harvested from beyond the great wall. I am sure many collectors would love to get their hands on one of these since they are so rare despite their rank that one can only be found every 5 years. It is… the Blood Vein Lotus!”

The room erupted into mutters, though the initial gasps quickly dissolved into baffled whispers and outright scoffs across the front rows.

“Wait, a Blood Vein Lotus?”

“Isn’t that just a Tier 1 herb?”

“Why the hell is a cursed herb being showcased as a grand lot?”

“Who in their right mind would buy that trash? Every alchemist knows that adding a Blood Vein Lotus to any recipe guarantees the batch turns into toxic slag!”

It was common knowledge across humanity that the Blood Vein Lotus was a notorious failure of a plant.

While it grew in deadly, volatile rift environments, its erratic energy profile made it completely unusable for standard alchemy.

Aside from a few eccentric poison masters and shadowy collectors who dabbled in forbidden arts, nobody touched it.

Up in the VIP booths, corporate executives shook their heads, laughing off the item as a bizarre novelty to padding out the auction list.

On the main floor, Derrick leaned back, his gaze locked onto the floating, pulsing plant.

No wonder the system asked me to buy it. There is a story behind this one. Derrick thought, his lips curling into a secretive smirk under his mask.

He knew the standard literature by heart.

In basic alchemy knowledge he got from the system itself, a genuine Blood Vein Lotus possessed five distinct, dark red vein patterns running through the center of its black stem.

Those five veins were what caused energy instability during refining, dooming any pill to explode or decay into poison.

Derrick quietly channeled his focus, silently activating his [All-Seeing Eyes].

A faint, invisible ripple swept past his eyes.

The physical skin of the black stalk dissolved into translucent layers beneath his gaze, revealing the intricate internal structure of the herb in microscopic detail.

Derrick’s pupils contracted slightly.

Six… seven.

Seven veins.

Looks like no one else noticed this yet. Or else they would have tried to over exaggerate it a lot.

This isn’t a standard Blood Vein Lotus, Derrick realized, a surge of adrenaline washing over him while his face remained utterly motionless. This is either a mutated Blood Vein Lotus or something else!

In the eyes of this world’s ignorant alchemists, it was garbage.

But to Derrick it was another treasure to study. Maybe with the help of the system, he could find a proper use of this herb.

Vanya rested her hands lightly against the podium, her dark eyes flashing with a playful, teasing light as she surveyed the skeptical crowd.

“While the Blood Vein Lotus carries a rather… notorious reputation in conventional alchemy,” Vanya noticed the dissatisfaction of the crowd and cursed inwardly. ‘Why would they send such an accursed item to my auction. Do they want to kick me out? Why go through all this trouble.’

“Its raw energy density remains undisputed. Starting bid for this unique specimen is set at a modest 20,000 social credits!”

The silence in the hall grew heavy. People were shaking their heads, whispering among themselves, and some even chuckled softly at the joke of an item.

Vanya saw the lack of response, but her professional smile didn’t waver.

She adjusted her posture, letting the tight crimson fabric of her dress catch the stage lights to grab everyone’s attention back.

“Now, now, don’t write it off just yet, ladies and gentlemen,” Vanya purred smoothly, trying to calm the murmurs spreading through the crowd.

She tapped her sleek control ring, zooming in the holographic projection right onto the stalk of the plant.

“Our senior evaluation experts inspected this specific specimen thoroughly before the auction,” She explained, her voice carrying a sweet, persuasive tone. “While it shares the family name of the traditional Blood Vein Lotus, this particular batch exhibits an unusually dense and stable energy core. It is far more potent than the common varieties you find in low-grade text books.”

She scanned the room, batting her eyelashes playfully. “Surely, one of our esteemed alchemists or master collectors can see the hidden potential here. Do I hear 20,000 credits?”

Dead silence.

Vanya’s smile twitched just a fraction.

She tried once more. “20,000 credits. Going once…”

Down in the front row, Derrick raised his hand toward his digital interface.

Time to pick up a priceless treasure for dirt cheap, Derrick thought, a cool smirk playing on his lips beneath his mask.

Just as his finger hovered over the bidding button to call out the opening price, a deep, arrogant voice echoed loudly from the upper-floor private chambers.

“100,000 credits.”