Chapter 47: Determined To Humiliate You

Chapter 47: Chapter 47: Determined To Humiliate You

Adrian Sinclair was the man who had once ordered the extraction of Mira’s Celestial Core, the same Celestial Core that had nearly ruined her life.

Xavier’s fingers rested lightly on the bidding sign. Until now he had been treating this as a simple auction, but that changed in an instant.

If Adrian wanted the herb, Xavier was perfectly willing to make things difficult for him. Besides, points were nothing to Xavier, because he had plenty.

A faint smile appeared beneath his disguise as he raised his bidding sign. Gerald spotted it immediately, and his voice rang through the hall.

"Number 198, 1,500 points!"

Adrian Sinclair had come to the auction with one objective, the twenty year old Divine Grace Herb.

Nothing else in tonight’s auction mattered nearly as much to him, and he intended to obtain the herb and use it for his son, Jonathan Sinclair.

As far as Adrian was concerned, the purchase should have been straightforward.

The Divine Grace Herb was a specialized resource with extremely limited usefulness, especially compared with ordinary cultivation pills and weapons, so there should not have been many people willing to spend heavily on it.

At least, that was what he had assumed.

He had been wrong. Not only had Evelyn Hart entered the bidding, but just when Adrian thought she was finally approaching her limit, another bidder had suddenly appeared.

Guest Number 198 had raised the price by a staggering three hundred points the moment he entered the competition, and that was the equivalent of three million crowns.

For that amount, one could purchase an excellent Grade Three pill.

Adrian’s expression darkened, and he hesitated. Then he thought about Jonathan.

His son had been given a Celestial Core, a treasure that appeared only once in an extraordinary number of people, and if Jonathan could properly develop it, his future would be completely different.

Adrian gritted his teeth and raised his sign.

"Number 19 bids 1600!" Gerald announced.

Before the room could react, another bidding sign rose.

"Number 198 has raised the offer to 2000!" Gerald cried, and a murmur spread through the audience.

Adrian’s face tightened.

"2100," he said through clenched teeth.

"Number 198, 3000!" Gerald called out, his voice ringing across the hall.

The hall fell noticeably quieter.

Adrian stared at the bidding number, and three thousand points was no longer a casual purchase.

Even for the Sinclair family, that was a considerable sum.

Their family was certainly one of the most powerful in Valemont, but their wealth did not come from the kind of businesses that generated enormous profits.

Their reputation had been built primarily on the strength of their martial artists, and their commercial operations were relatively traditional, with modest profit margins.

Adrian himself was known for being careful with money, and three thousand points was not an amount he could casually throw away.

More importantly, the herb simply was not worth that much in ordinary market value.

A Divine Grace Herb might sell for somewhere between two million and twenty million crowns depending on its age and availability, and even a twenty year old specimen did not justify three thousand points.

The real problem was availability. Divine Grace Herb was one of those resources that could be difficult to find even when someone had the money to buy it.

Ever since Jonathan had received his Celestial Core, Adrian had searched extensively for one, and this was the first he had ever encountered.

Now someone was forcing him to give it up.

Adrian slowly lowered his bidding sign, because there was no point throwing away an unreasonable amount of money.

Forget it. Jonathan can wait. I’ll find another one, and next time I’ll get an even better specimen.

That was what Adrian told himself, but as he sat back, his eyes drifted toward Number 198t, and a coldness gradually entered his gaze.

If he could not obtain the herb through the auction, there were other methods.

Once the auction ended, he could investigate the identity of this mysterious bidder, and if the man was weak enough, perhaps the herb could simply be taken from him.

Adrian’s thoughts had only reached that point when Number 198 suddenly turned around.

The man’s face was partially concealed, but his eyes were clearly visible, and a faint smile rested on his lips.

Then he deliberately raised his voice.

"So this is the Sinclair family?" he said, his tone dripping with mockery.

"The famous Sinclair family can’t even spare 3000 points? That’s rather disappointing."

A few people immediately turned toward Adrian, and his face darkened.

"How dare you!" Adrian snarled.

He had no idea who Number 198 was, but insulting the Sinclair family in a room filled with powerful figures was no different from deliberately provoking them.

A murderous intent flashed through Adrian’s eyes. If this were not the Skywater Pavilion Auction House, he would have already made the stranger pay for his words.

Yet Number 198 was clearly not intimidated. In fact, he seemed amused.

"He’s angry," the disguised Xavier remarked lightly, leaning back in his seat. "Looks like I struck a nerve."

He glanced toward the stage.

"Although, if the Sinclair family really has unlimited wealth, why didn’t you keep bidding?" he asked, then paused.

"Oh, that’s right. The auctioneer already dropped the hammer."

A few people nearby exchanged amused looks, and Xavier’s smile widened.

"Looks like you really couldn’t afford it," he taunted.

Adrian’s expression became increasingly ugly, and then Xavier delivered the final blow.

"It’s a shame," he sighed, shaking his head.

"Imagine how disappointed Jonathan Sinclair will be when he learns that his father couldn’t even secure a Divine Grace Herb for him."

He deliberately let the silence stretch.

"Especially when he’s the one who possesses a Celestial Core."

Absolute silence followed, as though someone had pressed a button and frozen the entire auction hall. Then the room erupted.

"What?" a man gasped.

"Celestial Core?" another voice breathed in disbelief.

"Jonathan Sinclair has a Celestial Core?" a third guest demanded, and a chair scraped loudly against the floor as several people stood up.

The expressions on countless faces changed instantly. A Celestial Core carried far more weight than the Divine Grace Herb itself.

"Is he talking about Jonathan Sinclair?" someone whispered.

"I’ve heard the Sinclair family has a young genius named Jonathan," a woman murmured back.

"He’s supposed to be studying at the academy, isn’t he?"

"A Celestial Core," an older man muttered hoarsely.

"That’s something that appears once in an astronomical number of people!"

Another guest’s gaze sharpened.

"How does Number 198 know about this?" he asked quietly.

The atmosphere inside the auction hall changed completely.

People who had been indifferent moments earlier were now looking at Adrian with completely different expressions.

Some were shocked, some were curious, and a few concealed something much darker in their eyes.

Adrian’s face had turned ashen. The Celestial Core was the Sinclair family’s greatest secret, and now a stranger had announced it in front of everyone.

It was a secret because the truth was that Jonathan didn’t grow one. He had taken it from his niece and given it to him.

Although, the idea of Jonathan having one was nice, but if people started to dig into how he had gotten one...

That would be a problem.

Also it would make his son a target for preys.

A Celestial Core was not merely a rare talent, because it could be extracted and transferred to someone else.

That precisely what made such a treasure so dangerous.

A talented martial artist could be difficult to deal with, but a rare constitution that could potentially be transplanted into another person’s body was an entirely different matter.

If the people in this room believed Jonathan truly possessed a Celestial Core, the Sinclair family could become the target of countless schemes.

His mind drifted back to Xavier.

How could he possibly know? Had someone within the family betrayed them, or had their secret been discovered somewhere else?

A dozen possibilities flashed through his mind, but he had no time to investigate any of them. He could already feel the gazes surrounding him, filled with greed, curiosity, and calculation, and the situation was becoming dangerous by the second.

He had to deny it, and he had to do it immediately.

"Ridiculous," Adrian declared coldly. "Whoever you are, you’re spreading nonsense."

He looked around the room and forced his voice to remain steady.

"I happened to meet a powerful alchemist recently, and I wanted the Divine Grace Herb because I intended to have that person refine a Lesser Enlightenment Pill," he explained. "That’s all. There’s no other reason."

His explanation sounded reasonable, but unfortunately the damage had already been done. Number 198 laughed softly.

"Whether you’re telling the truth or not, you know that better than anyone," he replied.

"Instead of wasting your breath arguing with me, I’d suggest you worry about something more important. Protect your son."

His tone remained casual.

"The martial path is full of unexpected dangers, and accidents happen all the time," he said with a smile. "So, what do you think, Mr Sinclair?"

The words sent another ripple through the hall, and Adrian’s expression became murderous.

Xavier, meanwhile, remained perfectly calm behind his disguise.