Chapter 99: Ryan Strikes Gold!

“Damn it, you two…”

The portly man in luxurious robes had initially planned to play it cool, holding back his bids to see how things unfolded.

But now, watching the other two compete so fiercely without giving him the slightest consideration, he could no longer contain his frustration.

“I bid 1 million Low-Grade Origin Stones! I have my heart set on this Black Flame Leopard. Would you two be so kind as to let me have it? I’d be most grateful!”

“I bid 1.05 million!” the beautiful woman in palace attire immediately countered before his words had even settled. “Gentlemen, won’t you do a lady a favor and let me have this Black Flame Leopard?”

“Damn it! You’re old enough to be someone’s grandmother, yet you’re still calling yourself a lady who needs special treatment? Have you no shame?!”

The portly man glared at her, refusing to back down.

“I don’t care! I’m not letting you have it. I bid 1.1 million!”

“Hmph! You’re one to talk about shame!”

The beautiful woman was furious. She shot him a vicious glare and snapped, “You fat bastard! Do you want me to teach you a lesson with my Charm Gaze?!”

She was genuinely irritated now.

An auction was an auction. Everyone was free to use whatever tricks they had to secure a treasure. What was wrong with acting innocent, playing the helpless woman, or pretending to be younger than she was?

But resorting to personal insults was crossing the line!

“Hmph! Bring it on! You think I’m afraid of you?”

The portly man shot to his feet, puffing out his chest as though he were ready to fight right there.

“Please, sit down.”

Seeing things about to get out of hand, Elena promptly stepped in.

“Winters Tower does not tolerate fighting on its premises. If either of you no longer wishes to participate in the auction, you’re welcome to leave.”

She had no intention of letting a perfectly good auction descend into a brawl.

At the same time, she had to watch her words. Although these two were somewhat weaker than Silent Lowell, their backgrounds were considerably more impressive. Offending either of them unnecessarily could create trouble for Winters Tower.

The portly man knew better than to pick a fight with the Winters Family on their own turf. He snorted, shot the woman one last glare, and reluctantly sat back down.

“I bid 1.5 million Low-Grade Origin Stones!”

Meanwhile, Silent Lowell paid no attention to their squabbling. He simply raised his bid, his voice steady and decisive.

He understood that if he wanted to secure the Black Flame Leopard, he couldn’t afford to inch his way up alongside the others. A substantial increase would put pressure on his competitors, making them think twice before continuing.

“Damn it, Silent Lowell! It’s just a Black Flame Leopard. Do you really have to drive the price that high?!”

The portly man looked as though he’d swallowed a fly.

In his estimation, a Tier 3 Black Flame Leopard was worth around 1 million Low-Grade Origin Stones at most.

After all, the highest recorded price for a Tier 2 Black Flame Leopard at previous auctions had been 800,000 Low-Grade Origin Stones.

This particular leopard had only just reached the early stages of Tier 3. A price of 1 million was already reasonable.

He had pushed himself to 1.1 million and was beginning to regret it.

Yet Silent Lowell had gone straight to 1.5 million without batting an eye!

The beautiful woman in palace attire wasn’t faring any better. Her expression darkened as she stared at the Black Flame Leopard, clearly reluctant to give up.

She hadn’t expected these two men to be so ruthless, refusing to show even the slightest courtesy to a woman.

Unfortunately, 1.5 million Low-Grade Origin Stones was a steep price, even for her.

No matter how much she wanted the beast, she couldn’t justify spending that much on it.

For the moment, she could only grit her teeth and watch.

“1.5 million, going once!”

After waiting a moment and seeing that neither of the other two seemed willing to raise their bids, Elena swept her gaze across the room.

“Does anyone wish to bid higher?”

Truthfully, she was already quite pleased with the price.

This was only a small private auction, yet the Black Flame Leopard had already fetched more than the treasures sold at some of Winters Tower’s larger auctions.

Its rarity was certainly a major factor, but the recent surge in Black Flame Leopard prices had also worked in their favor.

“Damn it! Fine, I bid 1.6 million!”

The portly man clenched his teeth, finally forcing himself to raise the price again.

Then, with a grimace, he added, “But I didn’t bring enough Origin Stones with me. Can I cover 100,000 of that with a Spirit-Rank treasure instead?”

He hadn’t expected Elena to produce something so valuable when she summoned him in the middle of the night.

He had assumed it was nothing particularly important and hadn’t bothered bringing enough Origin Stones to make a major purchase.

Now that he was caught up in the bidding, he had little choice but to find another way to cover the difference.

Besides, he wasn’t sure how long the seller would be willing to wait. If he wanted the Black Flame Leopard, he needed to settle the matter quickly.

“This…”

Elena turned to Ryan, silently asking for his decision.

“That can work, but I’m only interested in high-grade combat techniques and secret arts at the moment,” Ryan replied after a brief pause.

“Skill Stones would be ideal. Spirit-Rank skill manuals are also acceptable, though I’d prefer the Skill Stones. As for other treasures, I have no need for them right now.

“There’s one more condition. Any treasure used to cover the payment must be valued at the average market price. I won’t accept an inflated valuation.”

Ryan didn’t mind accepting high-grade combat skills in place of Origin Stones.

After all, truly exceptional combat techniques were usually monopolized by the major forces and rarely appeared on the open market. Ordinary Bloodline Fighters often didn’t even have the connections, let alone the resources, to acquire them.

A Tier 3 Black Flame Leopard was valuable in its own right. High-grade combat techniques were similarly rare, making them a worthwhile alternative to Origin Stones.

More importantly, Ryan’s current arsenal of offensive abilities was still somewhat limited. Acquiring powerful combat techniques would give him more options when facing dangerous opponents.

However, he wasn’t about to let the other party take advantage of him.

Some combat techniques were far more sought-after than others, even when they belonged to the same rank. If he wasn’t careful, he could easily end up accepting something that looked valuable but was difficult to sell.

Since the portly man had proposed paying with treasures, Ryan was willing to accommodate him, but only at a fair market valuation.

“Fine by me! Market price it is. High-grade combat skills, you said? No problem!”

The portly man finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He had plenty of Skill Stones on hand. He was just about to retrieve several from his spatial ring and let Ryan choose when Silent Lowell spoke up again, cutting him off.

“I bid 1.8 million Low-Grade Origin Stones!”

The middle-aged man in the bamboo hat paused briefly before adding, “However, I’d also like to cover part of the payment with high-grade treasures.”

The moment Silent Lowell learned that high-grade Skill Stones could be exchanged for Origin Stones, he became even more confident.

Without the slightest hesitation, he raised his bid by another 200,000.

The reason was simple.

As a dedicated cultivator, Silent Lowell rarely wasted time on entertainment or other distractions. He devoted most of his days to training and mastering combat techniques.

One of his specialties was producing Skill Stones by repeatedly practicing and refining his understanding of various combat skills.

Whenever he needed money to purchase cultivation resources, he could sell some of those Skill Stones.

It was an arrangement that suited him perfectly. He could convert the time he’d spent practicing into Origin Stones while reinforcing his mastery of the techniques in the process.

In his eyes, it was a win-win situation.

“1.8 million?!”

Ryan’s eyes widened slightly.

He hadn’t expected the bidding to climb this high, and he could barely suppress his excitement.

He’d struck gold this time!

A full 1.8 million Low-Grade Origin Stones! Just imagine how many cultivation resources he could purchase with that amount.

Initially, he’d expected the Black Flame Leopard to sell for around 1.2 million at most.

Who could have imagined that, despite having only three potential buyers at this small auction, the final bid would already have reached 1.8 million?

Ryan could hardly wait to see how high the price would climb.