by Zhuang Bifan
"Sir, I'm sure Master Sendros would be pleased to receive it as a gift since he's so passionate about pharmaceutics," the follower said softly and courteously.
Tedya raised his brows, and smilingly exclaimed, "1,100,000!"
"1,200,000!"
Those who were gossiping incessantly fell bizarrely silent after hearing the bids all of a sudden.
Tedya, who had just placed a bid of 1,100,000, pulled a long and sullen face. He thought that he would be able to gain the upper hand and beat everyone else to the potion for once during this auction, yet someone went against him!
Unlike Tedya, Hilary from the Ledin Kingdom was smiling delightfully while being seated in the VIP room opposite him. He had heard about Mage Felic from his close friend, Englos. He found out that Mage Felic was an impressive pharmacist, and he reckoned that the rascal from the Dark Blade had to have heard about Mage Felic from Sendros.
As the prince of the Ledin Kingdom, Hilary believed in the doctrine of light since a young age, and had even practiced in the Brilliance Shrine for a period of time. It was at that time that he became close friends with the bizarre and eccentric follower of Light, Englos, who was also the head of necromancers1.
Ever since Englos had visited the Pharmacist Guild of Alanna to attend a pharmaceutical exchange, he often talked about an extraordinary young chap who had an insane flair for pharmaceutics and had made various extraordinary achievements. Hilary had gotten so sick of hearing about him. This time, he attended the auction with another intention: to visit Doland and find out what the young chap Englos sang praises about was like.
However, Hilary didn't expect to encounter a potion made by Mage Felic during the auction. If he didn't purchase it, Englos would definitely blame him if he were to find out.
1,200,000 gold coins was nothing to the prince of the Ledin Kingdom, and it would be a surprising gain if he were to be able to teach Tedya a lesson this time. Prince Hilary was in a good mood. He casually sipped on some wine while waiting for someone else to make another bid. This sounds wrong, but that's what the raws said. So, perhaps it was just that Hilary got to know Englos, who was good friends with the weirdo Sendros, and that Sendros is that head of necromancers. I don't remember Englos learning such stuff, after all.
Chapter 544 - Surge
Tedya's face grew sullen as he knew that competition was going to be inevitable. He initially thought that he had gained an advantage, and was getting ready to reap the benefits.
"One million three— "
"1,400,000!"
As soon as Tedya placed his bid, he was interrupted by another voice, and thus fell silent immediately. He almost got wounded from holding his words back.
Damn it! Damn it! What was I spacing out for!? This is a potion concocted by Mage Felic! Robbio cussed in his head after he frantically placed his bid.
As the person in charge of the Glittergold Trade Union in the Breezy Plains, Robbio clearly remembered his boss Hoffman reminding him solemnly to win the bidding competition for the potion concocted personally by Mage Felic regardless of the price and effects.
Robbio obviously knew that apart from being the owner of the Glittergold Trade Union, his boss Hoffman was also an actual pharmacist. In that case, Master Felic's magical and pharmaceutical standards were definitely not to be doubted.
"One million five—"
"1,600,000!"
Tedya was about to vomit blood as he thought to himself, What a damn bully. Can't you wait till I'm done placing my bid!?
He then decided to mimic the two other bidders and raise his bid by 200,000 gold coins. He exclaimed, "One million eight—"
"2,000,000!"
The Glittergold Trade Union had never failed in bidding for anything they wanted. Although Hoffman was not paying with his own money, he spent it without hesitation because he had already gotten permission from his boss, Hoffman.
After hearing the bid of 2,000,000, Tedya took a deep breath, and turned around to ask his follower, "Do you think leaders will agree with what I did after finding out about the situation?"
He could no longer afford to compete with the other two bidders, because he had already hit his limit. Hence, he would have to rely on the support of the Dark Blade in order to purchase the potion.
"Well… if we can use this potion to earn the approval of Master Sendros, the three leaders will definitely approve," the follower answered after a moment of hesitation.
Although there were three Legendary powerhouses in the Dark Blade, they all behaved like children who had low status whenever they were in front of Sendros. The Dark Blade had been going against the Malfa Family for countless years, and the three Legendary figures had to work together in order to have enough power to battle the Legendary-mage of the Malfa Family, Cheyenne. Clearly, the two Legendary-level factions were worlds apart.
Hence, the three Legendary figures definitely wouldn't let go of a chance to suck up to Sendros, just like Tedya. Tedya spun the ring around his finger, gritted his teeth angrily, and exclaimed, "2,400,000!"
"2,800,000!"
"3,000,000!"
Tedya involuntarily swayed unsteadily, feeling extremely indignant and exasperated. He had been devising his plan for a long time, and finally decided to continue bidding. Yet, the other two bidders refused to give in at all.
Silence filled the air in the theater as no one dared to make a single sound. Although the voices of the VIP bidders upstairs were not loud, they echoed rather clearly in the hall.
What a joke. Are these big shots out of their minds too? Do they even know what the potion is? How could they spend money so maniacally!? Everyone was bewildered by the bids. It was truly an unprecedented occurrence.
3,000,000 gold coins! The transaction price of the Origin Potion which was concocted by Master Wilkinson and sold at 3,000,000 gold coins had already broken the previous sales record set by the Time Consignment Store. However, the current situation was absolutely absurd. In the blink of an eye, the price of the potion was actually raised to 3,000,000 gold coins.
Damn it, who is this guy named Felic? He's just a mage, yet his potion is worth 3,000,000 gold coins? Could it be that they're in cahoots with each other and are raising the prices deliberately to make a joke out of us paupers?
Sienna began to regret his decision not to show his intention to bid just now. Unfortunately, his hesitation caused him to miss the chance to curry favor with Mage Felic. As expected of Mage Felic. Look how much these potions are worth now. Both the Origin Potion and the nameless one are worth a total of 6,000,000 gold coins!
However, the few big figures upstairs clearly did not want to let the others off.
"3,500,000!"
The price was increased by 500,000 immediately. However, the bidder was not one of those three.
Arathor, the castellan of Roland City, had also begun to find Mage Felic's name familiar. He could not remember where he had heard that name before, and then suddenly realized that Mage Felic was the one who taught his children magic! He actually had no idea that Mage Felic had the ability to concoct potions. However, the three bidders were obviously not in cahoots with each other. Hence, he decided to join in the bidding.
Roland City was known as the granary of the Breezy Plains, and as the castellan, Arathor was just as wealthy as the three other bidders. If the four of them were to be compared to each other, Tedya would be the weakest. The Dark Blade might be wealthy, but he was not even the rightful successor.
"3,800,000!" Tedya gritted his teeth angrily and placed his bid again, though he was sighing to himself and wondering if this was the highs and lows of life.
Tedya had initially thought that he was the only person who realized the mystique of Mage Felic's potions. He'd thought that he could use the potion to get into Sendros' good books in hopes of becoming his student. Even if Sendros didn't want to take him in as his student, he would at least obtain some knowledge and tips about magic, which was far more beneficial than taking the potion. Well,
Sendros was a Legendary necromancer.
However, Tedya could tell from the progress of events that his wonderful dreams were about to be shattered. Staring at his competitors—the prince of the Ledin Kingdom, the person in charge of the Glittergold Trade Union, and the ric.h.e.s.t castellan in the Breezy Plains—he realized that they were all not to be trifled with.
As expected, someone else placed a higher bid after Tedya placed his.
"4,000,000!" another new bidder yelled.
Damn it! What the hell is wrong with you people? Do you think you can intervene with everything just because you're rich!? Tedya's teeth were almost broken because of how hard he was gritting them. He refused to believe that the potion concocted by Mage Felic would be incredible enough to be worth the price.
"4,500,000!"
The wealthy Robbio increased the bid by 500,000 gold coins in a bid to scare off the other competitors. Although his boss Hoffman had given him instructions before, 4,000,000 gold coins was not a small sum. If there were to be any issues, he might not be able to take on such a huge financial responsibility.
After all, he ought to be cautious with spending other people's money. He did not expect the price of the potion surge so quickly. Hence, he had to plan carefully for their future development. In fact, his worry was not uncalled for, because he did not know a thing about pharmaceutics at all, and William did not even mention the name of the potion during the auction, let alone its properties. How could he deduce the value of the potion when he did not know its properties? Surely he couldn't acquire it blindly regardless of price just because his boss told him to?
Compared to Robbio and Tedya, Arathor did not have as many concerns. All he cared about was whether or not it was within his financial means. Of course, he wouldn't ignore the prerequisite of being able to take it1.
"5,000,000 gold coins!"
Arathor followed suit and increased the bid by 500,000 gold coins at a time. He thought to himself, If you people still refuse to stop, I'll have to continue increasing the bids. I hope it will be worth it.
The hall was so silent that the sound of a pin dropping could be heard. Everyone was already gasping in shock, and they seemed to have been struck by a fossilizing spell. Some thought, Damn it, I thought that William was out of his mind, but it turns out everyone is crazy. This hallucination feels so real. I can't sober up at all.
Actually, the other guests downstairs were rather displeased with William's arrangements. At the end of the day, they were still authoritative figures who had high status in the Breezy Plains. They should not be too far off from the big shots of the Breezy Plains.
However, there were only a few forces in the VIP rooms. There were plenty of VIP rooms, but only half of them were occupied. Most reckoned that it should be alright for them to occupy the VIP room that was of the lowest grade. However, it seemed that no one would have the cheek to sit in one even if William arranged it for them.
It was a torture to just sit in the main hall and listen to the absurd bids. No one bothered to speculate regarding the genuineness of the potion anymore, and they were all hoping that the auction would be over as soon as possible so that they would be able to put an end to the misery.
Someone had already called a bid of 5,000,000 gold coins. That was not too far off from 6,000,000! The Origin Potion concocted by Wilkinson had already been auctioned for a sky-high price of 3,000,000 gold coins. The nameless potion actually had a starting bid of 1,000,000 gold coins. They reckoned that it would likely reach a price of 6,000,000 gold coins. Author probably means bringing it back safely after the auction.
Chapter 545 - 10,000,000
To everyone's despair, the bidding continued even after the price had exceeded 6,000,000 gold coins. However, the bidders slowed down in placing their bids.
Tedya from the Dark Blade was the first to give up, even though it was a good opportunity for him to curry favor with Sendros. However, because of how unpredictable Sendros was, he was not confident that he would receive benefits from Sendros that were equal to the price that he'd have paid.
When the bidding price reached 7,000,000 gold coins, Arathor, the castellan of Roland City, also decided to back out. Although he was labeled the youngest and ric.h.e.s.t castellan of the Breezy Plains, 7,000,000 gold coins was already his limit. Arathor was not a gambler, and it was impossible for him to spend everything he had on a potion whose effects he was clueless about.
Although the auction was still going on, Hilary, the prince of the Ledin Kingdom and Robbio, the person in charge of the Glittergold Trade Union in the Breezy Plains, were the only ones who were still bidding.
At this point, Hilary's face had begun to grow sullen. Although he was extremely affluent because he was the prince of the Ledin Kingdom, he often splurged on eccentric items that he would add to his collection.
Hilary rubbed his throbbing forehead with his finger as he continuously calculated the total amount of assets he had. He was not afraid of spending money at all, and even if he were to squander away all of the assets that he currently owned, he would be able to make an enviable amount of money again in a few more days. However, the problem was that an installment payment plan was not allowed by the Time Consignment Store, and he would have to pay for the item that he won the bidding for in full.
William had already announced the bid of 850,000 gold coins twice. Hilary took a deep breath, got a grip on his emotions, and nonchalantly said, "9,500,000 gold coins!"
Although Hilary had put all of his assets on the line, he still sounded nonchalant and relaxed as if he still had plenty of money, and would have no problems with paying even if the price doubled. He was hoping that he could give the competition a great shock with his attitude.
However, the problem was that Robbio had the Glittergold Trade Union to support him, and in this world, no one was richer than the Glittergold Trade Union. Well, it might be an exaggeration to say that the Glittergold Trade Union was the wealthiest in the world, but the Glittergold Trade Union could do more than just allocating money. Anyway, all he had to do was hand the money to William once the auction was over. No one needed to know whom the money belonged to.
"10,000,000 gold coins!" Robbio exclaimed, placing a highly anticipated bid.
Ever since the price passed the benchmark of 6,000,000 gold coins, it continued to surge higher and higher. Ever since then, everyone began to think that it was possible for the price to exceed 10,000,000 gold coins.
Now, it finally happened! It was unlikely that anyone would be able to break that record again in the future. The potion concocted by an amateur pharmacist who was neither famous nor authoritative actually had got an offer of 10,000,000 gold coins. Was everyone in Anril crazy!?!
Hilary shook his head, and returned to his seat dejectedly. He thought to himself, I must be an idiot. Why did I even bother competing with the Glittergold Trade Union in wealth!?
Actually, he had always been feeling lucky and fortunate. If Robbio's boss, Hoffman, was the one who competed for the Glittergold Trade Union instead, there would be no need for the auction to continue any longer. Their money was still deposited in the Glittergold Trade Union, and if they were to continue vying with them, God knew if the latter wouldn't threaten them with their own money.
William slammed the gravel down while everyone else looked on. The auction could be considered the best one that he had ever had in his life. The 10,000,000-gold-coin transaction could very likely become a record that no one would be able to break in the future.
Lin Li closed his mouth after opening it for a long time. He turned to look at Wilkinson and the rest whose gazes were full of awe, feeling extremely amused. Actually, he had never expected the potion that he had concocted casually during an experiment would sell for 10,000,000 gold coins.
However, Lin Li did not feel any guilt at all despite finding it to be rather strange. He was the concocter; hence, he was the only one who knew that the effects of that potion were definitely worth 10,000,000
gold coins.
Lin Li was definitely not blowing his own trumpet, because the potion was not concocted based on a preconceived formula, but rather a formula that he suddenly thought of when he was reading the Book of Eternity. He found a link between magic and pharmaceutics, and had also gotten a better understanding of them. After finding a few similarities between the two, he vaguely felt that he had touched the realm of a Divine Smith. In a moment of excitement, he decided to concoct the Myth Potion.
Although Lin Li had never let anyone take the Myth Potion before, the effects of the potion could be discerned after the concoction was complete.
Once a mage drank the Myth Potion, he would experience changes and distortion to his mental strength that would stimulate the growth of his mana. The effects would last a long, long time, perhaps one or two years. The long duration would cause a rapid growth in mana that would allow a mage to reach the realm of an Archmage.
It seemed that the effects of the Myth Potion were similar to those of the Rune Potion that Lin Li had concocted before—the latter would help mages who were stuck in a bottleneck to break through and reach the realm of an Archmage.
However, the Arcane Magic, Arcane, and Rune potions were all used for breaking through to the next realm. The principle behind it was to overdraw the potential of the person to achieve the effect of breaking through. The side effects were clear as well—one's progress would be halted and remain stagnant forever.
It was different for the Myth Potion. Just like the Evil Eye's magical crystal, its effects were to stimulate the growth of one's mental strength to allow the user to break through. It could be said that the purpose of the Myth Potion was to increase the user's potential greatly.
