"Five hundred and fifty million spirit crystals!"
After the bid from the uppermost, first private room, the scene fell silent once more.
He Xiuzhu exchanged a glance with Wen Boya. He Xiuzhu nodded slightly, "It's the Sacred Clan's Great Elder Sheng Tian. It appears the Sacred Clan is determined to acquire the Fortune-Shaking National Cauldron."
"Elder Shan mentioned that the Sacred Clan has been very active these past few hundred years, with sinister intentions. Especially twenty years ago, their influence extended to the lower continent. If the Sacred Clan obtains this Fortune-Shaking National Cauldron, the turmoil on the Eternal Continent will likely become even more terrifying."
"Senior Brother, is there a way to contact Elder Shan?" Song Qianyu asked He Xiuzhu with a grave expression upon hearing this.
"Elder Shan's whereabouts have always been unpredictable. It's unlikely he anticipated the appearance of such a powerful Fortune-Shaking National Cauldron on this trip. For now, we can only rely on ourselves."
"Fortunately, the price is still within our means. Everyone, please remain calm," He Xiuzhu said, shaking his head slowly.
Li Xuan, however, felt a sense of foreboding. Perhaps due to the Sacred Clan's rapid bidding, the other four clans also significantly increased their bidding speeds. In just this short time, the price of the Fortune-Shaking National Cauldron had climbed to six hundred million, leaving only eighty million spirit crystals between that and He Xiuzhu's current holdings.
"Six hundred and ten million spirit crystals!"
"..."
"Six hundred and fifty million spirit crystals!"
The continuous bidding kept refreshing the numbers on the projected screen. He Xiuzhu and the others had no opportunity to bid. The prices displayed on the screen caused He Xiuzhu and the others to frown. Clearly, the current situation was becoming somewhat uncontrollable.
"Junior Brother, I'm afraid we'll need those twenty million spirit crystals of yours again." At this moment, He Xiuzhu's gaze shifted directly to Li Xuan.
"Alright." Li Xuan waved his hand and handed over all his top-grade spirit stones to He Xiuzhu.
He Xiuzhu nodded slightly and then looked at the projected screen, speaking directly, "Seven hundred million spirit crystals!"
"Seven hundred million spirit crystals! My heavens, what kind of power is in the central number six private room?"
"If this old man recalls correctly, the central number six private room has bid several times before. In total, they've spent around a billion spirit crystals, haven't they?"
"The voice sounds somewhat unfamiliar. However, with such financial prowess, their backing power must be considerable."
"Dare to contend with the five major clan powers at this time, they naturally won't be weak. It's just a question of whether the five major clan powers will continue to compete."
"..."
In the lowest private rooms, exclamations erupted instantly.
After all, He Xiuzhu had directly raised the bidding price for the Fortune-Shaking National Cauldron from six hundred and fifty million spirit crystals to seven hundred million, a move that truly stunned everyone.
Even the private rooms of the five major clan powers fell silent.
Li Xuan looked at He Xiuzhu, who appeared somewhat tense, and then shifted his gaze to the projected screen. He Xiuzhu's move was a gamble. If it startled the five major clan powers, they could secure the Fortune-Shaking National Cauldron.
"Seven hundred and fifty million spirit crystals."
After a full ten breaths of silence, just as Fairy Biyao was about to inquire, a calm bid echoed from the uppermost, first private room.
Hearing this, He Xiuzhu and the others sat down in silence.
"Esteemed Senior Brothers and Sisters, as the saying goes, 'Do your best and leave the rest to fate.' We have done all we can. Perhaps everything is already destined," Li Xuan said, looking at their expressions.
He Xiuzhu nodded slightly and then smiled with a sense of release, "Junior Brother, you see things with such clarity. We, your senior siblings, have become somewhat obsessed. Never mind, now we can only watch and see which of the five major clan powers ultimately wins."
"Seven hundred and sixty million spirit crystals."
"Seven hundred and seventy million spirit crystals."
"..."
"Eight hundred and ten million spirit crystals."
The bids from the five major clan powers continued to rise, with the voices from the fourth and fifth private rooms gradually weakening.
By the time the bidding price reached eight hundred million spirit crystals, both the fourth and fifth private rooms had ceased to bid.
After inquiry, Li Xuan learned that the powers in the fourth and fifth private rooms were the Li Clan and the Yuan Clan, respectively. In comparison, the Li Clan and the Yuan Clan were indeed slightly weaker in strength.
The only remaining clan powers still bidding were the Sacred Clan, the Xuan Clan, and the Moon Clan.
"Clan Leader Sheng, Clan Leader Xuan, there's no need for us to add spirit crystals one million at a time. In my opinion, let us all reveal our highest prices directly. What do you both think?" a voice slowly came from the first private room.
"Since Clan Leader Sheng has spoken, we shall follow this suggestion. Clan Leader Moon, what are your thoughts?" a voice came from the second private room.
"Agreed." After a moment of silence, a voice devoid of any emotion came from the third private room. However, Li Xuan recognized it immediately as that of Clan Leader Yue Zhengqi of the Moon Clan.
Now that the three clans had unified under Sheng Lingxiao's suggestion, the result of who would ultimately obtain the Fortune-Shaking National Cauldron would soon be revealed. Even Biyao, the host and announcer, seemed to implicitly agree with the suggestion and did not object.
Time passed slowly. Although only a minute had elapsed, it felt incredibly long. Three beams of spiritual light shot out simultaneously from the uppermost private rooms and landed before Biyao on the auction stage.
"Since the three clan leaders have decided to let me announce the result, I shall respectfully oblige. According to your agreement, and with the approval of this pavilion, I will now announce the final bids of the three clan leaders."
Biyao nodded lightly towards the three uppermost private rooms and then spoke.
"Xuan Clan's final bid: one billion spirit crystals."
"Moon Clan's final bid: one billion and thirty million spirit crystals."
"Sacred Clan's final bid: twelve billion spirit crystals!"
As Biyao's voice fell, Li Xuan immediately stood up.
According to this result, the Sacred Clan was the successful bidder.
This was the outcome that He Xiuzhu and the others had feared from the beginning. Thinking of this, Li Xuan's gaze involuntarily shifted to He Xiuzhu.
He Xiuzhu clearly sensed Li Xuan's gaze and gave a helpless, wry smile, shaking his head. "Never mind, it's happened now. Let fate decide."
"Junior Brother, the auction has concluded. Perhaps you should go and see that person you mentioned?" Wang Kun asked Li Xuan as He Xiuzhu led the way in departing.
Li Xuan pondered for a moment before nodding slightly.
"In that case, I'll wait for you for a day," Wang Kun replied, nodding.
"Alright." As soon as Li Xuan finished speaking, he turned and left.