Chapter 4832 — Just Wait for the Humiliation

Sure enough, after a run of lots from the Vantong Consortium, its running total had been driven all the way up to a staggering seven million six hundred thousand spirit jade, leaving the Haomen Metropolis far behind in the dust.

Steward Hao's face went green with regret. Whether it was goading the others into convening this Morning Star Grand Auction or the afterwards assembling of all those lots, the Haomen Metropolis had without question been the most diligent of all—and now look how it had turned out. The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind; in the end, the silent, unassuming Vantong Consortium had snatched the prize from under their noses.

The auction rolled on. Next to take the stage was East Continent's own Eastern Chamber of Commerce, but they plainly had not schemed with the same single-mindedness as the two houses before them. The treasures they brought out were rare enough to behold, but their number was small and their novelty thin; in the end their total came to only five million spirit jade. It seemed they had no intention of competing for the partnership with Morning Star Academy.

From the start until now, for all the gasps that had rippled through the hall, Wei Zhao had shown no inclination whatsoever to bid. Spirit jade was hardly a concern with his resources—it was simply that these lots were all too orthodox and conventional; few could pass his eye, and fewer still stirred his interest. A seventh-grade Great Return Pill, after all, was something he could refine himself; there was no need to bid for one.

This was the chronic failing of every merchant-guild auction floor: if one wished to see all manner of strange and wondrous treasures, one had to wait for the individual auction that came afterward.

"Very well. The next lots come from the Central Chamber of Commerce. I believe you have all heard something of them—they are high-tech products from the secular world. Before the bidding begins, we shall first give you a demonstration of their functions," announced the white-bearded elder.

The words had scarcely fallen when staff of the Central Chamber of Commerce carried a whole array of technological products onto the stage and demonstrated them one by one in careful detail before the assembled crowd. After all, if their functions were not clearly explained, no one would have the faintest idea what they were for—and then, of course, there could be no auction at all.

"Tablet computers, digital cameras, walkie-talkies..." Wei Zhao looked at the row of technological products on stage and shook his head in speechless resignation. He even spotted a miniature listening device among them. If he had not known this was Cloud Terrace Isle, he might have taken it for some electronics megastore back in the secular world.

When the demonstration was done, the bidding resumed. Though there were none of the pills and heavenly materials and earthly treasures of before, these lots made up for it with sheer novelty, and the response from the floor was just as fervent.

Yet novel as these technological products were, there was no hope of their fetching a sky-high price of several million like the seventh-grade Great Return Pill. The crowd was not made up of fools, after all—spending a few tens of thousands of spirit jade on a bit of amusement was acceptable, but to ask them to shell out hundreds of thousands or even a million? Only if their brains had sprung a leak.

In the end, the total for the Central Chamber of Commerce's series of technological products came to just under two million—and that was thanks solely to their sheer quantity; otherwise, even a million would have been unrealistic. The Central Chamber of Commerce itself, of course, had no chance of competing for Morning Star Academy's partnership; what the Academy needed most was pills of every kind, and that was precisely the Central Chamber of Commerce's weak spot—not something that could be remedied overnight.

Having watched this round of spectacle, Wei Zhao sighed in some disappointment. He had been hoping the Central Chamber of Commerce might offer secular-world communications the way the Central Isle auction had last time; he would certainly have bid for one then. Yet from beginning to end the matter was never mentioned. It seemed that, just as Si Haitao had said, the Central Chamber of Commerce had discontinued that line of business.

The various merchant guilds took the stage in turn, each giving way to the next. Apart from a few oddities like the Eastern Chamber of Commerce and the Central Chamber of Commerce, nearly every guild attending this grand auction had come for the Academy's partnership, and all of them were pulling out every trick they had. Fine things that could not ordinarily be bought were to be found here in abundance.

Yet the gulf in strength between the guilds was vast. The small guilds could never match the great houses in depth of reserves; to produce a treasure or two was one thing, but to bring out eight or ten at once was simply impossible—and ordinary treasures, plainly, had no place at an auction of this caliber.

And so the guilds whose totals could reach three million spirit jade or more were precious few, while as for the Vantong Consortium's record of seven million six hundred thousand, all the rest—the Haomen Metropolis included—could only look on and despair.

Barring the unforeseen, the Vantong Consortium was destined to be the greatest victor of this merchant-guild auction floor, and from then on the sole supplier to Morning Star Academy. It took no great foresight to see that the title of Morning Star City's foremost merchant guild would soon change hands and fall upon the Vantong Consortium's head.

One had to understand: in Morning Star City, whether or not a guild could win the full backing of Morning Star Academy was decisive for the fortunes of any merchant guild whatsoever.

When every guild had taken its turn, the last to appear was the Hong Clan Merchant Guild—the Academy's only existing partner guild, and by all common sense the natural finale. Yet anyone with eyes could see that the Hong Clan Merchant Guild was not what it once had been; it was, beyond all question, the sacrifice of this Morning Star Grand Auction.

To be granted the closing spot sounded impressive, but in truth it was nothing but a deliberate humiliation. Everyone knew the final lot had to stand a cut above every lot that had come before; the moment it failed to meet the crowd's expectations, the Hong Clan Merchant Guild's reputation would be ruined for good, and it would never again dare raise its head in Morning Star City.

"Hmph. Toil and moil for nothing, and that fellow named Wan picks up the bargain. Good thing the Haomen Metropolis has always been at odds with the Hong Clan Merchant Guild—bringing down one of their branch guilds should count as something to report to the higher-ups." Steward Hao consoled himself from his hiding place in Box Twelve.

"Exactly, exactly. With that meager ability of his, Old Chai Honest can't even scrape together a few Gestation Condensing Pills, and he wants the finale? Heh heh—just wait for the humiliation!" Steward Jin chimed in with a cold sneer.

"Ladies and gentlemen, there remain four final lots, all from the Hong Clan Merchant Guild. Please await them with keen anticipation," the white-bearded elder announced.

At these words, the knowing insiders like Steward Hao, who had been waiting for the joke, all wore expressions of "just as I thought." The Hong Clan Merchant Guild truly had run out of road—at an auction of such importance, only four lots! Every guild was permitted to offer up to ten, and even the Jinyu Merchant Guild had scraped together seven. That such a trash guild could serve as the Academy's supplier was a sheer disgrace to Morning Star Academy!