Chapter 4126 — A Slap in the Face
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
After all, no matter how rare this thing's appearance might be, when all was said and done it was still just a piece of spirit jade—not some other precious and wondrous treasure. It could indeed be used to assist in cultivation, but its effects plainly could not begin to compare with those of pills and the like.
And if one simply reckoned it in terms of volume exchanged, this top-grade spirit jade could at most be traded for a hundred spirit jades—and that was pushing it to the limit. Yet the starting bid was already a thousand spirit jades. To bid on that basis was sheer blindness; no matter how much spirit jade one had, this was no way to squander it.
Still, since the organizers dared set a reserve price of a thousand spirit jades, it was not entirely without reason. One had to understand that even on Cloud-Tier Island, where strength was revered, those fond of cultivating refined tastes were by no means few. This top-grade spirit jade might have little use otherwise, but to a lover of jade carving its value was extraordinary.
Unfortunately, judging by the chill that had settled over the hall, there was no jade-carving enthusiast to be found here. No matter how the woman auctioneer strove to play it up, not a single soul was willing to waste spirit jade on a reckless bid, and it looked as though the lot was about to go unsold.
At that moment, Wei Zhao suddenly spoke: "One thousand one hundred spirit jades."
The whole hall was taken aback, and all eyes promptly converged on the pavilion marked Jia Twelve. Even Cai Zhongxuan, seated beside Wei Zhao, could not help but start slightly.
"Young Hero Lin, I never imagined you had such a hobby—I hadn't noticed before," Cai Zhongxuan said with a chuckle. "I have a few friends who are devotees of this pursuit too. When we get back, I can introduce you; you'll find plenty of common ground."
Wei Zhao gave a noncommittal smile and said nothing more. In truth, a practical man like him would never care for jade carving; he had been watching purely for the spectacle and had never intended to bid at all.
The reason for this turn lay entirely with the ghost thing, who had suddenly alerted Wei Zhao through his divine sense, saying that this piece of top-grade spirit jade was a rare find. Only then had Wei Zhao changed his mind and spoken.
Now, seeing that the bidder was someone from Jia Twelve, the crowd's gazes—already tinged with envy and jealousy—took on an added note of gloating.
In their eyes, only a young master of that sort of standing would waste spirit jade buying such a thoroughly impractical trifle. But the more wantonly he wasted it, the more entertaining the spectacle became for them—after all, it was not their spirit jade being thrown away.
For Wei Zhao, this turn of events was no bad thing. So long as no one competed with him on the bidding, let these uncomprehending folk laugh at the show all they liked—there was a fine feeling in quietly making a fortune.
Yet just as Wei Zhao thought the matter settled and the woman auctioneer was about to bring down the hammer, a voice from the nearby pavilion marked Jia Fifteen suddenly called out: "One thousand five hundred spirit jades."
Wei Zhao started slightly, then turned to look. When he made out the speaker's features, his eyelid gave a small twitch—it was, astonishingly enough, a familiar face: Wei Shenjin of the Snow Sword Sect. And seated beside him was that shrew Situ Qian.
"Two thousand spirit jades," Wei Zhao promptly raised.
"Two thousand five hundred spirit jades." Wei Shenjin frowned and kept bidding upward.
"Three thousand spirit jades," Wei Zhao said without so much as lifting his head.
The hall erupted. That this top-grade spirit jade, with a reserve of a thousand spirit jades—already a loss in their eyes—should in the blink of an eye soar to three thousand, made them marvel. These scions of renowned families in the Jia ranks truly did have more spirit jade than they knew what to do with.