"He Guangda, you need to consider carefully. This original stone is so large in volume, it's definitely valuable."
"For our He Family to purchase this original stone, we might need to pull half of our liquid assets."
"If it turns out to be a bust, our He Family will be very passive."
"In business, the biggest fear is a problem with the cash flow."
He Guangwei said unhurriedly, placing the teacup he had just finished on the table.
To be honest, he wasn't optimistic about this plan.
It's just that the old Patriarch has gone into retreat, temporarily giving the proxy leader authority to He Guangda.
Now, He Guangda is the proxy leader, and he has the right to make decisions.
His own opinion, He Guangda might not take to heart.
Instead, he might feel insulted by it.
He Guangda is obstinate; if it weren't for his own legs being impaired, the position of proxy leader wouldn't have fallen into his hands.
Sure enough, when He Guangda heard what He Guangwei said, he looked impatient.
He clenched his fists, veins popping out on the back of his hands, and said to He Guangwei, "Big brother, now I am the proxy leader."
"The decisions I make do not need your questioning."
He Guangwei wheeled out with a calm expression, saying, "Since you've already decided, why call me over? I'll head back first and not join in this excitement."
He Guangda, feeling vexed at He Guangwei's insensitivity, had the appraiser quickly come forward to give his opinion: "Patriarch, I've looked at this original stone, there's big goods inside, it won't lose."
"Collapse is impossible. It's just a matter of how much profit we'll make."
After hearing the appraiser's assured advice, He Guangda finally made up his mind. He intended to participate in the battle for the original stone.
He didn't notice the slight upward curve at the corners of the appraiser's mouth.
"Alright, everyone has waited long enough. I'm sure everyone has observed long enough and has an answer in mind by now."
"The auction for the original stone officially begins."
The crowd started raising their paddles.
Just then, Ye Bai discovered another use for the Eye of Insight.
His Eye of Insight could inspect Tier One items, but for Tier Two and above, he couldn't see them, and what he saw was just dense grey mist that wouldn't disperse.
When he activated the Eye of Insight, he found that the grey mist was entangled in several places on the original stone.
This meant that the original stone had valuable points only in those places, and judging by the extent of the mist's entanglement, whoever won the original stone would probably suffer a big loss.
Moreover, the mist was all around the edges and corners.
Ye Bai's eyes showed a mocking look. This original stone was obviously a trap. Whoever bought it would lose, yet those people failed to see through it and were still feverishly bidding.
Unexpectedly, coming to the auction revealed an extra use of the Eye of Insight.
Indeed, valuable items are surrounded by grey mist.
If there isn't even grey mist, it's guaranteed to be a counterfeit.
Moreover, in this state, the pupil power consumption of the Eye of Insight is minimal.
"Eleven million Alliance Coins." Someone immediately raised a paddle to indicate.
"I'll add two million, thirteen million Alliance Coins." Another person followed with a bid.
"I'll add three million."
.....
The price of the original stone was quickly pushed up by the frenzied crowd.
It soon broke through to one hundred million Alliance Coins.
The crowd was fiercely competitive, unwilling to yield.
In the end, the He Family won the original stone for three hundred million Alliance Coins.
"Patriarch He, congratulations. With this original stone, you can expand beyond Jiaying City, towards Yandong Province."
"Yes, if the He Family becomes wealthy, don't forget about us small players who fought for you."
"Wasn't there someone who offended the He Family before? The Patriarch turned clouds with his palm and suppressed them immediately."
Flattery surrounded He Guangda, and he became somewhat carried away by it.
He probably couldn't even remember his name or identity.
Ye Bai looked at He Guangda, who was radiant, and smiled: "Let him be smug for a bit longer. Soon, he will feel the pain from heaven to hell."
After He Guangda swiped the anonymous Black Card, he, along with many bodyguards, approached the original stone.
The host smiled and asked He Guangda: "Second Master He, are you going to open this original stone on the spot, or...?"
He Guangda was very bold: "Open it, let's open it here. I want to see what treasure I've bid on."
"Alright." The host nodded and then clapped his hands.
A spatial ripple appeared, and an extremely ferocious Four-armed Mantis emerged.
The Four-armed Mantis possessed four blade arms that could cut through iron like mud.
Each blade arm was a meter long, and its massive mandibles looked like claws and scythes, menacing in appearance.
It had two pairs of wings as thin as a cicada's, and its body was covered in sharp barbs.
This Four-armed Mantis was filled with a ferocious aura and emitted a persistent faint bloody scent.
"This is my Four-armed Mantis. Its attack power is strong, cutting through the original stone is like playing."
"Come on, Second Master He, you draw the lines. My Four-armed Mantis will cut the original stone along the lines you draw."
He Guangda immediately gave a look to his appraiser, who casually drew a thin white line on the original stone.
The Four-armed Mantis raised its coldly glinting blade arm and struck the original stone hard.
A cold light flashed by, and the original stone was directly cut in half, the cut surface extremely smooth, showing the terrifying power of the Four-armed Mantis.
"This should be a Pet Beast above Tier Three."
Ye Bai, with the Eye of Insight, observed the move of the Four-armed Mantis.
When the smoke cleared, everyone found that it was just stark white marble.
There wasn't even a single piece of ore inside.
"Four-armed Mantis, continue to cut the original stone."
As the original stone became smaller and smaller, it turned out to be just marble; it had completely collapsed.
"How is this possible!"
He Guangda's eyes widened in disbelief.
He tightly grabbed the appraiser's collar: "Didn't you tell me there was big goods in the original stone?"
"I trusted you, that's why I spent half of my fortune to buy this original stone."
"You deceived me!"
He Guangda's eyes were bloodshot, and he was extremely furious at this moment.
The appraiser's eyes dodged: "I only said there might be big goods. If it doesn't come out, there's nothing I can do."
He shrugged, indifferent.
After all, appraisers also make mistakes.
In the end, half of the He Family's liquid assets were buried by him; everything his brother said came true.
"Three hundred million, a whole three hundred million."
Unable to accept it, He Guangda swung his fist towards the appraiser's nose bridge.
Taking advantage of the moment they fought, Ye Bai also seized the chaos, heading to the location he had selected earlier. He planned to pocket those few original stone fragments wrapped in grey mist.