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Just then, a glint flashed in the auctioneer's eyes, and he immediately announced loudly, "The starting bid for the Soul Enhancement Pill is 200,000 gold coins, and each increment must not be less than 20,000. The bidding officially begins now!"
As his words fell, the bidding buttons in the surrounding private rooms lit up almost simultaneously. The rising and falling bids instantly ignited the entire venue.
"Two hundred and fifty thousand!" "Three hundred thousand!" "Four hundred thousand!" "Six hundred thousand!"
The price climbed at an astonishing speed. In just a few minutes, the price of the Soul Enhancement Pill broke the one million mark. The atmosphere in the venue grew even hotter, and many bidders were already excitedly standing up.
Tang Chuan sat quietly in his chair, listening to the constantly rising prices, his expression composed, a faint curve on his lips.
Just then, a corpulent elder slowly rose. It was Prince Xue Xing. He directly pressed the bidding button, and his booming voice echoed throughout the venue, "Two million!"
This price immediately silenced the scene, and many bidders showed hesitation. Prince Xue Xing followed up with a cold shout, "If anyone dares to bid higher, I will add another million!" He proudly surveyed his surroundings, his determined expression causing many who had initially wanted to bid higher to give up.
A moment later, looking at the gradually quieting crowd, a smug sneer appeared on Prince Xue Xing's lips. Just as he thought the Soul Enhancement Pill was already in his grasp, a middle-aged man's voice suddenly came from behind, "Three million!"
Upon hearing this, the smile on Prince Xue Xing's face instantly froze. His corpulent body jolted, and he abruptly stood up, the fat on his face trembling slightly with anger. He fiercely scanned the source of the voice and roared, "Today, I want to see who dares to compete with me?!"
Seeing Prince Xue Xing look at him, Ning Fengzhi not only did not avoid his gaze, but instead smiled and nodded at the Prince. Although Ning Fengzhi was wearing a mask at this moment, his unique temperament and demeanor immediately allowed Prince Xue Xing to recognize his identity: the Sect Master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School.
Prince Xue Xing was about to say something when he suddenly met the gloomy eyes of Bone Douluo, who was beside Ning Fengzhi. He found that the latter was glaring fiercely at him. The next second, Prince Xue Xing's royal arrogance completely vanished. His expression changed several times, and he finally could only sit back down dejectedly, his hands on the chair unconsciously clenching.
Watching this scene unfold, the auctioneer also dared not say much. He merely cleared his throat and loudly proclaimed, "Three million gold coins once, three million gold coins twice, three million gold coins thrice, sold!" Saying this, he turned his gaze to Ning Fengzhi not far away and respectfully said, "This Soul Enhancement Pill belongs to this distinguished guest."
Upon hearing this, Ning Fengzhi smiled slightly and nodded in response.
At the same time, Xue Beng suddenly tugged at Prince Xue Xing's sleeve, his face anxious, and he lowered his voice, asking in confusion, "Uncle, why are we afraid of him? If the Soul Enhancement Pill is snatched by someone else, what will I do in the future?"
"Are you blind? Can't you recognize that he is Ning Fengzhi, the Sect Master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School?" Upon hearing this, Prince Xue Xing glared at him and rebuked him in a low voice.
Xue Beng pouted, somewhat speechless. "Of course I recognized him. He has a Titled Douluo by his side, don't we?" Saying this, he looked up at Dugu Bo not far away, with a hint of anticipation in his eyes.
Upon hearing this, Prince Xue Xing raised his hand and heavily slapped Xue Beng's head, looking at him as if he were an idiot. "Are you stupid? Can Dugu Bo defeat Ning Fengzhi and Bone Douluo when they team up?"
Xue Beng was slightly stunned, and he lowered his head somewhat embarrassed, no longer speaking.
Seeing Xue Beng a little dejected, a shrewd glint flashed in Prince Xue Xing's eyes, as if he had thought of something. Immediately after, he leaned closer to the former's ear and whispered, "Beng'er, you don't need to worry too much."
"This Heaven Dou Auction House is, after all, an asset of our imperial family. If someone can refine one Soul Enhancement Pill, then he can refine a second one." At this point, he simply straightened his robes and continued in a low voice. "It might not be easy for outsiders to find out the identity of the person selling the Medicinal Pills, but for me, it's too simple. You wait here for a moment; I'll be right back."
Upon hearing this, Xue Beng's eyes lit up, and joy reappeared on his face. He thought to himself, "That's right, can't I just go directly to the person who refined the Medicinal Pill and buy more?" The next second, the light of hope reignited in his eyes.
Not long after Prince Xue Xing left his seat, a young man with short golden hair suddenly appeared in the transparent private room at the very top of the auction center. It was Crown Prince Xue Qinghe. He slightly nodded in Ning Fengzhi's direction. Ning Fengzhi also calmly nodded in response, a certain understanding seemingly existing between the two.
At the same time, Xue Beng also saw Xue Qinghe's figure. Immediately, his expression changed slightly, a hint of vigilance and unease flashing in his eyes, and he muttered to himself in a low voice, "Why is he here too? Did he receive news about the Soul Enhancement Pill? No, I absolutely cannot let this guy get to the Alchemist first."
A few minutes later, by the time Prince Xue Xing returned, the auction for the Soul Replenishing Pill had also ended. As expected, the buyer was also Ning Fengzhi, and the Sold Price was 1.8 million gold coins.
The two Medicinal Pills sold for a total of 4.8 million gold coins. Tang Chuan's face was now beaming with joy. He hadn't expected the Medicinal Pills he refined from some scraps of immortal-grade herbs to sell for such a sky-high price. The Profound Water Pill in Douluo Dalu II only sold for one or two tens of thousands of gold coins. He could sell for so much entirely because there were no Medicinal Pills that could enhance strength on the entire continent right now; rarity commanded value. Moreover, Ning Fengzhi was not short of money at all; he paid for Tang San's Hidden Weapons in increments of one million. This amount of money was truly nothing to him.
Prince Xue Xing had now returned to Xue Beng's side, his face beaming with an irrepressible smile, even the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes had smoothed out.
Looking at the former's completely joyful expression, Xue Beng frowned in confusion and said, "Uncle, why are you so happy? I have some bad news to tell you." Saying this, he vigilantly looked up at the transparent private room above. "Xue Qinghe is here too. It looks like he also received news about the Medicinal Pill and wants to get in touch with the Alchemist."
Upon hearing this, Prince Xue Xing looked up and meaningfully glanced at Xue Qinghe above. The smile on his face grew even wider, and he even couldn't help but chuckle twice again. Xue Beng became even more puzzled at this, looking at him with a confused expression.
"Beng'er, do you know who the person selling the Medicinal Pills is?" A moment later, Prince Xue Xing lowered his voice and spoke mysteriously.
Xue Beng shook his head blankly.
Prince Xue Xing smiled, his eyes narrowed into slits. He leaned close to Xue Beng's ear and whispered, "It's Dugu Bo and the blue-clothed young man next to him."
Upon hearing this, Xue Beng's expression instantly changed from troubled to delighted, and an extremely excited light shone in his eyes. He said somewhat excitedly, "Uncle, then wouldn't we be able to get them for free...?"
"Haha, that's natural. With my friendship with Poison Douluo, it's absolutely no problem for him to give you a few Medicinal Pills," Prince Xue Xing said, stroking his beard proudly and laughing.
Hearing these words, joy reappeared on Xue Beng's face. However, when he turned his head to look at the location of Dugu Bo and Tang Chuan, his expression suddenly darkened like a roller coaster.
At this moment, Ning Fengzhi and Xue Qinghe had already walked in front of Tang Chuan and Dugu Bo. The four seemed to be conversing happily, clearly having known each other for a long time.
His pupils slightly constricted, Xue Beng's face became extremely ugly. He stammered and tugged at Prince Xue Xing's sleeve, his voice carrying a hint of panic, "Uncle, look over there... Isn't Poison Douluo your person? How did he get together with Xue Qinghe and Ning Fengzhi? Did he... betray us?"