A Spirit Emperor's perception is very strong. While Yu Yan was staring at Purple Pearl, she sensed someone watching her. Purple Pearl turned her head toward the source of the gaze and saw a masked young man looking at her.
Meeting Purple Pearl's eyes, Yu Yan quickly withdrew his gaze and looked elsewhere.
Seeing the other party look away, Purple Pearl didn't pay it much mind. She turned her attention back to the auction stage, waiting for the auction to begin.
An elderly man dressed in fine robes walked onto the auction stage and bowed to the crowd: "Honored guests, I am Zhou Qingyun, the host of this auction. Without further ado, I hereby declare this auction officially open."
"Now, let us bring out our first item."
Accompanied by Zhou Qingyun's voice, two auction house staff members carried a dark green inner armor onto the stage.
After the crowd had a chance to examine the inner armor, the host Zhou Qingyun introduced it loudly:
"This is a close-fitting inner armor personally crafted by Senior Lou Gao, the president of the Blacksmith Association and one of the continent's three Divine Craftsmen. It is made from the silk of an Ice Silkworm from the Extreme North Land and the scales of a Sub-Dragon Spirit Beast, combined with several rare Materials. Not only is it comfortable to wear, but it can also withstand attacks from a Four-Ring Soul Ancestor without breaking, providing you all with an extra layer of protection in battle."
"With Senior Lou Gao's reputation as a guarantee, you need not worry about the quality."
"The Silkworm Sub-Dragon Armor has a starting price of 1,000 gold coins, with minimum increments of 10 gold coins."
As soon as Zhou Qingyun finished his introduction, someone immediately shouted a price of '1,500 gold coins,' determined to secure this life-saving treasure for critical moments.
Being able to withstand a Four-Ring Soul Ancestor's attack without breaking was indeed an excellent life-saving item. Even Yu Yan was a bit tempted.
Of course, the temptation lasted only a moment.
Yu Yan remembered his purpose for coming here. After purchasing Whale Dragons twice in a row, he only had a little over twenty thousand gold coins left.
Although a Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Jiao might start at 1,000 gold coins because of its narrow appeal, there were times when it could sell for over ten thousand gold coins.
Just in case, he needed to save all these gold coins for bidding on the Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Jiao.
There is a massive gap between Ten Thousand Year Spirit Beasts and thousand-year Spirit Beasts. Materials produced from Ten Thousand Year Spirit Beasts are often much better than those from thousand-year ones, and this holds true for the Whale Dragon as well.
Yu Yan was truly looking forward to seeing what kind of improvement a Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Jiao would bring him.
In this invitation-only auction, the items appearing were all rare treasures. Quite a few of them even tempted Yu Yan.
For instance, storage-type spirit tools found in ancient ruins, high-efficiency Meditation Techniques sold by declining Families, or longswords forged from the spinal bones of Ten Thousand Year Spirit Beasts, and so on.
To prevent himself from getting the urge to participate in the bidding, Yu Yan sat in his chair and thought about the various Opportunities he might encounter and how to obtain them.
While thinking deeply about the setting of the Whale Dragon, Yu Yan discovered a very interesting point.
It was explicitly mentioned in Douluo 2 that a piece of thousand-year Whale Dragon could increase the limit of a spirit ring by at least five hundred years, while a Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Jiao could increase it by at least a thousand years.
This was quite ridiculous and absurd.
To give a fitting example, Wang Dong'er, who had been eating Whale Dragons since she was a child until she was sick of them, didn't have a second spirit ring that was over nine thousand years old.
Providing counterexamples in his own book to slap his own Face—this kind of writing was one of the reasons Yu Yan gradually turned into an Anti-fan while reading Douluo 2.
Based on his own experience of consuming Whale Dragons, Yu Yan concluded that how much this stuff could improve someone depended on the specific situation; one theory couldn't be applied to everyone.
"Honored guests, the next item to be auctioned is a material produced from a Ten Thousand Year Sperm Whale hunted by the Purple Pearl Pirates. You may have only heard that this Sperm Whale is a Ten Thousand Year Spirit Beast, but you likely don't know that its actual age is twenty-three thousand years. This is the highest-aged whale-type Spirit Beast material our auction house has ever sold."
"Whale-type Spirit Beasts have always been powerful in the ocean, and given this Sperm Whale's age, I presume it needs no further introduction."
After Zhou Qingyun finished speaking, the attendees broke into a heated discussion because of his words.
A twenty-three-thousand-year Sperm Whale—Yu Yan almost laughed out loud when he heard that age.
The higher the age, the fewer people the Whale Dragon would be suitable for.
A twenty-three-thousand-year Whale Dragon could directly cause a Spirit Master with insufficient strength to over-nourish to death; this was no joke.
A small audience meant Yu Yan could secure this piece of Whale Dragon for fewer gold coins. This was a good thing; how could Yu Yan not be happy?
Once the discussion died down, Zhou Qingyun began to auction the Materials from the Sperm Whale one by one. The Materials averaged a hundred thousand, and some even went for a million gold coins, showing Yu Yan that money was truly just a number.
Every time a material sold for a high price, the smiles on the Faces of the Purple Pearl Pirates sitting not far from Yu Yan would broaden. Some were already planning how to spend the gold coins they would be allocated.
"Next is the final material from the Sperm Whale: a twenty-three-thousand-year Whale Dragon. I won't go into detail about its effects. The starting price is one thousand gold coins, with minimum increments of 10 gold coins."
Those who didn't know what a Whale Dragon did simply didn't need one; they wouldn't buy it even if it were explained.
Those who did know its effects wouldn't waste money on a Whale Dragon of such a high age. A Whale Dragon of this age would only attract a few collectors who knew the trade.
Therefore, there was no need for a detailed introduction for this item; stating the price was enough.
"Two thousand gold coins."
After a short while, a pot-bellied noble sitting in the front noble section raised his bidding paddle.
"Three thousand gold coins."
After the pot-bellied noble's bid, another elderly noble with graying hair also spoke up to bid.
"Three thousand five hundred gold coins."
"Four thousand gold coins."
Seeing those two driving the price higher and higher, Yu Yan, sitting in the back, thought for a moment and raised his paddle. "Ten thousand gold coins."
Instead of letting them drive the price up, it was better to shout a high price directly to scare them off.
Yu Yan's voice drew the attention of everyone present. They looked up and down at Yu Yan, who had hidden his true appearance, wondering where this spendthrift had come from.
Hearing the high price of ten thousand gold coins, the elderly noble thought for a moment, then lowered his paddle and withdrew from the bidding for this Whale Dragon.
The pot-bellied noble looked conflicted. When Zhou Qingyun asked for the second time if anyone else was bidding, he raised his paddle:
"Ten thousand five hundred gold coins. My friend, please give me some Face and stop competing with me."