Chapter 153 - Becoming A Millionaire

Li Ming stared at the teacup in her hands in a daze. If she had any idea that the past twenty minutes were going to be the most boring and irritating minutes of her life, she would probably have formed some ideas to keep herself entertained.

The first jar of the pills was sold to the person in the private room on the fourth floor in 500,000 silver taels.

The crowd had probably given up on the first jar thinking that there were still three more jars left for them. Unknown to the fact that they all were in for a surprise.

As the next jar of the third level middle-grade healing pills were announced to be brought to the podium for its auction, everyone was surprised after knowing the grade of the pills. Not only that but the starting price of the auction was set at 100,000 silver taels.

For the next twenty minutes, the crowd kept raising the price at a snail's speed. Neither were they giving up on the pills nor were they placing a high price to buy it.

The auction of the pills turned into a time pass. The worst part was that they wasted twenty minutes in their stupid game. At the very last, the same person from the private room on the fourth floor ended up buying the pills at 500,000 silvers again.

Li Ming just couldn't take this bullshit anymore. She once again left a clone behind and teleported into the backroom behind the platform that was arranged to exhibit the items during the auction.

In short, it could be called backstage in the modern-day era. 

She made sure to stay undetected as she appeared out of the thin air at the entrance of the room which was mostly surrounded by the darkness.

Just like she had predicted, she saw the silhouette of Miss Bao sitting inside the room around a table where she was working on an account book.

The people were running in and out of the room as they took care of making sure that the money and the items were given to their rightful owners.

Miss Bao noticed the girl that was standing at the entrance of the backroom.

"Miss Li, is everything alright?" She immediately asked as she walked over to where the young girl was standing.

"Actually I have a request." Li Ming replied to Miss Bao's question.

The two girls discussed something for the next two minutes before Li Ming left the backroom and returned back to the private room that she had been made to share with the Crown Prince.

---

"My friends, now we are going to announce the next item of the day." The old shopkeeper said out loud to the crowd.

Two men brought another large box covered in red cloth and placed it on the podium.

Miss Bao came forward and took off the red cloth, making the audience gasp after seeing not one but two jars placed on the podium together.

"These two jars are carrying the last two hundred pills of the auction inside them and on the special request of the owner of these pills, we have decided to auction both these jars together." Miss Bao announced to the audience.

The crowd erupted into whispers at the sudden revelation. Whoever was going to get their hands on these jars would get two hundred spiritual pills.

A person having two hundred rare spiritual pills in their hands could be considered a powerful person in their society.

Now, everyone was waiting for Miss Bao to reveal the level and grade of the pills so that they could decide if the pills were worth their money or not.

At the signal of the old shopkeeper, the audience finally quieted down to listen to what Miss Bao was going to say next.

"This jar contains a hundred pills of first level low-grade Body Cleansing pills." Miss Bao said in a large booming sound while tapping the first jar.

It was like the air was sucked out of the auction hall as for once again that day the crowd became deathly silent at the shocking revelation.

Healing pills were a common type of pills used by the cultivators but on the other hand, the Body Cleansing Pills were one of the precious and rare kinds of pills available in the Cultivation world.

Even the lowest level Body Cleansing Pills were costlier than a first-level low-grade Healing Pills.

Before the crowd could come out of their shock, Miss Bao smashed the second bomb.

"And this one..." 

She tapped the second jar filled with pills as she continued, "...this one contains the third level middle-grade Body Cleansing Pills. Both of these jars will be auctioned together and the starting price is 500,000 silver taels. Begin!"

The people sitting on the ground floor barely got a chance to absorb all the shocks that they had received from Miss Bao when the auction hall erupted in loud booming voices coming from the private rooms of the second and third floors.

"600,000!"

"600,500!"

"600,600!"

"600,601!"

"700,000!"

"800,000!"

Li Ming tapped her fingers lightly on her empty teacup as she watched the price rising rapidly.

Who knew she would become a millionaire thanks to the spiritual pills and the auction.

Her gaze moved to the Crown Prince of the Han Empire who was sitting beside her. It was like the man had only come to join the auction to pass his time since other than placing his money only once, he did not show any other interest in the auction.

"Have you planned to even buy anything or are you just sitting here passing your time?" She finally ended up asking the Prince.

The Crown Prince turned towards the young girl and looked at her with raised eyebrows, "What about you? Have you also joined the auction to pass your time? After all, I haven't seen you participating even once in the last two hours." He retorted back at her.

Li Ming cleared her throat as she straightened in her seat. With her raised chin she replied in a haughty tone, "Who said that I'm here to buy something?"

Her tone was filled with mockery as she gave the Crown Prince a side look before turning towards the ongoing auction.

The Crown Prince stared at the girl for a few moments before he replied while shaking his head lightly, "Well, I also never said that I'm here to buy something."

His reply made Li Ming raise her eyebrows at him. It was impossible to tell if he was telling the truth or just returning her words back to her.

She didn't try to inquire anymore and focused her attention back on the ongoing auction.

The price had risen to 900,000 silver taels.

"1,000,000!"

Li Ming stared at the old lady who was currently sitting inside one of the seven private rooms on the second floor. The drapes of her room had lifted to let the audience see the owner of the voice which had just raised the price to one million.

Li Ming wasn't prepared to handle so much money. She had no idea that the pills could bring so much money to her. Also, the high price of her pills would help her in her initial mission of getting the Auction House to give her a privileged membership in all its branches.

The more benefits she would bring to the Auction House, the more closer she would get to them.

"2,000,000!"

This time the cup dropped from her hands and shattered on the floor in tiny pieces.

An hour ago, she barely had 500,000 silvers in her treasury and now, she had earned almost three million silvers.

The best part? The money was still increasing.

She paid no attention to the Crown Prince who was staring at her or the maid who was cleaning away the broken teacup.

To be honest, she had no idea about what was happening around her in the private room as her entire focus was on the people who were placing their silvers to buy her pills.

Looked like she would need to spend more time in alchemy. Now, she had a perfect idea about how to earn a lot of money in a short time. All she needed to do was to refine a rare and high-level spiritual pill and she was good to go.

---

"Why did you buy those pills? You are the last person who needs these low-grade pills." The Demon Prince asked the Heaven Emperor.

The golden robed man turned towards the Demon Prince as he replied, "Can't you see that these pills look completely different from the normal Healing pills?"

Hei Long looked at the pills closely as the Heaven Emperor took out one from the jar.

He smelled the pill and even let his energy flow over it to grasp what was different about it.

After a few seconds, he nodded his head as he replied, "I can see what you are talking about. Some of the ingredients used in this pill are different from the usual ingredients that the other alchemists use. Moreover, the pills are stronger than the normal pills of their levels."

"Exactly!" The Heaven Emperor clapped his hands as he agreed with Hei Long's words.