Chapter 156 A Fierce Bidding (Part One)

Having all the cultivators' undivided attention, the flirtatious auctioneer felt pleased. What had hooked the audience was obviously the Illusory Swordsmanship. But now as she smiled her sweet and seductive smile, the audience felt weak in the knees.

"As the name says, the Illusory Swordsmanship is almost too good to be true. It can release hundreds of Sword-lights if its owner has attained the Major Achievement Stage. In fact, the energy of each Sword-light is powerful enough to kill. This is what makes it a daunting weapon," she said as the introduction to the weapon. On hearing this, a wave of murmurs and gasps spread across the room.

"However," the auctioneer took a pause, "the Ganges Auction House has always been honest with its customers. We only deal in fair trade. Period. So, it is only obvious that we will tell you both the swordsmanship's merits and demerits. Especially the latter. Now, it has two shortcomings.

First, it consumes a lot of vital energy when used. This is very easy to understand. Its owner's vital energy would be the source of its Sword-lights, and we are talking about hundreds of Sword-lights here. So just imagine the amount it requires.

Second, its power could be too fragmented. It is true that the large amount of Sword-light it produces is very hard for your opponent to avoid, yet each of the lights might not be strong enough as the energy gets divided. It could be weaker than one focused attack in some circumstances," the auctioneer explained patiently.

"But then these are problems only for cultivators that have a weak cultivation base.

For those with a refined level of cultivation, who can absorb and unleash immense amount of high-quality vital energy, these weaknesses can easily become strengths.

In a word, this Illusory Swordsmanship is meant for the strong—the ones with a solid cultivation base and abundant vital energy.

So please think twice before you bid," she concluded. Austin was a bit surprised by the frankness and the detail in which the setbacks of the

y, a voice finally resounded in the room, bringing great relief to the auctioneer.

"I offer two hundred and ten thousand vital energy crystals for it!"

It was a hoarse voice that startled the others with its audacity to be the only bidder for such a distinguished object.

Almost everyone turned to look who this brave soul was.

As hundreds of eyes swept the room, the slim figure of a boy in a corner caught everyone's attention. Half in shadow, he was so well hidden that many couldn't clearly see his face.

Those who saw him couldn't place him from Adam. So murmurs, guesses and gossip began to brew to answer the two most important questions: "Who is he? Where is he from?"

A person plucky enough to be the first and the only bidder yet for the Swordsmanship had to be someone remarkable. After all, very few cultivators could afford an amount like this and had the girth to pay in one straight go. So many started to think that this mysterious bidder wasn't a local, just like Raymond from the Flaming Sun Valley.

The boy was none other than Austin. He felt that the moment to bid was now and never and so decided to jumpstart the race with a probing quote.

What he didn't expect was the unwanted attention of possibly everyone in the room. On the inside, he groaned. He tried to avoid curious stares to conceal his embarrassment.