Chapter 331: Just Steal It!
Meng Hao paused in mid-step, then sat back and focused once again on the auction, his eyes glittering slightly. There didn't seem to be anything very special about the flag, but for the parrot to show such interest in it left Meng Hao assured that it was something extraordinary.
"10,000 Spirit Stones!" someone cried in a husky voice, even as the introductory words were still echoing around the auction floor. Meng Hao glanced around surreptitiously and saw that the owner of the voice was someone among one of the three groups of Cultivators who were dominating the auction.
The opening bid caused everyone to frown. However, nobody dared to offer another bid. Not even the Cultivators from the other two groups did anything more than discuss the matter in low tones.
The auctioneer sighed inwardly. In the past, such a situation would never have arisen in the Dongluo City auction. However, because of the current disorder in the Black Lands, the United Nine wanted to recruit powerful groups of Cultivators just like these ones. Therefore, the auction itself wasn't very important, and matters such as those occurring right now were ignored.
Just as the auctioneer was about to bang his hammer down to set the final price, Meng Hao's cool voice rang out.
"15,000 Spirit Stones," he said calmly. The instant he did, the entire auction floor went silent, and one gaze after another came to rest on him. This was especially true of the group of Cultivators who had called out the opening bid. There were more than ten of them in the group, three of whom were of the Core Formation stage. The rest were Foundation Establishment, but all of them gave dark looks to Meng Hao.
One of the three Core Formation Cultivators, whose Cultivation base was about the same as Meng Hao's, coldly said, "Hand over your 15,000 Spirit Stones to me and then leave. If you do, we won't cause any trouble for you."
His words only caused Meng Hao to smile. "16,000 Spirit Stones," he said.
This caused the surrounding Cultivators to gasp. They could see a strange light in Meng Hao's eyes that caused the face of the middle-aged man who had just spoken to darken. Killing intent gleamed in his eyes.
"Are you fool enough to reject a face-saving offer? 20,000 Spirit Stones!"
"21,000 Spirit Stones!" Meng Hao didn't have many more Spirit Stones, and in fact, this was his limit. After purchasing the Spirit Orchid Leaf, his supply was dried up.
"Interesting," said an old man standing next to the middle-aged man. He was one of the other three Core Formation Cultivators. His Cultivation base was the same as Dongluo Han's, at the mid Core Formation stage. "So, it turns out that there's someone in Dongluo City who dares to steal things that belong to one of the three great Sects. I'll offer 40,000 for this flag."
He glared at Meng Hao as if he were already a dead man.
Meng Hao was silent for the space of a few breaths and then said, "50,000 Spirit Stones!" The surroundings were completely silent. Even the auctioneer appeared to be shaking with fear. In his estimation, this flag was worth no more than around 40,000 spirit stones. 50,000 was an extremely high price.
Perhaps auctions could reach such a high price in the Southern Domain, but this was the Black Lands. Furthermore, the actual function of the flag was not as amazing as he had made it sound; he had actually exaggerated a bit.
The mid Core Formation old man looked at Meng Hao, his gaze icy cold. It wasn't just him; many of the surrounding Cultivators seemed to think that Meng Hao was specifically targeting one of the three major powers of the Dongluo City region, the Han River Sect.
