Caught completely off guard.
Weilin’s mouthful of black tea bulged in her cheeks. She forced herself not to spit it out, and after a long moment, she swallowed the liquid that had been swirling in her mouth for dozens of seconds.
“That advertisement was way too forced. I give it a 1 out of 10, and that’s being generous.”
“Huh?” Elizabeth turned a puzzled look towards her, secretly surprised. Did her Big Sister actually understand advertising?
Indeed, in the eyes of a professional planner with an annual salary of a hundred million, this level of advertising was still in its bumbling toddler stage.
“At the very least, you need a hook, right? And you have to drop the ad when everyone is at their most excited and invested for it to have that truly unexpected effect. For example, after auctioning off a treasure with immense collectible value, you could suddenly use the desire to complete a collection as a hook. Then, out of nowhere, you shout: ‘Well then, isn’t there a super casual, no-grind, no-pay-to-win card collection game that can satisfy everyone’s insatiable collector’s itch? Coming right up! Imperial Mist is having a limited beta test and blah blah blah—!’ Like that… Ah, never mind. Given the advertising standards in this world, they probably won’t reach that level of genius without a few years of exploration…”
Elizabemouse stared, dumbfounded, at Lega Weilin, who was sighing with the authority of a master strategist lamenting the lack of talent in the world. She thought to herself: Mining, crafting, magic, painting, cooking, tailoring, enchanting, advertising… Is my Big Sister some kind of Prodigy?!
?
After that interlude, the main event finally began.
At the center of the circular atrium, a strikingly beautiful young woman in a snow-white dress approached Master Lei’s side, holding a jade tray with both hands.
Resting on the tray was a short, fiery-red robe. Its strange, unknown fur was bright, glossy, and smooth, faintly radiating a hot, magical energy.
Master Lei glanced at the red fur robe, his old, authoritative gaze returning forward as he announced in a booming voice: “The first auction item—the ‘Fire Spirit Fox Blessing Robe’!”
“Meticulously selected from the fur of an otherworldly Fire Spirit Fox and enchanted by a Level 3 Enchanter!”
“I’m sure you are all as thoroughly sick of this Snow Domain’s freezing cold as I am, tired of having to wrap yourselves like dumplings just to step outside. But, wearing this, you can face the heavens with a smile no matter how cold the weather is, letting your life be filled with warmth and confidence from now on. Starting bid—600 Gold Coins! Each subsequent bid must be no less than 50 Gold Coins!”
The crowd below instantly boiled over.
Enchanted artisan goods were already rare, let alone such a beautiful, prestigious, and practical treasure?
“650 Gold Coins!”
“I bid 700!”
“Please, everyone, give face to our Snow Wolf Mercenary Group! I, the Snow Wolf King, want this treasure for 800 Gold Coins!”
‘Auction Mob A appears’
“Hahaha, you almost made me laugh my dentures out! That Snow Wolf Mercenary Group with 500 Gold Coins in registered capital? You even call yourself the Snow Wolf King? You’re lucky you met me. To save you from embezzling funds and getting hacked to death, our Mine-Hunter Mercenary Group bids 900 Gold Coins for this treasure!”
‘Auction Mob B joins the fray’
“Calm down, calm down. We’re all just mobs with a single scene. Why must mobs make things difficult for other mobs? Our Assam Group bids 950. If we get it, great; if not, so be it.”
‘Now Mob C, who’s read the script, is bidding like a monk’
“………”
————
The scene below was exceptionally chaotic, yet also exceptionally boisterous and heated.
Perhaps this was what they called ‘the joy of being poor’.
If you are very poor, your standards for obtaining happiness are lowered.
Bidding in increments of 50, 100, or at most 200 Gold Coins. If you scrape together your entire savings and still lose, you feel immense regret, thinking, “I was so close!” Then, you look forward to the next auction item.
If you empty your wallet and actually win the treasure, your joy is magnified countless times, and you might even sigh that life has no regrets.
But what if, just when they were cheerfully adding 50 Gold Coins at a time, Weilin suddenly got interested and directly shouted out 5,000 Gold Coins…?
A ‘Noble’ uses ‘Golden Rule’ on ‘Poor People Having Fun.’ It’s super effective! The poor lose all meaning in life.
…No, no! Only a Demon would do that!
Besides, even though the Fire Spirit Fox Blessing Robe was made by a Level 3 Enchanter, it was only a trashy Tier 2 enchanted artisan good and served no purpose beyond resisting cold.
Although its name was ridiculous, her Ice-Fire Cloak alone, with its ‘Ice/Fire Element Resistance +10%’, completely crushed the Fire Spirit Fox Robe by dozens of streets. That was the difference between Tier 2 and Tier 4.
“…So crappy.”
Even Elizabeth couldn’t help but mutter this complaint.
It was doubtful whether the original value was even worth 600 Gold Coins. Yet this flashy but impractical item actually sold for 1,050 Gold Coins… Should we say everyone in the merchant business has the potential to be a Masta?
The common ground is that their consciences don’t hurt at all—because they simply don’t have one.
Cloudstride Merchant Guild – Snow Domain Branch, Center of the Atrium.
That graceful snow-dressed young woman came up again with both hands holding a jade tray. On the tray lay a roll of ancient, yellowed parchment.
“Presenting the second auction item… To be honest, what is within this parchment scroll is this old man’s life’s work.”
A flash of lightning seemed to streak through Master Lei’s aged, deep eyes. His long sleeves billowed as his entire being released a rolling pressure that felt as imposing as heavenly thunder splitting the sky. Many novices present involuntarily trembled, their fearful eyes meeting, as if confirming that this old man’s life’s work must be a spell of world-destroying caliber. Their faces revealed expressions of wild joy and excitement.
“One hundred and sixty years ago, I roamed the continent with my absolutely domineering Lei-style magic, entering the ranks of Legendary Mages. Even the Empire’s Governor and the Federation’s High Priest honored me as a guest. At that time… I’m afraid none of you here had even been born yet, hehehehe. I won’t force you if you haven’t heard of my deeds. Because today, for this scroll of ‘Nuclear Lightning Annihilation’, I speak not of strength, but only of destiny. Those with destiny to me shall obtain it… Base price: 1,000 Gold Coins. Start!”
“1,050!”
“1,100!!”
“1,200——!!!”
“…”
Inside the private room, Weilin was thoroughly disinterested.
Because Weilin’s level far surpassed anyone else’s, using her Eye of Truth to see through a person’s strength was as easy as drinking water. So, after seeing Master Lei’s true capabilities…
What the hell? Isn’t this your life’s work? But the ‘Nuclear Lightning Annihilation’ skill isn’t even in your damn skill bar!
Did you also reset your Skill Points like me?
And what’s with ‘those with destiny shall obtain it,’ followed immediately by announcing a base price for auction? Where does this auction house dig up these geniuses of logic?
Yet those reckless youngsters didn’t seem to notice anything wrong.
No, even if a few clever individuals noticed, they wouldn’t dare speak up. And if they did, no one would pay attention, because once you enter an auction, you’re lucky not to get scammed, let alone thinking you can walk away with something for nothing.
“I wonder if there are other skills later… Ah, whatever, I’ll just bid for it first.”
The first floor crowd was very agitated. It seemed the scions of several major magic families in Snowcell City had completely fallen out over this powerful lightning spell and were furiously outbidding each other.
The heated bidding war had reached a stalemate at 1,450 Gold Coins…
“These guys are so slow…” Weilin couldn’t stand watching anymore. Her eyes turned with a sly smile. “Little White, help me bid 2,000.”
“Ah, okay.”
The specially crafted crystal glass used as a one-way window had a miniature voice-amplifying magic array carved inside it.
When Elizabeth quietly said “2,000 Gold Coins” into the glass, her pure, ethereal, and seemingly healing cute voice drifted clearly into everyone’s ears.
But Elizabeth’s voice couldn’t stop that magic family’s young master from getting worked up. He calculated his cobbled-together funds, gritted his teeth, and shouted: “2,100 Gold Coins!”
“…Big shot in the third-floor booth, please show mercy!” Before Weilin could raise the bid again, the young man shouted once more, drawing everyone’s attention. “Such a cute and gentle voice, combined with such a generous and extraordinary bid, surely you must be some little princess from a kingdom? My name is Yun Yan. In a few days, the Illusory Snow Academy’s magic competition will be held. If I don’t enhance my strength, I can’t get a good ranking. And if I don’t get a good ranking, Linna will break off our engagement! Therefore, Yun Yan earnestly begs that little princess in the third booth to show mercy and allow me to win Master Lei’s ultimate technique! If I can win the beauty’s heart in the future, I will certainly repay the little princess’s great kindness!”
Tsk, so this mob actually has a backstory?
For a moment, the speculation about the “little princess from a kingdom” made many people below direct various curious and heated gazes towards Weilin and Elizabeth’s booth.
Elizabeth’s expression was cold, as if she didn’t like it. Faced with this stranger’s plea about breaking off an engagement, she could only turn to Weilin for her opinion.
“Then we mustn’t harm him even more.” Weilin sighed mysteriously, her gaze calm and righteous. “Keep bidding—4,000!”
4,000 Gold Coins was already an incredibly exaggerated price, but Elizabeth didn’t ask the reason. She just paused for a moment before turning to make the bid.
“4,000 Gold Coins… Also, I am not some little princess!”
A hint of anger tinged her voice, but it sounded even crisper and more pleasant as it clearly rang out again.
The last sentence was added by Elizabeth on her own initiative.
It wasn’t that she was unhappy being thought of as a “princess,” but because Weilin was by her side. Elizabeth feared that others’ praise might elevate “her own status” above her Big Sister in their eyes…
Because Weilin was the person she least wanted to surpass… the person she most wanted to depend on.
Elizabeth’s “4,000 Gold Coins” completely blew up the crowd on the first floor.
“Does this rich woman have a mine at home? She’s bidding in increments of two thousand Gold Coins!!?”
“That Yun Yan guy can’t come up with any more money. 2,150 Gold Coins should have won it… And it jumps straight to 4,000?! Damn, the world of the rich is truly beyond our understanding!”
“…”
————
If nothing else, the auction house’s delivery speed was terrifyingly fast.
Before the next auction item even came on stage, a staff member had already delivered that parchment scroll to Weilin.
Opening the parchment, she saw four powerful, bold characters: ‘Nuclear Lightning Annihilation.’
—And a few very tiny characters at the bottom right: ‘…of Ball Lightning’
【Use 2 Skill Points to learn Tier 2 Magic: Ball Lightning?】
【Ding! Your Skill Points are insufficient】
Even the game system prompt listed the skill name as ‘Ball Lightning’. There was no ‘Nuclear Lightning Annihilation’ anywhere. Even though she lacked the Skill Points and couldn’t learn it, Weilin still wanted to shout out: Like hell I believe you!! You rotten old man, full of tricks!
After fuming, Weilin casually tossed the parchment scroll to Elizabeth. “I suddenly don’t feel like learning it anymore. Little White, you can use some Lei-style magic too, right? Here, it’s yours.”
“Huh… Ah?!”
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