Chapter 117 The oranges are so sour, life is so hard.

Shen Zhaozhao stared at the stubbornly lit lotus lantern in the water mirror, her breath catching in her throat. An absurd and terrifying thought uncontrollably surged into her mind—

Could it be that this person... plans to... buy up every single item in this auction, regardless of quality or category?!

Upon hearing this thought, Shen Zhaozhao couldn't help but shudder.

She subconsciously calculated in her mind how many spirit stones Nine Heavens Pavilion had spent on the previous few auction items...

That's almost ten thousand high-grade spirit stones!

Ten thousand high-grade spirit stones!

It would take her more than a month to chew on her Pixiu!

"Holy crap..."

Pei Lang, standing nearby, stared in disbelief, muttering to himself unconsciously, "I'm sure now, that person up there definitely isn't from our Crimson Cloud Sect."

Shen Zhaozhao hadn't recovered from that terrifying thought and subconsciously asked, "...Why?"

Pei Lang said matter-of-factly, "Because the men of our Crimson Cloud Sect are all good in bed, they don't need that thing at all."

Shen Zhaozhao: "???"

no? ? ?

Is this something I can say to her?!

Dude, you really don't treat her like an outsider!

Shen Zhaozhao's eyelids twitched uncontrollably. If it was really as she thought, and that lunatic from the top pavilion planned to buy everything in the entire auction, then what about her Nine Revolutions Devouring Spirit Technique?!

Now all we can do is pray that the Nine Revolutions Soul Devouring Technique will be released later, so that these auction items will have to bleed that idiot from the Top Pavilion a bit more. After all, no matter how incredibly wealthy that person from the Top Pavilion is, he can't withstand this kind of drain... right?

On the other side.

Since Pei Lang didn't have anything to film, he was just watching the drama unfold like a dog.

While marveling at the unyielding lotus lantern in the water mirror, he idly picked at the spirit oranges that the Cloud Platform Alliance had prepared for each elegant pavilion, peeled them, broke off a segment, and popped it into his mouth.

As he ate, he suddenly blinked his clear yet foolish eyes and mumbled, "Hey, Shen Zhaozhao, do you think someone might be deliberately inflating the price here?"

Shen Zhaozhao was already in a bad mood when she heard this. She glanced at him and was about to say, "What if the big boss extinguishes the lotus lantern and stops playing? Wouldn't the one who started this commotion become the victim?"

But she stopped abruptly as soon as she was about to speak.

yes.

Although she couldn't really go too far, if she competed with the person at the top of the shelf for a few items, she could leave the impression that she wasn't someone to be trifled with.

Secondly, it allows for the bleeding of even more of his blood!

In this way, when the Nine Revolutions Soul Devouring Technique is released, wouldn't my chances of success be much greater?

Thinking of this, Shen Zhaozhao immediately became interested, rubbing her hands together, eager to try.

Just then, the next item was presented.

"Next item, three stacks of 'Frost-Condensing Talisman Paper,' a top-grade material for drawing high-level ice-type talismans. It is made from millennium-old Snow Soul Silkworm Silk mixed with water from the Northern Cold Pool, and is full of spiritual energy with excellent talisman power. Starting bid: five hundred high-grade spirit stones."

As soon as the presiding elder finished speaking, Shen Zhaozhao, without saying a word, activated the lotus lantern in front of her pavilion with a thought.

"Elegant Pavilion No. 7, Class A, bids one thousand high-grade spirit stones!"

The clear and distinct announcement of the bid resounded throughout the venue via the magic array.

Pei Lang, who was holding half an orange in his mouth, suddenly froze, almost dropping the orange to the ground.

He turned his head in surprise to look at Shen Zhaozhao.

As far as he knew, none of Shen Zhaozhao's senior brothers were talisman cultivators, and she herself was not a talisman cultivator either.

Why is she taking pictures of this thing?

Suddenly, a thought that made his heart race uncontrollably popped into his head—could this be…a photo taken for him?!

The innocent-looking big dog's face turned red instantly, even the tips of its ears turned pink.

He hurriedly swallowed the orange in his mouth, then awkwardly moved closer to Shen Zhaozhao, his eyes darting around and his voice stammering, "Th-that...you...you don't need to do this, our Chixiao Sect doesn't actually lack these talismans..."

His voice grew softer and softer as he spoke, his head almost buried in his chest, but his heart was pounding like a rabbit's.

However, before Pei Lang could even utter the words "I appreciate your kindness," the lotus lantern representing the top pavilion on the water mirror, without even a moment's hesitation, lit up steadily again the instant Shen Zhaozhao placed her bid.

"Top Pavilion, bid 1,500 high-grade spirit stones!"

Shen Zhaozhao's eyes lit up instantly, and she excitedly grabbed Pei Lang's arm: "How come I didn't realize before that you're quite smart!"

Immediately, Shen Zhaozhao lowered her voice and quickly shared her "wool-gathering" plan.

Pei Lang: "..."

Upon hearing Shen Zhaozhao's "bloodletting" plan, the shyness and emotion that had just begun to form on the innocent big dog's face instantly froze, and then shattered completely with a "crack".

He stared blankly at Shen Zhaozhao's excited expression of "successful scheme," then looked down at his own hands that had been excited for nothing, silently stuffed the remaining half of the orange into his mouth, chewed it a couple of times, and swallowed it.

oh.

So it wasn't taken for him after all.

Pei Lang silently sat back in his chair, picked up the few remaining oranges from the fruit plate next to him, and continued peeling them listlessly.

Eek.

Completely oblivious to Pei Lang's almost palpable dejection beside her, Shen Zhaozhao was completely absorbed in her newly created "stubborn and argumentative" persona.

After all, the first thing they did was to challenge that mysterious big shot at the top and steal the Frost Condensation Talisman Paper used by talisman cultivators, so they had to go all out.

Next, for any rare and precious materials related to talisman cultivation, regardless of whether they were useful or not, Shen Zhaozhao would immediately activate the lotus lantern to raise the price without even blinking, displaying the attitude of a sucker who thought, "I am the supreme master of talisman cultivation."

Until a piece of "thousand-year-old lightning-struck peach wood heart" was presented.

This thing is about the size of a palm, completely charred black but with faint purple currents flowing through it. It is the core material for making top-grade lightning attribute talisman brushes, and its rarity is ridiculously high.

The starting bid immediately soared to two thousand high-grade spirit stones.

Many cultivators in the room instantly turned red in the eyes, and bidding voices rose and fell, quickly pushing the price up to three thousand five.

Shen Zhaozhao gritted her teeth and suddenly activated her divine sense.

"Elegant Pavilion No. 7, Class A, bids 7000 high-grade spirit stones!"

As soon as she shouted out the price, her heart started pounding and her palms were sweating profusely.

She was scared, she was terrified!

With such a blatantly ridiculous price that's designed to fool idiots, what if the super-rich person at the top gets tired of it, bored, and doesn't want to be a sucker anymore? They could just dump this exorbitantly priced black pot on her head!

The entire room fell silent instantly. All eyes, including Pei Lang's slight sadness, were temporarily taken away by this earth-shattering offer, and everyone focused on the top pavilion through the water mirror.

In this suffocating silence, the lotus lantern above remained unwavering, burning steadily like an old dog.

"Top Pavilion, bid 7500 high-grade spirit stones!"

Shen Zhaozhao breathed a long sigh of relief. Good, good, another close call.

She was about to turn around and give Pei Lang a high five to celebrate the success of the "bloodletting" plan when she saw the big dog holding a peeled, pitted orange, munching on it listlessly, exuding a melancholy aura of "the orange is so sour, life is so hard".

Shen Zhaozhao: "?"

Aren't those oranges quite sweet?