Chapter 13 Thirteen Cuts
Ever since the bronze lotus flower was presented on the auction stage, Luo Mingshu's gaze has never left it.
Even when Lu Yaoyao reminded her that the three demons opposite her were also making moves, she didn't pay attention.
Seeing that Luo Mingshu had already started counting how many spirit stones she had on her and had no intention of paying attention to Wei Qing, Lu Yaoyao became anxious.
"Senior sister, the demon on the other side also wants to take that red copper lotus from you." Lu Yaoyao had a sudden inspiration and changed her words.
Luo Mingshu immediately turned her head alertly: "Where did they get the spirit stones to take from me?"
She finally managed to tear her gaze away from the crimson lotus. Sure enough, the three demons opposite her also stood up, eager to try. The leader, a demon cultivator with the swift demon soul, had already begun to take out the spirit stones he had brought on this trip.
It must be said that Xie Changming's move to dispel the blinding spell on the opponent's transparent crystal was brilliant. Now Luo Mingshu even knows how many spirit stones the opponent has prepared.
Roughly estimated, the other party has prepared more than ten million spirit stones for this auction.
Luo Mingshu took in all the little actions of the three demon cultivators opposite him. They even stingily only gave him half: "That red copper lotus looks ordinary. If it weren't for 'him' helping us to identify it, we wouldn't be able to see its mystery. So we'd like to save as much as possible."
“That’s true. Spending so many spirit stones is a huge loss for us,” another demon cultivator said in a deep voice.
While they were discussing amongst themselves, the guild members on the auction stage had already finished introducing the Crimson Copper Lotus. This Crimson Copper Lotus was found in an ancient secret realm on the border between the human realm and the demon realm. When it was found, its spiritual energy had already dissipated completely. Several highly skilled and knowledgeable appraisers from Fengsha Ferry came to identify the use of this Crimson Copper Lotus, but they couldn't find any clues.
However, the auction house, believing that since they had already acquired it, might as well put it up for auction and see what happens, put it up for auction in case some fool was willing to buy it and they would make a profit.
Luo Mingshu didn't care how many spirit stones the other party had prepared. Anyway, there was nothing she couldn't buy. So, she took the lead and offered a price of three thousand spirit stones.
Seeing that the bid came from the private room above the auction house, the other cultivators and demon cultivators participating in the auction house were also swayed to place a round of bids. While the three demon cultivators opposite hesitated, the price of the Crimson Copper Lotus had already been raised to 100,000 spirit stones.
With the price reaching this level, most of the cultivators and demon cultivators who had just come to join the fun and casually bid withdrew. The demon cultivator on the other side, named Pei Shuang, who possessed the Swift Demon Soul, saw the price of the Crimson Copper Lotus being driven up and quickly placed a bid.
Unaware that Luo Mingshu was also eyeing the market covetously, he directly raised the price to a figure that would deter others: "Five hundred thousand."
Luo Mingshu felt as if she hadn't spent any money at all. She glanced at the bronze lotus flower placed in the center of the auction stage and lazily announced a number: "500,000 and 1 spirit stone."
Pei Shuang had never seen such a way of raising prices before. He hurriedly asked the demon cultivator working at the auction house, "Can we just add one spirit stone? Is that reasonable?"
The demon cultivator in the auction house told him, "It's unreasonable, but she's a distinguished client holding a purple token, so she can bid however she wants."
Pei Shuang then realized that the woman bidding against them was the same female cultivator who had clashed with Shui Qingsi earlier. The woman had an ordinary appearance but an extraordinary temperament. He never expected that they would now be competing with him for the auction item.
Thus, the slight goodwill they had felt towards Luo Mingshu vanished. Pei Shuang was determined to win, and with a wave of her hand, she said, "One million spirit stones."
Luo Mingshu followed suit and raised the price, determined to mess with the other party's mentality: "One million and one spirit stone."
Pei Shuang didn't know why the other party kept competing with him. After all, the black cage behind him contained an appraisal master he had specially "invited," otherwise no one would have been able to discover the hidden secrets of the red copper lotus.
Helpless, he could only grit his teeth and continue to raise the price: "One million and two spirit stones."
Luo Mingshu's bids were completely unpredictable: "Five million spirit stones."
As soon as she finished speaking, Xie Changming, who had been standing quietly to the side, objected: "This thing has no spiritual energy."
He had left the rest of his sentence unfinished. He hadn't expected that he was inferior to a bronze lotus without any spiritual energy. Luo Mingshu had spent five million to get him to do it.
Luo Mingshu licked her lips: "I like it even without any spiritual energy."
"What's so special about it?" Lu Yaoyao asked, puzzled.
"It may not be anything special, but my intuition tells me that I must buy it." Luo Mingshu herself couldn't explain why she was so eager for this item. If she really wanted to know, it might be due to her innate greed. Valuable, beautiful, and shiny objects would attract her attention.
Xie Changming gave a muffled "hmm." He noticed that after Luo Mingshu made her bid, the other party all put on a mask of pain. If they raised the price any further, they would run out of their budget.
"I'll leave first, saving you five million. After it's done, you can give me half." Xie Changming knew that the other party was determined to get the Crimson Copper Lotus, and that Luo Mingshu would normally have to spend ten million spirit stones to win it.
"How can you help me save money?" Luo Mingshu only knew how to spend money; she had never really thought about how to save money.
"Looking through the crystal, I can see that there are evil thoughts in their eyes. If they can't win the bid for this item, they will definitely choose unconventional means to seize the Crimson Copper Lotus. But they just saw me come with you. If I don't leave, they will be afraid of my power and will definitely struggle to the end in the bidding." Xie Changming was extremely sensitive to the evil thoughts that any living being might have. He reacted immediately when the other party had the idea of seizing the Crimson Copper Lotus.
His presence here makes it difficult for the other party to make a move. It would be better for him to leave now, pretend to part ways with Luo Mingshu, to facilitate entrapment and law enforcement. They can then retrieve the cage containing Wei Qing during the struggle.
Luo Mingshu's mind couldn't process so many complicated thoughts. She just felt that the black-clad cultivator in front of her was really cunning. After agreeing to split the remaining five million with him, Xie Changming left.
After he left, the three demon cultivators opposite him quickly learned of his movements. If they were wary of Xie Changming before he left and dared not even think of snatching him, after he left, they no longer expected to win against Luo Mingshu openly.
Anyway, Luo Mingshu was only at the Nascent Soul stage, and she was as fragile as paper after being hit a couple of times by Zhou Ziyun, who was at the Tribulation Transcending stage. As for her junior sister, her Golden Core stage cultivation was negligible. If they couldn't beat her, they would just snatch her. Who told her to be so rich and ruin their plans?
So, after Luo Mingshu quoted a price of five million spirit stones, they indeed gave up on raising the price further. After paying five million spirit stones, the Crimson Copper Lotus was packaged and delivered to Luo Mingshu.
When Hu Yue, the president of the auction house, presented the red copper lotus, his gaze toward Luo Mingshu was filled with awe, mixed with a complex emotion of looking at a sucker and a god of wealth.
If Luo Mingshu feels it's worthwhile, then its actual value will definitely be higher than her offer; she won't do a losing deal.
Luo Mingshu nodded and accepted the Crimson Copper Lotus. It was a transaction that satisfied both the buyer and seller, except for the three demon cultivators who failed to win the bid for the Crimson Copper Lotus.
Lu Yaoyao wasn't stupid; she understood Xie Changming's intention in leaving. Now that they were leaving with the Crimson Copper Lotus, it was like releasing a tempting bait, waiting for the three demon cultivators to come and snatch it away. They could then use this as bait to enforce the law and, under the guise of "reasonable defense," take advantage of the chaos to snatch back the cage holding Wei Qing.
As for whether this plan will succeed, with that mysterious black-clad monk following them in their schemes, there's no way it can fail.
So she obediently followed Luo Mingshu to the carriage that the auction house had prepared for them. This carriage was not as comfortable as the pink carriage, which made Luo Mingshu quite regretful.
Sure enough, after Luo Mingshu drove the carriage away from the auction house, the soul-summoning bell wrapped around her little finger rang, indicating that the three demon cultivators had caught up with the unlucky Wei Qingchao and his companions.
Their intentions were obvious, but Luo Mingshu pretended not to know and just drove the carriage slowly.
Not far behind them, in the black car that had been racing Luo Mingshu all the way, Pei Shuang wiped her sweat with a handkerchief and said, "Since they insist on taking it from us, we have no choice but to resort to this tactic."
“They are human cultivators, and this is the Wind and Sand Crossing of the Demon Realm. How dare they show off here… Hmph, blame yourselves for stealing what our master specifically requested.” Pei Shuang said angrily. “We have served our master faithfully and have never made a mistake. Since the temporary thugs you hired have already left, you can’t keep this Crimson Copper Lotus.”
"Let's go!" Seeing the carriage carrying Luo Mingshu and the others drive into an empty alley, Pei Shuang exchanged glances with her two companions, preparing to make a move. Their cultivation levels were all above the Nascent Soul stage. Even if one of them stayed behind to guard the black cage, the other two could easily subdue Luo Mingshu and Lu Yaoyao by seizing the Crimson Copper Lotus.
Pei Shuang stopped the carriage, leaped into the air, his black robes embroidered with silver fluttering in mid-air. He acted ruthlessly and decisively, sending several swallowtail-shaped beams of light flying toward the carriage where Luo Mingshu was.
When Luo Mingshu heard the increasingly urgent ringing of the Soul-Summoning Bell, she was already prepared. She switched the control array under her palm to manual mode, and Lu Yaoyao had also hidden in the protective array.
Her thin lips were pressed tightly together, and she placed one hand on the control array. With a pull to the side, the carriage swerved and twisted at an angle on the road under her skillful control. Pei Shuang's several attacks were precisely dodged. As long as Luo Mingshu was on a vehicle, almost no ranged spells could harm her.
"Damn it!" Through the other party's skillful micro-management, Pei Shuang, who had raced around the sandy river with him, immediately realized that Luo Mingshu was the driver of the pink carriage.
Having just lost a race and already harboring a lot of anger, Pei Shuang and her companion exchanged a glance and sped forward, intending to flank Luo Mingshu from both sides.
Under the combined attack of the two cultivators at the Tribulation Transcending stage, Luo Mingshu manipulated the array with extreme range, driving the ordinary carriage darting left and right, nimbly dodging until the carriage could no longer withstand Luo Mingshu's violent driving and shattered into pieces.
"Bang—" The carriage was completely destroyed by Luo Mingshu, making a loud noise and falling apart, with dust rising in the air.
At that moment, a scream came from the black carriage behind them.
Xie Changming acted swiftly and decisively. The dark light flashed by like a fleeting moment of darkness, and he easily took the life of the Nascent Soul stage demon cultivator behind him and snatched the nearly human-sized cage—perhaps containing Wei Qing.
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