Chapter 116 - Silver Dawn
“Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, please come over here. Take the floating platform up to the 66th floor; there will be a person assigned there to receive you,” a golden-haired beauty stood beside the floating platform, saying with a smile.
The floating platform of the Blackwing Auction House was extremely large, capable of fitting more than 50 people at a time. It was from Seven Luminaries Crystals[1], which have extremely good magical conductivity. Many magical runes were carved onto the crystals, allowing the platform to freely float in the air. However, the floating platform was extremely expensive to make, and even if all of Red Leaf Town was sold, it would not be enough to make a floating platform as large as the one in Blackwing City.
In the entire Star-Moon Kingdom, only the Auction House at Star-Moon City, and also the Royal Palace, had a floating platform implemented. Moreover, the size of each of those floating platforms was much smaller when compared to the one in the Blackwing Auction House. It displayed the level of wealth held by the Blackwing Auction House.
To say the least, the Blackwing Auction House was extremely large in size. It was categorized into three different sections, which were the Common Section, the VIP Section, and the Luxury Section.
The auction venue for the Common Section was located from the 4th floor to the 36th floor. As long as one possessed the Blackwing Insignia, they could participate in the Common auction. However, there were much less rare items auctioned there.
The auction venue for the VIP Section was located from the 50th floor to the 100th floor. One must have a certain amount of status before being allowed to participate in the VIP auction. As for the items auctioned, rare items were the mainstay of the auction, with the occasional precious item.
The auction venue in the Luxury Section was located from the 150th floor to the 180th floor. Aside from those with transcendental strength, they were usually the overlords of a region. For example, the characters at the pinnacle of Star-Moon Kingdom.
In Shi Feng’s previous life, after he became a Tier 3 Sword King, he obtained a relatively good title, allowing him the fortune of entering the VIP Section. As for the Luxury Section, only the Guild Leaders and Vice-Leaders of first-rate Guilds had the right to enter this area. The pinnacle players who had reached Tier 5 in their Jobs were also allowed in this area. As to what items were sold at the Luxury auction, Shi Feng had no information about them whatsoever. It was a secret only known to the tyrants and pinnacle players of God’s Domain.
Shi Feng arrived at the auction venue on the 66th floor.
The entire venue was about the size of a single football field, and at this moment, it was completely packed with people. These people were all NPCs with the status of nobles or above, and it was an extremely difficult task for players who wished to compete for items with these NPCs. These NPCs were here specifically to prevent players from easily winning a bid without any competition.
Frankly speaking, the NPCs were just props at the auction venue. If a player’s bid did not reach the standard amount, then the item would be taken away by the NPCs, preventing players from conveniently obtaining rare items.
After everyone was seated, the auction officially started. After a white-bearded old man walked up to the stage, declaring the start of the auction, an item was slowly brought out onto the stage.
The first item auctioned was a Level 20 Secret-Silver Chestplate, its starting bid set at 2 Gold.
“The Attributes on it are good, but the price is just too expensive,” clicking on the equipment’s information, Shi Feng quickly gave up after looking at its Attributes.
Although it was good equipment, he was unable to put it to use right now.
If Shi Feng could really buy the item for only 2 Gold, then he might have still considered it. However, after a bout of bidding from the NPCs, the price of the equipment had already soared to 7 Gold.
If he were to sell the Chestplate to a first-rate Guild, he could not possibly obtain 7 Gold for it. At most, he could sell it for 3 to 4 Gold. After all, to the average players right now, even Copper Coins were considered a precious commodity, not to mention Gold Coins.
After which, piece after piece of Secret-Silver Equipment was brought out. There was even Fine-Gold Equipment being auctioned. However, not a single piece managed to attract Shi Feng’s attraction.
The reason was simple. All of them were just too expensive.
If the average level of players reached around Level 20, then the prices of equipment would become much cheaper. However, God’s Domain had started its operation only recently, so most players were still around Level 4. Where would these players find that much money?
Half an hour later, the equipment phase of the auction finally ended, and the auction for other items began.
“The following item being auctioned is a Weapon Forging Design. This Forging Design is a fine work of Master Corian, and the bid for it will start at 3 Gold Coins.”
Immediately, Shi Feng’s interest was roused. He then clicked to check on the item’s information.
[Silver Dawn Forging Design] (Secret-Silver Rank, One-handed Sword)
Level 10
Seeing that it was Secret-Silver Ranked, Shi Feng knew that his luck had come. Moreover, the Silver Dawn was a Level 10 weapon; it was absolutely something that he needed the most. The Abyssal Blade also needed ten Level 10 Secret-Silver Weapons to level up. With this Forging Design, that problem would easily be handled.
However, besides Shi Feng, there were still a few other Forgers who participated in the bid. After all, a Secret-Silver Forging Design was extremely rare. With that, the bidding for the Forging Design quickly started.
Within moments, the bidding price had already reached 6 Gold.
Shi Feng gritted his teeth, shouting, “7 Gold!”
“7 Gold 30 Silvers.”
“7 Gold 50 Silvers.”
“8 Gold.”
With the crazed bidding from the NPCs, the price for the Silver Dawn steadily rose.
“Crap, I bid 15 Gold!” Seeing that the price has reached 13 Gold, Shi Feng immediately raised it by 2 Gold, showing his determination, and shaking the composure of these NPCs. If the price continued to rise, even Shi Feng would not be able to stomach it. After all, he only had slightly more than 20 Gold Coins remaining.
“16 Gold!”
The original worth of this Forging Design was around 15 Gold Coins. Shi Feng did not think that the NPCs would still compete.
“17 Gold!” Shi Feng made his decision. If the NPC Forgers were to bid once more, he would immediately bid 20 Gold for it. At that point, if it was still no good, then he could only consider himself as unlucky.
Finally, the NPC Forgers shook their heads at this price, no longer competing in the bid.
“Congratulations to Mister Black Flame for winning Master Corian’s Silver Dawn Forging Design!” the white-bearded old man clapped his hands, congratulating Shi Feng.
After receiving the Forging Design, Shi Feng let loose a sigh of relief. At the very least, he did not waste a trip to the Auction House this time. As for the 17 Gold, he had spent, sooner or later, he would be able to get it all back through the Silver Dawn.
After auctioning off the Forging Design, the white-bearded old man continued, “The next item is a super-rare skill for melee Jobs, the bid starts at 5 Gold Coins.”
[Thunder Flame Explosion] (Action-type)
Requires: Melee Weapon
Causes 200 base damage, and additional flame and thunder damage to enemies within a 5-yard radius. Enemies struck will be placed in a fainted state for 4 seconds.
Cooldown: 45 seconds
Shi Feng’s eyes shone after seeing this item. Thunder Flame Explosion was definitely a super-skill for melee Jobs and was one of the most precious items in this auction.
“What to do? I don’t have enough money right now…” Shi Feng greatly desired this skill book. However, the starting bid for it was already at 5 Gold. At the very least, the final price for it would be 20 Gold or above.
While Shi Feng was in silent contemplation, the price for the skill book had already risen to 10 Gold. Compared to the Silver Dawn, the bidding for the skill book was even more fiery.
Shi Feng had no choice but to call out the interface for the Virtual Trade Center, canceling the remaining Gold Coins he had registered.
“Thank god…” Shi Feng let loose a breath as he discovered that there was still 23 Gold remaining out of the 30 Gold he had registered. In addition to the Coins he had on hand right now, it just barely totaled over 30 Gold. Such an amount should be sufficient to purchase this Thunder Flame Explosion.
“20 Gold!” Shi Feng shouted.
“20 Gold! Mister Black Flame has bid 20 Gold. Is there anyone else interested in bidding? This is the only precious item in the auction this time around. Everyone should not miss this chance to obtain it!”
Shi Feng could not help but send a disdainful glare at this old man.
“21 Gold.”
“Since it is a precious item, then it definitely won’t be anything simple. I bid 24 Gold,” a Tier 2 Swordsman pleasingly said.
“I bid 26 Gold,” a Tier 3 Shadower yelled.
……
The majority of the NPCs present in this auction consisted of melee Jobs. Hence, the competition for the skill book was extraordinarily intense. Moreover, the higher tiered NPCs were all filthy rich. Just by doing a simple Quest, they would be able to obtain compensation of several Gold Coins, so their rate of income was extremely quick. If Shi Feng did not earn a lot previously, he stood absolutely no chance at competing with these high-tiered NPCs.
Looking at these high-tiered NPCs, he found each one of them was more powerful than the other. There was even a Tier 4 NPC placing a bid for the skill book.
Seeing as the price was about to reach Shi Feng’s bottom line...
“30 Gold!” Shi Feng placed his final bid. He would either succeed or die trying.
TL Notes:
[1]Seven Luminaries Crystals: it is a different item from the Seven Luminaries Gemstone mentioned in Chapter 112. The raws actually write both as crystals, one as 水晶, while the other as 晶石. They serve different purposes altogether. The former is just some sort of ticket to Blackwing City, while the other is a precious material.