Chapter 285: Who is the Clown? (3k)
Su Jiu’s words also attracted the attention of the people present. Some students hadn’t even realized the actual situation. After whispering among themselves, they finally understood that the mysterious merchant who had suppressed the Battle King from Cherry Blossom Country was this grey and white girl.
“Pfft, pfft, pfft—”
Hearing the muffled discussions below, Su Jiu smiled faintly, then shifted her gaze. After looking around, she stopped in the center, then waved her hand towards her storage bag and said softly, “Starting bid is three million, capped at six million. Let’s bid, everyone!”
Eight ordinary alchemy balls appeared in a row in front of her. Her fingernail, wrapped in a stream of airflow, opened all the balls. Inside, eight Crimson Flame Sparrow chicks were obediently enveloped by Su Jiu’s external qi.
On the other side, Xiangzi, who had just recovered, sat in the corner, her gaze fixed on Su Jiu with an unpredictable expression, while her heart was filled with frustration.
To pick a fight with anyone and end up provoking the mysterious merchant, her luck was truly something! She could only hope that the mysterious merchant wouldn’t refuse to sell just because of it.
“Three million!”
“Three point three million!”
Unlike the people from Cherry Blossom Country, the crowd below noticed that the eight Crimson Flame Sparrows had been released. Amidst the noisy chatter, some people couldn’t wait to bid. It was clear that Su Jiu didn’t need any verbal skills to entice them; the Crimson Flame Sparrows themselves were enough to attract interest.
The rising and falling bids instantly echoed on the empty street.
“Four point five million!” The last bid was placed by a leader wearing a fire-red school uniform. It was no surprise that the reason for their anger and willingness to spend so much was the attribute compatibility.
“Four point five million once!”
“Four point five million twice!”
“No further bids. Sold. There are seven more junior Crimson Flame Sparrows.”
Listening to the bids from all around, Su Jiu saw that the student had completed the payment via scan and laughed heartily, pushing one of the birds, encased in external qi, towards them. She was already contemplating buying some auxiliary alchemical items, as selling these birds was sure to bring in a massive profit.
Everyone watched the Crimson Flame chicks, enveloped in external qi, with envious eyes, but no one dared to snatch them. It was a joke; if she could easily crush those people from Cherry Blossom Country, they, who were practically nobodies, wouldn’t even last one sword strike.
Following this successful opening, the atmosphere on the entire street gradually heated up. Seizing this momentum, Su Jiu sold five Crimson Flame Sparrows at a high price of nearly four million each. Later on, only Mo University, led by Hu Ling, and some foreign forces remained in the competition.
Su Jiu glanced at Hu Ling, who was still contemplating whether to spend money, and then looked at Xiangzi and the others in the corner, eager to try. She smiled like a fox and once again called out to those below, “The last two junior stage warrior Crimson Flame Sparrows… they’re gone after this.”
“Three million!”
Hu Ling, who had been hesitant, became anxious upon hearing this and quickly called out.
Her family had a fire-attribute bloodline, and if she could buy these Crimson Flame Sparrows for her younger siblings, it would be excellent.
“I’ll bid six million!” But then a voice with a broken Chinese accent rang out. All eyes were drawn to the source of the voice. This was a direct buyout!
Soon, Xiangzi, looking recovered, came into view. Her face was covered with a black veil that perfectly concealed her scar. She had returned to her proud appearance as a shrine maiden, but when she met Su Jiu’s gaze, her body trembled slightly, as if fearing another “engraving package.”
After a second of eye contact, she turned to the middle-aged man with a moustache beside her and asked in a low voice, “She won’t refuse to sell to us, will she? After all, we just offended her.”
“If she’s still a businesswoman, she’ll definitely sell to us. After all, she did say six million was the cap. If she refuses to sell to us, it would be a form of breaking her word,” the middle-aged man with a moustache replied after a slight frown and a moment of thought.
Contrary to Xiangzi’s expectations, Su Jiu did not refuse. Instead, as the middle-aged man had predicted, after her subordinate went to pay, Su Jiu showed a very happy smile and directly handed over the Crimson Flame chick.
After confirming the authenticity of the Crimson Flame Sparrow, Xiangzi breathed a sigh of relief and placed it in a new alchemy ball. Her gaze fell on the other one in Su Jiu’s hand, and a slight smile touched her lips. This one would be hers too.
“It seems you guys don’t have enough money. I’ll have to take the last Crimson Flame Sparrow then.”
She then turned to Hu Ling and the others, walking over with a smug expression. She remembered that these people from Dragon Country were the first to try and deal with her.
“You…”
Hu Ling’s face flushed with anger. She took two steps forward, about to charge out. She had always been the type to lash out at anyone she disliked and wouldn’t admit defeat.
“Classmate Hu, don’t be in a hurry with this person…”
But she was quickly stopped by Lin Yun, the glasses-wearing youth behind her. He looked at the Crimson Flame Sparrow in front of Su Jiu through his glasses, seemingly pondering something.
“I’ll also bid six million for the remaining one!”
Just as Lin Yun stopped Hu Ling, a broken Dragon Country phrase was heard again beside them. Xiangzi, with her arms crossed, raised her eyebrows at the three of them in a provocative manner.
“Six million is the direct cap. Sold! This last junior stage warrior Crimson Flame Sparrow belongs to this lady from Cherry Blossom Country.”
From her vantage point above, Su Jiu could see everything happening below. Without waiting for the auction to begin, she readily agreed with a smile.
Inside, she felt incredibly pleased. Selling the lowest grade Crimson Flame Sparrow to this woman from Cherry Blossom Country at almost 2.5 times the price felt as satisfying as drinking an ice-cold soda on a scorching summer day.
However, not everyone shared this sentiment. Hu Ling, upon hearing that Su Jiu had sold the Crimson Flame Sparrow directly to Xiangzi, bypassing the auction, was furious. She glared at Lin Yun and then turned to Su Jiu, questioning her, “Esteemed merchant, are you selling pets directly without an auction? Six million is not an amount my Hu family cannot afford!”
Being questioned by Hu Ling, Su Jiu was taken aback. Did she also want to be an ultimate sucker? She cast a strange glance at Hu Ling and said softly, “That lady from Cherry Blossom Country made the purchase first. This junior stage warrior Crimson Flame Sparrow rightfully belongs to her.”
“You… you’re such a gold digger!”
Upon receiving Su Jiu’s reply and seeing the smug expression on Xiangzi’s face, Hu Ling became even more enraged. She turned to Lin Yun, who was still pondering, and cursed in a low voice, “It’s all your fault! Now that little sakura got the only Crimson Flame Sparrow. This is a monster with the bloodline of a War God. Where will we find another one after this?”
“Classmate Hu, I know you’re anxious, but please don’t be…”
Lin Yun adjusted his glasses and looked at Su Jiu, who still showed no signs of backing down. He then explained his thoughts to Hu Ling, who was looking angry. His gaze was somewhat humble as he tried to explain his reasoning using his knowledge, “Didn’t you notice that all these Crimson Flame Sparrows are of the junior stage warrior level? It’s unlikely that an entire species, even if captured, would only consist of junior stage warriors. Didn’t you notice that when this mysterious merchant spoke of the Crimson Flame Sparrows, she didn’t just say ‘Crimson Flame Sparrows,’ but rather…”
After a brief pause, he suddenly looked up at Su Jiu, who was wearing a Dragon Girl mask, and said word by word, “Junior stage warrior Crimson Flame Sparrows!”
Although Hu Ling often acted impulsively, she wasn’t stupid. Her eyes widened slightly, and she looked at Xiangzi across the street, who was still gloating, and said sternly, “You mean that mysterious merchant has other variants of Crimson Flame Sparrows? These warrior stage Crimson Flame Sparrows are just an appetizer? But…”
“There’s no ‘but.’ The fact that people from Imperial Capital University didn’t make a purchase is the biggest signal. Although their talented individual isn’t here, it’s still a university with many capable people,” the glasses-wearing youth, Lin Yun, said confidently, adjusting his glasses and glancing at Imperial Capital University and other well-known universities that hadn’t made any moves yet.
Upon hearing the glasses-wearing youth’s words, Hu Ling looked at Xiangzi across the way again and noticed her smugly form a “clown” shape with her mouth. She couldn’t help but clench her fists, making cracking sounds.
Looking down from above, Su Jiu glanced at the dispersing crowd without rushing. Her gaze swept over the few forces in the center that hadn’t participated in the auction and weren’t leaving, clearly having guessed that she must have better Crimson Flame birds in stock. She chuckled inwardly—
What a pity. She didn’t just have Crimson Flame birds; she had an abundance of Coldstream Crows and various other ice-attribute monsters. Moreover, she had allocated the most expensive War General stage ones to the auction for sale.
The people below were destined to be leeks, and eager leeks at that. As for the biggest leek, of course, it was…
Su Jiu looked at Xiangzi in the distance with a slight smile, her lips curling upwards, causing Bai Zhi beside her to roll her eyes. She knew her mischievous companion had thought of something fun again.
Being noticed, and with her strength as a Peerless Battle General, Xiangzi immediately detected Su Jiu looking at her with a smile.
“Did you see that? That’s the merchant from Dragon Country. Give them a small taste, and even a Battle King will show an honest smile,” chuckled the middle-aged man with a moustache beside Xiangzi, his gaze lingering on Su Jiu. In his words, it seemed as if he could already feel the goodwill emanating from her.
“Second Uncle is absolutely right…”
Although she still disliked Su Jiu inwardly, she quickly assumed that Su Jiu was showing such an expression because she valued her status as a “big client.”
Xiangzi swallowed and forced a smile, waving at Su Jiu to express her gratitude. However, Su Jiu’s next words caused her hand to freeze in mid-air.
“The auction for the junior stage warrior Crimson Flame Sparrows has ended. Next up for auction are the intermediate stage warrior Crimson Flame Sparrows, nineteen in total. Their bloodlines are slightly higher. Everyone, continue bidding!”
“Starting bid is three million, capped at six million!”
Su Jiu’s faint female voice echoed on the street, causing the powers that had bought junior stage Crimson Flame Sparrows to stare blankly. And who was the most devastated—
“Heh heh… Con artist!”
Xiangzi looked at the Crimson Flame Sparrow chick she had just bought for six million, clenched her fists, and spat out the words through gritted teeth. She then looked up at the people from Magic City, only to find them all looking at her with strange smiles.
So, the clown was actually herself!
