"Well, judging from the fluctuations in the market value and the stats of this Divine Armament, I think…"

Beardy hesitated for a second before continuing, "I think your reserve price should be 500k gold. We’ll advertise it for free, but we’ll be claiming a 5% auction fee as per usual. You will be losing a lot of gold. Is that alright?"

I nodded. "It’s fine. We’ll do as you say."

"Very well, honored customer. We will put it up for auction right away. Thank you for your patronage, and please remember that you are the pride of Sky City Auction House…" Beardy’s tone was completely different from what it was before. Truly, snobbish bastards were everywhere these days.

……

The Dragonbone Whip appeared on the shelf with a click, and a few seconds later a system announcement resounded across Sky City—

Ding~!

System Announcement: Attention all players, please be informed that player XXXX has put up "Dragonbone Whip" (Lower Divine Armament, Outstanding★★★★★★★) for auction with a reserve price of 500000 gold. The item will enter the bidding phase in 120 minutes. The item will go to the highest bidder! Don’t miss it!

The place became bustling with activity in no time, and countless people were pointing their fingers at me and saying—

"You see him? That’s the guy who put up the Lower Divine Armament whip for sale. Tsk tsk, its stats alone make it a Divine Armament that’ll last you to the end of the game! As a tamer, you’ll have to be utterly incompetent to not rise to the top after obtaining it!"

"I know right? Who the hell is this guy, and what boss did he kill to obtain a Lower Divine Armament? Whatever the case, he must be OP as hell!"

"He’s even carrying a gorgeous woman in his arms. Look at that chest, that face, that ass; she would be perfect if she wasn't missing her legs…"

"Seriously though, who is this guy? His equipment and his sword look real familiar. He’s also wearing the Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls guild emblem on his shoulder…"

……

I grimaced. They would definitely learn of my identity if I dilly-dallied any longer, so I pulled out a return scroll and teleported away. After that, I left the city and continued to search for dying players in high-level maps. It wasn’t difficult. After the Nation War ended, all the maps in Sky City had been updated with super high-level mobs. It was extremely common for players to die en masse.

Beep!

I received a message from Lin Yixin. "Dear!"

"Yes, Yiyi?" I smiled.

She messaged. "That Dragonbone Whip is yours, right? We have a Level 217 tamer in Snowy Cathaya that can use it…"

I snorted. "Oh, you mean that guy who tried to pin down Gui Guzi with three pets, only to take a spear to the throat during a champion arena battle? I’m sure he won’t waste your precious money."

"Pooh! Screw you!" I could practically hear Lin Yixin’s pout. "I’m going to the auction house and see if I can buy it! If it’s not too pricey, then I’ll take it for myself!"

"Sure. Feel free to raise the price even if you don’t want to get it, okay? I do love to make money."

"Er, sure. I’ll raise one mao for you!"

"A raise is a raise!"

It wasn’t long before Luo River God of the Capital and Stranger of Three Lifetimes contacted me as well. They clearly desired the whip because it would transform any tamer into a top-tier expert. And when I say top-tier, I’m referring to those players who were Top 10 in their respective class.

What really surprised me was the message from the guild leader of Twelve Musicians, Hugging Bears in Silence. "Are you the one who’s selling that Dragonbone Whip, Lu Chen?"

Me: "Yeah. How did you know?"

"I guessed!"

She giggled. "I knew it. There are only a handful of players who are capable of obtaining high-level equipment, and you are the only one who took out a high-level boss in a high-level map as of late. I knew that there was a high chance that you would be the owner of the Dragonbone Whip, and I was right!"

"Yes you are. So, why are you asking, Beauty Hugging Bears?"

"Nothing! I just wanted to confirm. Heehee!"

"I see. Well, talk to you later."

"Okay!"

……

Two hours later, I returned to the auction house with Xinran. It was probably because of the Lower Divine Armament, but there were ten times more players in the auction house than usual. When I made it to the entrance, the two guards immediately said to me, "Welcome back, most honored guest! We’ve prepared a VIP room for you! Feel free to enter whenever you like!"

The option to enter the VIP room appeared in front of me. Upon confirmation, I felt myself being pulled into a wooden room by magic. It was a VIP room alright. The setting was extremely traditional, and the table looked moments away from rotting away completely. That being said, I could overlook the entire venue from here, and the windows were adorned with fragrant-smelling peach blossoms.

Still carrying Xinran in my arms, I sat next to the window and looked outside. The players inside the venue could see us too, and there was every chance they might think that I was a despicable hooligan.

Very soon, the beautiful host walked up the stage and announced, "Now then, the first highlight of the day is upon us, everyone! It has been nearly a year since Heavenblessed opened, and we finally have our very first Divine Armament in this auction house! It is the Lower Divine Armament, the Dragonbone Whip! It has an upper Attack limit of 14k, and it boosts all four basic attributes. It increases Attack by 200%, all pet stats by 70%, and has special effects such as Draconic Possession and Soul Devouring. It is without a doubt the weapon to strive for if you are a tamer using physical attacks! The reserve price is 500k gold, and the bidding will begin in 10 seconds! Please check your bank balance and make sure that you have the money to bid for it!

……

The entire auction house went silent when she finished her sentence. 500k RMB wasn’t a small amount, and it was outright unaffordable to customers below a certain class. Moreover, just because you were rich didn’t mean you should bid for the item. A bidder’s ID, level and other general data were put on display when they made a bid. If the bidder didn’t have the strength to protect themselves after acquiring the item, they would absolutely be fucked over by a greedy and murderous guild like Blood Alliance.

"It’s so quiet, big brother…"

Xinran tried her best to sit upright in my lap while clinging to the window sill. She smiled as she watched the scenery below us. "I’ve visited Sky City here and there, but I’ve never seen this many people in one place. Are they all for the Dragonbone Whip?"

I nodded. "Yeah. To us people from the real world, it is no exaggeration to say that the Dragonbone Whip is a divine weapon of our dreams. That is why all these people are gathered here."

"I see. It’s really quiet though. Are they afraid to bid for it?"

"Don’t worry. They will!"

I hadn’t even finished my sentence when a loud, clear voice boomed from a corner of the room. He was Dominating Heaven Blade of Gods of Destruction, and he was raising his hand and declaring in a low tone, "600k!"

The host immediately answered in a sweet voice, "Very well, player ‘Dominating Heaven Blade’ is offering 600k for the Dragonbone Whip! Is there anyone else who wants it? If no one responds with a higher bid in 7 seconds, the Dragonbone Whip will go to player ‘Dominating Heaven Blade’!"

A deathly silence enveloped the venue again. Dominating Heaven Blade was frowning like the heavens had arrived to smite him for something. As far as I was aware, Gods of Destruction didn’t have any noteworthy tamer among their ranks. Therefore, he could only be buying the Dragonbone Whip for one thing: to purchase the loyalty and service of a god-tier tamer!

"700k!"

A melodious voice came from a different corner of the venue. It was none other than the archer I antagonized a couple of hours ago, Coldmoon Rose. She was sitting next to Roaming Dragon, and obviously she was calling on behalf of her lover.

"800k!"

Another voice rang, and this time it came from an unusually handsome player, the guild leader of Flower Room, Li Le. After the declaration, Li Le grinned cheekily at a fuming Dominating Heaven Blade and even waved his fists at him. The message behind his unsaid words was as clear as day: You’re stronger than me, but I’m definitely wealthier than you!

……

The atmosphere stilled for a couple more seconds before a new challenger entered the fray. She was a high-level female player wearing leather armor and a cape. Her body shape was extremely impressive—huge breasts, round butt, thin waists and long legs—and she held a pitch black whip in one hand. She raised her hand and said in a very soft voice, "1 million gold!"

The female host looked surprised, but she quickly recovered. "Wow, player ‘Chance Meeting’ is offering 1 million for the Dragonbone Whip! Is there anyone else who would like to bid for it?"

I glanced at the newcomer and was surprised by what I saw. Twelve Musicians’ Hugging Bears in Silence was sitting right next to Chance Meeting, and the latter’s face looked very familiar… Wait a second. Chance Meeting was one other than Zhou Ping! I had no idea she was a high-level expert in the game!

I scanned the Heavenly Ranking, but filtered by the class and quickly proved my suspicions correct. Sitting at the No.1 spot of the Tamer class was Chance Meeting herself, and it stated here that she had three Immortal Rank pets in total! This was a player whose pets alone could wow the entire world!

Even more surprising was the extent of her involvement. Her guild emblem marked her as the vice leader of Twelve Musicians!

Lin Yixin, Nangong Lexi, Clear Perfume and a couple more girls were standing not far away from Twelve Musicians. However, Beauty Lin clearly had no intentions of involving himself in the competition. The bid price had already surpassed her expectations, and unlike the trust fund babies, her money was the product of her blood, sweat and tears. It made no sense for her to waste her money like this.

……

Li Le felt humiliated, so he raised his hands and called out, "1.2 million!"

Warsky immediately answered with a raise of his own hand. "2 million!"

Not only that, he looked at Zhou Ping and smiled at her. "We don’t have to be enemies, right Miss Zhou Ping? I can gift this to you later if you want!"

However, Zhou Ping retorted coldly, "You think I want your gift? 3 million!"

It was shocking. The Dragonbone Whip was a Lower Divine Armament, sure, but 3 million was still a ridiculous amount of money for a single piece of equipment. To give an example, 3 million RMB was enough to establish a reasonably-sized briefcase company. Why would anyone spend 3 million on a virtual item?

Warsky clearly knew Zhou Ping since he called out her name. In fact, it looked like he was trying to woo her. However, Zhou Ping had responded to his advance with a hard slap to the face, so he stopped trying and fell completely silent.

Meanwhile, a certain Roaming Dragon who couldn’t read the room at all called, "4 million!"

An ugly expression seeped into Zhou Ping’s features, and the girl abruptly rose to her feet and declared, "8 MILLION!"

……

The deathly silence that followed was nothing like anything the venue had experienced until now. Not even Roaming Dragon could answer this bid.

Thud!

Finally, the beautiful host hit the table with a hammer and declared, "Congratulations to player ‘Chance Meeting’ for obtaining the Dragonbone Whip at 8 million gold! Congratulations!"