King of Creation
Chapter 558: Chapter 552 Teasing (Second Update)
"Two million mid-grade spirit crystals, Stars Tower bids two million mid-grade spirit crystals. Is there anyone else willing to bid higher, or does no one dare to compete with Stars Tower Master Yan anymore?"
The auction hall once again fell into silence, despite the auctioneer Youx Fang’s silver-tongued enticements and various goading tactics, no further bids were placed.
Ye Zhen, just as he had abruptly emerged to place a bid before, had disappeared just as suddenly.
"Two million mid-grade spirit crystals for the first time!"
"Two million mid-grade spirit crystals for the second time!"
"Two million mid-grade spirit crystals for the third time!"
Dong!
With the sound of the auction hammer, it signified that the first set of Purple Spirit Jade had fallen into the hands of Stars Tower in the Number Three VIP room, even though auctioneer Youx Fang still had an expression of reluctant satisfaction.
This price should have continued to soar. Why did Ye Zhen suddenly give in?
Although this was already an exorbitant price.
This doubt was not only in the mind of auctioneer Youx Fang, but also lingered amongst many of the martial artists present, including Yao Sen, Duan Yingnian, and Divine General Pan.
Even Tian Guizhang and Fengh Qingyue in another VIP room were somewhat puzzled as they watched Ye Zhen suddenly stop bidding.
"Ye Zhen, actually, if you had persisted once or twice more, maybe you could have gotten this set of Purple Spirit Jade," Tian Guizhang said.
"Hard to say, this first time Tower Master Yan Cong would definitely have fought me to the end. But I have already discovered the winning strategy when outbidding Yan Cong!" Ye Zhen said.
"Oh? How so?"
As soon as these words came out, both Tian Guizhang and Fengh Qingyue were intrigued.
"Vice Sect Master Tian, Hall Master Fengh, tell me, isn’t the primary goal of Stars Tower in acquiring these treasures to make a profit?" Ye Zhen asked.
"Of course, nearly all actions of Stars Tower are premised on making a profit."
Upon receiving a positive response, Ye Zhen gave a sly smile, "So, have either of you looked at the prices Stars Tower lists on the Star Plate?"
Tian Guizhang suddenly looked astonished upon hearing this, while Fengh Qingyue’s eyes lit up, "No, not yet." Both of them gestured for Ye Zhen to continue.
"I hold the identity of a Meteor from the Stars Tower in the Black Dragon Domain and possess the lowest grade Green Jade Star Plate. Martial artists who have the Green Jade Star Plate receive the smallest discount when buying items in Stars Tower.
Well, from what I’ve seen on the Star Plate, the price for one piece of Purple Spirit Jade is one hundred thousand stars. One low-grade spirit crystal can be exchanged for one star. And it takes one hundred low-grade spirit crystals to exchange for one mid-grade spirit crystal.
In other words, the highest external sale price for Purple Spirit Jade from Stars Tower is one thousand mid-grade spirit crystals per piece. With a set of two thousand Purple Spirit Jade, even if Stars Tower sold the entire set at the highest price, the total income wouldn’t exceed two million mid-grade spirit crystals.
Furthermore, there are more martial artists in Stars Tower who hold higher-grade Star Plates and they get even greater discounts! Yan Cong purchasing this set of Purple Spirit Jade will definitely not be able to sell it for two million mid-grade spirit crystals. I estimate that at most, he’ll sell it for one million eight hundred thousand mid-grade spirit crystals.
Tell me, will he continue to make such a loss-making deal? Or rather, would Stars Tower allow him to conduct such a loss-making business?" Ye Zhen said.
"Exactly, that’s the point!"
Tian Guizhang slapped his thigh fiercely, "As the Stars Tower Master of the True Spirit Domain, Tower Master Yan might have the privilege of taking a loss on one or two treasures, but if he loses too much, I’m afraid the Main Building of the Stars Tower will definitely not stand for it!"
"And Ye Zhen, you have forgotten one more thing!"
"What is that?"
"The exchange rate of spirit crystals!"
"The stars in Stars Tower are exchanged with low-grade spirit crystals! And basically, it takes about one hundred and twenty low-grade spirit crystals to exchange for one mid-grade spirit crystal. Stars Tower might have a slightly lower cost when exchanging for mid-grade spirit crystals, but not by much!
By this calculation, Tower Master Yan Cong’s cost for this set of Purple Spirit Jade reaches two hundred and forty million low-grade spirit crystals, while he can sell at most for two hundred million stars.
Basically, the moment he bid two million mid-grade spirit crystals for this set of Purple Spirit Jade, he was already at a loss of forty million low-grade spirit crystals! Considering the discounts inside the Tower, his loss is even greater," Tian Guizhang said.
"Exactly! I don’t believe Yan Cong can take a loss once, let alone three or four consecutive times!" Ye Zhen laughed.
"Now Yan Cong must truly despise you to his core!" Fengh Qingyue said.
"Heh, the more debts, the less worry," Ye Zhen laughed.
"Ah, why didn’t I think of this earlier? If I had realized this point, maybe I could have battled with Yan Cong on the auction floor!" Tian Guizhang regretted, slapping his thigh repeatedly!
While Ye Zhen and others analyzed Yan Cong’s situation with glee, inside the Number Three VIP room, Yan Cong, who had just received his bidding voucher, had an expression so foul it could not get any worse.
That expression, if scrutinized closely, was more unbearable than having swallowed a fly.
As the Stars Tower Master of the True Spirit Domain, who dealt with business and numbers all day long, the moment Ye Zhen’s voice failed to rise again, and auctioneer Youx Fang finalized the sale of the first set of Purple Spirit Jade with his hammer, Yan Cong realized that something was terribly wrong.
In Stars Tower, the average selling price of a piece of Purple Spirit Jade is around eighty-five thousand stars, which is the same as eighty-five thousand low-grade spirit crystals. But now, the purchase price he offered for the Purple Spirit Jade, according to the exchange rate between low-grade and mid-grade spirit crystals, was a staggering one hundred and twenty thousand low-grade spirit crystals per piece.
In other words, from the moment he acquired this set of Purple Spirit Jade, he had already caused the Tower to incur a loss of seventy million low-grade spirit crystals.
The loss of nearly seven hundred thousand mid-grade spirit crystals was by no means a small number.
"Bastards!" Tower Master Yan growled softly as the attendant had just replaced the side table with a brand-new one, which once again turned to rubble under Tower Master Yan’s palm.
"Tower Master, the best course of action now is to try to press down the transaction price for the subsequent sets of Purple Spirit Jade to pull down the price of the first set of Purple Spirit Jade, thereby reducing our losses!"
Once Tower Master Yan’s rage had somewhat subsided, Deacon Ding offered the best solution to the current problem.
Tower Master Yan didn’t respond, just snorted coldly, which was his way of acknowledging the suggestion.
In truth, Tower Master Yan wasn’t angry about the loss itself, for a loss of seven hundred thousand mid-grade spirit crystals was something he could afford. What infuriated him was that he, a veteran of the auction circuit for so long, had been so publicly outplayed by Ye Zhen today.
Especially since Ye Zhen was an enemy he was determined to kill!
Not to be angry would be strange!
"Next, we will conduct the auction for the second set of Purple Spirit Jade. As before, there are two thousand pieces per set. The starting bid is two hundred thousand mid-grade spirit crystals, with each increment not less than fifty thousand mid-grade spirit crystals. Let the bidding begin!"
"We from Stars Tower bid eight hundred thousand mid-grade spirit crystals!"
No sooner had the auctioneer Youx Fang finished speaking than Tower Master Yan’s voice rang out with an increase in bid, again flaunting the banner of Stars Tower, making it clear—the goods belonged to Stars Tower, and nobody should compete with them for it!
Following Tower Master Yan’s declaration, the auction hall fell silent.
Nobody wanted to cross Stars Tower at this time, nor did they want Stars Tower, a mad dog on the auction floor, to interfere when bidding for a coveted treasure.
The auctioneer Youx Fang’s expression also froze for a moment. Being used to the tricks of Stars Tower, he understood that Stars Tower was playing games now, but still, Youx Fang’s hopeful gaze turned toward Ye Zhen.
"I bid one million mid-grade spirit crystals," announced Ye Zhen lazily. This time, Ye Zhen had pinpointed Tower Master Yan’s weakness and was in no hurry.
Inside VIP Room number three, Tower Master Yan’s face suddenly darkened.
"One million two hundred thousand mid-grade spirit crystals!"
As Tower Master Yan’s voice with the increased bid resonated, the entire auction hall once again sank into quietude.
"Does anyone else want to bid, one million two hundred thousand mid-grade spirit crystals for the first time."
"Does anyone else want to bid, one million two hundred thousand mid-grade spirit crystals for the second time!"
"I bid one million three hundred thousand mid-grade spirit crystals!"
Just when Tower Master Yan thought that the second set of Purple Spirit Jade was about to fall into his hands, which would significantly lower the average transaction price, Ye Zhen’s languid voice sounded again.
"I bid one million five hundred thousand!" An irritated Tower Master Yan’s voice suddenly rose an octave.
"One million six hundred thousand mid-grade spirit crystals!" Ye Zhen’s voice, upping the bid, followed immediately.
With the bidding reaching such heights, everyone in the auction hall pricked up their ears, knowing that the moment to see who would claim the prize was almost at hand.
"We from Stars Tower bid one hundred...."
In VIP Room number three, just as Tower Master Yan was about to make another bid, Deacon Ding, who managed the finances, suddenly let out a soft call, shaking his head slightly toward Tower Master Yan, signaling for him not to bid any further.
Tower Master Yan’s eyebrows raised and, after pondering for a moment, he raised his bid again.
"We from Stars Tower bid one million eight hundred thousand mid-grade spirit crystals!"
Tower Master Yan was insistent on bidding up for a reason.
Ye Zhen’s primary motive for coming to the Stars Tower was to purchase Purple Spirit Jade. He also had shown a strong interest in Purple Spirit Jade during the auction; most importantly, Tower Master Yan had witnessed Ye Zhen’s spiritual power, which was an extremely rare and special jade-related spiritual power.
Therefore, it was clear why Ye Zhen wanted the Purple Spirit Jade.
For this reason, Tower Master Yan was convinced that Ye Zhen would not easily give up on bidding, and he also couldn’t let Ye Zhen get the Purple Spirit Jade easily. That’s why he didn’t hesitate to raise the bid.
"Haha, then congratulations, Tower Master Yan, the second set of Purple Spirit Jade is yours again!" Ye Zhen’s laughter rang out just in time, causing Tower Master Yan’s face in VIP Room number three to suddenly turn the color of liver.
He was toyed with again!
He had been played by Ye Zhen, who had won the Purple Spirit Jade at a high price.
If you count it, even though he had acquired this set of Purple Spirit Jade for one million eight hundred thousand mid-grade spirit crystals, which is two hundred thousand less than the first set, the price he paid was still a loss, and quite a significant one at that—up to five hundred thousand mid-grade spirit crystals.
If you work it out, with the two sets of Purple Spirit Jade, he had already lost nearly one million two hundred thousand mid-grade spirit crystals. Under normal circumstances, one million two hundred thousand mid-grade spirit crystals would have been more than enough for him to purchase a set of Purple Spirit Jade and still have some left over.
"Tower Master, we’ve already lost profits of nearly a month and a half, and these pieces of Purple Spirit Jade can’t generate any profit. When you calculate it, the losses are even greater. If this continues, I’m afraid it will affect our True Spirit Domain Stars Tower’s performance this year....."
Even though he knew that Tower Master Yan was feeling annoyed at the moment, Deacon Ding, who managed the finances, still reminded him once. If it impacted this year’s performance ranking of the True Spirit Domain Stars Tower in the Main Building, the loss would be substantial.
"I know...."

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