83: Worm Crystal

Inside Li Ke's private room,

the Mist-filled wall suddenly surged with a wave of Mist.

The antique snuff bottle silently appeared, hovering in mid-air.

Almost at the same moment, deep within his Dantian,

the Three Aunts Six Grannies Nine Ghosts let out a faint whine,

cowering and hiding deeper, as if the small snuff bottle was some ultimate evil.

Li Ke reached out and drew the snuff bottle into his palm.

The bottle felt cool to the touch, no larger than a palm,

made of an unknown dark gold stone, with a delicate yet strangely rough texture.

The grotesque, eerie two-headed figure depicted on the bottle was exquisitely drawn; despite being a static image, it gave the illusion of an oppressive aura emanating from it.

Li Ke held it in his hand, caressing it for a while.

His Soul consciousness once again meticulously probed it,

from the body to the mouth, and then inside the bottle, still finding no abnormalities.

It was as if it truly was just an ancient, exquisitely crafted ordinary antique.

He had no choice but to put it into his Storage Pouch for now,

planning to study it more carefully after the auction ended.

Outside, the auction's atmosphere, due to this inauspicious item, had slightly dimmed.

Lalmo, however, was not in a hurry.

He elegantly clapped his hands,

and on the high platform, the lights converged again as another square display stand, covered in red silk, slowly rose.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this item is one of the highlights of this auction."

Lalmo's voice instantly drew everyone's attention back.

He slowly pulled up the red silk,

which slid down Li Ke flowing water, transforming into a wisp of Mist and dissipating in mid-air.

A strange, arm-length short blade appeared before everyone.

The short blade was a dull bloody color, uniquely shaped, unlike ordinary swords; it resembled some kind of ritualistic implement, with many vivid red patterns carved into its blade, emitting a chilling coldness that made one's heart palpitate.

"This Clairvoyance weapon comes from the Northern Kingdom, one of the three great Divine Courts, the Blade of Judgment from the Court of Suffering!"

Lalmo's voice suddenly rose, carrying a strong sense of allure.

"It contains a trace of the Court of Suffering's Divine Judgment power!"

"For Clairvoyance below the Gold Tier, it has a one-hit kill effect."

"Even Gold Tier powerhouses, once struck by it, will be severely wounded!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire auction house immediately erupted into an uproar.

Below the Gold Realm, a one-hit kill!

What terrifying power this was!

One must know that in Oak Tree Territory, the highest combat power of most Bloodline nobles was merely the Bronze Tier.

Silver Tier was already as rare as Phoenix feathers and unicorn horns, enough to serve as the core military strength of a powerful magnate.

As for Gold Tier powerhouses, those were the Family foundations that only true Bloodline Families with a thousand-year Legacy, such as the Oak Earl, Klaus, and Grey Rock, could possess.

Which of these powerhouses wasn't full of vitality and possessed numerous means?

Yet, such a small weapon could pose a fatal threat to them.

Of course, the premise was that you had to be able to use this weapon to truly stab into the opponent's body to activate that trace of Divine Judgment power.

And high-tier powerhouses wouldn't stand there and let you stab them.

But even so, the strategic value of this weapon was already immeasurable.

The auction's atmosphere instantly became heated again, with bids coming in one after another.

Li Ke was also somewhat interested in the so-called Divine Judgment power,

but on the floor, private room 303, suspected to belong to the Claus Family, had already started bidding frantically,

and several other private rooms were also following closely.

And in the information provided by Morgana,

the Claus Family's budget for this Blade of Divine Judgment was up to 1,800 gold crowns.

This was almost equivalent to Li Ke's entire fortune.

So Li Ke decisively gave up bidding.

Ultimately, this [Blade of Judgment], after a fierce competition,

was successfully acquired by private room 303 for the sky-high price of 1,750 gold crowns.

Li Ke's eyes flickered slightly.

He vaguely noticed a somewhat peculiar phenomenon.

At this auction, it seemed that several unknown forces were well aware of the Claus Family's budget limit.

During the bidding process, someone always subtly inflated the price to the maximum limit the Claus Family could bear before it was barely secured.

"Damn it, why are there so many idiotic fools who don't know their place!"

Inside private room 303, Kapa Claus's face was ashen.

This time, the Family had several important targets, and ample funds were prepared.

But he never expected that the previous few important auction items,

almost every single one, had been pushed to the highest budget limit before they were barely secured.

This gave him a bad premonition about the upcoming grand finale item, the most important [bloodline fruit].

"Should I give up on the next item?"

Kapa hesitated slightly in his heart.

"No!"

He immediately rejected this thought.

"The [Abyssal Worm Crystal Core] is very important for my Bloodline advancement, and I must acquire it!"

On the high platform, lights flowed,

and Lalmo had already begun to introduce the next item.

"This next treasure originates from the Abyssal Plane and is an extremely special Soul resource."

"It is a Soul crystal formed from massive numbers of dead Abyssal Worms under special conditions."

"It can rapidly enhance the user's Soul Power!"

"For Arcanists and certain special Bloodlines, it holds extremely high value!"

"Starting price, 500 gold crowns! Each bid increase must not be less than 50 gold crowns!"

This kind of rare resource, capable of directly enhancing Divine Soul power,

held great value for many Clairvoyance.

For a time, bidding voices came from many private rooms.

Li Ke participated, trying a few bids.

Just as the price gradually climbed,

a clear voice suddenly came from private room 303.

"This item is quite valuable to my Claus Family."

"Would everyone please give the Claus Family some face and yield it?"

"The Claus Family will surely repay you afterwards."

"I imagine you all wouldn't want to be enemies with my Claus Family, would you?"

The words carried a naked threat,

instantly quieting the atmosphere in the room.

The Claus Family,

as a true Bloodline Family with a thousand-year Legacy in Oak Tree Territory,

there were very few forces on this land that dared to openly provoke them.

If not for a few other thousand-year Families mutually restraining them, and the Oak Tree County Earl Family unwilling to see them expand further,

perhaps those surrounding small and medium-sized nobles would have been completely devoured by them long ago.

After weighing the pros and cons,

some voices that had been actively bidding fell silent.

"Hmph, the Claus Family is putting on quite a show of power."

From another private room, a blunt sneer suddenly rang out.

"My Grey Rock Family is also very interested in this crystal core!"

The Grey Rock Family was also a thousand-year true Bloodline Family, with a foundation and strength in no way inferior to the Claus Family.

Moreover, almost all upper-class figures in Oak Tree Territory knew that.

The Grey Rock Family and the Claus Family had deep-seated grievances and had always been at odds.

The scene momentarily became tense.

On the high platform, the host Lalmo still wore his professional smile.

He elegantly bowed slightly to his surroundings, his voice gentle and clear as he said:

"Everyone need not worry."

"The Mist assures everyone that all transactions in the auction will be absolutely anonymous."

"After the auction, we will also carefully arrange secret channels for our esteemed guests to depart separately, as well as random teleportation departure locations."

He paused slightly, his voice taking on a characteristic lyrical tone.

"In the Mist, all things can flow, and all competition is fair!"

His last sentence seemed a bit affected,

but it skillfully defused the Claus Family's threat.