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By the time the count reached above ten, Duncan began to get a little uneasy. He had thought things to be simple. But, the situation at the auction house proved it was anything but so.

The normal conversion rate for currency in the Dragon Scale Continent was pretty straightforward. 100 Gold equates to 1 low-grade spirit stone. 100 low-grade spirit stones equate to 1 middle-grade spirit stone. 100 middle-grade spirit stones can net 1 high-grade spirit stone.

In theory, the conversion rate was pretty straightforward. However, in practice, no cultivator would be willing to exchange 1 middle-grade spirit stone for 100 low-grade spirit stones. The quantity of the spirit qi in both spirit stones might be equal, but the quality was something else.

In general, no cultivator would exchange low-grade spirit stones for middle-grade spirit stones. The spirit qi in middle-grade spirit stones were higher in grade and were very pure. This was the case with middle-grade spirit stones, so there was no need to talk about high-grade spirit stones. 

Only during emergencies do such transactions happen. Furthermore, cultivators have no need for gold. That made the exchange for gold a moot point as well. The de facto currency that was used for trade by cultivators was the low-grade spirit stones.

When Duncan saw the base price of 10 spirit stones for slaves, he had been complacent. With the recent windfall he had, he wasn't worried about it much. However, things were different once the auction started progressing.

10 spirit stones were the base price. With every call, the minimum requirement was to increase the bid by at least one spirit stone. The amount may be huge to mortals. But, to cultivators who were here to buy slaves on behalf of their factions, this amount was basically nothing. 

This led to bidders bidding extravagantly for each spirit stone. Until now, the lowest price that a slave was sold for was 25 spirit stones. And it was a middle-aged man who was looking very weak.

Young women and strong men were being sold for more than 40 spirit stones each. Especially beautiful-looking females were being sold at the price of 100 spirit stones. To Duncan, who had always spent his spirit stones cautiously, this kind of extravagance really opened his eyes.

For the first time, he realized the enormity of spirit stones accumulated by clans after multiple generations. For a moment, he was worried whether his recent windfall would be enough to tide things over.

Duncan immediately sent his spiritual sense into his storage ring and did a rough count of the spirit stones in his possession. Only after learning that he had more than 4,000 low-grade spirit stones in his storage ring did he breathe a sigh of relief. 

Considering that there was something fishy regarding Leia's current circumstances, Duncan was really worried that he would run into someone who was determined to get her. If such a thing arose, then he can only outbid that person. 

Seeing how these prodigals were spending spirit stones like water, Duncan didn't want to enter a bidding war with anyone. Moreover, Duncan was also beginning to realize that the amount set as the base price for Leia might have some hidden reasons that he wasn't aware of yet.

So far, the auction house was selling slaves in the order of the base price set for them by the auction house. If things remain normal, Leia will undoubtedly become the finale auction sale for tonight. If there was nothing special regarding Leia's situation, such a thing would never occur. 

Duncan could already list out a few slaves who looked to have more potential than Leia among those who were sold today. With even them being placed below Leia, there must be some important reason behind the placing that he wasn't privy to.

So, Duncan didn't want to end up coming up short. 

Now that he knew he had more than 4,000 spirit stones, Duncan was confident in bidding for Leia. No representative from any clan would be foolish enough to offer such an extravagant price for a mortal.

Breathing out a heavy sigh, Duncan once more turned his attention towards the stage. This experience was a real eye-opener for Duncan. He couldn't fathom the rates the slaves who had cultivation would go far in the subsequent auction that would take place next week. No matter what, it was Leia's luck to be placed on sale tonight. If not, there was no way he could afford to buy her.

As the auction progressed, even the bids rose. Some females who looked cute and very beautiful even fetched a price of over 200 spirit stones. Seeing these women, Duncan felt his lower regions stirring as well. 

Duncan even had the crazy idea of spending some spirit stones to take one of these women home. It had been almost a year since he had fucked anyone. Ever since he left the Starmist City for the first time in a hurry, he had never had the opportunity to indulge in his urges.

Seeing women whom his past self could consider to be peerless beauties auctioned off one after another, almost made it impossible for him to hold on. The measly amount of 200+ spirit stones didn't seem much to him as the auction progressed further.

Still, he restrained himself and merely appreciated the various beauties that were being auctioned off.

*****

As Duncan struggled with himself in the auction house, a slightly bug-eyed man was looking at the complementary jade slip provided by the auction house seriously in one of the private rooms.

"Are you sure that this is the person that was wanted by the Young Master?" the bug-eyed man asked the accompanying lady.

The lady rolled her eyes in response. It wasn't as if she was going to make such a stupid mistake. She knew whom her Young Master desired. His Young Master had taken meticulous efforts to hide his intentions toward the said female from other people in their clan.

How can she mess up such an important thing?

"Why? Are you doubting my abilities?" the lady asked a little coldly.

"No," the bug-eyed man replied shortly without even looking up from the jade slip. "The information provided here doesn't make her stand out at all. I wonder what about her caught our Young Master's eyes."

"I too don't know. But, the Young Master was insistent on getting her. And it doesn't look like he wants to use her as his cultivation cauldron. Young Master had meticulously arranged things so that the female would be rolling in despair when he extended the helping hand. It looks like the Young Master wants the girl to be completely dependent on him," the lady said sounding a little serious.

"Hmmm, but whatever it is, the auction house has also got a whiff of it. If not, they wouldn't arrange for her to be at the finale. From the information provided alone, there are more than three candidates who are more suitable to be the finale candidate than her," the bug-eyed man said scratching his chin.

"Eh, I didn't notice that," the lady became dignified. "Looks like we can't take this easily. While it is not important to buy her currently, it is better to not cause any trouble. The Young Master will emerge from seclusion in two weeks. Before that, we must accomplish this task."

"How about letting her be bought by someone else and then saving her afterward?" the bug-eyed cultivator asked narrowing his eyes.

"Did you forget where we are? This is the Dark Star City. If it is any other city, I won't mind doing that. Once our Young Master emerges from seclusion, it would be easy to use his name to get things done. But, it is hard to exert influence in this city," the lady said furrowing her brows a little.

"Hmph, I too don't want to do that. But, the amount of spirit stones in our possession is very little. Our main target this time is the auction that will be held in the Blue Wind Society Hall. This is just an errand we are running for the Young Master."

"I know," the lady furrowed her brows slightly. "Since the Young Master doesn't want the clan to know of his activities, I think we should keep a low profile. If not for that, how can we be worried about running out of spirit stones."

"Whatever," the bug-eyed man huffed. "We can buy her from here as long as the price is reasonable. You might already consider the Young Master to be your only superior in the clan. But, I can't. The Young Master is only the Young Master at this moment. He too has opponents. I can't jeopardize my future by betting on him heavily."

"I know, I am glad that you are willing to help. I will let the Young Master know of your contributions," the lady sniffed a little haughtily and looked away.

The bug-eyed man curled his lips and looked back at the jade slip. He didn't comment on the woman's attitude. He knew that the dynamics of power in a big clan like theirs were never simple.

And her master was only one of the candidates for the future. Nothing was certain yet. He wouldn't stick his neck out before everything was finalized. If things were simple, he would lend a helping hand and reap some benefits. If not, it was no sweat off his back. He wouldn't jeopardize his main mission for something like this. 

Curling his lips, the bug-eyed man looked at Leia's picture on the jade slip and sneered.

*****

A/N: Check out my other stories and let me know your thoughts...

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