The elder in yellow was already prepared for this, he reached out and picked up the half blade, and said, “After the examination conducted by our auction plaza, this half of the blade has a history of at least five hundred years. This means that it is a five-hundred-year-old antique. In addition, it was very likely a high rank great sword five hundred years ago. It was later on cut in half by someone for some reason, which led to its current look.”
“A five-hundred-year-old antique! High rank great sword!”
“Damn, what a shame! If it was still in one piece, I think all of the most powerful people would definitely come here and fight for it.”
“A broken high rank great sword, without its spirit, what’s the use of that?”
“Maybe some of the antique collectors would want to bid for it. It doesn’t concern us anyway.”
“Yeah, we should just watch them fight over it. Look at that.”
Hearing the comments from the crowd, the elder in yellow forced a smile. ‘This half blade is indeed pretty useless; its only selling point is the five hundred years’ age. I hope it could sell for a good price. Of course, if it doesn’t sell I can do nothing about it. The first two rounds of the bidding had already made me look good, it all depends on what happens next.’
“This is the other half of the broken blade?!” In the room, Ye Chen’s eyes brightened, he stared at the blade on that stone table without blinking.
This half of the blade also looked rusty and dark, the width was exactly same as the one he bought in the Nine Feet Tripod Pavilion, even the broken part matched well. Only a small piece in the middle was missing, if he guessed it right, the two parts of the blade belonged together, but they were separated for some reason.
“Now, the bidding starts. The starting price is twenty thousand gold. It should be at least one thousand gold more for each bid.” The elder in yellow looked around, and yelled after taking a deep breath.
The auction plaza was in silence for a while.
“I call twenty-one thousand gold!” It was an elder who was in his seventies, he had a grey beard and was wearing an old-fashioned black robe.
Someone had recognized the elder. He was one of the top antique collectors in Happy Town. He had a great interest in odd things, and liked to put them in display for himself at his home. No one else was allowed to see his collection, not even his family.
In the room, Ye Chen did not rush to bid, he wanted to wait. If he went all out with the first bid itself, it might make some people curious.
The whole plaza was completely quiet, there was no one willing to bid.
The elder in yellow knew that it was time to loosen up the atmosphere, “Twenty-one thousand gold! Who wants to bid a higher price? Don’t forget, this half of the blade might be part of a high rank great sword, even if it does not have any spirit anymore, you never know what you could find in it. Besides, five hundred years is a long time.”
The whole auction plaza was still in silence.
Right then, Ye Chen raised up the board in his hand, “Twenty-two thousand gold.”
“Great, someone placed a higher bid, good eyes. Who wants to go higher? This is a one time opportunity!” The elder in yellow looked extremely excited, and said with a great passion.
“Thirty thousand gold.” This time, it was not the old collector, it was from Ouyang Ming who was sitting three rooms away from Ye Chen.
Tang Manlou looked curious, “Brother Ouyang, is this half of the blade that important?”
Ouyang Ming said casually “Not really, I just want to buy it as a part of my collection, as it is pretty cheap.”