Despite his contempt, Gao Jiang had to admit Lin Jin was skilled. Otherwise, how could he have passed the Rank 2 beast appraiser exam?
He activated his spiritual eye and used a few tactics to observe the constrictor, and sure enough, he found a catch.
“Could it be…” Gao Jiang’s eyes lit up at the thought of a certain possibility. He was, after all, a certified Rank 1 beast appraiser. If he had a closer observation, he could definitely tell something was up with that constrictor.
This assumption made Gao Jiang waver and prompted him to join in the price war.
But he was still hesitant.
What if it wasn’t?
On the other hand, Zu Tianli and Master Liao came over as well upon catching wind of the commotion. They had secured two pet beasts by now, clearly on Master Liao’s advice. When they got closer, Zu Tianli was confused. “Master Liao, isn’t this constrictor a flawed creature? It has a tumor that’s going to kill it someday, so why are they competing over it? And it’s up to a thousand low-grade spirit stones now! Are they crazy?”
Master Liao was just as baffled. Although he had some skills, he was possibly even below Gao Jiang. All he relied on was lip service and his acting skills, so after a detailed observation at the constrictor, he still couldn’t tell what was unique about it.
However, he couldn’t say much because even if Lin Jin and Zu Can were mad, the old man who kept competing with them shouldn’t be just as crazy, was he?
“Mr. Zu, this constrictor itself is indeed unique. It’s quite possibly a rare beast but I stand by my statement. It has a tumor, and just like a talented human, no matter how remarkable he is, if he is severely ill, he could lose his life at any minute. On this account, what returns could this creature possibly provide?”
Master Liao stopped calling this constrictor ‘average’ but discreetly tweaked his concept to shift his client’s focus to the tumor. This conclusion should be at least accurate.
After pondering, he added, “This must be an instruction by that Lin brat. The price shouldn’t have been that high at first, but because someone outbid him, your nephew took it as a challenge to his ego. Look, it’s the other party who’s raising the bid so that person must be feeling challenged as well. They’re no longer competing for the beast itself but for their pride. Frankly speaking, I’m hoping that your nephew would continue competing. That way, they’ll only fall deeper into the trap.”
Zu Tianli nodded at this, silently agreeing to this reasoning.
If the snake truly had any value, why isn’t anyone else placing their bids despite the huge crowd?
That being the case, Master Liao was right.
“I too hope that my nephew will continue making new bids, but he might not do it. Even if he wanted to, he wouldn’t have the nerve. A thousand low-grade spirit stones is half of what he can spend at this auction. If he raised the price, that old man surely would back down. If he ends up buying a useless pet beast after spending so much money, he certainly won’t be forgiven once he gets home.”
At this thought, Zu Tianli truly hoped that Zu Can would continue marching towards his doom.
Zu Can was indeed hesitant. Based on his usual conduct, this was as far as he would go. But when he remembered Lin Jin’s words, his enthusiasm returned.
‘Brother Lin, I’m counting on you this time.’
Mumbling this in his heart, Zu Can made a final decision. He stepped forward and raised the bid to a thousand five hundred low-grade spirit stones.
The surrounding crowd gasped once more.
This was no longer a tiny competition but an all-out war. The only problem was, most of them didn’t understand why. It was just a reptile with a tumor. Was it really worth that much?
The overall evaluation of this snake provided by the Friar Association’s evaluation report was average. It wasn’t bad but was by no means impressive either. In any case, it wasn’t worth that many spirit stones.
Even without the tumor, it was worth only about three to five hundred spirit stones.
Hence, the situation baffled them. But it didn’t hurt to enjoy the show.
Zu Tianli was ecstatic to see Zu Can raise the stakes again.
“This brat has gone mad. He actually increased the price! Great, this is just great. Zu Tianhong gave birth to a wonderful son. I’d like to see how they clean this mess up.”
Zu Can had begun imagining how to ruin Zu Can’s reputation with this incident and wrecking Zu Tianhong’s status within the family. What a convenient opportunity this was, he thought.
After increasing the price to a thousand five hundred stones, Zu Can assumed that the old man would back down. Yet, a hint of hesitation flashed across the old man’s eyes before he gritted his teeth and brazenly raised it another notch.
Two thousand low-grade spirit stones.
This was definitely a hefty sum.
The old man shook his sleeve, glaring at Zu Can with a look that said he would never back down.
“Keep it coming, child. I refuse to believe I can’t win against a youngster like you.” Clearly, this sum was painfully expensive for the old man as well.
Zu Can’s expression faltered.
For no other reason than this being the number of spirit stones he could spend today.
He truly couldn’t call the shots for anything above two thousand spirit stones. Zu Can sighed. Although he trusted Lin Jin’s judgment, the current situation was beyond his abilities.
Lin Jin knew this too so he went over to Zu Can and said, “Increase it to three thousand. If he counters, let him have it. I’ll go home with you later.”
Having said that, he patted Zu Can on the shoulder.
Zu Can was truly shocked.
Lin Jin meant to have him continue raising the price and if something happens, Lin Jin would explain it to his father. But three thousand low-grade spirit stones… If it was a mistake, things would get messy.
How thrilling.
Let’s add more!
Zu Can decided to see the game through.
Forget him, even the nosy people around gasped as adrenaline pumped through their veins.
This was only the second round of the auction event but a competition of this scale appeared. In addition, the price simply jumped to three thousand spirit stones. Now, it was time for the old man to decide.
The crowd turned to watch the old man gripping his sleeves.
The latter was just as dumbstruck.
He didn’t expect Zu Can to keep up the offensive, and the increment wasn’t five hundred but one thousand, bringing the price up to three thousand spirit stones in total.
He was panicking.
Because he didn’t have that many spirit stones.
The number of spirit stones he could afford right now didn’t exceed three thousand, but if it did, the old man wouldn’t hesitate to add on.
With a sullen face, the old man glanced at Zu Can, and then at Lin Jin. He could now tell it was Lin Jin who instructed Zu Can to outbid him.
Taking a deep breath, the old man turned not to Zu Can, but Lin Jin, and said, “This young lad has quite a discerning eye. I’m very impressed. My surname is Ji, may I know how should I address you?”
Lin Jin knew this old man wasn’t a feeble opponent. Having the courage to offer two thousand spirit stones must mean he too was aware of the constrictor’s unique trait. For this reason, Lin Jin humbled himself and responded respectfully, “I’m Lin Jin of the Beast Appraisal Association!”
The old man frowned. “That Wang Ji is quite incompetent. To think he had someone like you under his ranks.”
Needless to say, this old man had quite a volatile temper.
“Lin Jin, I’ll remember you. If the opportunity ever arises, I’d like to pay you a visit.”
Having said that, the old man cast a reluctant gaze at the caged constrictor before turning to leave.
‘An old man with quite the personality.’
Lin Jin mused.
The old man clearly hated his guts and this so-called ‘visit’ probably meant that Lin Jin was going to be challenged again on his turf. But was Lin Jin afraid?
Away from the crowd, as he watched the old man leave, Gao Jiang mumbled to himself, “The surname ‘Ji’? I heard that Linchuan County has a beast appraising expert with exceptional skills but a strange temper. His surname is also ‘Ji’. Could this person be him?”