Chapter 262: The Exotic Auction House

Chapter 262: The Exotic Auction House

Ji Xinghuo was in high spirits as he strolled through the City of Eternal Day, having just sampled the unique cuisine of the "Qingren" alien race at one of their restaurants. He continued his leisurely exploration of the city, occasionally activating his electromagnetic sensing ability to scan his surroundings.

Suddenly, four figures caught his attention.

"Earthlings," he murmured.

The four men were dressed differently, suggesting they belonged to various alien professions. They were all male, and their builds varied noticeably.

However, to Ji Xinghuo's electromagnetic senses, their magnetic field patterns were almost identical.

"The Masses?" Ji Xinghuo wondered aloud.

He immediately recalled the rare profession. Quietly, he quickened his pace, turning onto the street where the group was walking. Soon, one of his targets came into view, and he instantly recognized the man as the same member of the Masses he had encountered two years ago when he first entered the Star Realm at the Tea Card Star Gate Fortress.

"What a coincidence," Ji Xinghuo thought to himself.

There were only 66 members of the Masses registered on Earth, and he had now encountered the same individual twice.

In the two years since their first meeting, Ji Xinghuo had advanced from a Junior Alien to a Super Alien. The man from the Masses had also been a Super Alien back then and had made significant progress in his strength, though he had not yet reached the Legendary realm.

Ji Xinghuo had no intention of disturbing the man.

From a distance, he watched as the member of the Masses entered a crystal building—a grand hall with towering crystal pillars at its entrance, each several dozen meters tall. The hall bustled with activity, and just outside, in the open square, various aliens gathered in small groups, deep in conversation.

Legendary guards of the Jingying Tribe stood vigil around the hall, and towering machine sentinels stood in rows across the square.

Intrigued, Ji Xinghuo stepped into the square. He looked up and noticed several large characters hovering above the entrance of the hall.

Although he couldn't read the Jingying Tribe's language, there were translations in several other alien languages below, including True Dragonese.

"Exotic Auction House," Ji Xinghuo read.

His eyes lit up, and he made his way through the crowd and into the hall.

The interior of the building revealed a vast chamber spanning tens of thousands of square meters in area, with a towering dome over thirty meters high—large enough to accommodate even giants. Like many other structures in the City of Eternal Day, the floor, walls, and ceiling were crafted from crystal, creating a majestic spectacle.

However, this place was livelier than most. Chairs were arranged throughout the hall, and vendors sold food and drinks, giving the place the atmosphere of a bustling marketplace.

People sat at tables or stood, frequently craning their necks to look upward.

Ji Xinghuo followed suit and looked up as he entered.

Suspended above the vast chamber were several enormous projections, akin to Earth's projection screens. Rows of text scrolled across each screen, each in a different alien language: the Jingying language, True Dragonese, Xinyalakeese, and the language of the Winged People, to name a few.

By comparing the True Dragonese and Xinyalakeese, Ji Xinghuo realized that each screen displayed the same content, so he focused on the True Dragonese one.

All the screens updated simultaneously, providing real-time information.

He studied the screen closely, reading the auction details in True Dragonese.

On the left side of the screen was a list of items up for auction. The top row displayed the columns: "Quantity," "Starting Bid," "Current Bid," "Time Remaining," and so on. Below that, each row listed the details of a different auction item, presented in a clear tabular format.

"Paradise Treasure Diamond, Quantity: 1, Starting Bid: 55 Aether Crystals + 100 Eternal Day Merit Points, Current Bid: 98 Aether Crystals + 161 Eternal Day Merit Points, Time Remaining: 26 Stellar Hours, 43 Stellar Chimes, 14 Stellar Breaths."

This was the first item listed, and it was attracting the most attention.

Ji Xinghuo overheard many people around him discussing this item, and he soon understood why.

The "Paradise Treasure Diamond" was a rare expansion artifact. Each alien could only use it once in their lifetime, and they had to be between the Fourth and Sixth Stages of evolution; it would be ineffective for those below the Fourth Stage or above the Sixth.

The Paradise Treasure Diamond was a unique treasure found only in the City of Eternal Day, originating from the "Abyss Planet," the homeworld of the Jingying Tribe. It was incredibly rare, and the only place to obtain it was at the Exotic Auction House in the City of Eternal Day. On average, only three to four of these diamonds were auctioned off each Star Month, sparking intense bidding wars among the various alien races.

Unlike ordinary expansion artifacts, the Paradise Treasure Diamond provided the opportunity for two additional fusion species!

Two!

Ji Xinghuo was astonished when he heard this.

In his two years in the Star Realm, he had never come across an expansion artifact that increased fusion chances twice. He had heard that high-quality Red Emperor Blood Crystals, also known as Blood Diamonds, could provide the same benefit, but he had never laid eyes on one.

The higher one's stage, the more difficult it was to find expansion artifacts.

Many expansion artifacts were only effective for lower-stage evolvers, so it was no wonder that an item offering two additional fusion chances was causing such a frenzy.

If it could fuse two exotic species, not to mention nearly a hundred Aether Crystals, even if the price doubled, there would surely be people willing to bid.

Stellar Hours was a widely used unit of time in the Star Realm, dividing a day into 50 stellar hours, each further divided into 50 stellar chimes, and a stellar chime into 50 stellar breaths. When converted to Earth's time, one stellar hour was roughly 59 minutes, a stellar chime was 71 seconds, and a stellar breath was about 1.4 seconds.

As soon as the auction time ended, the Paradise Treasure Diamond would belong to the highest bidder.

This was very easy to understand.

However, what were Eternal Day Merit Points? Ji Xinghuo didn't know who to ask, so he continued to browse through the auction items, quickly scanning for about a chime.

There was a fixed number of items on the screen, only 60 in total, with about half of them being treasures produced by the Jingying Tribe. Aside from the most eye-catching Paradise Treasure Diamond, there were also weapons and equipment crafted by the Jingying Tribe, all of which were of Super level or above.

Among them, Ji Xinghuo spotted a bow called the "Black Hengjing War Bow," a Super level three weapon.

Its starting bid was 40 Aether Crystals + 60 Eternal Day Merit Points, and the current bid was already half higher than the starting price. Every few minutes, someone would bid a higher price.

There was also a set of "Tantalum-Silicon Battle Armor," also Super level three, with an even higher price.

Treasures produced by the Jingying Tribe were incredibly valuable.

The remaining half of the auction items were probably consigned by other races, and the bids only required Aether Crystals or True Dragon Coins, without the need for Eternal Day Merit Points. These items were varied and included weapons, exotic species, battle pets, million-level True Dragon Coin exchanges for Aether Crystals, employment information, and more. However, to be displayed on the screen, the prices were far higher than ordinary goods, indicating that they had been carefully selected.

Ji Xinghuo even saw an item from the Xingqi Star!

"Star Gun, Quantity: 1, Starting Bid: 1500 Aether Crystals, Current Bid: None, Time Remaining: 685 Stellar Hours."

With such a long auction time and no bids yet, it was clear that this item was not popular.

Ji Xinghuo didn't even know what a star gun was. But from the name, he guessed that it was some kind of ether gun that could be used in the Star Realm?

He wasn't interested and couldn't afford it anyway.

Suddenly, all the screens above refreshed and displayed a new auction item.

"Clone Twin, Quantity: 1, Starting Bid: 30 Aether Crystals + 60 Eternal Day Merit Points, Current Bid: None, Time Remaining: 100 Stellar Hours."

The people in the auction hall gasped and craned their necks to stare at the screens.

Ji Xinghuo's eyes widened as well.

"Clone Twin!"

So this super-limit exotic species was from the City of Eternal Day. No wonder he had just met that "crowd" from Earth.

The fact that the Clone Twin's starting bid required Eternal Day Merit Points indicated that it was a product of the Jingying Tribe.

A few aliens around him took out a crystal badge, and as the light and shadows on the badge flowed, they quickly operated it.

Immediately, the price of the Clone Twin on the screen changed.

Someone bid 35 Aether Crystals + 60 Eternal Day Merit Points, but within seconds, the price rose again. This time, it remained at 35 Aether Crystals, but the Eternal Day Merit Points increased to 65. From then on, the bid changed approximately every half a minute, indicating intense competition.

It wasn't until a few minutes later that the bidding slowed down, stabilizing at around 50 Aether Crystals + 80 Eternal Day Merit Points.

Ji Xinghuo understood the bidding rules of the Exotic Auction House. As long as one of the bids, either in Aether Crystals or Eternal Day Merit Points, was higher, a new bid could be placed.

He noticed that the other aliens' Eternal Day badges were the same as his.

So he took out his badge and gave it a try.

"Why isn't it working?" Ji Xinghuo felt puzzled. His gaze drifted past the crowd to the interior of the auction hall, where he spotted a row of crystal counters. At regular intervals stood a humanoid Jingying Tribe member, and in front of each of them was a line of aliens, seemingly waiting to transact some business.

"Do I need to activate it?" Ji Xinghuo walked over and casually joined one of the lines.

There weren't many people queuing ahead of him.

When it was their turn, some people followed the Jingying Tribe member and left the auction hall, entering a room that was electromagnetically shielded. They returned after a short while.

Ji Xinghuo waited in line while also keeping an eye on the auction information on the screen.

Soon, it was his turn.

"What service do you require?" the humanoid Jingying Tribe member asked without any emotion.

Ji Xinghuo showed his Eternal Day badge. "I want to know how to participate in the auction and learn about the auction house rules."

"Give me the badge," the spider-like Jingying Tribe member said, its forehead crystal vibrating as it spoke.

Ji Xinghuo handed over the Eternal Day badge.

The spider-like creature had four arms, two long and two short. Its long right arm reached out and, upon touching the badge, caused it to shimmer with light.

"Hmm?"

It let out a surprised sound. "So, Hui Zhu gave you a purple crystal badge."

The spider-like Jingying Tribe member, unable to contain his curiosity, turned to examine Ji Xinghuo, a puzzled expression on his crystalline face.

"Is there something different about it?" Ji Xinghuo asked, equally confused, as his badge appeared no different from the others.

"There are four levels of badges in the City of Eternal Day," the spider-like creature explained. "White crystal, blue crystal, purple crystal, and black crystal. Each level of badge grants different privileges, especially in the auction house. The higher the level of your badge, the lower the service fee you'll have to pay."

This particular Jingying Tribe member had a noticeably different personality from his fellow tribe members; he was much more talkative and expressive.

Ji Xinghuo guessed that this was the reason why this individual had been assigned to manage the Exotic Auction House. He asked, "How are the service fees calculated?"

"For both bidding and consigning, the service fee for a white crystal badge is 20%. The fee decreases by 5% for each level upgrade of the badge," the spider-like creature answered.

Ji Xinghuo's face remained impassive, but he cursed inwardly, What a rip-off!

Even with a purple crystal badge, one had to pay a 10% service fee. However, he wondered, Why did that Hui Zhu give me a purple crystal badge?

"Your badge has already been linked to the auction house," the spider-like creature continued. "As long as you're in the City of Eternal Day, you can view auction information and participate in bidding whenever you want." He returned the badge to Ji Xinghuo. "This is one of the functions of the purple crystal badge. With a white or blue crystal badge, you would need to come to the auction house in person to use them."

"Thank you," Ji Xinghuo said as he took the badge.

He understood how to use it, infusing the badge with his stellar energy to project a light screen displaying auction information, which could also be switched to text.

"Please pay 10,000 True Dragon Coins," the spider-like Jingying Tribe member suddenly said.

"Ah?"

Ji Xinghuo was taken aback.

"The purple crystal badge isn't free to use. You must pay a usage fee of 10,000 True Dragon Coins per month. If you pay with crystal coins, you'll get a 20% discount. And if you subscribe for a full year, the discount is even greater," the spider-like creature said, a familiar smile appearing on his face.

Ji Xinghuo was left speechless. Why didn't you mention this earlier? he thought. 10,000 True Dragon Coins per month, or 180,000 for a starry year, was equivalent to four and a half ether crystals or approximately 80 million yuan.

If I had known the purple crystal badge was so expensive to use, I definitely wouldn't have activated it, he thought to himself.

I should have just gotten a white crystal badge.

He glanced at the towering spider-like creature, a legendary powerhouse, not someone to be trifled with, especially in their territory. Reluctantly, Ji Xinghuo took out the True Dragon Coins and handed them over to the humanoid Jingying Tribe member standing beside him.

"Thank you for your support of the Exotic Auction House," the spider-like creature nodded, "My name is 'Xuan Ming'. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me."

"What are Eternal Day Merit Points?" Ji Xinghuo asked.

Xuan Ming was not surprised by the question, as it was clear that Ji Xinghuo was new to the City of Eternal Day. He replied, "By passing our tribe's assessment and becoming an Eternal Day Guardian, you will be sent to the Abyss Planet to defeat our tribe's designated enemies, earning you Eternal Day Merit Points."

Go to the Abyss Planet! Ji Xinghuo's heart skipped a beat. Does that mean passing through the stargate in the Photonic Peak? How dare the Jingying Tribe allow outsiders onto their homeworld?

Moreover, from Xuan Ming's words, it seemed that there would be combat involved on the Abyss Planet.

With the Jingying Tribe's strength, their advanced ether technology, and their presence in the Star Realm for over 70,000 years, what kind of enemy could possibly invade the Abyss Planet that they haven't dealt with yet?

"What are the requirements for the assessment?" Ji Xinghuo asked further.

"At least the Fourth Stage," came the reply.

Xuan Ming sized up Ji Xinghuo and smiled. "With your strength, passing the assessment won't be a problem. I assume this is also the reason why Hui Zhu gave you the purple crystal badge."

However, Ji Xinghuo wasn't as confident. "Is the combat on the Abyss Planet dangerous?"

"It's dangerous for the Jingying Tribe, but for outsiders, it's manageable if you're cautious," Xuan Ming said, clearly not wanting to divulge too much. "When you get to the Abyss Planet, you'll understand the situation."

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end