Chapter 2758, Flowing Clouds Butterfly Hairpin Translator: Silavin & Raikov Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys The auction hall was very lively. Due to the high standards of the auction hosted by Violet Source Chamber of Commerce, many Emperor Realm Masters attended. Each item sold at the auction was able to fetch a good price, which the beautiful female auctioneer on the stage smiled unceasingly at. Elixirs and exotic treasures were brought out like a flowing stream, then in all directions, the sounds of bids being shouted rose and fell. “The next item is the Flowing Clouds Butterfly Hairpin,” the beautiful woman on the stage suddenly raised her voice considerably, sweeping across the room with her beautiful eyes, “My dear friends who came with female companions, or those intending to prepare a gift for their female partners, please pay special attention here. This Mistress guarantees that this will definitely be the best gift for them.” No matter how the beautiful woman was dressed, she naturally knew how to attract a higher price as a qualified auctioneer. As soon as she finished speaking, the faces of many attendees filled with interest; after all, they could tell from the name alone that this Flowing Clouds Butterfly Hairpin was a piece of jewellery. Generally, it was impossible for jewellery to appear at an auction. Only some valuable artifacts were qualified to appear. Many people were curious what sort of accessory this Flowing Clouds Butterfly Hairpin was, and what sort of qualifications it had to become an auction item. In front of everyone’s eyes, a maidservant with a tray walked out from backstage, stopping next to the beautiful auctioneer. The tray was covered by a red cloth, so nobody could see what the auctioned item looked like. Having whetted everyone’s appetite enough, the beautiful woman smiled and uncovered the tray. In an instant, an orchid-coloured light began to dance up, illuminating the auction stage in an exquisite and beautiful glow. Cries of surprise rang out as many women stared wide-eyed at the stage. Beautiful things had always been very attractive to womenfolk. Once they had a clear look at the item, the women in the audience exclaimed in amazement again. That was because the orchid glow was none other than a dancing butterfly, setting off a beautiful glow each time it flapped its wings, which dazzled all its viewers. After a short while, the butterfly landed on top of a jade-like hairpin, wings still fluttering gently as if it were a living thing. But everyone knew that this butterfly was not a living thing. Instead, it was a specially-shaped ornament that existed on the hairpin. The crowd watched in amazement. It wasn’t only the women who had longing eyes for the hairpin as even some men showed their interest in it. If they could buy a piece of jewellery like this and give it to a woman they fancied, it would surely please them. There was even a chance they may be able to achieve something significant with such a gift. “This artifact is not just for decoration, right? May I ask what its functions are, if any?” A magnetic voice came from inside a private room. This question resounded in everyone’s hearts. Even though this Flowing Clouds Butterfly Hairpin was indeed not bad in terms of appearance, being quite beautiful, the price would definitely be greatly reduced if it was just a normal accessory. Pretty things without much use may be liked by some women, but the ones paying out of their pockets were the men. The beautiful woman on the stage smiled, “This is an artifact refined by Grandmaster Hou. How could it possibly be a mere accessory?” “What?” “This hairpin is an artifact refined by Grandmaster Hou?” “Truly?” The beautiful woman’s words caused everyone to burst into discussion. Exclamations rang through the entire hall, as if this Grandmaster Hou was some amazing character. Yang Kai also opened his eyes and asked curiously, “Who is this Grandmaster Hou?” After getting no reply to his question, he turned his head only to see Qin Yu pursing her red lips tightly, her beautiful eyes staring fixedly at the stage. The fervent expression on her face clearly showed that she was extremely interested in the Flowing Clouds Butterfly Hairpin. Yang Kai asked again, and only then did Qin Yu come back to her senses and blushed, “Grandmaster Hou is an Artifact Refining Grandmaster that has recently risen up in the past decade. No artifact crafted by his hands is not a high-quality artifact, but…” “But what?” “But Grandmaster Hou keeps a very low profile. No one has ever met him in person, and nobody even knows whether Grandmaster Hou is a man or a woman.” “So mysterious?” Yang Kai raised a brow. Qin Yu smiled, “En, many good artifacts have appeared in the Southern Territory in the past ten years that were refined by Grandmaster Hou. Moreover, it seems like he is proficient in refining all kinds of artifacts, whether it be defensive, offensive, or even auxiliary artifacts. Regardless, this Grandmaster Hou is a highly skilled Artifact Refining Grandmaster recognized by the general public.” Yang Kai asked, “Since no one has ever met him, how do they know that he’s the one who refined these artifacts?” Qin Yu explained, “All the artifacts he refines come with a special mark, a small hidden monkey head.” At this moment, the beautiful woman on the stage proclaimed, “If you do not believe me, you can check the jade hairpin in this Mistress’s hand and see whether it stems from Grandmaster Hou’s hand.” As soon as she said that, countless Divine Senses swept over from all directions, all of them stopping on the jade hairpin. Yang Kai’s Divine Sense was also part of this wave, and after carefully studying it, he discovered that just as Qin Yu said, there really was a vivid monkey head on the side of the jade hairpin. At a glance, the monkey seemed to look alive, scratching its ears and cheeks. “It really is Grandmaster Hou’s work!” “There’s no doubt about it, it’s even a Dao Source Grade High-Rank artifact!” “Very good, this Old Master will take this artifact!” “Old Zhou, you’re already so advanced in age! What use do you have for this hairpin? Why don’t you leave an opportunity to the younger ones?” “This Old Master has recently taken a new concubine and would like to give this artifact to her. Do you have any complaints about that?” ….. Atop the stage, the beautiful woman ignored the chattering below and spoke, “Grandmaster Hou has not refined many artifacts, but each one of them is of superb quality. Even the Emperor Artifact Refiners in our chamber of commerce hold nothing but the highest praise for Grandmaster Hou, and they believe he has already reached the level of an Emperor Artifact Refiner! I believe that everyone is also very interested to know what kind of artifact this Flowing Clouds Butterfly Hairpin is!” There are only a few types of artifacts, but the accessory artifacts that women generally used were defensive types. There were also offensive types, but there were more of the former than the latter. This Flowing Clouds Butterfly Hairpin had a beautiful appearance, and if it were a defensive type, then the price would naturally be higher. The beautiful woman did not keep everyone in suspense and smiled lightly as she explained, “This jade hairpin is actually neither a defensive nor offensive type. Instead, it is…” As she spoke, she pushed her Source Qi lightly and the Flowing Clouds Butterfly Hairpin in her hands suddenly grew bigger, instantly becoming ten meters across. It looked just like a butterfly that had been enlarged many times over, its giant wings gently fluttering, stirring up an enshrouding glow. Forming seals with her hands, the beautiful woman pushed her Source Qi again and the giant butterfly turned into a flowing orchid light that flew a few circles around the auction hall before returning to the stage. “A flight type artifact!” The crowd gasped. Everyone was trying to guess what type of artifact this Flowing Clouds Butterfly Hairpin was, but nobody ever expected it to be a flight type artifact. If that were true, then its value would be immense. What’s more, the speed that it displayed just now was also quite amazing. The beautiful woman continued, “Without refining it, this Mistress can only show off half of this Flowing Clouds Butterfly Hairpin’s speed, but through the appraisal of our chamber of commerce, while its peak speed may not be able to match an Emperor Realm Master, it is definitely not far behind. It can definitely be used as an escape tool, and of course, the orchid glow of the artifact can also be hidden, so there is no worry about exposing your location.” Through all that praise, the beautiful woman’s intentions were nothing more than to express that this was a good treasure! And it was indeed a good treasure. Whether it be in appearance or practicality, it was enough to catch the attention of many cultivators. Seeing that she had sufficiently built up everyone’s appetite, the female auctioneer finally shouted, “The Dao Source Grade High-Rank flight type artifact, Flowing Clouds Butterfly Hairpin, the reserve price is fifty million Mid-Rank Source Crystals, each increase must be at least one million. Now please!” As soon as the beautiful woman’s voice sounded, sounds of bids being called rang out. In the blink of an eye, the starting price of fifty Mid-Rank Source Crystals rose to sixty and showed no signs of slowing down. In another ten breaths, the price had already risen to seventy million, then eighty million in twenty breaths… Qin Yu’s expression changed. All the joy she had on her face before was swept away, replaced by a look of dismay. She also knew that she was simply unable to compete for such a good thing with her meagre financial resources, feeling somewhat powerless when she heard the terrifying price. Eighty million Mid-Rank Source Crystals! With that many Source Crystals, one could even afford four Sapphire Entry Tokens to Spirit Lake Palace. But compared to the value of this Flowing Clouds Butterfly Hairpin, eighty million was far from the bottom line. The appearance of this jade hairpin instantly set off a flurry of bidding, but after reaching eighty million, most of the cultivators in the lower hall could no longer participate in the bidding. Only the guests in the private rooms continued to compete. In particular, the old man who announced that he had recently taken a new concubine was extremely quick to bid, and it seemed like he was certain to win. When the price climbed to a shocking 130 million, only two competitors continued to call bids, and each bid seemed to be done after much deliberation, not nearly as quickly as before. “141 million! Old Zhou, if you can bid higher than this price, then you can have this Flowing Clouds Butterfly Hairpin!” A voice came from one of the private rooms. The old man surnamed Zhou laughed and said, “Since Brother Zhang has such a heart, this Old Master will naturally accept it. 142 million!” “You win,” The previous Emperor Realm Master sighed faintly and relented. 142 million Mid-Rank Source Crystals translated to 1.42 million High-Rank Source Crystals. An Emperor Realm Master could definitely afford such an amount of wealth, but it would also depend on what they were buying. Most would naturally not spend so much on an accessory for a woman. What’s more, they were only halfway into the auction, and there were still many good things to come later. If they spent too much now, how could they bid after this? “My respects to you!” The old man surnamed Zhou laughed and urged towards the stage, “Quickly start the countdown! No one else is bidding!” The beautiful woman on the stage smiled and looked around, “Is anyone else going to raise the bid? If not…” “150 million!” Yang Kai’s voice suddenly sounded. Inside the room, Qin Yu stared dumbfounded at Yang Kai. He had been silent the whole time, so she didn’t expect him to speak up at this moment. Who was he planning to buy it for? There was no way he would buy something so expensive for her, so who was it that took up such an important position in his heart? The old man surnamed Zhou’s laughter stopped abruptly. Instead, his voice turned furious as he shouted, “160 million!” He could originally have taken the hairpin for 142 million, but Yang Kai just had to step in and raise the price, so he was naturally not in a good mood.