Chapter 1648 – All Materials Collected … … … “From 1.3 billion to 2 billion all of a sudden!?” The bidders present looked towards the room that Lin Ming was in. To an Empyrean, 2 billion was an amount that would hurt but was still something they could take out. But, those that were competing for the Dragon Contract were mostly World King level characters. 2 billion points was definitely an amount that would bankrupt them. Lin Ming had suddenly increased the bid by 700 million; it wasn’t a surprise that everyone was shocked. “That is Lin Ming’s bid!” “So it’s him…” In these days, the location of Lin Ming’s ordinary room had already been memorized by many people. Lin Ming didn’t use an isolating array formation either so others were able to see him. “Lin Ming’s bid will make anyone reconsider this auction. The highest bid Empyrean spirit treasure has only sold for 2 billion so far and that was because it was a battle between two tigers…” The 2 billion point Empyrean spirit treasure that was referred to was the Violet Gold Spear purchased by Duke Fullmoon. Besides Suya, no one knew that the reason the Violet Gold Spear sold for such a high price was because Lin Ming was deliberately conning Duke Fullmoon. And in Lin Ming’s mind, the Dragon Contract was undoubtedly far more valuable than the Violet Gold Spear! Just the materials used to refine the Dragon Contract alone were worth over a billion points in total. Moreover, as the Dragon Contract appeared and Song Wen introduced it, Lin Ming had made a new discovery. It was that sealed within the Dragon Contract, there was the spirit of a True Dragon. It was possible to summon this spirit to aid one in battle. The so-called spirit of a True Dragon that Song Wen spoke of was in truth an incomplete dragon soul. The Dragon Contract had a true wisp of an incomplete dragon soul sealed within it! This was why within the name of this spirit artifact there was the word ‘contract’. A jade dragon horn plus a wisp of a dragon soul, these two divine things were greatly beneficial to Lin Ming. After all, he had the blood of the True Dragon within him. Thus Lin Ming had to win the auction for this Dragon Contract no matter what! At this time, Lin Ming’s eyes moved over to the VIP suite that Duke Fullmoon was in. In these past days, Duke Fullmoon had been keeping a low profile and was far more subdued than he was in the past. This was because other high level figures of the Divine Void Divine Kingdom’s Nine Nether Province had come to Divine Rune City and their goal was also to participate in the grand auction event for the Heretical God Symbol. Through the array formation of the VIP suite, Lin Ming’s eyes and expression were all seen by Duke Fullmoon. In fact, Duke Fullmoon knew that through the array formations of his suite, it was impossible for Lin Ming to see him. But for some unknown reason, as he caught Lin Ming’s gaze, Duke Fullmoon felt his heart chill and he found it hard to keep looking back at him. This was the pressure that came from Lin Ming continually suppressing Duke Fullmoon all this time! “This brat!” Duke Fullmoon clenched his fists. In his eyes, Lin Ming was only a Divine Lord realm boy, and even with all things considered he was only comparable to a peak Holy Lord. Compared to him, the difference was far from being comparable. However, when he faced Lin Ming he actually felt a bit weak of heart. This feeling of inferiority was extremely uncomfortable to Duke Fullmoon. At this time, Lin Ming’s lips moved. Duke Fullmoon was startled. Even through the walls and the isolating array formation, he could still clearly sound out Lin Ming’s unspoken words. “I indeed have a great interest in this Dragon Contract. If you’re thinking of bleeding me out then you can feel free to shout whatever price you want. But, I won’t guarantee that I won’t stop at any time I wish. If that happens, I hope you have enough points to be responsible for the bid you called out.” Lin Ming said these words with a confident look. Duke Fullmoon felt ill. His wealth had just been used to buy up the Violet Gold Spear. Anything left remaining was the wealth of Divine Void Divine Kingdom. This wealth was all required to buy things desired by the Nine Nether King of the Nine Nether Province; he wasn’t able to use it as he pleased. If Lin Ming decided to give up the auction and Duke Fullmoon was discovered as having bid an exorbitant price on this Dragon Contract, then he would be deader than dead. He didn’t know just how invested Lin Ming was in obtaining the Dragon Contract. If the events of the Violet Gold Spear were to replay themselves then he really would have no more tears to cry from grief. If he wanted to struggle with Lin Ming, his entire total wealth now was only around 2 billion points; he simply didn’t have the will or the energy to continue competing. Moreover, his need of the Dragon Contract wasn’t that intense to begin with. Duke Fullmoon didn’t have the courage to play with his life on the line just to try and con Lin Ming out of several hundred million more points. “Fullmoon, what is it? It seems that Lin Ming is targeting you?” A blue-clothed old man asked from beside Duke Fullmoon. This blue-clothed old man was one of the top aides of the Nine Nether King and also possessed a half-step Empyrean cultivation. Within the Nine Nether Province, his status was a level higher than Duke Fullmoon’s. Concerning Duke Fullmoon and Lin Ming’s conflict, besides Suya and a select few others, no one knew of it. Thus, after the blue-clothed old man arrived at Divine Rune City, even he hadn’t heard any rumors about it. This question left Duke Fullmoon looking a bit awkward. He vaguely mumbled, “I only competed for a spear against him…” Duke Fullmoon said, concealing the fact of his conflict with Lin Ming. The blue-clothed old man nodded, “Mm… it’s best if you don’t have any conflicts with Lin Ming. This young divine runic master will have a limitless future! The Nine Nether King has a particular focus on this type of person. When I came to Divine Rune City, he advised me to be on good terms with him if possible; he will surely be a great help to us! You must know that between the Seven Provinces of Divine Void Divine Kingdom, the competition is extremely fierce…” The blue-clothed old man seemed to guess what was happening. As he looked at Duke Fullmoon he spoke with deep hidden meanings in his voice. Hearing these words, Duke Fullmoon felt as if he had swallowed a fly. “What? You have grudges with Lin Ming?” The blue-clothed old man’s eyes were as bright and illuminating as torches. He could see that the conflict between Duke Fullmoon and Lin Ming wasn’t as simple as stated. “No matter what the reason is, it's best if you resolve these grudges if possible…” Duke Fullmoon clenched his jaws. He tamped down the bitter sadness in his heart and tried to sound as sincere as he could as he said, “Yes… Fullmoon understands!” After being maliciously tricked by Lin Ming and then reprimanded by this blue-clothed old man, Duke Fullmoon’s mood could be imagined. ………. “2 billion points, is there a higher bid?” Song Wen loudly spoke from the auction stage. Potential bidders looked at each other with dismay. Some hesitated, seeming as if they would shout out a higher bid, but eventually none of them could summon the courage to compete with Lin Ming. Lin Ming’s wealth was well known by all. It was simply impossible to defeat him. However, those with different boundaries had differences in vision. Some people had a highly exaggerated valuation of the Dragon Contract, similar to Lin Ming. In the eyes of some people, just that wisp of incomplete dragon soul was worth nearly a billion points! “2.1 billion!” A pale man with red hair and a red beard, dressed in dark blue robes spoke up! He was a half-step Empyrean powerhouse. In truth, he already possessed an Empyrean spirit treasure but was highly interested in this Dragon Contract! He was a loner without any influence behind him. Thus, he didn’t care about access to Lin Ming’s divine runic symbols nor did he fear offending Lin Ming. Originally, most people thought that Lin Ming’s ridiculous bid would already mark the end of this auction. But, they didn’t think that another change would occur. “Oh? That person is…” This other person was similar to Lin Ming and sat in an ordinary room without any isolating array formation. This allowed Lin Ming to sense a faint dragon aura coming from his body. “I see, so this person has a dragon race bloodline relationship…” Lin Ming frowned a little. There were far too many outstanding existences here. It wasn’t strange for someone to have a dragon race blood lineage. This meant that to this other person, the Dragon Contract was no less useful than it was for Lin Ming himself! “2.2 billion!” Lin Ming shouted out, his voice calm. “2.3 billion!” The old man’s eyebrows jumped up. He knew that Lin Ming was rich but he didn’t know just how valuable this Dragon Contract was to Lin Ming. This was because of the difference in their bloodline density and purity. The old man’s dragon bloodline was similar to a top figure from the Divine Realm’s Ancient Dragon Clan. But compared to Lin Ming who had absorbed the supreme dragon bone from the God Beast Mystic Realm, who had trained in the Eternal Demon Abyss and within Tragic Death Valley’s God Beast Array Formation where he had undergone a baptism of a Black Dragon’s aura, the differences in bloodline was far too vast. This allowed Lin Ming to sense the bloodline of a dragon within the old man but not the other way around. “2.4 billion!” Lin Ming flicked his fingers. With this calm tone and expression, it was like points were nothing more than a number to him. With the bid having reached this degree, the old man’s lips twitched. He gazed at Lin Ming’s direction and quietly said, “Young man, the Dragon Contract is inestimably useful to me. You had best not continue competing for it. If you obtain it you will only gain an Empyrean spirit treasure; that is simply a waste of heaven’s gifts! But if I were to obtain it, the benefits it will give me cannot be imagined by you. I know you are rich, but isn’t your strength limited? Gaining some grievances towards you, that might not best the best thing for you…” The old man’s words were unhurriedly spoken but carried a faint threat to them. He lifted his hand once more and grimly said, “2.5 billion!” “Is that right?” Lin Ming chuckled. “I thought that someone else would be competing with me, but I never imagined it would be someone like you. What a coincidence. The Dragon Contract will also be extremely useful in my hands. As for you… you just have a little bit of a dragon bloodline lineage, do you really think it’s necessary to remain so mysterious about it?” Lin Ming’s words shocked the old man. The old man immediately felt that this youth speaking to him couldn’t be understood. He had clearly restrained his dragon race aura and yet he had been seen through by Lin Ming. How was this possible? Lin Ming smirked. “If you want to compete then let us do so fairly and openly. Threatening me? Do you think that’s useful?” “3 billion!” Lin Ming raised the bid by another terrifying amount, but his expression still remained calm! This sort of expression, if placed on anyone else, would have felt like an act. After all, 3 billion was an amount that even an Empyrean would have to mull over. But for Lin Ming, this expression that didn’t seem to care about money at all was actually reasonable. Everyone had already witnessed Lin Ming’s horrifying ability to gain wealth. In just half a month and with 2 promissory notes he had earned 10 billion points in wealth. Just who could compare with him? “You…!” The old man clenched his teeth and glared at Lin Ming with resentment. But, he remained silent. No matter how much he desired the Dragon Contract, he could only watch helplessly on as Lin Ming carried it away. 3 billion points had indeed surpassed the limits of his wealth. “3 billion points, is there a higher bid?” Song Wen asked several times. When no one put forth a bid, he began counting down from three. Then, in the end, the Dragon Contract was won by Lin Ming! Hence, to Lin Ming, the Divine Rune City Auction had been perfectly finished. He had obtained everything that he wanted. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞 Although 3 billion points for the Dragon Contract was bit outrageous, Lin Ming could accept this trade. To him, the Dragon Contract was worth at least 2 billion points to begin with. And now that he had also learned it contained a wisp of a dragon soul, adding in another billion wasn’t too great a loss.