Mixed Blessing System

"This is a Silver-grade armor found in a historic ruin in the Three Great Lakes region."

The Three Great Lakes region was further east of Leopoldine, where the great mountain range that prevented access to the sea to that state was located.

That was an ancient region where, thousands of years ago, some of the most powerful families of the time of the ten independent regions that existed before the formation of the empire were located.

However, with the victory of House Leopoldine against the Allied Army of the Ten Independent Regions, that area had been devastated thousands of years ago. At the time in question, such a place was abandoned, as it had no fertile soil, and with some consequences of the war, that area became home to high-level beasts.

Because of this, some of the wealth of those devastated organizations or even those killed in the war had not been looted due to the area's dangers. Hence, there were still items of value in those ruins, today being an area of exploration for brave and powerful people.

The auctioneer continued his presentation. "We estimate that such armor is from the time of the War of Conquest, probably an artifact made by the enemy forces of the imperial family!"

After this was said, several sounds of surprise and excitement arose in the surroundings of that auction house. But that was not for nothing. After all, the organizations formerly based in such a region were known for their excellence in the blacksmith profession!

At the time of the Leopoldine family's conquest, this organization was more powerful than the enemies of the ten independent regions. But, of course, the strengths were not that distinct when all enemies were added together. Yet, individually speaking, that imperial family was already stronger than each of the organizations in those areas at that time.

However, even though that imperial house had exterminated many enemies before the formation of the Allied Army of the Ten Independent Regions, they had had great difficulty dealing with the powers of the Three Great Lakes region at that time.

The reason for this? Well, it was simply the high-level artifacts of those enemy organizations!

The products made by the blacksmiths of that area not only had better ratings than the average artifacts of House Leopoldine. Such items also had unique individual qualities, with some even having unique abilities engraved on their metal bodies.

Therefore, an item of such origin had a chance to have the trait rarely seen in the present, a unique ability that could be activated through the spiritual manipulation of its user!

Hence, people in the surrounding area are uneasy about that item!

"We have done some tests on this armor, and we assure you that it is in perfect shape, with its inscriptions still in good condition..."

"In other words, its ability is intact!" He opened his arms and smiled without explaining further about such a feature.

But that was to be expected. After all, unlike the previously auctioned Soul Bone, the skill of a Silver-grade item was very significant. So, the future owner of this armor would undoubtedly prefer to keep it a secret.

That was the cultivation world, and unless one did not have the option, it would always be better to keep one's skills, techniques, etc., as secrets. Only in this way could one reap the best fruits when necessary!

On the other hand, even if talking about the positive points of that item was important for the auction, it was not entirely essential. That's because, unlike the Soul Bone that could have 'useless' skills for certain professionals, an armor had no way to have that disadvantage.

That is, the ability of such an item had to be related to its characteristics. So, since anyone interested in armor would be after improvements in their defenses, any skill related to this would be helpful!

The most crucial point, in this case, was not the ability but the existence or not of one.

So, the desire of those interested in that armor was not diminished one bit by the lack of details about such a thing. On the contrary, knowing that it did indeed have this scarce characteristic, the people on the third floor became even more interested!

And with this information, Martin soon announced the start of the bidding!

"Well, without further ado. The starting bid for this armor is 300,000 gold coins, with a minimum increase of 10,000!"

"500.000!" The first voice in that place made everyone in the auction momentarily stunned.

"510.000!"

...

On the balcony of Lothur and Annaliese's VIP room...

"What?" After nearly choking on the drink he was drinking and then spitting it forward, Lothur said it out loud, shocked at the value of that thing.

"What is wrong with these people? That's fucking 50 million bronze coins! How can they give that much on a single item?" He got up from his armchair and looked at Annaliese.

Seeing that, Annaliese put one of her hands over her mouth and smiled at her ignorant brother-in-law. 'Looks like it was a good decision to bring you along, Lothur... You're amusing.'

After a few seconds of appreciating that scene in front of her, she then explained it to him. "You are silly. Do you know how long such armor can last in the hands of a Transcendent like my mother? More than 3,000 years!"

"That's already far more than the ordinary life expectancy of cultivators at the 3rd stage!"

The life expectancy of cultivators depended on the cultivation stage, or rather, the quality of their bodies. Among the first three stages, these limits were 300, 700, and 1,600 years, respectively.

However, there were alternative ways to increase one's vitality.

Because of this, artifacts like that were lifetime items for local cultivators, greatly justified their value.

"On the other hand, people like my mother can gather sums like that in a few years of work. So that value is not as exaggerated as you think..."

"It's just that the local leaders are much stronger than people like us." She looked in the direction of the VIP room where her mother should be and finished. "To them, that amount is no big deal!"

"This..." After hearing that, Lothur understood the reality and why such a thing cost that high figures that ordinary mortals would probably never be able to muster in their lifetimes.

Hell, the number of mortals with the ability to gather such amounts should be just a few hundred, even considering the entire continent!

However, cultivators were different!

They could live much longer than mortals since, besides cultivation increasing their life expectancy, unique resources that could alter vitality had better results in cultivators. And besides being able to accumulate coins for longer, they still had priceless abilities, which could significantly increase their earnings.

Therefore, items like that armor could end large fortunes in the blink of an eye.

​ "1.520.000!" Mabel bid again, her voice already much more nervous than it had been at the beginning of the bidding.

"Wow!"

"1.5 million gold coins! That's truly impressive!"

"Well, I guess her last bidder probably won't go on, right?"

Voices on the first floor circled the surroundings, while the last two VIP rooms on the third floor with people vying for that item suffered from the tension of the people present.

"Tsk!"

"That bitch!"

"She truly has a lot of coins!" A woman who appeared to be in her early middle age, but with first-rate beauty and magnificent curves, said such a thing irritatedly.

At the same time, the relatively young man dressed in armor standing behind this purple-clad woman said. "Madam, we had better give up that item."

"If I'm not incorrect, this person must be Mabel Rios. But House Frost won't last much longer, and soon we will have the Province Conference... So, I think we can get that armor without spending a single coin!"

"Oh? What are you thinking?" She became interested and looked back.

Then that individual lowered his face and said close to her ear. "I heard that there are people..."

...

"Anyone else interested in the Water Armor? Any higher bidders than the lady in room number 38?" Martin asked as he looked toward room 33, where the Frost family competitor was supposed to be.

However, no voice broke from behind the dark glass of room 33, signaling that this should be the end of the auction.

After a few seconds, the auctioneer slammed his hammer and finalized the bidding for that armor. "Very well then, the Water Armor is sold to the lady in room 38 for 1.52 million gold coins!"

"With that, we end this occasion of our auction house!"

"I thank everyone present for their confidence in us, and on behalf of Weidmann Gate, I wish you all to return in the future!"

After Martin said those words quickly, the people there began to rise from their seats, already chatting loudly, causing a melody of voices to arise in the area.

As the side lights of that large area came on again, Lothur and Annaliese left the place they were in, satisfied with the event.

"Do you want something to eat, Lothur? I think my sister will stay in this place with my mother for a while, so we have some time to return home."

"Oh? Hehe, come on."