Chapter 38

As Khadgar uttered the words "Crimson Flame Fish Oil," Lin Yun immediately perked up. In fact, it wasn't just Lin Yun; the eyes of many alchemists in the hall instantly fell on the small glass bottle on the auction table. The glass bottle, about the size of a thumb, was filled with a red liquid—this was the legendary Crimson Flame Fish Oil.

Crimson Flame Fish Oil itself has no effect, but it can neutralize the conflicts between various materials. For every alchemist, this is an invaluable asset. A top-tier alchemist can use a bottle of Crimson Flame Fish Oil to concoct potions that only a grand alchemist can create. A top-tier grand alchemist can even use a bottle of Crimson Flame Fish Oil to touch the realm of a master craftsman.

This is equivalent to a full-level upgrade!

Moreover, Crimson Flame Fish Oil is extremely rare in the market. Even at a grand event like the Black Horn Auction, it hasn't appeared for several years.

There's no way around it; Crimson Flame Fish can only be found in the waters near Spark Island. That place isn't somewhere you can just casually visit. King-level sea beasts often appear there, and ordinary mercenary groups entering those waters would be devoured by terrifying sea beasts in minutes. Without one or two mages of the Archmage level, it's not even worth going there; going would be a death sentence.

Furthermore, Crimson Flame Fish themselves are not easy to deal with. They have no combat ability, but they are born with an extremely high temperature and always move in groups. Thousands of them can appear at once, and when they swim through a sea area, the entire area boils. Even terrifying king-level sea beasts might not be willing to appear in front of them.

Imagine an endless ocean where a group of Crimson Flame Fish suddenly swim by, causing the entire sea to boil. Even the most powerful fleet would find it hard to survive in such a disaster.

This small bottle of Crimson Flame Fish Oil must have cost a tremendous price to appear at today's Black Horn Auction.

The many alchemists in the hall almost instantly fell into a state of near-madness as soon as the Crimson Flame Fish Oil appeared.

Khadgar hadn't even had time to announce the starting price when a middle-aged alchemist in his forties bid 100,000 gold coins.

"You know, Alchemist Mana, you're a bit too eager..." Khadgar covered his forehead, looking both amused and exasperated.

"Can't help it. All my assets add up to just 100,000 gold coins. I can't compete with others anyway, so I might as well bid once to satisfy my curiosity..." The middle-aged alchemist named Mana had a good temper and self-deprecatingly responded, which drew laughter from the hall, easing the tension caused by the Crimson Flame Fish Oil.

"Alright, since Alchemist Mana has spoken, the starting bid for this bottle of Crimson Flame Fish Oil will be 100,000 gold coins. Each subsequent bid must be at least 10,000 gold coins higher."

"150,000 gold coins."

"170,000 gold coins."

"200,000 gold coins."

"250,000 gold coins."

...

As soon as Khadgar finished speaking, the bidding voices rose one after another. Poor Alchemist Mana indeed didn't get a chance to bid again.

Lin Yun knew that this time, he would have to spend a lot of money...

"300,000 gold coins." Just as Lin Yun was hesitating about whether to bid early, Meng Qi suddenly announced a new price.

Lin Yun, who was about to bid, simply closed his mouth.

Alright, if even the Meng Qi family is involved, this bottle of Crimson Flame Fish Oil is bound to sell for an astronomical price...

Lin Yun's guess was spot on. The 300,000 gold coins from the Meng Qi family did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of the alchemists. The bids quickly rose to 400,000 and 500,000 gold coins, with new prices soaring like they were on steroids.

"700,000 gold coins."

When Meng Qi pushed the price to 700,000 gold coins, the frenzied atmosphere in the hall gradually cooled down. This price was really high. Alchemists with insufficient wealth were effectively eliminated. Now, only a few grand alchemists could continue the competition.

Ordinary alchemists simply couldn't afford such a cost. Even if this bottle of Crimson Flame Fish Oil could help them concoct potions beyond their level, reaching the grand alchemist level, a grand alchemist-level potion couldn't sell for 700,000 gold coins.

Only reaching the master craftsman level would make the investment in this bottle of Crimson Flame Fish Oil worthwhile.

Clearly, Meng Qi was also satisfied with the effect of his bid. After the hall quieted down, he slowly sat back in his chair, leaning back with a confident smile.

However, before his smile could fully spread, the young mage beside him stood up.

"800,000 gold coins."

Meng Qi's smile immediately became a bit unnatural...

Meng Qi had considered many possibilities regarding the competition for this bottle of Crimson Flame Fish Oil. For example, the grand alchemist from the Silver Moon Mercenary Group might bid, or Salaman might want to help Soph get it, or even Khadgar himself might want to join the competition. But Meng Qi never thought that after he bid 700,000 gold coins, it would be Mafa Merlin who bid 800,000 gold coins.

Remember, this is 800,000 gold coins, not 80,000 or 8,000!

A few months ago, Mafa Merlin couldn't even repay Fario's few thousand gold coins and was almost forced to use his house to pay off the debt. How could he suddenly bid such an astonishing price of 800,000 gold coins?

What's going on...

Meng Qi suddenly felt his brain wasn't enough. Could he have been wrong from the start? Is Mafa Merlin's financial support not from Farrow of the Black Horn Auction House?

It might be the case...

Look, Mafa Merlin's seat is clearly closer to Salaman, while Farrow is sitting with Solon. The relationship is clear. In this private room, Salaman and Mafa Merlin's status is much higher than Solon and Farrow.

Besides, as an alchemist, even if Farrow is highly regarded by Khadgar, he couldn't possibly come up with 800,000 gold coins. Mafa Merlin must have another source of funds.

But if not Farrow, who could it be? Could it be Salaman?

Meng Qi glanced at Salaman with suspicion.

Salaman, however, smiled and completely ignored Meng Qi's suspicious gaze.

At this moment, Salaman was actually quite pleased, especially seeing Meng Qi's puzzled expression, which made him even happier.

Ha, puzzled, huh?

You should be puzzled, because I'm puzzled too...

But I can be puzzled and not care, while you, Meng Qi, can't. If you stay puzzled, you might lose this bottle of Crimson Flame Fish Oil.

"850,000 gold coins." Meng Qi hoped to think more, but the auction wouldn't wait. After some hesitation, he had to bid a new price.

850,000 gold coins was already making Meng Qi feel a bit painful. Even the Twin Moon Trade Guild, rich as it was, didn't have wealth that just appeared out of nowhere. Paying such a high price for a bottle of Crimson Flame Fish Oil made even Meng Qi feel a bit heartache.

Before Meng Qi could finish feeling heartache, that damned Mafa Merlin spoke again.

"900,000 gold coins."

Meng Qi's brows furrowed, and he stared at Lin Yun for a long time before coldly asking, "It seems, Mage Merlin, you are also very interested in this bottle of Crimson Flame Fish Oil?"

"Not really..." Lin Yun replied casually, thinking, you two old foxes have been showing off long enough; it's time for me to show off a bit.

Hearing this answer, which was almost identical to his own earlier, Meng Qi's temples throbbed even more...

The problem is, no matter how much his temples throbbed, the competition for the Crimson Flame Fish Oil had to continue. This was something the grand alchemist in his family had specifically requested.

"950,000 gold coins." Meng Qi spoke each word slowly, and each word made him feel like spitting blood.

"1,000,000 gold coins."

Before Meng Qi could spit blood, a new bid came in. The one who bid was still the young mage beside him, which Meng Qi found hard to accept. Meng Qi really wanted to ask, isn't the Flash Gold Trade Guild almost bankrupt? How can you still have so much money to mess around at the auction? Why are you messing with my Meng Qi family?

"1,100,000 gold coins!" Meng Qi gritted his teeth and raised the bid by 100,000 gold coins, hoping that such a significant increase would scare off that damned Mafa Merlin.

However...

"1,200,000 gold coins."

"..." Meng Qi's face turned ashen, and his gaze on Lin Yun was almost predatory. When he spoke again, there was no pretense of politeness, only open hostility: "Mage Merlin, opposing the Meng Qi family is not a wise choice."

"Ha, the weather is really nice today."

"Good, good, good..." Meng Qi said the word "good" three times before abruptly standing up and leaving the private room with Mason, not even saying goodbye to Salaman.

"President Meng Qi's demeanor is truly..." Lin Yun added a sarcastic comment as he watched Meng Qi leave.

"Ha ha..." Salaman just smiled, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

In fact, Salaman's doubts were not much less than Meng Qi's.