Chapter 73: The Pisces Jade Pendant

A beauty like Guo Xinzi possessed a fatal allure for men, and her voice was even more enchanting. Most of the men present found it impossible to avert their gaze, staring intently at Guo Xinzi.

Guo Xinzi was confident in her own charm; she smiled and declared, “Now, I announce the official start of the Jade Auction.”

As her words fell, a woman in a striking red dress, herself quite attractive, approached the auction stage carrying a silver tray. The tray was shrouded in a scarlet silk cloth, concealing its contents from view.

With elegant fingers, Guo Xinzi lifted the red silk, revealing a jade pendant about the size of a baby’s palm. The pendant was exquisitely translucent, its color flawless—clearly a rare treasure at first glance.

Guo Xinzi picked up the pendant, her smile flirtatious, her red lips parting as she spoke: “This is the Longyang Jade Pendant. According to expert appraisal, it once belonged to the imperial collection of the Song Dynasty. Some unofficial histories even claim that Emperor Huizong of Song wore this very pendant. It is said to bring good fortune to its owner…”

With her melodious and alluring description, Guo Xinzi painted the pendant in the most extravagant terms, stoking the curiosity of the guests.

Even Chen Xian found himself tempted to acquire the jade pendant for his own. However, when he extended his spiritual sense toward the Longyang Jade Pendant and detected not the slightest trace of spiritual energy within, he abandoned the thought of bidding. The Mother of Whispering Insects in his mind remained unresponsive as well.

With this double confirmation, Chen Xian was certain: the Longyang Jade Pendant contained no spiritual energy.

“Honored guests,” Guo Xinzi continued, “the starting price for the Longyang Jade Pendant is five million, with each bid increment no less than one hundred thousand. The bidding begins now.”

“Five million!”

“Five and a half million!”

“Five point six million!”

“Six million!”

…

No sooner had the hostess finished speaking than the hall erupted in a flurry of bids. The price quickly soared past ten million and continued to climb.

After five minutes and dozens of fierce rounds, the Longyang Jade Pendant finally reached a price of twenty-five million. The highest bid came from a corpulent middle-aged tycoon.

Seeing no further bids, Guo Xinzi fixed her gaze on a bald man in a suit and teased him with a coquettish smile: “This Longyang Jade Pendant is a once-in-a-lifetime treasure. Is there truly no one willing to offer more than twenty-five million? Miss this chance, and it may never come again!”

The bald man and the corpulent businessman had been driving the price up together, but when the bald man bid twenty million, the other abruptly raised the bid by five million, bringing it to twenty-five million and forcing the bald man to pause.

But under Guo Xinzi’s bewitching gaze, the bald man seemed reinflated, like a deflated ball filled with air. He bid again: “Twenty-six million!”

“Twenty-seven million!” the portly businessman countered immediately.

…

The two magnates continued to escalate the price.

Chen Xian watched Guo Xinzi on stage, her graceful figure and skillful command of the crowd, and privately mused, “What a seductive enchantress!”

In the end, the Longyang Jade Pendant was won by the bald man for thirty-five million.

With the first item fetching such a high price, the atmosphere was successfully ignited.

The second lot, a jadeite cabbage, sold for twenty million.

The third, a jade bottle, went for nineteen million.

The fourth…

By the time the eleventh lot was auctioned, Chen Xian had not placed a single bid. Though these jade artifacts were highly collectible and beautiful, none contained any spiritual energy, making them useless to him.

It was Old Master Zhang, seated beside him, who spent eight million to win a jade Guanyin.

After the eleventh item, another beautiful woman entered, carrying a tray to the stage. This time, Guo Xinzi did not immediately unveil the red silk, but instead let her gaze drift over the guests, smiling seductively: “The previous eleven items were precious, but compared to the twelfth, they are nothing…”

“Miss Guo, don’t keep us guessing—hurry and reveal what’s under the cloth!” Many guests could no longer restrain their curiosity and called out impatiently.

Guo Xinzi smiled, “Patience, everyone. Admiring jade is like admiring beauty; a little anticipation makes it sweeter.”

With those words, she lifted the silk. A green glow shimmered—two bright green ‘fish’ appeared to be lying quietly in the tray.

But upon closer inspection, they were not fish, but two pieces of jade, vibrant and crystal clear, exquisitely fashioned into fish shapes—a pair of Twin Fish Jade Pendants.

“How exquisite!”

“Such masterful craftsmanship—who could have created these?”

The guests could not help but exclaim in admiration.

Among the women especially, many found themselves utterly entranced by the Twin Fish Jade Pendants, unable to look away.

Chen Xian’s body trembled with excitement as he gazed at the pendants. He could clearly sense the dense spiritual energy within them—they were the ideal core material for arranging a small spirit-gathering array.

“Today, I must acquire these pendants, no matter the cost!”

Jade imbued with such potent spiritual energy was truly a rare find.

After a brief introduction, Guo Xinzi announced, “The Twin Fish Jade Pendants start at twenty million, with increments of at least one million. Highest bid wins. Let the bidding begin!”

As her words fell, the hall was filled with bids.

“Twenty million.”

“Twenty-one million.”

“Twenty-five million.”

…

Within just thirty seconds, the price reached thirty million and kept climbing.

Watching the escalating frenzy, Chen Xian frowned slightly. If this continued, the price would soar too high—he needed to act decisively.

“One hundred million!” he called out for the first time.

His bid stunned the room into silence; the fierce competition halted for a moment. He had raised the price by seventy million in one leap—more than doubling it—the highest single increase of the auction so far, flaunting immense wealth.

Seated beside him, Zhang Xin was startled. She knew Chen Xian’s family was not well-off. Though he’d recently earned some money helping others with rare plants, it was nowhere near a hundred million!

Worried that he might not be able to pay if his bid succeeded, Zhang Xin grew anxious.

Sensing her unease, Chen Xian offered her a reassuring smile.

Seeing this, Zhang Xin’s worries inexplicably dissipated, replaced by calm. In truth, Chen Xian had subtly used his spiritual power to soothe her mind—he did not want her to fret over him.

A hundred million was no small sum, even for the wealthy. Though many present were worth hundreds of millions or even billions, few had such liquid assets at hand and most chose to bow out at such a price.

Guo Xinzi’s beautiful eyes sparkled as she gazed at Chen Xian, smiling sweetly: “Any higher bids?”

Hearing no reply, she began, “One hundred million, first call, second call—”

“One hundred million and one hundred thousand.”

Just as Guo Xinzi was about to call “third,” a young voice interrupted her.