Above the mage!

Chapter 501 Siren's Salt Marsh Elixir
Following the auction of the two flawed yet extraordinary pieces of jewelry consigned by Gaode Auction, more than thirty additional items were subsequently added to the auction, including finished treasures and precious raw materials.

There were many things among them that appealed to him.

However, he wisely chose to endure and did not take action.

Because he needed to save his money for the Ring-Up potion that hadn't been released yet.

After a “long” wait, the main event finally arrived.

"Alright, we have three truly exceptional items for this auction, and we're about to present the first one." Midi paused on the auction stage, seemingly giving everyone time to process this information.

"A potion to upgrade to the fifth ring!" Then, her expression turned serious as she revealed the answer.

Finally, it was about to come out. Gao De, who had been waiting for a long time, lit up his eyes, straightened his back, and his originally lazy gaze instantly became focused and sharp.

On the auction stage, Midi wore a perfectly timed smile as the crystal pillar began to slowly rise.

On the tray atop the pillar sat a pale white jade box, emanating a faint, chilling white aura.

Gao De's gaze was fixed on the jade box.

He wasn't the only one; many others in the arena made the same gesture.

Midi was clearly pleased with the intense gazes of the crowd.

The more enthusiastic everyone is now, the more intense the bidding will become later.

Under the intense gazes of the crowd, she carefully lifted the lid of the box with her slender fingers.

Inside the jade box was a small, transparent bottle.

The small bottle contained a blue liquid that shimmered with an eerie light.

The bottle itself was not moving at all, yet the blue liquid was constantly flowing, forming ripples like ocean waves.

It also contains suspended fine salt crystal particles and black pearl powder, which are what give it its eerie glow.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is the five-ring enhancement potion that our auction house is auctioning today, the Siren Salt Marsh Elixir."

"Before the auction begins, please allow me some time to give everyone a proper introduction," Midi said with a smile.

"The main ingredient of the Siren Salt Swamp Elixir is Siren Crystal. In ancient times, Siren were a powerful race, and they even had their own system of ancient Siren magic."

"Of course, the ancient sea monster race has declined and almost disappeared. The sea monsters we talk about now are very different from the ancient sea monsters. They are two completely different races, but they are also very rare. They only appear in the deep sea of ​​reefs, and it is extremely difficult to hunt them."

"And the siren crystal used in this bottle of spiritual liquid came from a fifth-order siren."

"In addition, this bottle of Siren Salt Swamp Elixir also contains black pearl powder nurtured by deep-sea pearl oysters to harmonize the magical fluctuations of the potion, as well as salt crystals that have been nurtured for over a thousand years at the bottom of the salt swamp and contain powerful magic as auxiliary materials."

"Because the ingredients are of the highest quality, even though this potion recipe is not the top-tier potion recipe for upgrading, the final potion produced is extremely effective."

"If you drink the Siren's Salt Swamp Elixir before advancing to the next ring, you can increase the success rate of the advancement by 35%," Midi said casually.

Upon hearing this, most of the people present showed expressions of shock.

A 35% increase
The highest quality ring-up potion can increase the success rate of ring-up by 40%.

This is already the limit that can be achieved in the field of potion-making in the category of ring-up potions; no ring-up potion with a higher success rate has ever appeared.

Potions that can achieve a success rate of four rings are usually only found in the Golden Flower Dynasty, the Holy Empire, and the Seaside City.

The Siren's Salt Swamp Elixir, which increases the success rate of ring upgrades by 35%, can almost be considered the most advanced ring upgrade potion that mages outside of these three major factions can access.

"I'm sure everyone's getting impatient, so I won't waste any more words. The starting bid for this bottle of Siren Salt Swamp Elixir is 20,000 Golden Bird Coins!"

Midi smiled slightly, knowing that truly good things don't need much praise, and slowly uttered an astonishing number.

The Five Rings Upgrade Potion is for use by Fourth Ring Mages, so it is essentially a fourth-tier potion.

Once a potion reaches the fourth tier, although its consumable nature remains unchanged, its quantity is greatly reduced. Unlike first and second tier potions, which can be purchased in unlimited quantities as long as one has the money.

Firstly, the number of fourth-tier potion masters, who are the main producers of fourth-tier potions, has decreased significantly compared to first- and second-tier potion masters.

First and second-tier potion masters are probably more like high-end workers, not particularly valuable.

However, a fourth-tier potion master can already be considered a master.

Another point is that, unlike first and second-tier magical materials, fourth-tier magical materials can not be mass-produced in most cases.

Since even raw materials cannot be mass-produced, the production of finished potions is naturally even more limited.

In this case, the potion changes from a mass-produced consumable item of the first or second tier to a limited-edition premium product, and its value skyrockets.

Even so, the price of a fourth-tier magic potion is generally around three thousand gold coin.

The value of an upgradeable potion cannot be measured by the standards of a regular fourth-tier potion; rather, it can be more than ten times that of a regular fourth-tier potion.

While a starting bid of 20,000 Goldfinch coins is outrageous for a fourth-tier potion, it is a very reasonable price for a fourth-tier upgrade potion.

Hearing the price from Gaode, a thought flickered in his mind as he considered his savings.

The 34100 Gold Sparrow Coins he had initially thought he had a sure thing about getting the Ring-Up Potion, but now things were uncertain.

After all, he never expected that the Blue Flame Auction House would be able to offer such a high-quality Ring-Up potion.

In his mind, being able to offer a potion that increases the success rate of ring enhancement by 30% was already considered a high compliment to the Blue Flame Auction House.

For potions that enhance ring circumference, the price almost doubles for every 10% increase in the success rate.

He originally had 6100 gold coin in his savings account, and with the recent deposit, he now has a total of 4 gold coins at his disposal, which is twice the starting bid.

Based on previous auctions, most items have sold for less than double the starting price, so under normal circumstances, you should be able to successfully acquire this bottle of Siren Salt Swamp Elixir.
Twenty-five thousand golden birdflower coins!

While Gao De was still pondering in secret, the number on the central screen of the auction stage jumped slightly, directly surging upwards by 5000 Golden Bird Coins.

The bidder is from box number six.

They immediately raised the price to the highest level.

A stone stirred up a thousand waves.

As soon as the first person placed a bid, the numbers on the screen immediately began to jump rapidly.

25500!

26000!

26500!

27500!

In just a few breaths, the starting price of 20,000 gold coin rose like wildfire.

The numbers on the screen jumped wildly, increasing by 10,000 in an instant, and then settled steadily at 30,000 Golden Bird Coins.

At this point, the relentless pace of price increases finally began to slow down.

Clearly, 30,000 gold coin coins is the bottom line for many people.

Some people hesitated, their hands hovering over the bid button, while others shook their heads in resignation, having already given up on the auction. Just as the scene reached a brief standstill, and even Midi was about to speak up to steer the conversation, the number on the screen suddenly jumped another notch:
35000!

The guest in box number six, who had made the initial bid, made another move, adding another 5000 gold coins to the already astonishing price of 30000 gold coins.

The effect of this swift and decisive price increase is immediately apparent.

The initially intense and turbulent bidding atmosphere cooled down completely after the bid increased by 5000 gold coin.

Many people looked at Box 6 with complicated expressions.

Gao De was secretly amazed by this, both by the generosity of the guests in the sixth VIP room and by their skill in controlling the pace of the game.

—There were only two bids, both increasing by 5000 gold coin. The first bid heated up the bidding atmosphere, while the second bid extinguished other people's hopes. The timing was just right.

35000 Golden Bird Coins is an astronomical price that would calm most people down, and it has already exceeded the actual value of the Siren Salt Swamp Elixir.

The silence in the auction hall lasted for a while. Midi's red lips parted slightly, preparing to call out the countdown bid—the previous bidding had been too intense, leaving her no room to maneuver.

But in the next moment.

"36000!"

The numbers on the screen then slowly jumped upwards again.

The price increase this time was not significant, and the names of the bidders were displayed next to the bids.

Seat 288.

They weren't the VIPs in the private room?

Instantly, countless gazes unconsciously swept towards seat number 288.

Even people in the private room cast slightly surprised glances at seat 288.

Faced with the various gazes coming from all directions, Gao De, shrouded in a black robe, remained unmoved.

It was he who offered the price.

Not too high, not too low, just add 1000 Goldfinch coins. This serves to show other interested bidders my desire for this Ring-Up Potion, while also avoiding unnecessary overpayment.

Inside VIP Box No. 6.

The lighting was even dimmer than inside the auction hall.

A man who looked to be in his early twenties was leaning back in a velvet chair, his handsome face carrying a hint of arrogance.

He was squinting, looking down at Gao De through the one-way window of the private room, his eyes flickering, lost in thought.

"Young master, would you like to raise the price?" an elderly man with white hair and beard asked softly beside him.

The young man shifted his gaze from Gao De to the Ring-Up potion shimmering with an eerie light on the stage. His eyes suddenly narrowed, and he said coldly, "Add another 2000."

As he finished speaking, the number on the screen reached "38000".

Beneath his long robe, Gao De stared at the conspicuous "38000," his gaze turning serious, and he unconsciously clenched his fist.

This price is already very close to his bottom line; the money from the auctioned jewelry, plus the remaining funds on hand, is almost at its limit.

He took a deep breath and seemingly casually pressed the third button next to his seat to increase the price.

"40000!"

All in!
If it succeeds, it succeeds; if it doesn't, so be it. At worst, I can work hard to earn military merits and use them to exchange for Ring-Up Potions for Sunafa.

Gao De's bid raised the eyebrows of everyone else in the auction room, but only Mi Di on the auction stage smiled.

This is the highest price achieved so far at this year's Wrath of the Liberation auction.

Inside VIP Box No. 6.

The young master's expression instantly darkened, and a hint of anger flashed across his handsome face.

He flipped his hand, about to press the price increase button, but the old man next to him coughed lightly and bowed to remind him:
“Young Master, don’t forget that our goal for this trip is the last item to be auctioned. Spending so much money on a bottle of Ring-Up Potion before that might affect our funds for the final bid.”

At the old man's words, the young man's movements suddenly froze, his hand hovering over the price increase button, his expression rapidly switching between anger and rationality.

This continued for about four or five seconds. He seemed to calm down, his expression returned to normal, and he slowly lowered his hand.

"Since he wants it, let's give it to him for now. As for whether he can keep it, that depends on his ability. Let's not end up saving me money." His voice was somewhat cold, and a sinister and greedy glint flashed in his eyes.

Upon hearing the young master's words, the old man said nothing more, but simply bowed slightly and stepped aside.

"Forty thousand goldbird coins, for the first time!"

"Forty thousand goldfinch coins, for the second time!"

On the auction stage, Midi, with a slight smile, quickly called out the price twice, clearly exceeding his expectations.

This time, there were no unexpected changes.

"Forty thousand Golden Bird Flower Coins for the third time! Alright, this bottle of Siren Salt Swamp Elixir belongs to guest number 288!" Midi didn't deliberately slow down the pace, quickly finished asking three questions, and immediately made the final decision.

Gao De felt a sense of relief.

Although the final transaction price exceeded his expectations, he managed to acquire the property successfully.

Moreover, upon closer examination, of the 40,000 gold coin, 34,000 came from the Blackwing Gang relics given to them by Sarah.

The remaining six thousand gold coin coins were also stolen money obtained by "double-crossing" Santos from the Embroidered Anchor Gang.

It's like getting a bottle of five-ring upgrade potion for free without spending a single penny.

Thinking about it this way, his mood immediately improved.

However, after this ordeal, Gao De was basically drained of his funds, and the subsequent auction items were no longer relevant to him.

At this moment, a new crystal pillar has been raised on the auction stage.

The surrounding guests seemed to be getting ready to get started.

But Gao De's mind was not on this at all. He waited in his seat for a while, and then an auction house servant came to his side to carry out the specific handover procedures with him.

“I previously consigned two items to your auction, and I’d like to use the proceeds from those consignments to offset the cost. Let’s discuss the transaction privately. I don’t plan to participate in the upcoming auctions.” After saying this, he glanced around discreetly, noticing several subtle gazes that seemed glued to him.

He had no money left, so there was no point in just sitting here watching the show.

Moreover, having just spent 40,000 gold coin to bid for the Siren Salt Swamp Elixir has already attracted a lot of attention, violating the rule of "not flaunting wealth".

This perfectly fulfills the prerequisite for the classic auction plot of "murder and robbery".

Therefore, it's best to settle the payment quickly and then slip away before the auction ends and while everyone's attention is still on the auction.

The servant was clearly no stranger to the need for such discreet transactions; he gestured for him to follow him. "Honored guest, please come with me."

Gao De slowly stood up, pulled his hood down even lower to cover most of his face, and followed his servant through the corridor and quickly left the auction hall through a side door.

(End of this chapter)