Chapter 207: Treasure Map
In truth, even if the price were cut in half, Zhou Ning still probably wouldn't buy this thing.
First, just looking at a whole string of keys made him uneasy—he felt like he'd never keep track of which one stored what. Second, he had his own player-exclusive inventory, so why abandon the essential for the trivial?
Even though he was fairly wealthy now, money still had to be spent where it counted.
After that box was sold, the next few lots also went for impressively high prices.
The second seller brought out a whole bundle of red jasper leaves, a main ingredient in brewing high-grade potions—especially aphrodisiacs—with an extremely rare yield. The starting price was already 800 Vecktas, and competition was fierce.
The one who bought the red jasper leaves turned out to be the nobleman sitting beside Zhou Ning, paying 1,200 Vecktas for them.
The third lot made Zhou Ning's heart race—a ring enchanted with Ice Armor, able to automatically trigger when attacked, with a usage limit of 100 times, of which 92 remained.
The starting bid was 300 Vecktas. Zhou Ning was just about to speak when the nobleman next to him once again placed a bid:
"I'll offer 350 Vecktas for this ring."
"Four hundred Vecktas," Zhou Ning immediately raised by 50.
The nobleman responded without delay, "Four hundred and fifty Vecktas."
After several rounds of back-and-forth bidding, when the price rose to 750 Vecktas, the man gave up: "Alright, it's yours."
The Scales of Misfortune were used for evaluation, and after confirming its authenticity, it turned out the ring wasn't quite worth 750 Vecktas, but it was close enough.
That's the downside of the Supernatural World—there's no such thing as a bargain here; you basically get exactly what you pay for, Zhou Ning thought to himself.
Once the appraisal was complete, it was money in one hand, goods in the other. Zhou Ning picked up the ring and slid it onto his finger. It might not be incredibly powerful, but it was at least a life-saving tool.
There was also an unexpected bonus: the ring counted as an antique. Obtaining it advanced his "History Enthusiast" quest to 7/9. Oddly enough, not every antique piece of gear counted toward the quest; it depended on whether it had historical significance.
He was now very close to completion. Hmm… he'd have to keep making moves when the chance arose.
After winning the ring, Zhou Ning stayed quiet for the next few rounds, simply watching from the sidelines.
Before long, it was Edwin's turn to auction at the 2 o'clock position. As expected, he presented a hammer from the half-man mammoth Katuwa and a round shield.
"This is a high-quality Supernatural weapon, enchanted with Thunder Strike, which can significantly slow your opponent's movements. The effect is very noticeable.
"But the downside is its heavy weight—about 67 kilograms. It requires considerable arm strength to wield. Starting at 900 Vecktas."
Edwin's introduction was brief and to the point. Despite its monstrous attributes, the strict usage requirement meant no one bid for quite a while.
Eventually, someone offered the starting price and took it.
Unbothered, Edwin moved on to the second item.
"This shield comes from the Weather Tides—it's called the Shield of Grut. It can significantly boost the user's strength and endurance, and it's permanently imbued with a Grand Druid's Thorn Spell, which damages enemies who attack you.
"Its only flaw is, again, its weight. The price is 1,200 Vecktas."
That shield must have dropped from the last big-shield warrior they encountered… The attributes were insane—wearing it would make you a walking fortress. Pity it was completely useless to him.
In the end, the shield sold for over 2,000 Vecktas, and Edwin looked quite pleased.
This trading round was much longer than previous ones. In the next few deals, someone bought two Tier 3 Earth Temple spells for 900 Vecktas, while a Supernatural material priced at 1,800 Vecktas failed to sell due to the high asking price.
When it was the turn of the stag-headed man at the 6 o'clock position, he was still looking to buy a melee weapon at a reasonable price, with a budget of 400 Vecktas or less. No one responded, and after a while, he slumped back into his seat.
The trades that followed were relatively mild—someone sold 10 treasure-hunting potions at 15 Vecktas each, a potion Zhou Ning could mass-produce at will.
After that, another seller offered an expert-level alchemy blueprint for something called the Volcano Potion. It boosted critical hit rate by 18% for 30 seconds, required level 40 to use, and had a cooldown of 2 minutes.
It was essentially a controllable burst skill. The blueprint's starting price was 500 Vecktas, and surprisingly, there wasn't much competition. After bidding against the same fat man who'd sold the iron box earlier, Zhou Ning bought it for 800 Vecktas.
After purchasing two items, Zhou Ning's wealth dropped to just over 13,000—money came fast but went just as quickly.
Soon, it was the turn of the two at the 7 o'clock position. A cloaked man wearing a red mask stood up and spoke in a deep voice: "Two thousand Vecktas for a commission—to assassinate a high-ranking knight!"
"An assassination contract?"
"A high-ranking knight? There aren't many in all of Darkland. Who's the target?"
The announcement caused a stir throughout the venue.
"I'll share more details once a contract is signed. Under the contract's witness, I will naturally tell you, and both I and the faction behind me will provide substantial assistance. Anyone willing to take it?"
He waited for nearly thirty seconds, but when no one replied, he quietly sat down.
Next was a burly man, wearing the same black hood as Zhou Ning but without pulling the brim low—his lower face was faintly visible.
He stood about 2.3 meters tall, with reddish skin—a classic Northern pirate look.
Zhou Ning noticed faint scales and small tendrils near his jawline. Given some Northerners' peculiar tastes, he was probably a human–sea creature hybrid.
"I want to sell a few items discovered on a mysterious island in the Sea of Mists. First is an unknown oddity, sometimes called the Lucky Clover. It can boost one's luck for 12 hours, but three hours later, misfortune will begin.
"This is based on repeated testing, though we can't confirm if there's any margin of error.
"The other item is a so-called treasure map, said to point toward a legendary great treasure, originating from a pirate king of the Four Heroes era.
"The starting price for the Lucky Clover is 1,600 Vecktas. The treasure map comes as a bonus. I don't recommend trying to find it—we paid a terrible price in the attempt."
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