End of the Magic Era

“This…” Lin Yun thought about it for a long time but couldn’t understand the logic behind it. He looked at William with sympathy. “How come you are so unlucky…”

“Yeah, I don’t know why my luck is so bad. It had to be Salen Charlotte out of everyone. That guy is a mad dog. I rarely had contact with him in Okland, but he would seize every opportunity to sneer at me or attack me. He became even crazier after becoming an Expert Swordsman. He would use every occasion to challenge me. One of the reasons I accepted going to Thousand Sails City besides just obeying the family was to avoid him…”

“Hmm, a 4th Rank Expert Swordsman, that’s very good for his age…” Lin Yun nodded and stopped there.

“It’s not bad…” William saw that Lin Yun didn’t intend to continue discussing and tactfully remained quiet, but he was praising himself in his mind. ‘I’m so clever, I went to Thousand Sails City and had the chance to meet you. Otherwise, I would have been completely crushed by that guy…’

“Cousin Mafa.” Ross approached as the two finished their conversation. He had directly homed in on them after entering the auction hall.

In order to let this VIP remain undisturbed, Ritch had picked a location that was relatively empty, but that made it so that Ross could now sit directly next to them.

“Ross, how come it’s you?” William rolled his eyes at him. That man was like a ghost, the way he haunted them.

“William, you’d best not provoke me…” Ross was already in a bad mood after being blocked by William again and again, so his gaze was icy cold as he glared at him.

“I’m so scared…”

“I’ll say it for the last time. This matter is very important to me. So important that I would do anything for it. Keep provoking me if you think that you can face my fury again after luckily beating me once.”

“Haha…” Disdain was apparent on William’s face. Others might be scared of Ross Merlin, but William wasn’t. He knew that the person sitting next to him wouldn’t let Ross act up.

After sneering, William was about to say something to provoke Ross when Lin Yun waved his hand. “It’s fine, Cousin, let him finish his words.”

“Alright…”

“You can speak now.”

“Mafa Merlin, according to our relationship, I can also call you Cousin. I investigated you before coming here, I hope you don’t mind…”

“Haha, it’s fine.”

“I know that your alchemy shop is very wealthy and influential in Thousand Sails City. I also know that you have a very powerful mage at your side who might possibly have the strength of an Archmage. That powerful mage killed Stan Watson in the Aurij Mountains. If I’m not wrong, Stan Watson should have had a map on his body, but after his death, the map disappeared. I think that this map is likely in your hands…”

“That’s right.” Lin Yun straightforwardly nodded and acknowledged it. There was no need to hide it. After all, in Lin Yun’s eyes, a 5th Rank High Mage like Ross Merlin wasn’t worth worrying about. Let alone Ross, even Stan Watson, who had made Ross despair, was only a ticket to the Ancestral Land for Lin Yun.

“That’s great.” Unfortunately, Ross didn’t understand Lin Yun’s attitude. He thought that since his young cousin admitted to owning the map, he was indicating that there might be a chance to trade. Why else would he acknowledge it?

“Cousin Mafa, that map is very important to me. As I said, I would do anything for it. But this map isn’t important to you. So I think we should come to an agreement. Give me the map and I’ll give you some other compensation. You should know that I’ve been going on expeditions through various large planes owned by the Merlin Family. Although I didn’t have many outstanding achievements, I’ve had some pretty good harvests…”

“Oh?”

“Today, I brought three Inheritance Magic Tools. As long as Cousin Mafa agrees, these three Inheritance Magic Tools are yours. Moreover, I also have some experience and knowledge, so if Cousin Mafa has any questions, I might be able to give you a few pointers…”

“Hahahahaha!” William couldn’t hold himself back anymore and burst out in laughter.

He then looked at Ross with a strange expression.

The expression was really quite peculiar.

It felt as if he was looking at some rare animal in a zoo.

Ross looked doubtfully at William, but didn’t understand the meaning behind that gaze, so he thought that William was just trying to provoke him.

But Ross didn’t have the time to take care of him. After glancing at him, he focused back on Lin Yun.

“Moreover, your shop might meet some trouble from time to time in a place like Thousand Sails City. I should be able to help, as a 5th Rank High Mage. I can promise you that as long as you give that map to me, I can help your Gilded Rose three times.”

Ross said all this with a sincere expression, but the answer he awaited never came. He looked up and found out that the other side’s eyes weren’t even looking at him.

It was because the auction had already moved on to the middle section and one Magic Tool came out.

“The next item to be auctioned is a damaged Spiritual Magic Tool. The name of that Magic Tool is Black Moon Splendor. According to our Black Horn chamber of commerce’s appraiser, Black Moon Splendor comes from the hand of a Master Alchemist of the 3rd Dynasty. It has over two thousand years of history and might have been damaged due to the passage of time, making its power disappear from the limelight before appearing in front of everybody today. The damage to this Spiritual Magic Tool isn’t too serious. It could completely recover if a Master Alchemist is willing to spend some time to take care of it. Now, this Black Moon Splendor will start at the low price of 50,000 golds.”

“Cousin Mafa, what do you think of my conditions?” Ross had two peak Spiritual Magic Tools as one of the three geniuses of the Merlin Family, so he naturally wouldn’t be interested in a damaged Spiritual Magic Tool. After giving it a quick glance, he focused back on Lin Yun.

“Wait…” Lin Yun didn’t even turn his head and directly bid, “80,000 golds.”

“Cousin Mafa, what do you mean by this?” Traces of displeasure crept onto Ross’ face. ‘For a damaged Spiritual Magic Tool you would put me to the side? Are you trying to humiliate me?’

“Wait, we will talk about this later.” Lin Yun frowned. He had been bothered twice by Ross while bidding and was becoming very unhappy about this.

Because the transaction Ross wanted to discuss simply couldn’t compare to the Black Moon Splendor.

They were on two completely different levels.

The map Stan Watson left behind would at most satisfy Lin Yun’s curiosity, but this damaged Spiritual Magic Tool would most likely become the first Augment of the Doom Staff.

Black Moon Splendor was worthless by itself. Even if Lin Yun fixed it, it would most likely lie idle in his hand, but some of the techniques used for it were very important to him.

It was because this Black Moon Splendor used a rare Array Layering technique, which was what the Doom Staff needed.

Thus, Lin Yun didn’t spare anything to get it.

“200,000 golds.” Lin Yun raised the price to 200,000 with his 3rd bid.

“250,000 golds.” A voice suddenly came out from one of the private rooms on the top floor.

Lin Yun felt that this voice was familiar. Before he even thought about it, he heard William cursing and understood. The one bidding should be that Salen Charlotte.

“William Merlin! You think you can trick me by asking someone to bid for you? I’ll fight over anything you fancy!” The private rooms had been prepared for the famous people of every major force. The Black Horn chamber of commerce had first-rate sound amplification magic items within for them to use. The bid of 250,000 golds came from the arrogant Salen Charlotte.

“That idiot…” William ground his teeth.

“Haha, it’s fine…” Lin Yun smiled before raising his hand. “800,000 golds.”

Lin Yun’s bid silenced the entire venue.

Countless gazes fell on Lin Yun. Everyone wanted to see which wastrel was bidding 800,000 for a damaged Spiritual Magic Tool.

How could this not be wasting money?

An intact Spiritual Magic Tool would sell for that price…

The auctioneer even said that they would only be able to restore it they hired a Master Alchemist.

But was hiring a Master Alchemist that easy?

Which Master Alchemist would offer their services without being paid at least 200,000 or 300,000 golds?