I Hate Systems

"380!" Xiaoan raised his hand, quoting the price.

"400!" Yanyuan let out an obvious snort in disdain, gazing at Xiaoan as he spoke, "Why is someone as poor as you trying to bid with me? Who knows what all you must have done to procure this sum? I thought it was only rumours, but did you really sell yourself in a brothel for this?"

"Shut up!" Xiaoan shouted in response, raising the price, "410!"

"Do you dare to bid more?" Yanyuan was just about to taunt more when his eyes lit up at the words Gahrat had conveyed to him, his lips curling up to reveal a wide smile, "If you only have one father, buy this."

"500!"

"Fucktard!" Xiaoan lost his cool at the words, ignoring the words his master said as he shouted, "2000!"

He glared at Yanyuan, "Do you dare to bid higher? Huh? Come on! Or are you the child of many fathers?"

"Such a sore loser." Yanyuan snorted as he closed his eyes, acting like he wasn't interested in the item in the first place.

"2000! Going one!" Luosha waved her hand, "2000! Going twice!"

She then observed Xiaoan gritting his teeth, sighing in disappointment, 'This is the apprentice of a Grade 4 Inscriptionist?'

"2000! Going thrice!"

Originally, this would have been where Xiaoan made a fool out of Yanyuan by making him bid higher than what the treasure might have been worth, showing off Xiaoan's intelligence, cunning, and supposedly mysterious backer.

But a single plot from Gahrat turned it on its head, making Xiaoan seem like a reckless fool wasting his backer's money instead. As Xiaoan didn't have a good image among his Clansmen before this, his infamy was only cemented further.

Moreover, he spent four times the money for an Artifact that was only good for carrying water. After all, even if one didn't have the Water Flask with them during their journey, as long as they had a large enough spatial ring, they could make do with it.

It wasn't that important in the order of necessities one ought to have while travelling. So, it just made Xiaoan look all the bigger fool.

'Was I wrong about him before?' Cheur frowned, wondering what was up. Though, the improved perspective she had of Xiaoan had already crumbled.

After all, the only thing propping it up was him defeating Yanyuan in a battle. But the very next day, he lost in a bidding war against Yanyuan. So, even the meagre good image he built had now vanished.

'Dammit! Dammit! DAMMIT!' Xiaoan heard the snickers of everyone around him, feeling that they hurt him more than in the past. After all, in the past, once he became a trash, he was hurt by their mocking remarks daily.

Over time, he became numb to it.

But just yesterday, he received praise, admiration, and expressions of wonder from others when he defeated Yanyuan. So, when he received the same hate as before, it hurt even more as he had tasted heaven a little.

It really messed up his mind, causing him to not pay heed to his master's voice much. Unfortunately, the Expert-In-The-Ring System couldn't take control of his actions or force him to complete Quests.

That wasn't in its nature. And doing so would destroy its entire character. The received Mental Energy would even be poisonous to its growth. It would have to extract all that Mental Energy out of its body later, otherwise, it might even result in its growth being stunted.

Luosha then brought out the second auction item, displaying a vial as she said, "Triple-Patterned Retainer Pill, the best of its kind, forged by a Grade 4 Alchemist. Consuming just one would raise the foundation of your Mystic Roots, allowing you to inherit more power from your Mystic Beast's bloodline. There are ten pills in this vial."

"Starting price is 200 Mystic Crystals. Increments should be in terms of 10." Right after she said so, multiple hands rose up as the price shot up immediately after.

A Retainer Pill raised the foundation of one's Mystic Roots, the core of a cultivator. It allowed them to inherit more abilities from their Mystic Beast after they obtain a bloodline.

So, for someone with a strong enough Mystic Root foundation, even a weak bloodline would result in a terrifying boost of strength. After all, they would be able to unearth all the secrets of the bloodline and wield it.

In contrast, if they had a weak Mystic Root foundation, even if they were to obtain the bloodline of an Ancient Mystic Beast, they wouldn't even be able to wield a fraction of its power.

So, one's Mystic Root foundation played the biggest role in their future achievements. And most of all, once they obtain a bloodline, it couldn't be ever improved upon.

So, every Clan was always on the hunt for a Retainer Pill. Though Grade 2, it was more expensive than Grade 3 or even some common Grade 4 Pills due to its demand and rarity. And among them, the number of patterns on a pill dictated its potency.

The greater the patterns, the stronger their potency and effect. Eating one Triple-Patterned Retainer Pill was equal to eating ten Retainer Pills.

And, there were ten of them being auctioned. So, everyone went crazy.

"They're pulling out the big stuff from the get-go." A commoner muttered in a daze, watching the price reach three digits already.

'This is useful for me too. I can also upgrade Yanyuan with it.' Thinking as such, Gahrat thought for a moment, raising her hand to sharply increase the price, "8000!"

For a moment, the auction hall turned silent as the price had yet to reach 2000 before it jumped up to 8000.

People that were interested in just joining in the fun felt like it was a slap to their face. Of course, Gahrat didn't mind that, watching Xiaoan raise his hands slowly to quote a price, "8500"

"9000!" Gahrat didn't even bat an eye. She just farmed the Mystic Crystals for free from her garden. Only her power as the Lord of Creation allowed one to do something as broken as this.

'How far will you go now?' She smiled. The reason for her smile wasn't that she had trapped Xiaoan but that this auction was as good as done already. It was her victory as she watched things play out as she had expected.