Originally, the tourists attracted by Leo’s peculiar tricks rushed to Area A upon hearing about The Dragon Pearl. One elderly man even bumped into Leo in his haste.
Leo didn’t even flinch, but the old man lost his balance and almost fell.
Leo reacted quickly and grabbed the old man, steadying him.
“Thank you. Wait, Leo?”
“Xavier? What are you doing here?” Leo asked in surprise.
Xavier scratched his head. “I’m here to look at antiques, of course. And you… what’s this about?”
Xavier’s eyes darted to the banner that read “Western Xia Treasury,” and he chuckled. “You cheeky fellow, daring to go after the Western Xia Treasury. Don’t you know it’s destined for the city museum?”
“I know, but it hasn’t been revealed yet. Besides, we can always collaborate in the future,” Leo replied with a grin.
Old Xavier was just joking around and didn’t really care about the ownership of the Western Xia Treasury.
At that moment, the big screen showed Ethan stepping onto the stage of Bonham Auction House.
The auction stage at Bonham Auction House was far more upscale than that of Spirit Moon Antiques. It had dedicated steps and a green backdrop for live TV broadcasts with real-time special effects.
Ethan carried a wooden box covered with a yellow cloth and walked steadily to the auction platform.
All eyes were on him.
Old Xavier pulled Leo along. “What can you see from here? Let’s go to Area A.”
Leo wanted to stay and watch over his stall, but Christine waved him off. “There aren’t many customers here right now. You should go take a look. There might be something important for the grading later.”
Since Christine said so, Leo went with Old Xavier to Area A to watch the main event of the auction.
As soon as they entered Area A, they were met with a sea of black heads, almost no bodies visible, as if all the tourists had crowded there.
Leo pulled Old Xavier through the crowd, encountering a few acquaintances from the Ghost Scholar Exhibition along the way.
Leo finally managed to get close to the stage with Old Xavier, but they were still some distance from Ethan and could only see his actions clearly on the big screen.
Just as Leo was about to settle there with Old Xavier, someone called out from not far away, “Leo, over here!”
Leo looked over and saw David from Triple Element Commerce Association.
“There are seats here.” Despite being ranked last among antique dealers in Langstel, David seemed to have good connections and had secured seats with chairs in the front row.
Leo squeezed through, where a group of security guards stood facing the crowd, opening a path for him.
Leo brought Old Xavier along.
“Old Xavier, you’re here too?”
To Leo’s surprise, David knew Xavier.
Leo and Old Xavier sat down next to David.
David leaned over to Leo and smiled. “Nicely done, quite innovative.”
Leo knew David was referring to his earlier singing and dancing auction.
“Mr. Ball, you’re too kind. It was just to attract people and spread the word about Western Xia Treasury. Not many real bids yet!”
“No rush. The first step was well done.” David remained calm, seemingly unaffected by the bustling scene in Area A.
Leo noticed another person on stage, dressed like an ordinary office worker but with an unusually sharp gaze. He stood alone in a corner of the stage, looking like a staff member of Bonham Auction House.
“Who is that?” Leo pointed at the man and asked.
“Landon Locke,” David replied.
“What does he do?” Leo asked again.
“He’s from the grading team.”
“Why is he on stage?”
“Probably waiting for The Dragon Pearl auction to finish before introducing the grading.”
Leo wanted to ask more, but Ethan started speaking on stage. “Ladies and gentlemen, let’s introduce The Dragon Pearl.”
As soon as Ethan spoke, everyone fell silent.
The big screen focused on the wooden box.
Ethan took out The Dragon Pearl from the box.
The pearl was large, about the size of an adult’s palm, with a lifelike five-clawed golden dragon inside.
“This Dragon Pearl is a treasure of Great Liao and a beloved item of Master Hill. Its magical properties are well-known. Let me demonstrate,” Ethan said as he took a small knife and pricked his left index finger.
The camera zoomed in to show a drop of blood forming on his fingertip.
Ethan let the blood drop onto The Dragon Pearl.
The blood didn’t slide off but seemed to be absorbed by the pearl, disappearing entirely.
The pearl suddenly glowed briefly, and when it dimmed, the five-clawed golden dragon inside appeared to come alive, swimming within the pearl.
The sight was truly astonishing.
As Ethan expected, gasps of amazement erupted from the crowd.
Old Xavier watched in fascination like everyone else. Being an expert from Langstel Museum, he understood more than ordinary tourists.
He whispered, “It’s said… this item came through special channels.”
David seemed unsurprised and showed little reaction. Leo curiously asked, “Special channels? How did he get it?”
Old Xavier gave a knowing look and replied, “Money talks. No one refuses money.”
Leo pressed further. “How much money are we talking about?”
“Who knows? But it must have been a lot.”
After the gasps came thunderous applause.
Ethan stood on stage, squinting as he enjoyed it all. He noticed Landon in the corner typing something into his phone continuously.
It seemed this successful Spring Dawn Garden auction would greatly benefit Bonham Auction House. All that remained was to fetch a high price for a perfect ending.
“Alright, let’s start the bidding! The starting price is fifty million dollars!”
Even though people were prepared for it, there were still murmurs at such an unprecedentedly high starting price.
Ethan was confident that this high starting price wouldn’t dampen the enthusiasm for bidding.
The prior publicity and live demonstration had done their job well. If they couldn’t even start at fifty million dollars, he might as well shut down Bonham Auction House.
“Fifty-five million!” someone shouted from below.
As people continued bidding, The Dragon Pearl’s price climbed rapidly, soon reaching seventy million dollars.
Ethan stood at the front of the stage with clenched fists, silently urging, “Higher, higher!”