Ascension of the immortal Asura

"Tch, this brat still hasn't bid on anything yet," Vivian grumbled with great displeasure as John had yet to place a bid on an item. "Maybe he's so poor that he can't even afford the most basic of items here. Tch, how am I supposed to have fun crushing him then?"

"Now, now, you'll definitely have your fun soon. While that brat you're targeting might be poor when compared to you, he most definitely isn't a nobody," Xander assuaged her displeasure.

"Oh? Do you know who that brat is?" Vivian asked curiously.

"I know Caz, and he wouldn't team up with a nobody, so I did some digging into who he is. It turns out that John Fenix is the number one disciple of the Heavenly Lightning Sect, so he has some skill after all," Xander said to Vivian.

"The Heavenly Lightning Sect? That's just some second rate sect. Being the number one disciple of such a sect doesn't mean anything," Vivian replied dismissively, completely looking down on the Heavenly Lightning Sect.

As one of the premier youths of the Starforge Clan, there were very few powers on the Divine Martial Continent that she treated with the respect of an equal, and the Heavenly Lightning Sect was not an equal in her eyes.

"True, which is why I'm also curious as to why Caz chose to bring him along," Xander mused as he stared across the auction theater, his gaze locked onto John.

"Oh! He's finally bidding on an item," Xander chimed up as he saw John bid on the Eternal Spirit Forge.

"Finally! Time to make this brat regret that he ever spoke to me that way," Vivian scoffed as she instantly placed her bid, while a satisfied smile appeared on her face as she noticed John looking at her booth.

"That's right, you peasant. Try to fight against me and know despair at how poor you are!" she mocked him, although John couldn't hear it due to the booth being soundproof.

"Oh, he bid again! As if I'll let you!" Vivian mocked again as she instantly placed another bid, and smiled as she noticed John's frown.

"Ah…maybe you should go a bit slower on your counter-bids, otherwise they'll quickly figure out it's you targeting them," Xander offered some words of warning.

"Of course I want them to know it's me targeting them! I want them to know it's me that will make them unable to obtain a single item!" Vivian replied with displeasure at hearing Xander's words.

Xander wanted to offer words of warning, but decided against it and let Vivian be, who smiled with mocking pleasure as she stared at John.

"What now, brat? How long will you keep bidding until I break you?" she said with a mocking smile on her face.

…

Sixty Five Million!

John placed another bet, five million higher than Vivians, and as expected, another bet was placed by her instantly, five million higher.

"Are you going to try to fight her for this item?" Caz asked, a slightly concerned look on his face. If John was being targeted by Vivian, then there wasn't much he could do about obtaining the items he wanted.

"Do you want me to place a bidder in the crowd to do our bidding instead? That way you wont be targeted by Vivian," Caz suggested to John, who shook his head against the idea.

"No, that won't be needed," John replied calmly as he placed another bet.

One hundred million!

The crowd became surprised at such a sudden increase, as this item was now the highest bidded on item thus far. Not only that, but there was a drastic increase in price, indicating that it was a much desired item from one of the bidding parties.

One hundred and thirty five million!

Vivian instantly placed her bid, increasing it by a larger amount than John had increased, as if to further emphasize that he couldn't compete money wise. A deep frown appeared on John's face as he saw this bid, and his gaze shifted back to the private booth that Vivian was within. He stared at the booth for some time before placing another bid.

One hundred and seventy million!

Beep!

Two hundred million!

"Two hundred million! For a pill forge? Isn't that a bit too much?" many in the crowd mused, as the price had now far exceeded the items value.

While the crowd discussed the bidding, John's frown turned into a grimace, and his hand trembled above the bidding formation on his arm rest. After a brief moment of pause, he clicked his tongue and withdrew his hand, ceasing his bidding on the item.

"Going once, going twice….Sold! To private booth thirty five!" the auctioneer exclaimed, excited that the price had skyrocketed so high for the forge.

"Heh, this is just the beginning, you peasant scum," Vivian mocked as she stared intensely at John, "you best get used to this taste of defeat!"

Meanwhile in John's private booth, Caz stared at John with a mixed expression, unsure of what was going on. Based on John's facial expressions, it seemed as though he was quite upset to have been outbid on the item. Just as he was about to say something, John turned to look at Caz, which now all Vivian could see was the back of his head.

"Haha, what a fucking idiot," John said as a smile replaced his previous grimace, while a look of surprise appeared on Caz's face as he realized what John was doing.

"Ah…you baited her into that bet?" Caz asked John, who nodded his head in confirmation.

"And she fell right for it," John replied.

"What…what if she stopped bidding? You would have spent over a hundred million for a forge valued at a fraction of that!" Caz asked curiously.

"That was the price I was willing to pay to see how far that Starforge princess would push things. If I had bet any higher, the price would have reached a level that even someone like her found suspicious, and she would have most likely seen right through my plans. But now that I know she'll try to outbid me as long as the price is somewhat reasonable, I think this auction is going to become much more entertaining than I initially thought it would be," John replied with an amused smile on his face.