The Highest Bounty

The sword sheath was entirely gilded with intricate engravings all over. The sword handle was black, while the sword was around 1.5 meters long.

Gu Ding snuck a glance at Biggie from the side and noticed him staring intently at the sword. Gu Ding immediately made a decision. He would bid on this sword for Biggie.

“Many of you may have heard of this sword. It’s called Darkness,” when the female auctioneer revealed the name, there was a slightly uneasy look on her face.

A funny look appeared on some of the people who were interested in the sword when they heard the name.

The female auctioneer continued explaining, “That’s right. This is the legendary cursed sword. There may be many out there who have not heard of this sword’s history. Do allow me to explain.”

“The first master of this sword was a demigod from the Ancient Age. He may have had the power of a demigod, but it did not stop his life force from being absorbed by the sword, resulting in his death.”

“After that, this sword went through many masters. Each of its masters died from eventually losing their life force to the sword. It was some time before someone finally realized there was a curse on the sword.”

“It has been passed down through the ages and we have it here in our possession. The sword’s previous master was the Raving Sword Baron from the Faye Cosmic Nation. When he ultimately decided to give up the sword, he was left with less than 100 years of life force.”

The Raving Sword Baron was a Rank 12 Gene Body powerhouse who was considered a national treasure in the Faye Cosmic Nation. He previously worked as a marshal within the military. Anyone who was awarded the title of Baron by the Federal Government was the best among Rank 12 Gene Body powerhouses.

At this point, the auctioneer’s explanation had planted fear in the audience. Even Gu Ding, who had planned to bid on the sword for Biggie, had completely lost interest.

The legendary demigod and the Raving Sword Baron were much powerful than Biggie was. If these people were unable to overcome the curse, Biggie would not stand a chance either.

“However, this sword will only absorb its master’s life force when it is being used. It is capable of enhancing your battle skills by three to ten times while in use. There is also another irresistible detail about it. It has been said that hidden within the sword, is the swordsmanship experience of its first master. There has been more than one person, among which includes the Raving Sword Baron, who has proven this to be true. Opportunity and risk share a common existence, in which case, interested buyers may start bidding. The floor price of the sword is fifty billion Star Credits. Each bid increment may be no less than 5 billion Star Credits,” the female auctioneer had informed the audience of the sword’s positive traits after talking about its curse. Both the auctioneer and the organizer had been reluctant to mention the curse, but in the auctioning line, it was necessary to be upfront and honest with bidders to prevent any future disputes.

“Captain, can you get this sword for me?” Biggie turned to look at Gu Ding.

“Big guy, don’t be stupid. Didn’t you hear what the auctioneer said? That thing has a curse on it. Even a demigod could not escape from it. You’ll probably be sucked dry within a few days of using it,” Liliath tried her best to talk him out of it. When it came to dangerous items such as this, her choice would always be to stay as far away from it as possible.

“Biggie, I don’t think that sword suits you either. This curse of absorbing its master’s life force sounds pretty serious. Not to mention the many powerhouses who died because of it,” Gu Ding couldn’t bring himself to reject Biggie’s request, but he felt that the sword was an evil item.

Biggie lowered his head. By the looks of it, he was not willing to give up the sword.

Neptune suddenly spoke up. “Gu Ding, bid on the sword for him. At a certain level, curses are a special type of energy restriction. If I can upgrade my Deciphering Restriction to the highest level, I should be able to break the curse. Even if I am unable to upgrade it soon, I still have plenty of information regarding curses in my databank. I can try searching methods on breaking the curse, but before that happens, try not to let him use the sword often. It would be better if you don’t let him use it at all.”

“Neptune just told me that he will find a way to break the curse in the sword. I can bid on the sword for you, but you must promise not to use the sword often, or perhaps not at all; at least until the curse is broken.”

Neptune usually only makes a decision after giving it tremendous consideration. If Neptune felt it was okay to bid on the sword, there was no reason for Gu Ding to think otherwise.

There was only a handful of people taking part in the auction for this particular item. Every time someone made a bid, they would only bid at the minimum increment of five billion. The bid was only now up to sixty-five billion.

“Seventy billion!” Gu Ding pressed on the auction button and yelled out his bid.

“Seventy-five billion!” Someone chimed in not long after Gu Ding.

Gu Ding frowned and pressed the button again. “Ninety billion!”

“Ninety billion! Will that be the final price? Even if the sword is not usable, it would still make for a fine piece as a collector’s item. The curse will not activate if the sword is not in use. There is no harm in owning it. Does anyone else have a higher bid?” The female auctioneer continued to entice the crowd with her words.

The bidding went higher because of the enticing of this female auctioneer. The price had immediately jumped to a hundred billion.

Gu Ding frowned again and asked Neptune in a low voice, “Do the auction rules require the buyer to make payment on the same day as the purchase?”

“Nope. You can pay when picking up the item. After the auction has ended, a staff member will get in touch with you. You can inform them that you won’t be picking up your item today. They aren’t worried about you running off because they have your record as a seller. They know you can afford to pay for it,” Neptune had gone through the rules and regulations of this auction and was extremely familiar with the procedure.

“Two hundred billion!” Gu Ding decided not to waste any more time with this opponent and doubled his bidding price.

The auctioneer was taken aback by the bid. She had not expected someone to want this sword so badly. She was still quick to react despite the surprise. “A buyer has offered a direct bid of an additional one hundred billion Star Credits. The current bid has been raised to two hundred billion Star Credits. Is there anyone who wants to offer a higher bid? Two hundred billion Star Credits once… Two hundred billion Star Credits twice… There are still no higher bidders. In that case, two hundred billion Star Credits… Sold!”

Biggie got excited when he heard the words ‘sold’.

“Reel in that excitement. We probably won’t be able to get our hands on the sword today. We’ve only sold a crystal ball at the moment. Even if the buyers pick up the crystal ball today, we won’t have more than 120 billion Star Credits even after adding up all the money we have on us. We need to wait till all our other items have been sold before we can pick it up,” Gu Ding said as he patted Biggie’s shoulders.

“Okay,” Biggie nodded and did not object to it.

The auction continued and the 8 hours was over before they knew it. Gu Ding had a total of four items that were successfully auctioned off, among which included the crystal ball. Every item was bought by the same buyer from the private suit, and every purchase had a generous bid on them.

The four items had left Gu Ding with a grand total of two hundred- and eighty-Star Credits. When the auction was over, the staff approached to Gu Ding.

“Sir, all four of your auctioned items have been picked up by the buyer. The total amount is two hundred and eighty billion Star Credits. After deducting our commission of 5%, the total amount in your account is two hundred- and sixty-six-Star Credits. You have yet to collect an auctioned item, would you want to make that collection now?”

“Those people in the private room sure are efficient. Come on, let’s go collect that sword!” Gu Ding said with a big smile on his face.