Cosmic Trading System

"Hmm, it's rare to find something that seems to have spirituality, but someone else took interest in it too. However, if it does possess spirituality, then it's far more valuable..." the person who had spoken earlier in the group said, nodding with irritation.

The Qingyun Restaurant and Qingyun Hotel, especially in Shen City, were already very renowned. They had heard of them, even visited them, hence they knew these places were making a large profit.

In the end, their competitor was seemingly someone rich. It was understandably frustrating for them to face such a rival.

However, these spiritual items were hard to come by, so the reluctance to give them up was quite palpable.

"Five and a half million for the first time!"

"Five and a half million for the second time!"

Just then, the auctioneer on the stage called out loudly.

"Five million, fifty thousand!" said the man who had been making bids in the group, speaking once more.

Though he was unsure if the item indeed had spirituality, ultimately, he wasn't willing to give it up so easily. If the item did contain spirituality, then they would make a huge profit by paying five million, fifty thousand for it.

"Eight million!" Lin Yun said nonchalantly, before the auctioneer could ask again.

"Eight million! This gentleman has bid eight million, any higher bids?" The auctioneer shouted enthusiastically.

If the previous excitement had added to the atmosphere, this moment was a genuine thrill. The price had already far exceeded the object's intrinsic value.

This meant huge profits for their auction house. Most importantly, he personally would get a generous commission, even more than he would have made auctioning items worth hundreds of millions. How could he not be elated?

The group who had been bidding earlier were rendered speechless.

Well, each time they made an offer it was more than five million, yet they didn't even receive the honor of the auctioneer calling them out.

"Eight million, fifty thousand!" The bidder in the group gritted his teeth and raised his bid once more.

For heaven's sake, the starting price for this item was just over a million. Every time he raised his bid by fifty thousand was considerable. However, the other party's increases were so large that his extra fifty thousand seemed paltry in comparison.

"Interesting, an item with a starting price of just over a million is now fetching eight million, fifty thousand..." someone in the crowd laughed lightly. Anyone familiar with him would know that he was a billionaire, too.

"Could it be, this item's true value has been underestimated?"

"Or is it a publicity stunt?"

Some people shook their heads.

Among them, few authentic experts could discern the real price of these antiques, hence, others merely watched with bated breath, abstaining from making bids themselves.

Eight million, fifty thousand was quite a hefty sum.

Even though many of them were wealthy, they couldn't afford such a splurge.

"Ten million!"

Just as before, without waiting for the auctioneer on stage to announce, Lin Yun made his bid again with the same cool demeanor.

His expression had continuously remained calm, just as if he had bid one million instead of ten.

"Let's give up. We can't tell if this item really has spirituality. Ten million, we can't keep raising. Later, there are a few items coming up that may contain spirituality, particularly one. We've personally appraised it and it definitely contains spirituality. Don't spend all our funds on this, so we don't end up not able to bid on those items..." an individual in the group advised, shaking his head.

In reality, with just an additional fifty thousand, they might have secured the item. They might have continued bidding, but at the moment, it was evident that the opponent had no intention of backing down.

Even if they were to raise the bid to fifteen million, securing the item would still be a challenge.

They figured it was better to retreat early. Doing so would also prevent them from offending anyone, after all, they still had other items to bid on. God forbid this wealthy man decided to cause trouble, their plans would be thrown into disarray.

"Hmm, let's give up. We're just unlucky to have bumped into such an ignorant fellow. Otherwise, with three million, fifty thousand we would've clinched it. This guy sells a bottle of wine for tens of millions, seems like he really is rich..." the man who had been making bids agreed, speaking in a vexed manner.

Initially, he had thought of taking a gamble. Perhaps the other party wouldn't continue with the bidding war. After all, the current price wasn't low and money doesn't grow on trees. Alternatively, the Qingyun Restaurant and Qingyun Hotel might not be accruing such large profits, or perhaps, the other party wasn't the real owner of the Qingyun Restaurant and Qingyun Hotel.

However, as the bidding price had reached this level, he could no longer take the gamble and had to admit defeat.

"Ten million for the first time!"

"Ten million for the second time!"

"Ten million for the third time! Sold! This renowned painting that has been passed down through the ages now belongs to this gentleman!"

With a gavel strike on the table, the auctioneer on the auction stage finally confirmed the new owner of the item.

Soon after, an attendant carefully gathered the painting and descended the stage, heading towards Lin Yun.

Lin Yun had one of his bodyguards accept the painting, and then he proceeded with the payment.

Once the attendant left, Lin Yun unrolled the painting to examine it. This was his first encounter with a painting imbued with spirituality. He wanted to see what this spiritual painting actually looked like.

As he unrolled it, a strong surge of spiritual energy immediately rushed towards him.

This spiritual energy, although not as pure as the spiritual energy from Spirit Crystals, was very simple, or single-aspected. Lin Yun knew that this type of spiritual energy was relatively easier to absorb and refine. If someone knew some rudimentary methods to cultivate spiritual energy, they might be able to absorb and refine this spiritual energy.

Let this painting absorb the scattered and disorganized spiritual energy of many people, and slowly transform it into this singular spiritual energy that it is, to be absorbed and refined by himself. If used properly, this painting could be a treasure for those who knew how to absorb and refine spiritual energy.

Not everyone has the Cosmic Trading System, nor does everyone have Spirit Crystals, which are pure spiritual energy crystals.

Even if some people didn't understand the method of absorbing and refining spiritual energy, the spiritual energy radiated by this landscape painting was very gentle. Spending a long time around this painting could help a person remain calm and cultivate their sentiment. If used during martial arts meditation or study, it could also be more efficient.

Jade can absorb energy, not just spiritual energy, leading to the saying, 'nurture jade for the early years, and jade will take care of you in your later years.'

A person normally dissipates excess energy, which is then absorbed by jade. When the person is in poor health, the jade feeds this energy back to the person.

The energy in jade originally comes from the energy you emit, so even a person who does not cultivate can still absorb it very well.

Hence, there are sayings like "one should not randomly wear other's jade", and "jade should not be detached from the body". When you let someone else wear your jade, the jade absorbs chaotic energy which can wash away much of the original energy, making it less likely to feed back to you.

The rationale behind jade never leaving the body is that if jade is kept away from a person for too long, the absorbed energy dissipates. If jade is frequently left unattended, it has no difference from not wearing it.

It works the same way with these spiritually endowed items. They can absorb the surrounding spiritual energy. If the spiritual energy they absorb over a long period of time comes entirely from one person, then the spiritual aura that this item possesses will closely resemble that person. In critical times, being near this item will be very beneficial.

Of course, the prerequisite is that the spiritual energy in this item is gentle and positive, just like the landscape painting Lin Yun purchased. If it was negative spiritual energy, it would instead be harmful.

"What a great painting, what a wonderful landscape painting..." Lin Yun examined it for a while and finally exclaimed.

Indeed, as a spiritual painting, the landscape in the painting might not be as realistic as the modern photos or videos, but it had an added aura that made people fall into it involuntarily, as if they were truly in nature.

Next, Lin Yun rolled up the landscape painting and handed it to the bodyguard beside him.

Although it would be safer for him to keep the painting in the trading space, and the other two antiques with spirituality were also processed in this way, Lin Yun obviously couldn't do this under the watchful gazes of the audience in such a large hall.

Lin Yun looked up and continued to watch the auction.

He found the auction to be quite interesting.

The auctioneer's expressions, language, tone, and even actions, as well as the expressions, language, tone, and timing of people's bids were all skillful.

Most of the people who could appear at this auction were social elites, each with their methods of handling things that Lin Yun found quite insightful.

In a short while, the group that was competing with Lin Yun for that painting started to bid on another item.

Upon seeing this item, Lin Yun had a strange expression.

Not because this item also possessed spirituality, but because it held a large amount of spiritual energy.

He estimated that this item had been viewed by many people and liked by many, so it accumulated a lot of spiritual energy. The original location of this item should be some museum-like place.

Because for the past few days in museums, he had seen many such items.