News from the Nether? The Demon race exploded!
Lop finally understood what it meant for a single word to fall and all sounds to cease.
The moment the word 'Nether' was uttered, the entire auction house fell into complete silence.
The Aseram Continent, and even all worlds under the Heavens, had a Nether, or rather, legends of a Nether.
But as everyone knew, the Nether had already collapsed countless years ago.
All that remained were a few myths and some creatures that could attest to the Nether's past existence—like the Demon race in the Gustik Holy Empire's official Dungeons.
And today, the name of the Nether reappeared on the Aseram Continent.
This was no less significant than a mysterious place from the Heavens appearing on the Aseram Continent.
Just this alone was enough to prove the extraordinary nature of this Nether Alloy Set.
More importantly—
Did the MC Dungeon have a Nether floor?
What kind of place was that, exactly?!
"Lady Mei'er—"
In a room on the second floor, a black-haired, black-eyed person from the Gustik Holy Empire avoided the gazes of the adventurers in the room and looked at the woman by the glass.
Besides her enchanting appearance and the captivating charm she exuded with every gesture, what was most striking was her long, slender, heart-shaped tail.
This was Mei'er, the Fourth Elder of the Succubus clan, a branch of the Demon race from the Gustik Holy Empire's Dungeon.
When she first entered, she looked rather uninterested, but the moment she saw the Nether Alloy Set—this usually listless Succubus actually had such a serious and tense expression?
"It's the aura of the Nether! No mistake!"
After a long silence, Mei'er sat back on the sofa with a solemn expression, her voice cool.
"Acquire this equipment at all costs!"
"Yes!"
Lop below also sensed the fluctuation of the Demon race's aura.
He smiled, looking calm and collected.
"Words alone are not enough, and I'm sure you won't believe that the legendary Nether, once a rival to the Heavens, has reappeared in the world. However—there are likely many Demon race experts present here."
"Everyone, what do you say?"
Mei'er rubbed her temples, a little headachey. She knew Lop was asking her to state her position directly.
Unfortunately...
She had originally wanted to keep this matter quiet and acquire it secretly.
Now, well, she couldn't disregard Lop's prestige, nor that of the Elven Kingdom.
She nodded, signaling the person from the Gustik Holy Empire to speak. The latter quickly stated:
"As Elder Lop said, this equipment indeed comes from the Nether—"
Lop nodded in satisfaction.
Now, he could finally achieve a perfect opening success.
"The material used to craft the Nether Alloy equipment, Nether Alloy, originates from ancient remnants on the Nether floor. Its specific origin is still unknown to us."
"Currently, we only know that Nether Alloy is extremely rare and is a top-tier material, surpassing most other materials!"
"The starting bid for this Nether Alloy equipment set is one hundred million gold coins! Each bid must not be less than five million gold coins!"
"Now, let the bidding begin!"
Almost as soon as the words fell, the frantic bidding quickly surged to one hundred and fifty million within a few breaths.
But these were all shouts from adventurous teams hoping for a stroke of luck.
The truly clever legendary adventurer groups remained silent. They knew they couldn't afford this item, and they also knew that all nations were waiting for another official bid to be made first.
They had given up hope for the Nether Alloy Set and only wanted to know how much it would ultimately sell for.
But even now, it had already broken the price record for any equipment set in history.
After about one or two minutes, someone finally couldn't hold back.
"Two hundred and fifty million!"
Hiron looked up.
That was someone from the Dwarf Empire, he could tell.
From the moment they spoke, the ensuing battle no longer belonged to the adventurers.
Before Lop could repeat the number, Garron from another room spoke.
"Three hundred million!"
Even the most sluggish ordinary adventurers now knew the battlefield had shifted.
Ultimately, they could only sigh in resignation and give up on bidding.
If private adventurer teams intervened in the competition between nations, they would easily be targeted for retaliation.
"What a grand gesture—"
Having decided to give up on bidding for this equipment, Hiron took it in stride, smiling at Fatz.
"How much do you think this equipment will sell for in the end?"
"...It's hard to say."
Fatz shook his head.
Just the enchantments, in his opinion, were worth that price, and this set of equipment was enough to forge a legend.
The most crucial thing was its origin—the Nether!
This was a place with extremely high value, just like the Heavens.
Just with the two words 'the Nether,' nations wouldn't mind spending a fortune to buy it.
With the prestige of the Nether, this equipment set could practically be called demigod-tier.
But how much it sold for had nothing to do with them. Compared to worrying about that, Fatz was more curious about the MC Dungeon.
A Nether floor—
Lop hadn't mentioned it was a fragmented Nether. Did he forget? Or did he deliberately omit it?
This was worth pondering.
After a moment of thought, Fatz looked at the man beside him.
"Mr. Zehi, aren't you going to make a move?"
Zehi remained silent for a long time, then shook his head.
"This is not something we can acquire."
Only behemoths like the Orc Empire, Dwarf Empire, Magic Dynasty, and Gustik Holy Empire were qualified to compete for this equipment.
The Olyana Kingdom wouldn't live to use it even if they bought it.
Moreover, the two words 'the Nether' had already proven that the Gustik Holy Empire would acquire this equipment at all costs.
They knew better than anyone what the Nether meant.
It was just that this news hadn't spread before; otherwise, those mysterious Demon Grand Dukes would have left their Dungeons to come in person.
They definitely wouldn't mind emptying their coffers to buy a treasure related to the Nether.
Even if they couldn't research anything, as long as a Demon Grand Duke wore this equipment, it would undoubtedly provide combat power exceeding the continent's limits.
Zehi looked at Lop, who sat calmly, like a fisherman.
Indeed—
The successive Queens of the Elven Kingdom must have possessed power beyond limits.
In that moment of distraction, the price had already skyrocketed to six hundred million gold coins.
At this point, only the Magic Dynasty, the Dwarf Empire, and the Gustik Holy Empire remained in the bidding.
But apart from the Gustik Holy Empire, the representatives of the other two great empires were becoming increasingly hesitant in their bids.
This price was too high, and they were not the Gustik Holy Empire, which cooperated with the Demon race.
The value of the Nether was significant to them, but not enough to risk everything.
Ultimately, the truly divine-grade resources had not yet appeared.
Garron sighed, glancing in the direction of the Gustik Holy Empire.
They clearly intended to acquire it at all costs.
He raised his hand to the bidding device, hesitated for a long time, then closed his eyes and gave up.
Consider it weakening the Gustik Holy Empire for the upcoming competition for divine-grade resources.
When the price reached seven hundred and thirty million, the Dwarf Empire also quietly withdrew.
Lop struck the gavel three times and was the first to applaud.
"Congratulations to the Frost Moon Adventurer Group for acquiring the Nether Alloy Enchanted Set."
Although he knew in his heart it was the Gustik Holy Empire's doing, he still had to maintain appearances.
"Later, the Elves will bring the Nether Alloy Set for handover. Please prepare the funds in advance. Furthermore—"
Lop looked at the adventurers whose eyes flickered, clearly harboring ulterior motives, and his tone became slightly sterner.
"The Elven Kingdom will provide security for the auction items until they leave the Verdan Eternal Forest, with the Council of Sages Elder responsible for supervision." These words, however, were hard for Mei'er and her group to be happy about.
Those prying eyes hadn't dispersed at all.
Safety within the Verdan Eternal Forest was not a concern; no one dared to make a move here. But once outside, it would be different. After a long silence, Mei'er whispered:
"Send word to the Empire, dispatch seven Demon Grand Dukes to await."
"Yes."
With seven Demon Grand Dukes, on the verge of the continent's limit, making a move, and the Gustik Holy Empire's Hippogryph cavalry already in position,
bringing back the Nether Alloy Set should not be a problem.
Lop began to introduce the second item for auction.
It was Ender Pearls, sold in sets.
Although Lop explained that using Ender Pearls also caused self-harm, they were, after all, spatial tools that even ordinary people could use.
A life-saving artifact.
It couldn't compare to the Nether Alloy Set, but the bidding for Ender Pearls was still very lively.
Representatives from various nations also acquired some, while the rest were bought out by adventurer teams.
The auction gradually stabilized.
Subsequently, many high-level splash potions, enchanted books, Void Stones, diamond enchanted sets, golden apples, and other materials were brought out.
Representatives from various nations and adventurers took turns bidding, each gaining something.
Especially when it came to Nether resources, the appearance of Soul Sand, Soul Campfires, and Nether Warts always made the Demon representatives of the Gustik Holy Empire bid frantically.
Almost everything related to the Nether was bought by them.
Various nations were quite pleased about this, as the Gustik Holy Empire would likely be unable to participate in the final bidding for divine-grade resources.
"These guys are all so rich—"
Tashiniya watched the bustling auction below with longing eyes.
Even now, the cheapest item was still over a million.
So, the quests her Tasiniya Demon Subjugation Squad took before were considered cheap, huh?
Veronika commented with some emotion:
"In just this short while, the Elven Kingdom must have earned almost five billion, right? What a huge profit."
"Do you still care about these things?"
Tashiniya scratched her head.
"In the MC Dungeon, you also dug up a lot of gold, didn't you? All that gold, once melted down, could make hundreds of billions of gold coins."
"It can't be released so casually."
Veronika gave a wry smile and patiently explained to Tashiniya.
"Too much circulating gold can easily lead to the collapse of the financial system. If the gold coin system collapses, it would be a disaster for the entire world."
The gold Veronika and her companions accumulated was primarily used for advancing certain magic arrays and technologies that required gold as a material.
Some was indeed melted and circulated, but not too much.
In contrast, the Elven Kingdom gaining five billion gold coins that could be directly used had a better effect.
Tashiniya listened for a long time, half-understanding, then finally realized:
"No wonder Hilulele and their gold is all stored away, unused. But why is the Elven Kingdom still not short of gold even without using that gold?"
Hilulele chuckled, proudly tilting her head back.
"Doragon's war reparations are immense. Even if we undertake massive construction projects throughout the Verdan Eternal Forest, we won't spend it all in a few years."
"Moreover, the Elven Kingdom doesn't engage in much external trade right now, so it doesn't need to spend much gold externally."
Tashiniya nodded thoughtfully.
In short, they were like a Pixiu, only taking in and not letting out.
Su Lin poked Lulu's demon horn.
"Lulu, you've been to the Nether before. What do you think is the difference between there and the Nether?"
He had only just noticed this today, thanks to the Gustik Holy Empire frantically spending money on Nether Alloy equipment.
Unfortunately, Lulu also only had a superficial understanding of it.
According to her, the Demon race had indeed been searching for fragments of the Nether.
But detailed information about the Nether was only known to the various powerful individuals and high-ranking officials of the Demon race.
Although she had a father who was very special among the Demon Grand Dukes, Lulu was still young and couldn't access such things.
However, Lulu did say that she felt very comfortable in the Nether, as relaxed and happy as if she had returned to her mother's womb.
This information provided Su Lin with a very important conclusion: the fundamental nature of the Nether, it seemed, would be difficult to change later.
Indeed, he shouldn't have told them that the Nether had another nickname back then.
"Grandpa Lop is about to bring out something good!"
Aelita called out expectantly, and everyone's attention returned to the auction floor.
Below, apart from the Nether Alloy Set, most of the items were just scattered extras.
To others, they were excellent items, but in everyone's eyes, they were quite ordinary.
The real excitement, however, was about to begin now that this item had appeared.
This time, it wasn't an Elf soldier who came up, but Lawrence.
He solemnly held a long, black-cloth-covered object.
This immediately piqued the curiosity of the auction staff.
They could tell that from this point on, they were entering the truly top-tier resource auction phase.
"This next item is a treasure recently found in a floor of the MC Dungeon that our Elven Kingdom has been exploring."
Lop slowly placed his hand on the black cloth, his face solemn.
"To this day, we still haven't found much about this treasure."
"Its name—the witherstone greatsword!"