Chapter 281

Chapter 281

This time, the people present began to buzz and whisper among themselves once again with a loud noise.

The huge venue was instantly filled with a cacophony of voices.

What Emma said was something they had never considered before. Could auxiliary beasts actually collaborate with other beasts?

With the help of the Lightwing Butterfly, could the Glassy Ice Flame Dog and the Furious Ragdoll Bear actually enhance their strength even further?

Does this mean that Lightwing Butterflies with different abilities could also affect other beasts, allowing a Glassy Ice Flame Dog to exhibit unimaginable capabilities?

Among them, the most excited was none other than Gibson.

Hearing this, he excitedly jumped up from his chair and rushed to the glass wall in two steps. If it weren’t for the opinions of others in his box, Gibson might have pressed his face against the glass, drooling over the Lightwing Butterfly.

As a true Beast Tamer, all of Gibson's power lies in his beast pets.

To increase his strength, he had only two choices.

The first was to acquire more beasts, such as adding a Glassy Ice Flame Dog companion to his 'Pony.'

Or perhaps the Furious Ragdoll Bear, which he was customizing privately and expected to arrive in a few months.

However, there was a problem with continuously adding more beasts. The newcomers might not get along with the original inhabitants.

This concern was shared by all Beast Tamers who owned beasts and had taken beast-related training courses to obtain their certificates.

Moreover, quantity could not make up for the difference in quality.

After all, ten thousand level one beasts couldn’t harm a single level seven beast.

But now, things were different. As long as a Beast Tamer equipped their combat beasts with a few auxiliary beasts, their beasts would no longer be limited to their original strength.

This gave their beasts more possibilities, and how could Gibson not be tempted by this?

He reached out and hugged the Glassy Ice Flame Dog, habitually rubbing its soft fur, and then began to carefully calculate how much funds he could mobilize now...

Seeing that the atmosphere had reached its peak, Emma extended her delicate hand and returned the red-winged Lightwing Butterfly to its moonlight perch.

"Now, the double-selection rights for the first Lightwing Butterfly will officially begin auctioning. Please raise your bidding cards."

"The highest bidder will win the right to a mutual selection with this Lightwing Butterfly."

"This Lightwing Butterfly is a B-grade beast, with the ability of 'three times base strength enhancement.' The starting bid is 70,000 gold coins, and each bid must increase by a minimum of 1,000 gold coins. You may start bidding now."

As soon as Emma finished speaking, a knight sitting not far from the stands immediately raised his bid card.

"80,000!"

In an instant, the auction floor became lively, with countless bidding cards raised almost simultaneously.

"90,000!"

"95,000!"

In the blink of an eye, the price of the Lightwing Butterfly had already reached 95,000 gold coins.

Emma was slightly stunned, her heart filled with excitement, but she quickly regained her composure.

"Ninety-five thousand gold coins, any more bids?" Emma's gaze swept across the room, her eyes clearly encouraging.

"Lightwing Butterflies have various abilities, but those that directly increase base strength are not numerous." Seeing that the frenzied bidding had momentarily stunned the crowd into a pause, Emma was not in a hurry. She didn’t even prepare to pick up the auction hammer and began to speak confidently.

"This type of Lightwing Butterfly that enhances base abilities is, firstly, convenient to pair with other Lightwing Butterflies, working synergistically with butterflies of different abilities. Secondly, it isn’t particular about its owner and can perfectly match with any strength-based practitioner."

"This kind of Lightwing Butterfly with base attribute enhancement is like a cornerstone, and I really recommend you choose it!" Emma said, and playfully winked at the crystal lens.

Several more knights couldn’t resist and raised their paddles after hearing her.

The practitioners below, although many were members of various organizations, had come here today in a personal capacity to participate in the auction.

Therefore, most didn’t have much cash on hand.

Even so, the practitioners were incredibly enthusiastic, and soon the price of the Lightwing Butterfly reached 120,000 coins.

The number of practitioners raising paddles below was dwindling. Buying a pet suitable only for mid-to-low-level strength practitioners at that price seemed a bit extravagant to most.

Moreover, people still had some lingering concerns.

How long did the ability of this pet last? How strong would it actually be in real combat?

Would they really be able to make the most of this strength boost?

All these uncertainties needed verification, so it was unrealistic to expect them to spend all their money on this pet.

Just then, a voice came from the beast pet box above.

"130,000 coins." Paul calmly set down his teacup, raised his paddle, and quietly said.

The facilities in the private box were specially adjusted, so when Paul raised his placard, his voice was clearly transmitted to the arena below.

Although the economic conditions of the Thorn Knights had not been very prosperous lately, and they still owed the beast pet shop a portion of their debt due to various reasons, this did not affect Paul's determination to acquire this Lightwing Butterfly.

Ever since he learned of the existence of the Lightwing Butterfly beast pet, this diligent logistics officer would occasionally stroll around the beast pet shop from time to time.

After experiencing the benefits of the Lightwing Butterfly, Paul clearly understood that the emergence of beast pets would become a highly contested asset for practitioners for a long time to come.

The feeling was hard to explain, but Paul just had a sense that beast pets would become a significant turning point in this era.

Whoever could obtain the support of beast pets first would be the first to reach the pinnacle of this era.

Therefore, Paul always paid extraordinary attention to every move of the beast pet shop.

He knew clearly that all Lightwing Butterfly beast pets that could increase base attributes were exceedingly rare and valuable, the kind of "cornerstone" that Emma mentioned but people had not yet realized.

Currently, people didn't yet grasp this concept; with just a few brief introductions, many could not comprehend what the "Lightwing Butterfly combination set" was. They'd heard that the abilities of the Lightwing Butterfly could stack, but they couldn't immediately grasp the full extent of it.

And now, this Lightwing Butterfly was the first to appear in the public eye. Without a comparison, people naturally couldn't realize its importance.

However, as more Lightwing Butterfly beast pets were showcased, these people would eventually realize just how important those that directly enhanced base attributes were.

If someone wanted multiple Lightwing Butterfly beast pets to comprehensively boost a person's strength, these "cornerstone" Lightwing Butterfly beast pets were the indispensable and most valuable part of that set.

Armed with first-hand information, Paul naturally wanted to seize the opportunity to buy a Lightwing Butterfly at a low price before others caught on to its value.

Yes, a bargain.

In Paul's estimation, the value of each Light-winged Butterfly should be fluctuating between 100,000 to 200,000 gold pieces.

This was a price point no other pet beast in the shop had ever reached. However, after a thorough understanding, Paul believed that these beautiful little creatures were entirely worth this range.

Moreover, this price referred to those standard Light-winged Butterflies.

As for the ‘cornerstone’ type Light-winged Butterfly in front of him, the price should double or even triple once the market stabilized.

Securing one for 200,000 or even 300,000 gold pieces would be a guaranteed win.

Paul's face stayed calm and collected, but in reality, he had already calculated everything.

His bid officially kicked off the bidding war.

The distinguished guests in the aerial viewing boxes were the main targets of this auction.

The majority of them represented large organizations, with strong backing that allowed them to confidently bid astonishingly high prices.

Not many had the qualification to enter the aerial boxes.

In this box, apart from the three members of the Thorn Knights, there were only the leaders and logistics officers of the Holy Shield Knights and Holy Sword Knights, as well as the heads of two Mage Towers and a cardinal from the church.

Upon seeing Paul's bid, the logistics officers of the two knight orders exchanged a knowing glance.

They didn't have as much inside info as Paul, but they understood one thing: Paul had been maintaining very close ties with the beast pet shop.

Following someone with inside info was always smart.

The Holy Shield Knights immediately followed Paul's lead and raised their paddles.

"140,000!"

"145,000!"

"150,000!"

Each raise pushed the price up by 5,000, quickly reaching 150,000.

As for this strength-amplifying beast pet, the church and mage towers remained notably calm.

They had no intention of competing with the knight orders. Seeing the sparks flying between the knights, several great mages even kindly stepped back half a step to avoid having their robes singed by these knights' sparks.

Paul's brow furrowed slightly. The Light-winged Butterfly he had originally expected to secure easily now became much harder to obtain due to the involvement of these two colleagues who were just joining in for fun.

But that wasn't the main issue. The key point was that these two were clearly observing his reaction. If he showed any sign of abnormality, these two sharp individuals might immediately sense something was off.

It could potentially cause serious interference with his future plans.

He silently gritted his teeth, wishing he could chew up these idlers who only knew how to join in on his business.

"200,000!" Paul directly added 50,000 in one go.

After calling out, he casually tossed his paddle onto the table beside him, adopting a very relaxed attitude as he picked up his water cup and took a sip.

"My friends, shall we continue?" Paul coughed twice and involuntarily stroked the Light-winged Butterfly resting on his shoulder. His expression remained unchanged as he spoke in a very gentle tone.

He seemed unfazed, but his demeanor hinted at something unusual to the others.

This old fox is hiking the price by so much in one go—there must be a trick!

He either wants to trick us into not daring to raise the price, or he’s trying to fool us into being the sucker who pays a high price.

The other two logistics officers, who knew Paul well, quickly reached a conclusion.

Paul could read their thoughts from their faces; this was precisely the reaction he had hoped for. Paul secretly gloated inwardly.

The light-winged butterfly, which had been sleeping on his shoulder, heard his recent cough and woke up to look at its sickly master.

The little one shook its head in exasperation, much like an exhausted mother would. If anyone had looked closely, they would have seen it was just about to spread its hands and sigh.

A pair of beautiful wings emerged from Paul's shoulder, and a faint milky white glow briefly illuminated his body.

"Is that a light-winged butterfly?" the commander of the Shield Knights asked in surprise, looking at the wings that had suddenly appeared on Paul's shoulder.

This little one had been nestled on Paul's shoulder, fast asleep. The night before, Paul had bought it a brand-new toy, and it had caused a ruckus in the house all night, looking a bit tired in the morning.

The strap on Paul's shoulder was similar to the one Simon had shown earlier, though Paul's was larger. While it might not be as convenient for combat, it had far more functions for daily use.

The wings of the light-winged butterfly were entirely composed of light and had no physical form, so a finger-length light-blocking bag was enough to hide the butterfly completely.

When it stayed hidden, no one would have guessed that Paul had such a tiny companion on his shoulder.

So even though they were in the same box, no one had noticed that Paul was carrying such a little one.

The members of the Shield Knights were quickly drawn to the commotion.

They were just there to join the spectacle. The first auction item usually wasn’t the most important one.

Most people watched the light-winged butterfly with cautious interest.

Initially, they hadn’t planned to bid. The first light-winged butterfly would set the price, and if several major organizations competed and drove up the price, the ones who would ultimately suffer would be themselves.

They still had that bit of tacit understanding.

But who would have thought Paul would start bidding right away? The knights were old acquaintances, and they knew full well how meticulous and cunning Paul was, like an old fox.

For him not to follow the unspoken rule that everyone had agreed upon, there had to be something fishy.

With the intent to give Paul some trouble, even if they weren’t bidding, the logistics officer of the Shield Knights finally raised his paddle and joined the bidding.

Now, seeing Paul's demeanor, he began to have second thoughts. After a brief moment of weighing the situation, the logistics officer put down his paddle again.

If Paul was deliberately trying to scare him into letting him buy the light-winged butterfly for 200,000, that would be one thing. But if Paul was deliberately driving up the price because he saw them bidding, continuing to follow would be unwise.

The former would just let Paul get the butterfly, which wasn’t a big issue.

But the latter...

If the prices of the light-winged butterflies in the following auctions were all below 200,000, wouldn’t he be the only fool?

Although the Shield Knights didn’t care about this small financial loss, the discomfort of being played for a fool by Paul would wake him up in the middle of the night, fuming with anger!