Cards that appeared at auction generally had good attributes. This was because the auction house charged a daily management fee of 500 gold coins, and the queue was at least three days long. If a card didn’t sell for a good price, they would lose money instead of making a profit. Players who brought trash cards to the auction were definitely inexperienced novices.
So when they saw the unfamiliar Half Moon logo, most viewers weren’t optimistic and showed little interest in the card. They wanted the host to finish the auction quickly and move onto the more valuable seven-star cards.
The host smiled and continued, “Next, please look at the information on the front of this card!”
The card was simultaneously flipped on everyone’s screens.
The front showed a beautiful woman in a long dress. She had delicate features and a slender figure, and her frail appearance was worrying. She held some light pink petals and tossed them to the ground. Her moist eyes filled with tears, looking pitiful and like she was about to cry.
What a uniquely beautiful woman! The eyes of many casual players lit up. This character card had a unique art style. If the price was right, they could buy it for a girl to collect. However, most competitive players only admired the girl’s beauty on the card for a moment. They were still primarily focused on the card’s attributes and skills.
[Lin Daiyu (Wood Attribute)]
[Card Level: 1.
Evolution Star Level: ★
Available Uses: 1/1.
Basic Attributes: HP 100, Defense 0, Attack 15, Agility 15, Critical Rate 0%.
Additional Skill: Daiyu Burying the Flowers (Deals severe damage to flower-type cards. There is a 30% chance to trigger the instant death effect).]
Daiyi Burying the Flowers? The audience was momentarily stunned as they stared at the card. The skill affected flower-type cards, meaning it was only useful in the arena, not in dungeons. An instant death effect? They had never seen such a skill description before.
However, the card experts sent by various guilds to the auction house saw this card and immediately reacted as if injected with adrenaline. They sent private messages to their guild leaders. “Boss, boss, a god-tier card has appeared at the auction house. It is an instant death card targeting flower-type cards!”
”Guild leader, someone is selling an instant death card at the auction house, targeting flower-type cards!”
”F*k, is this person selling this card Tang Muzhou’s enemy?”
”Boss, what should we do? Someone is selling instant death cards targeting flower-type cards!”
Tang Muzhou, “……”
‘Chubby, this isn’t very friendly. You didn’t reply to our emails and now you are publicly putting up the Daiyu card for auction?
The news quickly spread to the professional players through the various guild leaders.
The Star Card League’s professional player chat group.
Zheng Feng: Haha, let me laugh for a bit. God Shen proposed an instant death judgment. I didn’t expect someone to make a flower-type instant death card to counter him!
Qiao Xi: Poor God Tang, should we go to the auction house to snatch this card?
Ling Jingtang: At this moment, I can only express my feelings with a [smile].
Ye Zhu: Hahahaha, I can’t stop laughing!
Shen An: Don’t laugh at my master! Be careful of retribution. You might become targeted too!
At the auction, the host said, “The starting price for this card is 3,000 gold coins!”
Many viewers thought to themselves, “Is this person crazy for money? One-star cards usually start at 500 right?”
“Selling a one-star card for such a high price? Isn’t he considering the cost of raising it to seven-stars?”
”Is this card creator a bit too confident?”
However, many knowledgeable people didn’t say anything. They nervously placed their fingers on the bidding button to snatch the card.
The moment the host shouted ‘Start,’ the auction price on the big screen skyrocketed.
3,500… 3,800… 4,000…
Within a minute, the price rose to 5,000 gold coins.
5,000 gold coins was a threshold. Those who frequently followed the auction house knew that most low-level cards that sold for this price were relatively good cards. This was because bidding on a low-level card required considering the cost of upgrading it to seven-stars, and upgrading a one-star card to seven-stars consumed a large amount of materials. Truly wealthy players preferred to buy seven-star cards directly. Even the middle class in the game would first consider whether their deck actually needed that card or not before buying a low-level card.
It didn’t seem like they really needed it? Thinking this, all those who were about to bid stopped.
The host announced, “5,000 gold coins once, 5,000 gold coins twice…”
Xie Mingzhe sat calmly in the crowd, waiting. The Daiyu card was definitely worth more than this. Wouldn’t players in the arena want to buy an instant death card? Or was it that this type of judgment appeared for the first time and many people still hadn’t figured it out?
The host said, “5,000 gold coins three…”
Before he could finish, a number suddenly appeared on everyone’s screens.
10,000.
Ten thousand! It had doubled!
Many viewers were shocked. Had a rich player accidentally pressed the wrong bidding button?
The host’s AI reacted quickly and he immediately continued according to the pre-programmed instructions. “The bid has increased to 10,000 gold coins. Is anyone else bidding?”
-20,000.
Someone doubled the bid again!
At this moment, the casual players who didn’t understand combat cards realized that perhaps this was really a good card? The players who did understand cards knew that the card experts sent by the major guilds had finally made their move!
Sure enough, the card price began a new round of fierce competition!
-30,000!
-40,000!
-50,000!
-60,000!
-100,000!
The price stopped when it hit 100,000.
In all the years that Star Card Storm had been running, the level 1 one-star card that had ever fetched such a high price of 100,000 was Tang Muzhou’s vine card from five years ago. Before Tang Muzhou, there were no vine-type cards in the plant decks. He pioneered a completely new vine combat style. The person who bought Tang Muzhou’s card at the auction was his later mentor. This was a story that many fans still fondly remembered.
Of course, prices five years were incomparable to today. 100,000 back then was equivalent to over 300,000 today.
Before Tang Muzhou put the vine card up for auction, he already made a name for himself in the black market and had countless fans. Now this person called Half Moon, a nobody who had never shown his face before, made his first appearance at the auction. He created an instant death card with the skill Daiyu Burying the Flowers, and it actually sold for 100,000? Could it be that a second card making genius was about to emerge?
The audience’s eyes widened and they struck a gossiping pose, intently watching the screen.
The buyers from various guilds were going crazy. They immediately used a private voice chat to communicate with their guild leaders. “I don’t know how many people are bidding for this. A level 1 card has already reached 100,000!”
”Are there members of the Fenghua Guild here? Are they afraid this card will be detrimental to God Shen, so they are desperately bidding for it?”
”Should we keep bidding?”
”Guild Leader, please give us instructions. Should we continue bidding?”
In fact, not only was Tang Muzhou personally present but the Judgment Guild also received instructions from the guild leader, Huanyue. They had to acquire it at all costs.
During the time that the various guilds’ buyers were privately messaging their leaders, the card price had surged to 120,000.
The guild leaders quickly sent out instructions. “We don’t lack that much money. Grab it!”
”Take it if you can get it for under 500,000!”
Some calmer guild leaders said, “This creator has only auctioned the first one. They will definitely sell in bulk later. There is no need to be a sucker. Let’s just observe the first one.”
The auction price was like a sports car that had accelerated. It skyrocketed!
-150,000!
-180,000!
-200,000!
-250,000!
The audience was stunned. How many people were fighting over this card?
-300,000!
Once this price was reached, even the buyer from the Judgment Guild chickened out. His voice trembled as he privately messaged the guild leader. “Boss, I suspect Fenghua is determined to get this card. Should we really compete? The price is already outrageous!”
Huanyue frowned in thought. 300,000 gold coins was enough for a large guild like Judgement, but what if Chubby Uncle realized his cards could sell for high prices and he didn’t want to become a creator at the Judgement Club?
Right! He was such an idiot! He actually helped Fatty Uncle raise the price at auction!
Huanyue thought of this and immediately replied, “Stop!”
Judgment stopped, but some guilds were unaware of the situation and still wanted to acquire this instant death card targeting Tang Muzhou.
-350,000!
-400,000!
The auction was completely ignited. Many viewers excitedly turned on their recording systems, airing the bidding war online. Many netizens who couldn’t access the auction also clicked on the live stream, excitedly witnessing the historic moment when the price of a one-star card broke records!
The buyers from major guilds felt a chill run down their spines, and the guild leaders were unsure about the situation.
Was someone maliciously driving up the price? It shouldn’t be this high?
Five years ago, Tang Muzhou’s one-star card sold for 100,000 gold coins. Back then, the gold ratio was 3:1, equivalent to over 300,000 gold coins today.
Logically, in the current market, even the best one-star card should only sell for 300,000 gold coins. It was because raising it to seven-stars required a significant investment. This might be the first time an instant death skill had appeared but was it really necessary to go to such lengths? The creator wasn’t only selling this one. There might be more Lin Daiyu cards at tomorrow’s auction. If they fought hard to snatch the first card and the creator sold them in bulk later, wouldn’t they be the ones getting ripped off?
All the guild leaders hesitated.
However, Tang Muzhou didn’t hesitate. He narrowed his eyes slightly and pressed the bidding button again.
Suddenly, a number appeared on the screen.
-660,000.
The number froze there as if silently saying to everyone, ‘Keep bidding, I’m determined to win.’
It was a number filled with a natural power, causing even Xie Mingzhe to be stunned.
Who was this bigshot? This was seriously amazing!
The venue suddenly fell silent and the host’s clear voice echoed throughout the hall. “660,000 once, 660,000 twice, 660,000 three times—sold!”
The hammer fell. Xie Mingzhe couldn’t stop grinning from where he was sitting in the venue.
He had struck it rich!
He hadn’t expected this card to sell for 660,000 gold coins. This was the first instant death cards, so he had guessed that the various guilds would bid against each other, causing the card price to be artificially inflated. He thought 200,000 would be the maximum. After all, it was just a one-star card, not a copyright buyout. He could make many more Lin Daiyu cards in the future.
Selling an initial level 1 card for 660,000 was a bit terrifying.
Maybe it was a bidding war among several guilds that backfired?
Xie Mingzhe didn’t listen to anything else about the auction and he didn’t care how much the other cards sold for.
He waited anxiously for the auction to end. Fortunately, there weren’t any particularly famous designers making cards today. Instead, his level 1 cold for the highest price. The auction concluded at 8:20.
Xie Mingzhe excitedly went to the auction house’s back office to collect his share of the gold coins from the NPC.
However, as soon as he arrived, the NPC said, “The buyer of the Lin Daiyu card left you a message. Please check it.”
“Hello, Chubby Uncle. I’ve already paid your 10% commission fee after the auction sale. I want to buy Daiyu cards from you in bulk. If you would like to see me, please come to the Qianlin Restaurant north of the central square in the Peacock star region. See you there!”
Xie Mingzhe looked at the message with surprise.
The auction house wouldn’t disclose the buyer’s or seller’s information to avoid disputes. Still, after a transaction, the buyer and seller could leave messages for each other through the system NPC. It depended on the other party’s mood if they responded or not.
How did this person know his name was Chubby Uncle? It was impossible to deduce from the Half Moon logo. Could it be that the buyer already knew him? Xie Mingzhe was completely baffled.
He never expected that the person who bought the card was none other than Tang Muzhou!
Tang Muzhou had also been attending every auction in person to wait for him to appear, and had actually waited a full three days.
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