Unable to repay my student loans, I had no choice but to work part-time as a demon hunter.

Gordon needed that box of woven spiritual crystals to comprehend the source essence. Hearing someone raise the price to 100 gold pounds, he couldn't help but look in the direction of the voice.

The other person also looked up, their gaze chilling, reminding Gordon of the corpses in the university.

A grey cloak. A subtle way of telling you he's not a good person.

"He might be a practitioner of the 'Weaving' technique, or someone who seeks out such items for others. He doesn't seem like an ordinary collector." Eve stood next to Gordon.

"He is the Everett family's agent, Sebastian." Luanna turned her armchair, which was covered in dark red velvet, ninety degrees so that she could face the courtyard and offer her opinions.

"That's one of the nine great families, Gordon." Charlotte was familiar with the name.

"They've declined badly and may soon be eliminated. That's why I hope you guys will compete for the remaining thrones. The old guard always occupies the table, and the best way for newcomers is to overturn it." Luanna picked up a candied cherry, popped it into her mouth, and smiled lightly.

Charlotte hesitated. Even though the Everett family had declined, they were not people that ordinary people could mess with. Competing with such a family for things would usually cause trouble.

Gordon looked at the paradoxical crystals that resembled Möbius strips.

He needs this; the material for weaving is very rare. If he misses this box, he might have to search for it in some ancient spider's nest that's hundreds of thousands of years old.

He held up a sign.

"This is 110 gold pounds, esteemed guest," the auctioneer announced immediately after glancing at the item.

"130".

"150".

The guests were just laughing at how strangely this box of crystal looked.

Seeing the VIPs on the second floor and Everett's representative vying for it, I immediately realized that this item was unfathomably valuable!

They picked up their telescopes and looked again, trying to discern some kind of great wisdom in those shapes.

"170 gold pounds." The auctioneer saw Sebastian raise his paddle again. "Sir, 170 gold pounds. Is the esteemed guest upstairs still willing to bid?"

Upon hearing Sebastian quote 170 gold pounds, Gordon began to hesitate.

He also needs to run his company, firm, and home, so he can't spend all the money at once.

"Should I?" Charlotte noticed Gordon's hesitation. "If you really need it..."

"No, I'm not so poor that I need my baby to help me."

"There are quite a few problems with what you said," Charlotte said, hands on her hips.

Just as Gordon was about to continue chatting with Charlotte, Luanna suddenly raised her slender, fair hand and made a "one" gesture to the auctioneer.

"171 gold pounds, any higher?" The auctioneer took a deep breath.

A murmur arose in the courtyard.

She added 1 gold pound, which had nothing to do with the price; she was making a statement.

Sebastian looked up at the smiling Luanna, paused for a moment, and then gave up bidding.

"Sold for £171!" The auctioneer's gavel fell. "This chest of philosophical, symbolic carvings of the cycle of the soul and the mysteries of space... belongs to this young lady!"

"What do you need these for?" Gordon asked.

"Here you go." Luanna waved her hand as if buying a bag of roasted chestnuts from the street, one leg crossed over the other, her toes pointing up in red high heels that matched her red dress.

"I'll pay in full; I don't need the 171 gold pounds."

"You don't want to owe me a favor? Hmm?"

"Being in debt is really affecting my sleep quality; I've had enough."

"That's interesting. You know perfectly well that debt is a financial instrument, using other people's money to leverage greater returns. You should understand that. You just don't want to owe me anything; you don't like me," Luanna said quickly.

"Please stop saying anything about 'liking'." Charlotte raised her finger, and Luanna smiled but didn't continue.

Gordon had formed a preliminary conclusion about Luana.

This woman has some mental issues, but she's also quite interesting; the two aren't contradictory.

At the Midsummer Ceremony, she refined the "Myriad Forms Without Aspects," and this source material may have greatly changed her spirit, causing her to enjoy seeing all sorts of strange things happen.

The auctioneer wiped the sweat from his brow and continued the auction.

A set of aluminum tableware was auctioned off for a high price, a set of bird-of-paradise specimens was bought by a theater manager, and a jewel-encrusted scimitar fell into the hands of a naval officer.

Next, an antique brass lamp was carried onto the stage, handled with utmost care, as if holding up the blazing sun.

This lamp has twelve sides, each inlaid with glass, so that the light inside can pass through evenly.

The top of the lampshade is carved with an abstract sun, and the surrounding sun disc is carved with twelve coronas in an exaggerated style, shaped like tentacles, and a cluster of white flames is burning quietly inside the lamp.

The moment the lamp appeared, the monastery courtyard became brighter, and the shadows on the crowds faded.

The lantern burned eternally. Its light was so close to the sun that hope and fear became two sides of the same coin.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is no ordinary lamp," the auctioneer began. "This is a Source Material creation designed by the Hermes Academy 150 years ago... It has accompanied Source Material hunters deep into one dark and desolate ruin after another, capable of maintaining its bright radiance indefinitely, suppressing darkness and shadows, eliminating the harm of spirits, and will not go out even if it sinks into water!"

Upon hearing this introduction, Gordon turned to look at Eve.

Sure enough, he saw a glint of longing in her eyes.

Her emotions flashed for only a moment before she suppressed them, but Gordon saw them clearly.

She feared the darkness, yet sought knowledge; she longed to enter those ruins, yet worried that the darkness would corrupt her mind.

With this lamp, her fear of the dark would be greatly reduced. From now on, she could travel at night and venture deep into caves with the light.

"Starting bid: 150 gold pounds!" the auctioneer announced.

"160!"

"170!" The bidders immediately made their moves.

"Do you want it?" Gordon asked.

"If I say I want to, will you buy it?" Eve asked softly.

"Depending on your level of willingness, senior, please rate it on a scale of one to ten. Ten represents your willingness to share your valuable knowledge."

"twelve."

"It exceeds the scale."

Please remember the only URL of this novel: ".". The website owner has only this one website, and other websites may be discontinued at any time.

"Because I can give you so much more than just knowledge..." Eve whispered in Gordon's ear.

Gordon sensed Eve's breath and immediately took a step back.

He observed the situation for a moment, then began to raise his placard.

"220!"

"240!"

"260!" The auctioneer saw Gordon raise his paddle again. "The VIP on the second floor has bid 260 gold pounds! ... Once, twice... Sold!"

"Got it." Gordon was very happy.

Eve looked at Gordon, her eyes revealing pure emotion for the first time.

"I have 60 gold pounds in cash, and the remaining 200... that's really what I owe you. I'll pay you back in another way." Eve didn't have much liquid cash on her.

"Indeed, when we encounter big adventures in the future, you can no longer stay in your room providing emotional support." Gordon was very pleased.

"Well... I'm really looking forward to it." Eve's expression was playful. She didn't say it aloud; after all, Charlotte was there, and it was best to be cautious.

Anyway, Charlotte won't stay here forever. Once Charlotte leaves, we can do whatever we want.

Luanna found it hilarious to watch the subtle emotional shifts among the group.

After taking a picture of the lantern, Gordon did some calculations about his financial situation.

The market purchase cost 8 gold pounds, the Void Flow Demon Sword 500 gold pounds, the Everlasting Lantern 200 gold pounds, and the Weaving Crystal 171 gold pounds, for a total of 879 gold pounds.

So Gordon now has around 378 gold pounds left.

Sure enough, when faced with extraordinary events, the gold coins were quickly depleted, and he didn't even have time to enjoy the life of the rich for long.

But it's worth it.

The Void Flow Demon Sword makes up for the shortcomings in attack, the Weaving Phase Crystal is related to the next stage of comprehending the source essence, and the Everlasting Lantern allows Eve to participate in dangerous operations.

He won't be able to spend money so lavishly in the short term, and he needs to continue operating the business to earn more money. His current fixed income is only 100 gold pounds per month from renting out the Vic No. 1 warehouse. If he wants to get some cash as soon as possible, he needs to continue running errands.

His desire for wealth was rekindled.

The auction items then appeared one after another.

A tombstone, a set of snake charmers' flutes from Barat, a painted coffin lid from Misr... every time the auctioneer's gavel falls, it means hundreds of pounds fly out of the guests' pockets.

Soon, the auction featured a major collectible.

Six priests came from the direction of the north wing monastery's storeroom, carrying a gold-rimmed wooden box sealed with wax.

The auctioneer carefully removed the sealing wax, tilted the wooden box, and revealed a pure gold mask lying on the black velvet cloth.

This mask is sculpted with a lifelike face, as if it were a human or a god, with prominent brow bones, eyes inlaid with amber crystals, and faint red marks on the cheeks and chin.

Gordon's vision was filled with golden light.

He saw an ancient, blazing sun rise from the mask, and countless people kneeling in the sand-covered royal city, offering their filth, disease, and madness, begging the sun to devour them. The ancient sun devoured all impurity, and the ancient sun grew ever weaker, eventually being replaced by a brighter new sun, melting into glorious ashes.

[Pure gold sun phase mask. Grants extraordinary insight, strengthens life, purifies curses, and banishes decay.]

Its spirituality far surpasses that of all the previous collections.

Gordon was very serious.

This thing surpasses all other artifacts in power, involving supernatural knowledge and enhanced vitality, and may even reverse curses and contamination.

"This ancient royal ritual object comes from an ancient royal city in the Elamite kingdoms. Several years ago, the righteous army of Logris, at the invitation of the suffering local inhabitants, struck down the warlords who were riding roughshod over them, brought them civilization and education, and helped this treasure of human civilization leave the dangerous area and return victoriously to Lundnium... Starting bid: 2000 gold pounds!" the auctioneer narrated.

2000 gold pounds!

The room erupted in uproar.

This is definitely good stuff.

Moreover, 2000 gold pounds might be an understatement; it is indeed another form of undervaluation, but its lowest price already exceeds Gordon's payment limit.

"Is it worth investing in?" Luanna turned her head. "It just looks like an ordinary pagan artifact."

"You want to know the truth?"

"Okay, okay, tell me?" Luanna almost reached out and shook Gordon's arm.

"It is indeed a good product, but since you're not going to sell it to me, why should I help you?"

"If it's some top-tier creation, I can lend it to you. I enjoy seeing good things realize their great value."

Upon hearing this, Gordon was suddenly intrigued.

This golden mask is clearly the most valuable item in the room; its imagery and description alone make it priceless.

If Luanna gets it and is willing to let Gordon try it out, then he can really help her win it over.

After all, only Luanna in the arena had enough financial resources to acquire this treasure.

"This is valuable, extremely valuable," Gordon said briefly. "I always have a good eye; I don't buy things for nothing."

Luanna believed it.

"Miss, be careful." The steam knight next to her spoke for the first time, a deep voice coming from under his helmet.

"I believe in Gordon, let's go for it." Luanna suddenly stood up and held up a sign.