Surprises were everywhere. At the start, Merlin's main goal was to seize the Hallucinatory Heart, yet unexpectedly, during the auction, he came across a Thunder Stone which could be used to cultivate the Thunder-type Pandora Demon Ability Thunder Fury.

Moreover, other than the Thunder Stone, Merlin discovered a frigid ice bone marrow as well. This was the primary treasure needed to cultivate an Ice-type Fusion Pandora Demon Ability.

These two treasures would allow the successful cultivation of Merlin's remaining two types of Pandora Demon Abilities, establishing a solid foundation for when he became a Great Wizard, and merged them with his spells.

These were both unexpected prizes. Moreover, there were not many who competed with Merlin for these two treasures. He merely spent a few hundred thousand elemental crystal stones to acquire them.

Besides these two treasures, Merlin did not bid on anything else. He had no interest in the casting tools, Runic Magic Discs, and the like. He was waiting for the final few premium auction items, particularly the Hallucinatory Heart, which Merlin was determined to get!

The auction went on for over three hours. Although it was a long time, almost all the Spell Casters were in high spirits. Every single auction item, even if it did not tempt everyone, would at least attract every single eye.

"I believe many have been waiting a long time for the following auction item. It's one of our premium items in this auction!"

The pretty and charming Seventh-level female Wizard swept her gaze across all the Spell Casters and especially paid even more attention to the Wizards in the luxury suites.

Premium items had always gone toward the distinguished guests. It was rare for average Spell Casters to be able to contend against the distinguished guests in the luxury suites in terms of financial resources.

Therefore, the auction was geared toward the distinguished guests and was beyond the abilities of most Spell Casters. It might be that the profits of a few dozen auction items could not even surpass the profits of one premium auction item.

The female Wizard did not immediately announce the name of the premium item. After giving her pitch, she clapped her hands softly. Instantly, a full-figured maidservant came forward with a crystal tray, full of mystery and opulence, in one hand.

"I believe that everyone is curious about this auction item. In fact, once the crystal tray is uncovered, everyone should be able to recognize it!"

The female Wizard took off the lid with a flourish. In that instant, a burst of soft, colorful light shone into the eyes of the watching Wizards, following which peculiar fluctuations of energy seemed to spread from the delicate, crystalline object that was lying on the tray.

"Hmm? The Hallucinatory Heart has finally appeared!"

Upon sensing the mystical fluctuations, a white-haired Spell Caster in a luxury suite reacted with elation in the eyes, his gaze fixed firmly upon the treasure on the tray.

This was one of the premium auction items of this auction, the Hallucinatory Heart which was able to purely increase Mind Power!

The Hallucinatory Heart was not a potion nor was it a divinity. Rather, it was a crystal found all over the body of a hallucinatory beast which was unique in this dimension. It was the essence of this beast. This species of the hallucinatory beast was very powerful, and the natural strength of each adult beast was frightening, comparable to a Spell Caster at the peak of the Eighth-level.

There were even some formidable hallucinatory beasts which were on par with Ninth-level Spell Casters. Not even Merlin, who obviously knew that these beasts existed, would dare to provoke them.

It was still manageable if they were only comparable to an Eighth- or Ninth-level Spell Caster. By relying on the fourth form of Darkness Eye, using the power of Maxim at most, Merlin would surely be able to slay a few of these hallucinatory beasts.

However, the difficulty was that these creatures lived in groups. There was no hallucinatory beast which lived by itself. Therefore, not even Merlin would dare to provoke these terrifying hallucinatory beasts.

He did not know how this Hallucinatory Heart was obtained.

However, no matter how it was obtained, one could tell that this was the genuine article solely based on its special fluctuations. Therefore, the numerous guests of the luxury suites were silently gathering their forces, waiting for the bidding to begin to start vying for the Hallucinatory Heart.

This Hallucinatory Heart was the first premium auction item of this auction, so it was bound to produce the fiercest contest in the auction thus far!

Upon seeing the reactions of the Spell Casters below, the lovely, charming Seventh-level female Wizard gave a faint smile. "I believe everyone knows what this is. That's right, it's a Hallucinatory Heart! As for the benefits of the Hallucinatory Heart, everyone should know it very well, so I'll save any unnecessary explanations. Bidding starts now, opening at five hundred thousand elemental crystal stones. Each bid must increase the price by at least ten thousand elemental crystal stones!"

Five hundred thousand elemental crystal stones were considered a colossal amount of wealth. None of the previous treasures managed to exceed a price of five hundred thousand.

Nonetheless, for a treasure like a Hallucinatory Heart, five hundred thousand elemental crystal stones were far too little. Still, this was merely the starting bid, for the auctioneer had the utmost confidence in the Hallucinatory Heart.

Indeed, as soon as the female Wizard spoke, it was not even a distinguished guest who spoke but a Spell Caster who sat in the common era, immediately yelled, "Eight hundred thousand elemental crystal stones!"

At that moment, the entire auction hall fell silent. It was not that eight hundred thousand elemental crystal stones were earth-shattering but that someone from the common area was competing for the premium auction item too.

The one who bid eight hundred thousand elemental crystal stones was a chubby Spell Caster who looked just like an infant. Only his pair of abstruse eyes prevented people from looking down on him.

Furthermore, based on his manner, this chubby Spell Caster seemed to have prepared additional resources to be able to bid against the distinguished guests from the luxury suites.

"Eight hundred and ten thousand elemental crystal stones!"

At last, someone from the luxury suites made a bid but it was not a high one. Still, there was a note of determination.

"Nine hundred thousand elemental crystal stones!"

"Nine hundred and ten thousand elemental crystal stones!"

Each time that chubby Spell Caster made a bid, the guest in that luxury suite increased the price by ten thousand, which sounded like they were simply playing tit-for-tat.

However, no one was under this impression because the distinguished guest sounded very resolute. This was a strategy of bidding in an auction, making one's opponent feel like there was no end to this. It was as if no matter what the price was, they would raise it by ten thousand.

This was a psychological battle and was one of the tactics used in auctions.

"One million!"

At last, that chubby Spell Caster yelled out one million. His eyes had slightly reddened by now, and one could see that one million elemental crystal stones were his limit. He was incapable of paying any more than that.

However, no matter how much that chubby Spell Caster prayed and hoped, no miracle happened.

"One million and ten thousand!"

The same faint yet steady voice came once more from the luxury suite. The chubby Spell Caster turned pale but did not shout out a higher price in the end.

"The distinguished guest in number forty-three had bid a million and ten thousand. Is there a higher bid?"

A small smile tugged at the corner of the female Wizard's mouth as if she knew how this would end up. However, a million and ten thousand were still insufficient by far. She knew that this was only the beginning, and there were many distinguished guests who still had not bid.

As expected, after she spoke, the guest in number five finally yelled a quote.

"Two million elemental crystal stones!"

When this price was quoted, the entire venue was full of sharp intakes of breath. All at once, the price had jumped up by a million elemental crystal stones. It was then that those ordinary Spell Casters truly understood the power of a distinguished guest.

The chubby Spell Caster who had made the first bid wore a deathly pale complexion. He now understood that when those distinguished guest in the suites saw him making his bids earlier, he must have thought of him as naïve and ridiculous.

"Three and a half million!"

"Four million!"

"Five million elemental crystal stones!"

…

After a series of competing bids, the guests in the luxury suite had now entered a fervent phase. The price had risen incessantly, and was now ten times more than the starting price of five hundred thousand elemental crystal stones!

"Master, are you not going to bid? I've observed earlier that the one with the highest bid is luxury suite number thirteen. It must be the Whirlwind Lord!"

Wizard Darknight whispered into Merlin's ear. He was sent by Merlin to keep watch over every movement of luxury suite number thirteen. Naturally, he would notice the bid of that suite.

"Oh, it's the Whirlwind Lord? There's no rush for it's not yet time to make our move. Based on my appraisal, this Hallucinatory Heart would fetch at least eight million elemental crystal stones, more or less!"

Merlin appeared to be brimming with confidence. He had brought enough elemental crystal stones this time and could be considered relatively wealthy amongst these distinguished guests. Moreover, he had his heart set on this Hallucinatory Heart!

"Six and a half million, calling once. Six and a half million, calling twice. Is there a higher bid? Suite number thirteen made the bid of six and a half million…"

"Seven million!"

Soon enough, an unfamiliar voice rang out, raising the price to seven million. Instantly, the face of the Whirlwind Lord in luxury suite number thirteen turned stiff as he growled softly, "There's still someone who's bidding? I recall that there are only a handful of Spell Casters who were determined to get this Hallucinatory Heart, and those old fellows had all stopped bidding. Who else is bidding?"

Quickly, the gorgeous female Wizard standing beside the Whirlwind Lord leaned in and spoke into his ear breathily, "It's luxury suite number twenty-eight!"

"Luxury suite number twenty-eight? Isn't that Tambert's suite? What, he's going against me now?"

The Whirlwind Lord gave a nasty laugh, and immediately snatched that alluring female Wizard by his side. His brutish hands, crammed with tattoos, brazenly rubbed the female Wizard's body. The female Wizard grunted softly a few times and stoically stopped struggling. Instead, she closed her eyes in pleasure. For a moment, the room was filled with a salacious, indulgent air.

"Go, make another bid. Seven million and ten thousand. If that Tambert makes another bid, it's clear that he's going against me. In that case, there's no need to bid further. I'll wipe out his Bisque City at a later date!"

The Whirlwind Lord was savage by nature and was ruthless. Knowing that it was Tambert in luxury suite number twenty-eight who was competing with him, his heart flared with a murderous spirit. He would have let it go if it was some other Eighth-level Spell Caster but as for Tambert, the Whirlwind Lord did not think much of him.

"Seven million and ten thousand!"

The Whirlwind Lord made another bid, raising the previous price by only ten thousand. This clearly indicated what his attitude was. Therefore, some Spell Casters seemed to sense that something was not right, and fell silent. Their eyes gathered upon luxury suite number twenty-eight.