Strongest Hammer God

Chapter 1190: Auction

As Black read through the requirements, he blinked a couple of times.

'Huh...'

"That's actually pretty fucking easy! Won't even take an hour! Why is the tenth task so easy? Actually, I think I know why. There's no suggested design. The others probably have to design one of these alien Formation Arrays from the ground up. For them, this is probably one of the most difficult tasks to fulfill, but if you've been designing traditional Formation Arrays, hitting these numbers isn't hard. The third task was harder than this."

'Actually, this tenth trial is an amazing opportunity for me!' he thought as Black smirked a bit.

Kyle's three Avatars gathered their things and left the Workshop. As soon as he left, several people paid attention to him. By now, there was almost nobody left who had seen him during his first visits.

Kyle walked towards the great hall, and even though nobody looked at him, he could feel that they were all paying close attention to him. Almost all of them were thinking of the same thing, but nobody wanted to take the first step due to his identity as an outsider.

They had to work together against the outsiders. If they initiated friendly contact, their companions might ostracize them as well.

Kyle looked through the hall for a bit before summoning a Space Ring.

"Eight sets of materials for the fourth task. I'm willing to sell them for Grade Nine Energy Stones. Bidding happens privately. Send me your offer. The highest bidder wins unless I'm not happy with the price."

"Do you not have any shame? Find someone privately instead of making such a public announcement! Do you think you're some big shot?"

"Nobody cares!"

"Look at the outsider trying to sell some materials. We don't need them!"

"You think this is a marketplace? Leave!"

Most of the people in the room chuckled, sneered, or shouted. They were a unit, and they would not betray their people for some materials.

Of course, several people who were stuck at the fourth task were interested. These materials were exceptionally important to them. However, if they bought the materials, everyone would notice since the Space Ring had to enter their Soul Space or pockets.

Kyle remained silent as everyone kept making fun of him.

"No buyers," Kyle said after a minute as he exchanged the Space Ring for a different one.

"Next, four sets of materials for the fifth task."

"Can you shut up?! Read the room! Nobody wants to trade with you!"

"So what if you're at the tenth task?! The tenth task is the hardest! You'll fail like almost everyone else! That doesn't make you special!"

"Fuck off!"

Kyle waited.

"No buyers," he said as he exchanged the Space Ring again.

"Next, ten sets of materials for the sixth task."

"Can someone report this guy? He's obviously making a scene!"

"Yeah, we're here to learn and exchange knowledge! This guy is disturbing us!"

"Someone get a Sound Isolation Formation Array! I don't want to hear his stupid voice anymore!"

Another minute of humiliation passed.

"Sold!" Kyle shouted.

"What? Sold?! Who bought from this ingrate?!"

"Who's the traitor?!"

A moment later, three Grade Nine Energy Stones appeared in front of Black before the Space Ring floated to a lonely guy near a corner.

"Traitor!"

"You have no backbone!"

"Spineless opportunist!"

The lonely guy gritted his teeth in discomfort and frustration.

"Nobody's going to trade with you anymore!"

"Good luck getting through the Screening without our help!"

"I'm not here to make friends!" the lonely guy shouted. "I'm here to get through the Screening! I won't let pride stop me from taking advantage of a good opportunity!"

Then, the lonely guy ran back to his Workshop, leaving everyone else in the hall.

"Spineless coward," someone commented.

"Short-term gain in exchange for long-term gain. Short-sighted and impulsive," another guy commented.

"Guys," Kyle said, "just for your info, there are over a thousand people in here, and I got offers from eight different people. He wasn't the only one. Speaking of, time for the next auction! Ten sets of materials for the seventh trial."

"Everyone who trades with you is also an outsider!"

"Stay in your lane, outsider!"

The jeering continued, but the more observant people noticed some changes.

The few people who were working on the harder tasks had mostly become silent. Almost all of the insults came from people stuck at the first five tasks. It didn't take a genius to see what was going on.

In truth, almost everyone was interested in purchasing the materials. Almost nobody would refuse an exchange. The reason why the mood was so negative was because of what Kyle was selling. He was selling materials for the higher tasks. However, fewer than 95% of participants even reached the seventh task. Kyle would not sell any materials that were relevant to them, which was why they could improve their social standing without fear of losing access to these materials.

As soon as Kyle had come out of his Workshop, the more experienced members had immediately been interested in his leftover materials.

"Sold!" Kyle shouted. In the next moment, four Grade Nine Energy Stones and 400 Grade Eight Energy Stones appeared in front of him, and his Space Ring moved towards a woman standing with two other women.

"Spineless traitor!"

"Opportunist!"

"Bitch!"

Even her two "friends" sneered at her and moved away from her in disgust.

Yet, while they were looking at her in disgust...

"Congratulations! You can probably pass the seventh task!" one of her friends transmitted with support, a look of disgust on her face.

Obviously, while they publicly distanced themselves from her, they still secretly supported her.

The lone woman left without saying a word.

"Next, ten sets of materials for the eighth trial," Kyle announced.

"Nobod-"

"Just let him talk," a smaller man said with some annoyance.

When this guy spoke, almost everyone fell quiet. The reason was that this guy was one of the three people who were currently working on the tenth task. This gave him a special status among the participants.

"But he's-"

"Shut up," someone, stuck on the ninth task, interjected. "I already gave him two offers. Frin also gave him an offer. Stance gave him one as well. You might not care about his sale since these sets might never become relevant to you, but we do."

Surprisingly, the mood in the room shifted rather quickly as soon as some seniors spoke up for Kyle. The newer members wanted to boost their social standing by insulting Kyle, which was what led to this entire scene. A higher social standing meant that they were more likely to receive advice for free or for a lower price. This difference could be the deciding factor in whether or not they passed a trial.

Yet, if they kept doing the same thing, their social standing might now lower. These seniors had a lot of soft power over the people in the hall. Offending them was not a good idea.

That was why the hall had suddenly become so quiet.

"Sold!" Kyle shouted as twelve Grade Nine Energy Stones and 300 Grade Eight Energy Stones appeared in front of him.

Were these materials worth that much?

Of course not!

Even added up, they wouldn't even be worth a Grade Nine Energy Stone.

The reason why Kyle could sell them for such a high price was simple.

Supply and demand.

To pass the eighth trial, someone needed these materials. Yet, one only received these materials when one reached the eighth trial. Therefore, everyone who had access to these materials was also exceptionally interested in them. More materials represented more opportunities to experiment and learn.

The False Immortals couldn't conjure their own materials. However, they were amazing at conjuring Energy Stones due to their Specializations. Energy Stones were not as valuable to them as they were to regular Immortals, but materials were many times more valuable to them as they were to regular Immortals.

Moments later, several Energy Stones and materials flew through the hall, flying from one person to another.

The people in the hall were trading with each other. People stuck at lower tasks purchased leftover materials from people stuck at higher tasks in exchange for Energy Stones.

The people stuck at higher tasks were turning their leftover materials into Energy Stones to get a shot at purchasing Kyle's high-ranking materials. These high-ranking materials were sold very rarely. This was a unique opportunity.

"Next, ten sets of materials for the ninth task."

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