The design inspiration for "King of Auctions" comes from the blind box auction gameplay of the shipping container and the treasure hunting gameplay of searching, hitting and clearing.

With such a simple design, coupled with inexpensive AI graphics and UI at the time, it managed to achieve a staggering 20,000 concurrent users during the testing phase.

This clearly demonstrates the potential of this approach.

Lu Ze placed "King of Auctions" within "Xianyuanzhou Action" not only to leverage the popularity of "Xianyuanzhou Action," but also for another project.

That means consuming the spirit stones in the player's inventory.

In Lu Ze's previous life, in order to deplete the players' Haval Coins, the lousy developers adjusted prices round after round, causing ordinary players to suffer greatly.

With the addition of "King of Auctions" as a supplementary entertainment mode, players' spirit stones have clearly found a new place to go.

The transfer between the two is unidirectional.

Cultivators can only exchange spirit stones obtained from the Treasure Hunt mode for spirit stones obtained from the Auction mode when they go bankrupt.

The reverse is not true.

Otherwise, it will affect your magic value income.

Theoretically speaking, as long as a cultivator is prudent enough, they should be able to profit in the beginner-level auction map.

Take Zhong Yi, for example, right now.

After battling for half an hour on the two beginner maps, 【Blind Box Pile】 and 【Air Freight Container】, Zhong Yi's assets steadily increased and were about to break through the million mark.

His strategy was simple: rely on Mai Xiaowen's skills to obtain information and value items, and never act rashly.

As long as you hold the position, it will generally not turn red.

Even if you overestimate your value occasionally, you won't lose too much.

This time, the container was unusually large, and a red item was unusually present.

At this moment, the chat in the live stream was even more anxious than Zhong Yi himself.

【Only 500,000? You're so stingy!】

【The clever little Zhou next door made a million in one round. Can't Lao Zhong be a little more ambitious?】

【One red and four gold medals, why aren't you giving it your all? Where's your fighting spirit?】

【Price increase! Price increase! Price increase!】

【We've used all the tools, why don't we just take over this entire warehouse?】

...

The initial public information indicated that there were three gold collectibles inside the container.

Zhong Yi's character, Mai Xiaowen, detected a red artifact in the first round.

In the second round, Zhong Yi didn't hesitate to use the green item, Four Symbols Peeping, and luckily, he managed to peek at the outline of the red collectible, which was a two-square item placed horizontally.

From then on, Zhong Yi had a rough estimate of the value of the entire container.

Despite the doubts raised in the comments, Zhong Yi remained steadfast in his opinion and calmly continued typing out the number 500,000.

"Fellow Daoists, please be patient and let me explain."

Zhong Yi began to speak in detail.

"The value of red items in the auction mode is generally lower than that in the treasure hunt mode, so don't get carried away by seeing red items. In fact, most red items are only worth around 100,000."

"There are only four types of red squares that are horizontal, the cheapest being 100,000 and the most expensive being 500,000... We don't need to gamble on the least likely one, 500,000, otherwise we'll lose everything if we fail, right?"

"I'll estimate it at 200,000, three gold ones at 150,000, purple and below at 50,000, and the remaining 100,000 is reserved for a possible red one..."

"Based on this calculation, 500,000 is roughly the value of this warehouse of goods. Any higher, and even if we acquire it, we won't make a profit."

As he was speaking, the countdown ended.

The other three bids were 380,000, 420,000 and 800,000 respectively.

The goods were directly bid on by a contestant who offered 800,000.

"800,000? Even if those two red bars are 【High Saint Vibration Dagger】, it's still a loss!"

Upon seeing this, Zhong Yi scoffed.

As the auction ends, the game enters the settlement screen, which is also the most tense and exciting part of the entire game.

The items in the container popped out one by one, like a treasure hunter searching for treasure with their divine sense.

As the warehouse was filled with blue and green trash, Zhong Yi became increasingly smug.

Especially when he saw that the two red bars revealed a 【wild yellow croaker】 worth 120,000, Zhong Yi could no longer suppress the smile on his face.

“I told you long ago, we can’t make a profit if this warehouse of goods exceeds 500,000.”

"If he can make money from this 800,000 today, I, Zhong Yi, will eat the entire Illusion Tower during my live stream!"

He had barely finished speaking when

The four items at the bottom of the container rotated for a long time and turned into a red 【Yongle Encyclopedia Fragment II】.

The warehouse value increased by 1.55 million instantly!

Total profit: 1 million!

Zhong Yi's expression instantly became even uglier than if he had eaten poop.

The comments section burst into laughter.

【Haha, serves you right for being so talkative】

【I knew he needed something to eat as soon as I saw the prison bell open.】

【Still being stubborn?】

What flavor of the Illusion Tower should I eat?

【It's just a loss on ticket sales, why is Lao Zhong making that face?】

...

Lu Ze, who was watching the live stream from the sidelines, couldn't help but smile.

In theory, as long as a player is steady enough, they can consistently win money.

But this only exists in theory.

Because the most classic aspect of this game is—

Seeing your competitors make money is more painful than losing money yourself!

Therefore, as long as players continue playing, they will eventually become gambling addicts.

"How could you play like this??"

At this moment, Zhong Yi fell into deep self-doubt.

After all that hard work and scheming, I only made less than 800,000 yuan.

Someone else gambled on a winning hand and made a million in one go!

"I get it! This illusion is meant to... to do that?"

Zhong Yi thought for a long time before he remembered the new word in the bidding machine: "all in".

"Yes! We're going all in!"

Zhong Yi gritted his teeth.

As Lu Ze said, seeing others earn 1 million is even more painful than going bankrupt himself!

This should have been his life!

Zhong Yi decided to stop sticking to the old ways and instead play more aggressively and boldly!

After thinking it over, Zhong Yi started another game.

"Haha, another red start! I'm betting on this one!!"

【Auction Result: -234213 Spirit Stones】

...

"Damn it, even though I haven't seen any red ones in four rounds, I still have a feeling they're hiding somewhere..."

【Auction Result: -81227 Spirit Stones】

...

"Holy crap! I'm invincible!! I just logged in and saw a 1.5 million red envelope... What do you mean I don't have enough spirit stones???"

"..."

"Ugh! Not having enough spirit stones to bid on items is even more frustrating than watching others make money!!!"

...

"No, let's try again! This time we can definitely turn it over..."

【Entry Requirement: 100,000 Spirit Stones】

【You are temporarily unable to enter】

"??????"

Zhong Yi stared at his empty warehouse with a look of utter disbelief.

"Wait... where are my spirit stones???"

————

【I've been feeling really down lately, unable to get over this, and suffering from insomnia night after night. I can only manage to write when my emotions are slightly calmer. I'll try my best to keep updating, but if I ever really break down and can't finish writing, please wait for me to come back.】