Clang

When the pieces of metal struck against the wooden desks of the stage, the silence on the seats and lodges was so pristine that one could hear two next sounds when the pieces that used to be a weapon bounced a few times more before finally stabilising on the ground.

Finally breaking the perfect silence, a mechanical voice came from one of the lodges.

"One thousand."

As the new bids started replacing each other, I simply ignored them and raised the sword to show that there wasn't even a single dent in the part that cut through the blade of the testing weapon.

"Five thousand!"

"Five thousand fifty!"

"Six thousand!"

Only when the bids reached more than ten times the initial price did the speed at which they were increasing slow down to a level where I could discern all the bids from each other.

"Seven thousand!"

Only now did the crowd slowed enough for me to even attempt raising my hammer.

"Seven thousand for once…."

"Eight thousand!"

This time, Naturals got the privilege to cut in my hammering. I wonder what their budget is? While I hinted them that this wouldn't be your usual auction, I can't really believe they could bring some kind of insane amounts of money. Thinking about it, they did spend about ten thousand on various everyday cultivation materials!

"Eight thousand for the first time, for the second time and sold!"

While I could drag the auction a bit, there were still some of the swords in the stock of similar quality. If I were to push people to overbid the swords only to let others get them far cheaper later, instead of racking some favours, I would only create an enmity!

With the Naturals getting the first sword, I had to somehow ensure they wouldn't win all of them. Even if I could try to get Heavenly sect to overpay for some of them and just void the contract, later on, this would work only for a few cases if I didn't want to make it suspicious. Additionally, the purpose of this auction was to earn loads of money and voiding contract of any of the swords would end up with the loss of a few thousand at least!

"As to not bore all of you by putting quite a similar weapon right away for the auction, allow me to present you one of the most priced bits of jewellery that we have to offer! Contrary to the previous ones, it comes with a set of five, perfect to suit the entire hand of your beloved! We can guarantee that every other female on the banquets will die from jealousy!"

Taking out a clay model of a hand with five rings already placed on the fingers, I allowed the light to reflect on the stones that all bear diffrent colour. Thinking about it, if I were to embed them into some kind of gauntlet, it would look just like the tool that Thunos used for his legendary snap!

"But speaking about the actually important things, two of the rings amplify all cultivation techniques that are fueled through them by a factor of the half. The rings of the pointing finger and thumb create a barrier that is capable of absorbing physical attacks of up to enriching essence level and turning them into a wave of replenishing energy, while the ring located on the finger we are using to greet our rivals…"

As I kept describing the use of all the parts of the sets, I pointed with my hand at the specific items to make it easier for potential buyers to connect the dots and know which one was which. When it came to the middle finger, I made a wager here. So far, I didn't really see anyone showing the legendary gesture, but I could hope that either people actually knew about it or would be understanding enough to ignore this small mishap if I was wrong. Who knows, maybe these simple words would be enough to create a new, beautiful custom for this land?

"... As for the middle finger, just by straightening it out while keeping all the other fingers bent, one can create a small shockwave that will allow you to put the enemy out of their balance! While it's nothing much and even core development cultivators could easily fend off against this attack, it's not something to do harm, but create an opening in the well-matched fights! Since this set consist of five diffrent items, the starting bid will be… five hundred!"

No matter what, I was going to keep the starting bid the same for every auction. All the words that I uttered prior to revealing it was in place only for the sake of creating a small gap moe for the audience!

"Two thousand!"

This time, the first bid already raised the price four times, probably in an attempt to avoid the bickering on lower prizes that wouldn't get anyone anywhere. With how valuable those items were, it was obvious that everyone who had money to bet would do his very best to obtain at least one of my items!

"Four thousand!"

Against my expectations, this bid came from an unaffiliated cultivator sitting on the seats under the stage. If he were a spy from the Katenaris or Dracons, I would bet that they didn't supply him with such a big sum, making it almost certain that he was indeed someone impartial to the internal struggle of the city.

"Four thousand for the first time, for the second time… and sold!"

One again, my expectations missed the mark. Thinking about how this set had a whole five diffrent items, I was certain that I would be able to get a much higher price for it. I guess maybe people thought that items sold in bulk were of lower quality? Or maybe the major players preferred to keep their money to themselves for the sake of fighting for the weapons only?

Pushing those thoughts aside, I analyzed the situation in front of the stage. With hype big enough already, I was sure that I could put any of my items on the pedestal and get it sold almost instantly, but if I were to postpone showing another weapon for too long, those who were waiting for it would quickly turn dissatisfied!

I guess just one more item before next sword would be a good choice!

"Ladies and Gentlemen, since all we showed so far was made of cold and dead metals and jades so far let us mix up the pace for a bit. Let me present you, a nourishing, golden pill!"