Cloud Mist Treasure Palace, main auction hall

Bai Hua scanned the auction hall, taking note of each and every noteworthy individual. More and more cultivators were streaming into the hall, filling up the seats below. Most had cultivations at Soul Core Realm, but she could spot one or two Nascent Soul cultivators mingled in the crowd.

Her own cultivation was a legend in Dragon Border Gate Prefecture: eight-level Soul Core Realm at her young age of twenty-three. A monstrous genius in comparison to those of similar age to her; even her younger brother was merely at tenth-level Foundation Realm at twenty.

She especially paid close attention to the people on the balconies like her.

That chatterbox brother of hers was pointing at those very same balconies, recalling the names of the occupants. “Over there’ll be the Green Blade Forest Sect elders. Those green robes stand out a lot. Eh? Where’s that tin-can of a lord? Is he in that disguise again? Nevermind. Look, Ji! There’s that pasty willow of a lord, Ye Shao! He looks like a sick man compared to those big guards of his. Over there’s the fat governor and the eighth prince. He looks pretty scary. There’s another box there…”

Her mental barriers rose up to defend her from his never-ending drivel. She already did note the occupants. Not even the metal-armoured lord escaped her notice despite his attempts to shadow himself with curtains.

The Zhao Clan representative arrived just in time to spare her from her brother’s noise. Shushing his nonsense, she leaned forward to watch the introductions.

A man walked onto the stage; a tall, hawkish fellow with cropped black hair, wearing equally-black robes. He looked like a banker, or an assassin. Aryon couldn’t tell the difference.

“Welcome, honored guests, to today’s auction! Your hosts, the Zhao Clan, have quite the collection today, gathered from all corners of the southern lands! Each item has been thoroughly inspected, and we promise you that every item that comes on stage is of the highest quality.”

“But don’t take my word for it. Come, see for yourself! Let the auction begin!”

___

Just like the ones in his land, the auction began with the small things first.

Still, Aryon was surprised at how much money these martial maniacs would spend to increase their battle strength or cultivation speed. From his rough introduction to prices during his tour of the city, those bottles of medicine and Mortal-grade weapons were being auctioned off at thrice the going price.

‘But that’s an auction for you. Given how competitive these people are, it’s no surprise the prices go this high.’

His young aides were all starry-eyed as they watched the auction. The competitive atmosphere, the yelling, the cheers… it was as if a battle was being shown rather than a sale. Not to mention the high-quality treasures that they could never see loitering in the inner sect.

“That guy’s gonna win.”

“No way. Someone’s gonna make a new- Hah, there, see?! Eight thousand spirit stones!”

“He won! Nice! That movement technique manual looked pretty powerful.”

“Hey, brother Yan, how much spirit stones do we have?”

Aryon could only sigh, or he would if he had lungs. ‘Poor, hopeless boys. I do wish your masters can teach you something else than cultivation.’

He held his hand as of yet: there was only one reason for his coming here. None of the balconies made a move as of yet as well. For now, all were simply eyeing the collections or taking notes of the winners and their prizes.

The show continued for two more hours before his desired object was finally in play.

An aide brought in a large, translucent crystal shaped like an uneven sphere, with a light-blue tint and roughly around the size of a cabbage.

“This is a Great Spirit Core Crystal. Found in the northern mountains past the Dragon Border Gate, this was mined by cultivators inside a lair of a great Earth Burrowing Serpent.”

“This crystal can aid cultivators by serving as a reservoir of spirit energy. Should a cultivator run out of spirit energy, they need only to drain the crystal to rapidly replenish what was lost. It can also boost the effects of mystic arts and techniques through the same method! A life-saving artifact to be sure!”

‘Again, more focus on battling than other aspects. That crystal can do more than serve as a battery.’

“The bidding starts at five thousand spirit stones!”

Aryon held back for a moment to see his competition. A few cultivators showed interest in the object, but the bidding was slow and only became slower as the price climbed up.

“Lord, aren’t you going to buy it?”

“Just gauging my competitors, boy. I’ll do it… now.”

He raised a sparkling turquoise fan provided by the treasure palace.

“Nine thousand! Nine thousand spirit stones from the man in the balcony!”

A wave of murmuring swept through the auction hall. This was the first time someone up the balconies made a move.

“Do I see a raise? Nine-thousand five hundred? Going once, going twice… There! Gentleman in the third row, nine-thousand five hundred!”

As the price changed, Aryon raised the fan again without hesitation.

“Ten thousand! Ten thousand for the man in the balcony again!”

Aryon continued to play back and forth with one or two cultivators below, but they soon began to waver when the price rose to thirteen-thousand five-hundred. ‘I have this.’

“Fourteen thousand! Fourteen thousand to the lady of the Bai Clan!”

Another wave of murmuring rose from the cultivators below. Another one from the balconies had made a move, and it was the Bai Clan young mistress as well!

‘Well aren’t you cheeky, my lady.’

He shot a glance at the Bai Clan seat, trying to communicate annoyance through an immobile mask. The lady gave a little wave of her dainty hand when they caught each other’s gaze.

“Why does she want it, lord? Is it for her own mystic arts?”

“...Not likely.” said Aryon as he raised his fan again. True to his suspicions, the Bai Clan woman raised hers as well.

‘She’s not buying a crystal, she’s buying an audience with me.’

It was against his objectives to needlessly entangle himself in local affairs. He once again raised his fan. ‘I won’t be caught up in this.’

“Are you sure about this, young mistress?” asked Guardian Ji. “He won’t be happy.”

“If he’s smart, he’ll know my intentions.” said Bai Hua in reply. “Spirit stones are nothing. Favors are the true power in these games. If it eases your mind, this will come out of my own pocket rather than the funds father prepared.”

With that, she raised her fan again.

The price of the Great Spirit Core Crystal was already nearing twenty thousand spirit stones, four times its usual price. The crowd’s murmurs lowered as they watched the balconies continuously raising the price.

“Well, this is amusing.”

A fan flashed up from the seat of honor.

‘Our cunning prince must’ve had some notion of what’s going on. That or he suspects the crystal to be more than it seems.’

Before she could counter, the other competitor raised his fan again.

“Hmhm. Our friend won’t be happy at all.”

‘But forgive me, sir. I don’t care.’ she thought as she raised her fan again.