Raising the price by a whole third caused the other bidders to stop and take a breath. They had got into the heat of the moment and were just throwing up their hands to call bigger and bigger amounts. With such a huge increase they had to think about what they were doing. Most of them took their seats again… it was just a mystery item and there was three more of them on the stage with covers hiding them. Sage started to think he had won it, when the other VIP booth from earlier posted a price.

I knew that was going to happen. Damn that Jin Shih. He hasn’t even bid on anything.

Sage came to an impasse. He knew that this item was important to him, but he didn’t know just how much. If he spent everything he had now, what would he do for the rest of the auction?

I’ll just have to leave it up to fate, then.

The other booth bid 130,000, so Sage upped it to 150,000. It seemed that Jin Shih’s rival was happy and stopped bidding. Sage shook his head again, Jin Shih had cost him quite a bit of money. After those two purchases he was down to only 180,000 Spirit Stones. Funny how years ago that would have been an amount he could only dream about and now he was sweating over how little there was. The other three mystery items went up for auction, more furious bidding started, the crowd was happy to have another chance when the price wasn’t so high. The next two sold for 70,000 and 90,000 respectively, while the last went for 120,000.

After the mystery items were cleared out, it was time for the true auction. Items that Sage had heard were ‘legendary’ started to show up. Hundred thousand year old spirit fruits and natural treasures. Star Metal from fallen meteors, kirin horns, dragon scales, high level beast cores, and other extremely rare materials were sold. The other VIP booths that had been mostly inactive for the whole auction all started to light up. The prices for these rare items started in the six digits. Their ending prices were in the millions to tens of millions.

Amazing.

It was then that Sage realized how much of a mistake it was for him to be in one of the VIP booths. All that did was make him an adversary to these other extremely rich folk. Thankfully, the Auctioneer’s next call gave him a break.

“Wow, what a thrilling afternoon! The materials auction is now over. After a three hour intermission we’ll be continuing with the beast auction.”

The woman took out an elaborately decorated fan and waved it in front of her chest, conveniently holding it low enough so she could still show off her cleavage. Sage rolled his eyes and then rose to his feet. Bowing to both Jin Shih and Cui Shufen, “Thank you for inviting me, the auction has been quite thrilling. Please excuse me for now, I’m going to pay for my items and take a break.”

After a bit more polite conversation, Sage left the VIP booth and went back down the stairs to the main hall. He caught the attention of an attendant and leaned in close to her. The attendant suddenly blushed, “Sir, while I’m flattered… I’m not that sort of attendant.”

Sage was taken off guard and while inwardly flustered and embarrassed not a hint of it showed on his face or manner, “That’s not why I stopped you. I wish to know how much it costs for seat in the leaf rows?”

She bowed her head, “Please forgive me, Sir. The auction is already sold out.”

Sage frowned and after a moment continued, “Are you still taking consignments for the auction?”

“Please forgive me again, Sir. They are no longer taking consignments… but I’ve been told they offer generous terms for direct sales.”

Sage wanted to yell, but he just nodded, getting some directions before handing the girl a dozen Spirit Stones as a tip. Then he quickly traded Storage Rings in a private room, passing over one filled with Spirit Stones for another with his purchased items. Then he left the building. His plan to get a different seat and conceal his identity had ended before it could begin. He wanted to save money by not having to deal with Jin Shih’s rival, but the plan was already a bust.

Those jerks won’t even let me add things to the auction. They know people will want to sell their treasure to have more money for the auction. Ripping off people that are desperate to win things in the auction.

For a moment he thought about hopping on the Airship and leaving Jin Shih to find his own way home. Most likely it wouldn’t cost any more then twenty thousand or so, which truly wasn’t worth it. The guy was already antagonistic to him, but there was no sense making it worse. There was also the fact that he was most eager to see the beasts that were up for sale. There was just the problem of getting more money. He set off into town to many of the businesses he’d seen the last few days and tried to find some buyers.

At the Beast Den, Sage brought out some of the insects and eggs that lived inside the Universe Ring. He’d hatched and released many of the beast eggs he’d gathered from the wilds. Back before he’d turned into a monster, he had been studying the limits of the Insect Immortal Index and had gathered hundreds of eggs. More than half had been destroyed or damaged in experiments, but the rest were saved and he later used them to populate the Universe Ring. He sold Silver Vultures, Golden Salamanders, Viridian Geckos, and Fire Crested Iguana.

Silver Vultures were much smaller than Black Cloud Eagles, but fully grown they could still carry a single rider so they were cheap flying mounts. The Golden Salamander emitted a brilliantly bright golden light as a defense mechanism, nothing special, but it was a great light show at night, and their bodies were great materials. Viridian Gecko were nothing special, but they grew to the size of a horse and could be used as mounts that ran along the walls or ceiling. Fire Crested Iguana were merely eccentric pets. Their spine ridge was like a series of tiny vents that they could emit flames from. About the size of a cat, they were favorite pets of fire cultivators. Other people weren’t fans as they were prone to setting things on fire and burning houses down.

Over the years he had saved about a dozen of each type of egg. He also quickly caught and caged up a handful of each and sold them to the Beast Den. Sage was surprised when he was quoted a price. The Beast Den actually offered a fair value. He figured they’d offer a cut rate since it was obvious he was wanting to gather more funds for the auction. Sage thanked the clerk and left the building 120,000 Spirit Stones richer. The majority of that came from the Silver Vultures, 3500 a piece, and the Viridian Geckos at 2000. He also sold a number of his insects to make up the total. He thought about selling his main insects, but decided against it and just sold his usual money makers. Alarm Crickets, Spirit Jade Beetles, and Thorn Cloud Hornets.

Still not pleased with his total funds, he went to the biggest and most imposing weapons shop in town. He quite regretfully handed over one of the Formation Sword Sets. He still had two of the practice sets he’d created at the time. A set of 9 and a set of 18. Wanting to keep his finest set, Sage unrolled a leather case lined with fur. The nine wedge shaped swords out on display for the shopkeeper to examine. He was confused by the first sword, thinking it odd for someone to perfectly create an array only to leave it unfinished. After looking at the second sword he finally figured it out and quickly checked them all.

Sage didn’t share where they came from, but when he heard the price he was amazed. A full 100,000 Spirit Stones. A small zoo full of creatures earlier had only garnered twenty percent more than a set of swords made with cheap materials.

Formation Weapons must be even more rare than I thought they were.

Even though he had more money then when he’d first arrived, Sage went back to his inn for a few hours. Afterwards, before heading back to the auction, he walked up to a large tavern with the name ‘Lu’ on the signboard.