Chapter 2027 - Auction Fair
Chapter 2027, Auction Fair
“Why are you waiting here for me?” Yang Kai asked, looking at the shop-hand.
The shop hand promptly replied, “It’s like this, this humble one has been ordered by Shopkeeper Kang to wait here for Alchemist Yang to invite him to the upcoming auction fair.”
“Auction fair?” Yang Kai raised his brow, soon recalling that Kang Si Ran had mentioned this to him a few days ago. He said that the cultivators of Maplewood City had found a lot of treasures in the Five Colored Treasure Pagoda, so City Lord Duan Yuan Shan had organized an auction fair to let everyone exchange for what they needed.
It was just that Yang Kai’s pockets were a little light at that time, so he didn’t have much interest in it. As he hadn’t expressed much interest in participating, he was surprised Kang Si Ran would send someone to invite him.
[I’ve just obtained a lot of Source Crystals and treasures from the Lu Family, so it should be fine to check it out.]
Having considered all this, Yang Kai asked, “What’s so special about this auction fair? Why is Shopkeeper Kang so interested?”
The shop hand smiled mysteriously, glancing left and right before leaning in closer to Yang Kai and saying in a low voice, “Shopkeeper Kang said that a Dao Source Fruit will appear.”
“Really?” Yang Kai was astonished.
“Indeed! That’s why Shopkeeper Kang is so keen about this auction, and also wants to ask Alchemist Yang to join him to gather funds and snatch the Dao Source Fruit together.”
“Alright,” Yang Kai nodded.
“In addition, Shopkeeper Kang said that there is an ancient pill furnace among the items listed for auction, one that is at least of Dao Source-Grade Low-Rank. If Alchemist Yang can obtain this pill furnace, his refinement success rate will surely increase. This ancient pill furnace should be very attractive to all Alchemists.”
“I am indeed interested in this,” Yang Kai smiled. “Hmm, where is this auction held and when will it start?”
A smile appeared on the shop-hand’s face as he replied, “It will start at noon today. I have been waiting for Alchemist Yang for two days now, if Alchemist Yang had not just returned, he may have missed it.”
“So, it seems that I came back just at the right time. Good, go back and inform Shopkeeper Kang I will come to meet him right away.”
“Yes!” The shop hand replied before promptly retreating.
Although the two didn’t speak loudly, Zhang Ruo Xi, who was curiously watching things nearby, heard most of it. Waiting until the shop hand left, she asked Yang Kai curiously, “Sir, are you an Alchemist?”
Yang Kai smiled and replied, “I know a little something. Let’s head in first.”
Saying so, Yang Kai activated the barrier of the secluded home and took Zhang Ruo Xi inside.
The secluded home that he had rented in Maplewood City might not be the best, but it wasn’t bad either, having several rooms inside and being fairly spacious. Yang Kai gave a room to Zhang Ruo Xi to live in for now.
He also gave her an Identity Token and taught her how to activate and deactivate the protective barriers. He then warned her not to open the secluded home to anyone except him.
Zhang Ruo Xi nodded and agreed.
“You can go out for a walk if you are bored. Security in Maplewood City is fairly good, but you must stay away from the Black Market as the City Lord’s Mansion cannot supervise that area. If you went there with your cultivation, it would be very dangerous,” Yang Kai exhorted.
“Ruo Xi won’t go anywhere. Ruo Xi will be waiting for Sir’s return,” Zhang Ruo Xi stated in a quiet voice.
“As you wish. You can rest first, I will be going out for a bit,” Yang Kai said before leaving straight away.
Zhang Ruo Xi bowed respectfully to his disappearing figure.
After Yang Kai left, Zhang Ruo Xi started looking around the secluded home and realized that although it was neat and clean, it was also quite barren and empty. Considering she would be living here from now on, she began thinking about how to redecorate.
After taking some time to come up with a plan, Zhang Ruo Xi smiled happily before immediately taking things out of her Space Ring and arranging them.
…
Spirit Pill Plaza…
When Yang Kai arrived, someone immediately informed Kang Si Ran.
Not long after, Kang Si Ran came out and held Yang Kai’s hands enthusiastically, “Alchemist Yang, you finally showed up. If you didn’t appear, I’m afraid you would have missed this auction fair. Let’s go, time is running out, we need to arrive at the City Lord’s Mansion as soon as possible.”
“The auction fair is being held at the City Lord’s Mansion?” Yang Kai asked, astonished.
“Naturally! After all, this auction fair is organized by Sir City Lord himself, so of course, the venue is the City Lord’s Mansion. I will tell you about the treasures that will appear on the way.”
While on his way to the City Lord’s Mansion with Kang Si Ran, Yang Kai listened to the inside information from him. As they walked, Yang Kai came to realize that although Maplewood City’s cultivators had suffered serious casualties inside the Five Colored Treasure Pagoda, many had also managed to obtain good treasures.
Needless to say, the Dao Source Fruit would surely become the final item to be auctioned.
There were also several Dao Source Grade artifacts, which had attracted many Dao Source Realm masters of nearby great forces to participate in the auction.
Moreover, there were ancient pills, Secret Arts, and Secret Techniques.
In short, this auction would be an unprecedented event for Maplewood City, and all cultivators were looking forward to it. However, there were some prerequisites to participating in the auction; after all, there were many cultivators in Maplewood City and not everyone could be accommodated into the City Lord’s Mansion.
If one wanted to join the auction, other than being invited by the City Lord’s Mansion, only two kinds of people could enter freely.
Cultivators at or above the Origin King Realm, or someone with strong financial backing. If a cultivator didn’t meet either of these requirements, they weren’t even allowed to enter the auction house.
As the shopkeeper of the Spirit Pill Plaza, Kang Si Ran often dealt with the City Lord’s Mansion, so he had obtained an invitation long ago and was allowed to bring one person inside with him, meaning Yang Kai’s cultivation and financial resources didn’t need to be checked.
“Heavenly Martial Holy Land placed three Dao Source Fruits in the Five Colored Treasure Pagoda this time, one of which will appear in the auction. As for the other two, no one knows who obtained them,” Kang Si Ran said. He had always been eyeing the Dao Source Fruits and was quite annoyed that his luck wasn’t good enough to obtain one inside the Five Colored Treasure Pagoda. Today though, he had brought out his life’s savings to obtain this Dao Source Fruit.
However, he knew that he had little to no hope of success; after all, while he was the shopkeeper of Spirit Pill Plaza, how could his financial resources be compared with those from big Sects and families? If he were to attend the auction as a representative of Violet Source Chamber of Commerce, his situation would have been completely different, but using funds from Violet Source Chamber of Commerce would mean the Dao Source Fruit would ultimately not belong to him.
Hearing what he said, Yang Kai scratched his nose and remained silent.
After all, one of the Dao Source Fruits was still lying in his Space Ring. As for the third one, he had no idea about it.
Chatting and walking, the two soon arrived at the City Lord’s Mansion.
The City Lord’s Mansion entrance was bustling with people, many of them eager to enter while the guards were trying to maintain order. From time to time, people would try to push their way inside, but they would immediately be thrown out while being mocked and cursed.
“A mere Third-Order Origin Returning Realm wants to participate in the auction!? Go back and cultivate for a few more decades first! What, you have Source Crystals? Let me see, a few hundred thousand Source Crystals? You call this having Source Crystals!? Scram!” Loud cursing could be heard coming from the front as some unqualified cultivators wanted to pass through but were caught by the guards and unceremoniously expelled.
“First-Order Origin King, you are barely qualified.”
“A Third-Order Saint King like you wants to join in the fun? You think Father here won’t slap you to death? What, you have a million Source Crystals? Why didn’t you say so! Go on in.”
The guards were also very busy. The auction was about to start, but there were still countless cultivators who wanted to enter, leading to many big headaches.
“Ah, Shopkeeper Kang!”
Kang Si Ran and Yang Kai squeezed their way through the crowd to get to the City Lord’s Mansion’s gates where the guards immediately recognized Kang Si Ran and put a big smile on his face.
“Shopkeeper Kang, even if it is you, you must follow the rules. You have an invitation, right?”
“Of course,” Kang Si Ran smiled as he took out the invitation before handing it over under the envious gazes of the nearby cultivators.
The guard took it and after verifying its authenticity, he said with a smile, “Shopkeeper Kang, please enter, you only need to show the invitation at the entrance and someone will come to greet you.”
“Very good! Ah, right, this Kang will be bringing this friend in with me, that’s not a problem, right?” Kan Si Ran pointed at Yang Kai.
“According to the rules, it’s not a problem,” That guard only glanced once at Yang Kai before letting him go.
Kan Si Ran nodded before the pair left the crowd and made their way inside.
“Let’s go, the auction is about to start,” Kang Si Ran picked up his pace.
Soon after, the two entered the City Lord’s Mansion and after Kang Si Ran showed his invitation, a maid promptly led them to a private room numbered B9.
Kang Si Ran looked a little surprised by this number; after all, he could be regarded as someone famous in Maplewood City and although his cultivation wasn’t the strongest, with Violet Source Chamber of Commerce backing him, even City Lord Duan Yuan Shan dared not look down on him.
But now, he had only been assigned to a private room in the B Block, making it all the more evident that the people in the higher-ranked rooms either had higher strength, or bigger backgrounds.
Realizing this, Kang Si Ran frowned as a bad premonition came over him.
The auction site was a large hall inside the City Lord’s Mansion that had been temporarily remodelled specifically for the occasion. The hall was jam-packed with people and with just a glance, Yang Kai estimated that there were at least thousands of people here and over a hundred private rooms.
What’s more, there were many people who were still trying to enter. If not for Kang Si Ran’s status, the two of them might not have even been able to squeeze inside.
At this moment, the lower hall was bustling with noises and people as countless cultivators chatted with each other in small groups. Obviously, the auction had still not started.
Only the hundred private rooms remained silent, and whenever a cultivator down below glanced upwards, gazes filled with envy.
“Please sit,” Kang Si Ran said as he found a place for himself.
Yang Kai also took a seat. In any case, he had participated in several auctions over the years, so despite this being his first one in the Star Boundary, everything still felt quite familiar to him.