Chapter 3957
Chapter 3957 – Chance Encounter at the Auction House
Translator: Silavin & Jon
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
“En, this King is here today to take part in the auction.” Pei Bu Wan nodded.
[He really is!] An ecstatic Yang Kai cupped his fists, “In that case, I’d like to ask for Shopkeeper Pei’s help.”
Pei Bu Wan chuckled, “Just say it.”
“Please bring us into the auction house.”
Hearing that, Pei Bu Wan burst into a fit of laughter, “This auction house is not a Restricted Area, just go in if you want to. There are two entrances over there. One is for important people in the Star City who have VIP invitations and the other for those who are general participants. As long as you can show them that you’re wealthy enough, they will let you in. You’ve already made a fortune, so you totally have the right to enter.”
Yang Kai had realised earlier that there were two entrances for those who were invited and those who were not; however, that meant nothing for Yang Kai and Bai Qi because they wouldn’t be allowed to get into the venue if they directly stepped into it. By following Pei Bu Wan though, they stood a chance of sneaking into the place.
Realising what was going on, Pei Bu Wan knitted his brow and examined Yang Kai, “Have you caused some kind of trouble?”
With a harmless smile, Yang Kai replied, “What are you talking about? We’re honest and well-behaved people, so how is it possible that we’ve caused any trouble? Shopkeeper Pei is overly worried.” This thug indeed didn’t have any integrity to begin with. He had just promised to lend Yang Kai a hand, but he didn’t immediately agree to his request.
Pei Bu Wan’s expression suggested that he didn’t believe him.
Left with no choice, Yang Kai said, “Good. You’ve always wanted me to take part in another match, right? If Shopkeeper Pei lends us a hand today, I’ll follow you to Asura Arena one more time.”
At the mention of Asura Arena, Pei Bu Wan’s expression changed drastically as he quickly waved his hands, “No, we’re not going there again!”
[What’s going on?] A puzzled Yang Kai stared at him. Pei Bu Wan had visited the inn several times to persuade him to go to Asura Arena, so why did he look so terrified when this topic was brought up now?
Yang Kai thought that this thug had lost a lot of money in the arena and was now worried about going back, but he had no idea that it was the Proprietress who had warned him.
She had seen Pei Bu Wan looking for Yang Kai several times, so she found a chance and had a chat with him. Upon learning that Pei Bu Wan had brought Yang Kai to Asura Arena, she became infuriated and almost broke his arms. Then, she warned him against taking Yang Kai to the arena again; otherwise, she would trample his Hundred Refining’s Hall flat.
If that hadn’t happened, Pei Bu Wan wouldn’t have given up this means of making more money. That was the real reason he had stopped looking for Yang Kai.
With a frown, Pei Bu Wan pointed at two shop hands who had tagged along and ordered, “Take off your clothes.” Although he had no idea why Yang Kai wanted to follow him into the auction house, he knew that the latter must be up to no good. After that, he stared at Yang Kai, “It’s fine that you want to tag along, but we’ll part ways after we get into the venue.”
“Alright. Many thanks, Shopkeeper Pei.” Yang Kai and Bai Qi traded glances and grinned.
Soon, they changed into new clothes and hid among the group of people. After that, they followed Pei Bu Wan to shuffle towards the auction house.
In front of the entrance, Yun Zhen Hua was nowhere in sight. He must be busy handling other matters since the auction was about to start, which allowed Yang Kai and Bai Qi to heave a sigh of relief. If Yun Zhen Hua was still around, they wouldn’t stand a chance to get in, but now that the latter was nowhere to be found, they might be able to sneak in.
Reaching the entrance, Pei Bu Wan presented the invitation card to the shop hand, who extended his hand to welcome them in. Pei Bu Wan directly strode into the venue, while Yang Kai and Bai Qi hung their heads low as they followed the rest of the group.
After entering the auction hall, Yang Kai thanked Shopkeeper Pei in a small voice before he and Bai Qi scurried off in a different direction.
Soon, they reached the main hall and saw many people moving around. Rows of chairs had been placed in the venue hall that was so spacious that it could accommodate at least a few hundred people.
On the second floor, many private rooms were seen around the hall.
The chairs in the hall were for individual bidders, while those private rooms were for people like Pei Bu Wan who had high social status.
At this moment, half of the seats in the hall had been taken. Yang Kai and Bai Qi secretly observed for a while and realised that these individual bidders could take any seat they wanted, so they decided to take a seat in the last row.
There was still some time before the auction began as the guests were still streaming into the venue, so an apprehensive Bai Qi asked, “Yang Kai, why don’t we forget it and just watch the auction? We’d better not make a scene here.”
Yang Kai shot him a glance, “Do you really want to ask Proprietress for help?”
Bai Qi sighed, “We have no other choice. If we make a fuss here, we’ll end up miserable.”
Yang Kai grinned, “That’s only if they have the guts.”
A hesitant Bai Qi gave it a thought and said, “There’s a problem with your idea.”
“What do you mean?”
“What if they demand payment on the spot?”
Hearing that, Yang Kai furrowed his brow as that was indeed a problem. In that case, his plan wouldn’t work, but what Bai Qi had said might not be the case as well. After pondering on it for a bit, he said, “We’ll see how things go. If there’s a chance, we’ll make a scene. If there isn’t, we’ll just watch the auction in silence. Everything is up to Heavens now.”
Bai Qi clenched his teeth and said, “Good. It’s decided, then. However, I think we’d better sit in different places; otherwise, it’d be too conspicuous.” Then, he looked around and pointed in a direction, “You stay here, and I’ll go over there.”
After he finished speaking, he rose from his chair and walked away.
Yang Kai didn’t stop him. Looking around, he realised that there were many Emperor Realm cultivators as well as a few Open Heaven Realm Masters in the hall. However, those were all lone Low-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters who basically had no future; otherwise, they would have been invited into the private rooms instead of staying in this crammed hall.
While he was looking around and observing the crowd, Yang Kai suddenly heard someone calling out to him, “Sir Yang?”
Yang Kai turned his head and broke into laughter, “Luo Hai Yi?”
She seemed to be looking for a seat, and seeing as there was an empty one beside a person in the back, she decided to come over. It wasn’t until she got close that she realised it was Yang Kai.
Having bumped into a familiar face here, she was apparently elated. Then, she took a look at the seat beside him and asked, “Is that seat taken?”
“No. Have a seat,” Yang Kai flashed a smile at her.
It was then she took a seat beside him. There was a pleasant scent wafting from her body that could make anyone feel refreshed.
“Are you here to buy something?” Yang Kai asked, thinking she was probably here to take part in the auction.
Luo Hai Yi nodded her head, “I heard that some Grand Dao Pills have appeared, so I’m here to try my luck.”
She hadn’t condensed her Dao Seal yet, so she was in desperate need of Grand Dao Pills. Yang Kai had heard her mention this before.
Upon that realization, Yang Kai asked with a smile, “Do you have enough pills? I can lend you some if not.”
A bashful Luo Hai Yi put on a smile, “I should have enough to buy two pills.”
Yang Kai nodded his head, “Then, good luck.”
Through his contact with Luo Hai Yi, he realised that she was an independent woman who did not like owing others favours. Previously, she had rejected any money that was more than what had been agreed upon beforehand, so it was apparent that she stuck to her principles.
The pair were familiar with one another and had many common interests, so they had fun chatting together. One hour later, all the seats in the hall were finally filled.
This fact alone suggested that Wind and Cloud Auction House was truly influential in this city. There wasn’t even a single empty seat in the hall, which went to show that the auctions that were held here were attractive to the citizenry.
Right then, a bell rang out and all the lights turned dim. Following that, a spotlight was cast on the stage. Following the movement of the spotlight, a figure sashayed forward from the backstage. Standing in the spotlight, she became the centre of attention in the venue.
She was a young woman in her thirties with a curvy figure and an alluring face. After reaching the podium, she introduced herself in a soft voice, an amiable smile on her face.
After a typical opening speech, the auction officially began.
Naturally, the things that were up for auction first were not rare treasures and were things only Emperor Realm cultivators would need. While the honoured guests in the private rooms and the Open Heaven Realm Masters in the hall were unfazed, the Emperors fervently bid for the things and caused the prices to soar.
All the items were carefully selected, so none of them were left unpurchased.
Yang Kai watched coldly and realised that Bai Qi’s worry was needless. The successful bidder wouldn’t have to make payment on the spot. After the winning bid, the item would be taken away and payments would only be made after the auction was over.
Those from the auction house were not worried that someone would refuse to pay up. Given their auction house’s power and influence, who would have the guts to do that?
[Interesting…] Yang Kai grinned in silence and shot a glance at Bai Qi, who was on the other side of the hall. Bai Qi got his hint as a tinge of ferocity flashed across his eyes. It seemed that he was ready to make a scene.
After an hour, 8 items had been sold off and the auctioneer had become increasingly high-spirited, “The next items are the Spirit Pills that every Emperor Realm cultivator yearns for…”
Upon hearing that, Yang Kai could see Luo Hai Yi straightening up. If he wasn’t mistaken, the Spirit Pills the auctioneer had mentioned were supposed to be Grand Dao Pills.
As expected, ten maidservants with different styles of beauty emerged from backstage, each of them holding a tray on which a jade bottle sat.
The auctioneer went on to say with a smile, “Grand Dao Pills can help a cultivator comprehend his or her own Grand Dao and condense their Dao Seal. As all of you know, only by condensing a Dao Seal can a cultivator stand a chance to ascend to the Open Heaven Realm. I’m sure many Emperors have gathered in this place for these Grand Dao Pills, so I’ll not dally.” Then, she pointed at the bottles behind her, “We have ten batches of Grand Dao Pills here with two pills in every batch. We’ll start the bidding for the first batch now. The starting price for the next batch will be the second-highest offer of the previous batch. We’ll begin now. The starting price is 5,000, with minimum additional bids of 500!”
As soon as she finished speaking, Yang Kai heard Luo Hai Yi yelling, “5,000!”
Unfortunately, many people in the hall scrambled to bid for the same item, so her voice was immediately drowned out and no one could hear her.
Yang Kai turned to look at Luo Hai Yi, who appeared bashful under his gaze.