The Portal of Wonderland

“Can you find out from where that girl Zhong Xiu has invited such an expert charm magician?” the beautiful woman asked after a little consideration.

“This subordinate has sent people to investigate, but there has been no result yet,” the green-dressed young woman replied.

The beautiful woman’s brows creased, and she shot a discontented look at her.

The green-dressed woman’s body abruptly became stiff, and she lowered her head in response.

“Continue your investigation, and notify me the moment you have the results,” the beautiful woman commanded.

“Yes,” the green-dressed woman complied. Then, she drew back, and stood to the side of the green-dressed man.

“Humph! So, you intend to regain the popularity with the help of some high-ranked magic charms. This attempt of yours is nothing but a delusion.” The beautiful woman sneered.

She turned around after a while, and walked outside.

…

The auction venue on the first floor of the Welcoming the Immortals Pavilion…

The venue was originally divided into two separate meeting places. But, the partition wall that stood in the middle of both venues had been removed this time. In addition, the layout of the venue had been slightly modified so that it could accommodate thousands of people at a time.

However, there still existed a big disparity between this venue and the one on the third floor… whether it was in terms of the layout or the scope … But, this scope could still be regarded as more than enough for some warm-up events before the large-scale auction that was scheduled to be held at the end of the month.

All seats of this venue were fully occupied at the moment. Therefore, some people were standing to one side. They were talking and discussing with great enthusiasm. Most of the faces in the venue were smeared with a hint of excitement as well as anticipation.

In addition, there were some people in groups of three or four who occupied a certain area of the venue. Their facial expression looked calm, and they had a composed bearing. However, they seemed somewhat inharmonious with the clamorous environment of the surrounding.

“Red Snake Tribe, Blazing Tiger Tribe, Multifarious Gem Pavilion, Blue Dome Association…”

Zhong Xiu and Shi Mu stood in a room above the auction hall. And, the window of that room was providing them with a panoramic view of the crowd below. Zhong Xiu’s gaze wandered somewhere in the crowd, and then she spoke out their names one by one.

“These influential people don’t stand in the same league as the Mystical Eagle Tribe and the Black Spirit Association. But, they are also regarded as medium-sized forces in the neighboring regions.” Zhong Xiu said with excitement.

“I think you can boost up your strength significantly if you can draw these forces to your side,” Shi Mu added.

“Perhaps, all of them have shown up here for the high-ranked magic charm. Big Brother Shi, we may think of bringing out some high-ranked magic charms as a bargaining chip today. But, I’m afraid that a large quantity of them will be required to continue this trend if we do so. You…” Zhong Xiu looked at Shi Mu with a worried look on her face.

“Miss Xiu, you don’t have to worry about this. The process of drawing a magic charm is in itself a process of practicing a magic art. Besides, I’ve already drawn a lot over the past month or so. So, you can toss out a few of them at regular intervals by the end of the month to attract the attention of these people. This would also make them assured about the guaranteed supply of magic charms at the final auction,” Shi Mu said.

“Many thanks, Big Brother Shi.” Zhong Xiu said.

…

A purple-robed middle-aged man stood on the platform at the moment. He was tall, and his hands looked bright-red in color… It seemed that the red color of his hands was due to some kind of cultivation art that he would practice.

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Welcoming the Immortals Pavilion’s Auction. This humble man is Gu Li. I can see many new faces here today. I’ll say a few words before starting the auction as per the convention. This Welcoming the Immortals Pavilion will conduct altogether five small-scale auctions before the final auction which will be conducted at the end of the month. These small auctions will be organized to warm-up our distinguished guests who have come from afar. This is the third auction. I, hereby sincerely invite you to honor us with your gracious presence at the final auction on behalf of the Welcoming the Immortals Pavilion. We have myriads of exotic and rare things to offer at the scheduled time. I believe that we won’t disappoint you that day,” the purple-robed man raised his voice to say.

The droning sound of people’s discussion subsided a lot as soon as this announcement was made. Simultaneously, everyone directed their gaze towards the middle.

“Well then, let’s get started without further ado.” The purple-robed middle-aged man beckoned with his hand, and several yellow-shirted men walked up to him with a wooden box.

There was a metallic ore in that box which was sparkling and radiating cold light like a snow. It was one-foot in size, and was exuding a very intense invisible aura of the gold.

“This is a piece of high-ranked Golden Iron. The degree of its purity is very high. It can substantially enhance the power of the spirit tool pills if it is added in the process of its refinement. The starting price of this product is five thousand spirit stones. And, each subsequent bid must be higher than the previous bid by at least one hundred spirit stones,” the purple-robed man said.

This high-ranked Golden Iron wasn’t regarded as a very rare or unusual stuff. But, such a big piece was sufficient enough to enhance an ordinary spirit tool to a higher grade. Someone immediately called out his bid. Then, the bid price started to rise gradually. It was finally captured by a Xian Tian advanced-stage warrior who made the highest bid of 9,500 spirit stones.

A hint of exultation flashed through the purple-robed man’s eyes since the high-ranked Golden Iron had been sold at a fairly good price. It could be treated as a good sign for them.

He waved his hand, and someone again walked up with another auction item. It was a large white egg that was almost half the size of a human.

“This is the beast egg of a red-eyed golden eagle — a Xian Tian-ranked bird-class demon beast. All you need to do is to use some offering sacrifice methods to make this beast recognize its master once this egg hatches. Then, you can have a red-eyed golden eagle as your spirit pet. I would also like to share with you that we are going to offer demon pills and other materials of a red-eyed golden eagle at the final auction which will be held at the end of the month,” the purple-robed man said in a loud voice.

A Xian Tian-ranked demon beast’s egg was presented before the people. But, it could only set off a small tide in the auction hall in response.

To have a flying-class demon beast as a spirit pet was indeed very useful. However, it wasn’t only because of their combat power. The more important point was that it could carry a person while flying once it was fully grown. It could be said that these beasts were equivalent to a not-so-low-ranked flying magic tool. Furthermore, having this flying beast at one’s disposal could make one’s adventure trips very convenient. Hence, many powerful people who hadn’t made any bid before joined in and started to vie for this egg.

However, the genuinely big influences present in the auction hall still remained motionless. It seemed that they had absolutely no interest in the red-eyed golden eagle’s egg.

The purple-robed middle-aged man noticed these people’s facial expression, and understood the situation inwardly. He had eventually realized that it was the previous announcement about the high-ranked magic charms that had drawn these people to this pavilion.

Another two auction items were offered in the following time. But then, the purple-robed middle-aged man noticed that those influential people seemed to be losing their patience now. So, he made a gesture behind him.

There was a yellow-dressed man underneath the platform. He walked up the stage with a white jade box in his hand.

The jade box was opened, and three miraculously flickering magic charms came into sight. They were red, purple, and blue in color respectively, and each of them was exuding bursts of strong magic power waves.

“Ladies and gentlemen, after a long wait… here’s the next product for the auction. These three are high-ranked magic charms. These high-ranked magic charms have been refined by an expert charm magician in response to our special request for the same,” the purple-robed man introduced.

Everyone’s gaze converged on the three magic charms in the jade box as they heard these words. Those influential people had been stable and sturdy all along like a mountain. But even they sat up straight, and their eyes lit up brightly in response.

“The first one of these three high-ranked magic charms is the Chain of Fire Explosion Charm. The second one is the Thunder Cloud Storm Charm, and the third and last one is a Frosty Sky Water Blade Charm. All of them are considered top-notch magic charms in the category of high-ranked magic charms. The magic art they contain doesn’t have any issue. In fact, each of them is equivalent to the strength of the Earth-ranked totem warrior’s one strike. They are valuable treasures. I think that it’s needless to say anything further.” The purple-robed man took the three magic charms out of the box as if he deliberately wanted to make everyone see them clearly.

“They are indeed high-ranked magic charms!”

“They are exuding intense magic power waves!”

A wave of exclamation and discussion started to ring in the hall.

The Welcoming the Immortals Pavilion had previously claimed that there would be high-ranked magic charms at the auction today. But, most of the people present at the scene had embraced a dubious attitude towards that news. However, they finally believed this news when they saw the real thing.

Those influential people’s eyes also got suffused with a gleam of excitement and eagerness to do something.

“These three magic charms are offered for sale together. The initial price of these charms is five-thousand spirit stones. And, each subsequent bid mustn’t be less than one-hundred spirit stones more!” A contented look flashed through the purple-robed man’s eyes when he saw the people’s reaction. He then said.

“Five thousand one hundred!” someone immediately called out his bid.

“Five thousand two hundred!”

“Five thousand five hundred!”

Most of these bidders were Xian Tian-ranked warriors. After all, only these people could dare to take out thousands of spirit stones so casually.

“Six thousand spirit stones!” A blue-robed young man was seated in the front row of the auction. He made his bid by adding five-hundred spirit stones in one fell swoop like a rich and overbearing person.

A few people were seated next to that blue-robe man. They seemed to have encircled him from all sides… like stars twinkling around the bright moon.

“This person is called Lan Yu. He is the Young Master of a medium-sized chamber of commerce — The Hundred Gem Pavilion. He also has the backing of the Blue Mountain Tribe which is a Peaceful barbarian tribe.” Zhong Xiu explained to Shi Mu; they were in a certain room on the second floor.

Shi Mu nodded, and a delighted smile emerged on his face in response.

“Six thousand five hundred!”

Another vigorous voice resounded at this moment. It was the voice of a big man who was seated not far from the blue-robed man. He wore a red armor, and was surrounded by a few red-robed attendants.

The blue-robed man looked at the red-armored man with a cold look on his face. The red-armored man also gazed back at him with an unyielding expression on his face, and a sneer crawled across his face.

“This man is an Earth-ranked Elder of the Blazing Tiger Tribe,” Zhong Xiu explained.

Shi Mu groaned in response, and continued to watch the development of the situation below in a quiet manner.

“Six thousand eight hundred!” the blue-robed man didn’t back down a bit.

“Seven thousand!” Another influential person began to participate in the bidding.

Shi Mu felt greatly relieved when he saw this situation. The fact that only three high-ranked magic charms could attract such a high price was beyond his expectations.

This bid price still couldn’t be considered high if they were compared with that of some spirit tools and valuable spirit materials. But, this thing was a consumable item at the end of the day. Though, they could reap considerable commission as well as revenue for the auction if they were offered for sale in large quantities.

Shi Mu had obtained a bountiful number of spirit stones from the Dark Moon Cult’s sub-altar that was situated in the Hidden Wind Valley. But, the majority of them had been used in the procurement of goods, his previous expenses, and practicing cost. Consequently, he was left with only 30,000 spirit stones or so nowadays.

However, he could now seize this opportunity to make a big profit from the sale of high-ranked magic charms. In fact, it would be a fairly good income even after the deduction of making cost and commission from the total income. On top of that, the final product — ‘Star Stone’ — would also fetch a lot of spirit stones for him. And, so many spirit stones would be enough to enhance his martial art and magic art practice to a step further again.

One of the Welcoming the Immortals Pavilion’s guards came into Shi Mu and Zhong Xiu’s room at this time. He made a respectful gesture to greet Zhong Xiu, and then said to Shi Mu, “Senior Shi, someone at the door is looking for you.”

…

The people were still competing against each other for the magic charms. Finally, the three magic charms were bagged by the Elder of the Blazing Tiger Tribe since he had had the highest bid of eight-thousand-five-hundred spirit stones.

The sudden appearance of three high-ranked magic charms had made the auction reach a new upsurge tide in terms of the highest bid price. After that, the next few items were also sold at the auction at a significant price.

The curtain of this small auction finally dropped after half-an-hour.

In a certain living room of the Welcoming the Immortals Pavilion…

The Young Master of the Hundred Gem Pavilion, the Elder of the Blazing Tiger Tribe, and three golden-robed men had gathered in this room. They all had had the same idea, and hadn’t left the pavilion immediately.

An air of hostility could be vaguely felt among them since they had just bid against each other at the auction.

“Elder Yan, you’ve already bought three high-ranked magic charms. So, why are you still here?” Lan Yu — the Young Master of the Hundred Gem Pavilion — cast a sidelong glance at the red armored man, and said in a cold manner.

“This place is the Welcoming the Immortals Pavilion. It’s not your Hundred Gem Pavilion. Besides, this old man doesn’t need to seek suggestions from Young Master Lan,” the red-armored sneered.

Lan Yu snorted, and sat down.

“You’re the Vice President of the Blue Dome Chamber of Commerce, Yan Que. Dear Friend Yan, I am Yan Dian of the Blazing Tiger Tribe,” the red-armored man looked at a golden-robed handsome man, and said. That man’s face looked white; he was one of the three golden-robed men.

“Nice to meet you.” The white-faced man bore a cold and stern expression on his face… He didn’t say much in response.

Suddenly, a sound of footsteps spread from outside. Then, Zhong Xiu’s silhouette appeared at the door.

“I’m extremely sorry to have kept my respected guests waiting for so long. Actually, there had been some important matters related to this pavilion that had kept me occupied,” She walked into the living room. Then, she swept her gaze over the surrounding men once. After that, she made a gesture as a sign of greeting.