Chapter 29 - The Auction
"What do you suggest brother? What should we do?" Hao Xuan asked First.
"I think it's better if you visit a few auctions to get some more exposure. Your view of the world is still quite limited brother," First replied after thinking about it for a few mins.
"And you might even find something you need," he followed.
They walked out of the room and went back to the main hall. There were six huge doors there on each side with words Hall 1 through 12, and one massive door at the end opposite to the main entrance with the words "Grand Hall" written above it.
Hao Xuan randomly chose hall number 3 and went inside, as soon as he entered his token lit up for a second and then went back to normal.
The hall was massive with more than a thousand seats on the floor and some private cabins above them. There was a stage in the front where an elderly man was standing on a podium and a very busty lady with fox years was standing next to him holding a strange looking shell in her hands.
They sat down in the first open seats.
"Our next item is a rare material used in crafting fished up from the Azure ocean. It has a natural formation inside it and can control water elemental energy to a certain extent," the old man said while pointing at the shell.
"The starting bid is 250 low-grade spirit stones," he said.
People starting biding and at the end, it was sold for 600 spirit stones.
Many other things were sold from weapons and armors to techniques, but nothing caught Hao Xuan's eye. A couple of hours later the auction finished and they left the hall.
It was about 5 in the evening so they went out to eat and came back just in time for the biggest auction of the night that took place in the Grand Hall to start.
The grand hall was about ten times larger than the other ones with about Eight thousand seats with ample room between them and many more private cabins as well.
Almost 90% of the hall was filled already with all private cabins occupied. All kinds of beings could be seen sitting there, with some beasts and giants in the mix as well.
Few mins later a middle-aged man walked onto the stage. He looked a bit similar to Li, probably his brother.
"Ladies, Gentlemen, and all the others in-between, welcome to the final auction of the day. My name is Li and i'll be your auctioneer," the man said with a smile looking at the huge crowd.
"Today we have a few special things for sale tonight as I'm sure you all know. Please remember to respect each other and the rules of this great establishment," Li said and then clapped his hands. Silence came over the entire Grand Hall. A young lady in a blue cheongsam walked it with an ivory tray in her hands covered by a cloth.
"The first item is a support technique," Li said while snapping his fingers and the cloth over the tray turned transparent and an old looking scroll could be seen inside.
"The name of the technique is 'Demonic Steps' and it is a movement technique. It was discovered in a cultivation cave in the Forgotten swamp a few weeks ago," Li said with a proud look.
The audience broke into a clamor. Hao Xuan looked around slightly confused, what was so good about the technique?
"The forgotten swamp is a restricted area. Its a few kingdoms away and spans millions of miles. No one has ever been able to explore it completely as the soil there is basically quicksand and what small chunks of solid ground there are, are occupied by indigenous tribes or extremely strong beasts. No one willingly enters that place unless they are running from someone," First explained as he saw Hao Xuan's dumbfounded expression.
"We are not able to identify the grade of this technique as it has been sealed and only one person can cultivate it as it will disappear after that," Li said a few seconds later, giving the audience ample time to come to their own conclusions.
"As you are all aware, the Forgotten swamp is not a place for the weak, hence this must belong to a strong cultivator. But considering it is a demonic technique and might have some negative aspects, the starting bid is only 500 low-grade spirit stones with every new bid being a minimum of 50 stones."
"700," as soon as he finished, someone bid from one of the private booths.
The hall went quiet for a second. Anyone who could get a private booth had to be very influential so going against someone like that wouldn't be worth the trouble especially since even the techniques grade was unknown.
"750" said a large burly man with horns coming out from the side of his face.
Suddenly an extremely powerful pressure descended from the private booth, silencing the hall once again.
"Dear guest, please mind the Den's rules, lest you want to be kicked out," Li spoke with a frown. If everyone could just pressure each other like that, they wouldn't make any profit at all.
The pressure vanished and the booth went quit.
"800," said the same voice again but this time no one spoke again.
Li shook his head with a sigh. The damage was already done, no one would bid against 'that' guy anymore.
First saw Hao Xuan's hand move when the man with the horns had bid and knew he wanted the technique as well.
"Brother, although we aren't that high ranked, no one can pressure us in the Mei Kingdom. We are the red legion! If you want the technique then bid without worry and leave the rest to me," First patted Hao Xuan's shoulder.
"Thank you, First brother," Hao Xuan said smiling back at him.
"1000!" Hao Xuan said extremely loudly. Everyone looked at him, who was this person to bid against someone like that? But he just ignored all the looks and kept looking at the stage.
A few more seconds go by and the booth finally lights up again.
"1,500," said the voice angrily.
"2,000," Hao Xuan casually cast another bid stupifying the crowd once more. This was a huge amount and normal people would never be able to take that much out on a whim.
There was no response from the booth for a couple of mins after that.
"Sold to the young man there. Congratulations!" Li said when no one from the booth or anyone else bid again.
"You can pick up the scroll after the auction," he said smiling at Hao Xuan.
After that a lot of other things were put on sale, there were even people sold as slaves.
No person could be enslaved by another, they would have to renounce their freedom of their own accord. Only those people that had nothing to live for or had some strange fetishes were the ones that sold themselves into slavery.
The auction lasted about four hours and only three other things were sold at a higher price than Hao Xuan's movement technique, all bought by the people in the private booth's.
Just as everyone was about to leave, Li spoke up again.
"Dear Sirs and Madams, we have had a last minute entry," catching everyone's attention, he smiled and gestured towards the seat and they all sat back down.
"A weapon spirit embryo!" the hall went dead silent and then erupted in an uproar a second later.
How was this possible? WHo would be willing to sell an embryo like that?
"Brother, what is it?" Hao Xuan asked First once again, confused.
"Weapons are like extensions of ourselves. Once you have cultivated long enough and have used the same weapon throughout your journey, it develops a consciousness, or a spirit and comes alive. It can supplement the user's power significantly and can even move around on its own if its strong enough. But of course, that's easier said than done. People change weapons a lot and its not easy to nurture a spirit. An embryo is born naturally in the world and can be smithed into your weapon, bringing it to life. It's extremely rare," First explained seriously. This was a huge deal.
"The seller needs to get rid of it quickly so let's make this short. Starting bid is 1,000 low-grade spirit stones," Li said and a lady brought out a pitch black box.
"1,500," said the voice again, the same one that had fought against Hao Xuan.
"1,800," said a voice from another cabin.
"2,100," said the first voice again. Everyone started whispering. It was at the end of the auction so almost everyone was out of spirit stones and no one would be able to take out a huge amount this fast. Otherwise, it wasn't rare for an embryo to go for more than ten thousand.
"Anyone else?" Li asked with a frown. This really wasn't a good idea. This was a quarter of the price.
But no one bid again. All the private booths were out of stones and others didn't carry around that much with them.
"It seems it's your lucky day 'Young master'" Li said a smile while looking at the first booth.
"It is meant to be," said the voice again, arrogantly.
Li sighed once more looking at the crowd. "Such a shame," he thought.
"2,500!" just as he was about to finish the sale, a voice spoke up waking him from his stupor.
Everyone looked around but they were all lost in their own thoughts that no one was paying attention or had seen who had made the bid.
"2,500," spoke up Hao Xuan while standing up. Everyone turned around and looked at him. This guy again? Who was he? Was it another young master from an influential clan?
"What?!" said the voice from the booth, completely incensed.
"Who hell do you think you are?!?" the voice shouted and the pressure appeared once again, everyone around Hao Xuan could feel it. Hao Xuan could barely stand and was about to collapse to the ground.
Li was also angered looking at the 'that' guys behavior once again. But just he was about to speak up and an even stronger pressure came crashing down on the booth and on the hall itself.
It wasn't overbearing, but everyone knew it was much stronger than the one from the booth.
"Who the hell do you think YOU are?" First said as he stood up. He was the source of that pressure!
Hao Xuan was flabergasted. His first brother was this strong? He could feel that this pressure was just a little bit weaker than General Yue Fei's! First was almost as strong a general??!
The hall was dead silent. No one uttered a single word. Li looked at First and surprise could be seen on his face.. Someone so young had reached such a level? This was an unexpected present.