The Auction House served as the geographical and financial center of the city, all the commerce coming from the Port to the continent and from the continent to the Port passed through the city blocks around it. Everything a mortal or a cultivator needed could be found among the ancient tiled roofs of the buildings around the Auction House.

The Auction House itself was not a single entity, but several pavilions, pagodas and tall buildings arranged in a white brick plaza in the center of the city. The plaza was populated with silver basined fountains, statues of the cultivators that made their names in the city, mystical trees with magical creatures playing among their poisonous fruits and in the center the oldest building in the city.

In all other auction places in that plaza the contestants were divided based on their strength and wealth, with people in the higher tiers having access to better items, preferential treatment and the opportunity to bully the weaker into a duel if the bids were tied. But in the center of the plaza, and so the center of the city, a type of coliseum was built around a spear stuck in the ground.

That spear was the Sacred Spear of the Yellow Emperor who pierced through the legions of Demons from beyond the Wall before landing here, in the border between human and Orc territory. No one could pull it away, and in its presence everyone was equal. Who could claim to be better than the next man when no one in the History of Cultivation was good enough to kiss the feet of the man who threw that spear?

Only cultivators could enter the coliseum, but there everyone sat in the same stands and bid on the same items presented below the shadow of the Sacred Spear, and if there was a tie a simple luck test was applied and the Yellow Emperor favored the one he wanted to win. If Lord Patriarch Kun himself came from his enlightened throne on Yang City to bid here he wouldn’t be able to bully the lowest Foundation Expert out of an item. So every 6 months the City organized the biggest Auction event possible, selling all the best and most expensive items from the Empire and beyond there.

Around the plaza of the Auction House streets of gray cobblestone stretch in random patterns, revealing a chaotic and pulsing city within a city that only its habitants could truly know. That was the oldest surviving part of the City, the port, the walls, and the other different compounds and residential areas of the city had all being destroyed and rebuilt several times, but the center stood, a mixture without any central planing of all the different architectural flavors and cultural eras the Empire had withstood for the last thousand years.

It was the neutral zone of Pearl City, with the Yang main compound in its north side, the Docks in its south side, the Jin main compound and the Alchemy House in its east side and the Training Grounds and Pleasure House in its west side. Everyone congregated in the area around the Auction House.

Yang Xia walked towards the Guild's Main Hall with Mei Yun by his side. This time, his boots were thick enough to completely ward his feet from the ground. The Guild’s Main Hall is where all the announcements and events of the many Guilds of the City happened, it was also where people who wanted services done by cultivators could find cultivators willing to do it.

It was a big red square building with several stories, but the main part was the first floor where everyone could enter and negotiate with the Guilds and other people in the building, only members of an official Guild could go to the upper floors.

The doors of the first floor were wide enough that 2 carriages could pass through them at the same time and they were always open, no matter the time or the day. Yang Xia and Mei Yun entered the establishment and immediately noticed the usual smell of new wood. The entire Main Hall was built with exotic elven trees from far beyond the Hidden Isles, the type of trees who never died, so when you cut them down the wood would always be fresh, without ever losing the scent of nature the tree once had.

The first floor was divided between an open area with tables and a bar and restaurant that had a podium by the west wall that would be used for presentations, and a dark brown wall sectioning off a quarter of the space and the east wall with a counter in the middle and doors in each extremity, the stairs leading to the second floor were behind those doors. In the spaces between the counter and the doors people would hang requests and warnings.

There were still several hours before lunchtime so the bar was almost empty, just a couple of customers talking with each other at some of the tables.

“I’m craving for some Orc Blood, I will order it while you check the requests.” Said Mei Yun and headed for the bar. She always loved the hot beverage popularized by travelers that returned from the Orc Confederation, despite its name it was dark red, different from the brown that ran through an orc’s vein.

The requests hanging in the first hall of the Guild Hall were things low level sole cultivators could do, serious tasks made for higher level cultivators could be found in the higher levels, but Yang Xia had no use for them yet. He searched through them for something he wanted to do. Being a bodyguard for a merchant sounded a lot like standing around doing nothing. Joining an expedition into a monster cave was the receipt to spend weeks fighting bugs and nothing much else.

A contract to fight a member of a Society like last time would be perfect, but unfortunately it didn’t look like there were any of those this time. There were some contracts about fighting this or that person, but they were all either in the Spirit Realm, so Yang Xia would have virtually no chance of winning against them in a fair fight, or in the Foundation Realm, so Yang Xia would be able to mop the floor with them without learning anything.

He was about to give up and get a contract to fight a gang that was hanging by the Gong Port, a bunch of street rats in the Foundation Realm, hoping that they would be brave and stupid enough to try to fight him with their numbers when he got an idea. There was a contract in the middle of the left side of the wall, it was written in purple paper, with bold letters and with a huge reward at the bottom. And the task did not look that hard, rescue the daughter of the Xun Matriarch that had been abducted by a Foundation Level expert.

Normally, Yang Xia would’ve accepted it just for the reward, 15 silver coins, almost 1300 gold coins by the current exchange rate, but there was a reason the request has been sitting there for an entire month. The Foundation expert was not some random cultivator, but Dai Hong, the man who had been blessed by the fairies.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

It was not a secret where he was hiding, he was in the one of the Gardens next to the Pleasure House, being protected by a Sky level expert, the fifth level of cultivation above Foundation, Nascent, Spirit, and Earth. No one who could fight someone like that would be interested in 15 silver coins. This could be everything the Xun Matriarch could muster to try to save her daughter, but the Xun clan was a small clan, not attached to any of the Families or the Big Clans and Sects in the region.

That’s why Yang Xia never accepted the request, he wouldn’t be able to get a mile of distance from the Xun girl before the Sky Expert found him. But something clicked in his head. It was not a normal Sky Expert, but a Fairy Expert. No one got that far while having a simple mind, but Fairies were crazy since the day they were born, and getting that strong only exacerbated it. Maybe there was a path forward. He collected the request and presented it to the Guild Employee at the counter.

“Ah, nothing like Orc’s Blood after a night making pills.” Mei Yun’s eyes had the faint red glow that came from drinking this beverage, her tall cup was already half way done.

A loud noise of screams and boots hitting the ground came from the ceiling and interrupted their conversation.

“What’s that?” Yang Xia asked, looking upwards.

“They are doing talent tests for the new recruits on the second floor, probably overreacting over some stupid rich kid.” The clerk’s voice was monotone, as if he couldn’t care less if they had found the Yellow Emperor reborn up there.

“Hey Yang Xia, don’t tell me you are some sort of Hidden Divine Master just playing around with this little Mei Yun?” She said looking at the request form.

“HA, you wish.” Yang Xia scoffed.

“Then why are you looking for trouble with that mad Fairy by the Old Garden.” She finished the drink and a flash of red shone through her eyes for a moment before going back to the faint glow. She then placed the cup on the counter and winked to the clerk.

“Young Lady, the bar is on the other side of the floor.” Said the employee with a deadpan face while confirming Yang Xia’s request.

“Bah you are no fun.” Mei Yun whined but picked up the cup and took it back to the bar.

“Pure violence is not all I’m good at, you know.” Said Yang Xia following her.

“Yeah but tactical violence is no good either.” She dismissed him as she placed the cup on the counter and started to walk towards the exit. “You could sneak up on her while she was sleeping naked after losing to another Sky Expert and you still lose.”

“Just wait and see, little girl, you may learn something.” Yang Xia patted the top of her head.

“Who the fuck are you calling little girl.” She swatted his hand away. “You know what? If she for some reason lets you live I will not treat your sorry ass again, maybe after rotting in your bed for a couple of days you will learn to respect your elders.”

“Maybe I will.” Yang Xia smiled.

They then headed to a small blue plaza next to the Guild Hall that had all sorts of shops made of different colored bricks and wood, with striking banners and owners calling customers to check their merchandise and people walking and talking in small groups scattered around. Yang Xia stopped by the shop he always used and bought 2 fire-enhanced candles, a bottle of condensed Jing and an Energy Acceleration Pill for a silver coin, enough to last him an entire month. Mei Yun received her cultivation resources along with her alchemy materials, the spoiled brat.

Normally that would be the time Yang Xia would return to his house to prepare for the mission but this time he stopped by a stall that sold mortal medicine. He looked at the different pills, reagents and drugs and thought about his next steps.

“Hey, stop that.” Mei Yun's voice cut through the noise of the plaza. Yang Xia looked at her and saw her glaring at a scene in the center of the plaza.

Jin Li was stepping on a kneeled Foundation Expert while his two body guards watched. The Foundation Expert didn’t look like he had kneeled on purpose, but was forced to the ground and was still trying to force his head upwards against Jin Li boot, a hopeless task given that Jin Li was in the Nascent Realm and had his aura looking the Foundation Expert down.

Jin Li was a handsome man, being the second master of the Jin Clan he had all the females in the City in his reach but even if he was a mortal that he would probably be okay in that department with how well his dashing green eyes matched with his valiant face and long bright black hair. He was wearing the traditional dark green robes of the Jin Clan main family.

The Foundation Expert couldn’t be more different, he had a feral look even while on his knees, with an unkempt beard, short dark black hair and a savage face. He was grinding his teeth while beads of sweat ran through his forehead. His brown robe looked like it was made from pelts of animals instead of the more gentle materials usually used for cultivators.

Both ignored Mei Yun's voice but not her aura shooting like an arrow and busting Jin Li’s aura that was more like a bubble around him. The Jin Young Master immediately turned towards Mei Yun with his hand on the hilt of his sword and the Foundation Expert climbed to his feet growling but got restrained by the two bodyguards who were also in the Nascent Realm.

“What’s your problem?” Jin Li's voice was baritone.

“Are you not ashamed of bullying the weak in public like this?” There was nothing but scorn in her voice.

“Mind your business.” He shrugged his shoulders. “I was just teaching some manners to this wildman from the mountains.”

“Too bad no one did the same to you, until now at least.” Said Mei Yun and a dagger appeared in her left hand.

“Tsk.” Jin Li started to unsheathe his sword but something was off, all the noise had vanished from the plaza. He looked around and everyone was looking at them. He noticed Yang Xia next to Mei Yun watching with his hand on his chin. “So it’s Little Xia and the lost puppy who follow him around.” He sheathed his sword all the way back. “No matter the petty stuff, I will be seeing you both at the games.” He spat on the ground between them.

“And I will be seeing your sister tonight.” Yang Xia snickered. “And the only thing she will be seeing is the cover of my pillow.”

Jin Li's face turned dark red and an expression of pure rage took over his face. He grabbed the hilt of his sword again. And then hesitated. He snorted, turned around and walked away from the plaza, with his bodyguards soon following him after pushing the Foundation Expert back to the ground one last time.

“Injustices happen every day under the watch of Sun, will you try to save everyone?” Said Yang Xia as he pointed out the items he wanted to buy to the stall’s owner.

“No, just the ones I want to save.” She murmured and returned to his side with the dagger disappearing as suddenly as it had appeared.

“Hey.” The Foundation Expert yelled, he was back on his feet. “My name is Liu Ru, thank you kind lady.” He bowed.

“Don’t worry about it.” She blew a purple flower that floated towards him. He picked it up with both of his hands in a cup.

Yang Xia finished paying a couple of gold coins to the stall’s owner and started to walk towards Ren Qiu’s home without looking to the Foundation Expert, Mei Yun gave him a small nod and followed Yang Xia.