'I want to go to the ruins.’ Cao Cao’s voice sounded in Xu Min’s mind. The young man could not help but chuckle as he had the exact same thoughts as the small snake around his neck. Petting the snake with adoration, Xu Min could not help but answer, ‘We’re going to watch the auction for now. Later on, we can use some coins to gather information on these Ruins of the Immortals.’

Hearing this, the snake nodded in agreement as it closed its eyes from being petted by Xu Min.

Looking at the auction house, one guest after another lifted their signs. They were bidding for the martial art scroll. The price quickly surpassed the amount of money Xu Min had, even after counting the White Jade Card. Now, the young man understood that he could be considered a rich young master just from selling the Yearning Sunflower. However, he was still far from being able to hold a candle against the rich families and clans within the Ri Chu City.

Although Xu Min followed, interested in the price of the martial art skill, he still did not have feelings of jealousy towards the ones who could afford it. Instead, he felt excited from thinking about the Ruins of the Immortals. Although he had told Cao Cao they’d find out later, his curiosity was still very strong.

The martial art skill ended up selling for the astonishing amount of three thousand and four hundred gold coins. It was a tremendous amount of money for such an item.

“The first of our three special items this evening was just sold for such an amazing price,” the woman said as she, once more, stood at the stage. She caused every man within the room to cough, clear their throats, and rub their eyes. Their eyes and throat had suddenly gone dry from staring at the alluring curves and the beautiful figure.

“I hope you have not spent all your money just yet,” the woman continued. She completely ignored the numerous gazes that were glued to her body. Instead, she moved around on the stage which allowed her figure to twist and turn. From doing that, she attracted even more gazes her way. A mischievous smile was playing on her blood red lips as she looked at the men within the room.

“Our next item is incredibly rare,” the woman said. She continued as though her movements came from her excitement about the items rather than to draw in more fevered gazes. This convinced the men to try and make her notice them by bidding on the items she was selling.

Once more, four high ranked Warriors came from through the door. This time, Xu Min was completely flabbergasted as he looked at the item up for sale. On the transparent counter, a flower was standing tall. It was a flower which Xu Min knew all too well. It was the Yearning Sunflower he had sold earlier for a whopping eleven hundred gold coins.

Patting his bag by his side, Xu Min put a quick glance into it and noticed that he had two more yearning sunflowers. A grin appeared on his face as the young man leaned back into his chair to ready himself to watch the bidding war with interest. He was very curious to see how much the flower would sell for and not to mention how many bidders would be interested in buying this flower.

“Today we have this astonishingly beautiful Yearning Sunflower,” the woman started to describe the flower. “The Yearning Sunflower will turn into a Lustful Sunflower the moment it touches sunshine. This makes it even more rare than its mutated stance. I know that Master Dong Liang is currently searching for a Yearning Sunflower. Anyone who can gift him one of these will be able to invite him over to visit their family or clan. Not only master Dong Liang, but Huang Zhen is also looking for one. To be able to pick and choose between the two grandmasters, one can imagine how important this flower may be.”

The woman continued as she walked around the stage. Her eyes glanced over the audience but were shortly stopped on a smirking youngster as he pet a snake coiled around his neck. Seeing this, the young woman could not help but frown slightly. However, she quickly regained her composure and a blinding smile showed on her face as she started the bidding war.

One sign after another was lifted into the air. Voices constantly shouted greater and greater amounts of gold coins. Within a few moments, the price of eleven hundred gold coins Xu Min had sold it for was the calling price for the Yearning Sunflower. It did not stop there, however. Three family leaders were battling it out each other. One after another, each family yelled a higher price than the previous family. It quickly reached three thousand gold coins where it slowed down slightly. The bids now only raised fifty gold coins at a time.

Eventually, one of the families had to opt out and were no longer capable of bidding. Two families stayed competing until eventually one of the men shook his head. He stopped the bids which allowed a tall and lean man with a black beard and long hair to shout out the winning bid of three thousand seven hundred and fifty gold coins.

Hearing the shocking amount of money, Xu Min could not help but raise an eyebrow in surprise. The price was quite higher than what he had expected it to sell for. Yet, it was still quite a bit less than what the woman who had purchased it had hoped to sell it for.

After the first two items had been sold, the woman on the stage once more started to pace around the stage. She was using a lot of flowery and grandiose words to describe the winning families. Anyone could see that her words pleased the families they were spoken about.

“Finally,” the woman said with her face growing very mysterious. A smile hung on her face as she was preparing to describe the final item. “This item is the main attraction for tonight. It can clearly rival both the Yearning Sunflower and the Martial Art Skill from the Ruins of the Immortals.” The mysterious expression on the woman’s face grew further into amusement as though she was finding this entertaining.

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“The next item up for sale is a suit of armor which has been given further protection by a runic inscription from our very own Ri Chu City’s Lord Zhan Weisheng.” As soon as the words had been said, a large tremor ran through the entire room. Everyone seemed to be looking around as though they were searching for someone. Before they had managed to find anyone, the woman on the stage cleared her throat. Instantly calling everyone to order, she commanded the men to once more sit down in the seats. All their eyes were glued onto the woman who nimbly went towards the side where she gestured towards a balcony.

“It is with my great pleasure to also inform you that Lord Zhan Weisheng is also present at our humble auction house.” As she spoke, an elderly man rose to his feet and nodded towards the buyers in the filled room.

The major families all stood up and bowed towards the man while the other cultivators and travellers did not show the same sign of respect.

‘Do you know who this Lord Zhan Weisheng is?’ Cao Cao’s voice curiously rang within Xu Min’s head. The young man chuckled once more as he petted the curious snake on his neck. ‘How can I know?’ he asked while laughing. ‘I haven’t had any time to really learn about this Ri Chu City yet. I’ll make sure to figure out all these things later.’

‘Hey, are we going to sell some of those flowers that you stole from Mother’s garden?’ Cao Cao asked curiously. The question caused Xu Min to raise an eyebrow. ‘Mother?’ he asked curiously. Cao Cao instantly quieted down for a bit. ‘Yeah. Father said I had to call the tree, Mother. I really don’t know whether or not she is my mother.’

Hearing the voice, it was like a child uncertain about its own heritage. Xu Min could only feel the pain that the snake felt. He too, was also completely uncertain about his heritage.

Xu Min had never before told anything to Cao Cao about his past. However, in the middle of the auction house did the human tell everything to the small snake who listened with wide open eyes.

At the right times, Cao Cao’s face showed killing intent. At other times, he showed sadness for the young man’s loss. Hearing about the goals which Xu Min had in his life, he did not laugh at how far away he was from his goal. Instead, he agreed that the two of them needed to take revenge together.

‘Father decided that you became my boss,’ Cao Cao said with a sigh. ‘I don’t really know why he chose a weakling like you, but you really aren’t as bad as I thought you were,’ he continued. ‘We’ll get revenge for your sister and also find out why your parents sent you and your sister away.’

Hearing these kind words, Xu Min could not help but laugh at them. With a gentle hand, he pet the snake once more on the head. He showed his gratitude through actions.

‘Back to your earlier question, I think I’m going to see whether or not I can trade a Yearning Sunflower for a few medicinal pills.’ Xu Min said with a smile. He was sure that if he brought forward his flower, the auction house would treat him as a great customer.

Having sat still for a couple of hours, nothing worth Xu Min’s attention appeared. Herbs and medicinal plants were sold, but plants were not what Xu Min was after. Armour and weapons appeared, but none of them were of any interest either.

Eventually, even captured Demon Beasts appeared within cages to be sold off to cultivators or families. They were either going to be tamed or be used to breed demon beasts for the major families.

Finally, the night drew to a close and the final item had been sold. As soon as the final item had been sold, all the customers who had purchased items went behind the stage into separate rooms. There, they each paid the gold coins they had spent before their items were handed to them.

Having bought nothing, Xu Min followed the stream of people outside the main building. As soon as he came out, he didn’t stopped even for a moment before going back into the inn where he got ready to spend the night cultivating.

‘I thought we were planning on selling some flowers?’ Cao Cao asked curiously on the way home. Xu Min just smiled as he petted the snake’s head in an indulgent way. ‘Don’t worry,’ he answered. ‘We will go there tomorrow. No rush, no rush. Rushing in now will seem weird.’ Xu Min said with a smile. After ordering the usual large portion of food, he sat on the bed where he calmed himself and started to focus on cultivating.

Cao Cao spent the better of half an hour eating quite a large portion of the food. It only left some of the food for Xu Min who could be hungry later. After finishing his portion, the snake moved onto the bed. He was next to the young man where he came to a rest. Cao Cao curled up right next to the young man. Happiness could be seen in his green eyes before he closed them.

Golden specks of light started to shine from both Xu Min and Cao Cao. The specks were both ingested and expelled from the bodies. They soon filled the entire room and both the cultivators were in a deep trance. Neither of them noticed as the hours passed. The moon shone through the clouds while cascading its light down upon the hotel. The rays of moonlight entered the hotel through the windows and illuminated the two friends, man and snake.