“Xue’er do you think I should cultivate in spiritual power?” Shen asked Xue’er as the couple walked through the crowd.
“Why do you ask Big Brother Shen?” Xue’er was bewildered. Shen was even stronger than her father. Why did he need to cultivate?
“I just felt that I would fit in better. And I can use magic tools! Maybe take spirit pills too. I wonder how they taste.”
“Hehe, Big Brother Shen, so you just want to use weapons. How very childish, hehe.” ‘How very cute as well!’ Xue’er rudely thought.
Xue’er’s pleasant laugh made Shen absorbed for a few seconds.
“Hmph! Anyways, Xue’er must teach me how to cultivate once we leave the city. Maybe I should try one of those closed-door cultivation things, haha.”
Shen pretended to be angry which earned him another chuckle from Xue’er. The couple visited food stalls set up by low level cultivators hand in hand before returning to the Auction House.
***
“Welcome back, Ladies and Gentlemen! We will now resume the auction. This time we have some valuable treasures mixed with mysterious items that we do not know the use or value of! Maybe one of you would recognise a treasure and pick up a bargain!”
The crowd went a bit noisy after this announcement.
“Without further ado, let us start!” Manager Feng continued.
The beautiful attendant brought a silver tray with an old looking book on the table. The book was not thick. It seemed to be made from some type of animal skin. On the cover, it read “Lightning Step Movement Art”.
“As you can see, this is a type off movement art. We have not identified the exact grade but we can tell you it certainly is at least high-grade martial skill if not higher.
The starting price for this skill will be 1 million low-grade spirit stones.”
The crowd was silent for a while.
“1.1 million!” Eventually a brave soul decided to try his luck.
“1.2 million.”
“1.25 million!”
Others quickly followed. Quickly, two old men became the final bidders with each of them fighting for the movement art.
“2.3 million! Old man Cao, why are you bidding for it? Your Wind Sword sect has plenty of high-grade movement arts!”
“2.5 million! Tao Xuefeng, you old fart! Who are you calling old man! Aren’t you older than me by 90 years? So, what if my Wind Sword sect has high-grade movement arts? I want it, so bite me!”
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“2.6 million! Cao Wuying, I dare you to try!”
…
…
After two old men behaving like children quarrelled back and forth for a bit, Wind Sword sect’s elder Cao finally won the movement art for a price of 4.3 million low-grade spirit stones.
“Next we have……”
…
…
The auction went on for a while with all sorts of treasures ranging from exotic spirit herbs to spirit tools.
“This time we have a mysterious ore. It is said to be from a meteorite by the seller. It is not the standard meteorite iron however. It is much harder and heavier. Let me demonstrate.”
Manager Feng personally opened the box with the ore from the table and carried it in front of the audience.
He then proceeded to use his soul fire on the ore. The lump of ore glowed red after using 50% strength but showed no signs of melting. He then took out his mid-grade spirit tool and struck the ore. There was only a shallow mark on the surface due to the ore being heated.
“The ore can be used to refine at least a mid-grade spirit tool. A master refiner might even be able to make a top-grade spirit tool!
The bidding will start at 200,000 low-grade spirit stones!”
“210,000!”
“250,000!”
…
…
“1.6 million!”
After numerous bids, the ore was finally sold to a cultivator from the Celestial Sword Peak for 1.6 million low-grade spirit stones. Shen was quite pleased for having gained a considerable amount of spirit stones for something he basically got for free. He could have gotten a house sized chunk if he wished to.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, this will be the last item for this auction! This item is not something commonly seen, and we could not determine its exact value.”
On the table behind Manager Feng, there was a small object covered by a gold cloth. Manager Feng signalled the attendant. The cloth was lifted and the audience could see a small oval shaped red egg. It was a palm length tall and looked rather unremarkable.
“This egg was found in the inner area of the forest by one of the elders of the auction house. We don’t know what magical beast gave birth to the egg. It gives off some heat so it is most likely a fire type magical beast. The bidding will start at 100,000 low-grade spirit stones.”
“120,000!”
Straight away, a Soul Formation cultivator from the Heavenly Beast sect called out a price. There were not many people willing to take a chance at the plain looking egg. It was probable that one could end up with a monster beast.
“150,000”
Shen called out a bid. He thought it would be interesting to take a gamble with the egg. Although he could just use his Divine Sense to find out the creature inside the egg, he did not do so.
“200,000!” The Heavenly Beast sect cultivator glared at the VIP booth Shen was in. No one else had bid for the egg as it was taking a gamble and their Divine Sense was not able to enter the egg. They were also giving face to the Heavenly Beast sect.
“250,000.”
“300,000!”
…
“500,000.” Shen had bid half a million low-grade spirit stones, after which the other party had stopped raising.
“I wonder what magical beast is inside.” Xue’er said with an interested expression. This was also exciting to her as she has never encountered an egg before.
An attendant brought the egg to their booth at which Shen handed back some of the earnings he’d made earlier.
“Xue’er, do you know how to make the egg hatch?” Shen asked since he found that he did not know what to do to make the egg hatch. He felt that it was quite funny.
“I think the egg needs spiritual power, and once it has enough spiritual power, it will hatch. That’s what father told me before, Big Brother Shen.”
“Hmm, ok. We’ll try it tomorrow. It has been a long day so let us go back and rest.”
Shen and Xue’er left the Auction House. “Xue’er, teach me cultivation tomorrow! I’ll take us to a quiet place.”
‘Maybe the egg will hatch after I give it spiritual power.’ Shen thought and happily headed back to their cave mansion.