Six lots in, and Yu had not seen a single item that kindled even a tiny spark of interest in her or, apparently, her master. The other nobles, including from the other empires, made token bids on a few items, but nobody important purchased anything of relevance. They all went to those on the auction floor, like the winners of the tournament, their sponsors, or others who just happened to find something that appealed.

Before bringing out the seventh lot, the auctioneer made an announcement.

“We have many more items for you to bid on this evening, but every seventh item, we will be offering something special. These exclusive items were specifically set aside by the participating empires as having particular use going into the spirit realm. Their power will also be substantially higher than the other items for sale. Of course,” she grinned then, “the price for such items will be representative of that power.”

Excited whispering and muttering followed this statement. Yu was excited too.

Finally! Maybe it’ll be something useful to me.

“Now, the first of our special items is being brought out now.”

A woman, gorgeous of course, walked out, carrying a fist-sized red box. Its sides and top appeared to be covered in a layer of some animal pelt, although Yu could only guess at what kind. She took it to the front and center of the stage and held it out.

“Inside this box, is an item that was donated by the Gui Empire. The imperial family is pleased to offer this item as a means for those entering to protect themselves. While higher level cultivators will not find it useful, it will be extremely valuable to those at or below the Consolidation stage.”

At that point, the woman holding the box using one hand to hold it and the other to lift the lid. Inside, on soft red padding was a ring. It had a gold band with what looked like gems or beast cores of all different colors embedded along the outside.

“Oh!” Fengdu exclaimed from next to Yu. “This could be quite useful to you, cousin.”

“This is a ring of affinity protection,” the woman said proudly. “It will protect its wearer from a single Qi attack of the equivalent to grade 3 or below. Each beast core you see represents a single affinity, so it will shield the user from one blow per affinity core.”

The crowd became very excited at the announcement. Yu, however, was disappointed. It was definitely an interesting item, and quite useful, but she had expected… more.

Yu shook her head and sat back. “I don’t think that is a good fit for me.”

Fengdu looked at her, surprised. “But…”

Her master spoke softly then. “She is correct.”

Yu nodded. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great item. Powerful for almost everyone, but the variety of my affinities and my skill pool, not to mention other equipment, are sufficient to provide more than enough protection. Buying that ring would be just throwing away silver. I’d rather save it for something that will truly benefit me.”

Fengdu tried again to convince her. “It is not like the silver matters though.”

Yu shook her head firmly. “Honestly, it’s more than just the silver.” She pointed towards the stage. “That item is dangerous.”

“How?” Fengdu looked curious. “Is there a flaw in the enchantment?”

“Oh, I’m sure the enchantments are fine. I just don’t want to rely on an item like that. It can create bad habits and dependencies in combat that could be deadly. What happens when I reach the fourth stage and have built its use into my combat style? I will expect it to function, but it will fail due to the strength of the foes I’ll face.”

Yu saw her master look proudly at Fengdu, who let out a breath of frustration. “Fine.”

“Plus, according to the seamstress you look terrible in gold, and those gem colors would clash,” her master added at the end.

Yu stuck her tongue out at him.

“A few things to be aware of,” the auctioneer said over the noise, retaking control. “First, this item cannot be resized as a resizing enchantment on something this small would require spatial compression. And making physical changes would ruin the enchantments, so do not bid unless you believe it will fit your fingers or thumbs.

“Second, the beast cores can be changed out by a professional, but the enchantments cannot support higher than grade 3 cores. The cores themselves will obviously need to be professionally cut. Now, the reserve price is fifty million silver and increase minimum is one hundred thousand. We have been accepting vocal bids on the other items to this point. However, only bids using the provided tablets will be honored on any of the major items tonight. So, I hope you are prepared. Bidding starts… now!”

Yu immediately saw the fifty million number appear on the jade display above the stage move to fifty-five million. It jumped quickly again and again, reaching seventy-two million before the bids started to slow. When it reached eighty million, it stopped for a while, until it increased by one hundred thousand. There were a few more bids until reached just one hundred thousand shy of eighty-one million. There it sat.

“This ring of affinity protection, perfect for cultivators shy or just heading into the third stage, going for eighty million nine hundred thousand once. Twice. And sold to the Gui Empire’s own Shen clan. Congratulations!”

A bell rang and a small firework went off near the winning booth signaling victory.

“Alright, we will take a short break for you all to gather your thoughts and some refreshments. They are all reasonably priced, I assure you.”

“Now an enemy has it,” Fengdu said bitterly.

“Good,” Yu said. “I know who has it, potentially at least, and can look out for it. I can also scan the hands of everyone entering or inside and know for sure.” She side-eyed her master, “It’s not exactly subtle jewelry.”

“I still think it was a mistake. What’s eighty million? Nothing.”

Yu shook her head and stood up. “Can I order either of you anything to eat or drink?”

“More tea?” Fengdu asked.

Yu nodded and went to request something to keep her awake for the next lots. Thinking about that, Yu giggled.

There’s lots of lots.

Yu mentally facepalmed at herself, but she couldn’t stop giggling.

***

As before, the next six items were uninteresting to her. Most were weapons or pills, but there was a shield in that group which went for the most of any lower quality lot, ten million silver.

“And once again, we have reached one of our special items today.” A box that was big enough to hold Nang Po was brough out and placed for all to see. It was black bamboo and made a crashing sound as it was dropped from only a few fingers’ widths high. The pair of warriors stayed this time though.

“This second item was provided by the Mogoi Noyon Dominion. It is a weapon of exquisite construction, crafted by a master smith in conjunction with a master enchanter. You may have noticed the weight. That is not the weight of the item alone, but its weight does require a box of sturdy material to hold it. I present to you…” and the warriors bent and lifted the outer layer of the box. “Beasts’ Bane.”

In the case lay a long two-handed straight sword with a sheath next to the blade. It was double-bladed with a fuller in the middle. The steel was some sort of dark metal Yu did not recognize, despite studying enchanting materials in her classes. The guard was made of a silvery steel and had two straight protrusions to protect the hands. The handle itself was covered by some sort of black bone or antler, heavily veined for grip. The heavy rounded pommel was a solid rounded piece of the same silvery steel as the guards.

“The name, Beasts’ Bane, was assigned by its crafters, to honor its purpose. The materials that make up this sword from the pommel up are: standard steel with a core of the same metal as the blade, the dropped antler of a bonded Dark Ivy Moose for the handle, and the same standard steel makes the cross guard. The blade and pommel core are both made from a rare metal called Elephantine Iron. It is a very dense, very heavy metal which can be refined by a smith into a strong steel blade with substantially more heft to it. As such, this weapon weighs close to eighty catties, which is nearly ten times the weight of a normal sword this size.”

Interesting. Utterly useless to me, but might be a fit for a strong Earth or Metal Warrior.

“The enchantments on this weapon are self-repair, durability, self-sharpening, and weight increase. The sheath holds self-cleaning, rust resistance, and minor water repelling enchantments. They make for an excellent tool of battle, if you are strong enough to wield such a weapon. We have calculated that a blow landed by this sword would hold as many as thirty times more power than a standard weapon this size when the weight enchantment is activated.”

“I think we can agree this time that it is definitely not for you,” Fengdu said.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

Yu chuckled and nodded. No comment was required.

The sword ended up being purchased by a youth in one of the Dominion booths, which was ironic as that empire had provided it to the auction in the first place. Upon victory, the young man made quite the profound announcement that he would crush everyone under its weight.

Yu rolled her eyes, looking forward to next special item.

***

It ended up being equally useless to her, but unbelievably valuable to many. It was a set of master-crafted scaled metal armor and was from the Gui again. It offered decent protection, although it was, in her and her master’s opinion, inferior to her drake leather.

“Please keep in mind, this armor’s resize enchantment has a maximum change rate of six percent. Anything more would require spatial compression.”

Yu blinked at that. Then she whipped her head to her master in a panic. He grinned at her, obviously knowing what he was thinking. “Relax, disciple. Your armor has no spatial compression.”

Slumping in relief, Yu wanted to ask how he knew, but he spoke over her.

“I have had it verified that the ancient enchantments on it are substantially superior to what we have access to today, and thus do not need it – for the range it can resize at least. I imagine there is a maximum still, but that is not your concern at present.”

Nodding in satisfaction with that answer, Yu watched the scale armor sell for almost two-hundred million silver to a young man sitting front and center of the main Meiyo Saiyūsen Empire booth.

Fengdu had pushed for it at first, but once Yu told him that hers was better, he backed off.

“That would be the adopted prince of that empire. He is rumored to be uniquely talented, but verifiable information is sparce,” Fengdu said as he watched the man smile victoriously, but otherwise show no sign of pleasure.

“Fascinating…” Yu’s master said, looking at him.

Yu raised her eyebrows at her master, but he waved it away. Shrugging, she hoped for something worthwhile in the next lot.

***

Nothing came across the auction stage that she felt was worth the asking price until the thirty-fifth item. Her master had bought a few useless things for whatever reason, and Fengdu did as well, claiming they would make decent gifts, but they did not even bid on the major items. The next after the armor was another weapon.

It was a polearm from Meiyo Saiyūsen Empire called a “naginata,” which was similar to the guando she was familiar with, but not quite the same. Blade width and decoration on the spine were less on the naginata. It was quite popular, but despite that Yu had no use for it, and it sold to one of the Dominion’s muscular young women for around one hundred sixty million.

The next item almost tempted her, as it was actually a set of items. Specifically, a set of throwing knives and knife belt. The belt was for a thigh rather than the torso, which Yu found interesting. The enchantments were all the normal ones for weapons, plus a return enchantment, which brought the thrown weapons back to the wielder’s belt.

In the end, Yu backed off for three reasons. First, she was only a novice with throwing knives, having trained just enough to be capable but not proficient. Second, the return enchantment was range-based and slow. And third, neither the knives nor the enchantments were capable of supporting any kind of string or rope added to them. In the end, she deemed them not as useful to her as her whip for medium ranged combat.

Others apparently agreed, because they only ended up going for sixty million, which was the lowest of all the special items by far. It went to someone on the auction house floor who Yu thought she recognized from the tournament.

On the thirty-fifth item, though, the auctioneer had Yu’s attention even before the cover was removed. Its shape struck Yu as familiar. Or at least potentially familiar and it gave her hope.

“I have one quick note before we begin the auction for this lot,” she said while holding up one hand. “This and the final lot of the auction are the only special items provided by the Treasure Pavilion rather than one of the participating empires. I will also note that they were added at the last moment by one of our chiefs.”

There was some muttering after that statement, mostly curious and excited.

“Onto this lot. Now, we admit freely, this is a bit of a niche item. It has been bought and sold numerous times over the centuries, each by someone who believed they could wield it but found it too difficult. The last cultivator who owned it gave it to us for consignment, having been unable to find a seller willing to pay a price he found acceptable. As such, he has set his own reserve price. We have no say in that.”

“Now, because the Treasure Pavilion values trust above all, I was authorized to share the following information with you. Our manager was unsure if this item would sell tonight, and decided to add it here simply because he thought that with so many prestigious cultivators present, one may be willing to give it a try as they head into the spirit realm. He also claimed to have a ‘good feeling,’ but that is beside the point. I personally believe that perhaps a crafter might be willing to take it for research, but I digress.

“As for the price… well, the set reserve, plus its niche nature, have deterred anyone from purchasing it before. As I said, this price was set when it was given to us for consignment. We have no say in it, I am sad to tell you.”

Yu heard mummering from below and saw a lot of the excitement from before turn into frowns.

“This is a standard weapon, but with a number of… unique requirements that make it, as I said, a bit particular. The enchantments are powerful, though, and an excellent product for study, if nothing else.” She then whipped the black cloth off and showed the weapon in question. Yu had been right in her assumptions… sort of.

It was a bow, but the strangest bow Yu had ever seen. The arms curved back upon themselves repeatedly. It was also the first bow she had seen that was made of metal rather than wood or bamboo. Looking more carefully, Yu could see the metal had strange wavy lines through it, making it look like it had been made of multiple metals that had been fused together somehow.

“As you have no doubt noticed, this is not a standard bow. Our research teams from elsewhere around the world tell us that this bow originated in an distant land called the Mediterran. It was made in a special way, particular to the locals, that takes two different types of steel and welds them together under extreme heat and pressure. The shape, likely unfamiliar to you, is what our teams are calling a recurve bow, again particular to the area. You will also notice it has no string, which I will explain when we come to the enchantments.

“I will now tell you the materials it is made of, but here is where the rather strange nature of this weapon starts. The two metals you see welded together are steel alloys formed from demonic beast bones rather an any sort of iron or iron equivalent. The first is Toxic Oceanic Tigerfish bone, and the second is Bright-fluid Salamander bone. As you can no doubt tell, these are opposing affinities of Water and Fire. We can only presume that the crafter either had a specific client in mind, or that he was simply trying something out.”

“I wondered…” her master whispered, but before Yu could ask what he meant, the auctioneer ran her hand along the curves the metal and continued speaking.

“Now, you are likely thinking, ‘So what,’ right? Sure, not many cultivators have both Fire and Water, but it is not exactly unique, and only having one could still make it partially usable. Why wouldn’t someone buy it?”

She let out a dramatic sigh.

“Well, the answer is in the bones used as alloy materials for the metal. From the tigerfish, the jawbone and bite lock were used, and from the salamander, the pressurized ejection locking bone was used. I will go into the details on the bones themselves in a moment, but first I will tell you why they matter. The problem is that those bones served two different purposes. They locked things open or closed, yes, as one would expect from the names, but more importantly, they also acted as Qi dividers.”

That caused quite a bit of muttering, and Yu noticed a few faces turned her way, but she had no idea why.

“You all know that demonic beasts are not limited to Qi types, the way humans are. Well, these particular beast types, along with many others, have different parts of their bodies that divide Qi per use. So, for example, you have a tigerfish which needs to inject venom into its prey. It has to keep its mouth clamped on its victim to inject enough, but it is a fragile fish with mostly light porous bones and soft flesh. However, its prey might not be soft and could easily shake it off or crush it. So what it does is it locks its jaw in place once it bites down with the only bones that can be manually Qi-infused in its body. It wants those bones to be strong and stiff, not flexible or regenerative. So it infuses those locking bones with its equivalent to Aura Qi only.”

Yu started to think she knew where this was going, and if she was right…

“The opposite could be said for a salamander that has a ranged spitting attack. It wants its bone to be flexible so it can build up pressure like a spring. So it infuses its version of Mana Qi.”

Yu shot to her feet, her hands on the booths edge. “No way,” she gasped.

Fengdu broke out into uproarious laughter then. “Well, that pretty much blows that secret,” he said between guffaws.

“It’s true then?” a very large young man asked loudly from the center front of the middle Dominion booth in the language of her empire. His hair was in numerous braids with beads, teeth, claws, and a few other decorations in them. He had many scars showing on his exposed skin, clearly stating – likely with intent – that he had fought in many battles. Numerous tattoos also shown darkly on his tanned skin. Yu found him strangely compelling, although she could not figure out why.

Rather than focus on that, Yu looked to her master who shrugged and waved his hand. She turned back and nodded. “It wasn’t really a secret,” she said back in the Dominion’s language. “Or if it was, it was probably the worst kept secret ever.”

Then that young man laughed, slapping his massive thighs. “Wonderful!” he called, still in his own language, clearly elated. “I look forward to meeting you in the spirit realm, then.”

Yu couldn’t help but smile at the man. He was obviously thrilled with finding out about her, and she did not see any meanness in his face or eyes. Just excitement, and maybe some battle lust.

In the other empire’s center booth, however, she did get the same feeling. The young man there was standing as well, but he looked at her with, not anger really, just a calculation. He was analyzing her. The feeling was almost ominous, but not quite.

He gives off a very strange feeling. I wish I had a domain so I could sense his Qi. Either way, I can tell he’s dangerous.

Still, she looked back, not flinching.

“Well then…” The announcer’s voice rang throughout the room. “I’m glad we could foster some communication between empires. Now, back onto this bow.”

“Just give it to her. Nobody else is going to be able to use it,” the large Dominion boy said.

The auctioneer laughed. “Well, be that as it may, I should still…”

“How much?” Fengdu called as he stood up next to her.

“I haven’t gotten to—”

“How. Much?” her master added slowly and loudly, the building shuddering beneath everyone’s feet.

The auctioneer looked up at Yu’s booth, her eyes wide. “The… The reserve price is two hundred twenty-five million.”

“Done!” Fengdu said. “The Long clan appreciates your flexibility in this matter. Have it brought up immediately along with a detailed writeup on, and someone who can speak intelligently to the item’s specifics, enchantments, and any other relevant facts.”

Then he sat down, subtly pulling Yu with him. She followed smoothly, understanding what he was doing.

“Ha ha ha! How fun. I love auctions,” her master called, clapping. “The food isn’t bad too, although the pork in the dumplings was a little dry. You might want to look into that. Or not. I need some wine. Wait, where are we again? Right, the auction. What are they selling today?”

Yu laid her head back and closed her eyes. She knew everyone was staring at her and her master, and she needed to not see it for a few moments.

Through her closed eyes, Yu heard the auctioneer clear her throat loudly. “Right. Well, before our final seven items of the night, we are going to take a quick break. Please remember that refreshments are available at a reasonable price throughout the auction house.”

Yu had questions for her master. His words about “wondering” made her think he might have known, or at least suspected, such an item was going to be up for bid. But she did not ask. Rather, she just sat there, still and silent as the noises of people standing and talking from the auction house below flowed into their booth.

Random luck? What are the chances…?

Then she mentally laughed at herself and thought of all the things that her master had set up or arranged.

Yeah, right. Then she remembered what he had said before. Whims of fate indeed, but can fate be changed? Or forced…