An hour passed by very quickly and it was soon time for Li Lang and his companions to depart from the auction for techniques so they could attend the artifact auction. However, as Li Lang had made a purchase, he parted with his group in order to redeem his item.

After waving down one of the servants, he was quickly guided toward the back of the auction house. While the place wasn’t as majestic as the grand hall, it was still beautifully decorated, as expected of a high-class establishment. The basic materials used in its construction, like the wood, gave off an otherworldly aura. It made Li Lang feel as if the flow of Qi in the building was smoother than usual.

Hmm, something else to look into in the future.

“Greetings, sir. I am An Yue, the clerk who will be responsible for your transaction. I believe you wanted to finish the transaction now. Is that correct?”

A young man’s voice brought Li Lang back to reality as he gauged the person before him. He wore pale yellow robes and had an eye-catching pin on his collar. The pin had the words Polarity on it, denoting him as someone from the city.

“Yes, I would like to leave early. I appreciate you for being so accommodating.”

“No problem, sir. It is my job to serve. Now, your item is the Tracing Origin Art at fifty red crystals. You can either pay in full now or half now and the other half within a month. If you delay the full payment, you will be subject to a fee of—”

Li Lang held up a hand, stopping the man mid-speech.

“It’s fine. I’ll pay in full now.”

The clerk nodded and watched Li Lang fetch a bag full of coins from within his robes. Li Lang counted five stacks of ten coins and handed them over.

“I must say, you are one of our younger customers I’ve seen. Though it isn’t surprising, considering you’re talented enough to become both an alchemist and a brushweaver.”

Li Lang stared at him blankly for a moment before looking down at his rings, realizing it was what gave him away.

“Oh, I just happen to have run into competent teachers.”

An Yue smiled but didn’t say anything, instead focusing on the money he received. His smile said it all. If a competent teacher was all it took to train alchemists and brushweavers, then pills and talismans wouldn’t be so expensive.

“This is certainly fifty red crystals. We will have the item out momentarily. I do apologize for the delay. We didn’t expect you to come for the item so soon.”

“That’s fine. It’ll still probably be quicker than coming towards the end when you’re swamped with dealing with the other guests.”

“It should take a similar amount of time. We’re trained arduously to handle the traffic in order to satisfy our customers. Please, come have some tea in the waiting room while you wait.”

With those words, An Yue led Li Lang into the adjacent room before ordering a servant to fetch them refreshments. The clerk soon left Li Lang alone in the room as he went to oversee the exchange.

Nothing particular happened for some time as Li Lang could only sip on his tea to pass the time. It took enough time that he began to wonder if they had forgotten about him, so he opened the door and peeked out into the hallway.

Where are all the people? Do they seriously need all hands on deck for the auction?

Just as Li Lang was about to venture forth, the sound of something dropping reached his ears. He turned to find a young man bending over to retrieve a pill bottle. The clumsy young man had his back turned to Li Lang but suddenly froze while bent over. He then slowly turned around, widening his eyes as he made eye contact with Li Lang like a child having been caught doing something bad.

His figure blurred as he abruptly vanished around the corner, leaving Li Lang dumbfounded.

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What in the world?

A brief moment later, the young man poked his head back out.

“Umm, is something the matter?” Li Lang called out.

His words only made the man flinch back into hiding in response. Another few awkward moments passed until the sound of footsteps could be heard. A conversation could be heard right around the corner. Li Lang recognized the voice to be from the same clerk who was servicing him.

“Yun Ming, what are you doing here so early? And why are you sneaking around?”

“Umm, I just couldn’t sit still. You know…”

“Well, wait around if you like. There’s no need to sneak around. Just give me a moment to finish my job and I’ll accompany you. I’ll be able to process your money, too.”

“Wait, is that the one?”

“Hmm? Oh, yeah, it is.”

“I see…”

A moment later, An Yue appeared from around the corner. He spotted Li Lang looking over from the door, so he hurried his steps.

“Apologies, sir. I’ve made you wait. Here it is. The Tracing Origin Art you’re won.”

An Yue took off the piece of red cloth covering the small booklet and hoisted the tray over for Li Lang to receive. Just as he was reaching out his hand to take hold of his new possession, he couldn’t help but glance back over at the young man peeking out from around the corner. The man had sparkles in his eyes, which made it especially distracting.

Noticing Li Lang’s gaze, An Yu looked back and let out a sigh.

“I’m sorry, sir. Please don’t mind him.”

“Hmm? Is he part of your auction house?”

“No, that is one of the sellers. He happens to be the one selling this Tracing Origin Art you have won and also the creator of it. He’s a bit eccentric, but he means no harm. He’s just curious about the person who bought his technique.”

Oh, the creator? Interesting.

“I don’t mind. In fact, I would love to chat with the creator.”

The clerk moved out of the way as if saying, “He’s all yours.”

Li Lang walked straight up to the shy young man and clasped his fist out in greeting.

“Hello there, I am Li Lang. They say you happen to be the creator of this Tracing Origin Art?”

The man nodded slowly, giving Li Lang a glance over.

“That’s right. I—I am Yun Ming.”

Despite his nervousness, Li Lang could detect an unfathomably deep aura from the man. That was because Yun Ming was in the Foundation Establishment realm! He didn’t seem too old, likely to be in his early or mid-twenties. He was quite the talent to have created his own technique that the auction houses deemed worthy at such an age.

“Yun Ming, I’d love to speak more with you about your Qi art once I had a chance to look over it. Do you think you can spare the time to meet up with me tomorrow or the day after?”

“Umm, sure. I’d like that.”

“I’m thinking tomorrow afternoon for lunch. What do you think?”

“Okay.”

“Perfect. I’ll send a messenger if things change. I’m staying at the Serene Retreat.”

“Umm, my inn is called Vigil’s Rest, I think.”

The two young men quickly hit it off, and Yun Ming got less and less nervous as they conversed. However, Li Lang knew his companions were waiting, so he didn’t stick around after getting his contact info.

Once he exited from the auction house, he found his companions standing around a nearby food stall. They each had a skewer in hand.

“You finally done?” Sima Xue asked with her mouth half full upon Li Lang’s return.

“Yeah, thanks for waiting…I’m glad you guys had a great time while you waited.”

“No problem!”

“I’ll o-order some for you as well, b-boss,” Wei Ping added.

The group enjoyed their quick snack in place of dinner and got on their way to their next destination. They arrived at another auction hall that looked similar to the previous one. They were just in time for it to start.

The place was already packed, with the auditorium a size or two larger than the previous one. It was evident artifacts were a commodity that was a lot more popular amongst the cultivators. It couldn’t be helped, as artifacts were uncommon among most Energy Gathering realm cultivators.

Many of the participants in this auction had broken through in recent years and were eager to get their hands on their first artifact. In fact, many would even be satisfied with a Mortal-grade artifact. This was especially so for those who had yet to build up a sufficient war chest.

Cultivation wasn’t cheap. There were always things they could spend it on, whether it be pills, manuals, Skyrunners, or even rare, unique resources that could aid them in various ways.

As people who showed up relatively late, they trekked into the halls under the scrutiny of all those who had arrived before them. They couldn’t find four seats together and had to split up into two different rows.

Unbeknownst to them, several pairs of eyes directed their attention to them. The question was whether the attention they were getting was good or bad.