Writer's Note: Freedom! Finals are over and my first training session at a big company is tomorrow. Will try to keep the releases at 2-3 days. No guarantee on dailies due to the new job and difficulty writing chapters as they are also time consuming. I think I spend 2-4 hours writing one chapter unless it's a huge trail of thought. Next release is expected to be Sunday. As always, thanks for reading and experiencing the journey of this story with me.
Chapter 24: Only Money Talks
"Here is another bottle of cider for you sir," a servant said as he brought another bottle. "The auction will begin shortly as all twenty items of this month's mega auction have been finalized. Sir's auctioned item is Item Number 12. The screen will be dropping momentarily."
"Thank you," Lance said as he sipped some cider. "What is Item Number 1, the highlight of this month's mega auction?"
"It is the body of an Earth Mortal rank magical beast, complete with its magical beast core," the servant said, Mei gasping as Lance sighed.
"Sir is not interested?" the servant asked.
"All my treasure of my past life is in my neidan. It contains the bodies of thousands of Earth Mortal magical beasts. Their bodies are the only treasures that interested me as I used their cores to become a peak Heavenly Mortal and nearly ascended," Lance thought and shook his head to the servant. "Such a thing only invites death to whomever buys it. I do not wish to be one of two dogs fighting over a bone only to die as I see it taken by a third."
"Sir is very wise. The screens will be dropping now. You will now be able to see and hear what happens outside the box, and vice versa," the servant bowed and the black screens blocking the V.I.P. Box were lowered. Many people murmured and Lance could see other rich people in their boxes, seeing only the bottom of three above him.
In total, there were ten. Six at the lowest, three in the middle, and one to form the top of the pyramid of V.I.P. Boxes overlooking the stage and numerous buyers below. The crown prince would definitely be in the top box and the five other people at the bottom of the pyramid did not concern him. If he and Mei were to be attacked, it would be from one of the people in the middle row above them.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Gold Lotus Auction House! Without further ado, let's get to it. I am your curator, Jackie. We begin with Item Number 20. a bracelet hailing from the western region of our Song Dynasty. It has the ability to change one's appearance and hide their spirit energy to pose as an ordinary human. The starting bid is 200 demon spirit coins," a man in a bright pink tuxedo smiled, his gold mask glistening as people raised their hands to bid.
"3,000!"
"3,050!"
"4,500!"
"100,000," a young voice said, people below staring back to see Lance lazily raise a hand. "What are you people looking at? We're wasting time here. I've been here all day. Let's get on with it."
"100,000 going once. Twice. No takers? Sold to the young man in V.I.P. Box 7. Thank you for your purchase," the curator said, the cart with the bracelet exchanged with another cart with a white statue. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is Item Number 19: The Libido Statue. Women with cultivation below the Element Adept Stage will beg to partake of the night activities with the buyer. Also, it has the unique effect of absolute perfect protection and makes your...fluids.....incapable of having a son or daughter so long as you partake of the night activity within a hundred feet of the three foot statue. The starting bid is 500 demon spirit coins."
"What the hell are they selling?" Mei muttered, Lance chuckling as many bids were placed. As expected of the rumors, the crown prince won in the end, shouting joyfully after spending 2,000 demon spirit coins.
"A painting, a gourd, and a magical beast of the Element Adept Stage. Truly, you sell anything here," Lance commented as Item Numbers 16 to 18 were auctioned off at above a 100,000. Truly, the people here were too rich. Of course, there was only a single type of currency. There were only demon spirit coins. The empire did not have paper money or higher valued coins in their monetary system. There was only demon spirit coins accepted in the Pangu Continent.
"Item Number 15 is a very rare great sword. Once used by an Earth Mortal practitioner, it was broken in the center after beheading four practitioners at the peak Meteor Vessel Stage. Although broken, the sword is still of worth to be used as a sword despite the giant hole in the center of the blade," the curator said, gesturing to a black hilt sword with a gold skull guard and pure black blade. "The blade can still be salvaged to make a middle immortal ranked treasure or weapon worthy of the Meteor Vessel Stage."
"It's a little big but I can shrink the blade. I could also salvage enough metal to make a few daggers," Lance muttered before saying, "100,000."
"120,000," a man in the V.I.P. Box 8 said, staring at Lance.
"150,000," Lance shrugged.
"180,000!" the man roared, glaring at him.
"280,000," Lance smiled.
"500,000!" the man roared, banging his fist on his chair, the crowd below gasping.
"750,000," Lance said, the man jumping to his feet.
"1,000,000! Just try to bid higher boy!" he shouted, many people below extremely envious.
"It's all yours," Lance smiled, the man nearly spitting blood as he realized he was fooled by Lance. The man was infuriated and Lance smiled. The man would definitely come after him and Lance could simply kill the man and take the great sword from him. He wouldn't have to pay a single demon spirit coin for it. It was a win-win for Lance.
"Sold to the man in V.I.P. Box 8 for 1,000,000 demon spirit coins," the curator said, disbelief on his face and everyone could tell he didn't expect it to be raised so high. It was supposed to be the following items that were intended to be sold at that high price.
"That's not what a normal person would have done," Mei whispered to him.
"Normal? I am the farthest thing from it. My soul isn't even human. Besides, I can always kill the man later. I made him angry enough," Lance smiled wickedly.
"You're trying to be a better person," Mei whispered.
"I am. I proved I am the better man in an auction bid. I also chose the better option of letting the sheep partake of the grass for a bigger meat to butcher. Isn't this how a guy becomes a better person? I made the correct choice," Lance laughed. "I already got you that damn bracelet. You pay me 200 demon spirit coins and I'll decide to let the man live."
"But I don't have any money. You took it all from the bandits instead of any magical treasures and weapons," Mei replied.
"Then that's it. If you can't even afford to pay me 200 demon spirit coins, don't talk to me about one million," Lance shrugged as Item Number 13 and 14 was sold. He rubbed his hands as his item was finally being auctioned off. Finally, the bids reached over 1 million! He was sure to make a profit now!
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a special treat for you all today. This low grade memory crystal contains the cultivation techniques of a fire element practitioner of the Earth Mortal Stage. As we all know, fire element cultivators gather spirit energy from the environment around them. However, what if the fire element practitioner were to absorb the violet fire essence of the sun? The starting bid is 5 million demon spirit coins," the curator smiled, an uproar soon followed.
"The fire essence of the sun? Such fire element cultivation methods exist?" one cried, flabbergasted.
"Why was this item ranked so low? As it was inserted into a low grade memory crystal, it should be ranked even higher!" a man nodded, sweat pouring down his brow. "An expert came. A real expert came."
"7 million!" a man shouted.
"9 million!" another cried.
"15 million!" another bid.
"17 million! That cultivation method will raise my status to no end!" a woman cried.
"Peh! Damned woman. No one will take it but me. 21 million!" a fat man cried.
"This is fun. This is a fun time," Lance grinned as bids reached 30 million.
"How is that?" Mei asked.
"Look at them down there, at each others' throat like rabid dogs. They more they bark, the more the money flows. In this building where money talks, the rich talk and the seller makes a profit," Lance said as the bids stopped at forty million.
"40 million going once. Twice," the curator began until someone in the three V.I.P. Boxes of the middle row raised the bid.
"50 million," the man said, silencing all others.
"50 million going once. Twice. Sold for 50 million to the man in V.I.P. Box 2 for 50 million demon spirit coins," the curator beamed.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
"Not bad. That's worth 5 million gold demon coins by the southern continent's currency exchange. Should be enough spare change," Lance nodded.
"Spare change? Just how many demon spirit coins do you have?" Mei whispered, stunned.
"The bandit village was the main headquarters of the bandits. It is geographically placed in front of the mountain path connecting the eastern region of the Pangu Continent to the capital. Each and every merchant caravan would be rich. Just think about how much money they had the longer the bandits lived there?" Lance whispered, Mei's breath accelerating as she could only imagine how many demon spirit coins he had and multiplied it.
"You cheated us! You could have bought those priceless magical treasures with that amount of money. No wonder you chose to keep all the money in exchange for no magical treasures. You thieving snake!," Mei hissed, the servant in the V.I.P. Box standing far away at the door and unable to hear them.
"No matter where you go, two things talk in our world. They are money and power. Money in terms of currency and power in terms of cultivation or the mage equivalent. With money, you become the loan shark who rules all but has to buy people to protect your investments. With power, you can take what you want but fall to the level of banditry as you lack the money to buy what you want. With money and power, you are the king. You do not have to take what you want and have the power to protect what you have," Lance grinned. "Me? I prefer to be a king than a loan shark or a bandit. You? You have the power but lack the money. You are a bandit in the making."
"That is a rather vain way to view things," Mei commented.
"That's life," Lance said as he sipped some cider while Item Numbers 8 to 10 were sold off. "Why do you think children of noble clans are arrogant assholes? It is because their clans have the money to buy cultivation resources and the elders and patriarchs to provide the power to protect them. It's that simple, its vain," Lance shrugged.
"Now, Item Number 7 is a book from the southern continent. It is a continent of mages and magic. Thus, this book contains multiple spells and a cultivation method that allows even a practitioner to also become a mage," the curator began, silencing the audience. "It also contains practitioner techniques as well. It is called the Necromonicon, the book of necromancers. Written by a late Earth Mortal who delved in the mystic of magic. It also comes with mysterious black chains where the necromancer refines souls to control the unbreakable chains. The starting bid is 30 million demon spirit coins."
"Take this," Lance said to the servant, taking the storage ring of the servant and transferring 300 million demon spirit coins into it, ensuring a total bid of 400 million.
"50 million!" a man cried.
"70 million!" another said.
"100 million," the crown prince above said, silencing them all as none dared antagonize him.
"Hmph. A pervert prince silences your tongues? 150 million," Lance smirked, causing others to look at him in shock.
"Who the hell are you to bid with me? 160 million," the crown prince, unable to see Lance below.
"And so a bitch barks. How annoying. 170 million," Lance said.
"Who are you calling a bitch?" the crown prince shouted.
"What does a dog say?" Lance asked.
"Woof?" the crown prince frowned.
"And so you're my bitch. You barked and your cultivation is weaker than a slave. How do I know? My slave is a female of the Meteor Vessel Stage and you barked when I commanded. If you're not a bitch, how is your cultivation weaker than a slave whose status is even less? Too funny," Lance chuckled. "The crown prince barks when I ask. Truly like a female dog barking in seeing its master. You must have bought the Libido Statue as you're dick was too small. Not that I measure my own, I'm not that desperate. Still, it seems you're not much of a man."
The people below could not stifle their laughs as the prince shook with anger, saying, "You dare mess with me? 180 million! You better silence that mouth or I will have my men rip out your tongue!"
"181 million," Lance smiled. "Are you trying to start a fight? Here? Of course, you can't start a fight here. How will His Imperial Majesty feel after discovering you wasted so much money buying a Libido Statue? The second highest bid was 4,500, but you bid too high. I mean, I'm rich and all but you bid 100,000 against 4,500. Isn't that being like a gold digger who sold her body to a big pocket? You gave my slave quite the shock, right slave?"
"Yes, master," Mei said. She didn't care anymore as it was the crown prince. Seeing the prince so lustful, perverted, and wasteful; she would have disowned such a boy if she were his mother. She had no qualms about Lance's plan to kill the man to let Shen Dong ascend the throne.
"Then I bid 200 million! Let's see who goes any higher than that!" the crown prince roared but was stopped by a royal guard.
"Your Highness, the emperor said you can only bid higher than 200 million on the main item being auctioned. You cannot pay for for it," the guard said.
The crown prince grit his teeth and bid, "200 million. Beat that!"
Lance laughed maniacally and said as he held a single demon spirit coin in his hand, "200 million raised 1 lone demon spirit coin."
"This fucking bastard!" the crown prince roared, stopped as he attempted to go over the rail and attack Lance down below.
"And so, the second target will come," Lance whispered as he sat on his chair, rubbing his hands with glee. "We're done with this continent and will return as our true identities in the future. No one will know it was us. HAHAHA!"
"We're going to kill him openly?" Mei asked.
"You want to save the innocence of beautiful women everywhere? Gut the jerk and stomp his head into a meat patty," Lance laughed.
"What about the guards?" Mei asked.
"What about them? If I threaten to poison the whole city, how could they stop us? They have a prestige to uphold and ambassadors of foreign nations to protect in the capital or risk war," Lance said as the curator looked around.
"Are there no other bids? Sold to the young man of V.I.P. Box 7 for 200 million and 1 demon spirit coins," the curator said, people stifling laughs at the absurdity while many hated the perverted prince and wondered why the hell the emperor made him crown prince. Eldest didn't mean greatest and this pervert was an insult to eldest children everywhere.
"A magical bracelet, profit of a hundred million, a book of the dead, and broken great sword," Lance noted as he had his glass of apple cider refilled. "Only six items left. Should be fun."
"We already made enemies of two V.I.P. groups," Mei sighed. "We'll make them all our enemies at this rate. Well, the palace cannot interfere as they have other priorities. I Better slip away while I can."
"Mei," Lance said, disrupting her thoughts as she walked to lean ear towards him. "Leave this place and exit your disguise. Meet me by the caravans. They should have left by noon. Catch up to them and travel with them. I'll catch up after I settle my affairs. I got one man to rob and another to behead. I might have to kill their companions and run from the guards. You're not me. You'll die. What I have done is not evil. They threatened me and will attack me first. Their death is necessary to win all future battles."
"You could have done all this with as little blood shed as possible. You could have assassinated them," Mei sighed.
"And spoil the fun? We need chaos in the capital. The crown prince needs to die publicly. The emperor will be forced to attend with the damage to imperial reputation due to the pervert prince and attempt to bring another child in the spotlight so people forget his shame," Lance said.
"He'll recall Shen Dong to the capital to do some public task that the people will approve of," Mei realized.
"The crown prince is dead, Shen Dong and all the other children have their status raised, those children will fight over who would lead the next faction to fight against the second prince, and the emperor benefits from the infighting as rival factions would keep their powers in check. In the end, the crown prince is just another name forgotten by history," Lance smiled. "Just because an action is taken in public, does not mean the consequences are immediately known. Many things happen in the shadows when we least expect it. The way to win, while among this den of vipers, is to control what happens. If you want something done, make the first move and make all the changes on the battlefield. Then, their lives are yours for the taking. Mei, you know me. I never lose. Never. In the end, I always win and my enemies are the ones who bleed. Go now, before they decide to have people stalk us."
"Yup. Negative progress. The sadistic narcissist is back again," Mei thought as she bowed and left the V.I.P. Box.