It was amongst the many long and bustling streets of Rising Dragon City that a certain, tiny shop ran its business. Named Li’s Antiques, it sold a variety of antiques and owned by an old man named Li, as very obviously indicated by its name.
Sitting behind the shop’s wooden desk top counter with grey hair and a bored expression sat the owner of the shop. Smoking out of a pipe, the store owner watched people walk by through the store’s front glass window.
Most days were quiet for the old store owner.
Even though it meant he didn’t make as much profit, he liked it just the way it was. It was more time of peace and quiet for him and he didn’t have to worry about getting targeted by other businesses because he was becoming too successful.
He had bought this very store front just over forty years ago as a young man, hoping to make it big in the city. But once he realised how fierce and cut-throat the competition was, he backed out and became content with running a small business along the outskirts of the city.
The days came and went, and he aged from a young man into an old man.
During this time, he ran all types of business in this store. After cycling through several different types of businesses he finally found himself running an antique shop. It was a very long adventure that had brought through times of disaster and times of wonder.
His last business of toy-making had experienced incredible success, bringing him humble riches. However, due to certain circumstances including a ruthless competitor, he was forced to go out of business. Even with the short-lived success, he had enough money to let him live comfortably in peace for the rest of his life.
So, he opened up an antique shop and made barely enough to make back what he spent. Although it wasn’t a real portrayal of his true skills of an entrepreneur, old age had robbed him of his liveliness and optimism leaving him with constant aches and pains throughout his body.
He was completely satisfied with his life.
It was at this moment, the doorbell ringed and a short, hooded guest walked in. It seemed to be a young child.
Walking past all the items of antiquity, they walked right up to the old man. Seeing this, the old man put down his crack pipe and greeted the customer.
“Hello! What will we be looking for today perhaps?” The old man said in a kind, friendly voice.
To this, the short guest turned around, looking to see if anyone was in the store behind, they turned back around.
“Excuse me, I heard this store holds a legacy antique of Scholar Fan. Is this true?” The young guest asked, his face hidden underneath the hood of the cloak
Hearing this, the store owner perked up and leaned forward in his chair, an intrigued expression on his face. He responded, “No, sorry. His legacy has been seldom gone for many decades and even the Heavenly Monks wouldn’t know where they have disappeared to.”
“That’s a shame. I have long been interested in the tale of Scholar Fan and wished to see even a single piece from his time. But are you sure that is to be the case?”
The store owner smirked at this, “I see that you are quite determined to find his artifacts. This is very intriguing. How about this? I don’t have any antiques from Scholar Fan, but I do have a broken flute from Maiden Wan. She was closely related to Scholar Fan and was even someone who was rumoured to be one of his many lovers. However, I will warn you that it is expensive. It is worth at least seven taels of silver!”
“Maiden Wan! I wouldn’t have expected something from her to be held within this tiny shop. Acquiring an antique of Maiden Wan would still be satisfactory and this trip can be deemed as a victory for me. And store owner need not worry. I am not concerned with price. Now quick, show me this artifact!” The short guest exclaimed.
The store owner rubbed his hands together and chuckled, “Naturally! Quickly however, let this one guide you to the backroom as it is located there and not in this room as it is too expensive to be seen by the public. In the first place, such an item should only land in the hands of someone who knows who it came from in in the first place!”
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The short guest and store owner walked past the wooden desk and inside the backroom where the store held the rest of it’s more obscure and expensive items.
As soon as the store owner closed the door behind them, he bowed respectfully.
“Greetings immortal. This one’s name is Li Zheng. I hope you can let go of any misgivings pertaining to this one’s previous acting,” Li Zheng bowed to the short guest with respect.
The short guest quietly nodded, not saying a word.
“Much thanks! Immortal has come at a good time indeed. The auction is just about to start. In addition, some good items have arrived at today’s auction and is in luck. Just this way,” The store owner led the guest through the backroom before they arrived at a stone brick wall.
Li Zheng pressed on a certain stone brick that slightly jutted out of the wall. Suddenly, the brick wall flipped open to reveal a spiralling stair that led downwards.
Li Zheng gestured to the stairwell as he stood to the side, “Unfortunately, this one cannot accompany immortal as other guests may still appear.”
The guest nodded again, not saying a single word and proceeded to walk down the staircase. Then, Li Zheng closed the door behind the guest and went back to the store front to prepare to attend to more guests. Meanwhile, as the short guest descended down the dimly lit stone stairwell, they confined in their escalating nerves and anxiety.
This short guest was in fact Xing Yi.
A whole entire month had actually passed since his decision to pursue the path of pill refinement. During this time, he had made due preparations to fuel his pill refining and began studying it in earnest.
His efforts to procure spirit stones to fuel his pill refining practice is what lead him here. To an underground auction house.
After a few minutes, Xing Yi reached the bottom of the stairwell and walked through a tight corridor that led into a grand hall. Inside were many rows of seats that surrounded an elevated wooden stage in a semi-circle shape.
Many cloaked and coloured robed figures sat amonsgst the many seats in front of the stage. As Xing Yi walked in, a few people glanced his way before going back to their own devices, obviously disinterested in the short, cloaked guest that had walked in.
Seeing this, Xing Yi gave a sigh of relief over the fact that the auction house owners implemented a spiritual sense restricing array so he didn’t have to worry about accidentally making a showing of himself.
Xing Yi walked a short distance before grabbing a seat near the back. He didn’t feel comfortable sitting in front of people, as many would be staring over or past his figure to look at the stage to see the items on display.
And this wasn’t just any ordinary auctrion house. No, this was an auction house for cultivators. Every single guest that he saw here was one. In addition, it wasn’t unlikely that one of the people sitting amongst the crowd could be at the coveted Foundation Establishment stage.
As Xing Yi sat, he went over his plan once again and repeatedly told himself to stay calm.
Well, at least that’s what he told himself. This was a big risk he was taking as this auction house wasn’t under the Blood Path Sect’s influence and the only thing that could protect him was the fact that he was a disciple of the sect. Because if any disciple of a sect were to be murdered by another cultivator, the Bloody Path Sect would be forced to take action.
The murder of a disciple was taken very seriously and if another sect were found to be the culprit, tensions would form between the two. However, if the culprit was found to be a vagrant cultivator without any backing, the sect would send out a squadron to hunt down and kill the murderer and regain the honor of it’s fallen disciple.
So, Xing Yi waited for the auction to start and several minutes later, a man with long-green hair wearing plain white robes walked out from behind the stage.
The man smiled and announced to the audience before him, “Greetings fellow cultivators, welcome to this month’s auction!”