Inside the auction that served both as auction venue and the headquarters of the Trade Hall, Bai Qi quickly found a spot on the benches of the first floor. The benches surrounded an enormous open area, one that was used as a stage but could probably be used even for combat with the size and protective formations that surrounded it.

The second and third floors were not more than corridors connected with a few dozens of private rooms each, which from the old man's explanations were the VIP rooms used by important guests like the Sima Clan. Not only these private rooms were covered with privacy and protection formations, but from the explanation, it followed that they even had special betting rights, albeit Bai Qi simply could not understand that. Wasn't an auction meant to be a fair competence between betters? Granted, VIPs could have their rooms and special treatment, but a betting priority?

Thus he decided to ask the old man.

"Oh, you see Young Friend, the Trade Hall does not follow the usual rule of money is right. They do like money as any merchants, but they mostly love their connections. After all, they had been slowly expanding into other cities and even territories, so they need to have the backing of all the powerful families, clans, and even powers they can get"

"Mmm, but how does this apply in an auction?" Bai Qi asked the most pressing question.

"They first ask the 3rd floor if someone is interested in the item, and then proceed to the 2nd one. We, at the bottom, are the last ones to be able to bet"

"Huh? So even if I can bet twice the amount, I will not be allowed to?!" The 'Fish Gazing Sect' disciple that had somehow joined them asked in shock.

"You will able to, but only after all the upper-class lords and ladies do" The old man responded in a vile tone.

"Then it's fair, even if they ask them first"

"No, it is not. Just think about it, if you know that you will be fighting one of the VIPs in a betting war, will you truly go against them?" Bai Qi interjected rationally.

"Young friend is right, it's the privilege of the powerful to simply grab anything they want without contending with us, the lowborn" The old man smirked.

"But that's!"

"How the jianghu, and well, the cultivation world at large works. After all, your power for example has better chances to recruit someone they want during the recruitment year because they go first, don't they?"

"But our Sect is more renowned and is truly stronger than the others!"

"Yes, but the people occupying the private rooms are the same when compared to us, are not they?" Bai Qi rebuked.

"Oh"

"Black-haired Young friend is in the right, there is simply no equality in the cultivation world. We are judged and divided either by strength, money, connections, backing, you name it. I do not agree with it, but such is the way, and you will understand that it has been the same always"

After hearing this, the young disciple, one with light brown hair - thus the old man point, had no other choice than to acknowledge the fact.

"Oh, I am truly sorry, where are my manners, I did not even introduce myself! 'Fish Gazing Sect', Inner Circle, Qiu Zemin" A minute of silence later, he spoke up and introduced himself while saluting.

"Chen Guang, for now, an unaffiliated cultivator and resident of this city" Bai Qi introduced less formally and extended his hand.

"Unaffiliated? I don't want to pry, but brother Chen, why did not you take the chance this year to join a power? I can sense that you are a Sage realm cultivator, and so should have been able to try and be noticed by my Sect or other 2nd tier powers" Qiu Zemin took the offered hand and asked courteously.

"That would be a long story, but to cut it short, I was in closed-door cultivation by the moment I could"

"Oh, I understand. So you plan to strengthen yourself enough to be recruited directly?"

"Something like that, yes" Bai Qi decided to not declare that he was simply not interested in any of the tiered powers. He wasn't even truly interested in an overlord one. Still, the best resources and skills were probably in the latter's possession, and he would need both sooner or later.

"Good, ah, Senior, I am sorry" Qiu Zemin apologized to the old man that had been observing this exchange but had not yet introduced himself.

"Ohoho, don't be sorry young friend. You two probably don't know of me, but I am sometimes called the odd old man by the locals. You can call me Wu Ren" The old man answered with a chuckle.

"Mmm, Senior Wu then is it" Qiu Zemin nodded while Bai Qi wondered if his new acquaintance was just dense or decided to ignore that Wu Ren meant no man? In any case, who was Bai Qi to judge someone who did not want to reveal, or use their true name?

"Anyway, it seems that it is starting. Young friends, I wish you luck"

***

This auction turned out to be a true treasure trove, at least when compared to the items that Bai Qi had seen, bought, or obtained on 'Seven Islands'. Granted, they would not survive a comparison to even the trashiest one found in his previous life, but at least they were true items from the Cultivation Universe.

Highest quality Spirit weapons and armors, a whole trove of Earth grade ones, several Demonic items, Spiritual and even Earth grade herbs, bottles of pills... Every item from the hundred fifty-three presented was indeed a fine one.

And albeit Bai Qi's interest was piqued by several things, especially armaments and a few Earth grade ingredients, all of them were betted so hard on, that he would not buy them even if he could. After all, how could someone sane pay SIX medium-grade stones for a twenty-pound ingot of Voidsteel? Granted it was hard to find and even harder to refine, and it was practically a supreme material for armors, but a single ingot?

In the end, he only betted and won a few Spirit grade herbs, ones that would be useful for both potions and pills he wanted to create to help his cultivation. Amongst them a thousand-year-old 'Earth Feather' turned out to be the most expensive, but with only bets coming from the same floor as him, he ended winning it for 5 and half low-grade stones.

Qiu Zemin had been trying to bet on almost every weapon he saw, probably trying to upgrade his current one, but regretfully all of them were won by the VIPs, making him feel a bit downcast and fume again at the unfairness around.

"And now, esteemed guests, let me present you the jewel of today's auction..." The announcer, an extremely beautiful female who was not only scantily dressed but also irradiated an aura of sexiness proclaimed as a stand was brought in by four of the guards that surrounded the stage.

"Our Hall normally does not accept commissions for this auction, but today's item was so special that we could not resist being the ones to present it" She continued generating interest while walking around the cloth-covered stand while swinging her hips.

The cloth had at least six different rune sets on it, and Bai Qi was sure that no one, even the two Warrior King aura owners from the 3rd floor had been able to see through it. Not that it mattered, after all, when looking at it logically, their presence meant that they already knew about it.

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"The rarest treasure that the Hall has auctioned openly" She went on and on until both interest and impatience was on the peak before saying

"Without further ado, let me present you..." She brushed the cloth aside

"A full set of 'Red Thunder Formation Flags'!"

An excited murmur ran across the crowd, and Bai Qi was sure to hear even some excited shouts from the VIP balconies.

It was indeed a rare treasure, at least to be auctioned. One could say that the most known fact about formations was that they were unmovable, and if the material they were placed upon wasn't especially refined or meant for it, they would dissipate with time. So, using formations in a field fight was impossible, even though the protective and assault formations were always more powerful than their creator. But a set of formation flags went against that known fact, allowing a cultivator to always have a formation on himself. One that he could use by simply placing the flags in the designated order, and infusing qi to activate them.

The 'Red Thunder' formation wasn't the strongest assault formation known to Bai Qi, but it was a good one. Even if the creator of the flags wasn't a Formation Saint, he should have been someone near that level, and that meant that the power of the formation itself was between a mid-tier Warrior King and up to the initial levels of a Warrior Emperor!

Just this alone was enough for them to cost an entire fortune, but there was also the fact that the set, if not destroyed, could be used several times.

"The starting price!" Someone from the 2nd floor did not resist the need and urged.

"Ahem, the starting price is 10 mid-grade stones. Every bet should be not lower than a mid-grade stone. But before we start, I have to announce that the Hall has run its check on the flags, and we confirmed them to be equivalent in strength to a peak Warrior King, as well the possibility to call upon three attacks continuously" With a smile on her fox-like face, the auctioneer added more oil to the fire before starting the bets.

***

"Hoh, it seems that it will be a good idea to work on my refining and formation skills" Bai Qi, who knew how to create similar sets, at least if he was allowed to recall all of his skills and advance to the Earth Realm, the minimum one required to create one, though. Spirit stones were one of his main worries for the future, as cultivation always required money. "And not that I will be able to get an inheritance like before" He inwardly smirked.

In the end, the set of flags was won by someone from the 3rd floor, after a very heavy betting war, in which the flags reached the almost impossible sum of 198 mid-grade spirit stones.

Surprisingly the last contender to give up was one from the second floor, and Bai Qi was sure that it was the young lord from that Sima Clan. If not him, who else would have that two armored guards from before near the door?

***

With the jewel sold, Bai Qi considered that the auction was over, and so prepared to depart. Most of the people around him were doing the same, but suddenly he was stopped by Wu Ren.

"Young Friend Chen, and Young Friend Qiu, don't be in a hurry to leave or you will miss a very good opportunity"

"What do you mean Senior?" Both of them asked.

"You see, the Trade Hall managers normally prepare hundreds of items for each of their auctions, both the closed and the open ones. But only a hundred or so make the final cut to be openly auctioned. So, what do you think they do with the rest?"

"Sell them in their stores?" Qiu Zemin went with the most probable explanation.

"For pills and materials, yes. But some others don't cut for that either. And the managers that got the items that are practically discarded will want to get their invested, sometimes even personal, money back, don't they?"

"Definitively"

"Mmm, so look around, do you see the several closed barrels near the Stage?"

"Yes" Both Bai Qi and Qiu Zemin nodded after glancing at the twenty closed barrels near the stage. Ones that they had assumed to serve no purpose, but it seemed they had been wrong.

"That barrels will be auctioned with just a brief moment of being opened, and so it's like a bet for the ones who try for them, but there are chances to get a few nice items without paying much. Especially as the starting bet will be just the money the Hall, or the manager, invested in buying them all"

"And it seems that Senior came for them since the start?" Bai Qi asked after recalling that the senior had not bought anything, meaning that he would lose his mid-grade spirit stone. Even Qiu Zemin had settled on buying some good quality healing pills, considering that losing money or obtaining them was an easy decision to make.

"Me and a few others as you can see" Wu Ren motioned with his head towards a dozen people that remained sitting while the several hundred people were leaving.

"Senior, while we wait, may I ask you a thing?" Qiu Zemin who had also sat again asked.

"Go ahead"

"There were only 154 items auctioned, and from what I see at least five hundred people on the first floor. Did all of them pay for admission and lose their money? If that's so, why did they just not try and bet that mid-grade stone on anything?"

"Ohoho, that's it because most of the ones around us did not pay anything to be here"

"Huh?"

"Almost everyone you saw is either a merchant or a person otherwise affiliated to the Hall, and they are exempt from the so-called deposit. Half of them don't come here to buy anything either, they just use it as a way to meet between themselves. Just look at the ones that were sitting there, do you see the wine and refreshments they ordered from a servant of the Hall? Probably they just used this auction to seal some deal"

"Oh!"

"And it looks like a good method" Bai Qi murmured.

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that with the protection of the guards, formations, and other things used by the Hall, this place was probably the safest one in the entire District tonight. Not to mention that it was practically impossible to overhear anything, even if you moved close to them"

"Oh, I see, thank you for the explanation"

***

It took almost an hour, and most of the people to leave before the barrels were auctioned. This time it was far simpler, and the one to auction them was just a low-level manager from the Hall, one that looked extremely alike to Mo Fu. The same small stature, thin body, and reddish hair. The only difference that Bai Qi saw was the face, as Mo Fu's was thin as the rest of his body, while this one was a bit funny, a round, almost as a fat man's face on a child-like body.

"Everyone, sorry for the wait. My name is Mo Kun, and I am in charge of this small event. As you know, we don't reveal the contents of the barrels, and normally open them for a brief moment altogether but because of previous incidents, we will proceed to open them one by one Mo Kun did not share anything about the incidents he mentioned, simply continuing after a brief pause.

"Please remember that the Hall does not guarantee the quality of the items"

"We know the drill, just go ahead and state their starting prices!" A man gaudily and widely dressed, one so fat that even the concealment measures he used did not prevent from making the correct assumption he was at least six times Mo Kun in weight urged.

"Don't be impatient, Mister Wong. I will be giving the price while allowing you to take a glimpse at each"