Chapter 121
The next day, Baek-Cheong followed her uncle into Bohwawon.
It was the venue for the auction that served as the grand finale of the annual exchange gathering.
However, once inside, it felt closer to a massive Marketplace situated right in the middle of the Biun Sect rather than a simple Auction House.
Various pavilions were lined up in layers across a spacious area created by leveling an entire Peak of the Biun Sect.
Every Pavilion was packed tightly with pharmacies selling spirit medicines, artifact shops displaying Dharma tools, and talisman shops handling talismans.
Disciples of the Biun Sect and cultivators who had flowed in from the outside mingled together, bustling as they haggled back and forth.
Not having realized that such a large commercial district operated within the Biun Sect, Baek-Cheong subtly rolled her eyes to look around.
‘Oh, there’s a lot of stuff here.’
Among the various shops, the Contribution Hall - where items could only be exchanged for Contribution Points instead of Spirit Stones - was situated on one side.
It was a place only disciples who had made contributions to the Sect could enter, and it was said to be filled with precious items that could never be bought even if one piled up mountains of Spirit Stones.
The jade plaque containing the five hundred Contribution Points she had received as her reward for being the Top Ranker was safely tucked inside her robes.
Just thinking about it made the corners of her mouth twitch.
“Am I finally getting my hands on the Concealment Art?”
In any case, she and her uncle were bound to look around different places.
Her uncle would be busy previewing the items up for auction and networking with the merchant guilds that had submitted them, while she intended to stop by the Contribution Hall first to grab what she had been eyeing.
“Cheong-A, your uncle needs to look around the Auction Platform. Go and take care of your own business.”
“Yes, uncle. Have a good time.”
Baek-Cheong bowed her head demurely.
Her uncle added a word, his face still unable to quite trust her.
“Bohwawon is within the Biun Sect’s fences, so there shouldn’t be any trouble, but don’t go causing any unnecessary incidents.”
“Incidents? I’ll just quietly take care of my business and come back.”
When she replied firmly, her uncle stepped into the crowd, still unable to hide his suspicious look.
Only when her uncle’s back grew distant did she let out a long breath.
She had almost been unable to wander around comfortably, feeling self-conscious under her uncle’s sharp glare.
“Now I can finally breathe a little.”
Feeling like humming a tune, Baek-Cheong hurried her steps straight toward the Contribution Hall.
In front of the Contribution Hall, quite a few cultivators were lined up to exchange items.
As she approached the end of the line, a few Cultivators standing ahead glanced over and turned their heads.
They were the external guest cultivators who had climbed the Stone Platform to compete against her in the main tournament.
However, the moment they met her eyes, every single one of them turned pale.
“Eek…!”
“Th-that kid, why is she here…!”
The cultivators freaked out as if they had seen a ghost and stealthily slipped out of the line.
Some of them didn’t even look back and scurried away.
At the sudden commotion, Baek-Cheong blinked, not knowing the reason.
She had definitely gone easy on them in her own way on the Stone Platform.
She hadn’t summoned many Ice Dragons, and she hadn’t even drawn her sword.
“I went easy on them, so why are they acting like that?”
It was an incredibly awkward situation.
Still, thinking it over, it wasn’t a bad thing.
Thanks to the cultivators who had been holding their spots and then left on their own, her turn in line had shortened.
“This might actually be better.”
Baek-Cheong feigned ignorance and took a step forward.
And before long, her turn arrived.
Inside the Contribution Hall sat a Butler with his back to a long row of display cases.
He was the one in charge of tallying Contribution Points and handing out items.
As she approached, the Butler absentmindedly raised his head; then a look of interest sparked in his eyes.
“Hoh, so you’re the Top Ranker of the Qi Condensation Group?”
The Contribution Hall Butler recognized Baek-Cheong immediately.
Because she had shown such overwhelming skill that she was evaluated as being at the Foundation Establishment level despite only being at the Qi Condensation Stage, Baek-Cheong’s name spread widely.
‘There’s nothing good about getting famous.’
Though she felt awkward inwardly, Baek-Cheong demurely brought her hands together outwardly.
“I am Baek-Cheong of the Yeonha Baek Clan.”
The Butler nodded as if finding her commendable.
Having paid her respects, Baek-Cheong immediately brought up her main point.
“I have something I’d like to ask. Is there a list of items that can be exchanged for Contribution Points?”
The items lined up in the display cases were merely a few jade slips and jade bottles of pills, so she couldn’t guess what could be exchanged.
However, the Butler shook his head.
“A list, you say. There are far too many types of things that can be exchanged for Contribution Points, and among them, there are quite a few whose names cannot be carelessly revealed.”
“Then…”
“If you tell me what you want, I will point out something suitable.”
Baek-Cheong briefly looked around before mentioning what she had been aiming for.
“I want to get the Concealment Art.”
It was the Sect Technique she had been drooling over ever since she stepped into the Biun Sect and experienced her Eldest Brother’s Concealment Art.
An Escape Technique that allowed one to lay clouds under one’s feet and float anywhere.
Above all, unlike riding on a Flying Sword or an Ice Dragon, the Concealment Art didn’t even require one to balance oneself.
Since the clouds supported the body on their own, it was absolutely perfect for a clumsy person like her.
And from there, she took her greed one step further.
“By any chance, is there a Technique/Spell that weaves the Concealment Art together with another Technique/Spell?”
It was because she had once imagined a scene where she used the Concealment Art and the Spirit Rain Art together.
It was a picture of riding a cloud and floating around, scattering a gentle drizzle over people’s heads.
She thought it would be an absurd idea, but the Butler’s reaction was unexpected.
“Oh, you have quite a good eye!”
The Butler suddenly got excited and slapped his knee.
“It just so happens that Our Sect has a Technique/Spell that perfectly fits that description. It is a Rare Technique created by a certain Peak Lord.”
“A Rare Technique?”
“It is called the Cloud Rain Art.”
The Butler launched into an explanation as if he were thrilled.
Originally, the Technique/Spell known as the Spirit Rain Art was limited to calling forth rain using spiritual energy.
However, it had a small flaw: while making it rain, one could not move an inch, stuck in the same spot like a fixture.
“Since they could only scatter rain from one spot, it was quite a bothersome task for the spirit plant cultivators managing vast fields.”
They had to move from place to place just to cause rain once, meaning the spirit plant cultivators suffered immense hardship.
“But a certain Peak Lord wove the Spirit Rain Art and the Concealment Art together.”
A Technique/Spell that called forth clouds by laying the Concealment Art as a foundation, and then layered the Spirit Rain Art on top to call forth rain.
Thanks to this, it was said that a spirit plant cultivator who learned the Cloud Rain Art could summon clouds and wander around the fields, scattering rain.
“Though learning it is twice as tricky as the Concealment Art, thanks to it, the spirit plant cultivators were greatly relieved of their backbreaking labor.”
While listening to the explanation, Baek-Cheong unknowingly made her eyes sparkle.
The image she had only thought of in her head had already been turned into a Technique/Spell by someone else.
Moreover, by a Great Cultivator who was a Peak Lord of the Sect, no less.
“As expected, the world is wide and there are many geniuses.”
She felt that the Biun Sect wasn’t called a Great Sect for nothing.
It seemed that in a Sect that had existed for a long time, no Eccentric Idea went unexplored.
Even though the Peak Lord had crafted the Technique/Spell to lessen the labor of spirit plant cultivators, she intended to fly over people’s heads and sprinkle rain on them.
Either way, it was fine by her.
“To think they made something like this, should I bow to the Biun Sect?”
However, the price was not cheap.
“The Cloud Rain Art is three hundred Contribution Points.”
Since she had heard the Concealment Art was one hundred points, it was a price that was well over double.
Still, Baek-Cheong didn’t bat an eye.
Since the Contribution Points she received as her Top Ranker reward amounted to five hundred points, it was more than enough to pay the price.
However, she carefully pointed out one fact before moving on.
“But could I ask one more thing?”
“Ask as much as you like.”
“Can I also ride on the clouds with the Cloud Rain Art?”
Just sprinkling rain wasn’t enough to satisfy her.
Since she was at it, she wanted to float around while sitting squarely on top of the clouds, just like with the Concealment Art.
The Butler briefly put on an awkward face.
“Ride on…?”
Originally, the Cloud Rain Art was a Technique/Spell created to sprinkle rain over vast fields.
Its use for riding on clouds hadn’t been kept in mind from the start.
“Well, since its foundation is the Concealment Art, it’s not impossible…”
The Butler nodded with a reluctant expression.
As soon as the word 'possible' was uttered, a satisfied smile leaked from the corners of Baek-Cheong’s mouth.
“Then I’ll go with the Cloud Rain Art.”
Baek-Cheong willingly held out her jade plaque.
When the Butler took out a jade slip from inside the Display Case and handed it over, the Contribution Points in the jade plaque decreased by three hundred points.
As she stored the Cloud Rain Art jade slip in her Storage Platform, Baek-Cheong couldn’t seem to lower the corners of her mouth.
Now, two hundred Contribution Points remained in the jade plaque.
Baek-Cheong had no intention of blowing the remaining Contribution Points in vain.
“Can I exchange Contribution Points for spirit herbs too?”
“Of course.”
The Butler pointed out a string of spirit herbs that were hard to even catch a glimpse of outside the Biun Sect.
Among them, Baek-Cheong frugally picked out and gathered only the ones that would be useful as Pill Ingredients.
Since they were spirit herbs that were hard to obtain even if one piled up Spirit Stones in an ordinary Marketplace, she didn’t feel the Contribution Points were a waste at all.
“As expected, things easily gained should be used frugally.”
Only after packing the remaining two hundred points' worth of spirit herbs into her Storage Platform did she finish her business at the Contribution Hall.
Her steps as she left the Contribution Hall were lighter than ever.
“Come to think of it.”
Baek-Cheong recalled a story she had picked up from Jin-Wi while wandering around the arts festival.
It was a story that large and small auctions and trades were held all over Bohwawon, even if it wasn’t an auction hosted by the Sect.
Especially since she had heard from her uncle that there was a separate place where Qi Condensation cultivators gathered among themselves.
“Should I go there first?”
Since it was an exchange among Qi Condensation Cultivators, she couldn’t expect any rare items.
However, she had the Inscribed Spirit Gathering Pill, which any Qi Condensation cultivator would go crazy for.
She planned to use this opportunity to legally sweep up Spirit Stones and launder the high-high-grade Spirit Stones she had obtained from the Nameless Forum.