Chapter 38
“Yaaawn.”
Baek-Cheong had practically stayed up all night with her eyes wide open, hurrying to get dressed from the early dawn.
Dressing in a neat Daoist robe made of silk woven from the jade threads of a 1st-Grade Silkworm Demonic Beast, she styled herself to look as demure and elegant as possible, like a proper Young Lady of a Clan.
“Cheong-A, are you all ready?”
As she went out to the Inner Hall, her uncle was waiting, accompanied by Guards.
Beside him stood the Protector assigned to Baek-Cheong, who had escorted her around the Marketplace yesterday, looking as imposing as ever.
“Yes, uncle!”
Baek Mu-Yeong let out a hearty laugh at his Niece’s excited demeanor.
“Haha, are you that looking forward to it? The Myriad Phenomena Pavilion is a Merchant Guild Alliance that spans not just Yeonha Immortal City, but the entire Cultivation World. Though it is a Regular Auction held once a year, rumor has it that quite a few Rare Items have been put up for bid this time.”
Baek-Cheong’s ears perked up.
The phrase “Rare Item” was like a magic spell that made her heart flutter whenever she heard it.
“What kind of items will be there?”
“Well. Ordinary 2nd-Grade spiritual medicines and Dharma Treasures are a common sight. If we’re lucky, rare artifacts that even Cultivators in the Late Foundation Establishment Stage or Early Golden Core Stage would covet might pop up. Our Baek Clan Merchant Guild has also decided to put up an important item for this auction.”
If it was an important item put up by the Baek Clan Merchant Guild, nine times out of ten, it would be the Five Elements Pill that had been secretly transported yesterday.
To think that the pill born from Yak-seon, inspired by the Five Elements Pill Refining Method she had created(?), was going up in the Auction House gave her a fluttery feeling.
“Let us get going.”
Baek-Cheong followed her uncle out of the Mansion and headed toward the center of the Immortal City.
True to its name, the Myriad Phenomena Pavilion boasted a majestic seven-story Pavilion that flaunted the greatest scale and splendor in the Immortal City.
The Pavilion’s roof gleamed golden under the sunlight, and flags bearing various crests fluttered majestically at the entrance.
The area around the entrance was a sea of Cultivators looking to attend the auction.
Ordinary Rogue Cultivators had to peek from outside the entrance and turn away in disappointment, while only those bearing the marks of respectable Clans or Sects were allowed inside the Pavilion after undergoing strict Identity Verification.
“Guild Master Baek of the Baek Clan Merchant Guild, welcome. I will escort you to a VIP Room.”
The Reception Manager of the Myriad Phenomena Pavilion recognized Baek Mu-Yeong and rushed out to greet him with the utmost respect.
As a bloodline of the Baek Clan that practically ruled Yeonha Immortal City and the Master of a Large Merchant Guild, he was a top-tier Honored Guest whom even the Myriad Phenomena Pavilion could not afford to neglect.
Baek-Cheong followed closely behind her uncle, puffing out her chest with pride.
She relished the envious and jealous gazes of countless Cultivators piercing the back of their group’s heads.
This was the true taste of being Privileged.
The place they were guided to was an independent VIP Room located on the 6th floor of the Auction House.
Through the open Railing, the massive circular Auction Platform on the first floor and the densely packed Cultivators in the General Seating could be seen at a glance.
Inside the VIP Room, there were plush chairs, a refreshment table with the highest quality spirit tea, and a Crystal Orb equipped with a Projection Formation to observe the auction items in detail.
“Wow! There are so many Cultivators.”
“Haha, is it that fascinating?”
“Well, it’s rare to get a chance to see this many Cultivators.”
Baek-Cheong leaned against the Railing and watched the heated atmosphere of the Auction House with interest.
A moment later, a clear bell rang three times, and the Murmur of the Auction House died down.
A white-haired Old Man wearing a flashy Daoist robe appeared on the circular Platform on the first floor.
“Honored Guests who have visited the Myriad Phenomena Pavilion, welcome. I am Cheon-No, the Auction Host for today. I will skip the long speeches and immediately introduce the first auction item.”
With Cheon-No’s experienced hosting, the curtain rose on the auction in earnest.
The items put up early on were mostly ordinary spiritual medicines around the 2nd-Tier Mid-Grade, Defensive Dharma Treasures, or the inner cores of demonic beasts.
Rogue Cultivators in the General Seating and Cultivators from lesser Clans shouted bids fiercely, competing with one another, but the items were far from enough to whet the appetites of Baek Mu-Yeong or the Cultivators seated in the VIP Rooms.
Baek-Cheong also rested her chin on her hand with a bored expression, yawning widely on the inside.
“When on Earth are the secret manuals from the Ancient Era coming out?”
After several shichen of boring waiting, right around the time the auction passed its midpoint.
A strange power began to carry in Cheon-No’s voice.
“Now, the next item is a Rare Item that will fully heat up the atmosphere of today’s auction. I present to you an old jade slip discovered in a Deep Sea Secret Realm in the South Sea.”
An old jade slip Tinged with Blue Light was brought up onto the Platform on a silver tray.
Baek-Cheong’s drooping eyes snapped open.
It was finally the fortuitous-encounter-like item she had been waiting and waiting for.
“This jade slip contains the Incantation for the Water-Attribute Offensive Technique, Ice Dragon Shatter. Appraisal results show it possesses power reaching the 1st-Grade High-Tier, and depending on the caster’s capability, it boasts enough might to inflict a fatal wound even on a Cultivator in the Early Foundation Establishment Stage. The Starting Bid Price is two hundred Low-Low-Grade Spirit Stones!”
For Cultivators in the Late Qi Condensation Stage, it was an excellent Technique/Spell, like sweet rain during a drought.
Above all, since it was an item discovered in a Secret Realm, there was a high chance it had some special qualities.
Bids rained down not only from the General Seating but also from some of the VIP Seating on the second floor, heating up the atmosphere in the Auction House.
“That looks pretty good?”
Baek-Cheong smacked her lips as she stared at the auction item.
The Technique/Spells she currently wielded were all at a basic level, lacking in destructive power.
Something like Ice Dragon Shatter was an excellent Offensive Skill to round out her arsenal.
Thus, she subtly glanced at her uncle.
“Uncle, that…”
“Do you need it?”
Baek Mu-Yeong saw right through his Niece’s heart, laughing refreshingly as he nodded.
And without hesitation, he infused his qi into the bidding plaque provided in the VIP Room.
“Five Mid-Mid-Grade Spirit Stones from the Baek Clan Merchant Guild!”
It was an overwhelming amount, equivalent to five hundred Low-Mid-Grade Spirit Stones.
At the Baek Clan’s display of wealth, instantly leaping the Bid Unit to Mid-Mid-Grade Spirit Stones, the other Cultivators who had been fiercely competing smacked their lips and backed down.
“Five Mid-Mid-Grade Spirit Stones! Are there any more? Sold!”
With Cheon-No’s cheerful shout, they easily won the bid.
It was also partly because others couldn’t easily interfere due to the reputation of the Baek Clan Merchant Guild.
Before long, the Steward of the Myriad Phenomena Pavilion personally brought over the Ice Dragon Shatter Technique/Spell jade slip.
“Thank you, uncle!”
Baek-Cheong expressed her gratitude to her uncle and carefully tucked the jade slip away.
Having gotten a taste of the Auction House, her eyes fixed even more greedily upon the Platform.
However, she couldn’t spot any items that gave off the feeling of a fortuitous encounter.
A 2nd-Grade High-Tier Flying Sword, a thousand-year-old herb of immortality, and so on.
Rare Artifacts found their owners one after another, and just as she was growing indifferent.
“One Mid-Grade Spirit Stone from the Baek Clan Merchant Guild!”
“Three Mid-Mid-Grade Spirit Stones from the Baek Clan Merchant Guild!”
Baek Mu-Yeong only won bids for a few items that would be helpful to the guild’s interests, not acting overly greedy.
And the moment the auction was racing toward its end.
Cheon-No’s expression turned unprecedentedly serious and solemn.
“Honored Guests, I will now introduce the final item that will serve as the grand finale of today’s auction, a pill akin to a fortuitous encounter that is hard to find a precedent for in the history of the Myriad Phenomena Pavilion.”
All noise inside the Auction House ceased in an instant.
The bated gazes of countless Cultivators converged on the Platform.
A splendid jade box was carefully placed upon a jade tray.
As the lid opened, a brilliant Five-Colored halo brightly dyed the area around the Platform, and a Pure Pill Fragrance spread throughout the entire Auction House.
The Cultivators were mesmerized by the bizarre sensation of their spiritual roots seemingly churning just from smelling the fragrance.
“The name of this pill is the Five Elements Pill.”
Cheon-No’s grave voice broke the silence.
“A masterpiece among masterpieces, painstakingly crafted by the Quasi-5th Tier Alchemist, Grandmaster Yak-seon! It is an Unprecedented pill that artificially grows the cursed aptitude known as the Five-Element Spiritual Root, instantly granting a Qi Absorption capacity on par with a Three-Element Spiritual Root!”
As soon as Cheon-No’s words ended, the Auction House was covered in cheers and astonishment.
“It grows spiritual roots? Nonsense! Isn’t that a Heaven-Defying Spiritual Medicine!”
“To think it’s Grandmaster Yak-seon’s work… I must get my hands on this no matter what!”
“It’s the only lifeline to save my son’s Five-Element Spiritual Root! I’ll buy it even if I have to empty my entire fortune!”
Not only the Rogue Cultivators in the General Seating, but even the Honored Guests of Sects and Clans who had been sitting politely in the VIP Rooms lost their reason, jumping up and leaning toward the Platform.
In the Cultivation World, the aptitude of one’s spiritual root was the Absolute Standard that determined the fate of a Cultivator, and furthermore, an entire Clan.
The Five Elements Pill, capable of overturning that innate destiny, could truly be called heaven-defying.
“The Starting Bid Price for the Five Elements Pill is… fifty Mid-Mid-Grade Spirit Stones!”
As soon as Cheon-No’s shout fell, a maddening Bidding Competition erupted.
“Seventy Mid-Mid-Grade Spirit Stones!”
“One hundred!”
“One hundred and thirty! Our Taesang Sect will definitely take it!”
The Bid Unit skyrocketed terrifyingly by tens and hundreds.
Baek Mu-Yeong watched the frenzy-filled auction with his arms crossed and a relaxed smile.
As the Guild Master of the Baek Clan Merchant Guild that had put the Five Elements Pill up for auction, he had an expression that showed he had already finished calculating the massive profits that would pour in.
On the other hand, Baek-Cheong felt extremely conflicted.
The Five Elements Pill she had casually popped into her mouth was being treated as a fortuitous encounter that prominent Cultivators outside were fighting over with veins popping in their necks.
“To think I got to eat something that incredible for free…”
She thought that this itself might be a fortuitous encounter.
And once again, her status as someone Privileged felt newly real to her.
At the same time, her wicked imagination ran wild, thinking about how explosive the reaction would be if she trolled the Nameless Forum using the Five Elements Pill, deciding she had to try it someday.
“Two hundred! The Cheonun Mountain Villa bids two hundred Mid-Mid-Grade Spirit Stones!”
Finally, the bid reached the Astronomical Sum of two hundred Mid-Mid-Grade Spirit Stones, and the competition entered a lull.
The Cheonun Mountain Villa was a Golden Core Clan that wielded considerable power in the vicinity of Yeonha Immortal City.
“Two hundred Mid-Mid-Grade Spirit Stones! Are there any more? Then the Five Elements Pill goes to the Cheonun Mountain Villa…”
It was the moment Cheon-No was about to strike the auction gavel.
From the highest VIP Room on the 7th floor, a low voice laden with dense qi crushed the entire Auction House.
“Three High-High-Grade Spirit Stones. And… I will add a Sword Art Diagram from the Sword Tomb.”
In an instant, the Auction House was enveloped in a silence as if cold water had been poured over it.
The insane amount of three High-High-Grade Spirit Stones was astonishing enough, but the weight carried by the words “Sword Art” was on a different level.
Everyone’s gazes turned toward the 7th-floor VIP Room with fear and awe.
Her uncle’s expression also froze stiff.
“That voice… and that overwhelming qi…”
Baek Mu-Yeong muttered, swallowing dryly.
“The Supreme Elder of the Heavenly Sword Sect… It is the Pacheon Sword Saint.”