Chapter 18 Auctioning Rare Treasures
The sunlight was bright without the slightest hint of a cloud in the sky. The lobby of the inn was cold and cheerless, with only solo individuals using it for breakfast. Most of the traveling merchants had already left before the sun had risen. They had to travel slow with their caravans, and they would have to sell their wares to the villages along their way. They could at most travel twenty miles in a day. If they didn't leave early, then they might end up having to stay outdoors on the countryside when night fell. Even if they stuck near the large roads, it was still very dangerous as there were always reports of Magical Beasts attacking people.
Yao Chen was currently eating breakfast in the lobby and looking around. He didn't see anyone from the Violet Fiend Gang or the embroidered-clothed youth.
After breakfast, the owner sent him ten days worth of rations as well as a rough map covering a five thousand mile radius of his current location. "There are several specially marked places which are the territories of powerful Magical Beasts. Take care and good luck."
The owner was extremely happy, as yesterday he had found that the three Energy Support Pills were actually from the Yao clan, and even around here they were at least two hundred silvers each. And if he found a larger city over a hundred miles from here, then he could sell them for eight hundred silvers each. No matter how many pills flowed out of the Yao clan, it would never meet the demand. Even the first tier Energy Recovery Pill was hard to find. This time he had profited extremely greatly.
But when he carefully looked, Yao Chen's forehead didn't have the brand of the Yao clan, so he assumed he was a disciple from some rich and powerful clan.
Yao Chen was in dire need of such a map so he accepted it. Cupping his hands in thanks, he started on his way.
Looking at the map, he found that other than the dangerous spots from the Magical Beasts, there were also marks for the various cities and villages around this place. It even had the marks of inns within particularly desolate areas. It was obvious this map was drawn by a travelling merchant and was worth at least dozens of silvers.
Yao Chen walked quickly while also using a physical Dou Technique, which could also be considered a type of training. There were quite a few people on the road, most of them on horses or caravans. Yao Chen passed them one by one. This physical Dou Technique he was using had been passed through his family and was known as the Sky Catching Art. There were twelve levels to it, and once it reached the tenth level, Dou Qi could be used to form the Sky Catching Wings, an extremely particular Flying Dou Technique. But Yao Chen had only cultivated it to the ninth level.
By now Yao Chen was already aware that the outside world was completely different from within the Yao clan. They were like two completely different worlds. Within the Yao clan, the most important thing would always be alchemy. He could even temporarily pause his training cultivation and wait till his alchemy level reached a high enough level. His other areas would naturally catch up later.
But the outside world was completely focused on strength. True destructive power - that was the most important. If a person wanted to survive alone and have respect, only power was the answer. Without strength, nothing else could be relied on. Alchemists were the same; if ordinary alchemists were to be found by others, there was only one conclusion: they would be secretly captured into a prison and forced to spend their lives refining pills.
Yao Chen knew the most important thing was for him to train was this physical Dou Technique. If the Sky Catching Art could be cultivated to the tenth level and he could use the Sky Catching Wings, then he would be much faster when fleeing enemies.
That Feng Xian from yesterday had only become an eight star Dou Shi yet already had a flying technique. In comparison, his ninth level Sky Catching Art was lacking.
BOOM!
Suddenly a huge net fell from the sky. A dozen black figures surrounded Yao Chen and attacked.
Filled with shock, he used the Sky Catching Art, causing his body to flicker and avoid the huge net. But that was just their first ploy; a second huge net came down as two of the black figures attacked him. The rope on the net had thorns sewn into it which were clearly poisonous. This formation was very famous; it was the Poison Net Formation which could even capture and kill a Da Dou Shi if he were careless.
Yao Chen's body once more flickered and the he dodged the second net. But a third net opened up, and it seemed that there was no way to avoid it. A harsh light flashed in Yao Chen's eyes, and his ninth level Sky Catching Art was pushed to its max. His speed exploded and carried with it a mournful wind sound.
BOOM!
The situation turned in the blink of an eye. Two blood spurts flew through the air; the arms of the two people holding that third net exploded from Dou Qi, and all that remained was a mangled flesh that appeared as if a huge boulder had crushed it.
"Tighten the formation! Make sure to exterminate him!"
Over a dozen people formed a formation, their Dou Qi surging into one. It condensed into a huge wolf that attacked Yao Chen.
Yao Chen ignored it and continued to use the Sky Catching Art. His figure became one with the wind as he charged at the formation.
Dou Qi exploded. Even if they tightened the formation, was it possible for it to block the wind? In an instant, those dozen people were all smashed into the ground. But Yao Chen didn't kill them, instead only knocking them unconscious. If it was just one or two, then he might be able to bear it, but over ten? Yao Chen's heart still didn't have the resolve to do so. Killing one person vs killing ten people was completely different.
But this didn't mean he would allow people to boss him around. This group of people were from the Violet Fiend Gang. He had been targeted by them simply for revealing a couple medicinal pills. These people were obviously evil; who knew how many people had been harmed by them.
Crack! Consecutive cracking sounds rang out as Yao Chen snapped off the limbs of everyone. He then used his Dou Qi to mess up their Dantians and forcibly crush them.
"AHHH!!!"
The dozen Violet Fiend Gang's people were all awakened by the pain and let out miserable screams.
"You, what are you doing?!"
"Just the same as you."
"What?!"
"I'm looting." He took everything they had, but in the end that wasn't much. There were just a couple medicinal pills, but the five Energy Support Pills weren't with them and they didn't have much gold.
"Where's your boss?"
At this moment Yao Chen realized that the person bossing them around yesterday was not with them.
"Pah, you crippled my Dou Qi, so even if I die I won't…"
Crack. He directly crushed his shoulder blade. None of these people would live; although he didn't personally deliver the final blow, in this wilderness, having your four limbs crushed and your Dou Qi crippled could only result in your death.
"I'm not even that interested," indifferently said Yao Chen. He did his best to make himself cruel. He wanted revenge! He wanted to complete his father's last wish! The weak and frail Yao Chen of the past was definitely unable to accomplish them!
Throwing the group away from the road, Yao Chen firmed his determination and continued forward.
The lives of the ten people continued to weigh on his mind, but Yao Chen told himself that next time he would definitely…
Personally end it! He would kill them all without having to use such a roundabout method!
Three days later…
Peak Martial City.
This was a huge city that took up fifty miles worth of space. Countless families lived here and every major power within ten thousand miles had their base in the city. Even the Yao clan had a branch here. Of course, the branch families located on the outside were the most lacking. Their ancestors had started the branches after being washed out disciples of the clan. If Yao Chen were to start a branch and eventually have a talented descendant who was recommended within the Yao clan, then he would be able to carry the title of a branch family of the Yao clan. But such a branch family was not permitted to return back to the clan grounds.
The branch family in Peak Martial City was also like that. They had been ousted from the clan long ago, and after the hard work of their descendants they had managed to return to the 'gate' of the Yao clan, gaining the clan's protection and being permitted to send a talented disciple over to cultivate in the clan every five years.
The Hundred Herb Gathering was Great Martial City's main marketplace for medicinal ingredients. Herb gatherers from a thousand miles away would choose to go there to sell what they collected.
Most of the sellers were in street stalls and only sold lower tier medicinal ingredients at or below the third tier. Most of their buyers were alchemist apprentices. During the initial stages of learning alchemy, the best teacher was experience.
Since there was even a branch of the Yao clan within the city, there were definitely a greater number of alchemists here than other places, and so the markets were quite plentiful.
Currently Yao Chen was in at the Hundred Herb Gathering buying medicinal ingredients. It had been over a month since his last medicinal bath, so he definitely had to buy the ingredients soon. However he was shocked when he went to buy them.
Over a thousand silver coins were tossed out by him without getting even a tenth of the necessary ingredients.
There were also a couple higher tier main ingredients that weren't even sold there and could only be found at auctions.
Unless the seller didn't know the value of it, ingredients above the third tier wouldn't be taken out to be sold here. Instead they would be placed at an auction. This was also due to the fact that there were many alchemists within the city and there was even a Yao clan branch family. Within the alchemist guild were also several alchemists that the various powers were nurturing. Every family was in need of medicinal ingredients. Without the auction, huge conflicts would erupt throughout the city every day.
"Skywater Cloudstone, Violet Sand Essence, these can only be found within the three big auctions. The smaller auctions rarely can take them out." One of the sellers there gave some advice to Yao Chen. "However these medicinal ingredients are all bought out as soon as possible, and unless you are under the protection of a family… hehe, I won't explain that. Little guy, figure it out yourself."
Yao Chen smiled slightly. After buying a couple ordinary medicinal ingredients, he left the Hundred Herb Gathering.
The three big auctions in the city were the One Heaven Pavilion's auction, the Nine Faith Auction, and the Precious Treasure Auction. Each of these auctions had their own backings that were extremely powerful, especially the One Heaven Pavilion. It had a mysterious supporter that was suspected to be one of the eight ancient clans. It was the number one auction in Peak Martial City.
Yao Chen didn't choose the One Heaven Pavilion, and he also didn't choose the Nine Faith Auction that was extremely closely related to the Yao clan's branch family here. Instead he went the Precious Treasure Auction, a power that was native to the city.
He didn't go there immediately. First he bought an extremely common black cloak and covered his face. When he went there and was about to enter, a greeter from the auction house came up to him. "Excuse me, are you here to buy or to sell?"
"Sell."
Yao Chen lowered his pitch when he spoke so that he sounded like a middle-aged man. This wasn't very difficult to do, as with just a little control over his Dou Qi he could even sound like a woman if he wanted. Even experts could be fooled with this little trick.
"Please come over here."
The greeter led Yao Chen towards a certain path. Obviously there were many people like Yao Chen who concealed their face to sell things, and so the auction house naturally had their own procedures and guarantees.
Inside were six armored guards that were releasing a powerful aura. They were clearly all at least Da Dou Shis. They all stood to the side deferentially, not moving the slightest or even glancing at Yao Chen.
"Go in. No matter what you have, anything can be appraised here. But if you wish to renege on this and insult the auction house, there is a one hundred gold coin appraisal fee."
"No matter." Yao Chen indifferently spit out these two words before pushing open the door and entering. Although he wasn't experienced, it was easy to put on an act.
A large lounge was behind the door. The walls were completely covered in books. Some were paper books, some were made from silk, and most precious of all were the ones written on beast hide.
"Take it out."
Yao Chen was sizing up his surroundings when an aged voice came from the center of the room. There was a large iron dragon with a white-haired, watery-eyed old man sitting on it. Beside the iron dragon were five guards with suppressed auras. They were wearing leather armor, but that armor released the fluctuation of a Dou formation. It was obvious this leather armor would not be inferior in terms of defense compared to the heaviest steel plates. In facts, it was incomparably superior.
Yao Chen didn't make a sound. He had long since prepared a couple medicinal pills and now handed them over. One of the guards blocked him and took the pills before handing them to the elder.
Obviously the iron dragon wasn't to imprison the old man, but to protect him. There were mechanisms on the floor near it. If the situation turned sour, the mechanisms would trigger and would quickly allow the iron dragon to escape along with the old man.
The old man carelessly took the pills. He was chewing on some words when suddenly his eyes lit up. "These are… Scarlet Flame Pills! And high grade! Definitely good stuff! Huh, this is the Life Recovery Pill that can quickly recover Dou Qi and has a strong effect on staunching blood as well as protecting the inner organs. Third tier high grade…"
One pill after another was appraised by the old man until he reached the final pill. Only then did he raise his head and take a closer look at Yao Chen. "You really want to sell these pills today?"
"Yes," Yao Chen nodded.
"We could discuss it some more. Today the auction is mostly for ordinary merchants. If we suddenly sell them we might end up with people joining hands to suppress the price."
Yao Chen remained silent, using his gaze to indicate he needed more information.
"If you wish, we can buy these pills internally and make sure the price is fair. If the auction price is higher, we will make up the difference. If the auction price is lower, then we will just accept the loss…. To be honest, these pills are all high quality and rarely seen on the market. Anytime one of these pills appears, it causes a huge fight for it. To this lowly one, it can be considered a great opportunity."
Yao Chen was startled; to him they were just a few medicinal pills, but to others it was something that needed to be handled in such a detailed and careful manner.
"It's fine as long as the price is fine." Yao Chen nodded since he was fine with either way. All he needed was enough money to buy medicinal ingredients. Whether he sold the pills to the auction house internally or decided to force the auction, it wasn't that different. But if he wanted money fast, the best way was still to just sell it to the auction house first.
His fast and straightforward agreement caught the old man off guard. He had prepared many more arguments to convince him, but now those words were no longer required. He was practically drunk with delight and was in a daydream.
"Cough."
Yao Chen's light cough was to indicate he wanted to discuss the price.
"Right, well such precious prices are beyond market value. Normally they would be exchanged with other precious things. Does guest want money or treasures in exchange?"
Yao Chen thought about it. Directly getting the medicinal ingredients would be better so he could retake the medicinal bath. That would be a huge help to his cultivation. Walking to the side, he wrote down a list of medicinal ingredients. Using his middle-aged man voice, he said, "I want as many of these medicinal ingredients as possible."
The old man received the list and a strange feeling arose in him. These ingredients… only some were rare, and the majority could not be considered overly precious. As long as you had the proper channels, you could get as many of them as you wanted. Of course without those channels it was not an easy thing to get them. However, an alchemist capable of refining third tier medicinal pills for auction… how could he not have such channels? Unless…
The old man suddenly jumped and an idea came to him. "No problem."
He thought about it some more before saying, "I'd like to invest guest to rest for a moment. Keep the pills on your for now. Little Min, take this respected guest to the VIP room."
Yao Chen nodded and took back his medicinal pills. He then followed a beautiful white-robed maiden away.
When Yao Chen left, the old man immediately jumped up. Pressing a couple buttons on the side, he walked out of the iron dragon.
The guards were all started and rushed to his side to protect him.
"Old Feng, you…?"
"What are you afraid of? Quick, cancel the rest of my appraisals and get the headhere. Then go prepare the ingredients on this list. Take out half of what we have in storage."
"The family head?"
"Hurry up!"
"Yes!" One of the guards rushed out. The other guards became even more cautious.
This was his own territory, but he was still worried. Obviously the large auction was a grave danger in and of itself. Even here in his own base he wasn't considered safe.
In just a short time, the Feng family head, a scholarly middle-aged man, rushed over to the lounge.
"Uncle Feng, what happened?"
"There's a person who might be the solution to our current crisis."
"Really?"
"An alchemist in Peak Martial City who doesn't have his own channels, and a powerful one."
His eyes lit up. "Are you sure Uncle Feng?"
"We definitely have to fight for this opportunity. He just now took out a couple medicinal pills that could cause a huge commotion. If we can form a good relation with him, then we can definitely stabilize our military in that time and we'll be able to… cough…" Uncle Feng stopped halfway, his face flushing and beginning to involuntarily cough.
Master Feng hastily went to support him. "Uncle Feng!"
"Don't worry about me. I won't die. As long as we can stabilize in this short time and the family's disciples get into position, it'll be our time to move the chess pieces."
Master Feng swept his gaze over the guards and tightly clenched his hands. "Right, as long as we weather this storm… those opportunistic bastards who want to take a piece out of us will definitely not gain anything!"
"To win him over requires the house master's authority to use our reserves. If he brings out pills like he brought today a couple more times, we'll be able to recuperate."
"I'll immediately go make the preparations. Those reserves were meant for a time like this anyways." No matter what kind of person this alchemist was, as long he could help them survive it would be fine. Using a bit of resources was fine.
Currently Yao Chen was sitting quietly within the VIP room. Tea fragrance filled the room as the white-robed maiden who had brought him here was had elegantly steeped some. Every single one of her movements was perfectly practiced.
Yao Chen took a deep breath. He was actually still nervous inside as he didn't know why he had been invited to this VIP room. No matter how precious a couple third tier medicinal pills were, they wouldn't cause such a fuss.
But at this time and in this situation, he could only follow along what they wanted. There was always a way out if he needed one.
He might as well appreciate the performance of the maiden's skill with tea. Her skill wasn't just about the taste of the tea; every single one of her perfect movements while making the tea formed a graceful play, letting her beauty seep into the tea so that it could truly be savored.
Yao Chen didn't exactly understand such beauty, but his mother had once told him a couple things and now his heart did move slightly as he watched. It actually had some things in common with alchemy. A bold thought suddenly jumped into his head… perhaps it was possible even heaven and earth into a pill.
Someone knocked on the door to the VIP room and entered.
One of the guards he had seen back then was now respectfully saluting him. "Respected guest, the medicinal ingredients you requested have already been properly prepared."
"Excellent." Yao Chen stood up and did his best to veil himself in the air of the elders he had seen in the Yao clan.
"Over here."
The guard brought Yao Chen to the auction house's storeroom. There was a very strict security there, the guards here possessing a powerful aura that caused people's hearts to jump.
But in Yao Chen's eyes that was lax. In the Yao clan's storehouse, all the guards were at least Dou Lings. Moreover there was at least one Dou Wang commander. Moreover this was just for ingredients that a declining branch family like Yao Chen could come in contact to. The core storehouse's guards were all on the same power level as the elders.
At this moment, family head Feng walked out from inside the storeroom.
"Haha, I am called Feng Xiangtie. I wonder what is the family name of this respected guest?"
"Chen," he indifferently replied.
"Oh, brother Chen, please come this way. Is brother Chen an alchemist?"
"…" Behind the cover of his black cloak, Yao Chen's face turned stiff. How did he find out he was an alchemist?
"Haha, when I saw brother Chen buy so many medicinal ingredients and the flame attribute Dou Qi from your body, I guessed. It should be the first time brother Chen has come to Peak Martial City right? How long are you planning on staying?"
"Maybe a couple days, maybe a month. I'm not sure."
Feng Xiangtie's gaze flashed; if he wasn't sure, then there was room for discussion. He directly said, "Actually this lowly self is currently looking for an alchemist to cooperate with. If brother Chen wishes to, I could purchase all of the pills brother Chen refines at a high price."
Yao Chen started; so he was actually after medicinal pills. He had long since heard that medicinal pills were in great demand outside the Yao clan and that alchemists had a high status. But in the Yao clan, almost everyone knew alchemy and alchemists below the fifth tier didn't have any status.
"Alright," agreed Yao Chen. "But I'll only sell medicinal pills below the fourth tier."
"That's no problem. Actually, the more ordinary the pill is the better. For example, healing medicinal pills, if brought to an auction… hehe, in any case, whatever pill brother Chen refines will be bought by me for a high price. If there was a fourth tier medicinal pill, this lowly self would use top grade medicinal ingredients to exchange for it."
Feng Xiangtie took out a list and handed it to Yao Chen.
BornToBe's thoughts:
Finally translating this novel again. Gonna finish it up in one go, two chapters a day, fourteen chapters a week! If you started from this chapter, I recommend you go back and reread the old chapters since half of them had missing sections that I added in (they were missing from the raws).