Volume One: The Emperor’s Sword, Chapter Ninety-Six: Perishing Together as Dogs

Clear Talisman Pavilion was one of the oldest shops on Long Willow Street, said to have stood for more than a hundred years.

Its proprietor was a wandering cultivator, a thin, tall middle-aged man named Yu Qingfu, whose cultivation had reached the Foundation Establishment stage.

Yu Qingfu had run his business on Long Willow Street for many years. Well connected and widely acquainted, he held an auction at the end of every month. The cultivators who came to support him were countless, and nearly every event was packed to overflowing.

At these auctions, anyone could present an item for bidding, and the highest bidder would take it, with Clear Talisman Pavilion taking a ten-percent commission.

If an item sold for a hundred spirit stones, the pavilion earned ten. If it sold for a thousand, the pavilion earned a hundred.

Over the years, Yu Qingfu had made a killing.

Among the shopkeepers on Long Willow Street, there were plenty who envied him, but none of them had the same ability. Either their cultivation fell short of Yu Qingfu's, or they lacked the connections to support such a grand affair.

In time, Clear Talisman Pavilion's monthly auction became a small but renowned event, known far and wide.

Because they had arrived early enough, Yun Que, Han Jiao, and Luo Xiaoyu secured a good spot. Many of those who came later had no seats at all, and standing crowds filled the hall.

The auction was held on the second floor of Clear Talisman Pavilion. It was spacious enough, but with so many cultivators attending, it still felt crowded.

Before the auction began, Yun Que roughly counted the crowd and found there were at least three hundred people.

Outside of the Sword Palace, gathering three hundred cultivators under one roof was rare indeed.

Night had fallen completely.

Large wind lanterns were lit along both sides of Long Willow Street, making the long avenue bright as day. Far from thinning out, the number of cultivators coming here was greater than during daylight.

With the lamps lit, the auction at Clear Talisman Pavilion began at once.

The shopkeeper, Yu Qingfu, stepped onto a wooden platform half a man high, clasped his hands to the surrounding crowd, and said with a smile:

"Many thanks to all fellow Daoists for your support. Most of you are old customers, so I will spare the pleasantries and begin at once. Let us welcome the first lot: a premium magical implement, the Black Scale Armor!"

Yu Qingfu clapped his hands, and at once a young maid with long, graceful legs came up onto the platform carrying a suit of precious armor.

She first walked a full circle along the edge of the platform so the crowd below could see it clearly, then stopped at the center and waited for the opening bid.

The appearance of the Black Scale Armor caused waves of astonishment below.

"To think it's a premium defensive magical implement! That has to fetch an outrageous price!"

"Defensive inner armor is rare to begin with. A high-grade one already costs at least a few hundred spirit stones. This premium piece could easily go for a thousand, couldn't it?"

"A thousand? Heh, you're underestimating a premium inner armor. This Black Scale Armor will cost at least three thousand spirit stones!"

"My heavens, three thousand spirit stones? A Qi Refining cultivator could spend a lifetime and still never earn that much."

Yun Que examined the precious armor held by the maid. Since his seat was so close to the platform, he could clearly feel the fluctuations of spiritual power emanating from it.

It was indeed a fine item.

Several grades better than the inner armor Hu Tieshan had given him.

Yun Que clicked his tongue inwardly.

The inner armor he wore was only of mid-grade quality. Even repairing it once required nearly a hundred spirit stones in materials alone. A high-grade one would be even more expensive, let alone a premium piece.

By Yun Que's estimate, three thousand spirit stones would never be enough to take this Black Scale Armor home.

As expected, after the crowd finished discussing it, Yu Qingfu cleared his throat and announced a staggering opening price.

Starting bid: four thousand spirit stones!

The exorbitant price drew another round of gasps, but after that came a long silence.

No one bid.

Yu Qingfu seemed to have anticipated this. He was not in the least anxious. After waiting with leisurely calm for a long while, he announced that the first item had failed to sell.

Most of those attending the auction were low-level Qi Refining cultivators, while Foundation Establishment cultivators were rare.

If even Foundation Establishment cultivators could not afford the price, how could Qi Refining cultivators hope to buy it?

Yun Que could see that Yu Qingfu's purpose in doing this was probably to raise the profile of the event and make the auction seem more high-end. Whether the Black Scale Armor actually sold was not important.

It was even possible that the Black Scale Armor belonged to Yu Qingfu himself, and if someone truly bid on it, he might not even be willing to part with it.

Soon, the second item was displayed on the platform.

It was a high-grade flying sword, slender and elegant in shape, with multicolored patterns running along both sides of the blade. Its name was Rosy Clouds, forged from seven-colored stone. Its power was considerable, but most of all, it was beautiful.

This Rosy Clouds Sword was clearly prepared for female cultivators. The moment it appeared, every woman in attendance had her eyes light up, unable to look away from the sword.

Even Han Jiao and Luo Xiaoyu were drawn to it, their eyes bright with interest.

The Rosy Clouds Sword started at three hundred spirit stones and was ultimately taken by a middle-aged woman for the high price of six hundred.

Yun Que clicked his tongue again.

This auction was absurdly profitable.

The Rosy Clouds Sword was good, but it was absolutely not worth six hundred spirit stones.

In Miss Si's shop, an ordinary high-grade magical implement sold for only one hundred spirit stones. At most it would fetch double that, yet at an auction it had actually sold for six hundred.

By Yun Que's reckoning, the sword's true value was about the same as its opening bid.

It had sold for three hundred spirit stones more than it was worth.

It seemed there were still plenty of rich people in the world of cultivation. Yun Que could not help sighing inwardly.

The third lot was a talisman, a creation of Yu Qingfu himself, called the Earth-Burrowing Talisman. It had the wondrous ability to travel underground, capable of fleeing as far as five hundred zhang beneath the earth, and could be used up to ten times. It was not a single-use talisman.

Burrowing techniques were not something low-level disciples could use. At the very least, one had to reach the Foundation Establishment stage. The special advantage of talismans, however, was that they usually required only a very small amount of spiritual energy to activate.

If a Qi Refining cultivator wanted to use an earth-burrowing technique, the only way was to rely on the power of a talisman.

The Earth-Burrowing Talisman was not especially expensive. Its opening bid was one hundred spirit stones.

About the price of a high-grade magical implement.

Yun Que had seen Xue Ziyi use sword escape and had become deeply interested in movement techniques. He still had two hundred spirit stones on him, more or less enough, so he decided to buy it.

He immediately called out a bid of one hundred and fifty spirit stones.

Others were mostly increasing by five or ten at a time, but Yun Que jumped straight to one hundred and fifty. The surrounding voices fell silent at once.

One hundred and fifty spirit stones was basically the market price of the Earth-Burrowing Talisman.

Seeing no one raise the bid, Yun Que was just about to take out his spirit stones when a hoarse voice came from not far away.

"Two hundred spirit stones."

The other party had raised the bid by fifty spirit stones as well.

Yun Que paused, his hand stopping where it was.

He did not have enough spirit stones on him to keep going, and anything above two hundred made the purchase less appealing. He was not in urgent need of it anyway, so he decided to let it go.

Turning toward the source of the voice, he saw a burly young man in his twenties, broad of frame and cold-eyed.

Whether deliberately or not, the man cast him a chilly sidelong glance.

Yun Que did not know him and paid him no mind.

After the three auction items, it was time for the open-bidding segment. Everyone present could bring their own items onto the platform for auction, and in short order all manner of magical implements and medicinal pills were brought up one after another, dazzling in their variety and leaving the crowd overwhelmed.

Yun Que took a liking to two items in succession.

One was a mid-grade magical implement with the ability to repel water; the other was a Solid-Origin Pill used for healing. Without exception, both were snatched up by someone else.

And by the very same person.

It was the burly young man seated not far away.

Once may be chance, twice may be coincidence, but there would not be a third time. It was obvious the other party was targeting him.

Since they were not far apart, Yun Que smiled at him and said, "Only a mad dog fights over bones at random. Could everyone please be civilized dogs for once? Fair trade, all right? No malicious bidding."

The burly young man clearly heard him. He turned and glared at Yun Que, but said nothing.

In truth, he could not say anything.

Yun Que's words were impossible to answer. If he disagreed, that made him a mad dog. If he agreed, he was still a dog.

In any case, Yun Que did not feel ashamed. He did not mind becoming dogs together with the other man.

As long as I'm not embarrassed, the embarrassed one is someone else.

The burly young man held back his anger for a long while before snorting coldly. "This is only the beginning. Your life, I will take with my own hands sooner or later!"