Chapter 191: Selling Anything and Everything

The auction continued after the Blood Ruby, offering a mixed bag of treasures as precious as the Innate Pill and as dubious as the ruby itself.

Regardless, the cheapest item still went for no less than twenty thousand taels of silver.

As time passed, the atmosphere in the auction house grew increasingly heated.

Most attendees had already participated in the bidding, leaving only a handful like Shen Changqing, who remained coldly observant from beginning to end.

"They must be waiting for something else," Shen Changqing mused, his gaze sweeping over the silent wing-rooms.

Of course, those rooms weren’t empty.

Their occupants had come to the auction but hadn’t placed a bid, undoubtedly waiting for something specific.

He had a good idea what that something was.

Ji Qu chuckled beside him. "The major factions are holding back. As far as I know, the real highlight of this auction is Lord Shen’s three Grandmaster martial arts manuals.

Judging by the current climate, the final price of those three manuals might be much higher than I initially estimated."

Higher indeed!

How much higher, Ji Qu couldn’t say for sure.

But the higher the final price, the greater his cut as the middleman.

Therefore, Ji Qu was more than happy to see the bidding wars escalate.

Shen Changqing smiled faintly. "Then I’ll take your auspicious words, Brother Ji. Also, I wanted to ask, will it take a long time to acquire merit points later?"

"Several thousand merit points is no small sum, but Yuanyang Auction House has influence throughout the black market. If Lord Shen wants to acquire merit points, you can simply speak to the Yuanyang Auction House people after the auction concludes. I doubt there will be any issues.

As for the time it will take, that’s hard to say."

Ji Qu gave an uncertain answer.

After all, he wasn’t part of the Yuanyang Auction House. Even if he knew something about merit point transactions, he’d never handled such a large amount.

Shen Changqing nodded.

"Then we’ll talk about it after the auction."

As they spoke, a new round of item auctions began.

Soon, a new jade box was presented.

The box opened to reveal a somewhat wrinkled book with large characters on the cover: Mystic Yang Scripture!

"Mystic Yang Scripture, rumored to be an internal energy martial art created by the reclusive expert Mystic Yangzi. We at Yuanyang Auction House believe he was a Grandmaster expert from several hundred years ago.

The faction auctioning the Mystic Yang Scripture is White Cloud Tower.

According to White Cloud Tower, the Mystic Yang Scripture was once a complete internal energy art pointing directly to the Grandmaster realm. Unfortunately, when they obtained it, the martial art was already incomplete.

The current Mystic Yang Scripture is only the first half, capable of supporting cultivation up to the Innate Outer Gang Realm at most."

Warden No. 2 announced loudly.

He paused slightly after each introduction, giving the others a chance to whisper and joke.

Then, he got to the main point.

"The half-volume Mystic Yang Scripture, starting bid is eighty thousand taels of silver, with each bid no lower than one thousand taels. Let the auction begin!"

"Half a Mystic Yang Scripture!"

Shen Changqing watched the fierce bidding below, his gaze fixed on the Mystic Yang Scripture on the auction stage.

Through Warden No. 2’s introduction, he understood the martial art’s origins.

Regardless of whether the martial art was complete or not, its ability to support cultivation up to the Innate Outer Gang Realm was enough to make it a powerful Innate martial art.

He turned to Ji Qu.

"Have you ever heard of Mystic Yangzi, Brother Ji?"

He’d heard of White Cloud Tower.

It was a mid-sized sect in the Jianghu, roughly equivalent to the Returning Origin Sword Sect of Guangyuan Prefecture, with Innate Limit experts presiding over it, but no Grandmaster.

But Mystic Yangzi was completely unknown to him.

Ji Qu frowned, looking puzzled.

"I’ve never heard of Mystic Yangzi either. But in the past few hundred years, there have been countless Grandmasters under the heavens. It’s not unusual for some Grandmasters to remain unknown."

He had no interest in Mystic Yangzi or the Mystic Yang Scripture.

The Demon Suppression Division had no shortage of martial arts.

This meant that the people of the Demon Suppression Division never lacked martial arts.

If they wanted to learn something, they could simply go to the Scripture Repository.

If the Scripture Repository didn’t have it, they could apply to access the Martial Pavilion.

Basically, any martial art currently recorded in the Jianghu could be found in the Martial Pavilion. Even martial arts not recorded might also be present.

If there was one place with the most abundant martial art reserves in the Jianghu, then the Demon Suppression Division deserved the top spot.

"We must have the Mystic Yang Scripture!"

The family head of a small faction looked excited.

The martial arts in his family could barely break through to the Innate Realm. They didn’t have a single martial art that pointed directly to the Innate Outer Gang.

He had joined the auction to acquire a martial art that could serve as the foundation of his clan.

As for the three Grandmaster martial arts, he didn’t even consider them.

Such martial arts were beyond the reach of a small faction like his.

Even if they managed to win the bid, they likely wouldn’t be able to keep it.

Therefore, this family head’s goal was clear from the start.

He wanted to bid on a clan-guarding martial art at the auction.

He didn’t ask for too much.

As long as it could reach the Innate Outer Gang Realm, that would be enough.

The Mystic Yang Scripture that had appeared was undoubtedly in line with his expectations.

In any case, the Mystic Yang Scripture was a fragment of a Grandmaster martial art. In terms of power, it was definitely much stronger than ordinary Innate martial arts.

If he could bid it down, it would be a great joy.

There were many others who thought similarly.

Some were from small factions, while others were rogue martial artists in the Jianghu.

They all had some strength, but lacked sufficient martial arts to pass down.

They had no chance of contending for Grandmaster martial arts, so the appearance of the Mystic Yang Scripture was a long-awaited hope.

"One hundred and fifty thousand taels!"

"I bid one hundred and sixty thousand taels!"

"One hundred and eighty thousand taels!"

"Two hundred thousand taels!"

The bidding price soared.

Unlike the Innate Pill, which might produce a few Inner Gang martial artists at most, and none if luck was bad, the thirty thousand taels was driven up by the competition.

In reality, a single Innate Pill wasn’t worth that much.

But the Mystic Yang Scripture was different. It was a martial art pointing directly to the Innate Outer Gang Realm. Once acquired, it offered the chance for the faction to produce an Innate Outer Gang martial artist.

That would be a steal.

Soon, the price rose to two hundred and thirty thousand taels, and there were still many people contending.

But at this price, each bidder became more cautious, no longer recklessly raising the price, but increasing it little by little.

Factions like the Returning Origin Sword Sect remained silent.

If the Mystic Yang Scripture were complete, they would have already joined the fray.

But a half-volume Mystic Yang Scripture wasn’t worth the effort.

These factions weren’t lacking martial arts for the Innate Outer Gang Realm.

As time passed, the final price of the Mystic Yang Scripture settled at two hundred and seventy thousand taels, and was won by someone not in a wing-room.

Seeing their beloved martial art fall into the hands of others, many beat their chests and sighed with regret.

However, two hundred and eighty thousand taels had clearly exceeded many people’s expectations.

After the auction of the Mystic Yang Scripture concluded, another maid came forward with a wooden box.

Warden No. 2 opened the wooden box. Inside was a banner about the size of two adult palms, seemingly shrouded in black fog, giving off an ominous aura.

In the wing-room, Shen Changqing’s right hand clenched into a fist as he saw the black banner. His calm eyes finally showed a flicker of emotion.

On the other side, Ji Qu’s expression also changed slightly.

Shen Changqing muttered, "Yin and evil aura!"

Below.

Warden No. 2 had already begun the introduction.

"This black banner contains two Grievance Rank monsters. We cannot say with certainty which level of the Grievance Rank they belong to. If someone knows how to control monsters, then obtaining the black banner is equivalent to having two Innate Realm fighters."

The scene fell silent, and many people’s expressions became serious.

Warden No. 2 remained calm, a smile always on his face.

"Black Banner, starting bid is fifty thousand taels of silver, with each bid no lower than one thousand taels of silver. Let the auction begin!"

"The black market really dares to sell anything!"

Shen Changqing’s eyes flickered slightly.

Auctioning monsters!

This was the first time he’d ever heard of such a thing.

He’d never imagined that someone would dare to auction monsters.

That black banner seemed similar to the banner held by the Barbarian Priest he had slain in Jincheng, but upon closer inspection, there were some differences.

Monsters!

For many, they were a taboo.

Ji Qu said in a deep voice, "Monsters have only appeared for a few hundred years, plaguing the world. Before the Demon Suppression Division was established, people in the Jianghu relied on themselves to resist monsters.

Some used martial arts to exterminate the evil, while others studied unorthodox methods, attempting to control monsters to fight monsters.

Although controlling monsters is very difficult, and there’s a risk of being backlashed by the monsters, some have succeeded.

But so far, the strength of the monsters that those people can control is not strong. Most are at the Nether Rank. Being able to reach the Grievance Rank is already considered a master among them."

After saying a lot in one breath, Ji Qu paused slightly, then continued, "The person who left the black banner must have been powerful in unorthodox methods. Whether they are dead or alive is hard to say. Although the Demon Suppression Division is committed to exterminating the evil,

its attitude towards the buying and selling of monsters is a tacit one behind the scenes, though prohibited on the surface."

It was because of the Demon Suppression Division’s tacit approval that someone dared to auction monsters in the black market.

After hearing the explanation, Shen Changqing was silent for a long time before participating in the bidding for the first time.

End of Chapter