Chapter 146: The Grand Auction Begins

Chapter 146: Chapter 146: The Grand Auction Begins

November 20th was the day of the grand auction held by the Shuoyue City branch of Mr. Hong’s Auction House. (After the Great Xia Kingdom was founded, the Capital City was renamed Shuoyue City.)

Although the auction had only been announced a mere ten days prior, most of the third-tier and higher Sects from the Eastern Domain had rushed to attend.

Early in the morning, the street where Mr. Hong’s Auction House was located was already bustling with a lively crowd.

Entry began at 7:30 AM.

However, admission to today’s auction could not be bought with Silver Coins. Entry was only granted with a receipt stamped with the Great Xia Kingdom’s Heirloom Seal of the Realm, which was issued after one had submitted a congratulatory memorial to the Empress before her ascension.

Furthermore, this receipt was non-transferable. The name of the Sect was written on it and would be verified upon entry. Each receipt only permitted three people into the venue.

If the holder’s identity did not match the one specified on the receipt, the receipt would be voided on the spot. The Sect named on the receipt would even be permanently blacklisted by Mr. Hong’s Auction House.

Chu Fan was also at the auction today. Of course, he wasn’t there in his true form. He had disguised himself as a Guard and was standing right beside the host’s stage.

As for Yun Xi, Chu Fan had her stay in their guest courtyard; he didn’t let her come watch the spectacle.

After all, Yun Keji and his wife were also in attendance. Chu Fan was worried that Yun Xi would become emotional if she saw them, which would not only upset her but also interfere with his plans.

This was not the time for a family reunion.

Standing by the host’s stage, Chu Fan watched as the thousands of seats gradually filled. ’It would be a lie to say I’m not proud of this.’

’I’m only human, after all. A little vanity is to be expected.’

Seeing the Cultivation Sects of the Eastern Domain go to such great lengths to rush to Shuoyue City, all at his command—even swallowing their pride to send congratulatory memorials to Jin Chuhong—how could he not feel a deep sense of satisfaction?

Three years ago, he had been hunted by members of these very Sects and forced into Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain. If not for that one Elixir, he would probably be a pile of dry bones in a tomb by now.

They say fortunes can reverse in thirty years. For him, Chu Fan, it had only taken three.

’In the entire Eastern Domain today, besides those few decrepit old guardian monsters from the Six Sects and Eight Gates and the Red Blood Mansion, who is a match for me?’

’And with the wealth and power I now possess, which Sect in the entire Eastern Domain can possibly compare?’

’As long as it isn’t an all-out war of annihilation, as long as those old monsters don’t intervene, I, Chu Fan, could crush and mold any one of these Sects with a single word. They’d be putty in my hands.’

He gazed at the people in the seats, some familiar and some not. All of them were being remarkably subdued.

The memory of Ying Xiao slaying the Sect Leader of the Mixed Element Sect and an Elder from the Wuji Sect in Nanling County that year was still deeply etched into their minds.

「9:00 AM」

With the sharp sound of a gong, the auction began.

The hall fell silent in an instant.

There were no VIP sections or private rooms for today’s auction. All attendees, regardless of their station or their Sect’s power, sat in ordinary seats.

Moreover, the seats weren’t chairs padded with soft furs, but simple long benches, each seating the trio of people admitted on a single receipt.

Yet even with these arrangements, no one uttered a single complaint. Instead, they eagerly urged the auction to begin.

The fact that Head Shopkeeper Liu Yicai was personally hosting made the event’s importance clear to everyone.

Throughout the entire Eastern Domain Cultivation Realm, some might not know the name of their own Sovereign, but there was absolutely no one who didn’t recognize Liu Yicai, the Head Shopkeeper of Mr. Hong’s Auction House.

He was average-looking, but he sported a belly like that of a woman five or six months pregnant. He perennially wore a twin-winged, feathered cap, had a small tuft of a beard on his round chin, and met everyone with a beaming smile.

As soon as Liu Yicai took the stage, he gave the audience a customary clasped-fist salute, his face fixed in its formulaic smile. "Welcome, everyone, to Mr. Hong’s Auction House!" he announced. "Over the years, our auction house has grown ever larger, with more and more branches, and it’s all thanks to your patronage. To express our gratitude, our great patron has instructed me to present every person here today with a thousand-year-old ginseng."

The moment Liu Yicai finished speaking, someone in the crowd shouted, "Our great patron is truly magnanimous!"

Many more, however, simply gasped in astonishment.

There were nearly two thousand people in attendance. A thousand-year-old ginseng for each person—how much would that cost?

At five thousand taels of silver per thousand-year-old ginseng, two thousand of them would be one hundred million taels of Silver!

And it wasn’t just about the money. To produce two thousand specimens of thousand-year-old ginseng at once—now *that* was a true show of immense resources!

An ordinary person would have a hard time finding even a single thousand-year-old ginseng, to say nothing of two thousand.

This welcoming gift alone deepened the mystery surrounding the great patron behind Mr. Hong’s Auction House.

"Shopkeeper Hong, why not let us meet your great patron and offer our thanks in person!" an old man from a second-tier Sect called out as he stood up.

"My apologies, Elder Mu. Our great patron prefers to remain unassuming. Today’s gift of thousand-year-old ginseng is also because you all witnessed the Empress’s ascension ceremony the other day. Our great patron once mentioned to me that across the lands of the Five Domains, only the Eastern and Western Domains are as disunited as scattered sand. In the event of a great upheaval in the world, our Eastern Domain would surely be the first to suffer, becoming a veritable Purgatory. The unification of the Eastern Domain is an unstoppable trend, a necessary step to save its people from the future risk of annihilation."

"Everyone here is a prominent figure in the Eastern Domain Cultivation Realm and a person of great insight. You all know of the Hua Xu Empire. Why can’t our Eastern Domain be like the Central Domain—culturally vibrant and martially powerful, with its people living in peace and the nation rich and strong?"

As Liu Yicai said this, many in the audience lowered their heads—not in shame, but in silent scorn.

But Liu Yicai paid them no mind. He had long since anticipated their inner thoughts. They were only here for the items up for auction.

Liu Yicai continued, "Every item up for auction today was brought to the Eastern Domain at considerable cost. We do this in the hope that our Eastern Domain’s Cultivation Realm can grow ever stronger. That is why we are not selfishly hoarding these treasures but are offering them to share with all of you."

"Just this morning, I received another command from our great patron. He had his people deliver over a dozen more items for today’s auction. And let me give you a hint: any single one of these new items is capable of significantly increasing a Sect’s power."

"But enough talk. Let us present the first item of today’s auction! The rules of Mr. Hong’s Auction House remain unchanged: the starting bid is one tael of Silver, bid increments are at your discretion, and there is no upper limit. As for anyone thinking of causing trouble... I’m sure you are all well aware of our auction house’s policy on the matter."

With a wave of Liu Yicai’s hand, a beautiful woman in a flowing white dress that gave her an ethereal, fairy-like aura appeared. Wearing white silk gloves, she carried a tray and first paraded it before the audience, finally making her way onto the host’s stage.

"This is Illusion Heart Grass. As you have all just seen, this particular specimen is purplish-red, making it a supreme-grade variant. Many of you already know its purpose, but allow me to elaborate. For most, this grass is of little use. However, for a cultivator whose Cultivation is stuck at the Soul Emergence Realm Peak bottleneck... if you grind this grass to a powder and burn it with Dragon’s Saliva Fragrance, an ordinary Illusion Heart Grass can increase your chances of a breakthrough by twenty to thirty percent. This specimen, we conservatively estimate, will increase those chances by a full sixty percent."