After someone had set their sights on him last time, Qin Hao had learned his lesson.
He first put on a disguise, then entered the cultivation technique market.
Qin Hao didn't set up a stall to sell his techniques directly this time, either. Instead, he went around asking at cultivation technique shops to see if any were willing to buy them.
He asked at several shops in a row, but they were all trying to rip him off, offering only 200,000 per control-type technique.
"Such good techniques, and they only offer 200,000 each? They really don't know treasure when they see it!"
After grumbling to himself, Qin Hao headed for the largest shop in the cultivation technique market.
The shop was called the Many Treasures Pavilion, the largest martial artist shop in all of Jiangnan City.
Everything it sold was meant for martial artists: cultivation techniques, weapons, spirit ores, spirit herbs, and even spirit fruits and spirit liquids.
The vast majority of these cultivation resources came from the Otherworld, brought back by martial artists.
Before this, Qin Hao hadn't even dared entertain the idea of selling his techniques at the Many Treasures Pavilion.
After all, the Many Treasures Pavilion didn't sell things outright; it auctioned them, and only auctioned premium items.
Although the techniques he had created were control-type techniques, their grades were too low. They were only E-grade.
But he had gone around asking all the merchants in the cultivation technique market, and they had only offered to buy them for 200,000 each.
So Qin Hao decided to see whether the Many Treasures Pavilion would take them.
When Qin Hao reached the entrance to the Many Treasures Pavilion, the two martial artist security guards at the door immediately stopped him.
"Sir, please show us your membership card!"
Qin Hao came from an ordinary family, so he naturally didn't know much about high-end establishments like this.
"Ahem, well, I don't have a membership card yet. How do I get one?"
"Sir, to obtain a membership card and enter, you must have at least 10 million in funds, or have a treasure you wish to auction. The treasure must be a premium item, though, or you won't be able to get a card!"
Qin Hao asked cautiously, "I have seven control-type cultivation techniques I want to auction, but they're only E-grade. Can they be sold?"
"Sir, please come with me. I'll take you to the appraisal room and have the appraiser see whether they meet the requirements for premium items!"
And so, looking rather self-conscious, Qin Hao followed the guard into a room.
A middle-aged man was sitting inside, examining a saber, while its owner waited anxiously.
After about ten minutes, the middle-aged man finally said, "Hmm, your saber looks ordinary, but it does contain a tiny trace of the power of time. It counts as a rarity. We'll set the starting bid at 10 million!"
Hearing this, the saber's owner was overjoyed and followed a waitress in a qipao out of the room.
The middle-aged man then looked at Qin Hao and said, "Sir, have you brought some treasure?"
Qin Hao took a seat and said, "Well, I brought a few cultivation techniques. They're all control-type techniques, but they're only E-grade."
Qin Hao spoke carefully, afraid that the techniques' grades were too low and the Many Treasures Pavilion would look down on them.
Then Qin Hao took out the seven cultivation techniques and placed them on the table.
The middle-aged man picked up a Lightning-Type cultivation technique and said, "There's even a Lightning-Type control technique!"
Clearly, of the seven, only the Lightning-Type technique had caught his eye.
He opened it and looked over the technique's description.
[Heavenly Thunder Strike]
[Type: Group control + attack combination]
[Grade: E-grade]
[Function: Heavenly lightning strikes enemies, stunning them. The stun effect is directly proportional to the user's strength and inversely proportional to the enemy's strength. It also inflicts damage over time. (Note: Only suitable for those with a Chaos Dao Body and those who have awakened a Lightning-Type Ability.)]
Of course, this was the technique description Qin Hao saw on the system. The middle-aged man's version didn't include the words "only suitable for those with a Chaos Dao Body and those who have awakened a Lightning-Type Ability."
"Hmm! Not bad. This technique of yours is very good. Although its grade is a little low, its function is very distinctive, and it's a combination of group control and attack. We can set the starting bid at 500,000!"
Qin Hao hadn't expected the Lightning-Type technique, which he thought had the least hope of being chosen, to be the one that caught the man's eye.
"As for your other techniques, although they're all control-type techniques, they're very common. So we can only buy them at the market price, 200,000 each. What do you think?"
Qin Hao nodded without even thinking. "No problem!"
"Very good. You're very straightforward, young man. My name is Dugu Ye. Here's my card. If you have anything good you want to sell in the future, feel free to come to me."
And so, Qin Hao received Dugu Ye's business card and obtained an ordinary membership card.
He then followed the waitress in the qipao to the auction venue and sat down to wait quietly for the auction to begin.
As it happened, an auction was being held that very day, starting in one hour.
Qin Hao really wanted to put his Time-Type cultivation technique, the Time-Speed Art, up for auction. After all, he had nearly finished cultivating it himself.
But he was afraid someone would set their sights on him, so he gave up on the idea.
Qin Hao looked at the membership card in his hand and saw that it was actually made from spirit ore brought back from the Otherworld.
On this visit, Qin Hao had also gained a basic understanding of how the Many Treasures Pavilion operated.
It held auctions, almost once every week.
Not only that, but only people with membership cards were allowed to attend.
The membership cards were divided into Silver Membership Cards, Gold Membership Cards, Platinum Membership Cards, Diamond Membership Cards, and Supreme Membership Cards.
Each level came with different services and treatment.
His was a Silver Membership Card, which let him attend auctions but only sit in the back rows.
As for the other membership cards, they should offer more and better privileges.
As the auction drew near, more and more people entered the venue, and it soon filled up.
Many people who arrived later couldn't find seats and had to stand.
Some people, however, went straight to the front rows as soon as they arrived, and some even went to the private rooms on the second floor.
The venue was very large, with ten private rooms on the second floor.
Just then, a beautiful woman in a red qipao stepped onto the auction stage.
She was about 1.7 meters tall, with fair skin and a pair of long, straight legs that appeared and disappeared beneath the qipao's high slits.
She had delicate features and a red tear mole beneath her left eye. Her ample peaks strained the buttons across her chest.
As soon as the beauty appeared, almost none of the men in the audience could take their eyes off her.
"Everyone, our auction is about to begin. Are you ready?"
Qin Hao noticed that the beauty not only had a lovely face, but also a voice that made one's bones go soft.
At her question, the passion of almost everyone present was ignited, and they shouted, "We're ready!"
"Good, then let's skip the small talk. Our first auction item is a suit of soft armor, a rather rare treasure. Our tests showed that this soft armor is extremely tough—not even an A-grade weapon can leave a mark on it—and it's also very flexible..."