Auction

After parting ways with Jiang Yun.

It wasn't long before Lu Wanyuan arrived at a general store.

The shop specialized in selling everyday necessities and bedding, along with all sorts of odds and ends.

He had been staying in this market for over a year, and knew the shops near Chunfeng Road fairly well.

He had bought things here before, so he knew the way by heart. He found the place in no time.

"Shopkeeper, get me thirty sets of quilts and a hundred sets of toiletries!"

He hadn't even entered the shop before he shouted inside.

"Little Brother Lu, are you leading a group now? Why else would you need so many everyday supplies?"

An old man poked his head out from the back room, staring at him in surprise.

The old man was the shopkeeper, Cao Zhen.

"Not at all. A freelance cultivator like me could hardly lead a group. I can barely keep myself fed!"

"Some relatives are coming to stay for a few days. You know winter's almost here, so I figured I should stock up on daily necessities. I can't wait until I need them and then come bother you, Shopkeeper Cao."

"Come on, why all the explanations? I'm delighted you've brought me such a big order. Why would I care about all that?"

The old man gave him a scornful look and cut him off impatiently.

What a chatterbox. Why explain everything so thoroughly? I wasn't checking his family register. I was running a shop, and it didn't matter who he was.

The other man bought nearly all his household and daily supplies here. They had grown quite familiar, and the shopkeeper knew his personality well.

Then, as if struck by a thought, he asked, "With that many people, don't you need extra bowls and chopsticks and things like that?"

"Ah, Shopkeeper Cao is right. Add thirty sets of those, too."

"Now that's more like it. Wait here. I'll get someone to prepare everything for you!"

With that, the old man returned to the back room.

"Y-you're Lu Wanyuan?"

A delighted voice came from nearby.

Lu Wanyuan immediately turned toward it.

A tall, burly man stood by the shelves, staring at him in astonishment.

"You are?"

The man's face seemed a little familiar, but Lu Wanyuan couldn't recall his name.

He was sure they'd met before, which made it all the more strange that he couldn't remember!

"I'm Hu Yidao! From Shangsha Lane No. 77. I used to be your neighbor!"

Hu Yidao reminded him.

"Oh, right! Fellow Daoist Hu. I can't believe I ran into you here!"

"At first, I kept thinking I knew you because you looked familiar, but I couldn't remember where we'd met. Now that you've said it, I remember!"

Lu Wanyuan replied excitedly. Hu Yidao had been his first neighbor in Bayberry Market, after all.

Back then, he'd only just moved into the market and was under tremendous pressure, spending every day scrambling to earn Spirit Stones. So even though Hu Yidao lived next door, they hadn't kept in touch.

Still, they lived in the same neighborhood and occasionally ran into each other, exchanging a simple greeting.

But Lu Wanyuan had lived at Shangsha Lane No. 78 for only two months before moving away. They hadn't seen each other since.

He vaguely remembered that Hu Yidao was a hired hunter who often helped clients hunt Demonic Beasts or search for Spiritual Medicines and the like.

"Yeah, I didn't recognize you at first either. Your face seemed familiar, but if Shopkeeper Cao hadn't called you by name, I really wouldn't have known it was you. I can't believe you've struck it rich! You're buying so much stuff!"

Hu Yidao looked at Lu Wanyuan with envy. The man had once been his neighbor, and just as hard up as he was. Who'd have thought he'd be buying so many things today? He must have made a fortune. Otherwise, he wouldn't have moved somewhere new.

"I'm doing all right. What about you? Are you here for the same reason?"

Lu Wanyuan gave a vague answer, then changed the subject.

They weren't close enough for him to explain everything.

"Me? The auction's starting soon, so I came to do a little business with Shopkeeper Cao and earn some Spirit Stones. Then I can go see the auction and broaden my horizons!"

Hu Yidao didn't go into detail either, and changed the subject in turn. He and Lu Wanyuan had barely been more than acquaintances. Of course he wasn't going to tell him everything about himself.

"An auction? How come I haven't heard about it?"

Lu Wanyuan asked, his face full of surprise.

"I can't believe you really haven't heard. But I suppose that's typical of you."

"You hardly ever leave your home. Either that, or you're out working. You're always nowhere to be found, so it's only natural you haven't heard about the auction."

Hu Yidao smiled as he spoke.

"Could you tell me a little about the auction?"

"That's easy. This place is in the middle of nowhere, and cultivation resources are scarce."

"A lot of people are stuck at a bottleneck and can't break through. The auction offers them a glimmer of hope. But it only happens once every ten years, so the competition is all the fiercer."

"Lots of resources that can aid cultivators in their cultivation show up at the auction, like pills and Spiritual Medicines. They're brought in from other places."

"If the business is so good, why don't more people go elsewhere and bring back the cultivation resources everyone needs?"

Lu Wanyuan asked, puzzled.

"Lots of people thought of that ages ago. The problem is, hardly anyone can pull it off."

"First, the journey is far too long, and the surrounding area is crawling with Demonic Beasts. Robber Cultivators sometimes show up, too. The risks are simply too high."

"Without formidable strength, there's no way to make it across such a vast distance, let alone deal with all the hardships along the way."

"And then there are those who leave and discover the world outside is much bigger. They simply never come back."

"Who'd want to return to a godforsaken place like this? If I could leave, I wouldn't come back either. With conditions like these, wouldn't anywhere else be better?"

Hu Yidao wore a helpless expression.

There was nothing he could do. For a freelance cultivator like him, managing to become a hired hunter was already an achievement.

At least he could still scrape by in the market. Plenty of freelance cultivators living outside the market didn't even know when they'd become cannon fodder.

Still, he no longer had any great ambitions. He only wanted to live peacefully in the market, and that was what weighed on him.

Hearing this, Lu Wanyuan suddenly understood. Only now did he see why Chu Tianxing had sold him the residence so cheaply. The Chu Family was doing much better elsewhere; there was no reason for them to return to this impoverished place.

"Oh? So you're here to get Spirit Stones ready. What are you planning to bid on at the auction?"

"Bid? Are you kidding? I'm just trying to scrape together the admission fee!"

"How could I afford to bid on anything? The items at the auction start at a hundred Spirit Stones. You know where I live; my rent is ten Spirit Stones a month."

Hu Yidao said awkwardly.

At that, Lu Wanyuan understood. Hu Yidao was right: if the starting price was a hundred Spirit Stones, how could ordinary people afford it? You'd need at least a thousand Spirit Stones to win a bid.

A freelance cultivator like Hu Yidao could probably only go and look.

Fortunately, Lu Wanyuan had Entries and had exchanged them for quite a few Spirit Stones. Without that, how would he have dared to buy the Artifact Refining Workshop all at once, then go to the Tooth Agency and buy so many servants?

Adding the income from over a year of Yellow Barley Malt, he now had ten thousand Spirit Stones in his Storage Ring, plus a hundred or so in his Storage Bag.

"If it's an auction, why are they charging admission? Wouldn't they want as many cultivators as possible to attend?"

"The venue only has so much room. Besides, if they let absolutely everyone in, all sorts of riffraff would show up and keep the people who actually need to be there from getting in. Then what?"

"So the auction tickets filter out some people and select those who are genuinely interested. It also boosts their earnings. Why wouldn't they do it?"

"Oh, then how much is admission?"

"Fifteen Spirit Stones!"

"That's almost a month and a half of rent! If it's that expensive, why even go? Wouldn't it be better to put that money toward rent?"

"Fellow Daoist Lu, you're looking at it the wrong way! You know what I do. I want to attend the auction to broaden my horizons."

"I'm usually out in the wild working, and I might come across all sorts of strange things. Some of them could be treasures, and I might not even recognize them. That would be a disaster!"

"So at the auction, I can see all kinds of valuable things, like Spiritual Medicines, ores, Spirit Beasts, and so on."

"Maybe one day I'll get lucky and stumble across something valuable. It might even turn my whole life around!"

As he spoke, Hu Yidao looked rather pleased with himself.

"Oh, I see. That makes sense. You're right, Fellow Daoist Hu. It does sound worth going in to take a look!"

"Fellow Daoist Hu, when does the auction start, and where is it?"

"It's at Central Plaza in the market. It starts in an hour and lasts all afternoon. How about we go together and broaden our horizons?"