Treasure Forest's venue had already been decorated in lavish splendor.
Its circular dome and square ceiling were adorned with clusters of carved flowers, while golden crystal chandeliers hung down like waterfalls. Layer upon layer of intricate formation patterns were carved into the beams, which looked as if they had been cast from pure gold and crisscrossed the ceiling. The hall soared several stories high; looking up, it was grand and imposing.
At the front stood the auction stage. Below it, two hundred or so circular seats were enclosed by low wooden partitions. The partitions curved gently, and their height was just right: from the side, guests couldn't see one another between seats, but each seat had a clear view of the stage.
On the second floor, dozens of private rooms lined the side nearest the audience, while the side closer to the stage held a room for temporarily storing the treasures.
Yue Wen wore the familiar Treasure Forest mask and sat among the bidders. Most of the people around him, dressed in suits, wore masks like his; only a few showed their faces. Zhao Xing'er sat in the audience below, mainly there to enjoy the spectacle.
A seat on the first floor cost five thousand. Buyers could bid in person, or Treasure Forest could provide a masked proxy. Buyers could direct their proxies from behind the scenes, and hiring one cost five thousand as well.
As for the private rooms overhead, those cost a hundred thousand each—and only for the few hours of the auction. They were so much more expensive than the first-floor seats that it was practically highway robbery.
Yet the rooms were fully booked, and many prominent local cultivators couldn't get one even if they wanted to. Most of them had been claimed directly by Treasure Forest's