Hua Yun Pavilion's Invitation

"Excuse me, are you Young Master Long Chen?"

Suddenly, a middle-aged man with a thin, refined face bowed to Long Chen.

"I am."

Long Chen was startled; he didn't recognize this person at all.

"Excellent! I am here under the Pavilion Master's orders to deliver an invitation to you," the middle-aged man said joyfully.

"Young Master, it's like this. You might not know me, but I am a Steward from Hua Yun Pavilion, and I've come specifically to invite you to our annual auction."

Long Chen finally understood. So, this was a sales pitch. A mere errand boy trying to drum up business.

Long Chen was very familiar with Hua Yun Pavilion. It was the most famous auction house in the Phoenix Cry Empire, a colossal entity.

While it couldn't compare to the Alchemist Guild, its strength was undeniable. Furthermore, they were close partners with the Adventurer Guild.

The Adventurer Guild was an alliance formed by countless adventurers. Though it was a loose coalition, its numbers were vast.

These adventurers spent their lives traversing the Great Wilderness. While it was a dangerous profession, the rewards were incredibly generous.

They could discover all sorts of strange herbs, magic beast cores, and if they were exceptionally lucky, even ancient inheritances.

Adventurers were very willing to cooperate with Hua Yun Pavilion. As their closest partners, Hua Yun Pavilion would purchase their goods at fair prices and provide them with maximum security.

Adventurers didn't have to risk dealing with others themselves, as robbery and murder were all too common. Sometimes, the cities were even more terrifying than the Great Wilderness.

Therefore, Hua Yun Pavilion's annual auction attracted countless buyers. Because it gathered the rare treasures of an entire year, they would select the most precious batch to be auctioned.

Almost every auction resulted in sky-high prices that made the auctioneers grin from ear to ear, leading to the steady expansion of their auction house.

In the last two years, the auction's caliber had risen significantly, even implementing a membership system. Without an invitation, entry was impossible.

Those who received invitations were all individuals of extremely noble status. A youth like Long Chen was the first of his kind.

"Brother Long, this is a good thing! But it seems if you don't have enough money, going would be pointless," Monkey said.

The items auctioned at Hua Yun Pavilion were the cream of the crop, almost none of which wouldn't make others' eyes water with envy.

Coupled with the auctioneer's superb skills in captivating and teasing the audience, the prices would skyrocket. Without money, one could only watch helplessly.

"Do you have a list of auction items?" Long Chen asked.

"We only have a list of the bottom ten items, you can take a look," the middle-aged man said apologetically.

After all, to maintain an air of mystery for the annual auction, valuable items were not revealed beforehand.

Long Chen took the list and his eyes narrowed when he saw "Melting Star Grass." It was over a thousand years old.

Ordinary Melting Star Grass was typically between ten years and a century old. Those over a century were rare, and those over a millennium could be called treasures.

To have such an item ranked at the bottom made Long Chen's heart flutter.

Seeing Long Chen's shock, the middle-aged man's face showed a hint of pride. "Young Master Long Chen, you are a Pill Master. If you have any rare pills, you can entrust them to us.

If the quality and rarity meet our requirements, we can consider including them in the auction. However, we will charge a fifty percent commission."

Fifty percent? Long Chen chuckled. That was indeed ruthless, incredibly ruthless. Half of it would go to them. Could they be any greedier?

As if reading Long Chen's mind, the middle-aged man smiled. "As long as your items are good enough, with our packaging and promotion, plus the embellishments of our chief auctioneer, the price surge will be... hehe... beyond your imagination."

Hearing the man's words, Long Chen felt much better. At the same time, he couldn't help but admire the salesman's skill; his words were truly praiseworthy.

Long Chen didn't know that these stewards also had a difficult job. Before each annual auction, they were allocated three spots.

They had to make the most of these three spots to live a life of luxury and comfort; their prospects depended on them.

Whether the people they invited bought or auctioned items, they would receive a certain commission.

The more the invited individuals bought or sold, the more generous their commission would be, so they were very cautious in selecting people.

However, after so many years, the desirable candidates had long been chosen. Now, they were essentially picking up scraps.

The middle-aged man, being very shrewd, had rushed over as soon as he received his quota to invite Long Chen, fearing someone else would snatch him up.

After all, Long Chen was currently the most talked-about figure among the younger generation in the imperial capital. He was definitely a potentially valuable catch.

"This is my nameplate, please take a look, Young Master," he said, handing Long Chen a small card.

"Fugui?"

Long Chen couldn't help but smile.

"Hehe, I come from a poor background. My parents hoped I would be rich and noble, so they gave me this name. Please forgive my forwardness, Young Master," the middle-aged man said with a slight, embarrassed smile.

His explanation made Long Chen feel a bit awkward. He nodded and said, "I'm very interested in the auction, and I do have something I'd like to auction through you. What's the procedure?"

Fugui's eyes lit up. "If you have a treasure, you can bring it directly to Hua Yun Pavilion, or we can come to pick it up."

Long Chen nodded. There was still nearly a month before the auction began; there was plenty of time. After arranging a time with Fugui, Long Chen and the others left the restaurant.

"Long Chen, the Phoenix Cry Lantern Festival is in seven days. You absolutely must come!" Shi Feng said with anticipation.

The Phoenix Cry Lantern Festival was the biggest festival in the Phoenix Cry Empire. All unmarried men and women in the imperial capital participated, making it incredibly lively and the most anticipated festival for all young men and women.

Especially the unmarried men, who waited like rutting bulls, hoping to catch the attention of a beautiful woman at the festival.

And the women hoped to find a suitable husband at the festival. The Phoenix Cry Empire had a strong martial tradition.

However, the boundaries between men and women are quite strict. But only on the day of the Phoenix Cry Lantern Festival are there no taboos, allowing people to go out freely and revel with men.

So, many men and women were preparing early, hoping to stand out on the Lantern Festival.

The most exciting part was the competition for the title of First Warrior. There was a fighting stage at the lantern fair, where anyone with cultivation and under twenty years old could ascend to fight.

That title of First Warrior was the main event. Once you obtained it, it was impossible to keep a low profile. Countless beautiful women would shower you with flower garlands, enough to bury you alive. Just thinking about it made one's blood boil.

Seeing that even the usually calm Shi Feng was so enthusiastic, and then looking at Fatty Yu and the others, it was clear these guys were like they'd been injected with chicken blood, their eyes practically glowing.

"Brother Long, you absolutely have to go. If you don't go, we don't want to either," Fatty Yu pleaded.

"Then let's all not go and find a place to drink," Long Chen said with a smile.

"No, Grandpa Long, we've been looking forward to this for a whole year!" Fatty Yu and the others immediately put on mournful faces, rolling on the ground and clinging to Long Chen's legs, refusing to let go.

"Long Chen, if you don't go, it'll be too boring. Right now, in the entire imperial capital, among the younger generation, your cheers are the loudest. You're considered the number one person. If you don't go, you'll disappoint countless people," Shi Feng persuaded.

"Huh? When did I become so famous?" Long Chen was taken aback.

"You don't know yet? Even children know now: 'Dual mastery of alchemy and martial arts shakes the heavens, on Gathering Heroes Tower, he angers the gods. Phoenix Cry spreads its wings, soaring through the clouds, looking down from the nine heavens, it's Long Chen.'" Shi Feng looked at Long Chen as if he were a monster.

"..."

What's going on? I didn't know about this? They even made a doggerel poem about me. Long Chen was stunned.

"Alright, Long Chen, all the brothers are counting on following you to gain some glory. You have to go no matter what."

Shi Feng was different from the others. He had always been a brother to Long Chen, so he didn't need to be so reserved when speaking.

"Fine, I'll go," Long Chen said with a wry smile. He had originally wanted to cultivate for a few more days, but it was delayed again.

Fatty Yu and the others cheered upon hearing this, as if they could already see countless beautiful women's gazes coming their way.

After parting ways with everyone, Long Chen hurried home, not even stopping for dinner. Too much time had been wasted, and he needed to seize the moment to improve his cultivation.

Now that the Wind Mansion Star had been condensed, it was equivalent to having his first Dantian. What he needed was to quickly condense Qi whirlpools.

Currently, there were only three Qi whirlpools in his Dantian. He needed to continue condensing more, but there were only records of condensing nine stars, with no information on how to cultivate.

The last time the Wind Mansion Star was successfully condensed, three Qi whirlpools appeared at once, which even Long Chen himself was confused about.

This time, Long Chen circulated his Dantian and found that the three Qi whirlpools were spinning, continuously supplying him with energy. This was a combat state, not a cultivation state.

He injected the Spiritual Energy stored in the Wind Mansion Star into the Qi whirlpools. The whirlpools instantly expanded tenfold, and Long Chen's aura became violent, but it was still a combat state, not a cultivation state.

Long Chen took a deep breath, hesitated for a moment, and then slowly circulated the Qi whirlpools, absorbing the Spiritual Energy from the outside world.

However, this time Long Chen did not send the absorbed Spiritual Energy into his body. Instead, he condensed it and injected it into the Wind Mansion Star.

As Long Chen absorbed the Spiritual Energy and injected it into the Wind Mansion Star, the Wind Mansion Star began to rotate rapidly.

"There's hope."

Long Chen's heart leaped with joy. Although he didn't know what would happen, this was definitely not a combat state.

He continued to absorb diligently. As the Spiritual Energy was continuously injected, the Wind Mansion Star became brighter and brighter, eventually shining like the scorching sun.

"Boom!"

Suddenly, the Wind Mansion Star trembled. The Wind Mansion Star, which had been as bright as the sun, dimmed instantly. At the same time, a Qi whirlpool appeared in Long Chen's Dantian.

"Haha, I've finally figured out the cultivation path!"

Long Chen was overjoyed. With the birth of the fourth Qi whirlpool, he found that his Meridians had been expanded, and his strength surged.

"Good, keep working hard."

Long Chen slowly closed his eyes and began to push towards Qi Gathering Fifth Heaven.