Golden Jade Pavilion Auction

In the early morning, a faint white mist enveloped Lingyue City. White cranes and long-tailed vermilion birds, used by some sects to relay messages, occasionally flew across the sky above the city, giving the entire Lingyue City a touch of ethereal, immortal realm feeling.

Inside Wei Suo's small stone house in the west of the city, as Wei Suo formed a hand seal, ten lightning bolts, as thick as a thumb and shaped like snakes, suddenly flashed before him. Crackling, they intertwined, forming a pointed shuttle about two feet long.

With a wave of his right hand, Wei Suo sent the lightning shuttle striking the ground near a corner of the wall. With a loud bang and a burst of dazzling electric sparks, a meter-square indentation appeared in the hard stone floor.

"Heh heh," Wei Suo chuckled, a look of great satisfaction appearing on his face. He then stuffed two bulging black leather bags into his bosom and headed out the door towards the Golden Jade Pavilion in the south of the city.

Today was the day of the auction. If the mid-grade Cold Jade sold well, Wei Suo would have a good income. Over the past three days, Wei Suo had been cultivating the Golden Snake Lightning Art and had finally mastered the second level, the Golden Snake Thunder Shuttle. Since the jade token that granted free entry to the auction was kept by Nangong Yuqing, Wei Suo was going to meet her outside the auction venue as agreed.

The official auction venue was the Lingxiao Workshop next to the Golden Jade Pavilion. It was a dedicated building used for auctions by over a dozen large businesses around the Golden Jade Pavilion. Its exterior walls were entirely built from white giant stones, carved with exquisite cloud patterns. Four upturned eaves slanted upwards, making the entire building look as if it were about to soar into the sky.

When Wei Suo arrived at the Lingxiao Workshop, there was still nearly half an hour before the auction officially began. However, the wide street outside the Lingxiao Workshop and the surrounding shops were already densely packed with people. Wei Suo used his Qi Gazing Technique to survey the area and saw at least seven or eight powerful individuals, each at or above the Circulation Realm First Level, whose auras appeared like surging torrents of water when viewed with the technique.

In fact, many of the cultivators gathered outside the Lingxiao Workshop were not there to buy things at the auction, but were using the crowded area as a free trading market, hawking their wares.

"Damn it! Your Black Wind Sable drawing is terrible!"

Wei Suo had only waited for a short while near the entrance of the Golden Jade Pavilion when at least five or six people came up to try and sell him something. What made him want to laugh and cry at the same time was that one of them was trying to sell him an ordinary white sable with black stripes drawn on it.

"Why hasn't this beauty arrived yet? Could she have stood me up?"

After waiting a bit longer, Wei Suo couldn't help but mutter to himself.

"Wei Suo," just then, Wei Suo heard a sweet voice call his name from behind.

"Nangong Yuqing? Damn it!" Wei Suo turned his head and saw Nangong Yuqing smiling at him from not far behind. With just one glance, Wei Suo was almost stunned speechless.

Today, Nangong Yuqing was not wearing her usual red tight-fitting soft armor. Instead, she was wearing a white magic robe. Beneath the elegant and simple white robe, Nangong Yuqing's chest rose high like distant, barren snow mountains. The robe was of the most popular style among female cultivators on the Tianxuan Continent. The front of the robe was slightly open, revealing a glimpse of a snowy white cleavage. A round pendant from a green gemstone necklace hung precisely in the middle of this cleavage, making her skin appear even more crystal clear and fair. The robe was cinched at the waist, creating an exceptionally perfect curve from the waist down. The robe reached the ground, trailing behind her like a long fish tail. If the Nangong Yuqing in the red tight-fitting soft armor was a stunningly beautiful warrior, then the current Nangong Yuqing was like a mermaid emerging from a painting.

It wasn't just Wei Suo; many cultivators around them were staring blankly, wishing they could become the green gemstone necklace worn by Nangong Yuqing.

Nangong Yuqing's face flushed slightly at Wei Suo's dazed gaze, but a hint of surprise also appeared in her eyes. Wei Suo had shaved off all his burnt hair, and by the looks of it, he had shaved his head completely, with only about an inch of stubble now. However, without that messy, straw-like hair, Wei Suo did indeed look somewhat refined and handsome now.

"What, you don't recognize me?" Seeing Wei Suo looking a bit stunned, Nangong Yuqing reached up to tuck her hair, an action that made her appear even more feminine and attracted another crowd of admiring glances.

"I wonder who this beauty is." Many young cultivators with considerable cultivation bases around them were stirring restlessly, with several even preparing to approach and strike up a conversation. "No way?" But to their utter astonishment, they saw this alluring beauty, who seemed to have an extraordinary background, actually walk up and start talking to a low-level rogue cultivator who looked like he wasn't doing too well, as if they were old acquaintances.

"This... the change is quite significant, I couldn't quite recognize you at first," Wei Suo chuckled sheepishly. The envious glances from those around him made him feel incredibly pleased. After all, even if some cultivators had higher cultivation, they didn't have such a beauty by their side.

"You've changed a lot too. Your hair isn't as... unique anymore," Nangong Yuqing said, tugging at the corner of her robe and smiling. "By the way, have you seen the siblings Ye Xiaozheng and Ye Guowei?"

"No," Wei Suo shook his head. "They said last time that they might not be able to make it. If they haven't arrived by now, they probably won't make it."

"If that's the case, why don't we go inside first? At least there'll be a quiet place to talk," Nangong Yuqing smiled at Wei Suo and said, "I have a few things I want to discuss with you privately."

"Privately with me?" Wei Suo looked at Nangong Yuqing, finding her smile somewhat ambiguous, and immediately began to fantasize in his mind, "Could it be that this beauty fell in love with me at first sight and wants to pledge herself to me or something?"

"Let's go," seeing that Wei Suo didn't object, Nangong Yuqing gave him a slight smile. The morning sun shone on her coiled long hair, casting a faint golden glow. A unique scent of youth made Wei Suo feel a tingling sensation.

"Nangong Yuqing," but just then, a loud voice called out.

Wei Suo turned his head in the direction of the voice and saw a young, handsome man with a smile approaching Nangong Yuqing and himself.

This young, handsome man appeared to be around the same age as Wei Suo. His hair was tied back with a golden ring, and he was wearing a flax-colored magic robe. The flax-colored robe was adorned with several light cyan crystal stones embroidered with gold thread. This elegant and distinctive robe made the handsome man with sharp eyebrows and bright eyes appear exceptionally distinguished.

Moreover, judging by the faint wind-elemental magical energy fluctuations emanating from the light cyan crystal stones and the patterns formed by the robe's runes, the crystal stones adorning the robe were not just for aesthetics but likely served a special purpose.

"A cultivator at the Divine Ability Realm Fifth Level!"

Wei Suo calmly used his Qi Gazing Technique. He saw that the handsome man faintly emitted five Divine Sea lights, and the lights of the five Divine Seas were very vigorous. It was clear that the cultivation technique he practiced was not comparable to Wei Suo's low-level Purple Profound True Art. It was evident that this fellow had some background.

However, what made Wei Suo feel extremely displeased from the first moment was that as this seemingly polite fellow walked towards him and Nangong Yuqing, he barely glanced at Wei Suo, his gaze fixed entirely on Nangong Yuqing.

(Some fellow readers in the group previously asked me to promise that if even one student reached the top scholar status, I would add ten thousand words to my normal daily updates. I agreed, and now I'm in trouble... Because this book of mine was vowed to be updated faster than Luofu, and a day's update is already very demanding and requires me to go all out. However, several students have reached the scholar status or higher, and now Sweetie and the group have calculated that I owe them a hundred thousand words... There's no other way but to owe them and repay them slowly. This chapter is to repay the debt for the first person who reached the scholar status, "Fading Gaze." I will repay the next one after I've cleared the debt for one. Also, regarding the chapters tonight, I forgot to mention that besides the books that couldn't be delivered by express, I plan to send them via EMS tomorrow. The gifts from the previous YY event and some old book friends I specifically contacted have all been sent out. I was busy all day today. Because the New Year is approaching, I contacted several express delivery companies and finally chose Shunfeng Express, which is the most reliable and delivers to the most cities in our area. Sweetie made many phone calls to urge the delivery, and they were all sent out one by one. The items are not valuable, they are mostly Luofu's mouse pads and T-shirts, and some greeting cards might not even be worth the shipping cost, but these twenty-odd items are all my heartfelt gifts. I signed them all personally, and I also wrote thoughtful messages on the greeting cards, making them somewhat commemorative. Heh heh, but if I become particularly famous one day, maybe they'll be worth something. The remaining gifts are still being tallied by Sweetie, Uncle Ka, Yueyue, Jazz is too poisonous, Kewen, Tangtang, and other friends. Courier companies are probably not accepting packages anymore, so I'll send out as many as I can. If it's really not possible, I'll send them out as soon as possible after the New Year. Thank you all for your support, and I hope some of my silent supporters will also show themselves more often. Although these are some activities, I actually remember those who frequently appear and support me, and I will try to contact them and give them my blessings when I have time. Also, I will continue to erupt tomorrow, so please give me more red tickets and collections!)