Flowers in Bloom

"Eighteen hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones!"

"Two thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones!"

The bidding for the Treasure Pouch, flashing with mouthwatering yellow light, was fierce.

A slightly plump cultivator in a green robe and a cultivator in a VIP room opposite Li Honglin also kept raising their bids. The Treasure Pouch, which had started at nine hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones, had actually climbed all the way to two thousand.

"This guy can still keep bidding. Looks like he really does have quite a bit of wealth. But those other two don't seem to be short on Spirit Stones either." Seeing what looked like sweat on Li Honglin's forehead, Wei Suo secretly winked at Nangong Yuqing again.

"Who's your little sister Nangong Yuqing?" Nangong Yuqing said by Wei Suo's ear, both annoyed and amused. "You sure called me that smoothly just now, didn't you?"

The sight of Nangong Yuqing leaning close to speak into Wei Suo's ear fell into Li Honglin's eyes again. Li Honglin immediately gritted his teeth hard. "Two thousand three hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones!"

"That's the young palace master of Golden Vulture Palace. No wonder he's so rich and overbearing."

"Look at him. He spends so many Spirit Stones on a Treasure Pouch without even blinking. What style! You deadbeat, you can't even come up with a thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones." As soon as Li Honglin called out that price, the entire auction hall erupted. One fairly pretty female cultivator complained bitterly to the male cultivator beside her, who appeared to be her lover.

After Li Honglin named that price, the other two competitors did not bid again and withdrew from the contest. Shopkeeper Tian of Golden Jade Pavilion happily waved his hand, and the richly dressed youth carrying the tray with the Treasure Pouch quickly crossed the hall amid countless envious gazes and entered Li Honglin's VIP room.

"Young Palace Master Li, this is the Treasure Pouch you won."

The richly dressed youth from Golden Jade Pavilion politely presented the tray before Li Honglin.

Up close, the Treasure Pouch was exceptionally beautiful. Its opening was tied with a golden ribbon patterned like rice ears, and apart from the faintly visible runes, the pouch was decorated with strange treasure-flower patterns bearing precious pearls.

"This... according to your rules, if one doesn't have enough Spirit Stones, one can use items of equivalent value instead, correct?" Li Honglin asked the richly dressed youth.

The youth was slightly taken aback, but immediately answered professionally, "This... if the item's value can be confirmed, there should be no problem."

"These are two hundred Mid-grade Spirit Stones. Count them." Li Honglin's eyelid twitched as he handed the youth a leather pouch containing Spirit Stones. Then he took out a snow-white insect egg the size of a pigeon's egg, radiating a dense chill. "This is an egg from a level-four high-grade Frost Flying Centipede. It can be tamed after hatching and should be worth at least three hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones."

"If it truly is a Frost Flying Centipede egg, then there should be no issue." After counting the Spirit Stones and accepting the egg, the richly dressed youth remained polite. Having said that, he turned to leave.

"Wait!" The instant the youth turned around, an expression of extreme pain flashed over Li Honglin's face. He called the youth back. "I simply didn't bring enough Spirit Stones today, so I had no choice but to take out this Frost Flying Centipede egg. Could you tell Shopkeeper Tian not to sell this egg for the time being? Within a few days at most, I'll bring Spirit Stones back to redeem it."

The richly dressed youth nodded. "For anyone else, Golden Jade Pavilion would not make such an exception. But Young Palace Master Li is a regular customer with an excellent reputation. I'll report it to Shopkeeper Tian. There should be no problem."

"Then many thanks." At last, a trace of a smile appeared on Li Honglin's face, and he recovered his usual composure. He haughtily pointed at the Golden Silk Talisman Brush and the Treasure Pouch on the tray. "Help me send these two items to that VIP room and give them to Nangong Yuqing. Tell her they are gifts from me."

After the richly dressed youth nodded knowingly and left, Li Honglin could not help muttering, "What does Nangong Yuqing want with a Golden Silk Talisman Brush? Could it be that she wants to learn talisman crafting from one of Tie Ce's talisman masters?"

"Holy shit, no way?"

In Wei Suo's VIP room, Wei Suo stared blankly at the two items delivered by the richly dressed youth.

"Brother Li Honglin really is generous!"

Wei Suo immediately burst with delight. He had never expected that besides a Treasure Pouch, Li Honglin had even sent over the Golden Silk Talisman Brush Wei Suo had wanted.

The richly dressed youth looked at Wei Suo sympathetically. Poor fellow, Nangong Yuqing probably would never follow him in the future. But just then, Wei Suo suddenly looked up and asked, "By the way, let me ask you something. When Li Honglin paid just now, about how many Spirit Stones did he have left on him?"

"I don't know that." Unable to deceive a customer and out of sympathy for Wei Suo, the richly dressed youth answered honestly, "He shouldn't have had many Spirit Stones left. He used a Frost Flying Centipede egg as collateral for the three hundred Spirit Stones just now."

"Got it. Thanks."

"You rascal, you've already fleeced so many Spirit Stones' worth of things from him. Aren't you satisfied yet?" After the richly dressed youth left, Nangong Yuqing could no longer hold back. She looked at Wei Suo, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

"What fleecing? He wanted to give them to me himself, all right?" Since Wei Suo had retreated deeper into the room, where Li Honglin definitely could not see him, he gleefully picked up the Golden Silk Talisman Brush without restraint. "What a fine thing!" Wei Suo could not help sighing from the bottom of his heart. The entire talisman brush looked as if it had been forged from pure gold, gleaming brilliantly and exceptionally beautiful, yet it felt incredibly light and soft in his hand. When he ran its tip across his palm, it was like a stream flowing past—gentle, with not the slightest hint of resistance.

"I say, Nangong Yuqing, if it weren't for you, that guy wouldn't have sent these two things over." After fondly playing with the Golden Silk Talisman Brush for a while, Wei Suo said with painful reluctance, "How about the Treasure Pouch goes to you? When I need it, you can lend it to me once in a while?"

"I don't want that guy's things." Nangong Yuqing rolled her eyes at Wei Suo. "Look at how much it pains you. If you want it, keep it."

"More than two thousand Spirit Stones!" Hearing that, Wei Suo immediately nodded without the slightest politeness. Then he asked Nangong Yuqing, "But Nangong Yuqing, there's something I don't understand. That guy's cultivation is decent, he doesn't look bad, he's the young palace master of Golden Vulture Palace, and he spends lavishly. Why don't you like him?"

"Isn't that the same as why you don't want to join Tie Ce? If I accepted him and entered Golden Vulture Palace, wouldn't I have to give up many things too?" Nangong Yuqing glanced at Wei Suo. "And besides, some people would still be themselves even without a backing like Golden Vulture Palace. But if he lost a backing like Golden Vulture Palace, he might no longer be Li Honglin. If I liked someone, I would definitely like the person himself, not whatever stood behind him."

"Now that's character!" Wei Suo gave Nangong Yuqing a thumbs-up. At the same time, he thought, I like Shui Ling'er because I like her figure, that little face of hers beautiful enough to kill without paying for it, and those proud twin peaks... not because she's so-and-so's disciple or anything.

"A piece of Mid-grade Cold Jade. This Cold Jade is enormous and flawless throughout, exceptionally rare. Starting price: six hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones." At that moment, Shopkeeper Tian's voice rang out again, and Wei Suo and Nangong Yuqing immediately grew excited.

"Seven hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones!"

"Eight hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones!"

Wei Suo was moved to tears again. The Cold Jade wrapped in red velvet had already been polished by Golden Jade Pavilion, and the crack had been ground away. Now, the entire piece looked smooth and lustrous, without the slightest flaw. Such a large flawless piece of Cold Jade would allow an artifact refiner to easily forge an ice-element magical treasure. Nearly all the cultivators attending such an auction knew quality goods when they saw them, so the moment Shopkeeper Tian finished speaking, countless cultivators began competing for it. The price soared all the way until an old Daoist in a moon-white robe won it for a staggering one thousand five hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones.

Though they had agreed that this piece of Cold Jade would be divided among Nangong Yuqing, Ye Xiaozheng, Ye Guowei, and Wei Suo, and though Golden Jade Pavilion would take a ten percent fee, Wei Suo would still receive at least two hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones.

A Golden Silk Talisman Brush, a Treasure Pouch, and two hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones—Wei Suo felt that life was simply blooming like flowers.

(The third update will still be released around ten tonight. Everyone, please show some support with red votes and the like.)