The Auction

Li Beichen's question made Zhang Meng scratch his head.

"The exotic beasts I've seen were all physically powerful. I've heard of the kinds you mentioned, but I've never actually seen one."

"The way it looks, exotic beasts are much like martial artists. Most of them focus on body cultivation."

"Probably. Come on, it's about time the auction starts. There might be something you need in there."

Following Zhang Meng, Li Beichen wound his way to a small grove enclosed by a fence.

Men in black guarded the fence all around.

Only one passage had been left for people to enter and exit.

And an Grade Entry guard was stationed there to check everyone.

Zhang Meng took a wooden token from his pocket and handed it to the guard.

The guard then passed him two bamboo slips, and Zhang Meng gave one to Li Beichen.

Li Beichen raised his hand to look. The slip had the number thirty-three written on it.

Zhang Meng's had thirty-two.

"To enter this auction, you need a qualification token. That's the wooden token I just gave the guard."

"Old Seven, since you've attended an auction this time, if you spend enough, you'll receive a token like that when you leave."

"Next time, you'll be able to come to the auction even if you're on your own."

As Li Beichen listened to Zhang Meng, he remembered Hu San, whom he had lured into a pack of wolves and killed at Small Gravel Mountain several months ago.

At the time, he had found a wooden token on Hu San's corpse.

He'd kept it at home, never knowing what it was for.

Now it seemed it was an entry token for the Black Market auction.

"Then, Senior Brother, the bamboo slips you just gave us are the bidding paddles we'll raise during the auction, right?"

"That's right."

The auction hall was very crude.

Wooden stumps served as seats.

At the back stood a wooden hut.

At that moment, some men in black carried a large wooden table out of the hut and placed it in the center of the auction hall.

"They're still getting things ready. Old Seven, let's pick a spot near the front."

Zhang Meng pulled Li Beichen over and sat him on a stump a few rows in front of the large table.

"The items up for auction will be displayed on this table. If you're interested, raise your paddle and call out a bid."

Li Beichen and Zhang Meng chatted quietly.

Before long, the auction hall began to fill up.

The attendees were all burly men who didn't look easy to deal with.

Li Beichen even spotted a Seventh Grade expert.

Though the man wore a mask, the戒 scars on his shaved head and the string of prayer beads on his chest made it clear he was a mendicant monk.

Seventh Grade experts were easy to identify. You only had to look at their exposed skin to see what set them apart.

The monk's skin was an unusual shade of red.

After another quarter of an hour, most of the wooden stumps in the auction hall were occupied.

Li Beichen counted them up.

Including Senior Brother Zhang Meng, there were at least four martial artists of Seventh Grade or higher in plain sight.

There were also a few people wrapped up from head to toe.

He couldn't tell how strong they were.

"Senior Brother, can you beat all of them?"

Li Beichen lowered his voice to ask.

If Zhang Meng said he could handle them all, then he could be a little bolder later.

His senior brother had picked up on what Li Beichen was thinking.

He was already regretting bringing him along.

"Within Seventh Grade, no one in Ram City has ever made me back down in a one-on-one fight."

Zhang Meng thumped his chest, then lowered his voice.

"But Old Seven, two fists can't fend off four hands. We're not afraid of trouble, but we shouldn't go looking for it either."

"Don't worry, Senior Brother. I never cause trouble. I don't bother people who don't bother me."

"Good."

Just then, a woman in a brightly colored red skirt and a strapless top walked gracefully to the large table, her face veiled with thin gauze.

But her finely defined six-pack made it clear that she, too, was a Grade Entry martial artist.

"Old Seven, the auction's about to begin. That's Lady Li. She's an Eighth Grade Muscle Refining expert, and she usually hosts the auctions."

"Senior Brother, why do I feel like Fifth Senior Sister, who's Ninth Grade, has much bigger muscles than her?"

"Ahem. Old Seven, our Like-Elephant Martial Hall's techniques are different from those of other schools. Some martial halls, like Cloud Crane Martial Hall, focus more on speed and agility. Their students don't build as much muscle."

"I see..."

As the two spoke, Lady Li cleared her throat.

"Everyone, I'm Lady Li. I imagine most of you here already know me. I'll be hosting today's auction as usual."

"Now, let the auction begin!"

"The first item is ten catties of Ninth Grade exotic beast meat. The whole lot starts at two hundred taels, with a minimum increase of five taels per bid."

Li Beichen's eyes lit up. He hadn't expected the auction to open with exotic beast meat.

By then, someone had already raised a paddle, eager to bid.

"Number sixty-three, two hundred and twenty taels!"

"Number forty-five, two hundred and thirty taels!"

Shouts rang out one after another, though the bidding remained restrained, with most people raising the price by ten taels at a time.

"Old Seven, Ninth Grade exotic beast meat usually goes for twenty-five taels per catty. Bid as you see fit."

"Got it, Senior Brother."

Li Beichen raised his bamboo slip.

"Number thirty-three, two hundred and fifty-five taels."

His bid was already above the usual market price, driving off quite a few bidders. But exotic beast meat was a rare resource, often unavailable even at a high price.

Quite a few people still competed with him.

"Number forty-five, two hundred and sixty taels."

"Number thirty-three, three hundred taels!"

Li Beichen raised the bid by forty taels in one go.

Lady Li's eyes turned flirtatious as she looked across the hall.

"Number thirty-three, three hundred taels! Is there a higher bid, gentlemen?"

"One... two... three..."

When no one raised a paddle, a trace of reproach crept into her eyes, as if they had let her down.

"Congratulations to number thirty-three on winning ten catties of Ninth Grade exotic beast meat!"

Lady Li was clearly a skilled auctioneer, a consummate professional.

In an instant, her smile returned, and she began introducing the next item.

With this strong opening, the auction grew livelier by the minute.

Fine swords and sabers, farmland and shops, medicinal herbs and pills all appeared on the auction block.

Watching the martial artists in the hall raise their paddles and bid one after another, Li Beichen patted the banknotes in his robe.

He still had over six hundred taels.

He planned to spend it when something suitable came up for auction.

Resources only served their purpose when converted into personal strength.

Just then, a palm-sized booklet and ten chopstick-length little swords were brought to the large table.

"The next item is a rare hidden-weapon technique and its matching weapons."

"They're called shuriken. Once you achieve Mastery and Integration, they'll hit with the force of a powerful bow and crossbow and can threaten the life of a Seventh Grade Skin Refining martial artist!"

Lady Li's words sent the entire hall into an uproar.

The greatest feature of Seventh Grade martial artists was their tough skin and membranes, like they wore soft armor of their own.

Ordinary people could swing their swords and knives with all their might and still struggle to scratch them.

Even a Grade Entry Flesh Tempering martial artist would have trouble injuring one unless they wielded a weapon forged a hundred times. And even if they managed to pierce the skin, the Seventh Grade martial artist's muscles would catch the blade.

Seventh Grade martial artists were far faster and stronger than Ninth Grade ones. In practice, even with swords in hand, Ninth Grade martial artists could hardly get close.

Let alone threaten their lives.