Auction

"Is this the Ten Thousand Miles Auction House!?"

Yao Feng stood before a towering building, gazing at its ornate carved beams and painted rafters. A flicker of amazement passed through his eyes. Though the building was not as grand as the Yao Clan's Scripture Pavilion, its exquisite decorations had a charm all their own.

"The auction is about to begin. Let's go in!"

Standing beside Yao Feng, Yao Ling had tied the heart-shaped crystal to a cord and hung it around her snowy white neck.

To avoid unnecessary trouble, Yao Feng directly took out the Five-patterned Purple Gold Card and went to the VIP entrance. Although he did not have a VIP card from the Ten Thousand Miles Auction House, with enough gold coins, nothing was a problem. The Five-patterned Purple Gold Card was not merely a symbol of wealth, but also of strength and background. Relying on it, the two of them were easily led by a maid into a private room. Inside was a crystal wall, through which they could clearly see the auction platform outside and the ordinary seating area below, packed with people.

"Young Master, they entered through the VIP entrance. This may be difficult."

In an alley, a man dressed as a servant bowed to a man standing with his hands behind his back.

"The VIP entrance? Are we not VIPs as well? They're just two little brats. They dared to embarrass me? I'd like to see who they are!"

The man was thin, and the hooked nose on his face made him look even more vicious.

"But before we left, the family head instructed us to prioritize the mission and not cause unnecessary trouble..."

"Oh? You think I'm causing unnecessary trouble?"

The Hook-nosed Man sneered, glanced at the man, then stepped out of the alley.

The man's back was instantly soaked with cold sweat. Another attendant looked at his companion, who had narrowly escaped disaster, and quietly said:

"Ying Qi, if you don't want to die, talk less!"

With that, the two hurriedly chased after him, afraid of angering that fiend.

"Ling'er, is there anything you want to buy?"

Inside the room, Yao Feng sat in a chair, eating fruit from a platter as he asked Yao Ling.

"The clan provides all my cultivation resources, so there isn't really anything I need to buy."

Yao Ling looked at Yao Feng and smiled sweetly. In the past, Yao Feng had always been indifferent toward her. Now that he cared about her so much, she always felt as if she were in a dream. Still, she quite enjoyed things as they were now.

Yao Feng's outstretched hand suddenly froze. Unfortunately, even the clan would find it difficult to provide what he needed. Heavenly Flames were simply too rare. Luckily, he had the system's help. Otherwise, the Flame Mantra alone might have driven Yao Feng into a dead end.

"Welcome, honored guests, to our Ten Thousand Miles Auction House. I am today's auctioneer, Old Mo. Today is once again our quarterly grand auction. All sorts of treasures that we have spent four months collecting will be auctioned off one by one. Without further ado, let us begin with the first item—the Eight Treasures Ruyi Armor."

As Yao Feng pondered how he could quickly obtain a Heavenly Flame, a deep voice rang out from the auction platform. The auction had officially begun.

Yao Feng and Yao Ling both turned their gazes toward the auction platform.

Onstage, an elderly man who looked like an old child was carefully introducing the soft armor placed beside him.

"The Eight Treasures Ruyi Armor, as its name suggests, was forged from eight treasures and possesses astonishing defensive power. A Dou Shi wearing it can withstand a strike from a Da Dou Shi. The starting price is ten thousand gold coins. Bidding begins now."

"Eleven thousand gold coins!"

"Twelve thousand gold coins!"

"Fifteen thousand gold coins!"

The moment Old Mo finished speaking, bids began ringing out one after another. A piece of soft armor could be immensely useful to mercenaries who lived with their lives on the line, but to Yao Feng, it was somewhat useless.

When the price rose to twenty thousand gold coins, the bidding gradually died down. Though the armor was good, it had its limits. Anything over twenty thousand gold coins was no longer worth it.

In the end, the soft armor was bought by a burly middle-aged man for twenty-two thousand gold coins. Yao Feng took one glance at it and stopped paying attention.

"The second auction item is a portion of Grade Four Qi Gathering Powder, refined by a Grade Seven Alchemist. Its quality is exceptional, and its effects are two to three times stronger than ordinary Qi Gathering Powder. The starting price is ten thousand gold coins."

"Fifteen thousand gold coins!"

"Seventeen thousand gold coins!"

"Nineteen thousand gold coins!"

"..."

The Qi Gathering Powder was far more popular than the previous Eight Treasures Ruyi Armor, which was understandable. In Yaotian City, the vast majority of people had come for medicinal pills. Though a portion of Qi Gathering Powder was of little use to experts, everyone had younger generations to consider. This Qi Gathering Powder could allow someone at the ninth stage of Dou Qi to break through to Dou Zhe with absolute certainty and successfully condense a Dou Qi Vortex.

Yao Feng had no interest in it. He had already broken through to Dou Zhe, and disciples of the Yao Clan generally did not need to worry about cultivation resources themselves, since the clan provided most of them.

"The nineteenth auction item is the source flame of the fourth-tier magical beast, the Demonic Flame Greedy Wolf—Demonic Flame. Though the Demonic Flame Greedy Wolf is only a fourth-tier magical beast, it possesses a trace of ancient bloodline, so the power of this source flame must not be underestimated. The base price is one hundred thousand gold coins. Bidding begins now."

"Finally, something worth looking at!"

Yao Feng yawned and sat up slightly straighter. He looked at the black flame trapped inside a piece of crystal on the stage. Even through the crystal, he could still sense a ferocious aura radiating from the Demonic Flame.

"One hundred ten thousand gold coins!"

"One hundred twenty thousand gold coins!"

"One hundred fifty thousand gold coins!"

Hearing the steadily rising price, Yao Feng was somewhat dumbfounded. He only had around two hundred thousand gold coins. Was he going to wait all this time only to come up empty-handed?

Yaotian City truly deserved to be called a gathering place for alchemists. Even a Beast Flame could incite such fierce competition.

"One hundred eighty thousand gold coins!"

A slightly sinister voice came from the room beside Yao Feng's. The hall suddenly fell a little quieter, followed by a wave of hushed chatter.

"Who is sitting up there? That voice sounds unfamiliar. They don't seem to be locals of Yaotian City, but they sure are generous."

"Shh, keep it down. Are people who can sit in VIP rooms someone we can discuss?"

"..."

"They seem to be the group we met at the city gate."

Yao Ling leaned closer and said to Yao Feng.

"They do look somewhat familiar."

Yao Feng smiled. He had not expected them to be so fated. However, he had taken a liking to this Beast Flame as well, so he could only compete for it.

"Two hundred thousand gold coins!"

Yao Feng directly raised the bid by twenty thousand gold coins. At this price, one could already buy an ordinary fifth-tier Beast Flame. Unless someone was an idiot, no one should raise the bid again.

Yet just as Yao Feng thought he was about to obtain the Beast Flame, a voice came from the neighboring room again. This time, however, it carried a trace of mockery.

"Two hundred ten thousand gold coins."

Inside the neighboring room, the Hook-nosed Man sat in a chair with one leg crossed over the other, while the two attendants behind him stood ramrod straight. He looked at the Beast Flame onstage, amusement flashing through his eyes.

One attendant behind him quietly said, "Young Master, we did not bring many gold coins this time. If we buy this Beast Flame, I'm afraid it may affect our objective."

"Are you teaching me how to do things?!"