Mittel Auction House

"Young Master, how did it go?" Seeing Yao Feng emerge, Zhou Tong hurried over. Earlier, he had sensed the aura of a Dou Huang and had nearly rushed inside to find Yao Feng. To hell with the Alchemist Guild's rules—if anything had happened to Yao Feng, he would have torn the entire Alchemist Guild down. Fortunately, that Dou Huang seemed to have sensed him as well and had not harmed Yao Feng.

"A Second Grade Alchemist. Easy." Yao Feng smugly bragged.

"Hehe, I knew it. With your strength, Young Master, wouldn't this be a piece of cake? But a thirteen-year-old alchemist—even those in the Yao Clan who specialize in alchemy don't have such ability, do they?" Zhou Tong smacked his lips in surprise.

"Alright, next we'll head to the Mittel Auction House to buy some materials for pill refinement. I'll start refining some Dou Qi Recovery Pills over the next couple of days, so we'll have some protection when we travel in the future."

Following the directions given by the tavern waiter, Yao Feng arrived before an enormous building. Looking at the bustling Mittel Auction House, he rubbed his forehead. He had not expected it to be this popular. The shoulder-to-shoulder crowds were truly a headache.

"Old Zhang, what do you think will be auctioned now that the Profound Grade Auction Hall is opening?"

"Who cares what good stuff there is? Do you have a million gold coins? Without money, you're not even qualified to enter. Hurry up, we still have a mission after buying the healing medicine..."

Hearing the intermittent discussions around him, Yao Feng curiously looked toward the entrance and saw many richly dressed people entering the auction house one after another.

"Profound Grade Auction Hall?"

Yao Feng still had some knowledge of the Mittel Auction House. Its auction halls were divided into four grades: Heaven, Earth, Profound, and Yellow. Yellow Grade auctions were held every day, while the others opened irregularly. He had not expected to catch the opening of a Profound Grade Auction Hall today.

"Old Zhou, do you still have any money?"

Yao Feng asked awkwardly. Although the Black Tiger City Lord had given him more than nine hundred thousand gold coins, it was still not enough to qualify for entry, so he could only ask Old Zhou for some first.

"Young Master, I haven't left the Yao Clan for many years, so I never kept much money on hand. After our expenses these days, I only have a little over a hundred thousand gold coins left."

Old Zhou said sheepishly.

"How about I go get some money?"

"You can just get money whenever you want?"

"Hehe, there are plenty of bandits, robbers, and vile mercenaries in the mountain range we passed through some time ago. I just need to make a trip there. It'll be quick!"

"No, there's no need to rob bandits yet. I'll think of a way. Lend me a hundred thousand first so we can get into the auction hall."

Seeing the ill-intentioned smile on Zhou Tong's face, Yao Feng broke out in a cold sweat. Still, it was not a bad idea. It would count as eliminating evil for the people, and taking some money along the way could be considered a fee for his services.

Shaking off the somewhat childish fantasy in his mind, Yao Feng walked straight to a quieter entrance and took out the Five-patterned Purple Gold Card. Seeing it, the maid at the entrance respectfully bowed and greeted him.

"Welcome to the Mittel Auction House, honored guest. I will escort you to the VIP area."

At times, Yao Feng could be rather high-profile, like now. Seeing him enter directly through the VIP entrance, those still queuing at the ordinary entrance erupted into a commotion.

"Which family's young master is that? Why have I never seen him before?"

"I think I saw that his card was purple-gold. Were my eyes playing tricks on me?"

"I was thinking the same thing. And I think I saw quite a few silver patterns on that purple-gold card."

"What are you making such a fuss about? Does it have anything to do with you? Move forward already!"

"..."

Inside a private room, Yao Feng sat with one leg crossed over the other, lazily reclining in a tiger-skin chair. Through the crystal glass, he watched the packed hall below and thought, The Mittel Auction House truly deserves to be one of the businesses owned by the Three Great Families of the Imperial Capital. With such popularity, the money it earns each year probably nearly matches the empire's tax revenue.

After waiting for some time, a portly middle-aged man stepped onto the stage. He cleared his throat, and his voice, amplified by Dou Qi, spread throughout the auction hall.

"First, welcome, everyone, to the Mittel Auction House. I am Zhong Gui, the auctioneer for this event. All auction items have been appraised by numerous masters, and their quality is absolutely guaranteed. I hope everyone bids enthusiastically. Alright, enough chatter. I now announce the official start of this auction. Bring out the first item."

A maid pushed an exquisite little cart to the front of the stage and lifted the red cloth covering it. A ginseng root lay quietly on a jade plate atop the cart.

"It's actually Spirit Ginseng! Judging by its quality, it must be over a hundred years old!"

An exclamation rang out from below the stage, immediately stirring up a commotion.

"Hehe, it seems quite a few friends have recognized it. That's right, this is Spirit Ginseng, and it has a medicinal age of five hundred years. It is no exaggeration to say that even if you simply boiled it into a pot of soup and drank it, it could prolong your life and improve your health, much less if it were used for pill refinement. Enough talk. The starting price is one hundred thousand gold coins. Bidding begins now!"

Longevity was no small temptation for many people. Who would not want to live a few more years? As soon as Zhong Gui finished speaking, bids began to ring out one after another.

"One hundred ten thousand gold coins!"

"One hundred twenty thousand gold coins!"

"One hundred fifty thousand gold coins!"

"One hundred seventy thousand gold coins!"

Listening to the ever-rising price, even Yao Feng was startled. It was only a stalk of Spirit Ginseng—was this not too crazy? If it were really so easy to prolong one's life, why would anyone in the world need to die? This Spirit Ginseng did have some effect, but only a little. Most of it was merely psychological.

Very soon, the price of the Spirit Ginseng was settled. A VIP upstairs purchased it for two hundred thousand gold coins. Yao Feng could only sigh. The rich really can do whatever they want!

Seeing the atmosphere heat up, Zhong Gui's face filled with smiles as he brought out the next auction item.

"Everyone, this item is no simple matter. You should all open your eyes wide and take a good look."

With one swift tug, he tore away the red cloth, revealing an iron cage. A pitiful young girl was curled up in a corner, staring fearfully ahead. Tear streaks covered her delicate, alluring face, while tears wrapped her large pink eyes, making her look all the more pitiful. Her thin clothing exposed large swaths of snowy-white skin, causing many men below the stage to feel their eyes burn with desire. Their gazes brimmed with greed. Yet the most eye-catching part was her lower body. Instead of human legs, she had a snake tail.

"Everyone, this is a Snake Woman from the Snake People Tribe. There is no need for this old Zhong to say anything else, right? You all understand. The starting price is five hundred thousand. Bidding begins now!"

Zhong Gui wore an expression that all men understood, gave a lewd grin, and called out loudly.

The crowd below immediately erupted into cheers and jeers. Fierce bids rang out one after another, even more intense than during the auction for the Spirit Ginseng. However, the overwhelming majority of those bidding this time were men.