The moment the item was revealed, the entire auction hall fell silent.
Then someone scoffed aloud.
"Ascension to immortality? Ying Niang, haven't you been duped by some wandering charlatan? Since when has this world had methods for becoming an immortal?"
"Exactly! If such methods really existed, wouldn't every orthodox Mystic Sect practitioner have ascended already? How could one possibly end up at auction?"
"I reckon some penniless scholar made up this story, and you actually dare bring it out to fool us?"
The crowd chimed in one after another, their voices full of disbelief.
Ying Niang did not get angry. She waited until they had made enough of a fuss, then raised her round fan and gently pressed it downward.
"Please be patient, gentlemen."
"If Ying Niang dares offer this for sale, naturally, she has something to back it up."
"To tell you the truth, this scroll of Daoist scripture has been personally examined by a steward of the Exquisite Treasures Pavilion. There is absolutely no question of it being a fake."
At those words, the whole hall immediately fell quiet.
"The Exquisite Treasures Pavilion?"
"Really? If so, it might well be genuine."
"If they've authenticated it, then I'm taking it!"
People immediately began speaking over one another again.
Chen Mu had never heard of the Exquisite Treasures Pavilion.
But listening to the discussions below, he soon got a rough idea.
It was an organization renowned throughout Great Yue, part merchant association and part sect.
It was chiefly famous for appraising treasures, and was said to have powerful figures in the Divine Capital backing it.
It also compiled an "Exquisite Treasures Ranking," collecting and ranking all manner of rare treasures born of heaven and earth.
That unexpectedly broadened Chen Mu's knowledge.
He had two such treasures himself. He wondered whether