Auction

Three days later.

Wu Family Treasure Pavilion, Core Commercial District of Guang'an Prefecture.

"Wu Family Treasure Pavilion will deliver the two fellow cultivators' goods aboard the ship on time. Please rest assured."

At the entrance of Wu Family Treasure Pavilion, a Foundation Establishment cultivator of the Wu Family smiled as he cupped his hands toward Chen Daoxuan and Chen Xianhe.

"Then we'll trouble you, Senior. Please do not see us off."

Chen Daoxuan returned the salute and said humbly.

The Wu Family Foundation Establishment cultivator nodded. "Take care, you two."

Amid the exchange of pleasantries.

Chen Daoxuan and Chen Xianhe walked out through the doors of Wu Family Treasure Pavilion.

Not long after they left.

A young cultivator in the store stepped forward and asked in a low voice, "Clan Uncle, why were you so polite to two mere Qi Refining cultivators? Wouldn't that diminish the dignity of our Wu Family?"

To his surprise, the Foundation Establishment cultivator glanced at the young Wu Family cultivator and frowned. "Guangxuan, remember this well: when doing business in Guang'an Prefecture, substance matters more than face.

Those two cultivators' cultivation levels were indeed not high—one was at the sixth layer of Qi Refining, while the other was only at the fourth layer of Qi Refining. But do you know how much profit their deal can bring Wu Family Treasure Pavilion?"

The young cultivator named Wu Guangxuan shook his head blankly.

The Wu Family Foundation Establishment cultivator held up four fingers. "More than four thousand Spirit Stones in profit!"

"That much?"

Wu Guangxuan was instantly stunned upon hearing this.

He had never expected two mere Qi Refining cultivators to possess such substantial wealth.

For Wu Family Treasure Pavilion to earn four thousand Spirit Stones in profit from them, it meant the two had negotiated a deal worth at least tens of thousands of Spirit Stones.

How could this fledgling Wu Family cultivator not be shocked?

"That is why, when doing business in Guang'an Prefecture, you must neither judge people by their appearance nor determine the scale of a deal solely by a client's cultivation level.

There are millions of cultivators in Guang'an Prefecture. Even if there are not a hundred thousand Foundation Establishment cultivators among them, there are still tens of thousands. Of all those Foundation Establishment cultivators, how many possess wealth comparable to these two?

Besides, do you know what background these two have?"

"Clan Uncle means..."

The Wu Family Foundation Establishment cultivator snapped, "I mean that you'd better keep your eyes open in the future. Don't bring that disgusting habit of looking down your nose at everyone, which you picked up in the clan, into Wu Family Treasure Pavilion. Otherwise, this old man will certainly give you a failing grade on your field-training evaluation."

Sure enough, Wu Guangxuan's face went pale at those words.

Though the Wu Family was a renowned Foundation Establishment clan in Guang'an Prefecture, precisely because it was such a large clan, it had an especially large number of cultivators.

For a Qi Refining cultivator like him, sent out for training, receiving a failing grade in his training assessment would have a devastating impact on his future prospects.

The major clans all handled such matters in almost exactly the same way.

Certainly, a cultivator's Spiritual Root Aptitude was important, but compared to Spiritual Root Aptitude, temperament was even more important to a clan descendant.

Even if a cultivator with poor temperament were raised to Foundation Establishment or even the Purple Mansion stage, not only would they be unable to offer much help to the clan, they might instead invite a disaster devastating enough to destroy it.

There were countless examples of useless clan descendants with poor temperament stirring up trouble and bringing calamity upon their families.

Therefore.

The longer a clan's inheritance endured, the more it valued the cultivation of its descendants' temperament.

When it came to shaping the temperament of clan descendants, the Yang Family, the Wu Family, and even the overconfident Zhou Family all did a fairly decent job.

After leaving Wu Family Treasure Pavilion.

Chen Daoxuan and Chen Xianhe walked through the bustling Core Commercial District, chatting as they went.

"How long do you plan to stay in Guang'an Prefecture?"

Chen Xianhe asked casually.

After pondering for a moment, Chen Daoxuan smiled. "The Slave Ship we ordered from the Yang Family will not arrive for some time yet. On top of that, we need to choose wives for the clan members. We'll have to stay at least ten days to half a month."

Chen Xianhe sighed regretfully. "Once you leave, the clan's Flying Sword production will have to stop. It hurts just thinking about it."

"That only shows how important it is to increase the clan's population."

Hearing this, Chen Xianhe had no choice but to nod in agreement. There were simply too few cultivators in the clan.

So few that Chen Daoxuan, such a crucial productive force, had to abandon his production work at the clan's Flying Sword Factory and come here specifically to transport goods and procure supplies.

If the clan had even one more cultivator, such errand-running work would never have fallen to him.

At that thought, Chen Xianhe said, "Next time, don't come to Guang'an Prefecture. Didn't you order a ship from the Yang Family? Next time, I'll go directly to Twin Lakes Island to collect the goods and transport the Spirit Mine.

Leave all the errand-running work to me from now on. You can focus wholeheartedly on production at the clan's Flying Sword Factory!"

"This..."

Chen Daoxuan hesitated briefly, then nodded. "That works as well."

As they spoke.

The two soon arrived at Zhou Family Auction House.

Zhou Family Auction House stood in the most prosperous section of the Core Commercial District in Guang'an Prefecture immortal city.

Even "every inch of land worth an inch of gold" was insufficient to describe this place.

Because all the land and shops throughout this entire area belonged exclusively to the Zhou Family.

Zhou Family Auction House was the most conspicuous establishment in this district.

Chen Daoxuan looked up and saw clusters of antique, multi-story pavilion buildings standing before him.

These pavilions covered an enormous area. By Chen Daoxuan's estimate, they occupied at least ten thousand square meters. At a glance, the entire street seemed to have been taken up by this auction house.

Even in the whole Core Commercial District, Zhou Family Auction House was a landmark.

"Zhou Family Auction House has twelve smaller auction houses in total. The largest auction hall in the center is normally closed to the public and only opens during major auction events."

Chen Xianhe explained, "The one we're going to today is Auction House No. 6."

After looking around for a while, Chen Daoxuan finally spotted a pavilion whose plaque bore a large number six on its left side.

"This is it."

Seeing their destination, Chen Xianhe smiled.

"Please wait, fellow cultivators!"

Just as the two were about to enter, a Zhou Family cultivator waiting at the entrance blocked their path.

Chen Daoxuan frowned. "Fellow cultivator, what is the meaning of this?"

Yet the Zhou Family cultivator was clearly accustomed to this. "This is your first time at Zhou Family Auction House, isn't it?"

"What does that have to do with you blocking our way?"

Chen Daoxuan retorted.

"You misunderstand, fellow cultivator. To prevent people from maliciously bidding and causing auction items to go unsold in the end, this auction house has established a set of identity verification rules."

"Identity verification?"

The two exchanged looks. Chen Daoxuan asked curiously, "And how does this identity verification work?"

"It is simple. We only need to inspect whether the Spirit Stones in your Storage Bags amount to at least five thousand Spirit Stones. That will verify your identities."

Chen Xianhe nodded in understanding, while Chen Daoxuan was nearly dumbfounded.

Even after transmigrating into a cultivation world, they still have this whole asset-verification routine?

No entry if you don't have enough money?

Just then, a rugged-looking man walked past them, yet the Zhou Family cultivator made no move to stop him.

Chen Daoxuan could not help asking, "Why didn't you stop him?"

"You jest, fellow cultivator. That was a Foundation Establishment Senior. How could he possibly engage in malicious bidding?"

Seeing the Zhou Family cultivator's attitude, Chen Daoxuan felt somewhat uncomfortable, but he said nothing more.

He casually tossed over a Storage Bag. "This is our proof of identity."

The Zhou Family cultivator received the Storage Bag and inspected it.

His expression immediately changed. He respectfully returned the Storage Bag and stepped aside. "Please enter, fellow cultivators!"