"Little Xian'er, come along. Let's head back to the Xiao Clan." After receiving Hun Miesheng's promise, Yao Chen found Xiao Yi Xian pleasing to the eye no matter how he looked at her.
"Little Yanzi, remember to prepare a clean room for your senior sister. Starting tomorrow, she'll be refining medicine alongside you."
"Sure thing, Senior Sister Hun Xian'er! Dinner's on me tonight. I'll throw you a welcome feast." Xiao Yan patted his chest, his face still flushed from her Bewitching Technique.
Xiao Yi Xian, however, seemed in no hurry. Somewhat sheepishly, she pointed beyond the floor-to-ceiling window and asked tentatively, "Could we leave after attending this auction? I've never been to anything like this before."
There's an auction tonight? Why didn't I know about it?
Xiao Yan was puzzled. Over the past year, he had visited the Mittel Auction House many times and had become a VIP. If there was an auction, they should have notified him.
"An auction?" Yao Chen gave a noncommittal chuckle. Auctions in such a small place held little interest for him. Even the closing lots would probably fail to catch his eye.
After offering a few casual reminders, Yao Chen returned to the black ring to nurture his soul power.
"It's a secret gathering. Only people with special invitations can attend. There'll be things you don't see at ordinary auctions, like Soul Bodies and slaves," Xiao Yi Xian explained.
"Isn't that explicitly forbidden by the Jia Ma Empire?" Xiao Yan frowned. As a young man with ideals, he instinctively recoiled from such shady dealings.
"They only forbid other factions from engaging in those trades. They never forbade themselves from doing it. More than half the slaves in the Jia Ma Empire's underground markets are captives taken by the empire during wars. Even the Mittel Auction House, operating out in the open, has the Imperial Family backing it, doesn't it?" Xiao Yi Xian was rather indifferent. Having been born at the bottom of society, she understood its darkness better than Xiao Yan.
At that, Xiao Yan smiled awkwardly and quickly tipped his chin toward the floor below their private room. "The auction's starting."
The lights gradually brightened over the auction stage directly opposite the Heavenly Character No. 1 Private Room. Under countless watchful eyes, Ya Fei sashayed onto the platform in an outfit resembling a red cheongsam. Beneath the pale yellow lights, the red fabric hugged her voluptuous curves so tightly that they seemed ready to spill out at any moment.
With a seductive smile on her pretty face, Ya Fei covered her mouth and addressed the audience with a few lilting laughs. Lust flared in many men's hearts, making them ache to rush up, strip her bare, and savor her charms.
Sensing the increasingly heated atmosphere below, Xiao Yi Xian stole a glance at her new junior brother beside her.
Xiao Yan's gaze remained calm, as though the beauty below had stirred no interest in him whatsoever.
It wasn't that Ya Fei lacked allure. As the Mittel Auction House's chief auctioneer, her charm was beyond question.
But Xiao Yan had grown up surrounded by beauties. Beautiful women were hardly a scarce commodity to him, and four years of living as a good-for-nothing had made him value genuine feelings even more. Ya Fei's shallow Bewitching Technique was therefore almost certain to have no effect on him.
By contrast, Xiao Yi Xian had made Xiao Yan blush at their very first meeting. Her Bewitching Technique was clearly far more sophisticated.
His reaction pleased Xiao Yi Xian greatly, and the corners of her lips couldn't help curling upward.
My foster father told me to win over this junior brother named Xiao Yan. Then I'll win him over with ease!
Below, Ya Fei cast an unobtrusive glance toward the Heavenly Character No. 1 Private Room before putting on a beaming smile. "Everyone, welcome to our secret gathering, held at irregular intervals. I'm sure you're all curious about tonight's auction items."
As she spoke, Ya Fei lightly raised her delicate hand, and the lights onstage dimmed considerably. Holding a hand over her chest, she bent slightly and retrieved a jade box from the center of the stage.
The sight of that jade box immediately stirred a commotion among the audience.
Xiao Yan narrowed his eyes as well. With his powerful Soul Power, he sensed the aura of a flame inside the jade box. Compared with the Peach Blossom Flame, however, this flame was more violent and more powerful.
Sure enough, when Ya Fei opened the jade box, a bright yellow flame lay sealed within.
"The Divine Crow Flame, the beast flame of a sixth-rank magical beast, the Divine Crow. According to the seller, the Divine Crow that was hunted down possessed the bloodline of the Three-legged Golden Crow. The starting bid is one hundred thousand gold coins!"
A beast flame, just for the appetizer?
Longing shone in Xiao Yan's eyes. What mattered most to him at this stage?
A powerful beast flame, of course!
Although the Flame Mantra was a cultivation method that evolved by continually devouring heavenly flames, devouring heavenly flames was extraordinarily dangerous. Even with the best medicinal pills prepared, the risk of failure was still substantial.
After discussing it with Yao Lao, they had devised a compromise: during the early stages, he would devour different, relatively safe beast flames to accumulate experience while evolving the Flame Mantra and strengthening himself. This would greatly increase his chances of successfully devouring heavenly flames.
But...
Beast flames were extremely expensive and just as scarce. His other master, Hun Tiandi, was offline and idling away, while Yao Lao was merely a soul entity, so poor his empty pockets rattled. If Xiao Yan wanted to buy a beast flame, he could only save up bit by bit.
One hundred thousand gold coins was merely a modest starting bid.
"One hundred and ten thousand gold coins!"
"One hundred and twenty thousand gold coins!"
"One hundred and thirty thousand!"
"What kind of paupers raise the bid ten thousand at a time? Two hundred thousand gold coins!" A voice so mocking it practically begged for a beating rang out through the auction hall.
Many people immediately glared at the speaker, but everyone present had some means of disguising their appearance. No one could recognize anyone else.
"Tch, what a show-off. Two hundred and fifty thousand gold coins!" Someone immediately countered.
"Three hundred thousand!" The infuriating voice raised the bid again without the slightest hesitation.
"Three hundred and fifty thousand!"
The auction hall instantly fell silent. Only a handful of factions in Wutan City could produce more than three hundred thousand gold coins at once. The two bidders were most likely members of the three great clans.
Many fell quiet, wisely giving up on this beast flame to wait for something more useful to them later.
"Do you really want it?" Xiao Yi Xian noticed the longing in Xiao Yan's eyes and asked with a soft laugh.
"Forget it. I don't have that many gold coins." Xiao Yan shook his head, though inwardly he was filled with regret. If he could obtain this beast flame, perhaps he could advance the Flame Mantra again.
Xiao Yi Xian understood exactly what Xiao Yan was thinking. She clapped her hands, and an auction house attendant entered the private room.
"I bid five hundred thousand." Xiao Yi Xian reclined on the sofa and crossed her right leg over her left, revealing a stretch of snow-white ankle.
"Understood."
"Heavenly Character No. 1 bids five hundred thousand!" Just as the two bidders were secretly locking horns, the attendant's ringing voice resounded throughout the auction hall.
"Holy shit, five hundred thousand?!"
"Even that Advanced Black Tier cultivation method from before didn't fetch such an outrageous price, did it?"
"Isn't Heavenly Character No. 1 usually empty?"
Exclamations rose one after another from below.
Inside the Heavenly Character No. 1 Private Room, Xiao Yi Xian looked at the dumbstruck Xiao Yan and softly exhaled. A wickedly alluring smile spread across her face. "Whatever you want, just tell your senior sister. I'll buy you anything..."
Before you continue