Compared with the crowded first floor, the second floor was noticeably quieter.
The spacious hall was decorated in subdued colors. Musicians played zithers behind pearl curtains, while a steward of the Mountains and Seas Tower introduced the various treasures from a raised platform in the center:
"This sword scabbard was used by the Martial Ancestor in his youth. Named 'Crossing Calamity,' it was discovered by chance when the city lord traveled through the Great Desert long ago. He has treasured it for a hundred years as a cherished possession, and this is its first public appearance-"
The hall could truly be called a gathering of outstanding figures.
Lü Yan of Five-Spirit Mountain sat sipping tea at a tea table. Having carelessly lost the Yellow Qilin Seal yesterday, he had spent a fortune buying it back for fear that Brat Xie would come knocking to extort him. The exchange had cost him a considerable sum for nothing. He wore a miserable expression, with no interest whatsoever in joining the bidding.
Several other renowned cultivators were seated in the hall. Chen Yishan sat not far from Lü Yan, and nearby was a Black-Clothed Cloak Person, utterly motionless and possessing a rather impressive bearing.
Long Boyuan occupied a seat near the front, beside Gu Xuanzun, the Demon Soul Sect's sect leader and a local heavyweight of Dragonbone Shoal. Although Gu Xuanzun came from a demonic sect, his demeanor looked no different from that of an ordinary cultivator. Only his gaze occasionally flicked toward a distant tea table.
Several witches in white robes stood around that table. The Northern Darkness Sect Holy Maiden, adorned from head to toe with silver ornaments, sat upright in a chair, quietly discussing something with her companions.
Han Yuemei, the sect leader of Hundred Flowers Grove, had also attended