Night fell.
A quarter to eight in the evening.
The Treasure Pavilion.
Lin Yuan stepped onto the bluestone stairs. The welcoming maid caught sight of him out of the corner of her eye, and her whole body gave a violent shudder.
The scenes from earlier that day still left her trembling with lingering fear.
She hurriedly lifted her skirts and jogged over.
"Lord Lin! This way, please."
The maid respectfully escorted Lin Yuan straight to the third floor.
Murmurs instantly broke out in the first-floor hall.
"Who is that young man? Aren't only the heads of great aristocratic clans allowed upstairs to the third floor?"
"Shh! Keep your voice down! That's the newly appointed Dragon Guard captain."
"I heard he slaughtered over two hundred members of the Wild Dog Gang on West Street just today!"
"Hiss! So he's that god of slaughter!"
Everyone sucked in a breath of cold air.
A thick, plush carpet covered the third-floor corridor, soft and wonderfully comfortable underfoot.
The maid pushed open the carved wooden door in the very center and stepped aside, her face wreathed in smiles.
"Lord Lin, this is our most prestigious private room, Room A. It has the best view. Please come in."
Lin Yuan patted her shoulder in satisfaction and stepped inside.
The maid shuddered all over. A faint chill spread between her thighs, and she hurried away with her legs pressed together.
Lin Yuan sat down in the grand armchair by the window and looked down over the first-floor hall.
A maid in green knelt beside the tea table to pour him tea, but her small hands shook so badly that she spilled it everywhere.
Lin Yuan waved a hand.
"You may leave."
The maid ran off as though a great weight had been lifted.
Lin Yuan was speechless. Was he really that frightening?
Before long.
A gong sounded below.
An old man in red robes with a goatee stepped onto the platform. He cupped his hands and offered a few pleasantries, and the auction officially began.
"The first lot, a hundred-forged cold iron saber! It slices through iron like mud! The starting price is five hundred taels!"
"Six hundred!"
"Eight hundred! None of you bastards had better fight me for it!"
The martial artists in the hall instantly went red-eyed, shouting themselves hoarse as they competed to bid.
Next, several medicinal herbs over a hundred years old were brought up, their prices driven all the way to seven or eight thousand taels.
Lin Yuan watched for a while, then withdrew his gaze, utterly bored.
He simply closed his eyes and began cultivating his internal arts.
Time trickled by.
The clamor rose and fell, and the auction was already nearing its end.
The old man clapped his hands, and two maids came forward carrying a tray.
"Everyone, please take a look."
Everyone gazed over eagerly and saw a somewhat tattered parchment scroll.
"This item came from an ancient tomb of the previous dynasty. Its unusual material is impervious to water and fire, blades and spears. The strange, intricate patterns drawn on it are suspected to record some sort of cultivation technique."
A stir immediately swept through the crowd below.
"Can your Treasure Pavilion confirm it's a cultivation technique?"
Someone looked doubtful.
"Obviously, if it really were some profound technique, they wouldn't put it up for sale."
Someone sharp immediately grasped the crux of the matter.
The old man coughed awkwardly twice and told them the truth.
"Even our renowned appraisers have been unable to decipher it. As for its exact nature, you will have to study it yourselves."
"The starting price is two thousand taels!"
As soon as he finished, boos filled the hall.
"What is this nonsense? You dare ask two thousand taels for a scrap of parchment nobody can understand?"
"Exactly! Who would be crazy enough to buy that thing?"
The atmosphere turned cold for a time. The old man held his wooden gavel, struggling to save face.
Lin Yuan raised a brow and slowly opened his eyes.
If others could not comprehend it, that was because their comprehension was lacking.
This rightfully belonged to me!
Lin Yuan bid outright.
"Two thousand taels."
The entire venue instantly fell silent.
Everyone raised their heads in unison toward Room A at the center of the third floor.
"What kind of moron..."
Someone beside him immediately clapped a hand over his mouth and warned him quietly.
"Are you tired of living? That's Captain Lin of the Dragon Guard!"
The heads of the great clans in the other third-floor rooms leaned out curiously.
Once they saw that it was Lin Yuan, that baleful star, they all kept silent.
As for why they recognized Lin Yuan.
There was no other reason.
The county deputy had specifically warned them and even provided each of their clans with a portrait of Lin Yuan.
Overjoyed and afraid Lin Yuan might change his mind, the old man hurriedly brought down the gavel to seal the deal.
"Sold! Congratulations to our honored guest in Room A!"
Lin Yuan remained composed and took a sip of tea.
It was only two thousand taels. If it really turned out to be a tremendous overlooked bargain, he would make a killing.
The old man drew a deep breath and pressed his palms downward.
"Everyone, next comes tonight's grand finale!"
The clan heads all stood. They had waited the entire evening for precisely this item.
Had the Treasure Pavilion not always been under the control of County Deputy Wang Ruogu, they would long since have used their status as partners to quietly intercept it.
Now that the item had found its way to the auction, there was no telling whether it was a blessing or a curse.
A maid stepped onto the platform, holding a red sandalwood box in both hands.
The old man carefully opened the box and took out an ancient, dark-gold book.
"An incomplete Earth Rank lightness art, Swimming Dragon Steps!"
Boom!
The entire first-floor hall erupted, and countless people sprang from their chairs.
An Earth Rank martial art!
Even incomplete, it was still Earth Rank!
Very satisfied with everyone's reaction, the old man raised his voice to introduce it.
"Although Swimming Dragon Steps is missing its latter half and can only be cultivated to minor accomplishment..."
"Once mastered, it allows you to move like a swimming dragon and forcibly suspend yourself in the air for several breaths!"
"The starting price is two hundred thousand taels, with each increase no less than five thousand!"
Lin Yuan's eyes narrowed, and he leaned forward slightly.
What a fine thing!
If I could get Swimming Dragon Steps and fuse it with Flowing Cloud Steps and other Mortal Grade martial arts, perhaps I could piece together a complete Earth Rank lightness art!
Then he would no longer have to awkwardly climb into the air by stepping on his right foot with his left.
"Two hundred and ten thousand taels!"
An aged voice came first from Room B on the left.
"That's the old patriarch of the Wang Clan in the north of the city! The Wang Clan really couldn't sit still!"
"Two hundred and fifty thousand taels!"
Someone in Room C opposite immediately followed, his voice booming.
"It's the lord of Iron Sword Manor outside the city!"
"Three hundred thousand taels! Manor Lord Li, I am determined to have this movement art. Please do this old Wang the courtesy!"
"Hmph! What courtesy is there to speak of before an Earth Rank martial art? Three hundred and fifty thousand taels!"
The two rooms were locked in battle, the price shooting upward like a rocket.
"Four hundred thousand taels!"
"Five hundred thousand taels!"
When the old Wang patriarch gritted his teeth and shouted the astronomical price of five hundred thousand taels, the hall fell so quiet that a falling pin could have been heard.
Everyone sucked in cold breaths!
Manor Lord Li fell silent. Clearly, this price had exceeded what he could bear.
The old man's hand trembled around the gavel as he shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Any higher bids?"
The old patriarch's smug chuckle came from the Wang Clan's room.
Just as the old man raised his gavel high, ready to bring it down.
An indifferent voice rang out from Room A.
"Six hundred thousand taels."
Boom!
One stone stirred a thousand waves!
Everyone who had thought the dust had settled suddenly looked up.
It was him!
Six hundred thousand taels!
How could a young captain who had only just taken office possibly produce that much?
The old Wang patriarch had clearly realized this too.
He crushed his teacup in his hand and roared toward the platform.
"Steward Liu! I demand an immediate verification of his funds!"
"Please wait a moment, everyone."
The old man hurried off the platform and headed to Room A.
"Captain Lin, about this..."
The old man rubbed his hands awkwardly.
Lin Yuan fell silent.
He really could not produce that much money, but fortunately, he still had assets.
Sacrifice the ancestral estate to heaven, and gain boundless power!
"How much do you think the Lin Clan Cloth Shop is worth?"
This was the largest cloth shop in Ping'an County!
The old man's eyes lit up. He hurriedly had a maid bring an abacus, worked through the calculations carefully for a moment, and quoted a firm price.
"The Treasure Pavilion is willing to purchase it for four hundred thousand taels."
Lin Yuan nodded. That met his expectations, but it was still not enough.
He suddenly remembered something and continued.
"I also have a batch of refined iron, about twenty thousand jin."
The old man's eyelid twitched at this. Who would dare secretly stockpile so much refined iron? What were they planning?
But Lin Yuan was a Dragon Guard, so there was no issue.
The old man considered it and named a figure.
"One hundred thousand taels."
Lin Yuan told him where the refined iron was buried, then took out a secret manual. It was none other than that Human Grade martial art, Flowing Cloud Steps.
After leafing through it, the old man quoted another hundred thousand taels.
With that, the six hundred thousand taels had finally been gathered. He smiled, bowed, and withdrew.
Before long.
The old man stepped onto the platform and cupped his hands toward the old Wang patriarch.
"Patriarch Wang! The honored guest in Room A has passed the verification of funds!"
Whoosh!
The entire venue erupted!
The old Wang patriarch's face twitched violently, his chest so tight he could hardly bear it.
"Wang Ruogu, you old bastard! I'm not done with you!"
He snorted heavily, flung his sleeve, and sat back down.
The old man brought his wooden gavel down hard!
"Congratulations to our honored guest in Box A on winning the final auction lot!"
The crowd dispersed, still wanting more.
Lin Yuan completed the handover and received the parchment scroll and Swimming Dragon Steps, just as he had hoped.
As he stepped through the Treasure Pavilion's doors, the night wind swept against his face, carrying a slight chill.
He headed north along the long street. Just as he reached the shadows of a dimly lit street corner, he abruptly stopped.
His keen senses detected an exceedingly well-concealed gaze from behind him.
He spun around.
Beneath the dusky yellow glow of the lanterns, people thronged the night market.
At an alley entrance a hundred paces away, a figure draped in a black cloak swiftly ducked into the alley, leaving only a fluttering corner of clothing in view.