The opening
On the street outside the Profound Heaven Auction House.
The crowd was so densely packed that Feng Xu, sweating buckets as he worked, even suspected the line stretched all the way to the end of Linnan Street!
Ever since night had shrouded the city.
Feng Xu and the maids had been busy arranging seats in the hall.
After the expansion, the hall had a total of three thousand seats, with another hundred private rooms on the second floor.
All told, it could accommodate roughly thirty-two hundred people.
However.
During a spare moment, Feng Xu glanced at the still tightly packed crowd and discovered, to his despair, that there were not enough seats!
At present, more than two thousand people were already seated in the hall.
Yet there were still at least ten thousand people on the street, their clamor so loud that one might think the entire city had turned out.
That said, however.
Feng Xu knew that most of these people would not be able to enter the auction house.
Even if they packed the corridors and gardens full, the entire auction house could hold no more than five or six thousand people.
But... what was he supposed to do about that?
With so many people unable even to get through the doors, what would happen if one misstep provoked their collective outrage?
As he continued working with these worries on his mind, Feng Xu found something strange when the auction house reached full capacity: there was no collective outrage!
Once these people learned that the auction house was full, every last one of them behaved astonishingly well. At most, they grumbled once before standing where they were, gazing eagerly inside.
The way they looked.
It was as though they were hoping someone would come out so they could go in.
"How very strange..."
Feng Xu was utterly puzzled.
What he did not see was a hunchbacked old man atop the auction house, surveying the entire scene with imposing vigor!
Inside the auction house.
The lamplight glimmered faintly.
The fifty-two hundred guests murmured among themselves from time to time, but their eyes kept turning toward the young man occupying the foremost seat.
They had noticed him sitting there as soon as they entered, and each could not help growing curious about the young man.
Inside the private rooms.
The heads of the five great Lineages and the people from the Commandery Prince's Estate also could not help looking toward Gu Fan.
Beyond attending the auction, their greater purpose in coming here was to probe its true strength!
An exquisite-grade tier-two martial technique-others only knew it was being auctioned at the Profound Heaven Auction House.
But they had even gone to great lengths over it, hoping to find the person who had put the martial technique up for auction!
Yet no matter what they did, they still had no idea who that person was.
Amid these myriad thoughts.
The Profound Heaven Auction House's second auction arrived as scheduled!
On the raised platform, the auctioneer Bu Yi walked gracefully onto the stage.
Her innocent, lovely face bore a smile as refreshing as a spring breeze, but the next moment, her ankle twisted slightly. She stumbled forward several steps before barely steadying herself, looking somewhat embarrassed.
Bu Yi was very nervous.
At previous auctions, she had only faced a few dozen minor figures.
Today, however, she faced all the leading powers of Yanshan Commandery City, as well as the fifty-two hundred people throughout the auction house!
Anyone would have been a bundle of nerves before such a grand gathering.
Fortunately, however.
No one below the stage made any remarks about Bu Yi's embarrassing predicament.
After smoothing her hair to ease her embarrassment, Bu Yi stood in the center of the platform and spoke loudly.
"Welcome, everyone, to tonight's auction at the Profound Heaven Auction House. I am Bu Yi, your auctioneer for this event."
After her introduction, the clamor inside the auction house gradually subsided.
Pairs of eyes gathered on Bu Yi, quietly awaiting her next words.
Facing the pressure of the crowd's piercing gazes, Bu Yi continued, "For this auction, the Profound Heaven Auction House has prepared eleven items for bidding. Now... let us begin with the first item of this auction..."
Her words echoed.
A maid carefully carried a wooden box onto the platform.
Below the stage.
Gu Fan's eyes flickered.
During the auction's preparations, which had lasted just one day, more than thirty treasures had been appraised.
As he had expected, once the news spread, more mercenary groups had come to put their treasures up for auction.
However.
Perhaps because its reputation was not yet firmly established.
In the eyes of these mercenary groups, the Profound Heaven Auction House still fell short of the three great auction houses.
Thus, none of the treasures appraised had been tier-two treasures.
Indeed, tier-two treasures were so precious that one could not simply encounter them at will.
Besides, Gu Fan was newly arrived, and his foundations were not yet secure. Even if these mercenary groups possessed such treasures, they would choose the more reliable three great auction houses!
Even if Gu Fan charged only a 1% commission, it would make no difference!
Nevertheless.
In Gu Fan's view, the ten items selected for this auction were of excellent quality.
Two exquisite-grade tier-one treasures...
Eight high-grade tier-one treasures...
Compared with the previous auction, where every item had been mid-grade tier-one, this was already an enormous improvement!
The first item even tempted Gu Fan himself!
Soon.
Bu Yi's voice rang out from the stage.
"The first item, an exquisite-grade tier-one treasure... stalactite milk!"
Stalactite milk.
It was a milky liquid that dripped from within rare stalactites after they absorbed the essence of the sun and moon, containing exceptionally pure spiritual power!
Once swallowed, it could raise one's cultivation realm, making it a supreme treasure for advancing from the Body Tempering Realm into the Spirit Sea Realm!
Moreover.
It even had some effect on Spirit Sea Realm cultivators.
"Stalactite milk! To think it would be such a supreme treasure!"
"If I remember correctly, the last time stalactite milk was auctioned was half a year ago! Alas, I fell one move short back then and failed to win it."
"I left the sect this time precisely to search for stalactite milk. I never expected to encounter it at an auction. It seems this treasure is fated for me..."
"..."
"Everyone! The starting price for the stalactite milk is ten thousand low-grade spirit stones, with each bid increasing by no fewer than one thousand low-grade spirit stones!"
Facing the enthusiastic voices rising from below the stage, Bu Yi hurriedly struck while the iron was hot and made her announcement.
At once, the bidding grew fierce.
"Ten thousand low-grade spirit stones!"
"Eleven thousand! I will definitely win this stalactite milk!"
"Twelve thousand!"
"..."
Inside the hall were fifty-two hundred people.
With only the first item before them, they were already bidding with blazing enthusiasm.
The Spirit Sea Realm was not so easy to enter.
Who knew how much time it would take if one simply absorbed Spiritual Qi diligently?
But with a supreme treasure for entering the Spirit Sea Realm, one would have a strong chance of breaking into the Spirit Sea they dreamed of day and night in just three to five days.
With the breakthrough so difficult, naturally, even Yanshan Commandery City did not have many Spirit Sea Realm cultivators.
The truly numerous ones were still Body Tempering Realm cultivators!
Thus, a supreme breakthrough treasure like stalactite milk scratched them right where they itched!
"I bid twenty thousand low-grade spirit stones! Everyone, I am a disciple of the Water Mirror Sect, a mere step away from breaking into the Spirit Sea Realm. If you let me have this treasure, I will never forget your kindness!"
"You think you're the only one who wants to break into the Spirit Sea Realm? Hmph! I bid thirty thousand!"
"What's the point of all this squabbling? I bid fifty thousand! Who dares bid again?!"
"..."