The Auction

If it weren’t for the upcoming auction, Su Qing would have found a way to cause a major incident and get herself confined for several years, only emerging after thoroughly refining “Blind.”

Zhu Xing’er had long since written to inform her that the auction jointly hosted by the top merchant guild Nine Heavens Pavilion and four banks had caused a stir in Tianque City

. According to the information she received, Golden Core spirit items, and even Nascent Soul spirit items, would appear at the auction.

This prompted Su Qing to pay attention to whether there was anything she needed.

Along with the letter, a copper coin-shaped voucher was sent, precisely the kind of admission ticket Su Qing had received when withdrawing money from Yulong Bank.

Su Qing found the original copper coin and held it between her fingers, examining it closely, and began to ponder.

Although the Sword School mass-produced Nascent Soul cultivators, and the seniors in their fourth year were almost all Nascent Soul cultivators, this did not mean that forming a Nascent Soul was easy.

In fact, a cultivator in the early Nascent Soul stage could already serve as the pillar of a medium-sized cultivator family in a large city.

With such a Nascent Soul presiding over it for a day, other families would not dare to trespass.

Therefore, the appearance of Golden Core spirit items at the auction indicated a very high standard.

There should also be many other good things appearing, possibly including what Tian Ning needed.

Fortunately, she had two vouchers. As for Tang Yueling, Su Qing wasn’t worried at all.

With such a good opportunity to spend money, the young lady would certainly not be inactive.

As expected, not long after, Tang Yueling brought up the matter. She frowned and said, “After all, this is an auction hosted by the Song family. Although it’s not comparable to the scale in the Divine Capital, and probably not as good as the Western Sea, since they dared to spread rumors of Golden Core spirit items appearing, there should be some good things inside.”

Su Qing was somewhat surprised. “The Song family? Weren’t you saying the Nine Heavens Pavilion, along with the Four Banks?”

“You truly hear nothing of the outside world.” Tang Yueling sat up straight, her gaze sharp. “The Nine Heavens Pavilion itself is a Song family enterprise. Even the Four Banks are backed by the Song family’s affinal relatives; they are all considered part of the Song family’s lineage.”

“You don’t even know all this. If you go out, you won’t even know who you’re offending.”

Although the Qi family treated Tian Ning very poorly, she still understood these basic common sense facts about the Divine Capital. She said to Su Qing, “The Song family excels at manipulative tricks.”

Su Qing asked, “What is that?”

Tian Ning replied, “Manipulative arts and tricks are both control techniques. The current head of the Song family is precisely a sixth-tier puppet master.”

“I don’t like it.” She emphasized, “Stay away.”

Tang Yueling sneered. “This whole family looks gentle and refined, but behind the scenes, each one is more ruthless than the last. And they’re all motivated by profit. Offending them isn’t scary, but if they see you as profitable, then it gets fun.”

Thinking of the Song family members, Su Qing could only recall the vague figures of the two sisters, Song Huiyi and Song Huisi. She rarely encountered them.

In fact, these descendants of aristocratic families didn’t care about the Sword School’s attendance or courses; they seemed to be here for other purposes.

These people had their own exclusive domains in the Sword School.

Usually, they hardly interacted with ordinary students, but when they made a move, it was always a fierce one.

Su Qing still remembered the Devouring Sky Serpent Dragon that had stirred up unrest in the Sword School back then.

If Guan Jiayu were still around, who knew how many more troubles would have arisen?

Therefore, Su Qing thought that these two, as Tang Yueling said, looked like serene Buddhas, gentle and elegant.

Tang Yueling remembered being set up by the two Song sisters in the Myriad Beast Forest.

The smile on her lips grew colder. Although she had made the first move, it was still shameless for the Song family to intervene afterwards.

Fortunately, their side lost a Spirit Transformation cultivator, otherwise, she didn’t know how long this resentment would have lingered in Tang Yueling’s heart.

Of course, when these two reappeared later, they still maintained a facade of closeness with Tang Yueling, their smiles as usual, neither adding nor subtracting a bit, which was truly somewhat sickening to her.

Tian Ning, however, had no such troubles.

She had long since declared her stance of separating herself from these aristocratic descendants.

The Qi family didn’t dare to bother her, much less the Song family.

“Let’s not talk about these unlucky things for now. I only received three internal arena invitations.” Tang Yueling clutched a crystal-clear “Year Jade” in her hand, frowning. “But I’ve already promised Shi Tao and Qi Mei that I’ll take them to join the fun. If only Xue Shan wasn’t in seclusion recently, otherwise, one of them would have to sit in the outer arena.”

Su Qing, the country bumpkin, held the dull grey copper coin in her hand and looked at Tang Yueling’s dazzling Year Jade. “What’s the difference between the internal and outer arenas? Is it just the seating?”

“How could that be?” Tang Yueling explained this common knowledge. “It’s not just about seating. Ordinary goods are one thing, but if it’s high-quality merchandise, it must first go through the internal arena. If no one in the internal arena takes it, then it will be released to the outer arena. Moreover, after the auction, those with internal arena tickets can directly enter the secondary meeting.

Su Qing frowned.

How could all these terms be things she didn’t understand? This feeling of ignorance was truly long overdue.

Tang Yueling looked at Tian Ning.

The latter was obediently waiting for her explanation, holding the Snowfall Sword.

Her face, as usual, was cold, but her soul had long since flown to the heavens.

She pressed her temple, feeling a surge of anger in her heart.

Su Qing’s humble origins in the mortal world explained her ignorance of auction common knowledge, but for the eldest daughter of the first aristocratic family to not even understand auction and secondary meeting common knowledge showed what kind of life she lived in the Qi family.

The Qi family probably just gave her a meal and took care of the rest, not managing anything else.

Tang Yueling tried to describe it in the most concise language possible. “You can think of it this way: the truly good items are all at the secondary meeting.”

Su Qing understood.

A regular auction was a single meeting, while those with internal arena tickets could stay and directly participate in the secondary meeting, accessing resources completely unknown to the outside world.

She had withdrawn several million spirit stones from Yulong Bank.

The Yulong Bank clerk had only given her an outer arena ticket.

Zhu Xing’er had more assets and was already a prominent businesswoman in Tianque City.

The tickets she obtained were still for the outer arena.

Only someone of Tang Yueling’s background could obtain an inner arena ticket, which showed what kind of status was required to participate in the secondary meeting.

Su Qing figured it out and felt relieved.

If the secondary meeting was only for people like Tang Yueling, then they probably wouldn’t be interested in ordinary Golden Core spirit items or Nascent Soul spirit items; they would likely be put up for the first meeting.

Moreover, if the goods were that good, they probably couldn’t be bought with spirit stones alone; it would likely be barter or promises of future favors.

As for herself, a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator, she knew her limits. She wouldn’t wade into this muddy water.

Tang Yueling also thought of this point and said, “If there’s anything suitable, I’ll keep an eye out for you. But this isn’t the Western Continent. Whether you can get it or not isn’t just about spirit stones. Besides, you two aren’t without a chance to enter the secondary meeting. If you spend enough spirit stones during the first meeting, the guild will naturally open the doors for you.”

Su Qing didn’t argue with Tang Yueling. She said, “Prioritize yourself first. We two have our own ways. Besides, the third secret realm is opening soon.”

The third secret realm was colloquially known as the “Rescue Secret Realm.” Generally, the Sword School would specifically select secret realms with the most opportunities and richest resources to open, placing students within them.

It was basically no different from university professors easing up the grading to help students pass and graduate successfully.

Just this point: the third secret realm was also recognized as the secret realm with the highest attrition rate among the four secret realms.

Perhaps to prepare for the auction, Su Qing began to tally her assets.

Then, to her despair, she realized she had always adhered to the principle of “resources in the storage bag are not mine; only what I spend on myself is mine.” She spent as much as she had, and her remaining cash was only the portion she had just withdrawn and hadn’t had time to spend.

Tian Ning was similar to her.

Her talent was outstanding, so she didn’t need many cultivation resources.

Over time, she could accumulate some wealth.

Unfortunately, she was immersed in cultivation every day and had no extra thought for pursuing profit-generating endeavors.

Furthermore, she had already severed ties with the Qi family, and her pockets were surprisingly empty, containing only a sword and a pile of sword-nourishing materials.

She was truly destitute.

If her contribution points were still available, Su Qing would have secretly exchanged them for spirit stones long ago.

However, her contribution points had already been redeemed. The Limitless Pavilion was quite shrewd; a single sword manual or cultivation technique jade slip was only allowed to be viewed by one person’s divine sense, and could not be passed on.

To save contribution points, she and Tian Ning had started a system where one learned a technique and taught the other, saving money. Even with such stringent savings, they had, as expected, exhausted their contribution points.

Perhaps it was due to the auction, but the exchange rate between contribution points and spirit stones had been very poor recently. The fewer spirit stones one could exchange for one contribution point, the less the exchange rate.

“We won’t just be going to make up the numbers, will we?”

Tian Ning pondered for a moment and said, “There are usually people who kill and steal at auctions.”

Su Qing understood her meaning.

This was Su Qing’s first time visiting the Nine Heavens Pavilion.

Although the Nine Heavens Pavilion in Tianque City was only a branch, it was far from the magnificent headquarters in the Divine Capital. However, to her, it was already an uncommon sight.

This building was not located on the ground, but built on the clouds using a floating array.

From afar, it looked like a mirage; only half of the building floated in the sky.

Su Qing marveled inwardly, ‘How terrifying must the daily maintenance cost of such an array be? It truly deserves to be called a place of immense wealth.’

The advantage of being built on the clouds was that it was difficult to escape, and it was difficult for people to be killed and robbed. In a sense, it also protected the safety of the customers.

To get from the ground to the top, one had to change transport three times, each time with cultivators verifying credentials.

Even upon reaching the Nine Heavens Pavilion’s grand hall, another check was required, all to prevent anyone from exploiting loopholes to enter.

With the copper coin voucher in hand, she smoothly passed through the layers of checks.

For places requiring payment like this, Su Qing never used her true appearance.

After her divine sense improved, she discovered that everyone’s spiritual energy fluctuations and divine sense imprints were unique.

Although these were subtle details, to those with keen eyes, they were clearly discernible. The safest approach was never to enter in one’s true form, but to act through puppet techniques.

However, the level of the first meeting wasn’t very high, so her disguise should be sufficient.

She walked across the carpeted floor with the flow of people, not too fast or too slow, to the entrance of the auction hall. She presented her voucher.

After the Nine Heavens Pavilion cultivator verified it and found no issues, they pointed the way. “Daoist friend, this way please.”