Bearing the blue sky

Chapter 350 Auction! Strengthening our power!

The storefront of Chang'an Auction House was much wider than the surrounding shops, with a gilded wooden plaque hanging above the door.

The words "Chang'an Auction House" were written on it, and the characters were neat and weighty.

Two men in dark blue short jackets stood at the door, their figures upright.

The shop assistant's gaze swept steadily across the crowd coming and going, as if he was already used to distinguishing who were the real buyers and who were just there to watch the spectacle.

Zhu Ge stood at the door for a while, looking at the open door and the warm yellow light shining from inside, before stepping inside.

The space inside the door was much larger than he had expected.

The two men probably sensed that Zhu Ge had the cultivation level of the third realm, so they did not stop him.

The hall was spacious, with a floor paved with polished dark stone slabs. Several paintings and calligraphy works hung on the walls on both sides, the wooden frames showing a dark luster from the passage of time.

In the center of the hall, there were several rows of benches, and many people were already sitting on them. Some were talking in hushed tones, while others sat quietly, flipping through a thin booklet in their hands.

Upon entering, one immediately senses that the person must be extremely wealthy or powerful.

The counter was located at the far end of the hall, with a single piece of dark old wood on the surface that had been polished smooth and shiny.

Behind the counter stood a thin, middle-aged man wearing a dark gray robe, who was writing something on an open booklet.

Hearing footsteps, he looked up, his gaze lingering on Zhu Ge for a moment: "Is the guest here to consign an item for auction, or to bid?"

"Let's take a look first," Zhu Ge said. "I've heard that you sometimes see things here that aren't easy to find outside."

The middle-aged man put down his pen and took out a neatly bound booklet from the drawer under the counter.

Then she walked over, placed the booklet on the table, opened it to a page, turned it around, and pushed it toward Zhu Ge: "This is the catalog of items to be auctioned this month. Guests can take a look first, and if anyone is interested, they can register to bid before the auction begins."

Zhu Ge took the booklet and opened it to the first page.

The entries in the booklet were written concisely and clearly, with each item labeled with its name, grade, origin, and starting bid, and accompanied by a finely drawn illustration.

The first few pages mostly contain high-grade spiritual herbs and ores, which are not too expensive, but the quality looks good.

When he turned to the middle section, an item caught his attention.

A fist-sized, crimson inner core!

The grade was marked as mid-grade Yuan level, and the source was listed as "a monster from a certain third realm in Shu Jiang". The starting price was higher than he expected.

He flipped through a few more pages and saw a yellowed animal skin scroll, graded as a superior Yuan dynasty piece, with the provenance stated as "specific date unknown".

The diagram next to it depicted part of the scroll's texture, the lines of which vaguely resembled the veins he had seen on water vein diagrams, but were simpler and more rugged.

He lingered on that page for a few more moments, then closed the booklet and put it back on the counter.

However, he doesn't have a strong need for this kind of thing right now.

There wasn't time to explore or unravel the mystery, so I just took a casual look.

"What is the procedure if I want to send some photos or videos to the camera?" Zhu Ge asked.

The middle-aged man took the booklet and put it back in the drawer under the counter: "The customer needs our appraiser to check the grade and condition of the item first, determine the valuation range, and then sign the consignment auction agreement."

"After the auction is completed, we will collect 10% of the transaction price as commission, and the remaining amount will be settled within three business days after the auction ends."

It's quite methodical.

Zhu Ge nodded to herself, then asked, "Is the appraiser here now?"

"Yes, I am." The middle-aged man turned to the side and gestured towards a door on the side of the hall: "Please follow me, guest."

Zhu Ge followed the middle-aged man through the side door and into a corridor that was slightly darker than the main hall.

Every few steps along the walls on both sides of the corridor hung an oil lamp, its wick making a soft crackling sound as it burned.

At the end of the corridor was a half-open wooden door, through which a warm light shone.

The middle-aged man pushed open the door and stepped aside to let people in: "Please come in, guest. The appraiser is inside."

The room behind the door was not large, about ten feet square, with several rows of wooden shelves embedded in the walls, on which were placed samples of spiritual materials of various textures and shapes.

In the center of the room was a large wooden table covered with a worn-out velvet cloth. Behind the table sat a thin old man, who was wiping a porcelain vase with a soft cloth, its surface gleaming with a pale blue luster.

"Mr. Li, this customer has something he'd like to send for auction," the middle-aged man said.

The old man put down the porcelain bottle and soft cloth in his hands, raised his head, and his gaze lingered on Zhu Ge for a moment.

His gaze wasn't sharp, nor did it possess the usual probing quality. It was as if he were someone who had seen too much, trying to ascertain the relationship between the person in front of him and those things in his own habitual way.

"What would you like to send for auction, sir?" the old man asked.

Zhu Ge did not answer immediately.

He walked to the table and sat down in the chair opposite it.

Then he raised his right hand, took out a fist-sized crimson inner core from his own realm, and placed it on the velvet cloth on the table.

"Sir, please take a look at this."

The surface of the inner core glowed slightly, with a texture as if it had been repeatedly tempered by flames.

The old man's gaze fell on the inner core. He examined it for a while, then picked it up, gently turned it over in his hand, and looked at it closely for a moment: "The inner core of a third-realm fire-attribute demon beast. It's in good condition, with no obvious cracks or wear marks, and it's very well preserved."

"Can you give me a price estimate?" Zhu Ge asked.

"Low-grade Yuan level." The old man placed the inner core back on the velvet cloth. "The starting price can be set at around fifty gold coins. If a suitable buyer is found, the final price may be between seventy and eighty gold coins."

"Not bad —" Zhu Ge nodded, offering no comment on the price.

He took out a few more things from his own realm.

Several scales with a dark blue sheen, a completely transparent crystal core, and a small piece of ore with fine veins.

The old man took each item and examined it, then gave an estimate for each one.

"These scales are of good quality, but their grade isn't very high." The old man finally put the scales back on the velvet cloth. "If you would like to consign them as a whole for auction, I can help you combine them into one item, with a starting bid of around two hundred gold coins."

The price is not bad, but not that high — Zhu Ge didn't nod immediately.

Although he wasn't in a hurry for the money, he still needed to sell it at the auction.

If it doesn't sell, we'll still have to pay the auction fees, which is a losing proposition.

He thought for a moment and said, "Let's not rush to bid on these things. I want to see what the auction is like tonight. If I see something suitable, then I'll consider making a move."

The old man did not object and pushed the items back in front of Zhu Ge: "Sir, you can wait in the hall for a while. The auction will begin in half an hour."

Zhu Ge did not wait on the bench in the hall.

He walked out of the appraiser's room, through the slightly dimmer corridor than the main hall, and stopped near the counter, his gaze fixed on it.

It landed on the wall on one side of the hall.

There hung a map larger than the surrounding calligraphy and paintings. The paper had yellowed, but the lines were still clearly legible. It was a map of the city's wards and markets, with fine ink lines marking the direction of each street and major landmarks.

He stood in front of the map, his gaze slowly moving along the lines, from the densely populated area of ​​the eastern market district to the relatively sparsely populated area in the western part of the city, and then to the area in the northern part of the city marked as "the Confucian Temple".

His gaze lingered on the location of the academy for a moment before shifting back to the west of the city.

The blacksmith shop that Xiao Er mentioned earlier and the blacksmith shop mentioned by the old man under the tree should be the same one. It is located near the western edge of the city and is only marked with an inconspicuous symbol on the map without any text description.

Liu Jianjian followed him and stood in front of the map for a while, but didn't ask him what he was looking at, as if she was just joining in the fun.

Her gaze swept across the dense lines and markings on the map, as if she were trying to memorize the location relationships of those landmarks in her own way.

Half an hour is not a long time.

Zhu Ge observed the surroundings and assessed the social standing of the customers to gauge the strength of the upper-middle class in Chang'an.

As more and more people filled the hall, the empty seats on the benches were gradually filled, and the scattered conversations merged into a continuous low murmur.

The middle-aged man behind the counter took out a gong from under the counter and tapped it lightly.

The sound wasn't loud, but it was clear enough that the people who were talking fell silent and turned their gaze to the platform at the front of the hall.

Zhu Ge turned around, stood in front of the map for a moment to memorize the street layout, and then walked to an empty seat at the end of the bench and sat down.

Liu Jianjian sat down beside him, her gaze falling on the table in front of her, which was illuminated by the lights, and sat up straight.

Several oil lamps above the table were lit one by one, with the light concentrated on the central area of ​​the table.

A middle-aged man in a dark gray robe walked onto the stage and stood in the center.

He was slightly taller than the middle-aged man behind the counter, and his face looked younger, but his voice and rhythm of speech had a similar characteristic—unhurried and just right.

"Welcome to tonight's auction," he said enthusiastically. "Tonight there are twenty-three lots, covering categories such as spiritual materials, spiritual artifacts, elixirs, and cultivation techniques."

"Before the auction begins, there are a few points to note: First, please maintain order during the bidding process, and second, please pay promptly after winning the bid."

"The specific rules are already noted in the auction catalogs you have, so I won't go into detail."

He paused briefly, as if giving those browsing the catalog enough time to confirm, before continuing, "Now, let's begin with the first item: a high-grade Spirit-level Crimson Flame Stone, originating from the Southern Frontier, suitable for use as an auxiliary material in weapon crafting. Starting bid: fifteen gold coins."

After he finished speaking, he took out a palm-sized reddish-brown mineral from under the table and held it up to the light to show it off.

The surface of the ore has a fine sheen, and under the light, it has a texture similar to that of dried magma after it has cooled.

"Seventeen coins!"

"Great stuff, I'll take it!"

"Eighteen coins!"

In the hall, someone raised their bidding paddle, and the starting price was raised to seventeen coins, then eighteen, and then nineteen.

The final price was twenty-two gold coins, and it was won by a middle-aged man in a dark short jacket sitting in the front row.

Zhu Ge did not participate in the first round of bidding.

He was sitting at the end of the bench, quietly observing the people bidding.

Their clothing, the rhythm of their bidding, their hesitation or decisiveness during the bidding.

Some people seem to be regulars, raising their paddles without hesitation; others appear more cautious, always waiting for someone else to make a bid before considering whether to follow suit.

There was no clear power structure; they were simply a group of people, each with their own goals, who had come to the same auction house.

The second item was a medicinal herb with a pale blue sheen, graded as a superior spiritual herb, with a starting price slightly lower than the first item.

More people raised their paddles in the hall, and the price was driven up to twenty-five coins before it was settled.

Zhu Ge still did not participate in the bidding; he was waiting for the crimson inner core.

The third, fourth, and fifth items were then presented in turn.

There is a medicinal herb called "Wanlingcao" (meaning "herb of ten thousand spirits") whose roots are preserved more intact than expected. It can be used to refine precious elixirs and enhance spiritual consciousness.

Zhu Ge was somewhat tempted, so he simply placed a bid and won the bid for 136 coins.

He's planning to find a place to refine it sometime.

There were also a few high-grade spirit-level refining materials, mostly ores and horn. The starting price wasn't too high, and the transaction price only fluctuated within their respective estimated price ranges.

Zhu Ge would bid on anything that could be devoured by the Purgatory Star Staff, saving it for later "feeding" to the Purgatory Star Staff.

As a weapon forged from Star-Picking Silver, the Purgatory Star Staff's power lies in its growth potential through "devouring and evolution."

Next item to be auctioned—

"Is there anyone else bidding?"

"This one is also a rare treasure —"

The lights in the hall continued to illuminate each item on the table steadily, and the intervals between raising and lowering the paddles were filled with a tacit rhythm.

When it came to the seventh item, the crimson inner elixir was placed on the table.

Under the light, it glowed with a dark red light, like a flame compressed to its extreme.

The host on stage held it in his palm, turning it over to show it to all the bidders present, allowing them to clearly see its texture and luster.

Its surface was free of cracks and wear, resembling a complete inner core that had just been extracted from a demonic beast.

"A low-grade Yuan-level inner core of a third-realm fire-attribute demon beast," the auctioneer said. "In excellent condition, it can be used directly in medicine or for weapon crafting. Starting bid: fifty gold coins."

Once the starting price was announced, the people below reacted in their own ways.

A middle-aged man in a dark red robe in the front row was the first to raise a sign: "Fifty-five."

Someone on the right chimed in: "Sixty."

Then there was a brief pause, as if waiting for the price to settle in the air.

Zhu Ge still didn't raise his paddle; he was waiting for the price to climb to a range he felt was appropriate before making a move.

"Sixty-five." An elderly man sitting diagonally in front of him raised his number plate.

His voice wasn't loud, but it was clear, as if he was used to speaking in this kind of situation.

Zhu Ge glanced at him sideways. The old man sat very steadily, not looking around or talking to anyone around him. He just sat quietly, waiting for the next bid.

His bid noticeably quieted the surrounding discussion. Some people put down their bidding paddles, while others exchanged glances with their neighbors, as if weighing whether the price was worth pursuing.

"Seventy." The middle-aged man in the dark red robe in the front row spoke again, his tone still steady, carrying a sense of composure that he still had energy to spare.

The host's gaze swept across the hall: "Seventy gold coins, is there anything higher?"

The hall fell silent for a moment; no one raised their placard again.

The hand that held the inner core paused for a few moments, then gently lowered it.

"Seventy coins were sold."

The inner elixir was removed from the table and replaced with the next item for auction.

Zhu Ge showed no regret, and simply sat quietly.

He had just observed the reactions of those who raised their paddles, and the moment when someone hesitated slightly during the final bid.

They also saw the middle-aged man in the dark red robe quickly return to his original posture after confirming that he had purchased the inner core, as if it were just a routine expense within expectations.

The auction continued.

The following lots were mostly high-grade spiritual-level medicinal herbs and ores, and the transaction prices were all within the expected range.

Zhu Ge was still not satisfied even after watching the whole thing.

"This kind of auction is really interesting; all my things can be auctioned off."

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