Sweeping Through Martial Arts: My Clone's Extraordinary Talent

Although Shishe Town is not large, it is located at the intersection of several surrounding towns, making it easily accessible and bustling.

It was still dark, but a large number of people had already gathered in the town.

A significant portion of them were江湖客 (jianghu ke, meaning people who travel the martial arts world).

The auction will be held at 7:00 PM in the third-floor reception room of the Heart Serpent Building in the town center.

Shen Han took a stroll around the town.

He noticed that almost everyone was talking about the auction, which clearly showed that the organizer, the Stone Snake Merchant Guild, attached great importance to the auction and also intended to use the opportunity to make a name for themselves.

Night gradually fell.

"Let's have dinner first..."

Shen Han walked into a tavern, found a seat by the window, called over the waiter, and ordered several main dishes.

After a few bites, the conversation of the guests at the next table came through.

"Tell me, what good stuff has the Stone Serpent Merchant Guild prepared?"

"Who could possibly know..."

"I've heard that the grand finale of the auction is a top-notch martial arts manual."

"Haha, let's see who can get the bid."

"I estimate it will cost at least a thousand taels of silver. As for other items, those that can be auctioned will cost at least several hundred taels of silver."

"Anyway, it's none of our business."

"That's true, and no one can say for sure what kind of monsters or demons will appear at the Spirit Serpent Tower at the hour of Xu (7-9 PM)."

Shen Han ate his meal in silence.

I have 150 taels on me. According to them, that might not be enough to buy the martial arts manual.

Have to think of a way.

After the meal, he went into a pawnshop.

"Shopkeeper, could you tell me how much this jade pendant is worth?"

He pulled a bright orange jade pendant shaped like two fish from his pocket and handed it to the pawnshop owner. He had obtained this pendant that night from the corpse of the monk Lin Tanzhi had killed.

The shopkeeper took the jade pendant and examined it for a while: "This jade is lustrous and translucent, and the design is quite rare. Here's the price: fifty taels of silver."

"That's too little."

Shen Han shook his head and said calmly.

The shopkeeper replied, "If you urgently need money, young master, I can add another ten taels, but that's absolutely not more."

"Hahaha!"

Suddenly, a deep, resonant laugh rang out.

He was a burly man with a beard.

"Young man, I'll take your jade pendant. How about one hundred taels of silver?"

The burly man strode in, gave Shen Han a hearty smile, and without any hesitation, pulled out a hundred-tael silver note.

Seeing this, the shopkeeper had no choice but to return the jade pendant to Shen Han.

"May I ask your esteemed name, sir?"

As he stepped out of the pawnshop, Shen Han cupped his hands in greeting to the bearded man.

"Of course, I am Wentai."

"So it's Brother Wen."

Shen Han said, "Since Brother Wen has taken a liking to this jade pendant, let's exchange money for goods."

Wen Tai readily agreed, "That's exactly right!"

After receiving the jade pendant, he was overjoyed: "To be honest, I bought it for my sweetheart. She likes orange jade and the design of Pisces. I searched for a long time and finally found this jade pendant that suits her."

"Then I wish Brother Wen and his wife a long and happy marriage."

Thank you, until we meet again.

Wen Tai put the jade pendant into his pocket, turned around and left.

Now that I have two hundred and fifty taels of silver, I'm qualified to try my luck... Shen Han thought to himself.

He received a hundred taels of silver for the jade pendant, which gave him more confidence.

The sky gradually darkened.

Finally, it's almost 7 PM.

Shen Han spent one coin to buy a hat, put it on to cover half of his face, and arrived at the main entrance of the Spirit Serpent Tower.

"Young master, are you here to attend the auction?"

The gatekeeper stopped him.

Shen Han nodded: "Yes, I have long admired the Stone Serpent Chamber of Commerce and have come here specifically to attend the meeting."

The deacon, expressionless, extended his hand: "Please show me the invitation."

Invitation letter?

Do we need an invitation letter?

Shen Han was dumbfounded; he had no idea about this information.

However, it is reasonable for the Stone Snake Chamber of Commerce to require an invitation to enter. After all, the auction is not something that ordinary people can participate in, so there must be some restrictions. Therefore, the Chamber of Commerce issued invitations to famous and influential people in advance.

Of course, invitations are transferable.

In other words, they only recognize the invitation letter, not the person.

"What should we do..."

After hitting a wall, Shen Han returned to the main street of the town.

I rushed here excitedly, but putting aside whether I could buy any cultivation manuals, I couldn't even attend the meeting!

"Young man?"

Suddenly, Wen Tai appeared in front of him.

Seeing that Shen Han's expression was not good, Wen Tai smiled and said, "Could it be that you can't get into the Spirit Serpent Tower?"

Shen Han was startled: "Brother Wen, how did you know?"

Wen Tai chuckled and said, "You came to Stone Serpent Town tonight, and you're even wearing a hat now. I can't think of any other reason besides that you're going to attend an auction."

"I was genuinely unaware that an invitation was required for entry."

"Give."

The next moment, Wen Tai pulled out an invitation.

Shen Han looked closely and saw that the red background with black characters was an invitation to the auction!

"What does Brother Wen mean?"

"I was going to attend an auction tonight to see if I could find a suitable jade pendant."

Wen Tai took out the Pisces Jade Pendant. "Now that I've already bought it from you, little brother, there's no need for me to go again. Keeping the invitation is a waste, so I'll give it to you."

Shen Han was overjoyed: "Thank you so much, Brother Wen!"

Wen Tai was in high spirits and took his leave, saying, "I wish you success in finding what you desire, young man!"

Fortunately!

Holding the invitation, Shen Han returned to the Spirit Serpent Tower.

When the steward saw him return with an invitation, he was puzzled but said nothing and let him enter the Spirit Serpent Tower.

Ascending the wooden stairs, Shen Han entered the third floor.

This is a spacious hall with a wooden platform erected in front. Below the platform are hundreds of rattan chairs, each marked with a number.

By this time, about twenty people had taken their seats.

Some of them, like Shen Han, wore hats, and a few even wore masks.

"Young master, this is your number plate."

A butler presented Shen Han with a wooden plaque.

It's number thirty-two.

Shen Han found his seat and began to wait patiently.

Soon, more and more people came in.

In less than fifteen minutes, there were only a few seats left in the hall, indicating that most of the people invited by the Chamber of Commerce had arrived.

"Huh, what's he doing here too?"

Just then, Shen Han saw a Taoist priest with a bull's nose sitting in the front row of the hall, wearing a dark yellow Taoist robe.

The Taoist priest was none other than Xuan Yangzi, whom I had met at the county government office before.

What is this person's identity?

Shen Han thought to himself, "He can openly enter the county government office with a weapon and have a private talk with the magistrate, and tonight he's going to town to attend an auction..."

clap clap!

Before he could think further, two clear sounds rang out.

A distinguished young man stepped onto the platform, waving a folding fan and exuding elegance: "Welcome everyone to the Spirit Serpent Pavilion. I am Zhao Yu, the vice president of the Stone Serpent Chamber of Commerce, and I will be hosting today's auction."

After a pause, Zhao Yu smiled and said, "I know you are all important people with busy schedules, so I won't waste time reading the opening remarks."

Let's get straight to the point.

There are a total of twenty-nine good items at tonight's auction.

"Someone come here! Bring up the first item!"