Chapter 57

Like that, a week flew by and the approaching Soba Festival was just around the corner. With around 230 spirit stones, Qian Yu was feeling pretty smug as he continuously kept thinking about what he could buy at the upcoming auction.

‘230 spirit stones is pretty good right?’ Qian Yu was thinking as he sat outside on the roof of the inn he was currently staying at.

Besides him, there was a plate of grilled fish which Tian Xinyi was eating from.

“Master, I still can’t believe I spent 25 years eating raw food,” she casually said as she continued munching on the food.

“Hehe, don’t worry, I’ll continue to feed you good food,” Qian Yu just laughed as he patted her head and watched the large gathering of people in front of him.

“How is the poison in your body?” Qian Yu asked now that he remembered Tian Xinyi was still injured.

“It’s still there,” Tian Xinyi replied unhappily as she thought about it.

“Do you know how to get rid of it?” Qian Yu asked worriedly.

“The poison is from another rare grade spiritual beast, so I won’t be able to completely remove it until I grow stronger to the epic grade. Other than that, if there is a purification martial technique, it should be able to do the trick,” Tian Xinyi said.

“Purification skill huh?” Qian Yu thought for a bit. Continuing he said, “I’ve heard a bit about those but in general, I don’t think my technique will have one but someone I know might have one. It’ll also be hard to ask someone I’m not close with to help with the poison,” Qian Yu said. Remembering Bai Jia, he only knew that she cultivated a water technique but he wasn’t sure if one of the techniques had a purification ability.

“It’s ok, it’s not much of a big deal unless I start fighting a lot,” Tian Xinyi said.

“Alright,” Qian Yu said as he returned his attention to the events in front of him.

Below him, there were countless lanterns hung across everywhere. Meanwhile, street shops were opened everywhere selling food or tourist memos and items. Littered everywhere, were countless tourists and people wandering throughout the streets. Yet the most packed areas where everybody congregated were without a doubt, squares where people were playing music or dancing.

Staring at it, Qian Yu couldn’t help but smile as he saw the magnificent and vibrant city. However, his smile disappeared as he stared in the distance wondering, ‘It would be nice to have someone here to celebrate this with me. I wonder how they are doing… Sun Hong, Bai Jia, and Zhao Xieren…’.

Soon, a large bell rang out as fireworks were sent in the sky. The same time, a loud voice reverberated from the center of the city, “LET THE ANNUAL SOBA FESTIVAL BEGIN!”

Seeing the festival get livelier and livelier, Qian Yu just sighed as he picked up Tian Xinyi and went back to his room.

Waking up the next day, Qian Yu changed into his black robes and donned a mask to cover his face and identity. Jumping out the window, Qian Yu was headed towards the largest auction house in the country.

Soon, he arrived at his destination. It was still morning and the auction would only start in the afternoon after lunch. Nonetheless, Qian Yu left a few hours early to make sure there were no issues.

Entering the large auction house, Qian Yu immediately saw a receptionist as he walked forward.

“Hello sir, are you here to attend the auction as a buyer?” she bowed as she asked.

Looking at the young girl, Qian Yu gave a short reply, “Yes”.

“Do you have an auction card sir?” she replied.

“No,”  Qian Yu said as he wondered what she was referring to. Previously, he had only attended an auction as a spectator. ‘Oh does she mean that card that Zhao Xieren had?’ Qian Yu remembered the first time he went to an auction with Zhao Xieren.

“Please follow me then,” she courteously said as she proceeded to bring Qian Yu to get an auction card.

*Knock knock* “Manager Wei, a new person wants to register for an auction card,” the attendant knocked on a door as she spoke out.

“Thank you, come in,” a male voice resounded out from inside.

Hearing his voice, the girl opened the door as she stepped aside allowing Qian Yu to enter before closing the door and leaving.

Seeing Qian Yu walk in, Manager Wei smiled as he said, “Esteemed guest, please sit”.

Qian Yu stayed silent as he sat down in front of Manager Wei.

“Alright, let’s discuss your auction card. I’ll explain it first. All the official auctions throughout the world use a universal auction card system. The cards are separated into 5 stars depending on your status and wealth,” Manager Wei stopped as he got to this part.

Seeing him stop talking, Qian Yu took it as a sign for him to talk. However, he didn’t do anything, as he just pulled up his long black sleeves showing Manager Wei his storage ring.

“Ahh, thank you, esteemed guest, I will get you a 2 starred auction card then,” Manager Wei didn’t seem surprised as he stood up and walked into another room.

After a few minutes, he came back with an auction card in his hand as he placed it on the table and slid it over the table before saying, “Bind it with your qi. You will need to activate it with your qi for verification later and only one person can activate one card”.

‘Pretty interesting,’ Qian Yu thought as he bound the card. In a matter of seconds, Qian Yu was done as he observed the card. Like his sect identification card, it was a small and slim piece of wood. On it, there were two stars on the bottom with the words, “Universal Auction Card” and “Soba Empire” engraved on it.

Finishing getting his card, Qian Yu left the room as he went back to the main venue. By now, the place was getting more and more populated as people started pouring into the auction house. Still, this auction house was meant to easily host tens of thousands of people.

After finding a new attendant, Qian Yu showed him his card as he inputted his qi into it. Doing so, the card started glowing.

“Thank you sir, please follow me to your booth,” the attendant bowed as he led Qian Yu into a private booth.

Qian Yu had attended previous auctions as an onlooker and never participated. Now, as a participant, he got his own private booth. It wasn’t that big but it was still spacious enough for a few people like the one Zhao Xieren had brought him to.

Waiting for the auction to start, Qian Yu quietly cultivated.

An hour or so later, a loud bell rang out waking Qian Yu from cultivation. As he looked through the one way glass window, the auction had started.

“Welcome everybody to the annual Soba Festival Auction!” a charming woman in a short dress and black stockings said as the masses started roaring and clapping.

“I hope everybody has been saving your money. Alright, for the first item, we have an earth grade weapon,” she seductively winked and laughed before she started getting serious.

‘Starting off with an earth grade weapon already?’ Qian Yu thought. Previously the most expensive things that were sold at regular auctions besides slaves were usually mortal grade weapons which would cost around 10 spirit stones. ‘How expensive would an earth grade weapon be?’ Qian Yu anticipated as he looked at the staff on display. As it was likely made by rare ranked spiritual beasts, it would no doubt be costly.

“70 spirit stones!” a voice shouted.

“I’ll bid 85 spirit stones” another voice shouted out from a different booth.

“90 spirit stones” a rough voice resounded out.

“...” no one said anything as they heard that price offer.

After a few more seconds, the charming woman smiled as she said, “Any more offers… Going once… going twice…. Sold!“

Following that, more and more earth grade weapons were sold. Swords were sold upward to even several hundreds spirit stones! Still, Qian Yu was not interested in any of these weapons as he didn’t have any intention to buy one as the weapons were auctioned off for an hour.

Surprisingly, the auction was moving on to the part that Qian Yu was anticipating the most. ‘Usually, slaves were the most expensive things at regular auctions and were at the end. In a higher end auction like this, even if there are better and more talented slaves, I guess they could only cost so much,’ Qian Yu thought.

‘What would be sold after this then?’ Qian Yu became interested as he returned his focus to the auction stage.