The Grand Auction
Swish!
Jin Somyeong flicked the ink from his brush, folded the letter neatly, and stored it in his subspace.
As long as he wrote and submitted a report like this once a month, the mission counted as complete.
Now, then. Time to train.
The Blue Flood Dragon Gang headquarters Cheong Hwa-ran had established stood in the distance, but he paid it no mind from the start. He had never intended to monitor them diligently in the first place.
In the middle of the bustling market, Jin Somyeong sat cross-legged on a rooftop and closed his eyes. Still maintaining his concealment technique, he used no spiritual energy, relying only on his pure senses as he focused on the faint trace of blood-red energy he could feel.
Hmm...
His blade-sharp concentration reached its limit, and the higher his mind rose, the more he began to perceive something. It felt as though red stars were emerging from the depths of a dense darkness.
Twenty... no, twenty-two?
He could vaguely sense every living being within ten meters of him.
It was all thanks to the Ojangbaekryeongyeol. Because the Five Viscera Hundred Refinements Art was a body-tempering method that awakened the potential within living creatures, it contained several related divine abilities and secret arts.
The technique he had just used to detect nearby life was one of them, called Life-Seeking Net.
A moment later, he quietly opened his eyes and counted the people around him one by one.
...Twenty-one?
Contrary to his expectation, there was one fewer. He had judged there to be twenty-two, but his eyes showed only twenty-one. If he had missed several people, he could simply have blamed his senses for being lacking, but the number being lower instead made him curious.
To be certain, he drew on spiritual energy as well, strengthened his senses, and counted again.
Ah.
It was not his senses that had been wrong, but his eyes.
Someone was walking around with a tamed transparent demonic beast perched on their shoulder.
Once he realized the reason, a smile came to him of its own accord.
The effect of detecting vitality is better than I thought. If anyone comes within ten meters of me, I'll know immediately.
As his attainment in the Five Viscera Hundred Refinements Art rose, the detection range would grow much larger as well.
He was smiling in satisfaction when he suddenly paused.
...Hm?
What a coincidence. His senses, sharpened by training in the Five Viscera Hundred Refinements Art, caught someone. Like a single gust of wind, a faint afterimage leaving only the slightest trace slipped stealthily out of the Blue Flood Dragon Gang headquarters and headed somewhere.
A cultivator from the Blue Flood Dragon Gang? Not bad.
It was a fairly decent concealment technique. Among the Qi Refining cultivators Jin Somyeong had seen so far, it was the best. It was even better than Wang Shin, the spy.
If his divine soul had not been strong enough, it would have been difficult to notice.
Let's at least see where they're going.
Stroking his chin, he rose from his seat. He meant only to watch from a distance, driven by pure curiosity.
After all, within the Inner City of the market, there was almost no chance that he, a disciple of the Red Sun Sect, would be in danger.
Still maintaining his concealment technique, Jin Somyeong followed the cultivator who had left the Blue Flood Dragon Gang for some time.
What is this?
Their route was strange. They made a wide loop around the outskirts of the Inner City, only to return to the market. To go so stealthily, even using a concealment technique, and arrive at a market right beside the Blue Flood Dragon Gang headquarters—suspicious did not even begin to cover it.
Who is this, that they're this cautious just to go to the market?
He recalled the information about the Blue Flood Dragon Gang that he had received from the Red Sun Sect. Comparing details that were difficult to disguise, such as shoulder width and leg length, he could make an educated guess as to the person's identity.
The second-in-command of the Blue Flood Dragon Gang?
There was a very high chance it was the man directly beneath Cheong Hwa-ran, who was called their eldest sister.
Jin Somyeong had wondered why the man was being so careful, but what followed was rather unexpected. He simply spread out a street stall like an ordinary rogue cultivator.
...He's selling pills?
Still, if the goods themselves were special, then special they were. There were piles of high-quality pills, including Qi Condensing Pills, Fasting Pills, Antidote Pills, and more.
Strange...
When Jin Somyeong focused his eyesight and examined them in detail, nearly all of the pills were consistently of good quality. They were not inferior even when compared to the pills sold by a high-end establishment like the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion.
If only one or two of them had been good, he might have shrugged it off. But for most of them to be high quality? That meant they were not merely selling a small batch of pills they had found by chance, but pills made by a skilled alchemist.
Did the Blue Flood Dragon Gang have an alchemist?
According to the information Jin Somyeong had received from the Red Sun Sect, they did not.
After thinking for a moment, he narrowed his eyes.
...Don't tell me it's Cheong Hwa-ran? Was the secret to her rapid growth into the late stage of Qi Refining that she was an alchemist?
She did not even have a proper master, yet she had learned alchemy, which was praised as the foremost among the hundred arts of cultivation.
Her talent was far greater than what she had shown on the surface.
If he reported this information to the Red Sun Sect, their interest in Cheong Hwa-ran would rise to an extreme degree. At first, they would try to recruit her with pleasant words, but if she refused...
A Foundation Establishment old monster might step in personally and force her into a contract.
After all, an alchemist with the potential to reach Foundation Establishment was an incredibly precious talent. Even if they had to kill her, they could not allow her to fall into someone else's hands.
And if this news spread, even Golden Core-level forces might come looking for her.
Being overflowing with talent isn't always a good thing. Every massive power will covet you.
If she was lucky enough to meet a decent master, that would still be the better outcome. But if some eccentric monster came calling, the thought alone was horrific. From that day onward, she would have no such thing as freedom in her life.
Still... this is ridiculous.
It had only been a few days since he had accepted the mission, yet he had already produced results. Even while monitoring them so carelessly, he had uncovered important information.
He could not tell whether he was lucky, or whether the other side was unlucky.
An alchemist...
It certainly would not hurt to get close to her. Her skill was better than he had expected; who knew whether she might be able to make first-grade life-extension pills or even Foundation Establishment Pills?
Naturally, he had no intention of reporting this to the Red Sun Sect. Information was valuable precisely because fewer people knew it.
Slip.
For the first time in a while, Jin Somyeong put on the Faceless Mask and changed into an ordinary-looking man in his thirties. Then he dispelled his concealment and walked over at an unhurried pace.
"Fellow Daoist. Judging from these pills, you seem to be an alchemist. Am I right?"
"Buy if you're buying. If not, move along."
The reaction was prickly, just as expected. The man was full of wariness and clearly did not welcome being known as an alchemist.
Whoosh!
Jin Somyeong took a talisman from his robes and activated it immediately.
The surrounding noise cut off at once. The entire bustling market fell silent because he had used a Soundproofing Talisman to block out sound.
"...What are you trying to pull?"
The man was no longer merely wary; a faint hostility seeped from him as well. Jin Somyeong raised his palm.
"Calm down. If you're an alchemist, you must have many friends. I only came because I'd like to become one of them."
"Not interested! I've got no business with you, so leave!"
"How sharp-tempered. Very well. If you don't want a friend, how about we simply make a deal?"
"A deal?"
The Blue Flood Dragon Gang's second-in-command paused, then crossed his arms. He tipped his chin as if telling Jin Somyeong to go on, and Jin Somyeong spoke.
"A Foundation Establishment spiritual object."
"...!"
Strangely enough, Foundation Establishment spiritual objects had a high chance of growing again in the same places where they had appeared before. Because of that, locations where such objects had been found when the previous secret realm opened were extremely useful information.
"Well? Would information about Foundation Establishment spiritual objects interest you?"
Jin Somyeong studied the other man's tightly sealed lips and eyes. Seeing the man's pupils dilate, it was clear that his interest had been piqued.
"...How am I supposed to trust that the information you give me is true?"
"There are plenty of ways. For this transaction alone, we can make a contract not to lie to each other, can't we?"
Since he had no intention of deceiving the man in the first place, the cleaner the deal, the better. Jin Somyeong truly intended to trade.
After all, the Red Sun Sect was a massive force, and it had devoted its full strength to uncovering a fair number of locations for Foundation Establishment spiritual objects. Handing over one of them to the other party would hardly be a major blow.
After thinking for a long while with his arms crossed, the man finally spoke.
"Fine. Then what do you want? Do you need pills I've refined?"
"Pills would be fine, but I need Red Silk Fruits more. Ah! If you happen to have first-grade life-extension pills, I'll trade immediately."
"...Red Silk Fruits."
Sensing the man's hesitation, Jin Somyeong's eyes gleamed.
It did not feel as though the man was hesitating because the matter was impossible. Rather, it felt as though he did not know whether he was allowed to make the trade.
After wavering for a moment, the man said, "You aren't expecting to receive an actual Red Silk Fruit in exchange for information about Foundation Establishment spiritual objects, are you?"
"Of course not. Wouldn't exchanging information both sides need be best? If you can provide a real Red Silk Fruit, I will add further payment."
"...Let's first make a contract not to deceive each other."
Several hours later, a faint smile rested on Jin Somyeong's lips after he had successfully concluded the deal. He was extremely pleased, for he had obtained detailed information about the location of a Red Silk Fruit tree.
As expected, rogue cultivators aren't to be looked down on blindly.
More than half of the cultivators in this world were rogue cultivators. Among so many people, who could say what kinds of strange masters and hidden eccentrics might exist?
Moreover, the Blue Flood Dragon Gang was, in its own way, one of the forces that had established itself in Jeokyang Market for over ten years. It was not so surprising that they had obtained information through channels different from the Red Sun Sect's.
I've gotten the information about the Red Silk Fruit...
The remaining goals were to reach the sixth layer of Qi Refining and to obtain magic artifacts. For the former, he only needed to train with all his strength during the time he had left. For the latter, he could aim for the grand auction that would soon be held.
Half a year later.
Jeokyang Market was packed with cultivators who had gathered from every direction. Naturally, every single rental cave dwelling had been leased out without exception, and disputes broke out incessantly all over the place.
Of course, there was good reason for it.
Today was the day the grand auction for the soon-to-open Red Cloud Secret Realm would be held.
Auctions hosted by massive merchant associations like the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion were held from time to time even under ordinary circumstances, but a grand auction was different. It was held only when there was a special event or opportunity.
Because they sold rare treasures that had usually been kept tightly hidden away, it was the perfect chance to obtain magic artifacts.
It would be ideal if I could get one artifact specialized for attack and one for defense.
Jin Somyeong, who had saved up as many as 2,300 Spirit Stones for today, smacked his lips.
"Younger brother. If you're ready, shall we depart?"
"Let's go."
Together with Beom Chang, who was acting as respectfully as though greeting an elder of the household, Jin Somyeong left the Red Sun Sect.
After walking for some time, they arrived before a huge pavilion in the deepest part of the Inner City.
...It's enormous.
He marveled at the supermassive building, which was over sixty meters tall. It was so huge that it reminded him of the World Cup stadiums he had seen in his previous life.
As he walked leisurely, taking in his surroundings, he saw countless cultivators lining up to enter the pavilion. Jin Somyeong was heading toward the very end of the line out of habit when Beom Chang stopped him.
"Brother Jin. We... no, we don't need to stand in line. Just follow me."
"Hm?"
Jin Somyeong nodded silently and followed him toward a relatively quiet entrance.
At that moment, a woman of graceful beauty approached with a smile.
"Welcome. May I ask if you have an invitation?"
When Beom Chang confidently presented a golden plaque, her smile deepened.
"So you are honored guests. I will guide you personally."
Following the beauty, whose palace-style dress suited her perfectly, they entered the building and found it far emptier than expected. The massive pavilion was practically vacant.
He had clearly seen a great crowd entering, so it was a curious thing.
"As you two are honored guests, there will be no entrance fee. Please stand on that formation over there, and we will send you to the true auction venue."
The true auction venue?
He found it strange, but he simply remained quiet. At times like this, silence was golden.
Following her guidance, the moment they stepped onto the formation filled with geometric patterns—
Flash!
A dazzling burst of light came with a slight wave of dizziness.
Pressing a hand to the space between his brows, he looked around and found that they had already been transported into an interior filled with lavish decorations.
Hah. So this is the teleportation formation I've only heard about?
Experiencing spatial transfer firsthand made him understand just how deep the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion's foundation truly was.
"We sincerely thank you for visiting our Heavenly Treasure Pavilion auction. I will guide you to the honored guest room."
They walked down a quiet corridor behind a woman with an alluring beauty mark beneath her eye. Before long, they were led to a spacious room on the second floor, and his field of vision suddenly opened wide.
An entire wall was made of transparent glass, offering an unobstructed view outside.
So that's where everyone went...
The scene below from the second floor was spectacular. Thousands of people packed the first floor to the brim. They were all wearing masks and the like to conceal their identities, but it was still far too public a place.
Participating in an auction from a location like that would not be easy.
What a relief.
If he had not had an invitation, he would have been down there. The thought alone made his stomach turn cold.
"For your reference, the inside of this room cannot be seen from outside. There is no need to worry about your identities being exposed, so please participate in the auction at ease."
The guide bowed like an elegant noblewoman, then continued.
"Would you perhaps require an attendant to explain the auction items? Our Heavenly Treasure Pavilion has many intelligent disciples."
"Uh..."
Beom Chang began to say something, then stopped. His eyes flicked toward Jin Somyeong, and when Jin Somyeong gave the faintest shake of his head, Beom Chang immediately waved his hand.
"No need. We'd like to participate in the auction comfortably by ourselves."
"Understood. Then I wish you success in acquiring fine items."
Once the two of them were finally alone, Jin Somyeong's posture relaxed a little. Still, he continued to speak carefully. With this many people present, who knew what kinds of hidden masters might be here?
"Brother. How much does a first-grade peak magic artifact usually cost?"
"Hm... It varies wildly depending on its function, but if it's an offensive artifact, you can usually buy one for around 1,000 Spirit Stones."
"I see."
Jin Somyeong let out a relieved breath, his anticipation rising.
If things go well, I might be able to get one offensive artifact and one defensive artifact, both at the first-grade peak level.
Now that he was beginning to properly reap the benefits of the mine he had worked so hard to develop, he felt delighted. He was so eager it was difficult to sit still, but he forced himself to close his eyes and meditate.
After an unknown amount of waiting, the auction finally began.