Chapter 88
Translator: penny
Chapter: 88
Chapter Title: Excursion (4)
Fundamentally, cultivators didn't put much stock in words like trust, credit, or faith when it came to others. But running an auction house required guaranteeing the venue's safety and the authenticity of the items.
Even if a truly valuable treasure appeared at the auction, no one would believe it was genuine. And even if it was, if the participants' safety and the auction process itself weren't assured, nobody would bother showing up.
That's why the one hosting an auction during a trade fair was usually the strongest powerhouse there—the person trusted by countless cultivators, with connections to even mightier figures. They could guarantee safety in any crisis and vouch for their eye for treasures.
So why would such people bother opening an auction house and facilitating trades among cultivators? Because it let them get first dibs on precious treasures and their details before anyone else.
Not every fortuitous encounter that fell into your lap was suited to you.
A devil path cultivator might end up with a Buddhist technique. Someone cultivating fire arts might snag a supreme water-attribute treasure.
Sometimes a male cultivator would get a heavenly boon usable only by women, or a treasure related to the Four Great Arts might go to someone with no talent for them.
Those useless fortuitous encounters became a massive burden for cultivators.
You never knew what karmic ties came attached, what dangers might follow. A powerful cultivator you crossed paths with by chance might be hunting that very treasure, leading to a deadly ambush.
Yet it felt like a waste to just toss it away. So they'd head to a trade fair, trade it with another cultivator, or hand it to an auction house to swap for spirit stones.
The auction host could gather the fortuitous encounters they needed by handling all sorts, earn trust through fair dealings, and secure their own safety in the process.
After all, trade fair auction houses and their hosts operated under an unspoken peace pact—everyone agreed not to mess with them.
"It really is a Mi Baek-luan feather."
"Isn't it?"
The auction host eyed the heavenly treasure before him and the cultivator who'd brought it.
"Just as the legends say. Such breathtaking beauty... endlessly emanating such pure wind energy."
The host carefully slipped the Mi Baek-luan feather into a wooden case. The specially treated case would preserve its power.
"I thought Mi Baek-luans had gone extinct millennia ago. How on earth did you...?"
"Got lucky."
The man shrouded head to toe in thick black cloth brushed it off, clearly uninterested in sharing details.
Even with aura-concealing garb, the thick stench of blood and heavy aura of sin gave away that this was no ordinary figure.
Judging it wise not to pry into the man's identity, the host accepted the feather and let him leave.
Mi Baek-luans were said to be birds descended from the heavens—a legend. This was undoubtedly the auction's star item.
A flicker of greed crossed the host's mind, but he suppressed it. With no wind spiritual root, he couldn't even digest half the feather's power anyway.
Greed in check, the host pondered the order for the auction items.
"Save the Mi Baek-luan for last..."
He slotted some low-value items up front, then picked up a mysterious golden jade slip.
Etched on its surface: Sun-Moon Star Grand Harmony Scripture.
The name suggested some profound secret art, but it was actually a dual cultivation method.
Sun, moon, and stars represented the natural cycle of day and night—but this Sun-Moon Star Grand Harmony Scripture used sun and moon as metaphors for man and woman, harmonizing their energies to refine spiritual power into something purer and denser.
An excellent method, but sealed in three layers. Even if you got it now, you'd only access the first stage.
The host knew this and had tried unsealing it to boost its value, but whether due to some mighty expert's handiwork, even his late Nascent Soul cultivation couldn't budge it.
'Can't even identify who brought this method in the first place...'
After some thought, the host decided to slot the Sun-Moon Star Grand Harmony Scripture mid-auction.
"This Buddhist dharma text, this talisman is top-notch too... Put one of these pills out early as a teaser, then the rest later..."
The host was swamped.
None of his underlings had the eye to appraise treasures properly, so he had to sort and sequence everything himself.
"Still, what's going on? All these heavenly treasures piling up."
The host clicked his tongue at the massive haul gathered in just half a year.
'Some bearer of immense heavenly fortune attending, maybe?'
The auction wouldn't end quietly, whether during or after. He could feel it.
'Eh, let them fight over the items post-auction. Not my problem.'
The auction took place in the trade fair's grandest inn.
It was an open auction anyone could join, but as High Heaven Sect members, I and the women got prime seats.
While hundreds of cultivators below jostled for spots and raised a racket, we sat in a second-floor room, watching the proceedings through the window while attended by the beautiful courtesans assigned to each private booth.
"Phew."
Confirming the room's formation blocked divine sense, I removed my veil. The moment I did, a scream erupted from the demurely standing courtesan.
"Kyaa...! Hnngh!"
True to her training, she stifled her cry as best she could.
We ignored her and ordered the inn's priciest liquor, sharing it among us.
"...Oh."
The smooth liquor carried a fresh bamboo aroma—not bad at all. Paired with hearty side dishes, it'd cleanse their flavors in one sip.
Figuring the other varieties might be good too, I ordered one of each. Tasting and rating them as we drank, time flew by until the auction began.
I eyed the auctioneer who appeared as it kicked off. A stunning woman in ornate robes, half her face masked, seducing the cultivators with an enchanting smile.
"Host not showing?"
But her aura didn't match the host's.
"The host only appears for treasures of that caliber, during the bidding."
The courtesan answered my question while pressing close, slowly pouring my drink.
I ignored her advances and closely examined the auction items.
Early in the auction, so mostly useless pills, talismans, and magic tools—nothing caught my interest.
The hot items were, predictably, pills.
Rare ones that skyrocketed cultivation were priceless treasures. The moment one appeared, cultivators' storage pouches lightened fast.
"Spirit liquor won't sell like that, huh?"
"Probably... not."
"Yeah."
Spirit liquor that boosted cultivation without side effects like pills. I'd aimed for that when brewing, but the more I made, the clearer it became how insanely difficult—impossible, even—it was.
Midway through the lively auction, the auctioneer unveiled a golden jade slip.
"Everyone! This jade slip holds the Sun-Moon Star Grand Harmony Scripture!"
"Oh."
"Hmm."
Not just me—Hyang Mae, Pyong Yu-ran, even the cultivators in nearby booths buzzed with excitement.
The golden jade slip and its grandiose name were tempting enough, but above all, an immense power emanated from the unidentified seals on the method.
"Those with keen eyes have spotted its value! Now, let me explain the item!"
She spun the jade slip for all to see, especially us upstairs, then dove into its backstory.
"Our auction house acquired this method by chance, through ties to a great expert! He needed a pure body, so he couldn't cultivate dual methods and passed it to us!"
Dual cultivation method. We exchanged glances.
Hyang Mae had once learned one to aid my training, but only briefly at first.
After I took up the Five Skandhas Enlightenment Art and Three Lives One Fate Scripture, simple dual methods no longer helped cultivation. Since then, we'd only done it to confirm our feelings and enjoy each other.
"As mentioned, the Sun-Moon Star Grand Harmony Scripture is a dual cultivation method. Note it draws on yin-yang principles and sun-moon harmony, effective between man and woman! Its goal isn't raw cultivation progress, but boosting spiritual power's purity and density! No need to match constitutions, spiritual root attributes, or method traits with your partner—a huge advantage!"
The moment those words hit, Hyang Mae gripped my arm tight.
"Yoo Lang, buy that!"
"It seems perfect for resolving Master's issue."
"Producing such effects with dual cultivation... impressive. Most dual methods actually impure the spiritual power instead."
As Hyang Mae and A-han clung to me, Pyong Yu-ran marveled at the method's effects, the usually quiet second-floor guests reacted.
Pure spiritual power. Dense spiritual power. Every cultivator dreamed of it, now within reach via one method. No one could resist.
"High-grade 100!"
The bidding, till now in low- and mid-grade spirit stones, jumped straight to 100 high-grade. Bids skyrocketed wildly around us.
"101!"
"110!"
"Th-there! The item explanation isn't over! This method has triple seals, so...!"
"High-grade 125!"
The flustered auctioneer pressed on, but the guests kept bidding as if they hadn't heard.
"Rich folks everywhere."
"Sure are."
One high-grade spirit stone equaled 10,000 low-grade of the same size. Casual bids here were shuffling millions of low-grade stones around.
"How many spirit stones we got?"
"High-grade alone? About 300."
"If it stabilizes around 200, maybe jump in?"
If it solved the purity issue with my Three Lives One Fate Scripture right now, 200 high-grade wasn't too steep.
"130!"
"135!"
As I watched, some second-floor guests spoke up.
"Everyone, for the face of this Gong Mo, yield the method to me. I'll bid 150."
"Gong Jin-in, apologies, but I can't back down. Solving my spiritual power purity could free me from my current stage, propel me to the next realm. 160."
Two figures pressed outward with divine sense, leaking aura freely. Unmistakably at Nascent Soul perfection.
Their voices doused the heated auction like ice water, cooling it instantly.