Something Smells Fishy
The pavilion where the Cloud Sea Map was supposedly being auctioned was already packed with people before anyone could even step inside. The moment Baek Cheong crossed the threshold, the interior was so crowded there wasn't even room to set a foot down. It was on a completely different level from Cheong-unru, where Qi Condensation cultivators usually gathered. Among the passing cultivators, the distinct aura of Foundation Establishment experts appeared quite frequently. That was because the ones who'd advanced to the main bracket of the Magic Tournament's Foundation Establishment division had all flocked here together.
Any promising junior who'd earned the right to enter the Cloud Sea Secret Realm—whether Qi Condensation or Foundation Establishment—couldn't help but drool over a Cloud Sea Map. 'So that's the Cloud Sea Map.' Baek Cheong peered over the heads of the crowd toward the center of the pavilion. On the elevated auction platform, a single scroll lay unfurled. Faint cloud patterns and cryptic markings were chaotically drawn across the faded silk. To anyone looking, it truly appeared to be a Cloud Sea Map depicting the interior of the Cloud Sea Secret Realm.
'Hmm.'
The secret realm was a place where the five senses couldn't be trusted inside the clouds, forcing one to rely solely on divine sense. If you could memorize the paths in advance and enter with that knowledge, it would be the ultimate free ride. And Baek Cheong's divine sense already surpassed even most Foundation Establishment cultivators. If she could get her hands on a map as well, there would be nothing to fear.
'It's basically free real estate... but.'
Her steps, which had been cautiously approaching the auction platform, suddenly halted. A suspicious detail had caught her eye. The seat reserved for the consignor of the Cloud Sea Map was empty. At the New Spring Exchange, consignors normally displayed their own name and family when offering items. The more valuable the item, the more the consignor's identity determined its prestige. Yet the person offering something as rare as a Cloud Sea Map hadn't even revealed their identity.
'This is definitely weird.'
The Cloud Sea Secret Realm was an extremely precious place—so rare that even within the Biun Sect, only a handful of people had ever entered it. For someone to offer a map of such a realm without anyone knowing where it came from... It was impossible not to feel uneasy.
The other promising juniors around her were completely fixated on the Cloud Sea Map. Even the group that had been following her around was craning their necks toward the auction platform.
“Lady Baek Cheong will surely be bidding on the Cloud Sea Map as well, right?”
“Since you took first place, you naturally deserve the best spot!”
They all seemed to assume she would obviously jump into the bidding. Baek Cheong gave a small smile and shook her head.
“Well, I think I'll look around a bit more first.”
“What? You're passing up an opportunity like this?”
The juniors stared back at her with bewildered expressions.
'This isn't something you jump into recklessly.'
When an unknown party offered an item, there was usually a reason for the secrecy. Rather than greedily rushing in and stirring up unnecessary trouble, it was smarter to step back and observe. She planned to watch how high the price climbed and who ended up buying it.
“The Cloud Sea Map, containing the paths through the Cloud Sea Secret Realm! Now, who will start the bidding?”
The auction for the Cloud Sea Map soon began. As the auctioneer's voice rang out to encourage bids, the entire hall grew heated. From every direction, people waved their spirit stone pouches and prices shot upward.
“One top-grade spirit stone!”
“Two over here!”
“I'll bid five!”
The bidding voices overlapped in a chaotic frenzy. The amounts were already far beyond what most Qi Condensation juniors could even dream of. Even those who had been boldly raising the price gradually fell silent. In the end, the Cloud Sea Map went to a Foundation Establishment cultivator who had reached the main bracket. Judging by the embroidery on his robe, he appeared to be a promising scion from a reputable family. When the winning bidder carefully stored the map away, envious gazes poured in from all sides.
'As expected, it sold for a fortune.'
Baek Cheong tilted her head and continued to simply watch. But things took a strange turn. Not long after the first Cloud Sea Map was sold, another commotion stirred in one corner of the pavilion.
“There's another Cloud Sea Map on the next auction platform?”
“Another one came out?”
Intrigued, she turned her eyes toward the source of the noise. Sure enough, another Cloud Sea Map was unfurled on a different auction platform. Just like before, the consignor was nowhere to be seen. Though puzzled, the crowd surged over in a rush.
“How can two Cloud Sea Maps appear from the same place?”
Everyone tilted their heads in confusion, yet none could hide their greed. After another fierce bidding war, the second Cloud Sea Map also fell into someone else's hands. But the strangeness didn't end there. Maps kept appearing here, and then there. Cloud Sea Maps offered by an anonymous consignor were being auctioned one after another all over the pavilion.
'This is getting more suspicious by the minute.'
Baek Cheong's doubts only grew stronger. While the price was burdensome for most Qi Condensation juniors, those with deep pockets were different. A few of them even managed to secure their own Cloud Sea Maps. Seo Jua was one of them.
“This lady bids one top-grade spirit stone!”
She desperately raised her bids and ultimately obtained one of the maps. The smug look in her eyes as she glanced around was unmistakable.
'I wonder if she'll even break even with that?'
But Baek Cheong was more skeptical about whether a Cloud Sea Map was truly worth even one top-grade spirit stone. Around that time, another junior who'd won a map couldn't contain his curiosity and approached Seo Jua.
“Lady Seo, since things have come to this, why don't we compare our Cloud Sea Maps? Since they're both the same, I'm curious if the paths drawn on them match.”
Seo Jua seemed interested as well and nodded, pretending she couldn't refuse. However, she had no intention of carelessly unfolding such a valuable item in front of everyone. The two retreated to a secluded corner away from prying eyes, briefly compared their maps, and then returned to the group. When they spoke again, their expressions were strange.
“Huh, they're both Cloud Sea Maps, but the paths drawn on them are completely different.”
“The difference from this lady's is so great it's hard to believe they depict the same secret realm.”
The crowd buzzed at their words. It meant that each Cloud Sea Map had entirely different paths drawn on it, as if they were maps personally created by people who had actually entered the Cloud Sea Secret Realm.
While everyone was still blinking in confusion, someone suddenly spoke up.
“Ah! Could these perhaps be maps personally drawn by senior cultivators who have entered the Cloud Sea Secret Realm before?”
“If they found it awkward to reveal their names and chose to conceal their identities, that would make perfect sense!”
Now that someone mentioned it, the explanation sounded quite plausible. If seniors who had visited the Cloud Sea Secret Realm had drawn maps from memory, it was only natural that the paths would differ. The murmuring juniors began nodding one by one.
“Indeed, that makes sense!”
“We don't know which path is correct, but isn't having any map a hundred times better than having none?”
Once the plausible story began to spread, the fervor for the Cloud Sea Maps burned even hotter. Everyone's eyes blazed with determination to obtain one. They didn't hesitate to throw down spirit stones even as prices skyrocketed. In the blink of an eye, the pavilion turned into complete chaos as people fought to claim the maps.
'This is usually how traps work.'
Even amid the frenzy, Baek Cheong didn't reach for a single map. The explanation about seniors drawing them sounded reasonable on the surface, but she didn't trust it. The part about hiding their identities felt particularly off.
'If they're doing a good deed, they could just reveal their names openly.'
If these were benevolent seniors bestowing such valuable gifts, there was no reason for them to hide their traces. Moreover, it wasn't just one or two maps—Cloud Sea Maps were pouring out endlessly from every corner of the pavilion. No matter how she thought about it, there were far too many suspicious points.
'Could this also be connected to the Cloud Sea Secret Realm somehow?'
It was hard to imagine a conspiracy taking root in Bohwawon, which was managed by the Biun Sect. Perhaps this was a test for those entering the Cloud Sea Secret Realm. But the best course of action was still to avoid recklessly stepping into something offered by an unknown party.
'It's not like I absolutely need one anyway.'
Baek Cheong cleanly let go of any lingering attachment to the Cloud Sea Maps. From the beginning, she could do without them. Even though the secret realm made the five senses unreliable, she had her divine sense. Her divine sense, which stretched twenty-seven jang, far surpassed Foundation Establishment and wouldn't lose out even when compared to Golden Core cultivators.
'That aside...'
She had already turned her attention elsewhere. Turning her back on the chaotic Cloud Sea Map auction, she leisurely made her way toward a quieter section where other auctions were taking place. Though less crowded, rare materials were being offered, and quite a few cultivators were calling out bids.
'I need to stock up as much as possible.'
Having taken first place in the Qi Condensation division, she could request refinement from a fourth-grade artificer of the Biun Sect. While the Baek family of Yeonha also had artificers, they were only third-grade. The difference between third and fourth grade was like heaven and earth, and even with contribution points, it wasn't easy to make such a request. She needed to make the most of this opportunity.
'Their skills really are excellent.'
Above all, the bracelet her eldest brother had given her was also the work of a fourth-grade artificer. Their skill was impressive enough to recreate artifacts from the ancient era. 'If I'm going to have something made, I need to provide them with the best materials possible so the final product turns out properly.'
No matter how outstanding an artificer's skill, they couldn't produce a good work with subpar materials. So she was buying up every rare material that caught her eye. It didn't matter that she hadn't decided exactly what to make yet. Artifact materials didn't spoil just from being stored away for a while.
“One top-grade spirit stone!”
Baek Cheong bid without hesitation on every material she had her eye on. She only purchased thoroughly verified rare materials. After all, she could always seek out opportunities inside the Cloud Sea Secret Realm.