Chapter 35: Black Seal City Auction

At the foot of the mountain range, a massive city built from piled-up black stones loomed faintly, its vague outline appearing and disappearing. At the city's four gates, one could barely see countless tiny black dots, like ants, streaming into the city's enormous dark maw.

"Hehe, Xiao Li, your luck isn't bad—you just happen to catch Black Seal City's annual auction. Want to go see it?"

Qian Lao stood beside Xiao Li; staying all day in the interlayer space was rather boring, and Qian Lao was now acting as Xiao Li's guardian on his travels outside—though that was indeed the case, he had simply come out into the open.

"Running into such an event, of course we should go have a look." Xiao Li walked in with his hands behind his back, arriving at Heijiao Yu, where danger and opportunity naturally coexisted.

"Do you have any money?" Qian Lao's words knocked Xiao Li back to his original state.

Xiao Li stiffly turned his head, "Uh, haha, isn't there still the two of you elders?"

"Hmph, this old man doesn't have much money either." Qian Lao gave a cold snort, but a hint of a smile appeared in his eyes; he secretly resolved to help Xiao Li pick out something useful.

After several minutes, Xiao Li approached the black city gate, his speed gradually slowing, then he fell into line behind the crowd and quietly waited for the group to enter.

Standing before the massive pitch-black city wall, Xiao Li glanced at the three large characters "Black Seal City" at the center of the gate, his gaze slowly drifting downward until it settled on the dozen or so black-clad warriors at the entrance; they seemed like the city's guards from the outside world, except here anyone entering had to pay them a hefty entrance fee.

Such an entrance fee, if placed in the Jia Ma Empire's environment, would likely provoke a riot, but here in Heijiao Yu it seems to be a commonplace occurrence.

The line crept forward; after waiting nearly half an hour, it was finally Xiao Li's turn. At the gate he handed over a bag of gold coins and entered smoothly.

He headed straight for the auction house, though Xiao Li couldn't make a fortune by refining pills like Xiao Yan could…

Eyeing the vicious thugs by the roadside, Xiao Li's gaze was cold; here fights and bloodshed were extremely frequent—on a street just a few hundred meters long, dozens of life‑and‑death battles erupted in a short span.

After filtering out those seeking revenge and those who looked innocent, and confirming that everyone was there to kill and loot, Xiao Li didn't idle either; wielding his Thunder Scale Spear, he lunged left and right, and in the blink of an eye had slain several people.

He snatched their money pouches, and Xiao Li's eyes flicked over them.

From those seven people he gained roughly ten thousand gold coins, instantly doubling his wealth.

Xiao Li wasn't particularly fond of money, and besides he didn't need to prepare pills for strange flames like Xiao Yan did, so he hadn't deliberately collected any before; only upon encountering the auction did he realize how strapped he was.

…But absorbing strange flames requires medicinal aid, and absorbing strange lightning probably does too; in any case, having pills would surely improve the odds.

The thought flashed through Xiao Li's mind—looks like he'll still have to bother Xiao Yan and Yao Lao in the future.

Especially Yao Lao, who is well‑versed and knowledgeable; if Xiao Li truly discovers strange lightning, he'll likely need to rely on Yao Lao to research what kind of pills are required.

Seeing so many people on the street, Xiao Li licked his dry lips, his figure vanished in an instant—each of them was a potential windfall, and missing any would be a loss.

Ten minutes later, Xiao Li walked out of the street satisfied, holding a hundred thousand gold coins, though the side streets were lined with hundreds of corpses and some terrified onlookers.

"Alas, a bunch of paupers—over a hundred fighters and a few fighting masters, yet they only yielded a hundred thousand gold coins. Fortunately there are also some medicinal herbs and weapons; later we can sell them together at the auction house."

Qian Lao stood to the side, listening to Xiao Li's mutterings, feeling rather helpless; he shouldn't have reminded him of the true essence of cultivation, for he'd feared the boy would get lost in Heijiao Yu, but who would have thought the kid would turn out so adept at profiteering.

What Qian Lao is most relieved about now is that Xiao Li's strength is weak; if he were even a Fighting Emperor or Fighting Sect, the stray dogs of Heijiao Yu would probably be plucked bare by him.

Standing at the end of the bustling street, Xiao Li lifted his head to behold the colossal auction looming before him, and couldn't help but let out an exclamation of awe.

I'd wager that even the Mitier family of the Jia Ma Empire would be nothing special compared to this auction called the "Black Seal".

At the gates of the Black Seal Auction, dozens of expressionless black‑clad warriors wore sharp weapons at their waists, their hawk‑like keen gazes continually sweeping over the crowds coming and going.

From the faint aura seeping from these men, it turned out that five of them were at the fighting master level, while the others were at the peak of the fighter rank.

He tightened the wide black robe around him, lowered his head slightly, and the shadow of his cloak completely concealed his face; in this chaotic Heijiao Yu, he didn't think recklessly exposing his figure was a wise move.

Following the crowd, Xiao Li slowly made his way into the auction house; the vast interior caused him to momentarily space out, but he quickly recovered and stepped toward the central hall.

Inside the auction hall, huge screens hung on all sides, scrolling through countless items up for bid; Xiao Li glanced at them briefly but saw nothing particularly remarkable, presumably because those rare treasures were being kept as bottom‑of‑the‑box stock to maintain their mystery and hadn't been brought out yet.

Naturally, some powerful forces could learn about those bottom‑of‑the‑box treasures through other channels.

His gaze swept the surroundings and finally lingered on the frame of an appraisal room; after a brief hesitation, Xiao Li stepped inside.

Upon stepping into the so‑called appraisal room, Xiao Li was somewhat startled to find that the fairly spacious interior had been neatly divided into no fewer than a hundred tiny chambers, presumably to prevent the treasures from being exposed.

As soon as Xiao Li entered the appraisal room, a flamboyantly dressed attendant approached, her voice soft and alluring: "Sir, are you here for an appraisal, or to get a price estimate for auction?"

"I'm here to sell something," Xiao Li said, deliberately lowering his voice to a hoarse whisper.

"Please follow me," the attendant smiled seductively, then turned, her waist swaying like a water snake in an extremely alluring arc; it seemed the attendants here had been specially trained to maximize their charm in men's eyes.

His gaze lowered into the shadow of his cloak; Xiao Li ignored the attendant's swaying, for in this lawless Heijiao Yu even a woman with no strength could overturn a man, so he dared not and did not wish to have any involvement with the women here.

Please keep reading, everyone—your follows determine whether I get weekly recommendations, so this humble author begs you all: even if you're just stockpiling, please hit follow on Sundays; thanks for your support, thanks!

(End of chapter)