Chapter 36

Following the maid, they walked nearly several tens of meters, then the former stopped before a small secret chamber, respectfully bowed to Xiao Li and smiled: 'Sir, as long as you hand over the items you wish to auction to the master inside for evaluation and review, you can then obtain auction seats of different grades according to the preciousness of your auctioned items.'

Xiao Li nodded slightly, gently pushed open the black wooden door, walked in, and casually latched it behind him.

Inside the small chamber the light was bright; an old man with slightly whitening hair swept his sharp gaze over Xiao Li, but since the latter was almost completely concealed in his black robe, the old man could hardly discern anything.

'Please sit.' The old man casually pointed to the chair before the table, finished arranging the tools for inspecting auction items, lowered his head and said lightly: 'Take out the items you wish to auction.'

Xiao Li gave a slight nod, and from his spatial ring spilled over a hundred weapons; he also took out more than a dozen empty spatial rings from his robe.

He did not take out the medicinal herbs, intending to bring them back for Xiao Yan to practice alchemy; having such an alchemist at home, one should certainly make good use of him, since pills are far more valuable than raw herbs.

Exploit my younger brother? No, no, no—that's called nurturing my younger brother with medicinal herbs.

The old man's mouth twitched; although those in his line of work shouldn't pry into their employer's affairs, …

You kid obviously wiped them out completely—truly plucking the goose as it passes, and even taking their stuff to sell.

The old man thought so, yet his face remained as calm as water: 'Heh, friend, although you have many items, they don't seem to be of very high grade.'

Xiao Li nodded, said nothing, and waited for the old man's continuation.

Sure enough, the old man immediately continued: 'So you have a choice: either sell them yourself, price uncertain but you might not sell them all; or we buy them back, price a bit lower, but we clear everything in one go.'

'Fine, give me a quote.' Xiao Li hesitated not; he lacked time most of all, so he certainly wouldn't waste effort selling them himself; a lower price didn't matter, since his cost was zero.

No, there is some qi cost for using combat techniques, but it has already recovered.

The old man smiled, nodded, stepped forward, and examined each item one by one, calculating their price in his mind.

Soon, the old man had finished examining everything, stroked his beard, and said: 'All together worth less than two hundred thousand gold coins; I'll make it an even two hundred thousand—how does that sound?'

'Thank you.'

Xiao Li wasn't surprised; in Heijiao Yu everyone is a desperate soul, money is spent lavishly, weapons concern life and death, so it's normal to prefer better ones.

After clearing out the miscellaneous items, Xiao Li's net worth reached three hundred twenty thousand, finally giving him some confidence to participate in the auction.

He had confidence, but not much.

But this let Xiao Li find a way to make a fortune: a single two‑pattern Qing Ling Dan of Xiao Yan's has a base price of only about three hundred thousand here, and he had scraped it together after killing several hundred people; it seems he ought to do more good and eradicate evil in the future.

Qian Lao patted Xiao Li's shoulder, saying, 'Follow your heart's desire, but let it be the heart of righteousness, the heart within the laws of heaven and earth, not wicked desires or crooked ways.'

Recently Xiao Li has killed too many people; Qian Lao is a bit worried he might become obsessed.

Upon hearing Qian Lao's reminder, a glimmer of clarity flashed in Xiao Li's brows and eyes: 'Junior understands.'

Xiao Li lowered his head and sighed; no wonder comprehending the Dao is hard, no wonder everyone has inner demons—the path of cultivation is still long.

Leaving the Black Seal Auction House, Xiao Li went straight back to the inn where he was staying, rested in the small room for a while, and only when the auction's start time approached did he exit his cultivation state, refreshed, don his spacious black robe, leave the inn unhurriedly, and head once more toward the auction house.

When Xiao Li appeared again at the auction house entrance, the near‑sea‑of‑people crowd and the clamor and quarrels rising to the sky left him somewhat dazed; he hadn't expected this auction gathering to draw so many—truly no wonder it is a grand event in Heijiao Yu.

Moreover, in Heijiao Yu it's nothing like the Jia Ma Empire; cutting in line here will instantly draw dozens of fists pounding down, for the people of Heijiao Yu have tempers far less mild than outsiders—drawing a blade and slashing someone over a disagreement is practically normal.

Bad news: Xiao Li has no VIP card, so he cannot use the special passage.

Good news: few strong individuals can't use the special passage.

So… under Qian Lao's helpless gaze, after dealing with a few clueless people, Xiao Li gained another few tens of thousands of gold coins and swaggered into the auction house.

'Qian Lao, sometimes it's not that I love killing; I have no choice.'

Qian Lao shook his head helplessly and didn't say much more.

Even the few grand fighters in the contingent looked at Xiao Li with faces full of apprehension.

Even the auction house staff pretended not to see; after all, this is still outside the auction house, and no one would bother with a corpse or a strongman.

Entering the passage, the light grew somewhat dim; following the corridor to its end and turning a corner, suddenly a colossal auction arena appeared before Xiao Li's eyes, making him draw a cool breath.

This auction arena is far larger than any Xiao Li has seen before; its densely packed seats and the auction platform almost entirely built of glittering crystal make one's vision swim.

A lovely‑looking maid hurried over, respectfully asking Xiao Li and Qian Lao for their seat numbers.

After being informed, the maid led the way ahead, while Xiao Li followed closely behind.

Soon, the auction house bustled to life.

'Finally it's about to start,' Xiao Li murmured softly while gazing at the huge venue nearly bursting at the seams, a hint of anticipation in his dark eyes.

Xiao Li felt a slight excitement, after all it was his first time at such a place; Qian Lao remained expressionless, regarding these people as petty trifles, so naturally his mood didn't shift.

'Tell me whatever you fancy; money is no object,' Qian Lao said lightly.

Xiao Li chuckled, 'Qian Lao, your magnanimity is impressive; I wouldn't dare let you spend, senior—if I truly like something, I'll bother you again.'

Qian Lao gave an inexplicable smile: 'Xiao Li, I, old man, will not spend money.'

Xiao Li startled, feeling somewhat puzzled: 'Qian Lao, what do you want…'

'Although I feel your killing intent has been rather strong lately, this is Heijiao Yu—everyone has blood on their hands—so I can't say you're wrong; after all, slaying one wicked person to save many good is merit, and I only hope that when you leave Heijiao Yu you can change, rather than remain addicted to slaughter.'

Qian Lao spoke in an even tone, not answering Xiao Li's question but instead expounding these principles.

Xiao Li solemnly nodded: 'I understand, Qian Lao; please rest assured—I have a bottom line, I will not kill the innocent, nor will I be addicted to killing.'

Qian Lao nodded satisfied, then added: 'Not bad, but as I said, this is Heijiao Yu—a pile of trash; kill them, and it's just killing.'

'In Heijiao Yu, when people's strengths are comparable, competitive buying and selling is called an auction; but when you possess strength far surpassing others,'

'Auction? For the strong, that's called zero‑cost procurement!'

(End of chapter)