Chapter 146: Tianbao Auction

Early the next morning, after Zhang Nuo got up, he originally wanted to go to the street to stroll around a bit more to see if he could find any good items, but just at this moment, someone knocked on his room door.

With a slight sweep of his Divine Sense, he discovered that it was Zhuge Qing standing outside his door! He shook his head lightly; it seemed today's outing plan was going to be disrupted.

Opening the door, he saw Zhuge Qing looking at him with a smile, and she stepped into the room in one stride.

"Where are you planning to go so early?"

"To the street to take a look; I might be able to buy some good things!"

Zhang Nuo said slowly.

"What good things could there be on the street outside! How about this: you stay here and chat with me for a while, and when it's noon, I'll take you to the auction. That place is where the real good things are!"

With a light movement of her figure, the young girl sat down on a chair, her expression quite leisurely.

"I also know the things at the auction are good, but I don't have that many Spirit Stones!"

Zhuge Qing came from a prominent background, and Zhang Nuo didn't consider himself as wealthy as her, so he hadn't planned on going to the auction at all.

"Didn't I just say? If you want to buy something, tell me, and I'll buy it for you, won't that work? Are you really going to be so formal with me?"

Making a playful face, the young girl patted the Storage Bag at her waist; it seemed it was filled with quite a lot of Spirit Stones!

"This..."

Zhang Nuo hesitated. He was a person who had always disliked owing others favors, especially to someone like Zhuge Qing; if he accepted her benefits now, he would surely have to pay her back double in the future.

"Don't 'this' and 'that' me, it's settled!"

The young girl cut off his words, then began to talk incessantly to Zhang Nuo about things from past auctions. With no other choice, Zhang Nuo had to sit down and chat with her. However, the young girl's knowledge was indeed much broader than his, and before long, he was drawn in.

Inside Zhang Nuo's room, the sounds of the two laughing could be heard from time to time. However, there were no cultivators left on the third floor of the entire small building; they had all gone out to the streets to purchase items. Within the Nanxuan Sect, very few people were like Zhuge Qing, specifically waiting for the noon auction.

Happy times always pass quickly, and in the blink of an eye, noon had arrived. Checking the time, the young girl stood up and said:

"It's about time, let's go!"

Zhang Nuo felt as if he had just woken from a trance. Seeing the young girl stand up, he realized it was already noon. Following closely behind her, the two left the small building and headed straight toward a large building at the Tianjiang Trade Fair.

This building covered an area of a thousand zhang, surrounded by high walls. Looking at it, it was over ten stories high. As the two looked at the stalls on both sides of the road, they chatted while walking to the front of the tall building's entrance.

Zhang Nuo looked up at the entrance and saw five vigorous and powerful characters written on it: Tianbao Auction House!

"This is the Tianbao Pavilion workshop, a temporary auction venue set up here. Not bad, right!"

"Temporary!"

Looking at this tall building, Zhang Nuo truly had not expected that this was merely a temporary auction site! For such a large building, if not for the help of powerful cultivators, it likely wouldn't have been completed even in a year or two.

Filled with surprise, Zhang Nuo followed Zhuge Qing inside the auction house. He saw that on the first floor of the Tianbao Auction House, there were only shop assistants welcoming and sending off guests. Some of these assistants were receiving owners who had come to auction items, while others were leading important guests into the auction venue.

As soon as Zhuge Qing's figure appeared at the entrance, a young assistant immediately ran over. This person was only seventeen or eighteen years old, wearing the unique attire of the Tianbao Auction House, and walked up to the young girl with great courtesy.

"May I ask if the Fairy is the Young Sect Master of the Nanxuan Sect!"

Zhuge Qing nodded slightly, her gaze fixed upon him.

"The private room has already been prepared for you! Please follow me!"

Seeing that he had not recognized the wrong person, the young assistant led the way for Zhuge Qing with a face full of smiles. Zhang Nuo also followed behind. Walking along, Zhang Nuo realized that except for the second and third floors which were ordinary seating, almost the entire large building consisted of private rooms.

However, these private rooms were divided into small, medium, and large sizes. The small rooms could hold at most four or five people, while the large ones could hold nearly thirty or forty.

Arriving in front of a private room on the third floor, the young assistant stopped, gently pushed open the door, and gestured with his hand in a welcoming manner.

"This was specifically reserved for the Young Sect Master by our Pavilion Master of Tianbao Pavilion. Although the room is a bit small, it is definitely the best location!"

"Go back and give my regards to Pavilion Master Li! Tell him Qing'er thanks him!"

Nodding at the young assistant, the young girl stepped into the private room. Zhang Nuo moved and followed her in. At this moment, the young assistant politely closed the door from the outside.

Glancing around the private room, he saw that the area was not large; it should be considered one of the small rooms, but the decoration was extremely luxurious. In front of the room, there was a faint transparent light barrier. Through the barrier, one could see everything in the auction hall, but those in the hall could not see into the private room.

"If we talk here, will people in the neighboring rooms be able to hear?"

When he walked in just now, Zhang Nuo had specifically observed the walls and found that the walls between the rooms were extremely thin. Let alone high-level cultivators, even he, a Foundation Establishment Mid-stage cultivator, could hear the sounds from next door clearly!

"Don't worry! There is a Sound Isolation Restriction between the rooms; even Nascent Soul Stage cultivators cannot hear our conversation."

Sitting on the soft seat in the private room, Zhuge Qing looked toward the hall below.

Zhang Nuo nodded slightly; it seemed the Tianbao Auction House was indeed very thoughtful. Walking to the transparent light screen, Zhang Nuo also looked down and saw a sea of heads below, with waves of noisy sounds rising and falling. Around the second floor and above, there were all these transparent light screens.

"When does the auction start?"

Zhang Nuo couldn't wait any longer. This was his first time attending such a large-scale auction, and he was somewhat excited.

"It should be soon!"

Estimating the time, Zhuge Qing said casually:

"I wonder what good things will appear today!"

Looking at the young girl's expectant expression, Zhang Nuo secretly took a Storage Bag from his bosom, opened the bag's mouth a little, and then put it back.

This Storage Bag contained the Nine Dragon Sword Case. Opening the bag's mouth slightly was to allow the Remnant Soul of Chunyangzi inside the sword case to hear what was being auctioned.

Just at this moment, a person's voice rang out in the plaza of the auction hall. The person's voice was not loud, but it possessed a penetrating power.

"Everyone! Please be quiet! The first auction of Tianbao Pavilion is about to begin! This old man's surname is Du, and I will be hosting this auction!"

Although Zhang Nuo was in the private room, he could still clearly hear the voice. He hurriedly looked down and saw an old man who looked to be over sixty years old standing in the center of the auction floor, his white robe making him look extremely spirited.

When his Divine Sense swept over the old man, Zhang Nuo gasped. He hadn't expected this old man to actually have the cultivation of the Golden Core Middle Stage. If it were in the outside world, a Golden Core Middle Stage cultivator could serve as an Elder of a sect; he hadn't expected that at Tianbao Pavilion, he was merely an auctioneer!

"There are many items in today's auction, so I won't waste everyone's time. Let's start our auction today immediately. The first item to be auctioned is a Magic Treasure that everyone desires very much!"

As he spoke, the old man flipped his hand, and a short sword over two feet long appeared in his palm. The old man held the short sword and circled the arena almost once before saying slowly:

"This sword is named 'Frost Condensation'. When the refiner cast it, they added some Millennium Cold Iron, giving it the power of the Five Elements..."

The old man surnamed Du's mouth was truly formidable. In a continuous stream of words, he made the 'Frost Condensation' sword sound miraculous. The thousands of cultivators in the public seating below kept letting out exclamations.

"Isn't it just a Flying Sword with Five Elements attributes? Is it worth making it sound so divine?"

From Zhang Nuo's perspective, this Flying Sword was very ordinary; apart from having Five Elements attributes, it could be said to be useless in other respects.

"The auction is exactly what needs this effect, otherwise, do you think Tianbao Pavilion would spend a high price to hire an auctioneer with this level of cultivation?"

Zhuge Qing sat before the light screen, leisurely listening to the old man surnamed Du narrate.

"Alright, the starting price for this 'Frost Condensation' is three thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones, and each bid must be no less than five hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones! The auction begins now!"

As soon as the old man's words stopped, a cultivator immediately placed a bid!

"Three thousand five hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones!"

"Four thousand!"

"Five thousand!"

With the shouts of bidding in the hall, the price of this 'Frost Condensation' instantly soared to eight thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones. However, Zhang Nuo noticed that most of the people shouting bids were in the public seating area, while none of the cultivators in the private rooms had called out.

It seemed that the figures in the private rooms were all people of some background, and they would not look favorably upon these low-grade Magic Treasures!

Very quickly, this 'Frost Condensation Sword' was sold for a price of eight thousand five hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones, and the old man surnamed Du handed the short sword to a young shop assistant, letting him follow the final winner to settle the Spirit Stones.

"Next, we begin the auction of the second item."

The old man flipped his palm once more, and a black long blade appeared in his hand; this blade was over three feet long, and the entire blade body was pitch black.

"This long blade is named: Chongxuan! Because it is refined from profound iron, its weight is truly astonishing; if an ordinary cultivator were to wield it, it would be a problem, so I advise you fellow Daoists, it is better for cultivators who specialize in body refinement to bid on it!"

As soon as the old man surnamed Du finished this sentence, a chorus of boos came from below; wasn't this clearly looking down on everyone? Immediately, several cultivators who did not specialize in body refinement became eager to try.

A strange look flashed through the old man's eyes, but it vanished in an instant; it seemed his provocative tactic had worked, for in normal times, who would buy a Magic Treasure that wasn't handy?