Chapter 255: In Hand

With a creaking sound, the auction hall's doors closed.

The lights dimmed.

A cultivator dressed in the governor's mansion attire stepped onto the main auctioneer's platform.

He was tall and slender, with refined features—a female cultivator.

She was quite beautiful.

But she was clearly an official of the governor's mansion, not from the Red Moon Trading Society.

"Ladies and gentlemen… hello…"

As she spoke, her spiritual sense surged outward, sweeping across the hall.

He Pingsheng made no pretense—he swept his own spiritual sense right back.

After all, there were nearly two hundred people here; who was to say it was him?

A quick scan left He Pingsheng slightly startled: she was a Golden Core cultivator.

Third layer of Golden Core.

"This auction features twenty-six shop stalls!"

"Each stall has a different location, size, and level of spiritual energy!"

"Based on these three criteria, we've established three rating tiers!"

"Each criterion is graded into four levels: Heaven, Earth, Mystery, and Earthly!"

"Alright, we'll auction the twenty-six shops in random order!"

"First up: a stall on the Sixteenth Street in the Wuxu District, south of the city!"

"Location rating: Mystery level!"

"Spiritual energy rating: Mystery level!"

"Size rating: Earthly level!"

"One hundred years of usage rights; starting bid: one million inferior spirit stones!"

"Bidding is open!"

"Each bid must increase by at least fifty thousand inferior spirit stones!"

He Pingsheng's eyes narrowed slightly—he understood.

The stall's exact location was displayed on the map behind the auction platform, along with its ratings.

In terms of geography, size, and spiritual energy, it was bottom-tier.

And it wasn't even permanent ownership.

The right to use it lasted only one hundred years.

He Pingsheng did not bid.

Why?

Because his goal in acquiring a shop wasn't merely to make money—it was to find Qiao Xiaoqiao.

To achieve that goal, the location couldn't be poor.

It had to be in a bustling, prime area to maximize visibility.

"One million five hundred thousand!"

"One million one hundred thousand!"

"One million two hundred thousand…"

He Pingsheng didn't bid—but others did.

Soon, the stall was sold for one million four hundred thousand spirit stones.

And this was only for a hundred-year lease.

To operate normally, the owner must pay annual taxes.

Indeed, the auctioneer continued: "Congratulations to the brother cultivator who won this stall's hundred-year operating rights. Please note: during operation, you must pay the governor's mansion one percent of the final bid price annually as tax!"

"You may pay the full hundred years at once, or pay for ten years, or even one year at a time!"

One million four hundred thousand, one percent equals fourteen thousand.

Not much!

But not negligible either.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the second shop is in the Gengzi District, western side of Red Stone City—this one's good!"

"Location rating: Heaven level!"

"Size rating: Earth level!"

"Spiritual energy concentration: Earth level!"

"Starting bid: six million inferior spirit stones!"

The location was excellent, but the size and spiritual energy weren't what He Pingsheng wanted.

He wanted a shop in an extremely bustling area, small in size, with negligible spiritual energy.

After all, a tiny alchemy shop doesn't need to be large.

As for spiritual power—he didn't need it for his cultivation.

Or rather, whether the spiritual energy was dense or sparse made little difference to him.

He had supreme elixirs!

Wait.

It'll come.

After all, there are over twenty shops!

He Pingsheng waited quietly.

After more than a dozen stalls had been auctioned, the type he wanted finally appeared.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the next shop is special!"

"It's located in the Jiazi District, near the governor's mansion!"

"Bustling level: Heaven level!"

"Spiritual energy concentration: Earthly level—I warn you, though close to the governor's mansion, this shop has no spiritual energy whatsoever!"

"Finally, size: also Earthly level!"

"This shop is not large!"

Just how big is Earthly level?

The trading society provided the answer: width and depth each about one zhang.

In other words, a shop measuring one zhang by one zhang.

"Since this shop is in an extremely bustling area, the starting price is high!"

"Starting bid: six million inferior spirit stones!"

"Each bid must increase by at least one hundred thousand inferior spirit stones!"

Hiss…

Hearing the bid, He Pingsheng sucked in a sharp breath.

Fortunately, his spirit stones were sufficient.

During his eleven-year seclusion, He Pingsheng had strengthened spirit stones daily.

Each day, he could strengthen two, turning them into four middle-grade spirit stones.

That's forty thousand per day!

Over eleven years, he amassed over ten thousand middle-grade spirit stones—equivalent to over a hundred million inferior spirit stones.

"Six million three hundred thousand!"

"I bid six million five hundred thousand!"

"I bid six million six hundred thousand!"

The shop was tiny, but many were bidding.

He Pingsheng didn't bid immediately—he waited quietly.

Once the price reached seven million spirit stones, bidders began to drop off.

After all, it was just a very small shop.

Too expensive, and it wasn't worth it.

"I bid seven million three hundred thousand!" He Pingsheng made his first bid.

Swish…

Instantly, many eyes turned toward him.

Some scanned him and saw only a plain Foundation Establishment disciple—they couldn't help but sneer.

"Seven million four hundred thousand!"

"Seven million five hundred thousand!"

"Seven million six hundred thousand!"

…

A rapid price surge.

In the end, He Pingsheng secured the shop for seven million nine hundred thousand inferior spirit stones.

One hundred years of operating rights.

Of course, you'll still need to pay a hundred years' worth of taxes—another 7. million.

"Excellent! Congratulations to this young brother for winning this shop in the Jiazi District… Someone will follow up with you for the transfer!"

The main auctioneer moved on to the next item.

A female disciple of Foundation Establishment third layer, dressed in the city lord's official robes, quietly approached He Pingsheng and said, "Fellow cultivator… here is the token for the Jiazi District shop!"

A red token was placed in He Pingsheng's hand: "This is the exact address!"

"Will you pay the hundred years' tax in one lump sum, or…?"

The woman looked at He Pingsheng.

He Pingsheng pulled over a thousand middle-grade spirit stones from his storage pouch, placed them in a treasure bag, and handed it to the woman. "Pay it all at once!"

"Understood!" The woman gave him another token. "This is your hundred-year tax-paid token—please keep it safe!"

"Once you've paid your taxes, you come under the city lord's protection. If anyone causes trouble in your shop, our guard force will intervene."

"You can go see it now—the shop isn't far."

"If you'd like, I can take you there."

The female cultivator stared at He Pingsheng, her eyes gleaming.

She had never seen a Foundation Establishment cultivator this wealthy before.

"Good!" He Pingsheng said. "I'll go with you right now!"

He already had what he wanted; there was no need to stay at the auction.