Free Web NovelChapter 207: Chapter 191: Xiao Chan’s Congratulatory Gift
He arrived at the auction house.
The venue, which had been utterly deserted a few months ago, was now bustling with activity. There was even a long line at the entrance.
The craze over the upcoming sale of the Foundation Establishment Pill had gradually heated up the auction. Many cultivators were now bringing items to the auction house, hoping to raise Spirit Stones in advance.
Of course, not all items were qualified for the auction.
"A Tier One Middle Grade Spirit Sword? No way! It has to be Tier One High Grade at minimum!"
"You want to sell a Pill Formula to our Jinyun Valley? Do you have any idea how many Tier One formulas our Valley Master has?"
"A Tier Two Low Grade Jade Peach Fruit? Our Jinyun Valley will take it. Name your price!"
Backstage at the auction house.
Rong Zhongxuan was appraising items one by one. If an item’s Grade wasn’t high enough for the auction but was still decent, Jinyun Valley would acquire it directly if the price was right. As for those who hoped to fetch a high price at the auction, he didn’t try to force them otherwise.
The rule Chen Che had set from the very beginning was no forced sales or purchases.
Killing the goose that lays the golden eggs was just a way of cutting off their own future.
Of course, there were also those who didn’t want to go through the auction and tried to use back-door channels, hoping to directly trade Magical Artifacts with Chen Che for the Foundation Establishment Pill ahead of time. Rong Zhongxuan rejected those with low Cultivation levels outright. But if it was a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, it wasn’t easy to turn them away, so he could only refer them to Chen Che.
"Valley Master Chen!"
The visitor was a beautiful young woman who appeared to be in her thirties.
But one couldn’t judge a Foundation Establishment Cultivator’s age by their appearance; for all he knew, she could be over a hundred years old.
"Fellow Daoist, please have some tea!"
Chen Che poured her a cup of hot tea.
"Valley Master Chen, you truly are young and promising—even younger than the rumors say. You are indeed worthy of being called an alchemy genius!"
The beautiful woman accepted the teacup, her face beaming as she spoke. ƒгeewёbnovel.com
"You flatter me."
Chen Che’s expression remained unchanged.
He had heard plenty of such talk back on Earth Element Star and was long since immune to it. Although he knew her purpose for coming, his face betrayed nothing as he asked:
"You were looking for me...?"
"I am Qinglian, from the Lu Family of Xuzhou. I heard that Valley Master Chen will be auctioning a Foundation Establishment Pill at the end of the month. I was hoping to discuss with you, Valley Master, if it might be possible to sell the Pill to me ahead of time. I am willing to trade a Magical Artifact for it..."
The beautiful woman introduced herself.
’Xuzhou?’
Chen Che was slightly stunned. One had to pass through Chi State and Haizhou to get to Xuzhou.
He had never heard of the Lu Family; Jinyun Valley’s information network didn’t reach that far yet. However, the moment the woman took out her Magical Artifact, Chen Che recognized her instantly.
"Valley Master Chen, take a look!"
Lu Qinglian waved her hand, producing a square shield. With a flick of her sleeve, the shield expanded to several zhang high in the blink of an eye. Then, with a clench of her fist, it immediately shrank to the size of a button:
"This is the Four-sided Shield, a Tier Two High Grade defensive Magical Artifact. I wonder, can I trade this for the Foundation Establishment Pill?"
Lu Qinglian was the very same Major Cultivator from the exchange meet who had been shrouded in a watery mist.
During the exchange meet that day, she had intended to trade this very item for a Foundation Establishment Pill.
But there were no takers.
He never thought that in the blink of an eye, she would come looking for him, once again preparing to trade the Four-sided Shield for a Foundation Establishment Pill.
’Heh, what a small world.’
Chen Che mused internally, but his expression remained impassive as he said to Lu Qinglian, "Fellow Daoist, I’m afraid I cannot agree. The Foundation Establishment Pill can only be auctioned..."
Seeing that Lu Qinglian still wanted to negotiate, Chen Che cut her off:
"I suggest that you, Fellow Daoist, leave the Four-sided Shield at the auction. There are many Foundation Establishment Cultivators in the Market recently, and someone might offer a high price for it, which would help you raise funds. Also, our auction only charges a five-percent commission."
"Very well!"
Seeing Chen Che’s firm attitude, Lu Qinglian sighed and took out the Clear Wind Wheel as well.
This was the very Magical Artifact she had tried to trade for the Inner Armor.
"I will also leave this item with Jinyun Valley for consignment... Also, I hope Valley Master Chen can provide me with a receipt."
"Of course."
Chen Che picked up a wolf-hair Talisman Brush and, with fluid movements, wrote out a receipt. "This will serve as proof! After the auction, you can use this to collect your Spirit Stones. If you change your mind, you can also use it to retrieve your items."
The Talisman Brush, the Spiritual Ink, and Chen Che’s unique True Essence fluctuations.
This receipt could not be forged.
"Good!"
Lu Qinglian accepted the receipt and, without another word, hastily took her leave.
She was clearly going back to raise more Spirit Stones.
’I didn’t expect a Major Cultivator from the exchange meet to show up here.’
Watching Lu Qinglian’s departing figure, Chen Che put away the two Magical Artifacts, a hint of curiosity stirring in his heart.
This woman’s status and strength were both considerable.
Yet she was also struggling and rushing about for a single Foundation Establishment Pill. There was probably a hidden story behind it.
However, he wasn’t one for prying into others’ secrets and wasn’t particularly interested.
Not long after Lu Qinglian left, Chen Che received another visitor: a Foundation Establishment Cultivator from Chi State.
’The Zheng Family?’
Gazing at the troubled-looking middle-aged man before him, who also wanted to trade a Tier Two High Grade Magical Artifact for a Foundation Establishment Pill, Chen Che frowned slightly.
"I heard the Zheng Family still has two Foundation Establishment Pills in their treasury. As a Guest Minister for the Zheng Family, why don’t you try to obtain one from them...?"
"I’m just a Guest Minister with a different surname!"
The middle-aged man cupped his tea and sighed heavily.
"Within the Zheng Family, there are at least twenty Late-stage Qi Refining cultivators in line, including the descendants of two Elders. By the time I gather enough family contribution points, it will take at least another twelve years. By then, my son will have long since passed the sixty-year-old limit!"
At this point, the man looked at him with a sliver of hope:
"Valley Master Chen, can’t you make an exception?"
"I’m sorry."
Chen Che shook his head.
In the end, like Lu Qinglian, the man also left his Magical Artifact for consignment.
Of course, there were also those who, after failing to make a trade, even tried to use their Divine Sense to bewitch him.
"GET LOST!"
The moment he sensed it, Chen Che retaliated on the spot with his own Divine Sense.
The Major Cultivator, merely at the Foundation Establishment Second Layer, had his sea of consciousness blasted, knocking him unconscious instantly.
Chen Che grabbed the man by the leg and threw him directly from the third floor.
The bustling Market fell silent for an instant.
But he was a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, after all, and recovered in the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea. Without a word, he scrambled up from the ground, scurried back into the auction house shamefacedly, apologized, and also left his Magical Artifact with Jinyun Valley for consignment.
...
Watching the man depart, Chen Che sneered inwardly. In the face of immense profit, there would always be those who would take desperate risks.
However, although it had been a busy day, the haul was quite substantial.
"Two Tier Two High Grade Magical Artifacts, nine Tier Two Middle Grade, seventy-three Low Grade, three Tier Two Spirit Fruits, and over thirty bottles of various Tier Two Pills... For the useful items whose owners were willing to sell, we went ahead and acquired them."
That evening, after taking inventory, Ding Fei reported the situation.
"Mark the ones they weren’t willing to sell. We’ll bid on them ourselves during the auction."
Chen Che instructed.
At the same time, he glanced at the dazzling array of Magical Artifacts on the shelves and couldn’t help but sigh in admiration.
’A single auction can bring in so many things. What about ten, or a hundred of them?’
But he was also well aware.
Without the hype generated by the Foundation Establishment Pill, it would have taken at least three to five years to reach this scale.
To prevent anyone from scheming to steal the auction items, Chen Che placed everything directly into his Storage Ring before returning to Jinyun Valley.
"Hm?"
He swept his Divine Sense through the house, but Meng Qingxuan wasn’t there.
Instead, he found her in the pool, bathing with her hair undone, her discarded clothes resting on a rock nearby.
"You’re back?"
A blush appeared on Meng Qingxuan’s face as she said softly, "I’ve finished washing..."
"It’s fine. You can wash for a while longer."
Chen Che waved his hand, and a mist rose to envelop the courtyard.
「The next day.」
A new Magic Array had appeared outside the courtyard.
...
「Ten days after the news of the Foundation Establishment Pill spread.」
Late at night. freewēbnoveℓ.com
Xiao Chan sent a message via his Communication Wrist Wheel:
"Congratulations on the booming business for your auction, Brother Chen. I will be sending you a congratulatory gift shortly."
’A congratulatory gift?’
Chen Che mulled over the meaning of the message, his brow twitching slightly. At the same time, he couldn’t help but feel a sliver of anticipation.
’It seems the Primordial Sect is in for more trouble.’
Sure enough, half a month later, news arrived:
Xiao Chan had massacred the Law Enforcement Elder’s family within the city. Two Foundation Establishment Cultivators died violent deaths that night, and not a single person or animal of the clan was left alive.
