Chapter 165 – 800 Spirit Stone Box Suite
The Grand Auction that the Grand Erudition House was hosting this time was the biggest auction in the entirety of the market district of Splendid Commodity Peak. Countless low and medium level disciples from each of the Eight Mountains were gathered here in the Wenyuan Mountain Range, making it seem even more lively and flourishing.
Xu Disheng left the Golden Sun Pavilion and began to head in the direction of the Grand Erudition House. He was wearing the White Heron Robe, and his hair was tied up in a white jade band.
The market district was crowded and bustling with people, and Dao Foundation stage disciples, which usually weren’t seen that often, could be seen here everywhere he looked. He even saw the occasional Divine Core stage Spirit Master flying by on a streak of light, disappearing from sight only moments later.
Flying was forbidden in the marketplace, but Divine Core stage Spirit Masters had a prerogative that automatically placed them above these rules. Not only did people not dare to say anything about this, but they even bowed as they passed, showing their respect to the passing Divine Core stage Spirit Masters regardless of their own backgrounds.
Of course, the Divine Core stage Spirit Masters wouldn’t pay attention to the people below as they landed on the 9th floor of the Grand Erudition House, their streaks of light disappearing behind them.
The Grand Erudition House was a palace-like pagoda, taking up a huge area at the base. It had 9 floors in total, and the Grand Auction was being held on the first three floors.
The first three floors were interconnected, all open to an enormous shared atrium space. There were luxury box suites on the wings of the upper floors, overlooking the stage for the Grand Auction.
As soon as Xu Disheng entered the vicinity of the pagoda, a green-clothed disciple approached him. “Do you have an invitation jade slip? If not, you will need to pay 1,000 spirit stones to enter the venue.”
Xu Disheng produced the invitation jade slip and handed it to the disciple, who took it and examined it carefully before returning it. When he did so, his expression was much more respectful. “So it was Senior Martial Brother Xu from the Mingxin Mountain Range. Please enter.”
The green-clothed disciple turned to the side in a welcoming manner, making way for Xu Disheng to pass.
As a disciple of Wenyuan Mountain’s Splendid Commodity Peak, he didn’t necessarily know Xu Disheng.
However, these invitation jade slips were only sent out to the geniuses of the Eight Mountains, and within them were descriptions indicating such. It was only natural for these green-clothed disciples to become more respectful after confirming their identities.
Only after entering the pagoda was Xu Disheng able to fully witness the opulent wealth of the Grand Erudition House.
The floors were tiled with Green Luminite Rock, which had the effect of calming peoples’ minds and allowed them to concentrate more effectively. The material was extremely precious and expensive.
Furthermore, there were fox monster pelts laid out on each seat in the rows lined up on the first floor. The pattern on the pelts was not only luxurious and pleasing to the eye, but they were also extremely comfortable when sat upon.
On the tables lined up between each row of seats were high-grade spirit fruits and types of spirit tea that were difficult to purchase even in the market district. These refreshments could be taken freely by the customers attending the event.
In the corners of the hall, there was concentrating incense laid out, which also wasn’t cheap by any means. As they released swirling wisps of essence into the air, they slightly raised the mental cultivations of the disciples who smelled it, providing a variety of other useful effects as well.
“Xu Disheng?” A somewhat surprised voice called out.
When Xu Disheng looked in the direction of the voice, he saw Yu Yangyao standing several meters away, looking at him with raised eyebrows. There were a number of other geniuses from the Mingxin Mountain Range near him.
“Senior Martial Brother Yu.”
Xu Disheng came over and greeted him, exchanging nods with several other geniuses from the Mingxin Mountain Range.
“To think that you comprehended your Dao Path and stepped into the half-step Dao Foundation stage in such a short time,” Yu Yangyao said, turning around with a profound gaze and walking towards the steps leading to the second floor. “This is my message jade slip.”
A dark green jade slip floated over to Xu Disheng, and he reached out to take it, putting it away.
The other Sea of Qi geniuses of the Mingxin Mountain Range looked a bit shocked when they heard what Yu Yangyao said. They wordlessly looked Xu Disheng over, and some of them took the initiative to greet him before following Yu Yangyao up to the second floor.
In the vast hall, there were many disciples affiliated with the Grand Erudition House going around. One of them took notice of Xu Disheng and approached him with a smile.
“Respected guest, would you like to reserve a box suite?”
“A box suite?”
“That’s right. All invited guests or those who paid 1,000 spirit stones to enter may attend the Grand Auction on the first floor. But in the box suites on the second or third floor, there are concealing arrays to mask your face and identity and maids to speak your bids for you. There will be a bit of a price, however,” the disciple replied.
Xu Disheng looked up and saw the box suites on the second and third floor lining the inside of the pagoda’s atrium area. It had a good view, and it was extremely convenient to be able to look down from the box suite and see the entire auction.
When the disciple saw Xu Disheng making up his mind, he said, “The original price for a box suite on the second floor is 1,500 spirit stones. But if you have an invitation jade slip, you can just pay 800 spirit stones.”
The Grand Auction on Splendid Commodity Peak really wasn’t a place where any ordinary disciples could afford to come to. Any expenses here were easily around a thousand spirit stones. Only wealthy disciples or those with powerful backgrounds could afford this kind of spending. Ordinary disciples who only received several dozen spirit stones per year in cultivation resources were simply too poor to come to the Grand Auction. They might even be hard-pressed to pay the 10 spirit stone fee to enter Splendid Commodity Peak.
“Then I’ll take a box suite on the second floor,” Xu Disheng said without further hesitation. He took out 800 spirit stones, placed them into a storage pouch, and handed it to the disciple.
The disciple looked pleased. Clearly, the disciple would be earning a share of the spirit stones inside.
After putting away the storage pouch, he said, “Dear guest, please lend me your invitation jade slip and wait here for just a moment.”
After taking the invitation slip from Xu Disheng’s hands, he turned around and left.
A few moments later, the disciple returned, handing him back the invitation slip. He said respectfully, “Please allow me to show you up to the second floor.”
The interior design of the second floor was even more luxurious. Each box suite had layers and layers of arrays covering them. Sound-proofing arrays, defensive arrays, messaging arrays, and so on, making for an extremely complete set of arrays of varying functions.
The box suites made a full loop around the inside of the pagoda, whose first three floors were interconnected into a large atrium area.
Opening up the barrier of light surrounding one of the box suites, the disciple smiled and said, “Dear guest, this is your box suite. It has already been registered with your invitation jade slip, which you can use to open or close the barrier as you wish. There is a Sea of Qi stage maid inside, who can announce your bids for you and satisfy your needs.”
After he finished speaking, he took a half step back, indicating for Xu Disheng to enter.
Xu Disheng entered and activated his invitation jade slip, firmly closing the barrier and activating the arrays surrounding the box suite. Only after doing that did he turn around to look at the inside of the box suite.
The interior was even more lavishly decorated. There were pelts of monsters unknown to Xu Disheng laid on the ground as rugs, and several types of extremely expensive spirit fruits were arranged on the table. There were even several pieces of a kind of spirit fruit that could increase one’s lifespan by a certain amount.
A white-clothed woman was seated by the table, looking through the barrier of light down at the auction venue below.
When she saw Xu Disheng enter the box suite, she stood up and walked over to him.
Her black hair flowed down to her wide, supple hips, which swung irresistibly as she approached him. Her facial features were as beautiful as a painting, and her body was sculpted like jade.
A pair of bare legs extended below her white dress. There was an ornamental gem placed between her eyebrows, adding to her sense of exotic beauty. “Young master,” she greeted in a gentle tone.
Her beautiful gaze was fixed on Xu Disheng alone.
Xu Disheng walked over to the desk and took a seat by it, surveying the auction venue below. “Is there a list of items being auctioned today?”
Seeing Xu Disheng’s eyes not lingering on her at all, the woman in the white dress was momentarily speechless. But she quickly came back to her senses and said, “Naturally.”
She bent over and picked up a nearby jade slip, then came over and placed it on the table in front of Xu Disheng.
She took advantage of the opportunity to sit next to him. She picked up a Violet Spirit Grape and peeled it, then tried to put it in Xu Disheng’s mouth.
Xu Disheng picked up the jade slip, and while carefully looking through it, he said indifferently, “Those 800 spirit stones were worth every penny.”
The girl in the white dress blushed slightly. Seeing Xu Disheng had no intention of eating the spirit fruit she peeled, she just quietly sat by his side, looking at him.
This Sea of Qi stage maid wasn’t actually a disciple of the Shangqing Sacred Sect. Women like her were instead raised by some influence in the sect. After being discovered to have profound meridians at a young age, girls like her were raised to the Sea of Qi stage with pills and medicines. They were taught to be proficient in the arts and other talents for entertaining and pleasing, then sold off as maids.
Each of these women were worth at least 200 spirit stones. A maid as pretty as this woman would be worth at least 500 spirit stones.
For the Grand Auction, a certain force in the sect had reached a business deal with the Grand Erudition House, so each box suite had one of these women in them to serve as maids. Even after subtracting the real cost of the box suite itself from the price of 800 spirit stones, the price still couldn’t be considered expensive.
As Xu Disheng looked through the jade slip with the list of items, his heart was trembling.
There were so many items being put up for auction, and the variety of items was extremely broad and extensive. Many of the items were beyond his current knowledge.
The Grand Auction lasted for 7 days, so there were many wealthy people from clans who would spend spirit stones to reserve a box suite on the second floor. The interiors were cozy and suitable for relaxing, while also conveniently concealing their identities.
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Even though everyone was protected by the strict sect rules, most people still liked to act discreetly and keep their identities hidden, since they didn’t want other people to know what kind of hidden trump cards they had or were obtaining.
As a result, these box suites were in extremely high demand. If Xu Disheng had arrived even half a day later, all of these box suites might have already been all sold out.
Meanwhile, the box suites on the third floor couldn’t be reserved by simply having sufficient spirit stones. Having the qualifications to reserve one of those box suites for 7 days required being at the rank of Peak Master or higher in terms of status and Dao Foundation stage or higher in terms of cultivation.
As for the Divine Core stage Spirit Masters that would occasionally come to the auction, the Grand Erudition House obviously wouldn’t make them pay a single cent. They would be welcomed respectfully into the 9th floor of the pagoda, where they could watch the auction through a screen and choose what they wanted.
On top of that, if something caught one of the Spirit Masters’ interest, it would immediately be removed from the auction and sold to them at the lowest possible price.
“Young master, there is still a full day until the Grand Auction starts. How about I…” As the woman spoke, she suddenly leaned forward, trying to fall into Xu Disheng’s arms.
The youth immediately turned away and the woman fell forward on the couch instead. She looked up at Xu Disheng, a hint of unhappiness hidden behind her gaze.
After being sent to these box suites, these women were to act as the maids of the box suite’s master and were completely at their discretion for these seven days.
“What a waste of a Violet Spirit Grape though,” Xu Disheng said, giving her a sidelong glance.
The woman in the white dress sat up. Only then did she realize that she had accidentally crushed it into a pulp when she had fallen forward on the couch just now.
Her face immediately flushed an even deeper red. She couldn’t even speak out of shame.
Although she didn’t have any cultivation method, she had a Sea of Qi stage cultivation. Ordinarily, she should have never made a mistake this severe.
Maybe it was because this youth was too handsome, causing her to accidentally crush the Violet Spirit Grape in her state of absentminded infatuation.
The woman wasn’t wearing shoes. Her white, slender legs were bare, looking extremely attractive beneath the light, airy cloth of her white dress.
Seeing the youth in the White Heron Robe already closing his eyes and submerging himself in cultivation, the woman gritted her teeth and took out a hand mirror. After making sure she had restored her dignified appearance, she took a lock of her hair and started to twirl it in her fingers. Summoning her courage, she said seductively, “Master… Master, why are you ignoring me?”
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