The auctioneer on the stage was calling out the name of the next treasure. The items that could be sent to the Golden Toad House auction were all valuable items that were in short supply, and almost every treasure that was brought to the bidding stage would cause a commotion.
The bidding was very fierce. From time to time, Lin Fuqing took a fancy to some spiritual plants and elixirs and signaled for Xun Mingsi to buy them.
—Logically speaking, a secluded sect like the Xuyun Sect could not be considered rich, but Third Xun never questioned his da shixiong’s opinion, and he spent spirit stones by the handfuls without feeling any mental pain.
During this period, Ye Huaguo also asked for a jade bottle of fairy dew used by doctors to practice alchemy; Xun Mingsi bought himself three meters of jade ice silk, preparing to forge a new string for his guqin, Que Ting.
Gradually, some people below also noticed the grandeur of this box and began to whisper:
“Hey, have you noticed? The guest in the jiamao box doesn’t bid often, but once he starts bidding, he always wins! The Red Infant Grass just now was only worth 7,000 spirit stones, but the guest was willing to double the price to get it!”
“Hiss… Such a domineering and generous attitude, I wonder which immortal family it is.”
“Bidding with such confidence, it is possible that it’s a legitimate son or daughter from one of the three great families?”
Inside the jiamao private box, the beautiful waitress of the Golden Toad House was holding a golden tray in her hand. She bowed and said respectfully, “A plant of Red Infant Grass, please inspect it.”
Lin Fuqing accepted it calmly and put it in his Qiankun bag. “Thank you for your hard work.”
This was already the fourth spiritual plant that Lin Fuqing wanted to plant. Fang Zhiyuan gradually saw some clues. He leaned over from his seat and whispered in his ear, “Do you want to make a Spirit Awakening Pill?”
As long as the Spirit Awakening Pill is refined, the hidden spiritual root in Shen Xiaojiang’s body could be stimulated in advance. Since Lin Fuqing purposefully brought this kid to Liuhua Continent, it shouldn’t be just for the sole purpose of letting him watch the fun.
Lin Fuqing didn’t comment, neither saying yes nor no.
“The next treasure is number twenty-nine: a dead egg of the third-grade spiritual beast Purple Sky Luan bird. Starting price: 6,000 taels of spiritual stones!”
Lin Fuqing suddenly smiled evilly and winked. “I want this.”
Fang Zhiyuan’s mouth twitched, and he pretended to be angry. “Are you deliberately trying to make me second guess you?!”
Lin Fuqing smiled and said, “I didn’t say that I only wanted to buy the spiritual plants needed for the Spirit Awakening Pill. The dead egg of a third-grade spiritual beast is rare, so can’t I take a chance on it?”
Xun Mingsi shook his head and smiled, then he directly quoted the price, “8,000 taels.”
“They’ve taken action. The jiamao box has taken action again!”
A bunch of curious guests below started muttering.
Lin Fuqing had an idea in his mind. A third-grade spirit beast was close to the rank of a divine beast, and the Purple Sky Luan was said to have the bloodline of a phoenix, making it the best among the third-grade beasts.
Sadly, it was a dead egg.
Dead eggs from spiritual beasts were a bit useless, with limited usefulness. However, they’re also easy to sell at a high price.
It was just that he suddenly thought of something in his past life and wanted to buy it. Third Xun directly raised the price by 2,000, and no one would compete with them.
Sure enough, the other boxes and the seats below were all silent. This was because the jiamao box was so extravagant that no one else wanted to compete with them.
The auctioneer on the stage shouted, “8,000 taels of spiritual stones once! 8,000 taels of spiritual stones twice! 8,000 taels of spiritual stones thrice–”
Xun Mingsi whispered, “It’s done.”
Unexpectedly, in the next moment, a stammering male voice interrupted the auctioneer’s offer.
“8,000… and one… taels?”
—The ending tone rose cautiously, as if in a question.
It seemed like he was asking shyly: Can I just increase the price by one or two taels?
“……..”
The entire audience suddenly fell into an extremely awkward silence.
That person must be joking. Those who dared come to the Golden Toad House naturally wouldn’t mind spending money. So bidding only a few hundred taels was already embarrassing enough, but someone actually raised the price by…only one tael?!
Besides, not just anyone could enter the underground auction house of the Golden Toad House. One must be rich, powerful, or have a good background. How could such a naughty guest appear tonight?
Xun Mingsi was also a little confused by the “adding one tael” strategy. He cleared his throat and called out, “9,000 taels.”
The man’s voice followed up weakly, “9,000 and one taels…”
Lin Fuqing frowned, wondering if it was because their style of always winning the bid was too eye-catching, and someone was deliberately targeting them.
The boxes and seats in the Golden Toad House were all cast with voice-changing spells, so one couldn’t tell who “Mr. Adding One Tael” was just by listening to his voice.
Lin Fuqing hesitated for a moment, then shook his head and said, “Forget it, we’ll give in this time.”
Xun Mingsi’s expression remained unchanged. “How can I just let go of what my da shixiong wants?”
He turned around and continued to offer, “10,000 taels.”
“Third Xun, look at how you spoil him, squandering the family fortunes.”
Fang Zhiyuan couldn’t hide the smile in his eyes, but he still sneered, “You can’t play auctions like this, come, I’ll teach you one…”
The “Mr. Adding One Tael” was about to catch up, “10,000 and one tael…”
Fang Zhiyuan suddenly straightened up and two syllables were uttered grimly from between his lips:
“—20,000.”
“…….”
“……”
His voice was transmitted throughout the auction hall through the voice-changing and amplifying spells in the box, echoing clearly.
The whole audience became utterly silent.
After a long time, someone shivered and said, “How much…how much?”
“I heard… 20,000??”
“That jiamao box, the offer is 20,000?!”
In the jiamao box, Ye Huaguo was eating cakes attentively. At this moment, a piece of mung bean cake fell from her mouth that was suddenly hung open in a daze.
“Fang, Fang, Fang Shixiong… two two two two… ten thousands? 20,000 taels of spirit stones?!”
Ye Huaguo was in a state of confusion and asked in horror, “You, you are so rich?!”
Xun Mingsi’s face darkened, and he said seriously, “Shixiong, calm down. You can eat whatever you want, but you can’t say whatever you want!”
Even Lin Fuqing was startled by Fang Zhiyuan’s call, and said in amazement, “What…what madness did you say?”
Fang Zhiyuan slammed the table and said, “I’m just buying something for you!”
“…Thank you very much.” Lin Fuqing pondered solemnly, “But.”
He suddenly raised his head, pointed at himself and then at Fang Zhiyuan with his index finger, as if facing a formidable enemy. He said bleakly, “You, me, and us–Where can we get so much money?!”
“…Okay, the guest in the jiamao box bids 20,000 taels of spirit stones.”
Fortunately, the auctioneer on the stage had already seen a lot of storms and was not so surprised. “20,000 taels of spirit stones going once, 20,000 taels of spiritual stones going twice…”
This time, perhaps because of the pressure of “20,000 taels of spirit stones,” the voice of “Mr. Adding One Tael” was delayed in being heard.
“20,000 taels of spirit stones going thrice–”
“Wait!”
Suddenly, a figure stood up from the seat below.
The light from above revealed a scholar in plain clothes and a head-cover, with a plain appearance and nothing else special. Only his drooping eyebrows made him look a little sad.
The voice was dry and flat, with a strong bitterness in the tone. Who else could it be but “Mr. Adding One Tael” who had just been bidding with them!
“….!”
Inside the box, Lin Fuqing and Fang Zhiyuan were both surprised and immediately glanced at each other.
—It could be him?
The scholar bowed to the box from a distance. “Greetings to the Immortal Master. I am Yuan Ziyi, a student of Shisong Academy!”
The sound was like a stone thrown into a lake, and the auction hall suddenly rippled with noise.
“Hiss, someone from Shisong Academy!”
“Yuan Ziyi? Could he be the legendary scholar who read three thousand volumes of books and had an epiphany and established his foundation?”
“He’s right! Yuan Ziyi is less than fifty years old, so he must be here to participate in the Golden Osmanthus Challenge…”
“Hey, but… a student of a prestigious academy is actually using his status to bully others one day!”
When the last sentence came out, Yuan Shusheng’s old face suddenly turned red with shame. He seemed to have never done such a thing as taking advantage of the sect to make a profit for himself, and he stumbled.
“To be honest, this dead egg of the Purple Sky Luan is very important to the academy. This, this one will repay you! I wonder if I could ask this immortal to give me some face…and sell, sell it to me?”
Ye Huaguo was delighted when he heard this. “Look, Shixiong! This person also stutters!”
Fang Zhiyuan slapped the girl on the back of her head. “Don’t you know to imitate? Just quietly eat your pastry.”
Xun Mingsi looked slightly annoyed. “Shisong Academy has always respected saints and sages and worshiped Confucianism, how come there are students like this?””
“Wait, I don’t think this guy is the type to bully others by taking advantage of his power. Maybe he has some difficulties.” Lin Fuqing pushed open half of the door of the private room and glanced downstairs. “Please ask him to come up and we’ll listen to what he has to say first.”
…In fact, he wasn’t like that at all.
Who in the Immortal Realm a hundred years later wouldn’t know the name Yuan Ziyi? This was the pillar of Shisong Academy, with the nickname “hard-working bookworm.”
Lin Fuqing and Fang Zhiyuan, who were reborn, knew better than anyone that Yuan Ziyi, although he looked like a dull, pedantic bookworm, was actually a true gentleman with a passionate heart and great wisdom. He was also one of the few people in his previous life who was willing to work hard toward the reconciliation between immortal cultivators and demonic cultivators.
Lin Fuqing was very grateful to him.
If Yuan Ziyi really needed it, then it would be fine to give it to him for free.
………
After a moment, Yuan Ziyi knocked on the door of the box and bowed awkwardly.
Lin Fuqing poured him some tea and asked him the reason.
“I’m ashamed to hide this from you immortals.”
The scholar looked haggard and spoke in a sad tone.
“I… really had no choice. I wonder if you know about the yin monsters that wreaked havoc in Xiangzhou more than ten years ago? At that time, Vice Dean Chen of our academy went there in person to quell the unrest… but he was accidentally severely injured by the yin qi, and the hidden injury has never healed.”
“Vice Dean Chen has been suppressing his injuries with his cultivation for the past few years, but this year his injury suddenly relapsed. The academy has tried its best, but ordinary elixirs cannot heal the injuries caused by yin qi.”
Because he had something to ask of others, he kept a low profile and was hunched over, and it was hard to tell that he would grow up to be an independent figure in Shisong Academy decades later.
“The Purple Sky Luan inherits the bloodline of the phoenix, and its blood has the effect of dispelling evil spirits. The two immortal doctors of Hibiscus Pavilion once said that if it could be used as medicine…”
“… So Immortal Yuan is asking for medicine for his master? This is admirable.” Xun Mingsi frowned slightly and said thoughtfully, “But… this is just a dead egg. It may not be very effective.”
Yuan Ziyi’s expression was gloomy. “The vice dean’s injury cannot be delayed any longer. A dead egg is better than nothing. If you are willing to give it to me, I am willing to serve you.”
Xun Mingsi smiled and said, “No, you misunderstood. What I meant is that we have other ways…”
Suddenly, a soft white hand was raised in the corner of the box.
…and shook it weakly.
“Medicine… medicine to treat hidden injuries caused by yin qi.”
Ye Huaguo puffed up her cheeks, tried hard to swallow the pastry in her mouth, and pointed at her nose timidly, “Why didn’t you tell me earlier! I, I have a lot.”
—————————————
Translation Notes:
Jiamao = The term “jiamao” specifically refers to the combination of the first Heavenly Stem (Jia) with the fourth Earthly Branch (Mao). This combination is one of the 60 terms in the sexagenary cycle, which is a 60-year cycle used in traditional Chinese and other East Asian calendars. It is formed by combining a cycle of 10 heavenly stems with a cycle of 12 earthly branches. Each year is represented by a unique combination of a stem and a branch, resulting in a total of 60 possible combinations. The cycle is used to label years, months, days, and even hours.
Fang Zhiyuan looked at Lin Fuqing and signaled with his eyes. Although Ye Fu said…
Xuyun, Tinghe Peak. Ye Huaguo came out from behind the big tree and squatted curiously…
Dawn found birds chirping on the main peak of Xuyun. The wind blew gentle ripples…
Even after they’d left the small town and returned to Xuyun Sect, the storm was…
There was no warning when Lin Fuqing took action. An invisible force yanked the city…
...Do you want to try dual cultivation again? Lin Fuqing spoke so gently and softly.…
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