It"s already been 3 months from the time Shen and others started their journey. Normally they could reach Hundred Miles City if they took the straight path. But Shen decided against it. He didn"t want to be cooped inside Hundred Miles City.He planned to enjoy his journey with Ruyan and Lingshuang. He wanted to spoil Lingshuang a little more. Plus, he didn"t forget to collect different types of medicinal seed and rare seeds that he could plant on the Immortal Realm.
Although Yu Ruyan was skeptical of why he was buying seeds, she didn"t stop him. She already treated him like an adult because of his high wisdom and intelligence. But still reminded him they take a long time to mature, ranging from 100 years to tens of thousands.
Shen just thanked her but still told her to buy seeds of different varieties of seeds from normal to rare ones. He thought it will be really tragic if he can"t get the Yin-Yang Pendant but decided against it. If Qing Shui didn"t get it then no one should either and he can just take it from Qing Shui forcefully. At this point, Shen evilly laughed which earned him a light slap on the head.
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Currently, the trio was relaxing in a luxurious room. They were currently in a VIP room of the Prestige Auction Hall. Like the name says they were famous for their prestige surrounding the few cities nearby.
The trio encountered this place during their journey. So, they stopped for two days to attend this Auction. Shen, even though one of the powerful people amongst the humans never attended Auction Hall as it was too rare. And he could get things he wanted by himself. More like, the things he wanted can only get ahold of by himself... only couldn"t cure his curse.
He was surprised how expensive this Auction Hall"s can be, just this room costed around 30,000 taels. Note that they didn"t really spend too much during their journey. Their most expenses went to seeds of various herbs.
Still, Shen didn"t worry about money. They had enough spending 20 years lavishly. Of course, if they don"t spend too much. Even so, he can easily earn them later on.
Shen checked the room while unintentionally his gaze fell upon Ruyan. He really felt amazed by how dedicated this woman was. Even after leaving Duanmu Family, she decided to visit her late husband"s grave.
He slowly came to know more about her, at the same time his love for her became stronger. He wanted her to dedicate for himself, not some dead random dude. Unknowingly a warm smile emerged on his face.
As if feeling his gaze, Ruyan turned her face toward him. She really felt weird about this kid. Sometimes, he would act like a "kid" in front of her but sometimes, she felt him act more mature than herself. She returned a smile and took her face toward the Auction.
The Auction finally started. A few pills were being auctioned which the trio completely ignored. Sometimes Lingshuang would curiously ask about the items shown on the auction which Ruyan happily answered.
Shen, on the other hand, had a bored face. He expected some interesting items to appear on this auction but so far nothing caught his attention. He looked forward to the last three items which were about to appear now.
Very soon a youthful girl took out a small tray veiled by a red cloth. She kept the tray on a table as the announcer took over.
"Everyone this item is definitely a treasure. Although we couldn"t find the usage for it, according to Elders of the Auction Hall this item holds a great amount of vitality. As the owner of this treasure needs urgent money, we had to bring this treasure before the schedule. The starting bid is 50,000 taels of silver, and each increment cannot be lower than 1,000 taels." as he said this he removed the veil and a crystalline branch of a tree appeared on everyone"s view.
It looked like a piece of art. From time to time the branch would sparkle a little. If someone didn"t know it, they would definitely use this item as decoration.
"51,000 teals!"
"56,000 teals!"
"65,000..."
After a second silence, people started to bid. Although the usage was unknown it might possibly increase some old cultivators lifespan. Many wanted to study this strange branch. It looked like a crystal, at the same time it looked similar to a tree branch. Either way, they can tell its made by nature and not handy work.
On the other hand, Shen frowned deeply with his baby face. At least he tried to frown. He couldn"t remember about crystal tree branch in the story so he was pondering whether he should get this tree branch or not.
"Buy this one! I"ll need it." After another good three seconds, he finally decided to get this branch.
"Are you sure?" Ruyan suddenly wondered why this kid was so obsessed with trees.
"Definitely and don"t forget to mask your voice."
Ruyan just nodded and only sighed a little. Shen kept ordering her and she didn"t know why she couldn"t refute him. Eventually she became used to following his order. It makes one wonder who"s the older one.
In the end, they were able to get the branch with 320,000 teals. Ruyan felt it was unnecessary but again didn"t question it. As long as they both were happy.
After the branch was delivered to the VIP room, Shen quickly took it to see carefully. From close, this branch really wants to make one look at it for days. He looked at the branch"s information with the help of Absolute Upgrade. He didn"t try to upgrade it, as he could feel it will shatter in thousands of pieces as soon as tried it.
[Holy Branch
A branch from the Holy Tree.]
A little bit skeptical, Shen looked at the branch again. "Holy Tree?! What is this a game?"
Shen started having a headache but remembered AST world looked more or less like a game. Items and Gears could increase the wearer"s power. So having a holy tree shouldn"t be too surprising.
"So, Is it useful?" Shen handed the branch to Ruyan who just giggled a little looking at his expression.
"Oh, you should keep that branch with care. You might get a scare if you knew what this branch was?" Shen"s voice contained a little amus.e.m.e.nt.
"So, you know about this branch? What is it?"
"It is a... secret!" Shen laughed out loud. Thankfully VIP Rooms were soundproofed for "various" reasons. So, n.o.body found out.
Another Pill and Sword was auctioned which none of the three took fancy to. Lingshuang sulked how it was boring even though she was curious about almost anything. So, Shen had to apologize to her and promised to make it up to her.
They left the Auction Hall and didn"t really get "invited" by some people. Which caused Shen to be quite surprised. It looked you don"t always encounter cliched villains.