Chapter 1223: Sea Market
While Cantory was feeling puzzled, he happened to hear what happened in front of the entrance of the Tower of Dusk’s Emba.s.sy, which was a pleasant surprise to him. Regardless of what was going on with Harquess, he understood Grina well, and knew that the latter was definitely not the type who would be willing to suffer any losses.
Hence, Cantory immediately put aside the matter regarding Harquess for the time being, and rushed over to chat with Grina. If Harquess really had any qualms about dealing with Lin Li, Cantory thought that Grina could be the perfect replacement for Harquess, and teach Lin Li a hard lesson on his behalf. If he was overly sensitive, and got the wrong idea about Harquess, it wouldn’t be a bad thing to give Lin Li an additional opponent, either.
Cantory and Grina headed to the Red Sea Palace of the Giant Shark Clan, but Cantory just left when they were about to arrive. They were the only ones who knew what their conversation was about during the journey. On the other hand, the people at the emba.s.sy of the Tower of Dusk all resumed their respective duties as if nothing had happened.
Lin Li didn’t pay attention to what Dorick said except for the conclusion. Afterwards, he continued to take out the items that he had bought from the Secret Merchant Market.
The most useful items that he had bought from the Secret Merchant Market were the Nether Pearls and the King Hunter’s Blade. The Nether Pearls had already been delivered back to the Tower of Dusk, while the King Hunter’s Blade was given to Norfeller. The other items, such as some rare deep-sea herbs, would have to be processed before they could be of use to Lin Li. Although they had been processed by the secret merchants using some basic procedures, Lin Li felt that they weren’t finely processed enough, so he had to do something more to them to best preserve the power of the herbs.
In addition to processing those items, Lin Li also had to help Angelano modify the Alchemy Colossus in order to maximize the power of the Divine Sea Pillar. Although the Alchemy Colossus was said to be able to move freely in the ocean as long as the Divine Sea Pillar was placed on it, the effects were only kinetic. It was just like how a log could float on water, but not become a battles.h.i.+p.
Angelano was a Guru of Alchemy, and he also had a rich knowledge of Alchemy Arrays, but he still needed the help of Lin Li, the Guru of Inscription, in order to fully exert the power of the Divine Sea Pillar. Lin Li was very glad to do that. Though Angelano was timid and so afraid of death that he usually wouldn’t take the initiative to partic.i.p.ate in any fights, when it was time for him to really partic.i.p.ate in the battle, it meant that the situation had reached a critical point more likely than not. Hence, it would be a good thing if the power of the Alchemy Colossus could be strengthened as it would provide some help during a battle or even play a key role.
In addition to helping Angelano modify the Alchemy Colossus, Lin Li also had to help Connoris research the two Light-Winged Angels. Although those Winged Angels couldn’t allow Connoris’ strength to be improved directly, the life forms could provide some reference for Connoris to better understand how to master his perfect body.
However, Lin Li had imprisoned the Light-Winged Angels in his Domain World, and they couldn’t be released at will. Those two Light-Winged Angels were also at the peak of the Sanctuary-realm, and were only subdued by Lin Li because they were in his Domain World. Hence, if he released them now, he wouldn’t be able to pull them back into the Domain World again.
Hence, if Connoris wanted to study the Light-Winged Angels, he would have to ask Lin Li to expand his Domain World, and allow him to enter to conduct his research.
Of course, while Connoris was studying the Light-Winged Angels, Lin Li would gain something out of it too. If he could get a clear idea of the life form the Light-Winged Angels were, he would be able to create similar existences in his Domain World, and they’d be different from the Angels of Light and Dark, which were purely energy bodies, that he had previously created.
Thus, Lin Li didn’t really slacken or idle about even though he wasn’t studying the Divine-Smith-level mageweath. He spent his time modifying the Alchemy Colossus, studying the Light-Winged Angels, and processing those herbs and other precious materials. Day by day, time flew by like an arrow.
In the blink of an eye, a few days pa.s.sed, and the grand decennial Sea Market finally officially began. The Foreign Affairs Minister of the Gilded Kingdom sent an exquisite and beautiful invitation card to the Tower of Dusk to invite Lin Li to an auction that was to be held a few days later. It was an opening auction for the Sea Market, and was one of the largest ever.
Before the auction began, some auction items would be put on display like an art exhibition, so everyone could admire the auction items. However, not all the auction items would be put on display, and only those that were valuable enough would be included. The finale item would also be kept secret from the guests prior to the auction in order to maintain a sense of mystery.
One of the main roles of this exhibition was to allow the guests who were planning to attend the auction to find out more information about the auction items in advance so that they could decide which ones they wanted to bid for. Of course, another purpose of it was to allow them to prepare enough gold coins. To put it nicely, it was to prevent them from missing out on what they really wanted to buy due to insufficient gold coins. However, for the organizers, it was for the sake of pus.h.i.+ng the prices of auction items higher.
There were two ways to partic.i.p.ate in the exhibition: one was through an invitation, while the other was through purchasing a ticket, which cost a bomb. After all, the auction items were very expensive and valuable, so not just anyone could be allowed to enter.
After receiving the invitation, Lin Li took some time out of his schedule to take a look at the auction items with some of his subordinates. The auction was indeed worthy of being the opening auction for the Sea Market. There was not only a large number of auction items, but the quality of the items was also considered exotic. However, the magic scroll that Lin Li had put up for auction was not present.
On the one hand, the magic scroll could not be presented visually like magical equipment, and when put on display, it would look just like a simple roll of animal hide. On the other hand, the scroll was created by Lin Li after he studied the Divine-Smith-level mageweath, and contained a trace of the power of the Divine-Smith-level. Its value was probably not inferior to that of any of the exotic treasures there.
Of course, Lin Li couldn’t rule out the fact the auctioneer had poor judgment, and treated Lin Li’s magic scroll as an item of low value, thus cla.s.sifying it under the category of items that were not worthy of being displayed.
However, Lin Li wasn’t bothered by it, because he wasn’t short of that money anyway. If someone were to buy it at a cheap price, that person would be considered very lucky. He was merely patronizing the Gilded Kingdom by putting up such a magic scroll for auction. After all, there was no need for him to be so petty, since the Gilded Kingdom had taken the initiative to be kind to him.
Lin Li took a tour around the exhibition, and he basically had a rough idea about the auction items. Hence, he stopped thinking about the other things. At the same time, Bradlor was also listening to the reports of some officials in the palace of the Gilded Kingdom.
“What, it’s not displayed in the exhibition?” Bradlor asked as he couldn’t help but frown.
The official bowed, and respectfully said, “Yes, Your Majesty, I took a careful look at every corner of the exhibition hall, but I didn’t see the magic scroll that President Felic brought over.”
Bradlor sighed, and after a moment of silence, he said, “It’s a good thing that it wasn’t included in the exhibition. Otherwise, if the value of that item is exposed, it’ll probably lead to more trouble, and who knows what that petty Felic might do again?”
The best things would not be put up for display at the exhibition, but neither would those that were of extremely low value. He didn’t think that Lin Li would offer any real treasures. Since it wasn’t the best item, and it wasn’t included in the exhibition, Bradlor thought that it had to be because its value was too low.
Bradlor’s concerns were not uncalled for. If an item that was clearly of low value was placed together with other exotic treasures, the owners of the other auction items would probably be displeased, while the petty Felic would treat it as an insult to him.
Such a situation was also considered a good thing for Bradlor. Anyway, no one would know the true value of the magic scroll, so no one would suspect him when he bid for it with a large amount of money. Others might even think that it was a treasure.
Two days pa.s.sed in the blink of an eye, and the grand opening ceremony of the Sea Market as well as a series of celebratory activities began. The Sea Market was not only related to the merchants. As the Sea Market opened, a large number of circus troupes from around the world, as well as a variety of renowned performer groups, would go to the Sea Market to boost the festive mood.
Although those thrilling and exciting performances were not worth mentioning at all to those who were powerful enough, the ordinary people of this world were in fact similar to the people of the world Lin Li belonged to before he transmigrated. Many things were incredible to them, such as acrobatics and beast-taming or some bizarre creatures, which were very popular among commoners and even more appealing than the auction.
In addition, there were also performances such as singing, dancing, and theatrical acts, which were the favorite of the n.o.bles of various countries, mages, and other professions. Besides, there were also celebrities who were good at singing, dancing, and acting in theater dramas in this world. Legend had it that there was once a theater star who was just an ordinary person, but had a long list of suitors who were all Legendary powerhouses. She could also be called a role model for the others who were in the same profession as her.
In addition to those art performances, there was also another kind of performance that almost all people enjoyed, and that was the brutal gladiatorial performance that often involved bloodshed. In fact, not to mention the people of this era, even the High Elves were pa.s.sionate about the gladiatorial compet.i.tions—so much that they even created countless things specially for the gladiatorial compet.i.tions. Examples included the battle formations that many forces used and the Tower of Death that was specially used for the training of gladiators.
Of course, since there were gladiatorial compet.i.tions, there was no lack of gambling and bets. In fact, the exciting bloodshed of the gladiatorial compet.i.tions was only one aspect that contributed to its strong appeal. The other aspect that was attractive to them was that there were often many bets on the gladiatorial compet.i.tions. It seemed that gambling was part of the nature of intelligent races, and even the elves who claimed to believe in nature were no exception.
Hence, after the official opening of the Sea Market, the n.o.bles and commoners were all still in the festive mood that permeated the entire capital of the Gilded Kingdom. In fact, even the entire Four Seasons Island was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with a festive mood.
Of course, there was another important reason for it: the founding celebration would be happening soon. The founding celebration was actually the true celebratory festival of all people in the Gilded Kingdom. The Gilded Kingdom would be holding a series of activities during the founding celebration, such as a wors.h.i.+p ritual to the ancestors, a military parade to show the strength of the military, holidays for the people, and an amnesty.
Although Lin Li was a Sanctuary-realm powerhouse, he had transmigrated to this world only a few years ago. Hence, during these few days, he ate and drank to his heart’s content, watched the circus performances, enjoyed the singing and dancing, forced himself to act like he was moved to tears for some theater dramas, and acted just like an ordinary person.
After two days of unwinding and relaxing, it was finally the day of the auction which Lin Li had been invited to. When Lin Li was about to set off to the auction venue with Connoris, Elder Zumar also brought his disciple Forcus, as well as Prince Monterey, who resolved the conflict between the Giant Shark Clan and the Tower of Dusk the other day, to the emba.s.sy of the Tower of Dusk.
After exchanging some greetings, Elder Zumar introduced Prince Monterey to Lin Li, and also mentioned the previous incident. “President Felic, let me introduce, this is Prince Monterey who intervened the other day to deter those people from the Giant Shark Clan who tried to disturb you.”
The Illuminati and the royal family of the Gilded Kingdom were relatively similar in terms of their att.i.tude towards Lin Li. Hence, Elder Zumar brought up the incident that took place a few days ago in hopes that he could impress Lin Li. Having interacted with Lin Li for such a long time, Elder Zumar was already well aware that Lin Li would respect those who showed him due respect. Putting aside the nonsensical matters, he was actually quite a nice person.
In fact, although Lin Li hadn’t stepped in previously, he had still detected the changes outside with his mental strength. Hence, Lin Li didn’t show Monterey any hostility, and instead said with a calm smile, “Nice to meet you, Prince Monterey.”
Lin Li did not deliberately show any extreme enthusiasm just because of Monterey’s ident.i.ty. Instead, he remained calm as if Monterey was any other stranger he was meeting for the first time. He would probably react the same way even if Elder Zumar introduced a farmer to him now.
However, his att.i.tude seemed aloof in Monterey’s opinion. In terms of fame, Prince Monterey was not inferior to both the prime ministers of the Gilded Kingdom. In fact, he also had a very good reputation among the commoners because he had increased the prestige of the royals. If it was someone else, they would probably be more or less enthusiastic about meeting Monterey for the first time.