Within the Mystery Pavilion, inside of the auction room. It was a lively scene as many individuals swarmed towards their numbered seats while talking amongst themselves about the details for the auction that was about to begin. The n.o.blewomen from prestigious families argued with their husbands as the more prominent and infamous characters kept calm, observing the auction platform for the slightest moment of change. If one were to look at the scene from a top-down perspective, they would notice that the individuals who resided at the top layers remained in complete silence compared to the lively scene shown at the lowest layer."Hmph! Nothing but a bunch of insects!" An influential figure from the top layer said, looking towards the ground layer with disdain.
A few other figures seated to his side looked on with similar expressions as if they did not put those below them in their sight.
Time flew by quickly as now everyone that had wanted to attend the auction had already arrived, the seats were filled with colorful characters each with their own unique style of wear. As these individuals were about to get restless, there was a sudden change in the central exhibition platform.
Tick! The lights in the room were dulled and a single spotlight illuminated the central exhibition platform, not long after an unusual looking character appeared. It was a man dressed in odd clothing standing at the center of the stage.
He wore a white magic hat with a question mark on its surface along with a strange white mask that covered his face. His clothing worn was of a type of ancient formal wear that was completely white with a small group black squares decorated across his trousers in a unique pattern, within his right hand was a purely white cane with no unique fluctuations or aura of any kind.
Inside of the private betting booth, Feng Yu, Dai Lin, and Hui Ying looked on at this strange individual in puzzlement, as they pondered to themselves what kind of individual this man could be?
As if sharing their same thoughts and emotions the others had become silent as they looked towards the man at the center of the stage.
The strange man saw that everyone on the scene was now quiet and finally moved, he placed his left hand out to the audience as he twirled the white cane in his other hand, he then brought both his hands together at the front of his chest gripping the handle of the white cane slamming its end towards the stage floor.
Slam! "Greetings dear guests, it"s me~!" The strange man said in a melodious pitch.
"White~Mask! It"s an honor to be serving as your auctioneer today!" WhiteMask said as a vague hint of humor was barely visible in his eyes.
"WhiteMask!" A top layer character shouted in surprise as he heard the name.
"Why would such an elusive character be here?" A robust-looking figure who sat beside Madam Xuan and Xuan Bei asked.
"So, he was actually related to the Mystery Pavilion! It"s no wonder..." Hui Ying said as he started to ponder about something.
Feng Yu seated beside him felt curious, he looked towards Hui Ying and asked, "Brother Ying, who is this WhiteMask character?"
Dai Lin seated nearby couldn"t help but gain an interest he also looked towards Hui Ying.
"Eh? Brother Yu has never heard the name of this famous character before?" Hui Ying replied as he looked towards Feng Yu with slight confusion.
Seeing Feng Yu and Dai Lin look towards him in silence he pondered, "Strange? How can Brother Yu not know of this character? Could it be because his Family clan is too remote? Oh well, no point overthinking things."
"He is one of the True Yuan Continent"s most mysterious characters who is said to have roamed about as a lone wanderer for many years. They say his strength has achieved the limit of the threshold for mortals many ages ago, and that he should be listed very highly among the [Human Dragon Rankings]" Hui Ying replied.
"The limit of the mortal threshold... it seems that he"s one of the few powerful characters who reside outside of the Sacred Domain that father and uncle have always been talking about," Feng Yu thought as he listened to Hui Ying"s reply.
As they continued to discuss amongst themselves the strange man called WhiteMask started to speak once more.
"Guests and Honorable Guests alike! In today"s auction, our Mystery Pavilion has prepared quite a lot of treasures. We have searched the mainland and obtained quite a few impressive items from ancient wreckages, ruins, and even..." As WhiteMask spoke he couldn"t help but wear a bizarre smile underneath his mask.
"Mystic Realms! We hope that everyone will be able to find something of their liking," As he said this, he spun his white cane once more and tapped the center of the platform. Some of the individuals hearing his statement were thrown into a state of excitement, but soon their attention was captured by a sudden change in the platform.
Ping! Puff!
Along with a loud sound, a collection of colored mist soon rose from the ground that blanketed the entire stage. Soon, only the silhouette of WhiteMask and a one-meter large cage could be recognized within the colored mist.
"The first auction item is from the distant lands of the north! A creature thought to have been extinct within our True Yuan Continent, behold, the child of a Tier 2 variant essence beast, Void Eye Sparrow!" As WhiteMask said this the colored mist evaporated revealing himself as well as the creature in the cage.
It was a silver-colored sparrow that was about 1 meter long with eyes that looked as if they could see through the fabrics of s.p.a.ce itself. Vaguely, a slight spatial fluctuation could be felt in the areas the sparrow looked towards.
As they saw this creature, the crowd at the bottommost layer couldn"t help but call out in alarm, as most of them didn"t have a have the luxury of viewing the catalog.
"Wow! To think I"d be able to see a rare creature such as this, I must have it!" A woman said.
"The Mystery Pavilion certainly is one of a kind to be able to find a beast such as this and offer it as the first auctioned item," A young man in sleeveless red robes said as he sat on the fourth layer with an exciting light shining at the depths of his eyes.
"Wu"er! Don"t get distracted by such things even if it is rare breed our main objective remains that particular item," A serious looking individual dressed in a dark blue robe said.
"Understood!" Tang Wu said.
Feng Yu, Dai Lin, and Hui Ying looked on with interest shown in their eyes, Feng Yu thought inwardly, "Such a unique creature I"ve never heard of its kind in my old world."
"This creature is a special kind of variety in that not only is it useful in finding locations such as hidden spatial pockets, it is also born with the inherent ability to store objects into the void making it a perfect partner for treasure hunting wanderers! The starting price is fifty thousand low-grade essence stones," WhiteMask said as he continued to elaborate on the traits of the Void Eye Sparrow.
As soon as his voice ended, someone in the bottom layer raised their betting plate.
"Sixty thousand low-grade essence stones!"
"Sixty-five thousand low-grade essence stones!"
"Seventy thousand low-grade essence stones!"
∞∞∞
As the price continued to rise, it eventually became a battle between two individuals that resided at the second layer of the betting room.
"Eighty-two thousand low-grade essence stones!" A woman dressed in pink said as she sat by a few influential looking individuals.
"Che!" The opposing compet.i.tor cursed as he noticed that the woman had an endless supply of wealth, he decided to give up on the Void Eye Sparrow.
"Going once! Going twice!" WhiteMask loudly said as he slammed his white cane onto the ground once more and shouted, "Sold to the beautiful lady in pink!"
A few staff members them came upon the stage to relocate the item, very soon a new item appeared on the betting stage.
"Our next item is a set of high-grade foundation pills that are capable of aiding even those at True Foundation realm! These pills were concocted by a renowned alchemist who lives in the distant southern lands, the starting price is seventy thousand essence stones!"
Feng Yu seeing this item was tempted to buy it for his father, but soon he remembered about his family"s bloodlines effects and his father"s current increase in strength.
The individuals from the second and third layer were sent into a frenzy as top-cla.s.s characters began betting fervently for the pill.
"Seventy-five thousand low-grade essence stones!"
"Eighty thousand low-grade essence stones!"
"Eighty-five thousand low-grade essence stones!"
∞∞∞
"Our b.l.o.o.d.y Rose Union offers ninety thousand low-grade essence stones! Asking fellow Daoists to give us some face!" A beautiful lady seated on the third layer said. She wore a decorated silk dress with strange but elegant roses sown into it from different angles.
"Hmph! What does your face have to do with any of us claiming this item? My Seven Blade Mercenaries offer ninety-five thousand low-grade essence stones!" A fierce-looking figure who was also seated in the third layer said, he wore a dark robe and had seven large knives strapped across his sides.
Dai Lin looked towards them with surprise as he said, "The b.l.o.o.d.y Rose Union and Seven Blade Mercenaries aren"t these two listed in the Golden Dragon Empire as middle-cla.s.s heavyweights."
Hui Ying responded, "Yes, they are certainly among the best of the middle-cla.s.s influences in the empire. I"ve even heard that there is a feud between the two forces."
Feng Yu observed with curiosity, and after a bit of bickering back and forth, the b.l.o.o.d.y Rose Union finally claimed the item for one hundred thousand essence stones.
"d.a.m.n swine!" The fierce-looking figure murmured as he looked towards the now joyful female on the side of the b.l.o.o.d.y Rose Union.
As if she didn"t hear his commentary the lady continued to observe the changes occurring in the betting platform. Soon, a new item was placed on the platform, but this item gave off an extraordinary and mysterious aura. It was a stone tablet with unrecognizable writings that seem to be not of this land"s native tongue; an odd-looking sword was plunged deep into this stone as if it had been that way for countless years.
WhiteMask who finally brought this item out had a slight look excitement in his eyes; he glanced around the audience for a while before speaking once more.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! I present to you, a rare and unique item even in our catalog. This is a tablet and sword combination that I personally found in a very strange and ancient ruin from a faraway land. An unknown aura shrouds its true form as the language written on the tablet belongs to an obscure foreign tongue that even after my years of comprehension yielded no results."
"However, I believe that this item holds a secret that is worth exploring," as WhiteMask said this he then snapped his fingers causing the stone tablet to glow in brightly and become more visible.
Upon seeing this tablet and the unknown writings Feng Yu who sat observing from the VIP booth suddenly became filled with shock, his arms began to tremble as he viewed the writings on this stone tablet that no one apart from him could understand.
Hui Ying and Dai Lin noticing Feng Yu"s strange behavior looked towards Feng Yu with a curious look.
"I leave my weapon to the one who is destined... resting here is the final weapon of my lineage... "Chronicle Sword R---------H"" The ancient and odd-looking text said.
"How can this be? How could this language be---?" Thought Feng Yu who upon reading the strange text had started to question it, but before he could ask more the auctioneer, WhiteMask continued his statement.
"Guests and Honored Guests! The betting will commence for this pair of combination items, the starting price will be one hundred and fifty thousand low-grade essence stones!" As he said this a strange look could be seen in his eyes from his mask as he looked towards the audience with a smile and spoke once again, "Well then, shall we begin!"