Ou Yangming slowly exited the state where he guarded his soul with his heart. His eyes flickered like lightning.
After concentrating for some time, he pursed his lips and thought, ‘The spiritual power inside my dantian didn"t increase at all. Looks like I must break through the shackles of an Intermediate Spiritualist soon."
He exhaled some white mists and got up slowly.
Today was the day the Heavenly Fire Ore would be auctioned. The Heavenly Fire Ore was one of the Five Elemental Ores that was equally famous with the Cold Water Ore. Its mightiness was unimaginable, and it was something that Ou Yangming was determined to get.
When Ou Yangming pushed his door open and walked out to the courtyard, Xue Xuanle fluttered over. She looked like a kitten that retracted its claws to walk softly with its paws only, but she pretended like she was only pa.s.sing by. She beamed and asked, “What a coincidence! Big Brother Yu, are you going to the Auction Meet?”
The golden light that shone on her long hair made her look gentle and beautiful.
Ou Yangming paused and stood next to her. “Yes!”
The young lady looked around and expressed pitifully but in a charming voice, “I have nothing to do today, so let me go with you!”
Ou Yangming pondered for a long time without saying anything. Xue Xuanle then took the opportunity to grab the corner of his shirt and squeezed it.
The young fellow could not stand her pestering him, hence he was forced to agree to it. Nonetheless, he made her promise that she would listen to him no matter what.
Needless to say, Xue Xuanle agreed to his condition right away. With that, they headed to the Su family"s Chamber of Commerce.
The Su family"s Chamber of Commerce was located at an advantageous spot. In a way, it was one of the most bustling places in Huixun City. If one was in the city of rogue cultivators but did not visit this place, one would definitely be ridiculed. The chamber had become a unique attraction in the city.
This showed how smart Su TIanqian was. He was never arrogant but humble and polite, sensible and did not stick to trifling matters, and he knew when to advance and retreat. This was the reason he achieved what he did and established the chamber to such a scale.
The Su family"s Chamber of Commerce occupied over 10 kilometers of land. Pavilions of different sizes towered in this place, and the streets intersected with one another. Of course, the place was packed with streams of people.
Even so, the auction house had the most cultivators on this day. After all, Ou Yangming was not the only person who knew the goods.
In a way, for this Auction Meet, the w.a.n.g family, the Li family, the Wu family, the Chen family… The different aristocratic families in the city had gathered. In fact, even the Beyond Heaven Pavilion, which was a supreme force, had come to join the fun. One could imagine how enchanting a Heavenly Fire Ore was.
“There are so many people here!” Xue Xuanle lamented softly and looked around curiously.
At this moment, a silver bolt of lightning swept across the sky and was so fast that it stirred up a storm. It was a flying carpet.
The crowd was instantly in a sensation, where the people looked up enviously.
Before long, the flying carpet descended. It was Li Tianyu, who was the Li family"s youngest master. He looked coldly at Ou Yangming and scoffed. Upon seeing this, numerous disciples from aristocratic families looked pitifully at the young fellow.
Li Tianyu waved his sleeve and kept his flying carpet. He was surrounded by a group of people as he entered the auction house.
Xue Xuanle seemed like she had not overcome her trauma. She looked pale, and she subconsciously drew circles with her small fingers in front of her tummy.
At the top of the auction house, Su Tianqian held a teacup and blew air at his tea before he took a sip.
A white-robed elder with white hair and beard was standing next to him. The elder looked like he had gone through a lot of hardships. He reprimanded the shopkeeper, “What a rude person! These are leaves of the Heavenly Mountain Snow Water Tea, and yet you"re spoiling them like this. Your mental state is important when you drink tea; you can"t drink tea like this.”
The elder looked like he was in pain while he reproached Su Tianqian without holding back.
“I drank and swallowed the tea in one gulp but didn"t notice anything special from it.” The reputable businessman in Huixun City smiled embarra.s.sedly. He clicked his tongue and remarked, “Elder Bai, you boasted about this Snow Water Tea too much. I don"t see how wonderful it is!”
Bai Qian held back his urge to kick Su Tianqian. He stroked his beard to calm down but could not be bothered to respond to the shopkeeper.
After a brief moment, Su Tianqian walked to the side of the window with a grave look on his face. He lifted his right hand and pointed at Ou Yangming, who was at the bottom of the building, and asked, “Elder Bai, could you help me take a look at that young man?”
Bai Qian"s face was covered with freckles. He walked toward Su Tianqian and looked where he was pointing, then he frowned and asked, “You can"t see through him?”
“I can"t. It feels like my vision is being blocked by a layer of mist, which is why I"m asking for your help, Elder Bai,” Su Tianqian answered honestly with a l.u.s.ter in his eyes.
Bai Qian was taken aback. His white robe moved, and he felt like he was no longer frustrated. He smiled faintly and commented, “It has been a long time since I heard of someone that you can"t see through, Shopkeeper Su. Interesting, interesting.” He waved his hand and added, “Alright, I"ll help you take a look at him if I get the chance to.”
It was worth noting that Bai Qian was also a rogue cultivator, whose life had been full of ups and downs. He was well-experienced, had ventured into the Big Ruins, and had been to the cold pole"s snowfield. The elder knew metaphysics, understood astrology, and was skilled in all of the four arts1. Nevertheless, he took pride the most in his divination skill.
“Thank you, Elder Bai.” Su Tianqian cupped his hands with a smile. He later placed his hands together and clapped softly.
A maidservant in her twenties instantly entered. She had an oval face and long hair that was tied into a bun. She conducted herself sedately by greeting Su Tianqian with folded hands moving about the lower right side of her body, then she asked with a clear voice and beautiful eyes, “Shopkeeper Su, what do you need me to do?”
Su Tianqian pointed at Ou Yangming again and instructed her, “Wait for him at the auction house"s entrance and bring him to the Dongju Room on the second floor.”
The gorgeous lady was Xue Xiaoqin, who was Su Tianqian"s trusted follower. Monstrous waves were surging in her heart as she thought, ‘Who"s that person? Why does Shopkeeper Su value him so much?" Despite that, she did not show it on her face. She simply bowed and nodded before she left.
Xue Xiaoqin had a rather miserable life experience. Her father was addicted to gambling while her mother pa.s.sed away when she was 3 months old, but her father did not care about her at all. Xue Xiaoqin"s neighbor eventually found a wet nurse for her after seeing how pitiable she was. Through a lot of effort, she managed to survive but experienced the vicissitudes of life at a young age.
She was well-behaved as she never made a fuss about anything, and she also did things that were manageable for her. Poor children were said to manage household affairs early—this was proven right in her case. When she was 12 years old, her father got into huge gambling debt and paid it off by selling her to the gambling house without any hesitation. Consequently, she was tossed about for 3 years, which were h.e.l.lish years to her.
Afterward, Xue Xiaoqin arrived at the Su family"s Chamber of Commerce by chance. She took only 4 years to rise from the bottom and became Su Tianqian"s most trusted person.
Ou Yangming did not know he was being paid attention to. Instead of entering the auction house in a hurry, he took a look around the chamber of commerce.
There were plenty of items in the chamber, and they were not too expensive. Xue Xuanle was pleased as she followed quietly behind him.
Ou Yangming looked around and bought many things, which he planned to give to Old Craftsman, Ni Yinghong, and the 2 other ladies when he returned…
When he turned and noticed Xue Xuanle smiling at him, his heart thudded. He pondered for a while then pointed at a piece of red jade and said, “Let me take a look at this.”
A servant looked at Xue Xuanle but quickly looked away and answered, “Young Master, you have a great eye. The red jade matches this young lady very well. Given her graceful figure, everyone will stare at her if she carries the jade.”
Xue Xuanle blushed and was overwhelmed with a sweet feeling.
Ou Yangming looked at Xue Xuanle and asked, “Do you want this? Or do you want to look around first?”
“I"ll take this; I like anything that you pick,” she responded softly and eventually sounded like a mosquito.
Ou Yangming kept a straight face as if he did not understand the meaning behind her words. He handed the red jade to her.
After they left the store, Xue Xuanle held the jade in her hand and remembered the scene from the sunlight to the street and the crowd. The image froze in her mind and turned into a painting that was done with rich colors, and the painting was reflected in her heart and was imprinted in her soul. The young lady would never forget this day.
She did not want much as a small gift would be enough.
Ou Yangming stopped going around after some time and headed to the Auction Meet with Xue Xuanle.
They were greeted by Xue Xiaoqin as soon as they arrived at the entrance. The lady chuckled and said, “I"m Xue Xiaoqin. Shopkeeper Su has asked me to wait for you here, Young Master Yu. Please head inside.”
Following that, she gestured to the young fellow to enter the pavilion and also nodded at Xue Xuanle with a smile.
Ou Yangming looked at Xue Xiaoqin in shock as he felt that she took care of everything very well. He was reminded of Luo Qiwen from the Beyond Heaven Pavilion on Mount Wuzhi. There was a huge disparity between their ident.i.ties, but they were very similar in terms of their temperaments. If the young fellow had to point something out, it would be that Xue Xiaoqin was not fully proficient at her job yet unlike the crafty Luo Qiwen.
Xue Xuanle was dumbfounded and perturbed. She did not think that Ou Yangming and Su Tianqian were so close that the shopkeeper would treat the young fellow so politely.
She looked at Ou Yangming in confusion and felt bitter as she felt that there was indeed a huge gap between them.
O uYangming followed Xue Xiaoqin and went through a long corridor before he arrived at the main hall. The hall was 3 kilometers long and had several 10,000 seats but none of them were empty. In fact, even the empty areas behind them were packed with people.
An extended platform that was made of a whole white jade could be seen in front of the main hall. It was about 333 meters long, and it emitted a gentle light. At this point, Ou Yangming gained a new understanding of how capable the Su family"s Chamber of Commerce was.
A whole piece of white jadestone was not something that could be bought or exchanged with spirit ores. One had to have a certain capability and foundation.
Once they made their way up to a private room on the second floor, Xue Xiaoqin smiled and said, “Young Master, this is the Dongju Room. I won"t be disturbing you now but call me if you need anything.”
Subsequently, she smiled gently and left.
The room was not big. Purple smoke rose from a small incense burner that gave off a pleasant smell. If Ou Yangming and Xue Xuanle were to look down the window, they would be able to see the platform.
All of a sudden, there was a clamor in the main hall. “w.a.n.g Weinian—the w.a.n.g family"s patriarch—is here!”
“Yes, he has an elegant bearing and an imposing manner indeed,” someone added.
Ou Yangming looked down calmly and noticed a middle-aged man being surrounded by a group of people as he paced into the main hall. The man looked like he had seen the vicissitudes of life and had gone through a lot of hardships. If one looked coldly, one could also notice a sense of arrogance from him. On the other hand, w.a.n.g Haobin was following closely behind the man. He was dressed in red and was smiling casually.