Chapter 148: Second Auction


    <span style="font-weight:400">An hour passed by very quickly and it was soon time for Li Lang and hispanions to depart from the auction for techniques so they could attend the artifact auction. However, as Li Lang had made a purchase, he parted with his group in order to redeem his item.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After waving down one of the servants, he was quickly guided toward the back of the auction house. While the ce wasn’t as majestic as the grand hall, it was still beautifully decorated, as expected of a high-ss establishment. The basic materials used in its construction, like the wood, gave off an otherworldly aura. It made Li Lang feel as if the flow of Qi in the building was smoother than usual.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Hmm, something else to look into in the future.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Greetings, sir. I am An Yue, the clerk who will be responsible for your transaction. I believe you wanted to finish the transaction now. Is that correct?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">A young man’s voice brought Li Lang back to reality as he gauged the person before him. He wore pale yellow robes and had an eye-catching pin on his cor. The pin had the words Prity on it, denoting him as someone from the city.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Yes, I would like to leave early. I appreciate you for being so amodating.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“No problem, sir. It is my job to serve. Now, your item is the Tracing Origin Art at fifty red crystals. You can either pay in full now or half now and the other half within a month. If you dy the full payment, you will be subject to a fee of—”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Li Lang held up a hand, stopping the man mid-speech.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“It’s fine. I’ll pay in full now.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">The clerk nodded and watched Li Lang fetch a bag full of coins from within his robes. Li Lang counted five stacks of ten coins and handed them over.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I must say, you are one of our younger customers I’ve seen. Though it isn’t surprising, considering you’re talented enough to be both an alchemist and a brushweaver.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Li Lang stared at him nkly for a moment before looking down at his rings, realizing it was what gave him away.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Oh, I just happen to have run intopetent teachers.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">An Yue smiled but didn’t say anything, instead focusing on the money he received. His smile said it all. If apetent teacher was all it took to train alchemists and brushweavers, then pills and talismans wouldn’t be so expensive.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“This is certainly fifty red crystals. We will have the item out momentarily. I do apologize for the dy. We didn’t expect you toe for the item so soon.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“That’s fine. It’ll still probably be quicker thaning towards the end when you’re swamped with dealing with the other guests.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“It should take a simr amount of time. We’re trained arduously to handle the traffic in order to satisfy our customers. Please,e have some tea in the waiting room while you wait.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">With those words, An Yue led Li Lang into the adjacent room before ordering a servant to fetch them refreshments. The clerk soon left Li Lang alone in the room as he went to oversee the exchange.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nothing particr happened for some time as Li Lang could only sip on his tea to pass the time. It took enough time that he began to wonder if they had forgotten about him, so he opened the door and peeked out into the hallway.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Where are all the people? Do they seriously need all hands on deck for the auction?</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Just as Li Lang was about to venture forth, the sound of something dropping reached his ears. He turned to find a young man bending over to retrieve a pill bottle. The clumsy young man had his back turned to Li Lang but suddenly froze while bent over. He then slowly turned around, widening his eyes as he made eye contact with Li Lang like a child having been caught doing something bad.


    <span style="font-weight:400">His figure blurred as he abruptly vanished around the corner, leaving Li Lang dumbfounded.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">What in the world?</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">A brief momentter, the young man poked his head back out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Umm, is something the matter?” Li Lang called out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">His words only made the man flinch back into hiding in response. Another few awkward moments passed until the sound of footsteps could be heard. A conversation could be heard right around the corner. Li Lang recognized the voice to be from the same clerk who was servicing him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Yun Ming, what are you doing here so early? And why are you sneaking around?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Umm, I just couldn’t sit still. You know…”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Well, wait around if you like. There’s no need to sneak around. Just give me a moment to finish my job and I’ll apany you. I’ll be able to process your money, too.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Wait, is that the one?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Hmm? Oh, yeah, it is.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I see…”


    <span style="font-weight:400">A momentter, An Yue appeared from around the corner. He spotted Li Lang looking over from the door, so he hurried his steps.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Apologies, sir. I’ve made you wait. Here it is. The Tracing Origin Art you’re won.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">An Yue took off the piece of red cloth covering the small booklet and hoisted the tray over for Li Lang to receive. Just as he was reaching out his hand to take hold of his new possession, he couldn’t help but nce back over at the young man peeking out from around the corner. The man had sparkles in his eyes, which made it especially distracting.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Noticing Li Lang’s gaze, An Yu looked back and let out a sigh.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I’m sorry, sir. Please don’t mind him.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Hmm? Is he part of your auction house?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“No, that is one of the sellers. He happens to be the one selling this Tracing Origin Art you have won and also the creator of it. He’s a bit entric, but he means no harm. He’s just curious about the person who bought his technique.”


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Oh, the creator? Interesting.</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I don’t mind. In fact, I would love to chat with the creator.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">The clerk moved out of the way as if saying, “He’s all yours.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Li Lang walked straight up to the shy young man and sped his fist out in greeting.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Hello there, I am Li Lang. They say you happen to be the creator of this Tracing Origin Art?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">The man nodded slowly, giving Li Lang a nce over.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“That’s right. I—I am Yun Ming.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Despite his nervousness, Li Lang could detect an unfathomably deep aura from the man. That was because Yun Ming was in the Foundation Establishment realm! He didn’t seem too old, likely to be in his early or mid-twenties. He was quite the talent to have created his own technique that the auction houses deemed worthy at such an age.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Yun Ming, I’d love to speak more with you about your Qi art once I had a chance to look over it. Do you think you can spare the time to meet up with me tomorrow or the day after?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Umm, sure. I’d like that.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I’m thinking tomorrow afternoon for lunch. What do you think?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Okay.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Perfect. I’ll send a messenger if things change. I’m staying at the Serene Retreat.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Umm, my inn is called Vigil’s Rest, I think.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">The two young men quickly hit it off, and Yun Ming got less and less nervous as they conversed. However, Li Lang knew hispanions were waiting, so he didn’t stick around after getting his contact info.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once he exited from the auction house, he found hispanions standing around a nearby food stall. They each had a skewer in hand.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“You finally done?” Sima Xue asked with her mouth half full upon Li Lang’s return.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Yeah, thanks for waiting…I’m d you guys had a great time while you waited.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“No problem!”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I’ll o-order some for you as well, b-boss,” Wei Ping added.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The group enjoyed their quick snack in ce of dinner and got on their way to their next destination. They arrived at another auction hall that looked simr to the previous one. They were just in time for it to start.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The ce was already packed, with the auditorium a size or tworger than the previous one. It was evident artifacts were amodity that was a lot more popr amongst the cultivators. It couldn’t be helped, as artifacts were umon among most Energy Gathering realm cultivators.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Many of the participants in this auction had broken through in recent years and were eager to get their hands on their first artifact. In fact, many would even be satisfied with a Mortal-grade artifact. This was especially so for those who had yet to build up a sufficient war chest.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Cultivation wasn’t cheap. There were always things they could spend it on, whether it be pills, manuals, Skyrunners, or even rare, unique resources that could aid them in various ways.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As people who showed up rtivelyte, they trekked into the halls under the scrutiny of all those who had arrived before them. They couldn’t find four seats together and had to split up into two different rows.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unbeknownst to them, several pairs of eyes directed their attention to them. The question was whether the attention they were getting was good or bad.