173: Auction starts

Jiang Hanwen didn't even need to look to know what Xia Zhijie was thinking; he "accidentally" stepped back and landed on Xia Zhijie's foot.

The intense pain made Xia Zhijie's face flush red as he gritted his teeth.

After exchanging pleasantries, the two walked through the auction hall's entrance, and the bright daylight instantly vanished, plunging their vision into darkness.

The five-meter-wide corridor was lined with antique bronze lamps on both sides, their milky-white crystals emitting a soft yellow glow that fell upon the neatly frosted floor tiles.

A faint fragrance flowed through the air, somewhat like the fresh scent of gardenias, but with a hint of sweetness, similar yet distinct.

The patterns on the walls were even more ostentatious, crafted from silver, with exquisite gilded flowers embedded within the walls.

It was the kind of extravagant decoration typically favored by nouveau riche, almost as if it had a sign proclaiming, "Brothers, come and rob me."

The first floor offered both a main hall and private rooms upstairs.

Jiang Hanwen presented the token he had purchased in advance, and a guard, holding a pale purple crystal, scanned it like a chip from a previous life, causing the crystal to glow green.

"Please proceed upstairs, gentlemen!"

The moment the two reached the second floor, a tall figure, carrying a three-foot Qingfeng sword on his back and wearing a black gauze bamboo hat, passed them on his way down.

Jiang Hanwen's eyes narrowed slightly; this was the second person, besides Bai Youlan and Xia Zhijie, he had encountered who exuded a different spiritual aura—a silvery-white radiance.

The person was like the sword on his back; the chill emanating from his bones was piercingly cold, pure, and sharp.

As he turned, Jiang Hanwen took another look, and the other person's bamboo hat also turned in sync. A pair of young eyes met Jiang Hanwen's, their gazes fleeting.

They were eyes as black as lacquer, clean and pure.

Xia Zhijie exchanged a glance with Jiang Hanwen and whispered, "An ice mountain."

Jiang Hanwen nodded, understanding that this was what Xia Zhijie had perceived from the swordsman just now.

Did "ice mountain" refer to coldness and ruthlessness?

After exchanging glances, the two went their separate ways. Jiang Hanwen was on the third floor, and Xia Zhijie was on the second.

The tokens they held were anonymous keys, single-use items, priced at one hundred taels of silver.

Once they opened a door, that room could only be opened by that specific token for the duration of the auction.

Even the auction house's own staff could not peek into the room to see who was inside or what they were doing, thus protecting the guests' privacy.

The venue was vast, capable of hosting a small concert and accommodating over two thousand people simultaneously.

At the very bottom was a circular auction stage, surrounded by rings of tiered seating, which was the main hall where entry cost one tael of silver;

The second and third floors featured ordinary circular private rooms. Jiang Hanwen stood by the window and counted, finding about forty rooms on each floor;

As for the fourth floor, there were far fewer, a total of thirteen private rooms, which were wider and larger.

Jiang Hanwen's gaze focused on the center of the auction hall, where numerous pale purple crystals floated.

The crystals sometimes coalesced into large swimming fish, sometimes transformed into dancing figures, emitting soft, beautiful light in the air, twisting, shifting, and appearing exquisitely beautiful.

Counting them, there were exactly one thousand.

A quiet yet profound Spiritual Qi fluctuation emanated from the crystals.

Even if he hadn't eaten pork, he had at least seen a pig run, right?

If Jiang Hanwen felt the fluctuation of this Spirit Stone was profound, then it was definitely not an ordinary Spirit Stone; it was most likely a Top-Grade Spirit Stone.

The price of one Top-Grade Spirit Stone was ten thousand gold, equivalent to one million taels of silver.

With one thousand here, that amounted to one billion!

From the crystal lamps at the entrance, the silver-inlaid golden patterns on the walls, the exquisite private rooms, and the auction stage, using one billion to create a light show.

This scale of investment could certainly not be supported by a single Huang Family.

Jiang Hanwen's lips curved into a satisfied smile. Before the Treasure Pavilion was built, the outside world speculated that it was merely a temporary auction house, intended as a transitional measure during wartime, and would not involve a large investment.

Now, it could be definitively confirmed that the Treasure Pavilion was not only granting recognition but also directly participating.

A glimpse through a tube reveals a leopard, showing a part to understand the whole.

The Treasure Pavilion reached directly to the Imperial City, its roots deep and its intelligence keen.

Willingness to spend a fortune to build a formal pavilion in City Name City meant that City Name City would be safe for a long time to come.

Hmm, not bad.

For Jiang Hanwen, knowing this news meant he was already very satisfied, even if he didn't bid on anything today.

Knowing that City Name was safe was more important than anything else.

Resources would come, and money would come.

What he feared was that if the nest was overturned, no egg would remain intact, and City Name City would be wiped out by war.

The people in the hall were sparsely seated. For the first auction, even those without money who wanted to watch the excitement were numerous, with about ninety percent of the seats occupied.

"Why hasn't it started yet?"

"Soon, soon."

"Last time in Black Stone, a Spiritual Artifact sold for an astronomical price. I wonder if there's anything like that today."

...The hall was abuzz with discussions, lively and enthusiastic.

Lights flickered on in the rooms on the fourth floor; out of the twelve large private rooms, nine were lit.

Jiang Hanwen knew that the auction was probably about to begin.

He immediately changed his clothes, completely altering his appearance to that of a middle-aged man, then left the room, descended the stairs to the second floor, and entered another empty room.

He had told Xia Zhijie that he bought two tokens, but in reality, he bought three.

One must always be wary of others. If he encountered something good that he didn't want others to know about, he would bid for it, and at that time, the room number where they were supposed to meet would expose the buyer.

He didn't intend to deceive Xia Zhijie, but it was always good to have a backup plan.

In this world, besides his father, no one was worthy of his absolute trust.

"Ring-a-ling-ling ~"

The pleasant sound of colliding crystals rang out. Above the auction stage, exquisite Spirit Stones formed the three large characters for Treasure Pavilion, beginning to rotate in a circular pattern.

The spotlight focused on the stage, where a round-faced old man with temples slightly frosted, wearing a sea-blue Xuan Yuan robe and with his hair tied up by a jade crown, walked to the front.

As he moved, the old man's powerful aura spread, and the commotion below the stage abruptly ceased.

Jiang Hanwen narrowed his eyes; a very strong Condensing Spring expert.

He could feel the natural aura within that chilling, autumn-wind-like presence with his Immaculate Body.

It seemed he was not only in the Ningquan Realm but also in the Late Stage of Condensing Spring, having condensed a Qi spring, just a step away from the Jade Crystal Realm.

"This old man, Tong Tu, is humbly serving as an auctioneer for the Treasure Pavilion. Today's auction will be personally introduced by me.

Let the auction begin!"

As soon as Tong Tu finished speaking, he decisively raised the auction hammer and brought it down heavily.

With a thud, a dazzling white light flashed, and the auction hall, which had been as dark as night, instantly became brightly lit.

Jiang Hanwen then noticed that the ceiling was covered with thousands of crystal lamps, pouring down soft light. A fervent energy, transitioning from dark to bright, flowed through the auction house, and the previously silent hall suddenly became lively.

"Tap, tap, tap ~"

The rhythmic sound of shoes tapping on the floor echoed. Following the sound, a beautiful woman in a cool, short skirt, carrying a crystal jade plate, walked to the center of the stand.

"Gulp ~"

Someone swallowed; the young woman's straight and fair jade legs deeply stirred the men's hearts.

Jiang Hanwen's attention was not on this.

Lying on the plate was a pale red crystal, shaped like a sweet potato from his previous life, pointed at both ends and bulging in the middle. The air around the crystal was distorted, making it look exquisitely beautiful.

"This Fire Feather Blood Crystal has been immersed in ground fire for fifty years and was just retrieved from the Five River Fire Domain last month.

It can help distinguished guests at the Peak of Condensing Spring to advance further, successfully crystallize, and extend their lifespan by a hundred years.

Starting bid, five thousand gold!"

No sooner had Tong Tu's words fallen than someone on the fourth floor immediately quadrupled the price, directly shouting out twenty thousand gold.

"Whoa, two million!"

"Nonsense, don't you see who those people upstairs are? Besides the Zhao, Wang, Zhong, and Guo families, there are the Zhuang, Bai, Huang, and Li families—all wealthy patrons."

"Brother, you really know a lot."

"Tsk..."

The shock of twenty thousand gold had not yet subsided when the second lit room raised the bid again.

"Thirty thousand gold!"

In the last room on the top floor, the faces of the Zhuang family members stiffened.

Zhuang Kongming, sitting in the very center, remained silent.