The hall was shaped like a semi-circle with a huge stage on the first floor. Because cultivators had excellent eyesight, even the people on the fourth floor would be able to see the treasures to be auctioned when the time came.
The auction had not yet started, there were musicians playing on the stage. These musicians were all low-ranking cultivators, they were not imposing and their appearance was mediocre. However, the sound of the qin and xiao was pleasant.
The seven strings of the qin twanged, like water from a silver bottle, at times passionate and warm at times fluid and cold. The xiao was slow and drawn out, accompanied by the ringing of bells, as if telling a story from some far-away place. If one closed their eyes and listened, one could dimly see a beauty walking slowly through a boundless desert. A string of small silver bells was tied on her white ankles. Barefoot, she walked slowly on the yellow sand, step by step, to the lake in the distance. Suddenly, the water surged and covered the desert, bringing with it endless life.
Mo Tianliao opened his eyes and frowned slightly. There was a trace of bewitching power in the sound of the qin and xiao; because it was being played by low-level cultivators it was not enough to affect his divine soul but it would stimulate the hidden desires in people’s hearts and lead to more enthusiastic bidding for a while. A beauty, ankles, bells, these things ran around vividly in his mind, it reminded him of…
Turning slowly, Mo Tianliao felt a nosebleed coming when he saw that his Master had taken off his shoes, his bare feet resting on the tiger’s head. Those white feet were buried in thick fluffy fur. His cat’s paws… because he was too lazy to walk, he always wanted to be carried around, so his front and back paw-pads were always soft and pink.
As soon as his outstretched hand touched Master’s calf, the white foot extended and gave him a light kick. Mo Tianliao resisted the urge to catch the foot, hid his hands in his sleeves and turned to look at Qingtong.
“Drink.” Qingtong leaned on the big cushion and motioned with his chin at Mo Tianliao.
There had been attendants in the room, but when they saw Zhenren bringing his own entourage, they voluntarily withdrew. Da-shixiong was acting as a footrest so naturally Mo Tianliao was going to be ordered around.
Mo Tianliao rose with resignation and poured tea for Master. The teapot on the table was filled with fragrant tea, which was kept warm with fire crystals so it was always ready to drink. While pouring the tea, Mo Tianliao looked down. The whole venue was soon full, it was impossible to observe the other floors, but the situation in the hall could be seen clearly. The cultivators of Foundation Establishment level and below did not have a divine soul, if they wanted to bid, they would have to do so by shouting, because of this, they couldn’t really buy anything precious. After all, everyone was watching, they had to be careful lest they be robbed once they left.
After waiting for about two quarters of an hour, the qin and xiao finally stopped, the Lighting Stone off stage was covered with a dark fabric and the curtains lifted suddenly. The stage, covered with Sunlight Stone, was so bright that it drew everyone’s attention instantly. An honest-looking Golden Core cultivator stood in the middle of it and gave the crowd a salute with a big smile. “Esteemed fellow cultivators, this humble Liu Hecai is honoured to be here with you today at Liuhe Auction House…”
“All the auctioneers at Liuhe Auction House are called Liu Hecai.” Mo Tianliao handed Qingtong the lukewarm tea and explained in a low voice. He had brought his cat to Liuhe Market before, the auctioneer at that time had not been this one but he had also claimed to be called Liu Hecai.
Qingtong took the cup and took a sip. “What?”
Mo Tianliao blinked and smiled. “Nothing. Do you want to eat some fried fish? I remember you liked the fried fish they serve here very much.” How could the little furball, who had been huddled in his arms purring at that time, care about who the auctioneer was? At best, he would only remember what was tasty.
Sure enough, Qingtong’s cold eyes lit up when he heard these words.
When the big tiger heard about the food, he raised his head and gave a loud cry. Master gave him a slap.
In the end, fried fish and roasted deer legs were brought to the private room on the topmost floor and the first auction item was missed amid the crunch crunch crunch sounds of the meat being eaten. In order to have good luck in business, it was announced that the auction house would give up 10% of the profit earned on the first item, no matter how expensive it ended up being. Thus, the atmosphere suddenly became lively.
Special weapons, elixirs and spiritual grass were sold one after the other, their quality gradually improving. The first few items did not interest neither the people nor the tiger. Then the fifth item was brought out.
“’Red Tiger Moon Chopping Blade’, a top-grade special weapon!” The auctioneer lifted the red silk, revealing a crimson broadsword with a tiger head guard. The whole body was glittering and translucent, seemingly ablaze. “You should know that this sword was made by ‘Lord Duantian’ himself.”
“Ooh…” Suddenly a commotion broke out in the hall. The things made by Lord Duantian were true masterpieces. Even the little magical trinkets that he had created on a whim could fetch sky-high prices.
“To tell you the truth, this sword was created by Lord Duantian when he was young, and it is not his best work.” The auctioneer motioned for the people to look at the body of the weapon. It overflowed with light and colour, simple yet gorgeous. “However, by the time Lord Duantian had reached the Golden Core level, he was already well known. This top-grade special weapon has a fire attribute and was crafted by the honoured Master when he was at the peak of the Golden Core level as a gift to a friend, one slash can cut a hundred miles of glacier. Starting price is one hundred top-grade lingshi!”
Usually top-grade special weapons started from 50 to 80 top-grade lingshi, but having been crafted by Lord Duantian really added to its value.
Qingtong glanced at the sword, laughed derisively and did not speak.
Mo Tianliao touched his nose. The reason he could tell this was his early work was because the sword was fairly good-looking. The more time he spent crafting, the less effort he put into it. Whenever Duantian made something, he concentrated on practicality, a good appearance was not guaranteed. Just like the Soul-devouring Banner used by Elder Kugu which looked like a dirty rag cut at random.
The big tiger didn’t understand the “flirty gazes” of the two men behind him. Seeing the broadsword, he got up, slapped a furry paw on the crystal ball and placed a bid with his mind.
“Da-shixiong wants that sword?” Mo Tianliao turned to look at him.
“Roar!” The big tiger let out a cry and, regardless of whether shidi understood him or not, closely followed the bidding below for fear of missing it.
The bids from the private rooms were all transmitted directly through divine sense to the crystal on the stage and read out by the auctioneer. Therefore, the auctioneers in Liuhe had to be Golden Core or above.
“Upstairs bid one hundred and eighty!”
“One hundred and eighty-five!”
The price went up all the way to two hundred and thirty, then slowed down and began to increase one by one. The big tiger, with his ears erect and his tail sweeping nervously back and forth on the ground, had already bid two hundred and thirty-six lingshi. He had a total of two hundred and fifty pieces of top-grade lingshi on him, and could not afford more than that.
“Upstairs bid three hundred top-grade lingshi!” The auctioneer suddenly shouted loudly.
There was a moment of silence. Three hundred top-grade lingshi, enough to buy three top-grade special weapons. The price was really too much. The big tiger retracted his furry paw dejectedly and ran back to be stepped on again.
Mo Tianliao rubbed the tiger’s head. “That sword is not even good. I’ll make one for you later.” The Red Tiger Moon Chopping Blade, in his view, was basically trash. There was nothing special about it except for its powerful fire attack.
The big tiger shook off his shidi’s hand and bared his teeth.
What do you know? It was crafted by Lord Duantian himself. It is much more stable than an ordinary special weapon. I also would have seemed very prestigious; I would have been able to show off to Mo Xiong and the rest once we went back.
Mo Tianliao did not understand the tiger’s feelings but he also wouldn’t lend money to da-shixiong to buy trash, so he turned around to continue looking at the things on the stage.
“Here we have a set of seven colour crystals, each of which has special properties and can be refined into a set of special weapons!” On the stage, there was a long tray with red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue and purple crystals, each the size of a fist.
Red Temper Crystal, Orange Cloud crystal, Bright Sun crystal, Green Pine Amber, Sky-blue Stone and Crystalline Blue Pearl, the first six were well-known rare gems. They all had special uses. Individually they were already very valuable, and it was even more exceptional to see them all together.
“What is that purple stone?” There were people who didn’t recognize the goods in the audience.
Mo Tianliao listened to this remark and also observed the purple crystal, at first glance, it looked inconsequential. Suddenly his pupils shrank and he put his hand on the bidding crystal ball without thinking about it.
The auctioneers said it was a Purple Cloud crystal, but some people said Purple Cloud crystal was lighter. This was not the kind of auction house who’d just add some purple glass in order to complete the set, right?! The auctioneer smiled and didn’t comment. Purple Cloud crystal was not a precious crystal, they really did just add something in order to present a full set. However, even with just the first six, it would fetch a good price.
The starting price was one thousand top-grade lingshi!
“Two thousand!” Upstairs, there was a Nascent Soul cultivator who suddenly offered Two thousand lingshi. The bidding in the hall paused.
“Thank you Elder.” There was a beautiful female cultivator sitting beside him, she thanked him with a smile. With such a complete set of crystals, once she found a Master craftsman, she could obtain a set of all-attribute defensive magical tools. When that happened, she would be able to withstand any type of attack at least for a bit.
The Nascent Soul cultivator smiled, in order to make this great beauty happy, spending such a small amount of money was nothing.
“Two thousand and one,” Mo Tianliao called.
“…” When the Nascent Soul cultivator heard this, he was immediately incandescent with rage. “Five thousand!”
“Five thousand and one.” Mo Tianliao kept up with the price leisurely.
Meng Hu turned into a human being and bared his teeth. “Shidi! That tray of rocks is useless. What do you want them for?”
“To carve a tea set for Master,” Mo Tianliao said casually and continued to keep up with the price.
Da-shixiong almost choked. Qingtong snorted, raised his hand and slapped Mo Tianliao.
Mo Tianliao smiled. Whenever the other person bid, he added one lingshi until they had reached six thousand. The other person could not continue anymore, so Mo Tianliao bought it for six thousand and one lingshi.
An attendant delivered the items directly and he paid on the spot.
Mo Tianliao took the purple crystal in his hand and probed it lightly with his mind. He slowly smiled; he had not misjudged it. This was not a Purple Cloud crystal, but a Nine-Souls Crystal crystal capable of refining Soul Vessels!
Qingtong picked up a red gem and turned it around in his hand. Coldly, he said, “The Starfall Stone should cost at least thirty thousand lingshi. How will you buy it if it appears later?”
Mo Tianliao, who had been elated at getting such a bargain suddenly stiffened. By now, the first twenty-three items had been auctioned off and the first of the final three treasures was presented on the stage. Dark black stone, its inside vast and unfathomable, its outside a sparkling, shining blue, just like the stars falling over the Ninth Heaven. It was the Starfall Stone he needed!
Carpenter: QAQ It’s really hard to live without money
Master: Beg me and I’ll give you money
Carpenter: *burying himself in his fluffy belly* Lord Kitty, have pity, have pity, ok?
Master: Perverted disciple, where are you touching?!
Unedited, please point out any mistakes
MTL’s foot fetish has returned
Lately the chapters seem to be getting a little harder to translate but they are also even funnier, I cannot wait to post them in the future. If you think MTL is shameless now wait until he actually starts being shameless on purpose
I’m only half finished with the glossary, this humble translator requests punishment ORZ. Will post it soon.
Lord Kitty 1 and 2 and Lady Kitty 1 and 2 seem to be getting better, thanks for sending good vibes The symptoms were scary but they just needed a change in meds. Here’s a photo of rare peace Link.