The Golden Ram Auction House is a little over two li from Golden Ram Tower, and the route is packed with people as far as the eye can see. Evan Chu had never seen such a grand, unprecedented auction before.
Walking together with the Four Young Lords of Azure Tide and the Two Saintesses, Evan kept hearing all kinds of flattering comments from bystanders. He could only feel helpless about all the bootlicking.
Soon, the seven of them arrived at the auction house. Evan glanced around and found that the building was actually circular, and its area covered about a li in diameter—absolutely massive.
At the entrance hung a huge plaque, the five characters for 'Golden Ram Auction House' written in bold, flowing calligraphy. The brushwork was impressively powerful.
Dozens of young attendants in white robes stood in two lines at the entrance, registering every entrant’s token one by one. Evan noticed that most people’s tokens were blue or green, and only one or two were red.
After registering in turn, everyone entered the auction hall. The hall was truly enormous, able to seat tens of thousands, and many people were already inside.
"Brother Peak, our tokens are different, so our seats are too. You’ll be in a standard VIP room, while we’ll be in premium VIP rooms. I hope you get the treasures you want," Young Lord Wenqin said.
Evan glanced at his token—number Three—and couldn’t help but smile. "I really do have a connection with the number three. Back at Lyric Hall Auctions, my VIP room was also number three, and now it’s three again. Looks like today’s bound to be lucky."
After arriving at Standard VIP Room Three, Evan looked around and found the amenities much improved compared to last time. There was the familiar round table and numbered bidding buttons, but this time a very pretty young woman was waiting inside.
When Evan entered, the girl greeted him, "Young Master, I’m the attendant for VIP Room Three. During the auction, you only need to state your price, and I’ll handle the bidding for you. I’ll also give you detailed introductions to each item’s origin and effects."
Evan glanced at the girl and asked, "Is that all? No other services?"
The girl blushed and replied, "If Young Master wants special services, that’s possible too. But the minimum price is ten thousand high-grade Starstones here, and in the premium VIP rooms it’s a hundred thousand."
"That expensive? Tell me, what can you actually do that’s worth so many Starstones? If it sounds good, maybe I’ll really need your... services." Evan joked.
"Every attendant in the VIP rooms is a virgin, professionally trained in all those... areas. I can sing, dance, massage, and more," the girl answered.
"Hmm, not bad. I’ll let you know if I ever need you. For now, tell me about the top treasures in this auction—the grand finale items." Evan said. He had zero interest in women like her; if he ever unleashed his Pure Yang Qi, she’d die instantly.
"There are three grand finale items this time. First, a mid-grade Heaven-rank martial skill manual called Nebula Chains.
Second, an eighth-grade pill that can bring the dead back to life, as long as their body is still intact.
And the third is a medicinal treasure called the Purple Jade Spirit-King Fruit. They say eating it lets any cultivator, no matter their realm, break through one major realm. It’s probably the most precious item this time.
Evan smiled, "So if a Ninth-Layer Divine Martial expert ate the Purple Jade Spirit-King Fruit, would they instantly break into the Saint Martial Realm?"
"No, that’s not possible. It would only make their power much stronger. Everyone knows that after Ninth-Layer Divine Martial, to break through to the Saint Martial Realm you need Netherghost Violet Orchid. But that orchid has long since vanished. If one appeared now, it’d drive all Nine Great Sects into a frenzy—and then this auction would really be worth watching," the girl explained.
"Got it. Keep an eye out for any medicines that can repair souls. If one comes up, notify me right away. I’m going to take a quick nap," Evan said.
Soon, a noisy commotion sounded outside—the auction was clearly about to begin. Evan simply closed his eyes to rest, ignoring the fanfare.
"Welcome, friends, to the Golden Ram Auction House. Our grand event, held once every three years, begins today. I am the host for this auction, the Grand Elder of Freewind Palace, and I hope everyone gets what they desire."
Evan found these opening remarks annoying. After a while, the auction finally began. The first item was a weapon called the Crescent Moon Sabre, a high-grade weapon with a starting price of ten thousand Starstones and minimum bids of two thousand each. In the end, someone from a regular seat won it for two hundred and ten thousand Starstones.
The second item was a pill recipe that could be used to refine a sixth-grade pill. An alchemist bought it for one hundred and fifty thousand Starstones.
Evan had no interest in these items. He looked at the girl and said, "Since there’s nothing going on, why don’t you dance for me? I’ve never really watched a beauty dance before."
The girl asked, "What kind of dance would you like to see? I know many styles—belly dance, heart-refreshing dance, strip dance, and even the 'no-clothes' dance."
Hearing those names, Evan felt a bit tipsy—especially with that last dance, whose name made its intent obvious. It was probably designed to incite the guests’ desires. The auction house owner’s salesmanship was truly clever.
"What’s a strip dance? You don’t mean you take off your clothes while dancing, do you?" Evan asked.
"You’re clever, Young Master. That’s exactly what it is—during the dance, I slowly take off each piece of clothing until only one remains. If the guest is interested, things naturally progress from there," the girl explained.
Evan glanced around the room and said, "The setup here is way too simple. Even if I wanted to, there’s nothing I could do. You’d better not dance—I wouldn’t survive your temptation."
After a long while, an auction item finally caught Evan’s interest—a storage ring with a space of about ten cubic meters, several times larger than his current one. He’d been wanting to upgrade for a while.
The starting bid for the storage ring was one hundred thousand Starstones. The materials are extremely rare, so even though many people in the Azure Tide Ruins have Starstones, not all have storage rings.
Each bid increment was twenty thousand Starstones, and the auction quickly turned fierce. The price soared from one hundred thousand up to one million two hundred thousand, and kept rising.
"Help me win that storage ring. Bid as you see fit!" Evan instructed the girl.
The girl immediately pressed the button for one million five hundred thousand Starstones, and the whole hall fell silent for a while. In the end, Evan won the storage ring for one million five hundred thousand Starstones...