klisemfg Chapter 27 Misty Cloud Pavilion
Chapter 27 Misty Cloud Pavilion
"Twenty thousand?"
The person verifying the funds was surprised for a moment, but didn't make a big fuss. Instead, he politely gestured for them to enter, then gave some instructions to the maid inside the door before leaving.
Back in Deer Mountain City, 20,000 high-grade spirit stones would have been enough to alarm the steward, but here it was only worth a simple "Please come in." This made Liu Xingxing even more determined to make money.
Quite a few people had also arrived at the fourth floor of Yanyun Pavilion. The furnishings here were quite simple. To the left and right of the auction stage were VIP areas with private spaces, while the main hall was the general area with seats. The two sides of the entrance were viewing areas where people could only stand.
The maid led Liu Xingxing to the front row, gestured "please," and then withdrew.
Liu Xingxing sat down at a table by herself, where there were simple tea and snacks.
Upon seeing someone arrive, several divine senses and gazes swept over, but only lingered for a moment before moving away.
He possessed the strength of a Golden Core cultivator, had an ordinary appearance, and was able to sit in the front row, indicating that he was well-off. He was likely a pill cultivator, according to the consensus of the group.
In just a few breaths, Liu Xingxing was touted as a wealthy alchemist who had reached his level by consuming pills.
The previous round of auctions has ended, and this round is about to begin.
"Fellow immortal cultivators, this round of auction is about to begin. The first item in this round is a refined steel stone, which can be used for forging. The starting bid is six hundred spirit stones..."
Liu Xingxing ate the tea and snacks on the table with some boredom; the first half of them were mostly useless things.
However, during this time, Liu Xingxing also managed to acquire a demon core and a purple dragon grass, spending over two thousand spirit stones, but she still hadn't seen the Cold Mountain Ice.
As the auction neared its end, the bids rose higher and higher. Cold Mountain Ice was not a rare item and was unlikely to be included in the later rounds. Presumably, it wouldn't be available in this round. There was only one more round of auctions for Yanyun Pavilion today, and the next one wouldn't be for another ten days. Liu Xingxing couldn't wait that long; she might be in some town in ten days.
After this round of auctions ended, Liu Xingxing waited for another round.
The next round of filming was still incredibly boring, with all sorts of things going on, and each one starting at several hundred or even a thousand spirit stones.
As the story neared its end, Liu Xingxing was somewhat disappointed that she still hadn't gotten the Cold Mountain Ice. It seemed that she wasn't always so lucky to find what she wanted. However, she was only missing one, and she had already obtained the other two.
"The grand finale of this auction is a six-lived black fox spirit, with a starting bid of three thousand spirit stones!"
Upon hearing this, Liu Xingxing immediately perked up. What is a raccoon? It's just a cat. In modern times, she already loves fluffy cats, but unfortunately, she is allergic to cat fur. Liu Jun shouldn't have this problem, right?
Cat-shaped demons are rarely seen on the continent of Yuanzhou. There are plenty of cats in the mortal world, but they are all ordinary creatures. They cannot be raised for long even if brought to the cultivation world. The cat demons of the demon race are at most half cats, and they usually appear in human form.
It's a pity that this one only has six lives and is only at the third rank. If it had nine lives, it should be at least at the sixth rank.
The black cat lay listlessly in the spirit-locking cage, glancing idly at the crowd outside. It must have been fed something that could suppress demonic power.
"Five thousand," someone in the VIP seat on the right spoke up.
"Eight thousand!" someone in front also spoke up.
"Ten thousand!"
"Thirteen thousand!"
Although raccoon dogs are rare, a third-tier demon beast is not worth that many spirit stones, and the hall fell silent for a moment.
"Twenty thousand," Liu Xingxing calmly called out the price.
The black cat lazily raised its eyes and glanced at her.
There was another moment of silence.
The auctioneer on stage calmly asked, "Fellow cultivator, are you sure?"
"This little thing is pleasing to my eye."
It's only about two thousand high-grade spirit stones; she can afford it.
"20,000 spirit stones! Congratulations, fellow cultivator, on winning the final item of this auction!"
"The last item in this auction is a section of the spine of an ancient clan, with a starting price of eight thousand spirit stones!"
"Ten thousand!"
"Thirty thousand!"
……
The bids in the hall were getting higher and higher. This was the thing they wanted to bid on and that was worth paying for: the bones of the remnant clan. That was top-quality material.
Liu Xingxing arrived at the back hall in a good mood. The steward took out three items and handed them to her, saying, "Twenty-two thousand one hundred and three mid-grade spirit stones. How will you pay, fellow immortal?"
Liu Xingxing took out two thousand two hundred high-grade spirit stones directly, and then took out some mid-grade spirit stones to add the change.
The person in charge was also taken aback: "Fellow cultivator, are you sure you want to pay with high-grade spirit stones?"
It's a spirit stone with such high purity.
"Yes, this is all I have right now."
The main problem is that the money from selling the pills last time wasn't enough.
"well."
The steward accepted the spirit stone with a slightly excited expression.
"I will have to trouble you, fellow immortal, to make a pact with this fox."
After all, the Soul Locking Cage still belongs to the Pavilion. What if it gets lost as soon as we leave and people come back to collect the debt?
This rule exists because of precedents.
"With Heaven and Earth as our witness, we hereby establish this covenant!"
Liu Xingxing reached out and touched it, leaving a rune imprint.
She had initially made a master-servant pact with the little snake, using it as both a mount and a henchman. Now, Liu Xingxing only wanted to keep a pet and pet a cat, so she signed a simple contract. Such contracts are less binding, but not without constraints, and signing one for a pet is just right.
"Alright, if you'd like to buy anything else in the future, our Yanyun Pavilion will definitely welcome you."
After exchanging a few polite words, Liu Xingxing took the cat and went downstairs.
"What should I call you from now on?" Liu Xingxing ruffled the black cat's fur.
"How about I call you Xiao Hei?"
The black cat lazily turned its head away, clearly not satisfied with the name.
"Isn't it good? It does sound rather corny. Well... I'll call you Xiao Mo then, it sounds nicer."
The black cat yawned and continued to lie lazily in Liu Xingxing's hand, which could be considered an acceptance.
"Little Mo, Little Mo, hehe~"
Hearing that there was a betting pool for pills on the third floor, Liu Xingxing went in to take a look out of curiosity. There were just as many people on the third floor as on the first floor. When Liu Xingxing went in, she happened to witness the opening of the furnace, and the audience was shouting excitedly.
The people on the third floor were shouting so loudly, yet going up and down the stairs wasn't affected at all. They must have set up some kind of shielding formation.
As soon as the alchemy furnace was opened, some were happy and some were sad. Only two people passed the test, while the other eight were dragged away. They were really dragged away, and those people were still struggling.
"No, no, I can still refine!"
"Let go, I'm almost there! Next round, next round! I'll definitely succeed!"
"Woooooooo..."
The manager ignored them and roughly dragged them away. The audience, as if bewitched, were oblivious to the scene and even despised the person who had made him lose money, before moving on to the next round, and the one after that.
After watching for only a short while, Liu Xingxing felt uncomfortable and left, going downstairs and back to the restaurant.
This phenomenon is just the tip of the iceberg in the cultivation world; there are probably even more "powerful" individuals who have gone to great lengths.
Liu Xingxing wasn't so saintly as to presume to rectify these things. Where there is light, there will always be shadow. The only thing she could do was not get involved.
Besides, Liu Xingxing hasn't even figured out her own situation yet, so how could she possibly concern herself with other people's business?
After returning to her room, Liu Xingxing let Xiao Mo play by herself and then began to sort through the things she had bought that day. She also drew upon Liu Jun's memories to recall how she used to practice alchemy.
In the cultivation world, alchemists almost always use alchemy furnaces as a medium to control the fire and refine pills. The better the alchemy furnace, the higher the success rate of pill refining.
Liu Jun possessed exceptional talent and took a unique approach, using fire as a furnace to melt medicine and refine pills with his bare hands.
In fact, Liu Jun also used a pill-refining furnace when she first started refining pills. However, ordinary pill-refining furnaces could not withstand the intense heat of her pure fire. Even several of her master's fine pill-refining furnaces were burned off. Only after that did Liu Jun slowly figure out her own way of refining pills.
Liu Xingxing tried to recall the cheap master who was now just a blurry outline in her memory, but she couldn't remember what he looked like at all.
Since I can't remember, I'm too lazy to think about it anymore.
Liu Xingxing gathered fire in her palm, slowly controlling the temperature, and took out a set of medicinal herbs.
……
five days later
"Damn it! It burned up again, ahhhh!!!"
Liu Xingxing was filled with impotent rage and became increasingly irritable.
For five consecutive days, Liu Xingxing worked day and night controlling the fire to refine pills, without ever leaving her room. In the end, only the last batch of medicinal herbs, lacking the Cold Mountain Ice, remained.
Liu Xingxing lay sprawled on the bed like a dead fish, having lost all desire for life. As she lay there, she actually fell asleep.
Xiao Mo licked its fur, glanced at the lifeless Liu Xingxing, jumped off the chair, strolled to the window, pawed at the wooden window a few times, opened a crack, and squeezed out...
That night, the moonlight spread across the ground as it pleased.
A gust of cold wind blew by, and Liu Xingxing shivered, slowly waking up.
"Tsk..." Headache.
Liu Xingxing sat there for a while, holding her forehead, before she came to her senses.
"Xiao Mo?"
Not hearing a response, Liu Xingxing called again. The cat, curled up on the stool, yawned, stretched, and then meowed in response.
Liu Xingxing went to open the window and glanced outside in a daze. In the dead of night, there were only the chirping of insects and the unrestrained moonlight.
After closing the window again, Liu Xingxing lay dead on the bed once more.
"We'll set off again tomorrow..."
A murmur reached her ears, and Xiao Mo opened one eye to glance at her before closing it again.