Li Luo and Lu Qing'er left the hall and entered another spacious gallery screened off with a pearl curtain. Walking close by, Li Luo could smell her faint, womanly scent.
"Your resonant power is much stronger already... Resonant Master?" Li Luo suddenly asked.
She nodded slightly. "A few days ago. You?"
"Perhaps a bit more time here." Li Luo winced. He had been at the Tenth Seal stage for a while now. It was time to prepare for the jump to the Resonant Master Stage.
"Good luck with that. School starts in less than half a month. Competition's going to be intense, you know," Lu Qing'er said.
Li Luo nodded. He was on the verge of a reply when a small boy suddenly burrowed past him, hiding behind him.
The boy looked to be about eight years old. He had jet-black eyes and was rather cute. Still, he had a suspicious look about him at the moment, skulking around.
"Hey, kid, go play somewhere else." Li Luo frowned.
He could see a few figures nearby weaving in and out of the crowd, craning their necks left and right as they searched for someone.
"Help me hide," the boy whispered.
Although his voice was tiny, there was a ring of command to it. Clearly, he was used to getting his way... Perhaps he was the heir to someone important.
Li Luo couldn't care less, shrugging him off and shooing him away.
"I'll give you 3,000 gold!" The boy hurriedly said.
"Do I look like someone who’s in need of money?" Li Luo frowned, feeling offended. Did he look like Yu Lang, for crying out loud.
The little monkey was annoying.
Li Luo stretched out a hand sternly. "5,000."
Without a word, the boy handed over a golden dragon note worth 5,000 gold.
Li Luo's jaw dropped at his straightforwardness. Still, he stuffed the golden dragon note into his sleeve and said mildly, "Well, a man like me can't stand the strong bullying the weak."
He placed a hand on the boy's shoulder and used the Water Shadow Art, causing him to fade away to a mere faint presence.
The boy felt himself all over, fascinated.
Nearby, the searchers turned away after finding nothing.
Li Luo followed Lu Qing'er, pushing the boy from his mind. Since she had not stopped him from helping the boy, he was probably the heir to some important family, while those searching for him were his bodyguards. Still, there was not much harm that could come to him if he remained in the Golden Dragon Bank.
The two continued on. Lu Qing'er led them into an oval auction room, where there were many others seated.
They found empty seats and had just settled back when they discovered someone to their left.
Li Luo saw that it was the boy from before. He frowned sternly. "Are you following me? Trying to get the money back, are you? Look, kid, you might be young, but I see a lot of character flaws already."
The boy screwed up his face, but his retort was interrupted by a cough. His face turned a little pale, his energy evaporating.
Seemed like he was quite a frail child.
Li Luo was a little concerned. Was the little monkey trying to trick him?
Lu Qing'er smiled. "Oh, let him stay."
Since Li Luo had hidden him before, they were a little responsible if he was running amok. Keep him here for now, and she would get someone to pick him up later. And also check which family he belonged to.
Li Luo nodded. Seeing the boy cough repeatedly, he pulled out a small bottle containing the watersource he had refined, tossing it to him.
"If you wanna feel better, drink it."
He did not know why the little monkey was so frail, but his watersource had healing properties thanks to his waterlight resonance, so it should be able to help the boy feel better.
The boy caught the bottle but stared at him wide-eyed. Was the man a fool? He wasn't about to drink some unknown liquid from a stranger.
But it didn't seem too polite to throw it away. He stuffed it away in a pocket and turned back curiously to the auction.
Seeing the kid spurn his goodwill, Li Luo rolled his eyes. Forget it. Do as you will. He turned back to the auction, ignoring him.
During this time, Duze Beixuan and Ning Zhao had entered and seated themselves as well.
Duze Beixuan smiled maliciously in Li Luo's direction. "What's the Young Lord going to do with wood and earth rare materials?"
Ning Zhao shook his head. He looked a little uneasy as he looked over at Li Luo, seated with Lu Qing'er.
Duze Beixuan wasn't paying attention to him. He had wanted to mess with Li Luo when he arrived at Xia City, but House Jinque's Si Qiuying had stopped him then. It was about time he had his fun.
House Duze had a long-standing feud with House Luolan. Any trouble to Li Luo was welcome to him.
Although he couldn't really cause Li Luo much harm here, there were other ways of being nasty.
He settled down to wait in anticipation. About half an hour later, a bell rang.
The auction was beginning.
An auctioneer appeared on stage. The middle-aged man bowed, opened the stage, and then began to call the auction.
The auction here was not held one item at a time. Instead, multiple items were laid out at the same time, and a simultaneous bidding war would ensue.
As a result, things got very lively immediately.
"Material number one, an embersnake fruit, 800 years old, and a fine 10,000-grade rare material. Starting bid 11,000 gold, do I hear 12,000!
"Material number two, zephyrock, another beautiful 10,000-grade rare material. This one's going at 16,000—thank you, I see 17,000!
"Material number three..."
The auctioneer's crisp, business-like voice rattled off bids and introductions, cutting himself off time and again as the bidders raised their signs.
The atmosphere grew livelier and livelier, but Li Luo sat back, uninterested.
As the fierce bidding proceeded, 10,000-grade rare materials were snatched up one after another. About 10 minutes later, Li Luo finally spotted something he wanted.
There were four materials laid up here, two wood and two earth. Each was marked at around 15,000 gold.
These four were all 10,000-grade rare materials that Li Luo needed.
"Millennial Greenwood Core, a 10,000-grade rare material. Starting bid 15,000!
"Essence of Dragonsbed, 10,000-grade rare material. Starting bid 15,000!
"..."
Li Luo jumped right in, raising the bid for both to 20,000 immediately. From his observations before, he knew that most of the bids ended at roughly 20,000. He wanted to skip right past the bickering and kill the competition.
It should be enough to give the other interested bidders pause.
Just as he predicted, the quick raise to 20,000 was enough to discourage all the other bidders after a moment's hesitation.
After all, that was roughly the price for 10,000-grade materials. It was not worth it to go beyond that, and there were other items still up for sale today, tomorrow, and every day after that. There was no rush.
"Any more bidders, going once?"
The auctioneer surveyed the crowd, raising his voice with a dramatically hopeful tone.
"Going twice, these four excellent rare materials..."
Just as his hammer was about to land, a sign shot up, and a mocking voice called out, "25,000"
The sudden increase in bid made Li Luo inhale sharply in shock. Auctions were auctions after all. So a challenger had appeared.