“How did you acquire it?” Chu Liuxiang asked out of curiosity.
“Well, it started when we met this man in front of a cave…” Yuan proceeded to recall his experience with the Demonic Spider.
“That’s… very tragic…” Chu Liuxiang sighed in a dispirited voice after hearing the story.
“Hearing your story makes me wonder… Does it hurt more for the parents to lose their children, or does it hurt more for the children when they lose their parents?”
“I don’t think we can gauge pain…” Yuan shook his head.
“Yuan, have you ever thought about meeting your parents? Your biological parents, I mean.”
“Not really. I never had the time to worry about such things, either. They abandoned me for a reason, and there’s no point thinking about it since it’s already happened.”
“You’re not even slightest curious why they abandoned you? I sometimes wonder why they really abandoned me.” Chu Liuxiang sighed again, and she continued, “Unfortunately, we might never be able to find the answer even if we wanted to ask them. For all we know, they could be dead right now. Even if they’re not, it’s almost impossible to look for them.”
Yuan smiled bitterly and said, “Let’s stop thinking about such depressing things. Your hair will turn white from stress.”
“Alright, I am going to study my techniques. Call me when it’s time to go.” Chu Liuxiang said as she retrieved her techniques and began reading them.
“I also need to finish absorbing the magical beasts I consumed before.” Lan Yingying said as she turned into a bracelet around his wrist.
Yuan didn’t say anything else and returned to studying his arrays.
Two days passed in the blink of an eye.
“Lulu, it’s almost time for the auction.” Yuan called out to her.
“Let’s go!”
Thus, they began making their way towards the auction, which will be held in another location that will have a higher capacity for the guests.
Meanwhile, Feng Yuxiang and Xiao Hua met up with each other in front of the House of Riches around the same time.
“How did your shopping go?” Feng Yuxiang asked her with a confident face.
“…”
Xiao Hua didn’t say anything and handed the spatial ring with the treasures she bought inside to Feng Yuxiang.
Feng Yuxiang quickly checked the contents, and it was lacking in terms of quantity. However, in terms of quality, the treasures Xiao Hua bought were much better in general.
“I see… So you picked quality over quantity, huh? Unfortunately, I have won this rematch!” Feng Yuxiang said in a proud voice as she handed her spatial ring to Xiao Hua.
Xiao Hua frowned slightly and looked at the spatial ring, and to her surprise, Feng Yuxiang had a lot more treasures than her while keeping its quality about the same.
“You must be thinking that I had cheated, right? After all, how can I possibly acquire so much more treasures with the same quality while having the same budget?”
Although Xiao Hua didn’t say anything, she indeed doubted if Feng Yuxiang had cheated for a moment.
“Xiao Hua, it’s simply a difference in experience. You most likely bought those treasures at their full price, right? Well, I convinced the merchants to sell the treasures at a lower price, allowing me to buy more with the same budget. Furthermore, I didn’t buy them in regular stores, since you can usually get treasures of the same quality with a merchant that works alone, and they’re easier to haggle with.” Feng Yuxiang explained, displaying her years of experience as a merchant in full, even bragging about it a little.
“…”
After hearing Feng Yuxiang’s explanation, Xiao Hua had no choice but to accept her defeat this time. She wasn’t the type to haggle with others, nor has she done so before, so she was at a severe disadvantage for this match.
“Now that we both have a win and loss, we’re tied. I look forward to our next match” Feng Yuxiang then said.
“I won’t lose next time.” Xiao Hua said in a calm voice, yet her fierce expression was dead serious.
“Neither will I.” Feng Yuxiang said with a smile.
Thus, the rivalry between Feng Yuxiang and Xiao Hua to become Yuan’s number one servant officially began.
“Esteemed guests! You came just at the right time! I was just about to head to the auction. Do you want to join me?” Gu Xiulan was pleasantly surprised to see them standing in front of the auction house.
“Sure.” Feng Yuxiang nodded.
While they journeyed, Gu Xiulan said to them, “Regarding the sales of the treasures, we have managed to sell all of them besides the Flood Dragon’s scale, which will be sold by today. In total, the treasures managed to sell for a little over 60,000 spirit stones.”
“Good.” Feng Yuxiang replied in a nonchalant manner.
Although Gu Xiulan didn’t mention it, nor would she, most of the treasures were actually bought by the auction house itself.
After all, with the Flood Dragon’s scale’s upcoming auction, most of the wealthy families have decided to save as much money as they can for the auction, making it pretty hard to sell the lesser valued treasures even for a renowned auction house like the House of Riches.
In fact, the House of Riches even bought most of the treasures at a higher price than usual just to satisfy Feng Yuxiang.
And although the House of Riches will be losing some money even if they manage to sell all of the treasures in the future when everything has calmed down, they do not regret their actions as long as it satisfies Feng Yuxiang.
About an hour later, they arrive at the location of the auction. It was in a nearby city, where there was a massive building that could hold thousands of guests with ease.
This building was built for important meetings for the Seven Legacy Families, the Seven Spirit Academies, among other powerful backgrounds, but it will be used as an auction house just for the Flood Dragon’s scale.
“Welcome to the Royal Hall, Esteemed Guests.” Gu Xiulan said to them when they arrived.