The group of people walked out the door just like this.
Hu Chang’an was the young lord of the Hu Clan. Under normal circumstances, whenever he went outside, apart from when he kept a low profile himself, any ceremonial presentation would be comprehensive and luxuriant — First, there was a wild beast that was as tall as a small mountain. After that, there were spear-wielding bodyguards on both sides who were as densely-packed as a forest of trees. It wasn’t the least bit ambiguous.
Gu Zuo followed the three siblings in a small palace hall that was mounted on the back of that wild beast. They were heading towards Xuanwu City’s West Street. The venue of that auction was precisely at the most flourishing segment of this West Street.
The organization currently in charge of Xuanwu City was the Hu Clan. Because the Hu Clan was an aristocratic family of pharmacists, many of the other forces that congregated within this city also developed through medicine refinement. As a result, things like medicinal ingredients or cauldrons were indispensable for ordinary auctions. And there were more of these auctions which prioritized ingredients with every year. There were countless rarities abound.
The speed of that enormous wild beast wasn’t slow. After traveling for about fifteen minutes, they finally stopped in front of a gigantic building.
Although Gu Zuo was standing on the beast’s back, he still had to lift his head to get a clear look at the signboard —
Heaven Connecting Pavilion?
Gu Zuo silently thought about it. The organization that held this auction had quite the flair…
On the side, Hu Chang’an, who already had a good understanding of others, gave him an introduction: “Brother Ah Zuo, this Heaven Connecting Pavilion is a subordinated business under a veteran silver-ranked organization. It has always been able to take out many precious and fine goods, and the prices are also fair. Moreover, the auctions are carried out impartially, and rarely do people come here to cause trouble.”
Gu Zuo’s heart stirred: “The business of a silver-ranked organization? Which silver-ranked organization is it?”
Hu Chang’an thought about it, and replied: “It’s called Ten Ultimates Sect.”
Gu Zuo was somewhat curious.
Hu Chang’an straightforwardly talked about some of the information he knew of: “Among the silver-ranked organizations, it could be said that Ten Ultimates Sect is prestigious and far-famed. Once, another silver-ranked organization clashed with it. At that time, both sides waged a huge war. Ten Ultimates Sect’s ten Heaven Lords brazenly took to the battlefield, and after taking action, they moved mountains and drained oceans — They practically swept everything away…”
He continued: “Until now, none of the martial artists who were fated to witness it could forget that celestial-like grandeur. Ten Ultimates Sect’s ten Heaven Lords caught all of the peak powerhouses of that provoking silver-ranked organization in one go, and caused that silver-ranked organization to immediately drop to the bronze rank. If it wasn’t for Ten Ultimates Sect’s tolerance, that organization wouldn’t have even been able to exist at the bronze rank. Rather, it would’ve been thoroughly wiped out by them.”
In any case, the side that took the initiative to provoke didn’t have any reasonable grounds to stand on. Under the same circumstances, was it so rare for the implicated organization to be exterminated? Ten Ultimates Sect’s move made people heave sighs of relief, but more than that, it also invoked restraining fears.
Indeed, the Ten Ultimates Sovereigns of Ten Ultimates Sect couldn’t be compared to mortals!
Gu Zuo listened with some fascination.
Silver-ranked organizations…were truly too high to reach.
It would be great if he could get into a silver-ranked organization. At that time, he wouldn’t be impeded from all directions when inquiring for news about his big brother like he was right now. Even if the Hu Clan undertook the task of helping him, it would be helpless to accomplish much.
After this bit of casual conversation, that enormous wild beast steadily entered through the auction’s giant gateway.
The interior space was vast. There were many wild beasts, carriages, and troops who were all moving inside. They were shown the way by some men and women with outstanding appearances. Their seats were arranged one after another.
When all was said and done, the Hu Clan wielded the power of this city, so they would be quickly arranged with the best private rooms. Additionally, there were also some noble customers who were also properly arranged &#k2014; Similarly, with the best private rooms.
Soon after, the crowded tide of people was neatly sorted out. Then, the auction officially began.
Down below, the strikes of a hammer echoed out. A sharply-dressed woman who looked heroic and exuberant stood on the stage. In a loud voice, she declared the first auctioned item: “The golden-level Raging Inferno Cauldron. The starting price is thirty spirit crystals. Place your bids!”
Gu Zuo stayed with the three Hu Clan siblings in their private room. He was looking at the medicinal cauldron, which was carried by two tall and sturdy men. Engraved upon it were numerous flame patterns, and underneath it were eighteen fire openings. When refining medicine, one could regulate the heat at will. Reportedly, it was a very meticulous medicinal cauldron. When refining pills that were inclined towards high intensities, the pill production and success rate were increased by a certain degree.
This kind of medicinal cauldron suited golden-level pharmacists. And while it was a cauldron that was in common usage, since it could be taken out for the auction, then it would certainly have a strong point in certain aspects. This strong point was precisely flame regulation.
Based on Hu Chang’an’s impressions, although Gu Zuo was a human-level pharmacist, he ought to have reached the golden-level with his strength. If he got a hold of this medicinal cauldron, then it shouldn’t take long for him to be able to utilize it. On top of that, it just so happened that he was thinking about finding an opportunity to express his thanks to Gu Zuo…
As a result, Hu Chang’an took the initiative to open his mouth and ask: “Brother Ah Zuo, do you like this medicinal cauldron?”
Gu Zuo listened this, and heard the meaning within Hu Chang’an’s tone. He couldn’t help smiling: “Although this cauldron is good, it doesn’t completely suit me. I gave it a second look, but its form is only interesting.”
Hu Chang’an saw him acting this way, and didn’t mention his own proposition.
Gu Zuo sighed.
Hu Chang’an was a friend, but Gu Zuo didn’t like gaining too many things from one’s friendship.
Spending a friend’s money and making a friend give him presents… He felt that this wasn’t particularly appropriate.
The first item, a golden-level Raging Flames Cauldron, was finally sold for a price of a hundred twenty spirit crystals. Gu Zuo evaluated the exchange rate between spirit crystals and gold, and discovered that one piece of spirit crystal on the Central Continent was equivalent to one million gold. In that case, wasn’t the price of that medicinal cauldron a little more than a hundred million gold? However, he also knew that if it was on the Qingyun Continent, the number of people who were aware of spirit crystals was extremely small. If he wanted to use gold to exchange for spirit crystals, he wouldn’t have been able to get any even if he had ten million gold. There was a price, but no market.
Immediately following this, some medicinal ingredients appeared.
Basically none of these ingredients were at the human level. Granted that there were some occasionally, either they were extremely unorthodox and in large quantities, or they were mutated ingredients with special effects. Under any other circumstances, human-level medicinal ingredients didn’t have the qualifications to be exhibited at this auction.
Gu Zuo silently watched for a while. He had reserves of those unorthodox ingredients, but as for the mutated ingredients, he eyed them with a covetous gleam. Ah, it was a pity that he was embarrassingly short of money.
Altogether, he had a little more than a dozen spirit crystals. Among them, five were the ones that Qingyun Sect gave him prior to their departure. The remaining few spirit crystals were given to him by his big brother when Tianheng saw that he was interested in the crystals… Originally, they agreed to give him some spirit crystals keep on his person. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough time before they got separated, which led to his present destitution. He couldn’t have been more miserable!
Sure enough, when he followed his big brother, there was meat to eat. And when he didn’t…he could only be out of luck.
In any case, the next dozen to two dozen auctioned items were brought out and sold. Gu Zuo was in a very salty mood the entire time.
How could anyone understand that type of mood where a person could look and admire medicinal ingredients, but didn’t have the money to buy them?!
Meanwhile, despite what Gu Zuo wanted, in order to prevent Hu Chang’an from spending any money on him, he didn’t dare to look too much at the things that he came across and admired. As a result, Hu Chang’an didn’t notice anything, allowing Gu Zuo to stifle his own urges by his lonesome. He kept restraining himself until he finally became calm and collected. In his mind, he started to silently recite prescriptions to constrain his restless heart.
Gu Zuo inwardly sighed.
As a pharmacist, his fondness for rare medicinal ingredients…was truly hard to control.
With this kind of thinking and restraining, the next auctioned item passed by.
The three Hu Clan siblings roused their spirits.
Hu Changbi hastily said: “Big brother, look at that. The Particle Vine Roots have come out!”
Gu Zuo also trained his eyes over there.
That’s right. At this time, another young girl was holding a tray with her silk-white hands. In a densely-packed arrangement, there were somewhat fine and slender roots. Each root was roughly the thickness of a strand of hair. There was no need to count them individually, piece by piece. One could recognize that there were at least ten thousand roots.
Particle Vine Roots were never seen often, and the prescriptions that could use it were also few in number. As a result, it usually wasn’t that popular. However, with regards to the specific people who needed to use those prescriptions, the appearance of these Particle Vine Roots were like a timely rain. It was a great and pleasant surprise that they absolutely couldn’t give up on!
For instance, Hu Chang’an and his two siblings.
At this moment, that heroic and exuberant auctioneer quoted a price on the stage: “Particle Vine Roots, thirteen thousand roots. The starting price is five spirit crystals. Each increase in price cannot be lower than one spirit crystal!”
At once, someone blurted out: “Ten spirit crystals!”
What a surprise! The price was doubled right off the bat!
Gu Zuo was speechless.
Wasn’t ten spirit crystals equal to ten million gold? In that case, each individual root was several hundred gold. This was still a human-level medicinal ingredient… Among the human-level ingredients, that was extremely expensive.
Immediately following this, other people quoted prices in quick succession:
“Eleven spirit crystals!”
“Thirteen spirit crystals!”
“Fourteen!”
“Sixteen!”
The subsequent bids were neither fast nor slow, neither lukewarm nor hot. Nearly all of them were from just a few families. They should’ve been medicine refining aristocratic families. Particle Vine Roots were seldom seen, so they wanted to bid for it. But because the rank of the Particle Vine Roots wasn’t particularly high, the price competition also didn’t to go that high. Thus, the bidding was slow-going.
Hu Chang’an calmed down. After that, he immediately announced: “Thirty spirit crystals.”
When these words were uttered, the outside suddenly became quiet.
Thirty spirit crystals?
Which family’s wastrel would spend so many spirit crystals on Particle Vine Roots?!
However, there were discerning people who guessed that the person who called out this price might’ve been running short of Particle Vine Roots… Those people took another look at the person who made that bid for the Particle Vine Roots. The voice came from inside one of the best private rooms. Although the tone of the voice was somewhat distorted, that person certainly couldn’t be offended.
At once, in order to gain that person’s favor, some bidders closed their mouths.
In any case, Particle Vine Roots weren’t things that they had to have. Was it worth the trouble of crossing that person?
For a short while, no one continued to call out prices.
Hu Chang’an was glad. He guessed earlier that the probability of him obtaining the Particle Vine Roots should’ve been relatively smooth… But, something unexpected occurred.
Inside another private room, someone’s voice could be heard: “Thirty-two spirit crystals.”
This voice hadn’t been distorted. It was a deliberate, male voice, and it sounded like it should’ve been a young man. Moreover, the position of this young man certainly wasn’t low.
Hu Chang’an’s complexion changed in a split second.
Gu Zuo faintly frowned: “Brother Chang’an, what’s wrong?”
Hu Chang’an slowly shook his head: “Not good. This time’s affair will probably have some twists and turns.”
Hu Changbi and Hu Changfeng’s expressions also didn’t look so good.
Gu Zuo looked at the three siblings.
The three Hu Clan siblings gave him an explanation: “That’s a member of the Wu Clan.”
The Wu Clan was the aristocratic family who had the highest probability of replacing the Hu Clan.
Within their clan, there was a profound-level pharmacist whose lifespan still had a ways to go.
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