Chapter 98: This Young Master Wants to Auction

Chapter 98: This Young Master Wants to Auction

The Liquid Liquor was a humble hole-in-the-wall wedged directly next to the river between the docks and warehouses. It was a place for laborers, sailors, and the working folk of Stonebridge who kept the industry flowing. It was also a place visited and patronized exclusively by locals.

Chen Haoran felt eyes on him as soon as he entered the bar. Even though he wrapped himself in a large cloak and concealed his face under its hood, he felt exposed as the foreigner he was.

You know, wearing something like that in a place like this doesnt really help you go unnoticed, Jiang Lei said. Unlike Chen Haoran, he made no move to hide his face and boldly looked around the bar. The few cultivators in the room quickly paled and lost themselves in their drinks rather than lock eyes with him.

Between the two of them, he considered Jiang Lei to be the more eye-catching one Being noticed is fine so long as I go unrecognized.

They made their way to the bar, where the bartender looked decidedly unfazed at seeing two powerful cultivators enter the establishment. Whatll it be? he gruffed.

Dreamwater, Chen Haoran said.

The bartender gave him a once over, and Chen Haoran flashed the Golden Lily Token from his cloak.

Up the stairs and to the left.

Thank you.

As they ascended the steps, Jiang Lei couldnt hold his curiosity back. You told me I could make some easy money. I wonder how you plan to do that here?

Dont worry, Chen Haoran said when they reached the top. He knocked on the door.

It silently swung open. Behind it was a woman wearing a well-fitted robe cinched with a white sash embroidered with yellow lily pads. A golden cloth mask obscured the upper half of her face. A quick glance with his sense revealed a Ninth-Layer cultivation. Welcome, honored guest. I am Dreamwater. She stretched a hand to the simple table within the windowless room. There was no other furniture save for a few simple candle stands scattered around the room for light. Please.

Chen Haoran brushed passed the attendant without a word and sat himself down. Jiang Lei remained next to the door. He offered Dreamwater a cheeky smile as she looked between the two of them. Chen Haoran wasnt surprised. It was a special situation where the weaker cultivator took the lead. Dreamwater gingerly sat across from Chen Haoran and pleasantly smiled at him. Another professional. He was meeting a lot of those lately.

How may I help you today, honored guest? she asked.

I dont know, Chen Haoran said. He leaned back into his chair and causally tossed his token on the table. You tell me.

Dreamwater smiled in the way a retail employee did when a customer asked something they wouldnt answer. He shouldnt have bothered asking. There was no way an attendant would know. His estimation of the Golden Lily Association rose higher. How powerful were they that they would sell a Heaven-rank technique rather than keep it for themselves? By all accounts, Heaven-rank anything were vanishingly rare. Techniques and cultivation methods, especially, were things jealously guarded.

Well, his speculation was all meaningless anyway. Whatever the Golden Lily Associations intentions, he was far removed from them. Still, at least from the prices involved, he could see that Stonebridge had money. That was good. It was exactly what he wanted.

He tossed the pamphlet on the table. Arrange one of those exits for me.

Dreamwater gracefully bowed her head. Of course, sir. Ill inform you of the specifics when we next meet. Is there anything else I can assist you with?

I want to enter something into the auction. Are you able to arrange that?

Dreamwaters smile became even more professional. Chen Haoran recognized it at once. It was the Prepared to gently let down the customers ridiculous demand and get yelled at for it, smile. It seemed that the language of customer service was universal no matter the time period or, indeed, the world.

If you desire to enter an item, I am trained in the appraisal arts and can evaluate it right now if you so wish, Dreamwater said. However, I must warn the honored guest in advance that while we do evaluate submissions, we may not accept them.

Translation: If your shit isnt valuable, we dont want it.

Chen Haoran reached into his storage bag and pulled out a deep green jade box. Its surface was etched with images of spring in bloom and thrummed with vital qi. A single leather band was tightly wrapped across its top with a brass latch closing it. He had purchased it from Chanchu for a pretty penny, and even then, the merchant had been reluctant to part with it. Dreamwaters professional mask turned into genuine interest.

Chen Haoran looked around the room with an air of indifference. How private is this room?

Dreamwater observed his expression and looked back down at the jade box. If she were as professionally trained appraisal as she purported herself to be, she would have recognized the box was meant to contain and preserve the energies of delicate spiritual materials. After a moment, her hands disappeared into the sleeves of her robes, and her qi flared. The walls around them lit up with complex patterns and scripts, and the air in the room shifted. Chen Haoran could feel the ambient qi in the room rapidly scatter before becoming unnaturally still when the patterns on the walls disappeared. Chen Haoran cast his sense to the wall in search of the formation and found nothing.

Nothing will leave this room, honored guest, Dreamwater said.

Chen Haoran placed a single finger on the leather bands brass latch. It opened with a pulse of qi, and as soon as the box lid loosened, a faint blue mist started seeping from its seams. When he removed the lid, the mist poured out in a flood, covering the table and spilling to the floor. The room suddenly became cooler, and what light the candles gave off was devoured by the mist. However, it did not become darker because after devouring the candlelight, a soft white light emerged from the mist itself as if it were backlit by the moon. Accompanying the mist was a faint floral scent. Chen Haoran breathed deeply and smelled a wet, moonlit night. The scent sank into his meridians, and despite him being at the peak of the Qi realm and having no more space for energy, it still found corners and crevasses to fill in.

The blue flower that was the source of the phenomena lay in the jade box, giving off the impression of frailty and softness, yet at the same time looking as still and unmoveable as a mountain. Chen Haoran chalked the strange feeling up to the wondrous nature of qi. He slammed the lid back down onto the box and broke the beautiful scene. Jiang Lei and Dreamwater looked at him with shocked silence.

He couldnt help it. He smirked. 30-thousand-year-old Moonflower. Please appraise it.