The masters from the various great forces on Shadowed Star had a complicated relationship with Old Black Face Yan Pei. What they loved about him was that once he organized an auction, the items sold were all guaranteed to be superb, but what they hated was naturally how he made sure each of these items was sold for an outrageously high price, even making their powerful forces feel like they had been taken advantage of.
Two Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters standing here showed just how much importance Treasure Trove Pavilion placed on this auction.
Seeing Yang Kai arrive, whether it was Fei Zhi Tu or Yan Pei, both suddenly wore smiles on their faces. When the young girl Qing’er saw this, she couldn’t help feeling greatly stunned. According to her memory, Head Manager Yan Pei rarely showed a smile, and it was enough to cause her to become quite excited.
Such a reaction illustrated that Yang Kai’s status was incredible, which in turn meant that the rewards she might receive were also greater. If she was lucky enough to have Yang Kai take a liking to her, then she wouldn’t need to worry about having enough cultivation resources ever again. Anyone who could attend this auction definitely didn’t lack Saint Crystals.
“Greetings, two Seniors!” Yang Kai’s brow twitched but he still had to step forward and salute.
At the end of the day, he was still the Junior here so he couldn’t just ignore decorum.
“Haha, there’s no need to act overly courteous,” Fei Zhi Tu smiled lightly and waved his hand, causing an invisible force to lift Yang Kai up in a kind and friendly manner. Since seeing the Phoenix Soul Remnant Yang Kai was carrying in his body back in the Emperor Garden, Fei Zhi Tu no longer dared underestimate him.
Even if it was just a weak Soul Remnant, it still belonged to a legendary Ancient Divine Spirit that had disappeared long ago. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that as long as Yang Kai didn’t die and his strength kept improving, the power that the Ancient Divine Spirit Soul Remnant could display would also increase. Although Yang Kai may not have an opportunity to break through to the Origin King realm while suppressed by Shadowed Star’s World Principles, once he reached the peak of the Origin Realm, with the help of that Ice Phoenix Soul Remnant, he would be absolutely invincible.
If Fei Zhi Tu didn’t take advantage of this opportunity to curry favour with Yang Kai while the latter was still small and weak, once he became strong it would be too late.
“Boy, I heard you stirred up some trouble again recently,” Fei Zhi Tu grinned meaningfully and commented.
“I don’t know what Senior is referring to,” Yang Kai replied doubtfully.
“Don’t feign ignorance, didn’t you kill someone from Sea Heart Sect?” Fei Zhi Tu glared at him.
“So it’s about Sea Heart Sect. En, I killed him, so? Did Senior hear some kind of rumour about this?” Yang Kai asked curiously.
“Not really,” Fei Zhi Tu shook his head slowly, “Sea Heart Sect is based far away, on the Limitless Ocean, but it is still counted as a second-class Sect after all, not a force that can be casually humiliated. Acting so unscrupulously right from the start, have you considered the possible consequences?”
Yang Kai grinned back meaningfully, “After being intolerably bullied, did Senior expect me to simply stand back and bear it?”
Seeing the sharp look in Yang Kai’s eyes, Fei Zhi Tu failed to stifle his laughter and nodded, “If you could bear it, then you wouldn’t be you.”
Last time, Yang Kai had made a mess in Heavenly Fate City despite being surrounded by eight Origin Returning Realm masters and had even killed one of them that belonged to the Xie Family. Fei Zhi Tu had long known that Yang Kai was not one to settle things peacefully, but he still warned lightly, “I heard that the people from Sea Heart Sect are now staying at the Xie Family’s residence and the relationship between the two forces seems to be quite good.”
Yang Kai narrowed his eyes. A cupped his fists said, “Many thanks for Senior’s reminder.”
“En, in addition, there seems to be another force staying in the Xie Family called Flowing Cloud Valley. In any case, you should be careful.”
“Flowing Cloud Valley?” Yang Kai frowned, his expression changing slightly.
“What, don’t tell me there’s some kind of grudge between you and that Flowing Cloud Valley too?” Fei Zhi Tu was stunned.
Yang Kai just laughed.
Seeing him acknowledge it, Fei Zhi Tu was speechless and quickly waved his hand, “It’s fine, young people should be energetic, so raising a big fuss is only natural. If it gets to be too much of a problem just come to my Heavenly Fate City, that Flowing Cloud Valley won’t be able to stir up anything here.”
“Junior will remember,” Yang Kai gently nodded.
Fei Zhi Tu believed that Flowing Cloud Valley was just a trivial little force, but Yang Kai was actually most concerned about it simply because that Lu Ye came from Flowing Cloud Valley! Yang Kai really didn’t know what he had done to offend Lu Ye to the point where the latter wanted to put him to death back in the Flowing Flame Sand Field, and although Yang Kai successfully cut off one of Lu Ye’s arms during that conflict, the latter has still managed to escape.
At that time, Yang Kai felt that Lu Ye was somewhat unusual, even an elite like Wei Gu Chang might not be his opponent.
Facing Lu Ye, Yang Kai felt no less pressure than when facing that young man named Leng Qing from Star Emperor Mountain. Both of them could pose a great threat to him, something not possible for Qu Chang Feng or Fang Tian Zhong.
Flowing Cloud Valley was actually able to cultivate such a disciple, so even if they themselves weren’t too powerful a force, Yang Kai didn’t dare look down on them. As such, he had especially collected information on Flowing Cloud Valley since then and after hearing Fei Zhi Tu mentioned them, Yang Kai’s first thoughts were naturally about Lu Ye.
Now that several years had passed, it was impossible for Yang Kai to tell how much Lu Ye’s cultivation had advanced. If he were to fight him again, it wasn’t certain who would emerge the victor, but Yang Kai wasn’t afraid. After all, his own strength was also much higher than when he first fought Lu Ye and he had obtained many more methods with which to confront powerful enemies.
Yang Kai’s conversation with Fei Zhi Tu ended here, but Yan Pei seemed to be waiting to jump in and quickly said, “Little Friend Yang being able to participate in my Treasure Trove Pavilion’s auction is a great blessing.”
“Haha, Senior is too polite. It is this Junior’s honour to be able to participate in this auction,” Yang Kai replied humbly.
Yan Pei maintained an affable smile as he lowered his voice to ask, “Does little friend perhaps have anything he would like to auction today? Although the auctioned items have already been determined, if little friend has something to contribute, this old master is willing to make an exception. This is not difficult for this old master.”
“Senior must be joking. The good things accumulated by my Honoured Master were all taken out many years ago for the previous auction, there’s really nothing left worth contributing,” Yang Kai said casually. In any case, he had always used this non-existent master to deflect trouble and no one as of yet had been able to determine whether such a powerful master really lived on Dragon Cave Mountain, so speaking nonsense here wasn’t a burden for Yang Kai in the slightest.
“Is that so…” Yan Pei showed a disappointed look, suddenly lowering his voice further and whispering again, “How about this old master reduces the commission by fifty percent again?”
“I truly have nothing to contribute!” Yang Kai replied bitterly.
“Oh, seems this old master was being too forceful. En, little friend, since you’ve arrived then you shouldn’t have to stand around outside. Go inside and rest for a moment, the auction will begin in an hour!” Yan Pei reluctantly relented and allowed Yang Kai’s group to pass.
Yang Kai cupped his fists once more before he and Yang Yan were led inside by Qing’er.
Like the last time he was here, the hall of this grand building was already full of cultivators here to participate in the auction. Even if there were occasionally a few free positions, the number wasn’t high and in the centre of the auction hall was a large round raised platform. It was from this stage that Treasure Trove Pavilion presided over its auction. The walls were all inlaid with glowing stones that spotlighted the high centre platform.
“Two Seniors, please wait a moment,” The young girl named Qing’er asked after walking inside before she moved to a nearby spot and discussed something with another Treasure Trove Pavilion cultivator.
A short time later, she returned with a smile and respectfully handed Yang Kai a wooden token, “This is the control token for two Senior’s private room.”
Yang Kai accepted this token, glanced down at it, and found it was inscribed with the characters ‘B-13’.
After having participated in such an auction before, Yang Kai was familiar with this type of token and knew that it was for room B-13.
However, this was an interesting coincidence. The last time he participated in the auction here, he had been seated in room C-13. But today, he was assigned to room B-13. Although the number had not changed, the grade increased a level.
Last time, it was because of Qian Tong that he could obtain a private room, but this time it was not due to anyone else’s prestige, it was entirely due to Dragon Cave Mountain’s reputation.
Considering all this, Yang Kai curled his lips slightly before storing away this token and indicating to Qing’er to lead the way.
Shortly after, Yang Kai and Yang Yan were seated in the room B-13 and Qing’er was attentively serving them tea. There was no one else in the box except for the three of them.
Motioning to the spirit fruits arranged on the table, Qing’er explained, “These are Sparrow Spirit Fruits which were specially collected by the pavilion for this auction. They are quite sweet and can help purify one’s Saint Qi. Please feel free to try them.”
Yang Kai nodded lightly, picked up one of the fruits, and stuffed it into his mouth, nodding with satisfaction a moment later.
Seeing his pleased expression, Qing’er became slightly emboldened and continued, “The auction will not start for another hour. If two Seniors would like, I can arrange for some dancers to entertain you.”
“Oh? Is your Treasure Trove Pavilion’s hospitality so thorough?” Yang Yan asked in surprise.
Qing’er smiled, “Not every guest receives such treatment, only those in Block B and above.”
Yang Yan swept her eyes over Qing’er and smiled tenderly, “It’s not necessary to call anyone else, from your supple waist and slender legs, it’s obvious you’re also versed in such forms of entertainment, why not show us how you dance?”
“Me?” The girl blushed as she timidly shot Yang Kai a glance. Although her cultivation and status weren’t high, she could tell that of these two, Yang Kai was the lead, so naturally, she sought his approval first.
“Don’t cause trouble!” Yang Kai glared over at Yang Yan before saying to the young girl, “She’s just joking with you, you don’t have to take it seriously.”
“Yes,” Qing’er whispered softly, both happiness and disappointment flashing across her eyes.
Fortunately, these two Honoured Guests she was assigned to seemed easy going. Although the woman seemed to like to tease her, there was no malicious intent behind her actions while the man was obviously an upright person so she didn’t have to worry about being put in an awkward position. What disappointed Qing’er was that she didn’t have a chance to perform here.
Yang Kai saw the look on her face and could guess what she was thinking, so he lightly said, “We have no special requirements. You can just tend to your own matters for now. After the auction is over, there will be plenty of benefits for you.”
Qing’er heard this and smiled very happily, “Many thanks, Senior.”
Seemingly having figured out the temperaments of these two Honoured Guests, Qing’er withdrew a few steps and remained silent, only taking the initiative to speak or act if Yang Kai or Yang Yan called upon her.
Soon after, Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er came over to chat with Yang Kai.
It wasn’t surprising that these two knew which room he was in as all they needed to do was ask Yan Pei.
These two only left just as the auction was preparing to start.
