Chapter 8: Auction (Part 1)

Salt the Monster’s eyes were filled with hatred as he glared coldly at Guo Shier and the others. Nan You also stopped and immediately became cautious, knowing full well that in Daqian Fort, Salt the Monster would never dare to attack.
Guo Shier paused for a moment, flashed a slight smile, and turned around, saying, “I didn’t expect this guy to be here too. Let’s go.” He despised Salt the Monster deeply—this man would attack without asking questions. If it weren’t for the old hero, he might not have escaped alive.
Nan You’s gaze was cold; he also loathed Salt the Monster greatly. He said indifferently, “That guy killed several great sage masters from the Guhe Ming family. Hmph, we’ll face trouble soon. He Da Niao will definitely inform his family after escaping.”
Guo Shier replied, “Ignore him. That scum… will suffer bad luck.”
Nan You said, “I wonder if there’s an auction today. Let’s go ask at the auction hall—it’s not held every day.”
On a small square, many professionals stood, some of them altar masters along with their great sage masters. Guo Shier said, “There are quite a few altar masters. Why haven’t they gone in?” The auction hall was not far away, and there even was a special teleportation talisman gate.
Nan You said, “The Gufu Gate hasn’t opened yet.” He added, “Wait a moment; I’ll go register.” Seeing that Guo Shier seemed reluctant to take charge, he decided to do it himself. After all, he was also an expert in the Virtual Form Altar and could participate in high-level auctions.
A moment later, Nan You returned with a talisman card and said with a smile, “It’s done. The Gufu Gate will open soon. The auction is scheduled for the day after tomorrow, so we still have time to prepare.”
An altar master could bring three great sage masters, so as long as Nan You got the talisman card, it would be fine.
Suddenly, murmurs arose. Three people came from outside, and many altar masters showed expressions of reverence. When the three arrived at the Gufu Gate, several great sage masters guarding it respectfully opened the gate and invited them in.
Guo Shier whispered, “Who are they? Why do they carry such grandeur?”
The three were a thin middle-aged man, an old woman leaning on a cane, and an old man with a wrinkled face.
Nan You said, “That middle-aged man is Lord Fahua. The old woman is Mo Si Du. The old man’s name is He Da Ming. Oh, he’s an elder of the Guhe Ming family. He Da Niao is his younger clan member. Hmm, maybe he’s reinforcements sent by He Da Niao?”
Guo Shier replied, “Reinforcements for He Da Niao? We saw Salt the Monster just now, but not He Da Niao. I wonder if he’s come to Daqian Fort.”

Then another young man came, followed by six great saints. He walked up to the Ancient Talisman Gate with an indifferent expression. The several great saints guarding the gate bowed respectfully and invited him to enter with his people.

Guo Shier didn’t hold back and said, “Damn, bringing six great saints—who is this?”

Nanyou shook his head and said, “I don’t know this person…”

A great saint standing not far away smiled and said, “That’s the ancestor of the Blood Clan, a master of the fifth-tier altar, Yuan Kaocheng.”

Guo Shier smiled and nodded at him.

The man probably thought Guo Shier was a high-ranking great saint like himself, so without any reservations, he smiled, nodded, took a few steps forward, and said, “Ming family, high-ranking great saint, Ming Wu.”

Guo Shier replied, “Gu Mi Luo family, high-ranking great saint, Guo Shier.”

Nanyou thought to himself, “You’re pretending! Keep pretending! You have the strength to defeat a master of the second-tier altar, yet you claim to be a high-ranking great saint—just keep pretending!”

Ming Wu was very talkative. He said, “Brother Guo, I heard there are quite a few good items at this auction, hehe.”

Guo Shier asked, “Do you come here often, Brother Ming?”

Ming Wu smiled and said, “I reside in Da Qian Fort. I have an access token for the auction hall, so I come here whenever I’m free. Da Qian Fort is a boring place; the auction hall is the most fun place. It’s great for passing time here.”

A few more altar masters with impressive presence entered ahead.

Ming Wu said, “We can enter the auction hall now.”

Nanyou gave a signal, and they followed the crowd into the Ancient Talisman Gate.

Guo Shier took a look and realized it was a fixed two-way teleportation gate. No matter who entered, they had to exit through this gate, and his own gate couldn’t be used. Of course, the auction hall must have other dedicated gates; otherwise, if this Ancient Talisman Gate were damaged, everyone would be trapped inside.

Coming out of the gate led to a small room, after which everyone entered a passage and soon arrived at a semi-circular venue. The venue wasn’t large, with about three hundred seats. Based on the access tokens, one could tell where their seats were.

Nanyou said, “Shier, if you want to participate in the auction, it’s best to deposit some materials as collateral with them first. That way, you can join at any time when an auction is held.”

Guo Shier nodded, took out a talisman bag, and handed it to Eagle Demon, saying, “Uncle, go handle it.”

Nanyou handed the auction access token, the same one used for entry, to Eagle Demon and said, “Use this token to register.”

Eagle Demon took the talisman bag and the token and asked, “What’s this?”

Guo Shier smiled and said, “It’s a refined star. Take it for appraisal first. If possible, include it in the auction.”
Nan You was stunned. He didn’t expect Guo Shier to refine the star so quickly. He said, “That’s right. Refined stars are very precious. If one can refine a multicolored star, its value will be even higher.”
Guo Shier replied, “Yes, exactly—a multicolored star.”
Nan You thought to himself that this guy was insane. Stars were hard to refine. In the Eight Paths World, stars weren’t rare, but refining them was extremely difficult. Multicolored stars rarely formed naturally. If one could refine one, it could be sold at a high price. Nan You was well aware that the stars he could refine at most were dual-colored, not even reaching triple-color, let alone multicolored.
“Shier, could you refine some multicolored stars for me? Hehe, just two pieces will do. I want to use them to refine my altar.”
Guo Shier nodded and said, “No problem. I still have quite a few multicolored stars here.”
Nan You showed delight and said, “Then thank you very much.”
Guo Shier replied, “You’re welcome.”
A moment later, Eagle Demon returned. He handed the talisman in his hand to Nan You and said, “It’s mortgaged. The value is two million gold talismans.”
Guo Shier wasn’t very interested in gold talismans. These gold talismans were specific here, and generally, no professionals would exchange so many of them. Gold talismans were just a measurement standard used to exchange for materials they were interested in.
Nan You was shocked and said, “Uh, multicolored stars are so expensive? Two million gold talismans is a lot. Can’t I overdraft?”
Eagle Demon replied, “You can overdraft by half, so that’s four million. If you exceed that, you’ll need to mortgage more.”
A water-blue glow flashed, and a beautiful woman appeared on the auction stage. She was actually an expert in the Virtual Form Altar. With a smiling face, she wore a water-blue long dress and had long hair that reached her waist. She said, “Distinguished guests, welcome to the Da Qian Fort Auction Hall.”
The once noisy auction hall immediately fell silent.
Nan You said, “It’s an expert from the Ancient Sages Family who’s hosting.”
Guo Shier asked curiously, “Who is she?” Female professionals were rare. Aside from having seen some female professionals from the Gu Dai Family, there were few female professionals in other families, especially expert women at the level of Virtual Form Altar or above.
Nan You said in a very low voice, as if afraid others would hear, “Xian Xuan, known as Mother Xuan. She’s a ruthless woman.”
Guo Shier was confused and asked, “Ruthless?”

Nan You nodded and said, “Mm, she’s ruthless in killing—many great masters turn weak at the knees when they see her.”
Guo Shier said, “So powerful…”
Nan You replied, “Mm, very powerful. She’s a bit like you in that she likes to hide her strength. She has the ability to challenge experts at the Solid Form Altar, but she still hasn’t advanced. Hehe, if you underestimate her, you’ll suffer heavy losses.”
After the auction began, the handsome old man asked Guo Shier to release the Ancient Ink Lotus, shrinking it to the size of a sesame seed and hiding it in his hair. This way, the handsome old man could see the items up for auction and communicate with Guo Shier to decide which ones to bid on. In this regard, the handsome old man was far more skilled than Guo Shier.
Guo Shier couldn’t see any sign of Xian Xuan being cruel or ruthless at all. He only found her warm and gentle, speaking softly and sweetly, with a slightly coquettish tone that was pleasant to hear. Coupled with her beautiful appearance, she didn’t resemble the female demon mentioned by Nan You at all.
“…A set of Dongting Thunder Talismans, seventy-six in total. They can be used to enhance the altar or form a separate thunder talisman array… Starting bid: thirty thousand Gold Talisman Coins… Auction begins now!”
Guo Shier was puzzled. “Only thirty thousand Gold Talisman Coins? That can’t be right—how can it be so cheap?”
Nan You said, “The Gold Talisman Coins here don’t represent the price on the outside continents. Even if you had Gold Talisman Coins, they wouldn’t be useful. Only those exchanged and pledged with materials here can be used. So these Gold Talisman Coins are quite valuable. Of course, no one would take them to the outside continents because… they’re useless there.”
Guo Shier immediately understood that the Gold Talisman Coins here were just a unit of measurement used locally.
The Eagle Demon couldn’t help but shake his head. “What a hassle.”
Guo Shier’s soul trembled slightly as he asked, “Handsome old man, what do you think of this set of Dongting Thunder Talismans? Is it worth buying?”
The handsome old man dismissed it with disdain. “It’s just ordinary stuff. Ignore it.” With his high vision and sophisticated skills, he saw no value in this set of talismans.
Nan You, however, was quite interested. He said, “There are actually Dongting Thunder Talismans… Quite good talismans. They must have been crafted by an expert at the altar. If I could get them, the quality of the altar could improve a bit, and it could also resist lightning attacks. Hmm, thirty thousand… That’s expensive…” While he hesitated, someone else already bid thirty-three thousand.
Guo Shier said, “You like it? Then bid for it!”
Nan You replied, “It’s too expensive! I can’t afford it.”
Guo Shier was confused. “How is that possible? You’re an expert at the altar!” In his mind, once one reached the level of an altar expert, Gold Talisman Coins wouldn’t be a problem at all.

Nan You smiled bitterly and said, “This is the gold token money of Daqian Fort, not from outside. To get the gold token money of Daqian Fort, you need to pledge something.”
Guo Shier waved his hand and said, “It’s fine. I have… plenty here. Use it however you want!”