Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 170 – Auction Hall, Potential Fruit?

After making up his mind, Qing Shui went directly to rent a horse carriage at the foot of the mountain. He asked to head towards the biggest auction hall in the country.

Close to noon, Qing Shui was already standing in front of the auction hall known as the Country Auction Hall. In the sunlight, the golden words of the name on the signboard were piercing to the eye. It was obvious that the words were written by some famous calligrapher.

The Country Auction Hall was located in the center of the prosperous Cang Lang Country. It was a prime location at the intersection of the two biggest roads of the country. Without any connections or abilities, there would be no way for anyone to get their hands on such a rare location.

To be able to have the word country on the signboard, the auction hall was definitely affiliated with powers on par with the Skysword Sect or even the Skysword Sect itself!

The violet and solemn auction hall had taken up a lot of land space. There was a huge violet carving of a soaring dragon and a dancing phoenix on the roof. The carving was very lifelike and gave a strong impression of wealth and power.

In front of the wide and violet crystal door, there were many stagnant luxurious horse carriages. Qing Shui looked at the endless stream of people entering and exiting. “Is it free for all to enter and exit?”

“Sir, it would cost 10 taels of silver to enter.”

There were two rows of ladies with slender legs and delicate figures by the door. The most beautiful lady on the far end smiled and said to Qing Shui.

“A melodious voice, a sweet smile, and an amiable attitude. What a professional!” Qing Shui thought to himself.

“I need to pay just to enter?”

“This is to restrict the number of people entering and to stop those sneaky pickpocketers!” The female usher said with her smile unfaltering.

Qing Shui saw that the men who entered had willingly forked over 10 taels of silver or even a silver note of 100 taels into the ushers’ tall peaks. There was an occasional roar of loud laughter from the men.

It was how this world was. These situations were very common and Qing Shui had already seen a lot of them when he was in Hundred Miles City.

There were no less than 40 young and beautiful ladies in two rows. Qing Shui gave it some thought, and decided that he could not let the 10 taels of silver go to waste. He also smiled and put 10 taels of silver into the peaks of this considerably pretty lady.

While he was at it, he snuck a few grabs. It was warm, tender, and had quite good elasticity to it. The lady’s smile still did not change as Qing Shui went through the violet crystal door.

With this human traffic, those who could afford to bid did not care about the 10 taels of silver. Moreover, there were many who easily forked over 100 taels. Just with the income from the entrance fees, Country Auction Hall’s profits were able to increase quite significantly.

There was a big hall that appeared right after entering through the violet crystal door. It was stunningly wide and while it was noisy outside, the interior was very quiet. When Qing Shui was outside, he had seen that the Country Auction Hall had two rounds of daily auctions. One was in the morning and the other was in the afternoon. Each round lasted about 3 hours.

The auction was a free-for-all competition. There were 3 levels of VIP areas above the auction hall, which costed another 1000 taels of silver!

“Sir, do you need the VIP area?”

When Qing Shui entered, a lady wearing the sexy uniform of the auction hall smiled and asked him. The standard of this lady was obviously much higher than the ushers outside. Most importantly, these ladies could accompany the customers to the independent VIP room upstairs. During the period of the auction, the customer could do as he wished to the lady.

Qing Shui had the urge to play with this intelligent-looking lady when he saw that she was really beautiful. On the other hand, she had a quiet charm that made one hard to believe that she was in this line.

The black uniform hugged the sexy and well-embodied figure tightly, displaying the curves so clearly that it made one desperate. When he thought of the fact that she would have to go through many men or even satisfy some with unique preferences, he decided to dash the thoughts.

“Sorry, I’m a poor bloke without any money.”

Qing Shui’s words made those around him speechless. Why was there a need to proclaim that you have no money? Could you not just say that you have no need for it? A few other ladies, including the one in uniform, all stared at Qing Shui in surprise.

“If that’s the case, I’m sorry to have troubled you. Please follow me to take a seat this way.” The lady recovered her professional smile and spoke to Qing Shui.

It was noon and there was still another hour before the auction for the afternoon would start. The hall was already almost full, and there were also shadows flickering upstairs. The higher up VIP area was out of sight.

“Sir, please take a seat here.”

Qing Shui saw the lady twisting her nice figure as she welcomed a fat middle-aged man and quickly headed upstairs with him. Qing Shui did not feel anything. There were many beauties across the land of the nine continents, and there were quite a number who worked in this line. Therefore, he did not feel that it was a pity. Everyone’s values were different from their aspirations, just like how there were many top grade beauties at the Night Fragrance Court.

Qing Shui saw that those with wealth and power would all bring a beauty upstairs, but there were still many in the hall. After all, 1000 taels of silver was not a small sum.

The rich sought only the image. They did not lack women by their side. Moreover, there were also those who seemed so fat that it made one doubt whether their bottom half would be able to be seen.

The front of the hall was low while the back was high. No matter where a person was, he would be able to see the large auction stage clearly from the front!

It was soon time for the auction to start.

The auctioneer and his assistant both seemed to be middle-aged with a poised look and wore clothes that made them appear capable and experienced. When they went up, they smiled, greeted the people below, and immediately announced the start of the auction.

The first item on auction was an Ocean Silver Sword which was made from Ocean Silver. It had the ability to guard against poison, but its offense was mediocre. It would be a useful item to bring along to places with miasma or low levels of poison.

The auctioneer casually introduced the sword before he said, “The starting bid is 1000 taels of silver and each increment must not be lower than 50 taels.”

It was only after a very long time that “1050 taels!” was heard.

After that, no one else spoke out.

There were Poison Avoidance Pill in the world of the nine continents that were cheap and easy to carry. Therefore, this Ocean Silver Sword had a higher value as a collector’s item.

Qing Shui did not expect that it was so easily auctioned off. He didn’t have much interest in it. He was more interested in medicinal herbs and weird items. He did not wish to waste his money. After all, he did not bring much money with him.

The second item was the cub of a desolate beast, a Grade 1 Single-Horned Silver Wolf!

What surprised Qing Shui was that the bids shot up to 350,000 taels very quickly.

Qing Shui did not know that the cubs of demonic beasts, ferocious beasts, and desolate beasts were the most expensive. After all, it was easier to tame the younger ones and the chances of them turning their backs on you would be much lower as well.

The small climax from the second item increased the excitement of the people by quite a lot. The cub of the Single-Horned Silver Wolf was won by someone from the 3rd floor. It was very common, and it was not the first time such a thing happened. As a result, there were only helpless sighs echoing.

The next few items were mostly weapons or equipments, and those that were useful were bidded off at high prices. However, nothing compared to the Single-Horned Silver Wolf. Qing Shui did not have many requirements for weapons. Moreover, those did not seem to be divine weapons.

Just when Qing Shui was feeling depressed, he heard the auctioneer called out, “We are now auctioning the 100th item. The client had said that this could be a Potential Fruit, but the actual effects are unknown. The client had said that the one who eats the fruit would have to bear their own consequences. The starting bid is 10,000 taels of silver, and each increment cannot be lower than 500 taels.”

After the auctioneer announced for them to start, there was a moment of silence before people started to discuss amongst themselves!

“They’re crazy to auction something unknown. They’re even starting the bid at such a high price despite that one has to bear his own consequences from taking it.”

“Look at it, could it be poisonous?”

“12,000 taels!”

A voice shouted out just when the two people finished their words.

“13,000 taels!”

When Qing Shui heard the words Potential Fruit, he first fell into a daze before he rejoiced in excitement. In the Western Fantasy, the Potential Fruit could raise one’s attributes. Each person could take 100 of them at most. It was just that he was not sure what the effects of the Potential Fruit were. Qing Shui looked at the small fruit that was the size of a peach and was black as ink on the auction stage. It made one feel hesitant as it appeared evil-like.

The Potential Fruit was a rare occurrence that one could only come across by luck. No matter what, he wanted to get his hands on it. He did not expect the price to be raised to 30,000 taels of silver in just a short moment.