The group of youths followed by the middle-aged man and the young woman were guided to a private room on the third floor.

“Uncle Hong, who were those people?” The youth named Guo asked the middle-aged man. He still had a lingering fear of the small harmless looking snow fox.

“I don’t know, I have never seen them before. Guo Li, it would be wise for you to judge people better. Next time, you may not be so lucky.”

“I understand Uncle Hong.” Guo Li replied but in truth he still did not understand what he needed to be careful of. He just thought that he was rather unlucky.

The young woman named Meng An did not say a word. In fact, she and the two young girls were from Misty Cloud Valley and were merely giving face to Pill God Sect by coming out for a stroll with the four youngsters. The middle-aged man was a deacon sent by Pill God Sect. Uncle Hong and herself were hiding behind the group to protect them and would only come out when needed.

“That fox is not a simple magical beast. It should have been in human form since it had reached Soul Formation stage. It is possible that it has a high-grade bloodline.” Uncle Hong pondered thoughtlessly as the group sat down.

“Ah! Should we inform the elders? Such a beast is valuable to our Pill God Sect!” Guo Li yelled out.

“Hmph, I don’t know for sure. It isn’t worth the trouble to make a potential enemy based on this. What if word got out about this? Our Pill God Sect cannot bully others for no reason!”

***

Shen and Long Xue’er walked down the street after having left Green Bamboo Manor.

“Ahh, my wine!” Shen groaned. He truly has taken a liking for wine ever since he had a taste in the forest.

“Big Brother Shen, we could just go buy some from a shop. They won’t have immortal wines like my father’s in this city but you can definitely buy spirit wines.” Xue’er said with a laugh. The snow fox has been placed in the pet bag since she had wanted to sleep.

“Really? Let’s go Xue’er!” Shen’s face lit up and hurried Xue’er.

The couple changed direction and went towards a wine shop.

For the next two days, they merely strolled various shops and tried different restaurants. At night, Xue’er would still sleep in the same bed and would wake up clinging to Shen each morning.

Shen had made progress in cooking with Xue’er guidance and could make edible dishes.

***

The front of the Soaring Phoenix Auction House was full of people dressed in different attires entering the building. There were many beautiful women attendants dressed in the matching gold uniforms welcoming and leading people inside.

When Shen and Xue’er arrived, it was close to noon. The couple was lead to a VIP booth after having shown their token they received from Manager Feng.

The VIP booth was decorated with soft carpet and luxurious furniture. There was a table with jugs of wine and fruits laid out on top.

A large glass window enabled the inhabitants to view the full stage. The room was built to block Divine Sense from entering. However, the user could use their Divine Sense while inside the room.

Shortly after Shen and Xue’er took their seats, Manager Feng came out accompanied by a beautiful attendant onto the stage.

“Ahem, ahem. Ladies and Gentlemen!”

He did not speak loudly but his voice reached everywhere within the auction room.

“Thank you all for attending our Soaring Phoenix Auction House’s annual auction! This time is somewhat special due to the upcoming competition, but we still have many treasures that will surprise you!

Now without further ado, let us start the auction!”

The crowd cheered upon the speech. As Manager Feng continued, a table with various sized boxes on it was carried out onto the stage.

“The first item for today is a top-grade magic tool. It was refined using tri-coloured steel. The price starts at 100,000 low-grade spirit stones!”

The attendant has opened a long box and showed the contents to the audience. The sword inside glowed in three different shades.

“110,000.”

“130,000”

…

…

“200,000!”

“Oh, that’s a disciple from Celestial Sword Peak.”

“Yeah, whoever wants the sword will have to give face to Celestial Sword Peak.”

Murmurs could be heard upon the latest bid. The sword was taken at 200,000 low-grade spirit stones which was quite low for a top-grade magic tool.

A few different top-grade magic tools were auctioned afterwards. They ranged from swords to spears and even claws. Xue’er’s sword was auctioned for 350,000 low-grade spirit stones. An attendant had brought a low-grade bag of holding containing the spirit stones with the fee already taken to the VIP booth.

Although, it was not much compared to their total wealth, Xue’er was happy for having sold an item.

Shen just observed the auction while he drank his wine.

“Ladies and Gentlemen! We now have two items that all those juniors have been waiting for!”

The attendant took out a small inner shirt that shined with a green glow.

“The first is a top-grade magic tool armour refined using Jade Worm’s silk! I’m sure I don’t have to inform it’s worth to you all! We have two identical armours refined by the same person! The price starts at 500,000 low-grade spirit stones!”

“1,000,000!” A youth wearing the Pill God Sect uniform called out. If Shen were to look, he would have seen Guo Li that he had a conflict with in Green Bamboo Manor.

“1,200,000! Guo Li, this armour is mine!” Another youth dressed in white yelled out. This youth had a badge hanging from his waist that represented a mighty mountain.

“Looks like Guo Li from Pill God Sect and Haung Yan from Five Element Mountain are fighting for it, we normal cultivators will never get a chance.” A rogue cultivator sighed.

It was truly difficult for a cultivator without any background to survive in this harsh world.

“1,500,000.” A soft ethereal voice called out.

“Oh, Misty Cloud Valley has decided to compete.”

The surroundings got even more noisy. The three youths were all from famous super sects and were outstanding juniors that were attending the competition.

“1,800,000!” Guo Li once again called out.

…

…

“2,600,000!”

The armour was finally won for a large sum by Haung Yan. The second armour was won for a larger value of 3,200,000 by a Misty Cloud Valley junior.

“This is not as fun as I thought it would be.” Shen commented.

“Hehe, Big Brother Shen, were you expecting a fight over some treasure?” Xue’er asked with a giggle.

“The Soaring Phoenix Auction House is owned by the Feng Clan. They are a first class influence. Even the super sects have to give them some face.” Xue’er further explained to the bored looking Shen.

“We now have some spirit pills coming up for auction. Due to the competition, we will be concentrating on pills useful for Foundation stage cultivators.

The first pill is a spirit gathering pill refined by a senior from Pill God Sect. Its quality is guaranteed! There are 10 pills per bottle and we are auctioning a total of 10 bottles.” Manager Feng gave an introduction on the next item.

The attendant brought out a jade bottle and opened it. A waft of spiritual power spread out and one felt refreshed just from the smell.

“The first bottle will start at 10,000 low-grade spirit stones.”

“15,000.”

“17,000!”

…

…

“27,000!”

No one from the Pill God Sect or even any of the five super sects had bid for the pills as this type of spirit pill was not rare to the outstanding juniors of those sects.

The auction continued for quite a while selling items aimed at the Foundation stage cultivators.

The auction had gone for around six hours before Manager Feng announced.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, we will be having a break for two hours. We have some mysterious treasures coming up in the auction so please look forward to it!”

Shen and Xue’er left their VIP booth to the streets outside deciding to stretch their legs during the break.