The succeeding three days were the liveliest the three divisions had been in years, if not decades. The internal auctions had sparked a buzz among the upper echelons of cultivator society, a thrum of cautious excitement echoing out despite an attempt to maintain secrecy pertaining to the matter. From the reports Yao Shen had received from his third disciple, Xiaoli, who had his own methods of sourcing knowledge, it was as if the usually calm and tranquil Inner Sect had woken up from a long slumber— prominent Elders that were thought to be in closed door cultivation could be seen brusquely walking from one residence to the next while Inner Sect disciples scurried around with rather flustered expressions, carrying sealed messages without being aware of their contents.

The venerable Elder Han, the only Elder that had been present at Yao Shen’s ascension to Soul Emperor, was the recipient of one such sealed scroll. He, as an Elder of the Sky Division, was naturally informed about the upcoming auction and understood its significance. However, his own cultivation had been partially funded by the Zhu Family and although he had paid off his debts not longer reaching the Nascent Soul stage, that also meant that he was one of the poorest Elders when it came to his assets.

Even the blade he used was on loan from the Sky Division’s treasury, a broad longsword artifact that did not mesh well with his fighting style or his domain, which was primarily centered around the Major Dao of the Wind, along with a few Minor Dao’s blended in to serve auxiliary purposes. After all, there was a reason why the Zhu Family had chosen to invest in his future growth, into the cultivator he would become in the future.

As a cultivator, he was keenly aware of his own shortcomings— where Yao Shen had lacked talent, Elder Han’s demeanor was not the most suited to a cultivator’s lifestyle. In his youth, he had not known the importance of carving his own path, instead choosing to accept the Zhu Family’s help at the first sign of hitting a roadblock. That had made his path smoother than most cultivators, but it had also made him weak, it had made him reliant and even beholden to the Zhu Family’s interests until he paid his debts off.

He still remembered the first time he stepped into the Zhu Family’s residence, the ostentatious displays and excessively lavish ornaments leaving him almost breathless, the opulence a far cry from his humble outer sect quarters. That, however, was not his most vivid memory of the Zhu Family’s Estate— he recalled stepping into Meili Zhu’s chambers for the first time as if it were yesterday, the Matriarch of the Zhu family merely an early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator back then. But his gaze went not to the beautiful cultivator, but the exquisite blade that was displayed upon a wooden stand, placed behind her chair.

“Do you like it?” The cunning woman had asked. “If you cultivate hard and listen to your elders, perhaps that blade will be yours one day,” she had whispered the sweet words of temptation into his ears.

The blade had an imposing presence that demanded his attention and for a long moment, he was mesmerized. It’s single, curved silver edge stretched across its patterned metallic body, the forging technique employed in crafting the blade resembling a flowing tide crashing against the coast, in all its chaotic glory.

In hindsight, if he had known more about cultivator society, Elder Han would have known that such an effect could only have been created by a Nascent Soul level blade— one that would definitely not be stored so lackadaisically. It had been bait that Meili Zhu had specifically tailored for him, knowing his enthusiasm for swords.

A few years ago he’d offered to purchase it from the Zhu Family. It was merely an Early Nascent Soul Stage artifact, definitely valuable to someone like Elder Han but ir was only one of many for the Zhu Family. The artifact had been sitting unused in a storage room for decades now, but… Meili Zhu had refused to sell it.

Or rather, she had refused to take resources in exchange for the blade.

Instead, she wanted a few favours from him. Elder Han had already experienced the dull vistas and overcast skies that road led down to first hand, the feeling of being indebted to one as scheming as Meili Zhu was akin to being trapped in the web of a Slavarn, a spiritual beast with six thin, jointed appendages for legs, that was known for its ability to spin large swathes of fine webs coated in a natural immobilizing agent. Coming into contact with one swathe of webbing wouldn’t immediately render you immobile, but that was the terrifying part— once you stepped into a Slavarn’s territory, you no longer knew which direction to go in, the webbing too fine to be perceived by anything but the most acute of senses. To be trapped in its web without knowing how broad a net the unseen webbing had cast, to have the taste in one’s mouth turn into bitter ash and to witness one’s touch render the world into greyscale.

That was how they had made him feel. However, without him even realizing, the subconscious unease and respect associated with the Zhu Family had begun to fade since Yao Shen’s meteoric rise. On the scale of the Modern Sect, they were just one legacy family out of dozens. The terrifying Matriarch of the Zhu Family no longer looked so intimidating when contrasted with the veritable monster that Yao Shen was. Slowly, but surely, Elder Han was stepping out of the shadow Meili Zhu and the Zhu Family had cast upon him, reclaiming the person that he once was.

Which was why, when he unfurled the scroll delivered to him by a Guardian, his reaction was one of anger instead of pleasant surprise.

Humiliation, even.

The Nascent Soul Blade Zhenyue, the blade that Elder Han had repeatedly requested to purchase for a generous sum of Nascent Soul grade Spiritual Ore along with precious Spiritual plants and beast byproducts that he had amassed over the years, only to be unceremoniously refused….. Now, the Zhu Family wanted to sell it to him, for seven tenths of the spiritual ore he’d originally offered.

How arrogant!

Arrogant it was… but the Zhu Family knew him well. They knew how possessive he was of his wealth, as one who had to go to such great lengths to obtain it. Patriarch Zhou Hui had set the auction’s bidding to be solely limited to Nascent Soul Spiritual Ore of any purity, the defacto currency of the cultivator world. A resource constantly being utilized by Elders, the Sect Formations, rearing Spiritual Plants and Natural Treasures… making it hard to procure on a short-notice.

If Elder Han bought Zhenyue now, he would be signing away whatever negligible chance he had at purchasing shares in the auction. But he didn’t care much for them to begin with— sacrificing the majority of his wealth for one share would be incredibly frivolous.

Normally, Elder Han would have accepted the offer, mayhaps even been grateful for it.

Now though, the illusion was broken. The Zhu Family had financed his cultivation, true. They had given him cultivation resources in the form of elixirs, pills and spiritual ore but never the truly valuable secrets of the Zhu Family. They had given him enough to do well, but never to prosper. Elder Han’s role was to sit upon the Council of Elders and ratify what the Zhu Family wanted him to ratify, not to outshine the master.

‘Not anymore,’ Elder Han thought, as he scrawled down his reply on a fresh scroll, before handing it over to the disciple who was waiting outside his residence.

He had offered them five tenths of the original offer he’d made years ago, further negotiating down for another two tenths. That was, atleast what he believed to be their bottom line.

It was a bold move. A little reckless. A response that met arrogance with arrogance.

It was very unlike Elder Han.

Yet, why did it feel so fitting?

Why did it feel like breaking free from invisible webs that had been constricting him for so long?

The reply had come swiftly, and it had been about what Elder Han expected. In their strongly worded response, the Zhu Family wished to remind him of their contribution to his growth and how highly he was valued by them. They also ‘advised’ him to remember who his allies were and to not chase short-term gains while sacrificing the bigger picture.

All in all, it was a thinly-veiled threat that would have swayed Elder Han on most days.

Today however, was not most days.

A few hours later, Elder Han walked out of the Zhu Family residence with a sleek new blade sheathed in a scabbard that hung from his waist. He had a feeling though, that he had won back far more than a mere sword, even if it was one he’d dreamed of owning since his childhood years.

This was only one of the many instances of frenzied trades that took place between Elders across the three divisions.

There was always the possibility of collusion or bid manipulation, but ultimately Yao Shen wasn’t too concerned about that. At the end of the day, the ability to create a guaranteed revenue stream for their descendants that would exist long after they were gone was too much a draw for them to hold back. This was even before the possibility of the True Elves participating was factored in.

Rather anti-climatically, atleast for the disciples that were caught up in this wave of frenetic excitement, the internal auction was conducted behind closed doors.