It wasn’t long before Katerina won the bid for a pretty young woman’s company, tabling a total of 125,000 spirit stones. Since the woman would receive half of the finalized price, she would likely never have to worry about money again so long as she lived her life properly. According to Welson, most of the girls that had volunteered for the event were the daughters or family members of local guards and hired soldiers, or otherwise the lowest-ranking members of the CMA. Simply put, most members of the association would find shame in attempting to make money in such a way, as doing so was akin to openly displaying one’s lack of wealth.

Nolan had no interest in making any bids, especially since his friends were on their way over. He changed his mind, however, once a young woman with bright blue eyes and long, wavy blonde hair was introduced by the smartly-dressed host as being the daughter of a Haussian marquis whose family was in the midst of making their way to North Island with what remained of their retinue. Seeing how Welson was looking at the girl with wide, captivated eyes, he took the initiative to bid 200,000 spirit stones, up from the previous bid of 180,000.

Katerina gave him a light smile. “A taste for nobility, have we?”

“Hmm?” Nolan’s vision was a bit blurry, which told him that it was time to sober up a bit. “Ah, no. Just hooking it up for ol’ Welson here.” He momentarily took out a bottle of Divine Spirit Fountain water and poured a hefty amount in his empty cup before putting it away with fumbling hands. “Oh yeah,” he said after taking in a long, satisfying draught, “that’s better.”

“Nolan, you don’t have to…”

“All good, man. What’s a few hundred thousand spirit stones, anyway?”

“If you say so, then I’ll gladly accept your goodwill.”

A spark of interest in her eyes, Katerina pointed at his cup. “What’s that liquid? From what I can tell, it’s far from ordinary.”

Welson cleared his throat. “I know what you’re thinking, Katerina, but I’m afraid that when it comes to the CMA Nolan will only be doing business with the king’s faction.”

When did we agree on that? Nolan thought, keeping to himself as he saw no harm in the consul’s words.

“So he has a large supply of it, then?”

“Heh, I’ll have you know that he and I signed a contract of sale earlier today that involves nearly a billion spirit stones of investment on our end. If only you were a part of our faction, then we could include you in some of our dealings.”

“A billion…are you even allowed to authorize such a transaction?” Katerina seemed to reevaluate Nolan as she glanced at him with newfound respect. “If that’s really the case, then it seems you’ve found an important supplier at the perfect time. Surely you’ll be generously rewarded by Markham for authoring such a deal.” Raising her chalice in proposal of a toast, she said, “I look forward to your future success, Consul Welson.”

Nolan raised his drink as well, though perked up his ears as the bidding began to slow. “250,000!” After calling out another raise, he noticed a small, satisfied smile on Welson’s face after Katerina had addressed him with a bit more respect.

The more Nolan bid on the Haussian marquis’s elated-eyed daughter, the more attention people began to send his way. He already stuck out quite a bit considering that he and those in his company were sitting on a private set of artistically-decorated seats that were elevated several metres above the crowd. It also didn’t escape the notice of many that the city’s consul was sitting at his side.

He eventually ended up owing 290,000 spirit stones, which wasn’t too big of a deal now that there were several hundred million of said stones looming on his horizons. If he placed all of these into the Divine Spirit Fountain, the eventual return would total in the tens of billions. Thinking this, Nolan didn’t mind being a little bit loose with the wealth that he currently had.

"Nolan...thank you."

“No worries, man. Just consider it a return on these rings you gave me.”

“If that’s the case, then I’ll be sure to host you at my finest establishments once our business in Tallgate is settled.”

Katerina took the opportunity to hand Nolan a rectangular badge of carved jade, upon which was engraved the sigil of the CMA along with a feathered quill at the top right corner. “This is my personal emblem. If you ever find yourself in North Island, so long as you show this badge to a member of my faction then you’ll receive great benefits when conducting business within the realm of our influence.”

Nolan accepted it without ceremony. “Alright, well if you end up joining the king’s faction then I can definitely consider doing business with you.” After a moment’s thought, he took out a vial and filled it with Divine Spirit Fountain water from one of his bigger bottles, handing it over to her in return for the badge. “I’ve cast preservation arrayments on my entire supply, so the effects of this water should last for up to a year. Just that vial’s worth won’t do too much for cultivation, but it can cure all sorts of poisons and sicknesses, so I suggest keeping that as a personal stash. That’s just a drop in a well compared to what I’ve actually got, so keep that in mind when picking which team to side with.”

“Your kindness is much appreciated, Nolan.”

The beauty auction ended about an hour later, at which point Nolan collected his seating structure and went over to the centre of the quickly-dispersing crowd alongside Welson and Katerina, where the two merchants waited patiently to receive their pretty companions. Not wanting to wait any longer, Nolan handed Welson a bag with an appropriate amount of money inside and then excused himself from the line. With promises to meet up with them shortly after, he decided to stretch his legs and went for a walk along the breadth of the massive pool. He was surprised to see hundreds of people hanging out in the waist-deep waters, all of them wearing thin, satiny robes that evidently were the equivalent of bathing suits in this region. Some men wore half-trousers that were more similar to the bathing suits that he was familiar with, while others merely hiked up their pant legs and rested their feet in the water.

A bit bored now that he’d lost his buzz, Nolan drank some more golden spirits and then spotted a group of youths of similar age that were all idling around a floating table of luxuriously-varnished wood. Thinking of the prospect of swimming without having to worry about some nightmarish creature preying upon him from the depths, Nolan was suddenly in the mood for a dip.

Kicking off his boots, he stripped down to just his trousers and then altered them with a quick arrayment so that they were similar in appearance to what some of the other men were wearing. After doing so, he slid into the temperate waters and then leaned back against the pool’s marble edge with his arms resting on the wet minerals in a leisurely manner.

“This is nice,” he muttered to himself, “but it could be better.” He created a subtle barrier within a couple of metres of where he was relaxing, though only beneath the pool’s surface. After isolating a satisfactory amount of water, he heated it by discreetly summoning some flames around his feet courtesy of his secondary core cultivation method. Once he’d altered the temperature to an appropriate extent, he let his legs float in front of him while enjoying the heat of his imitation hot tub. “Nice,” he sighed, taking a sip of the sweet spirits, “this is why we’re here.”

He closed his eyes and emptied his mind for a few minutes, though he blinked them open a moment later when he sensed one of the nearby youths approaching him from the floating table.

“Excuse me, but would you mind telling me what arrayments you just used? The first one seemed like an alteration arrayment? And the second must be a barrier arrayment, right? I’ve never heard of an invisible one before.”

An ornate necklace, dual bangles, and several rings decorated the girl’s fit body, all of them a mix of star gold and precious stones. Long, straight hair that was braided in several places sat above eyes the same sandy shade, her skin smooth and clear, her expression inviting. She gave off a cute, girl-next-door sort of vibe as she stared at him with excited curiosity. Outlined as it was by her thin swimming robe, she looked quite attractive, at least enough to make him stare longer than he should have.

“It was an ordinary barrier arrayment, just a basic one.”

“And the one that altered your clothes?”

“A basic reconstruction arrayment.”

“Oh! I could have sworn that it was an alteration arrayment. How did you use a construction arrayment on something you were wearing, though? Did you really account for your entire lower body while writing out that diagram?”