Chapter 47 - Only Money Talks

"Here is another bottle of cider for you, sir," a servant said as he brought another bottle. "The auction will begin shortly, as all twenty items of this month's mega auction have been finalized. Your auctioned item is Item Number 12. The screen will be dropping momentarily."

"Thank you," Lance said as he sipped some cider. "What is Item Number 1, the highlight of this month's mega auction?"

"It is the body of an Earth Mortal rank magical beast, complete with its magical beast core," the servant said, causing Mei to gasp while Lance sighed.

"Sir is not interested?" the servant asked.

"All the treasures of my past life are in my neidan. It contains the bodies of thousands of Earth Mortal magical beasts. Their bodies are the only treasures that interest me, as I used their cores to become a peak Heavenly Mortal and nearly ascended," Lance thought, shaking his head at the servant. "Such a thing only invites death to whomever buys it. I do not wish to be one of two dogs fighting over a bone, only to die as I see it taken by a third."

"Sir is very wise. The screens will be dropping now. You will now be able to see and hear what happens outside the box, and vice versa," the servant bowed, and the black screens blocking the V.I.P. box were lowered. Many people murmured, and Lance could see other rich patrons in their boxes, catching only glimpses of the three above him.

In total, there were ten boxes: six at the lowest level, three in the middle, and one at the top, forming a pyramid of V.I.P. boxes overlooking the stage and the numerous buyers below. The crown prince would definitely be in the top box, and the five other people at the bottom of the pyramid did not concern him. If he and Mei were to be attacked, it would likely come from one of the people in the middle row above them.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Gold Lotus Auction House! Without further ado, let's get to it. I am your curator, Jackie. We begin with Item Number 20: a bracelet hailing from the western region of our Song Dynasty. It has the ability to change one's appearance and hide their spirit energy to pose as an ordinary human. The starting bid is 200 demon spirit coins," a man in a bright pink tuxedo smiled, his gold mask glistening as people raised their hands to bid.

"3,000!"

"3,050!"

"4,500!"

"100,000!" a young voice declared, and people below turned to see Lance lazily raise a hand. "What are you people looking at? We're wasting time here. I've been here all day. Let's get on with it."

"100,000 going once. Twice. No takers? Sold to the young man in V.I.P. Box 7. Thank you for your purchase," the curator announced as the cart with the bracelet was exchanged for another cart holding a white statue. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is Item Number 19: The Libido Statue. Women with cultivation below the Element Adept Stage will beg to partake of the night activities with the buyer. It also has the unique effect of absolute protection and makes your... fluids... incapable of producing a son or daughter as long as you partake of the night activities within a hundred feet of the three-foot statue. The starting bid is 500 demon spirit coins."

"What the hell are they selling?" Mei muttered, and Lance chuckled as many bids were placed. As expected from the rumors, the crown prince won in the end, shouting joyfully after spending 2,000 demon spirit coins.

"A painting, a gourd, and a magical beast of the Element Adept Stage. Truly, you can sell anything here," Lance commented as Items Numbers 16 to 18 were auctioned off for above 100,000. Truly, the people here were too rich. Of course, there was only a single type of currency: demon spirit coins. The empire did not have paper money or higher-valued coins in their monetary system; only demon spirit coins were accepted on the Pangu Continent.

"Item Number 15 is a very rare great sword. Once used by an Earth Mortal practitioner, it was broken in the center after beheading four practitioners at the peak Meteor Vessel Stage. Although broken, the sword is still valuable for use despite the giant hole in the center of the blade," the curator said, gesturing to a black-hilt sword with a gold skull guard and a pure black blade. "The blade can still be salvaged to make a middle immortal ranked treasure or weapon worthy of the Meteor Vessel Stage."

"It's a little big, but I can shrink the blade. I could also salvage enough metal to make a few daggers," Lance muttered before saying, "100,000."

"120,000," a man in V.I.P. Box 8 said, staring at Lance.

"150,000," Lance shrugged.

"180,000!" the man roared, glaring at him.

"280,000," Lance smiled.

"500,000!" the man shouted, banging his fist on his chair, causing the crowd below to gasp.

"750,000," Lance said, causing the man to jump to his feet.

"1,000,000! Just try to bid higher, boy!" he shouted, making many people below extremely envious.

"It's all yours," Lance smiled, the man nearly spitting blood as he realized he had been fooled by Lance. Infuriated, the man glared at him, but Lance was unfazed. He figured the man would definitely come after him, and Lance could simply kill him and take the great sword without paying a single demon spirit coin. It was a win-win for Lance.

"Sold to the man in V.I.P. Box 8 for 1,000,000 demon spirit coins," the curator announced, disbelief evident on his face, as everyone could tell he hadn't expected the price to be raised so high. It was supposed to be the following items that were intended to sell at that high price.

"That's not what a normal person would have done," Mei whispered to him.

"Normal? I am the farthest thing from it. My soul isn't even human. Besides, I can always kill the man later. I made him angry enough," Lance smiled wickedly.

"You're trying to be a better person," Mei whispered.

"I am. I proved I am the better man in an auction bid. I also chose the better option of letting the sheep partake of the grass for a bigger meat to butcher. Isn't this how a guy becomes a better person? I made the correct choice," Lance laughed. "I already got you that damn bracelet. You pay me 200 demon spirit coins, and I'll decide to let the man live."

"But I don't have any money. You took it all from the bandits instead of any magical treasures and weapons," Mei replied.

"Then that's it. If you can't even afford to pay me 200 demon spirit coins, don't talk to me about one million," Lance shrugged as Item Numbers 13 and 14 were sold. He rubbed his hands together as his item was finally being auctioned off. Finally, the bids reached over 1 million! He was sure to make a profit now!

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a special treat for you all today. This low-grade memory crystal contains the cultivation techniques of a fire element practitioner of the Earth Mortal Stage. As we all know, fire element cultivators gather spirit energy from the environment around them. However, what if the fire element practitioner were to absorb the violet fire essence of the sun? The starting bid is 5 million demon spirit coins," the curator smiled, an uproar soon following.

"The fire essence of the sun? Such fire element cultivation methods exist?" one man cried, flabbergasted.

"Why was this item ranked so low? As it was inserted into a low-grade memory crystal, it should be ranked even higher!" another man said, sweat pouring down his brow. "An expert came. A real expert came."

"7 million!" a man shouted.

"9 million!" another cried.

"15 million!" a third bid.

"17 million! That cultivation method will raise my status to no end!" a woman cried.

"Peh! Damned woman. No one will take it but me. 21 million!" a fat man shouted.

"This is fun. This is a fun time," Lance grinned as bids reached 30 million.

"How is that?" Mei asked.

"Look at them down there, at each other's throats like rabid dogs. The more they bark, the more the money flows. In this building where money talks, the rich talk, and the seller makes a profit," Lance said as the bids stopped at forty million.

"40 million going once. Twice," the curator began until someone in the three V.I.P. boxes of the middle row raised the bid.

"50 million," the man said, silencing all others.

"50 million going once. Twice. Sold for 50 million to the man in V.I.P. Box 2 for 50 million demon spirit coins," the curator beamed.

"Not bad. That's worth 5 million gold demon coins by the southern continent's currency exchange. Should be enough spare change," Lance nodded.

"Spare change? Just how many demon spirit coins do you have?" Mei whispered, stunned.