The Gift Exhibit was an enlightening evening for Chen Wentian as well. Although he was not in attendance, his soul was, residing within the Flawless Snowfrost earrings that Long Yifei wore everywhere. He could not utilize Chen Mo at the campus as they had too many protective arrays. Instead, the immortal snow monkey soul of the earrings did an adequate job.
He went everywhere Long Yifei went while she wore the earrings. She met Immortal Winter Hymn Xuan Xina and so did he. She met the rude Immortal Bamboo Wave Yang Gehu and so did he. He knew there would be people trying to break Long Yifei and him apart and now, he could finally add faces to his enemies.
Chen Wentian, the day after the exhibit, was a man on a mission. He set out for the various auction houses that dotted the southern region of the Martial Brilliance Continent. If he wanted to fight back against enemies from all sides, he needed to obtain the best and most precious gifts for his disciple. His gifts had to overshadow anything and everything the Order or the Seven Potentates offered up. That was the only way he could maintain his reputation, the only way he could emerge from the Gift Giving Ceremony with his head held high.
The first auction house he visited was named the Blue Moon Tower. It was located in the middle of a vast city named the Holy City of the Waning Moon. The city was a paradise for immortals. With buildings constructed of moon marble and ample use of moonjade crystals for windows, the whole place exuded a lunar aura. Jasmine would definitely enjoy this place very much. He vowed that he would bring her here if he got the chance.
Chen Wentian strolled through the wide streets, avoiding stray immortals, and arrived in front of the auction house. The Blue Moon Tower contained seven levels, with each level providing progressively more valuable goods. Using his identity as an acolyte of the Virtuous Order of Chunzhen, he was able to enter the first level. Seeing nothing interesting in the Spirit Initiate Realm section, he tried going upstairs to see the items that were at the lesser realms.
"Halt!" A pair of guards shouted rudely.
They wore scaled armor of a bright blue hue and carried heavy spears that were crossed together, denying his path up the stairs. To Chen Wentian's surprise, they were both at the Spirit Lord Realm. He didn't expect the Blue Moon Tower to be so extravagant, to have two Spirit Lords act as mere guards.
He presented his identification badge from the Order once again, "I am Immortal Blue Dragon Chen Wentian, an acolyte of the Virtuous Order. Can I go upstairs?"
At the same time, he released a sizable amount of blue flames, showcasing the power of a Spirit Lord at the peak level of spiritual strengthening. His spiritual energy clashed against those of the two guards. Although they were clearly struggling to match up to him, their faces remained impassive.
"You may not… enter!"
Chen Wentian snorted and recalled his powers, "Why not? I am not just a random immortal from the wilderness. Since when does Blue Moon Tower reject acolytes of the order?"
"We don't reject acolytes of the order." One of the guards said with a scowl, "We are just rejecting you."
"Cheh, well said brother. Do you know where you are? You are with the Blue Moon Tower. This isn't some peasant auction house in a subcontinent. This place belongs to the Seven Potentates of Jiannan!"
Chen Wentian rolled his eyes, "Whatever, I'm not going to argue with you two anymore. Since the so-called Seven Potentates want to use their vast influence to bully me, it seems I have no other choice."
He whirled around to leave but paused to look back at the two guards, "But don't you think it's silly? Why would such a big name want to bully a figure of no renown like myself? Are the Seven Potentates so insecure? Are they so impotent?"
"You!"
Chen Wentian roared with laughter and walked away, leaving two steaming guards behind. He didn't worry about those two. They were simply servants, bound to their masters. It was a standard custom of many large clans in the immortal world. They needed immortals to bolster their ranks and fight for them but they didn't want these immortals to disobey and go rogue.
There were many ways for humans to enslave each other, countless Daos developed over the ages. Some were crueler than others but they all achieved the same goal, ensuring eternal loyalty. His own soul art could be considered a form of enslavement too.
Chen Wentian wandered the first floor of the Blue Moon Tower for a while longer, unwilling to leave. With this interference by the Seven Potentates, he wouldn't be able to obtain a dance choreography that Long Yifei was interested in. It was a small setback but a loss was still a loss.
Just as he was about to leave, he saw a familiar face out of the corner of his eye. It was Immortal Drifting Axe Han Baohu, a Spirit Lord from the Western Wumu Subcontinent. They had chatted during the first day of the school year. This was the first time seeing the immortal after that day.
Chen Wentian watched as Han Baohu was also blocked from going upstairs. But then, Han Baohu retrieved a letter which greatly shocked the two stingy guards. Realizing something was afoot, Chen Wentian summoned his spiritual energy. He arrived beside Han Baohu in a few breaths and clasped his hand on the taller man's shoulder.
"Brother Han! What a surprise! I didn't expect to see you here!" He said cheerily.
"Wha… Oh, it's Brother Chen." Han Baohu's alarmed expression vanished in an instant, replaced with an unreadable smile, "Truly a surprise. I didn't expect to see you here either. Hahaha!"
The pair shook hands and shared a laugh.
Ignoring the displeasure on the faces of the two guards, Chen Wentian continued, "Brother Han, I guess you are here to seek gifts as well. Aiya, these Sacred Daughters, they certainly have expensive tastes. Want to compare wish lists? How much do you want to bet that mine is more expensive than yours?"
"Ah… something like that." Han Baohu replied awkwardly, "We don't have to compare wish lists, Brother Chen. It is something private to each Sacred Daughter and we might even have to compete for the same items."
"Brother Han, how could you say that? I thought we were going to be friends!" Chen Wentian exclaimed, "We don't have to fight for any items. Instead of driving the price higher by competing, we can work together and keep the price low! Come, let's go upstairs, I'll show you around!"
He patted Han Baohu's back and steered the larger man towards the stairs. But just like before, a pair of spears crossed together in his face.
"Go away!"
"You can't go up!"
The two Spirit Lord guards bellowed, furious at being ignored and at Chen Wentian's second attempt that disregarded their previous words.
"I can't?" Chen Wentian asked, pretending to be bewildered, "But you let Brother Han go up the stairs. He is also from a subcontinent. If you're going to bully peasants, why don't you bully all peasants equally? Why do you have to be unreasonable and unfair? Is this how the Seven Potentates do business, willy nilly and without any sense?"
"Absolutely not!"
Once again, three sets of spiritual energies billowed out and clashed together. This time, it caused a powerful storm that swept through the first floor of the auction house, alarming the other guests.
But this time, a fourth source of spiritual energy surged out and broke the stalemate. True to his name, Han Baohu's aura contained a powerful and sharp force, like a giant ax falling down from the sky. Chen Wentian was forced back several steps, leaving Han Baohu standing with the two guards.
"My apologies," Han Baohu said, his tone now devoid of any friendliness, "You seem to have misunderstood something. I am able to go upstairs because I had been invited by the owners of the Blue Moon Tower. I can do nothing for you if they rejected you. Please understand."
Without waiting for a reply, Han Baohu passed by the guards and disappeared up the stairs.
Chen Wentain was left abandoned on the first floor, in the same state as before. Not wanting to look at the smug and ugly faces of the guards anymore, he promptly left the auction house.
Back outside, he clicked his tongue and scratched his head, greatly annoyed. It seemed that Han Baohu was now on the side of the Seven Potentates. Why or how that happened, he didn't know. But he would soon find out. Just by touching the other immortal, he had placed a shadow anchor within their clothes. He wanted to see just what kind of scheme his enemies were cooking up.
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