Evening came sooner than I expected. Lan Bei Er tried to meet me throughout the day, not very enthusiastic about hanging out with her friends.
"They're so arrogant," she complained to me. "You're much more pleasant company. If it weren't for my master ordering me to maintain good relations with other sects, I would never have bothered to entertain them."
"That sounds tough," I said sympathetically. She sighed.
"Yeah…I would prefer if you accompany me, but they'll just take the opportunity to insult you. I can't stand it." She clenched her fists tightly. "Especially Senior Jian. He thinks he's so much better than you. He's utterly deluded."
"Your opinion is the only one that matters to me."
"Ugh…" Lan Bei Er blushed and turned away. "Stop saying such cheesy things, they make me want to cringe."
She then hurried away to entertain her guests when she heard Bai Ning Shuang calling for her. She glanced at me apologetically, but I waved for her to go.
"I'm meeting friends of mine," I called out to her. "So you don't have to worry about me."
She nodded in acknowledgement and disappeared around the building. I then glanced up at the darkening sky. Recalling my appointment with Huang Qian Jin, I sank into the shadows and it was my turn to vanish from sight.
"Brother Hei!" Huang Qian Jin called out to me when I finally met him outside a tall tower that glittered silver. As the sun set, lights were coming on around the streets of Azure Cloud City and they caused the walls of the tower to gleam brightly. I nodded politely and then greeted Hui Ying, who was never far from his ward.
"Good to see you again. How's the recovery?"
"I'm almost back to full health," Hui Ying replied with a bow. "Thank you for your concern."
"Shall we go in then?" Huang Qian Jin asked, gesturing toward the tower. I hesitated, and then nodded.
"All right."
Before we stepped inside, however, Huang Qian Jin pointed toward a stall that was set up outside the tower.
"But before we enter, we need to get something."
"Huh? Get what?" I watched him jog to the stall, puzzled. Then he returned with three masks. One was yellow, one was black and one was gray. I accepted the black mask, looking unsure of what was going on. "Um, what's this supposed to be?"
"A mask." Huang Qian Jin grinned before concealing his face behind the yellow mask, which was a smiling façade of a Buddha or something. "The Silver River Pavilion is actually the venue for an underground black market, so it would be foolish to walk in without concealing your identity."
Black market, huh. That made sense. They were supposed to be illegal, but the government tended to close an eye to their operations because they made a lot of money. As long as the black market people bribed them to turn the other way, they would happily do so.
But yeah, it would be bad to get spotted by people and be easily identified by the authorities for participating in illegal activities. So I put on my mask, which was that of a dog. A seemingly nightmarish dog from the underworld or something…a guardian of hell? At least that was the impression I received.
As for Hui Ying, his gray mask was that of a phantom. Given Hui Ying's height, when he put on his mask, he resembled a ghostly specter floating above the ground. A few passers-by jumped when they saw him. Huang Qian Jin had quite the mischievous taste in selecting masks for us.
"Let's go in now," Huang Qian Jin said cheerfully, his tone a match for the smiling Buddha's face that hid his features. The three of us entered after the kid showed a pass, the guards bowing politely and respectfully. Even if they didn't recognize us under the masks, they were aware that we were part of the Huang family delegation.
I looked around at all the masked merchants doing business in their booths, hawking their wares. They sold everything from spirit weapons to treasures to elixirs. Or priceless medicinal herbs, ores that gleamed with spiritual qi, and other cultivation stuff. I wasn't sure what to make of it.
"Brother Hei, let me know if there's any weapon that catches your eye," Huang Qian Jin told me. "I'll get it for you."
"Speaking of which…" Hui Ying handed me a spatial pouch. "Here's the hundred thousand spirit stones. You can count them to make sure we're not missing anything."
"I trust you guys," I assured them, transferring the spirit stones from the butler's spatial pouch to my own.
"Keep them for yourself," Huang Qian Jin ordered, raising a hand to emphasize his point. "I'm buying your spirit weapon for you."
"Uh, okay." I put a finger under my mask to adjust my glasses. Then I turned to Hui Ying. "What would you recommend? I usually grab whatever sword from an armory or salvage one from a battlefield, so I'm not very familiar or well versed with what's good and what's bad."
"Hmm, I see." Hui Ying nodded thoughtfully. He then pointed toward a booth. "You might want to check that one out. The Steel Smith is known for producing high quality spirit weapons that automatically repair themselves when you infuse them with qi. Minor damage like chips, of course – you still need a smith to repair major damage like if the blade breaks in half. You don't have to worry about maintenance if you get a sword from him."
"That sounds great!" I nodded enthusiastically and followed him. However, the booth was already being visited by a huge group of people.
"Oh, this sword looks amazing! Boss, I want this Silver Glazed Sword!"
"Ah, this gentleman has a good eye! It's only three thousand spirit stones."
I started at the familiar voice and then frowned. A guy wearing a silver mask was crowing arrogantly, his robes that of the Ten Thousand Sword Pavilion. Beside him were disciples from the seven major sects, all masked. Even so, I could recognize their mannerisms and clothing.
The girl wearing the blue and white robes and sporting an azure mask…I was pretty sure that she was Lan Bei Er. Even though I couldn't see her face, her figure was unmistakable, as was the long sky blue hair.
Perhaps my gaze lingered too long on her, for the guy in the silver mask stormed toward me. Definitely Jian Shen.
"What are you looking at, huh? You want me to gouge out your eyes?"
"Senior, stop that!" Lan Bei Er hissed. "This is the Silver River Pavilion! You can't just provoke people into fights here!"
"If you don't stop misbehaving, then leave," a girl with a white mask said coldly. The mask reminded me of a legend in the mountains – that of a female ghost who froze travelers to death. That was definitely Bai Ning Shuang. Her snow woman mask suited her.
"But…!"
"The auction is beginning soon. If you kick up a fuss, we won't be able to make it."
"Count yourself lucky!" Jian Shen snarled and then whirled around to stomp after the rest of the group. They were all heading toward a huge hall further down the current area.
"That guy is an asshole," Huang Qian Jin complained. I nodded vigorously.
"Agreed. He's going to get himself killed one day."
"Yeah." Hui Ying had a hand behind his back, and I could sense the qi subtly gathered around his fingers. "If he tried to pick a fight with the Huang family, he'll regret it."
"Even though he's from the Ten Thousand Sword Pavilion?" I asked, surprised. Hui Ying chuckled.
"Even the Ten Thousand Sword Pavilion lord must greet and defer to the master of the Huang family."
Wow. I couldn't imagine how powerful and influential the Huang family must be, if the lord of one of the seven major sects in the Tian Xuan Continent had to be polite to them. Jian Shen almost provoked someone he couldn't afford to. I would like to have seen that. But I currently had more important things to do.
Hurrying over to the booth, I studied the array of swords. They all looked elegantly crafted and gleamed with formidable qi, radiating a killing aura that sent shivers down my spine. I swallowed and turned to Hui Ying.
"Um…which do you recommend?"
"Well…" Hui Ying was also scrutinizing the swords. "It seems like you're using a sword to execute my Black Shadow Sect's techniques. If that's the case, then choosing a sword with affinity to shadow yin qi would be optimal."
"I'm hoping for a durable sword as well."
"Ah, don't worry, bro!" The booth merchant said with a loud guffaw. "I can guarantee you the quality of my swords! They are near unbreakable! And even if you do end up chipping them, just infuse them with some qi and the damage will be automatically repaired!"
Seemed like Hui Ying wasn't making things up when he praised the wares of the Steel Smith earlier.
"How about this sword?" Hui Ying asked, lifting a black sword that gleamed despite its color. Looking at it was almost like staring into an abyss.
"Oh, good eye, bro! That's the Abyssal Edge. It's one of the sharpest swords I have here, and it absorbs shadowy yin qi very well. Very good for shadow techniques!"
"Sounds perfect." I accepted the sword from Hui Ying and balanced it on my hand. Not too heavy. No, in fact, it felt as light as a feather. I could also sense the spirit in the sword, hungrily devouring my qi and growing stronger from it. I didn't know how, but I felt some kinship, a link established because of our somewhat similar natures. "I'll take this sword then."
"How much is it?" Huang Qian Jin asked, already reaching for his spatial pouch before I could stop him.
"Ten thousand spirit stones," the merchant replied, and I could tell that he was grinning under his mask. "But since you guys seem like swell guys, I'll give you a discount and knock the price down to nine thousand eight hundred."
"Deal," Huang Qian Jin said and transferred the spirit stones. The merchant did a quick count and then showed a thumb's up.
"Thank you, bros! Nice doing business with you!"
"Thank you," I said with a bow of my head, and then I placed Abyssal Edge into my spatial pouch. Huang Qian Jin then skipped toward another booth.
"We should look around since we have the chance," he said and gestured toward the various booths. "Silver River Pavilion is famous for gathering all these many different treasures and housing them in a single venue. They also provide shelter for black market activities."
"They're also a union for merchants," Hui Ying added, keeping up with his ward. "If you're a merchant, it's a good idea to join the Silver River Pavilion. They will provide lots of benefits, such as business loans, rental of buildings for your shop, and establishing connections."
"But they're most famous for their auctions!" Huang Qian Jin was now tugging my sleeve toward the hall where Lan Bei Er and the rest had disappeared into. "Let's go in and have a look! Maybe we'll see something rare and precious!"
"Just don't waste money unnecessarily," Hui Ying said with a sigh. "Your father has approved the three hundred thousand spirit stones reward to Brother Hei and Sir Chi, but he will not approve of any purchase here unless it's a really, really essential treasure."
"Father will approve if it's an elixir or a rare spirit beast part," Huang Qian Jin assured Hui Ying as we moved toward the auction hall. "That's the whole reason why he sent us here in the first place! He heard that they might have the Blue Heart Elixir in this auction. If possible, we'll have to get that one."
"The Blue Heart Elixir?" I repeated, puzzled. Huang Qian Jin nodded excitedly.
"That's right! It's said that the Blue Heart Elixir can help an Innate Realm cultivator breakthrough his bottleneck and reach Saint Realm!"
"Oh?" I was mildly curious, but I didn't care. I wasn't the type who relied on drugs for cultivation. Remember, kids, don't do drugs. Doping was bad for health. Better to depend on hard work and effort. "I see."
"The competition is pretty fierce, though," Hui Ying reminded his charge. "Master says to give up if the bidding goes over the budget. There will be other opportunities."
"Fine, fine." Huang Qian Jin groaned, clasping his hands behind his head. He turned to me. "Still, participating in an auction is quite the experience. We have a private booth for our own use. It's pretty comfortable and luxurious. At least join us and watch the fun, Brother Hei!"
I scratched my head absentmindedly before sighing in resignation. It was true that I didn't have anything else to do for the night, so I might as well see what the fuss was about. "All right then. I'll take you up on your offer."