Just like Cao Yun, a few people had their own balcony to take part in the auction. All things considered, it was very similar to what he knew about auctions in the Hongchen Kingdom. There were a few different rules regarding how one would make deposits beforehand. As a matter of fact, they had to pay to enter the auction. Besides that payment, they could also put a deposit to ensure that they had enough funds to place their bids. In theory, they could only bid up to twice their deposit. In other words, this was a form of guarantee.
Of course, like everything else in this Nalupu Kingdom, there was also unwritten rules. For example, Cao Yun had bribed a few attendants and even the ones who were organizing this auction. This was probably the case for almost everyone in the balconies right now. Although this wasn't absolutely necessary, this would allow Cao Yun to bid on all the items he wanted without any obstruction from the auction hall. If Cao Yun was bidding against someone who had not bribed the auction hall, he would have the advantage as the hall would pressure them. On the other hand, if someone else who had bribed them too bid against Cao Yun, the auction hall would stay perfectly neutral. Furthermore, Cao Yun could bid as much as he wanted. After all, people knew about his wealth as an alchemist.
Thanks to his sojourn in Ruohe, his reputation had already reached the influential people and nobility of Duma City. In fact, his reputation was spreading all over the Nalupu Kingdom along with rumors about him and City Lord Sihe. The fact that Cao Yun appeared to be trying to suppress them proved to many that they were true enough. Apparently, his time in Ruohe had not been wasted at all. Now, he could act without any problem in any city-state of the Nalupu Kingdom. And no one was asking any question about his past. The fact that he had a lot of money, that he was an alchemist, that his bloodline was extremely powerful and that he was an Accomplished Demon helped him of course. But those rumors were helping cement those facts in everyone's mind while providing an answer as to where all those benefits had come from. Without those rumors, many people would have asked questions he couldn't answer.
In the balconies, Cao Yun sensed several eyes on him. Of course, Weiji Nian and Boss Gui's representative were among those prying eyes. But he sensed something that send cold shivers down his spine. For an instant, it felt as though someone had pierced through his very heart. Even his Drop of Wrath acted up a little. It was so faint though that Cao Yun wondered whether he had imagined it or not. It was difficult even for him to pinpoint the origin of that sensation, especially because he was forced to restrain his spiritual senses in this place. However, he was able to detect from which balcony it had come from.
Without pulling his eyes from the auction, Cao Yun sent a telepathic message to Xixue by his side, still wearing her mask.
"Who is in that balcony to the right of Sir Mou?"
Although she was a bit stressed about her presence around so many powerful people, Xixue was keeping her composure very well. When she heard Cao Yun's question, she almost jumped but controlled herself. She had gotten used to this way of speaking to her, but it still felt a bit strange to be honest. Since the balcony's curtains were closed, she couldn't see who was in it. So she took some document and went through it. When she reached the information she was looking for, she stayed silent for a whole second staring at it.
Not waiting for her to recover, Cao Yun looked at the bamboo tablet she had in her hands. On a strip of bamboo, written in red ink, which perfectly imitated blood, was the name of the person who had bought for that particular balcony 'Sister Lisha'. Apart from that name, there was no information. Obviously, Cao Yun had recognized the character used for 'Sister'. This was a character that was almost impossible to translate in Nuhua. In simple terms, it referred to a blood sister. And in this particular context, it referred to a member of the Sisters of the Abyss, the largest religion order in the Desolate Sepulcher.
Once more, Cao Yun noted how secretive and dangerous those women were. Just to be sure, he pushed his 'Ashen Feather Seal' to its limit. And although it seemed impossible that she could see through his Drop of Wrath, he still decided to put a focus on it to conceal it perfectly. Even if Xiao Xuefeng had failed to see through it, his Drop of Wrath had changed since then as it was now mixed in his blood. Because those sisters were known for being the protectors of blood - whatever that meant - Cao Yun didn't want to take any risk. Just being close to one of the sisters felt strange to him.
Finally, the auction began. The first items were of no interest, at least not to Cao Yun. However, he was still quite intrigued by them. Indeed, most of those items were art pieces. There were also a few historical items. For example, there was a sword that had belonged to a demon of the Demon God Era, the equivalent of the Great Sorrow Era for humans, when Demon God Da Mo ruled the entire Piaolu planet.
The art objects were all very different from what Cao Yun knew. Although he had no intention to buy any of them, simply observing them satisfied his curiosity. As much as he liked poetry, he wasn't a great connoisseur of painting or sculpture. He enjoyed them of course, and thanks to what he had read, he knew a lot about them, but they just were not his favorite form of art. They simply didn't evoke the same kind of emotions in him. On the other hand, poetry had always echoed within him, as though he was feeling the thoughts and emotions of the writer.
Anyway, when the first items were sold, almost no one in the balconies had bid anything. Then, Cao Yun's first pill appeared. It was a very simple pill but it still caused a small event. Indeed, it had reached the grade of Pure. For the Desolate Sepulcher, this was almost as if they had seen a True Essence pill. Seeing the awe in some of the eyes around him, Cao Yun was happy he had not overdone it with a real True Essence pill. Besides, this wasn't a pill that was well known in the Desolate Sepulcher. It could replenish a bit of blood and improve the circulation of blood through one's muscles. For demons, this was a great pill. And for someone who was training demons, this would also be very interesting.
In fact, Cao Yun was rather happy when Boss Gui's representative bid first. Just by her entering the bid, a huge part of the audience grew quiet. They wouldn't dare to be disrespectful toward Boss Gui, even indirectly. Despite a few scornful eyes from some demons, no one went against her. But just before she could take her prize, a sinister laugh resounded in the auction hall.
"Miss Wo, it seems like many people are terrified by you... It's not that I want to make things difficult for your mistress, but this pill might be helpful for my son. I hope that you will not take it to heart, but I will be sadly forced to compete with you."
Absolutely everyone in the auction room could hear the ridicule in Weiji Nian's voice. But there was no one stupid enough to get between those two women. Offending either of them was a recipe for disaster. As much as Boss Gui was known for her cruelty, Weiji Nian was know for her anger outbursts. With her familial connections, she could easily have many people in the auction hall killed. Thus, they had absolutely no interest in offending her at all. No matter who would win this bid, not only would they not react, not a word would escape their lips afterward.
"Red blessing on you children, I hope you won't mind my entering this lively competition. Such a pill piqued my interest I must say."
When Sister Lisha entered the bid so early, that was another situation altogether. While tension was rising, Cao Yun felt something else. His first reaction was that his plan was working very well as he had caught Boss Gui's eyes. Then, he thought about all the money he would make but this didn't last very long in his mind as money was just a means to an end. Finally, he felt another cold shiver through his spine when Sister Lisha spoke. With her final words, Cao Yun felt her intent on him for a split second. Clearly, it wasn't the pill that had piqued her interest but him. That had not been part of his plan, but he obviously couldn't get Boss Gui's attention without attracting other people's sight on him too.
The three women fought for a while. Despite the tensed atmosphere between them, they did not go overboard with their bidding. Since neither Weiji Nian nor Miss Wo was ready to admit defeat to the other one, they reverted to what amounted to diplomacy in this kingdom. They let Sister Lisha buy the very first pill.
"Thank you, children. May the Blood flow in you."
Once again, this was a strange word used for 'Blood'. It didn't refer to the usual blood in one's flesh. In fact, this was more of an esoteric way of referring to the substance of life and the link to one's ancestors both symbolized by one's blood. There wasn't a better word to translate it in Nuhua. Anyway, this was some form of set phrase used by the Sisters of the Abyss.
When the other pills came, Miss Wo and Weiji Nian also fought for a few of them. When the quality was a bit too poor, they left the other bidders participate in the auction. However, Sister Lisha didn't bid for any other pill. It was as though she had been interested in getting a single pill and this didn't sit well with Cao Yun. Somehow he imagined that this was bad for him in some way. But despite all of his alchemy knowledge he didn't know what they could want with a single pill. However, he was certain this wasn't for consumption. Besides, with the Sisters of the Abyss' reputation, they could have bought all the pills. Hell, they could have bought almost anything in this auction, simply by pressuring others. In terms of wealth, Cao Yun knew they were rich but he had no idea how much.
With each pill sold though, Cao Yun was getting richer and richer. Unfortunately, the auction hall was taking a huge percentage, compared with the Myriad Cherry Blossom Hall. Despite all of Nie Pian and Xixue's efforts, they had not been able to lower it too much. From thirty percent, they had gone down to twenty-five percent. Still, this made Cao Yun a lot of money. And when his shop would be official in Duma City, he could force better terms on the auction hall. Maybe it was because they knew that that they had tried to squeeze as much profit as they could out of him for the time being.
By the time all his pills were sold, he had more than doubled his wealth. The competition between Miss Wo and Weiji Nian had increased the price a lot. And this had also galvanized the crowd when they could bid. Since they had no chance of winning when either of the women was in play, they focused all their efforts on those times they didn't bid anything. In the end, Cao Yun's pills had been sold for way more than their actual price. Even with the auction hall's cut, he had made a killing in that auction. And this wasn't yet over.
After the pills, there were a few more objects. Obviously, this caught Cao Yun's attention, as well as many others. If those pills had been sold for so much, then the last items had to be extraordinary. According to the list Xixue had in her hands, there were still two last items. Apparently, the auction hall had changed the order of the sales because Cao Yun's pills had been so popular. They hadn't wanted to break their momentum. And they had been right. However, apart from Cao Yun, many had already spent a lot of money. In fact, even Miss Wo and Weiji Nian had bid more than their deposit. Of course, the auction hall wouldn't restrain their capacity to bid as they knew they had enough funds.
When the first item appeared, Cao Yun was angry as he had not thought about this. The first item was no item at all. In front of the crowd, a tiny girl was brought in chains and very revealing clothes. She couldn't be more than seventeen years old. In her eyes, Cao Yun immediately saw a world of pain and torment. His first instinct was to jump on stage and to kill the attendants holding her chains before breaking them. When he looked at the girl's face, he saw his own sister's face for a long while. Then, he heard sobbing by her side.
Under her mask, Xixue was crying. As much as she was trying to control herself, Cao Yun could sense that her entire body was shivering. Without any delay, he expanded a part of his Wei Qi and spiritual senses around her. Using his 'Ashen Feather Seal', he tried to conceal her before anyone could notice her behavior. He also cut off any sound out of her. Only he could hear her and he sent her a telepathic message to ask what was going on. Of course, he already knew the answer to that question. But as it turned out, he had been somewhat mistaken.
"This... this is Meiyue. She was another girl from my village. When my sister was taken, I thought she had died like many others. But she... she... she's my cousin."
For the very first time, Cao Yun felt as though Xixue was completely genuine. Even with her mask, he could see her face reveal true emotions. Maybe the mask helped a bit. But the emotional shock of seeing a cousin she had thought dead had broken the dam. Obviously, Cao Yun could understand the emotions raging within her.
Unable to tell whether it was for her sake or because of his personal history, Cao Yun had to buy this Meiyue. No matter what!