Refining the Mountains and Rivers

A white jade card represented the status of an ordinary guest. When Qin Yu purchased this jade card from a scalper he had clearly been fooled. His seat wasn't near the middle-front area, but was in a distant corner.

Qin Yu didn't care about this much though. After finding his seat, he sat down and closed his eyes.

Because he had departed relatively late, and because it took some time for him to purchase his invitation, the surrounding noise and commotion subsided not too long after he sat down.

The Shadow Clan auction started!

Qin Yu opened his eyes, a light flashing in their depths. He had made every possible preparation for today's auction. He had to obtain the dragon blood and dragon soul no matter what.

"I welcome fellow honored guests and thank you for participating in the Shadow Clan's auction. From the time of the last auction, it has been almost 2000 years. My clan has some sparse savings and I hope we will not disappoint you all."

The light on the round central stage was warm and gentle. The one managing the auction was a Shadow Clan Elder. He had already introduced himself earlier, it was just that Qin Yu wasn't paying much attention.

"The first item for auction is a special pill produced by the Shadow Clan, and it can increase one's cultivation speed. I apologize but I cannot reveal the materials used to refine it. But, the effects are sure to satisfy you. The Shadow Clan has refined 200 pills and they will be auctioned off in groups of ten. Each group starts at a bid of 100,000 spirit stones. If any honored guests are interested, please begin bidding."

Only three items came from the holy temple. Since the Shadow Clan had organized such a large auction, they naturally wouldn't sell just three items. The dragon blood, dragon soul, and dragon fang would be the final items auctioned off and would be considered the finale. Before that, the Shadow Clan would auction off things from within the clan.

However, this was exactly the reason why a massive number of cultivators flocked here excitedly to join the Shadow Clan auction. Their goal were these items that the Shadow Clan was in sole possession of.

As for the holy temple's items…only the truly great figures had the qualifications to contend for those. Looking at the entire auction site, how many people could bid for them?

An arrogant voice sounded from nearby. "Sister Sun, these pills produced by the Shadow Clan have common-sounding names, but you cannot underestimate them. I once used several pills from the Shadow Clan and they all had amazing effects."

The initial bidding price started at 100,000 spirit stones. With the fierce contention for these goods, the final price was likely to be several times higher. In other words, one Shadow Clan pill was worth at least several tens of thousands of spirit stones. If this Li Shao could eat several of them, it could be imagined how wealthy he was.

Several surrounding cultivators looked at him with shock and flattery.

Those that attended the auction didn't necessarily have the money to buy anything. Many people were willing to spend some spirit stones so that they could broaden their horizons.

For instance, in this corner, out of every ten people, seven or eight of them were purely viewers.

"Ah! Brother Li, you can actually use such expensive pills, I wouldn't dare to think of that at all!" The young cultivator surnamed Sun commended in surprise, her expression shaken.

Li Shao basked in the attention of those around him. He purposefully remained calm as he laughed and said, "It's just a minor matter, it's nothing at all!" He sighed. "If it weren't for me angering my old man and being cut off from the family allowance, I would have bought a group of pills and given them to you as a gift."

The Sun girl appeared touched by these words. Everyone's eyes changed again, filling with awe. To give a gift that was worth hundreds of thousands of spirit stones, this was something beyond their imagination.

Li Shao was even more smug about himself. But, when he glanced around and saw the silent Qin Yu, his complexion became a bit uglier. He and sister Sun were sitting in seats that weren't next to each other. He had asked this person to change seats. Normally this would just be a trivial matter, but the young man had refused.

Thinking back to this, Li Shao's expression became even uglier. He falsely smiled and said, "Fellow daoist, may I ask if you will be participating in the auction? In any case, I plan to bid on an item and give it to sister Sun as a gift."

Everyone had watched the minor commotion of switching seats a while ago. They knew that this Li Shao was intentionally trying to embarrass this person.

Qin Yu was expressionless. "Maybe later. If something suitable shows up, perhaps I will bid on it."

Oho, this was a stubborn young man that wasn't willing to lower his head.

Li Shao sneered. "Good. Then I will wait for fellow daoist to reveal your hand."

Qin Yu felt a little helpless. If he had known about this person's attitude earlier then he would have traded seats so that he wouldn't have to listen to his incessant badgering. With his current status, field of vision, and level he had come into contact with, he simply didn't want to waste his time on this Li Shao that was yapping like a chicken. It was better to just ignore him.

But when Qin Yu remained silent, the cultivators around him thought that he was afraid and lacked confidence instead. Several cultivators suddenly had a taunting expression on their lips.

Young people were stubborn and placed great importance on face. They didn't know that sometimes, lowering their heads and drawing back was the better choice. With Li Shao's disposition, if this person didn't bid on anything then he definitely wouldn't miss out on the opportunity to kick him while he was down. At that point, this person would only lose even more face.

Of course, they didn't know who this young man was nor did they care. They only wanted to see a good show.

"Li Shao, my name is Wen Juguang and my hometown is Virtue City. In these past years I have conducted some small businesses, and I wonder if you are from East Root's Li Family…" To the left, a middle-aged cultivator smiled as he spoke. His body was round and his skin was pale white. He filled out his seat and even a bit more than that.

Li Shao subconsciously straightened his back. He indifferently said, "Fellow daoist Wen has good eyesight. I am indeed from East Root City's Li Family."

"Ah! So it was unexpectedly the Li Family's young master! It was really disrespectful of me!" A smile bloomed on Chubby Wen's face. He immediately delivered a series of flattering compliments while casually asking some probing questions.

"Oh, fellow daoist Wen must know Big Brother Lian then. If so, you aren't an outsider. We grew up together and we have a good relationship." Li Shao said, a light expression on his face.

In fact, he was simply bragging. But since his acting skills were so good, no one could see through him.

Li Shao did come from East Root's Li Family, but he was only part of a common and humble side branch. Li Donglian was the second son of a direct lineage and he had only seen him from far away during one of the ancestral worship ceremonies.

In other words, if Li Shao stood in front of Li Donglian, the other simply wouldn't know who he was.

Chubby Wen had an excited expression as if he had found a thigh to latch onto. The others also began to circle around like flies.

For a time, Li Shao had become the center of attention. Although others lowered their voices as they spoke, their flattering words still rang through the air.

The Sun girl's eyes started to shine. Her heart had already been entranced by Li Shao and her mind had drifted off somewhere.

Qin Yu's lips twitched. He simply closed his eyes and pretended he didn't see or hear anything. He had come for the finale and wasn't interested in anything else from the Shadow Clan.

But soon, a strange feeling rose in his heart. This was because from the words of those around him, he learned of the foundation of East Root's Li Family.

The master of the Li Family was a formidable cultivator who had become friends with a beast trainer a long time ago. Afterwards, that beast trainer soared into the skies and even held an extremely high status in the Hidden Fog Sect. Based on their old friendship, he even provided them with some supplies from the Hidden Fog Sect, giving them their current status.

As for that beast trainer everyone spoke about with awe, his surname was Rong…to have a considerable status in the Hidden Fog Sect and also be a beast trainer surnamed Rong, that could only be Rong Wei.

This was quite a coincidence.

But now, Rong Wei had thoughts of leaving. Perhaps it wouldn't be long before the Li Family wouldn't obtain the help of the Hidden Fog Sect anymore.

At that time, this Li Shao likely wouldn't be as high-spirited as he was today.

The auction saw climax after climax. The Shadow Clan had indeed taken out many things that saw numerous parties compete for them. However, none of that was particularly related to this distant corner.

Under everyone's admiring gazes, Li Shao bid 30,000 spirit stones for a Shadow Clan accessory. Although his heart dripped blood, he maintained a calm expression.

"Sister Sun, I'll give this minor item to you. After a few days when my father calms down, I will buy you a better one."

At this time, seeing her blushing face and the looks of acclaim from those around him, Li Shao felt nothing but deep self-satisfaction.

The only thing he didn't like was that from start to finish, Qin Yu kept his eyes closed as if he didn't care about him showing off. It was hateful to the extreme!

"Humph! Fellow daoist, the auction is already half finished. If you don't make your move now, I fear you won't have another chance!" As the auction went on, items became increasingly expensive. When the last items were auctioned off, that would be when the truly intense battle would occur amongst the great figures here.

Seeing Qin Yu continue to keep his eyes closed, Li Shao sneered, "Are you pretending not to hear?"

Qin Yu opened his eyes. "I appreciate fellow daoist Li for the reminder, but if you're finished, can you be quiet for a while?"

Li Shao's complexion sank. Calm down, calm down, I cannot allow this boy to enrage me and ruin my image!

He suppressed his anger and sat down. He was no longer interested in speaking as he patiently waited for the auction to end.

At that time, he would ruthlessly shame this boy!

The surrounding people looked at Qin Yu with sympathy. This young man really didn't know how vast the heavens and earth were. Soon, he wouldn't have any face left.

No one cared what was happening in this small corner of the auction hall. The auction continued and began to reach its apex.