Chapter 32

"Excuse me, are you Lord Longchen?"

Suddenly, a middle-aged man with a gaunt face bowed to Longchen and asked.

"I am."

Longchen was taken aback; he didn't recognize this person at all.

"That's great! I am here to deliver an invitation to you on behalf of the Pavilion Master," the gaunt-faced middle-aged man said with great joy.

"Lord, it's like this. You may not know me, but I am an attendant of Huayun Pavilion, and I have come specially to invite you to our annual auction."

Only then did Longchen realize that this was a business solicitation. What an attendant, he was just a messenger trying to attract customers.

Longchen was very familiar with Huayun Pavilion, the most famous auction house in the Phoenix Cry Empire, a behemoth.

Although it couldn't compare to the Alchemists' Guild, its strength was absolutely formidable, and they were the closest partners of the Adventurers' Guild.

The Adventurers' Guild was an alliance of countless adventurers, though loosely organized, but with a large number of members.

These adventurers often traveled through the Great Wasteland, a high-risk profession, but the rewards were also extremely rich.

All kinds of rare herbs, monster cores, and even ancient legacies could be discovered if one had incredible luck.

Adventurers were very willing to cooperate with Huayun Pavilion. As their closest partners, Huayun Pavilion would purchase their items at very fair prices and provide them with the greatest protection.

Adventurers didn't need to take risks to trade with others. After all, there were too many incidents of robbery and murder, and sometimes the city could be even more terrifying than the Great Wasteland.

Therefore, Huayun Pavilion's annual auction would attract countless buyers because it gathered a year's worth of rare treasures, and they would select the most precious items as auction items.

Almost every auction item would sell for a sky-high price that would make them grin from ear to ear, so the scale of their auction house kept growing larger.

In the past two years, the auction's standards have become increasingly high, and they have even implemented a membership system. Without an invitation, one couldn't even think about getting in.

Those who could receive an invitation were all extremely noble figures. A young man like Longchen was the first.

"Brother Long, this is a good thing, but if you don't have enough money, it's just a waste of time," Monkey said.

The items auctioned by Huayun Pavilion were all the best of the best, and almost none of them wouldn't make one's eyes turn red.

With the auctioneer's superb skills and techniques, the prices would soar like a rocket. Without money, one could only stare helplessly.

"Do you have an auction list?" Longchen asked.

"This is only the list of the last ten items. You can take a look," the gaunt-faced middle-aged man said apologetically.

After all, to maintain the mystery of the annual auction, the good items wouldn't be revealed in advance.

Longchen took it and looked. When he saw "Molten Star Grass," his eyes couldn't help but narrow: it was actually a thousand-year-old Molten Star Grass.

Ordinary Molten Star Grass was usually between ten and a hundred years old, and those over a hundred years were extremely rare. Those over a thousand years were considered treasures.

Such an item was ranked at the bottom, making Longchen's heart race.

Seeing Longchen's shock, the gaunt-faced middle-aged man's face showed a hint of pride: "Lord Longchen, you are an Alchemist. If you have any rare elixirs, you can entrust them to us.

If the quality and rarity meet our requirements, we can consider including them in the auction, but we will charge a fifty percent commission."

Fifty percent? Longchen couldn't help but laugh. Not bad, very greedy, extremely greedy. Half of it goes to you, can you be any greedier?

As if reading Longchen's thoughts, the gaunt-faced middle-aged man smiled: "As long as your items are good enough, after our packaging and promotion, plus the渲染 of our chief auctioneer, the price will soar, hehe... definitely beyond your imagination."

Hearing that, Longchen felt much better and couldn't help but admire the sales skills of the businesspeople.

What Longchen didn't know was that these attendants also had a tough time. Before each annual auction, they would be assigned three slots.

They needed to make full use of these three slots to enjoy a good life, relying on these slots.

For the people they invited, whether buying or selling items, they would receive a certain commission.

The more items the invited person bought or sold, the more substantial their commission, so they were very cautious in choosing people.

But after so many years, the best candidates had already been picked by others. Now they were just picking up the leftovers.

The gaunt-faced middle-aged man was very shrewd. As soon as he got the slots, he rushed to invite Longchen, fearing that someone else would snatch him away.

No wonder, Longchen was now the most prominent figure among the young generation in the capital, definitely a big fish with potential.

"This is my badge, please take a look, Lord," he said, handing Longchen a small card.

"Fu Gui?"

Longchen couldn't help but laugh.

"Hehe, I come from a poor family. My parents hoped I would become wealthy and noble, so they gave me this name. I apologize for the name, Lord," the gaunt-faced middle-aged man said, a bit embarrassed.

His words made Longchen feel a bit awkward, and he nodded: "I am very interested in the auction. Additionally, I do have some items I want to auction. Could you tell me the process?"

Fu Gui's eyes lit up: "If you have treasures, you can come directly to Huayun Pavilion, or we can come to collect them."

Longchen nodded. With nearly a month before the auction, there was plenty of time. After making an appointment with Fu Gui, Longchen and the others left the tavern.

"Longchen, the Phoenix Cry Lantern Festival is in seven days. You must come," Shi Feng said with great anticipation.

The Phoenix Cry Lantern Festival was the biggest festival in the Phoenix Cry Empire. All unmarried men and women in the capital would participate, making it a very lively and highly anticipated event for young people.

Especially the unmarried men, who were like rutting bulls, eagerly waiting to attract the attention of beautiful women at the festival.

The women also hoped to find their ideal partners at the festival. The Phoenix Cry Empire was known for its martial culture, but the separation between men and women was quite strict. However, on the day of the Phoenix Cry Lantern Festival, there were no taboos, and they could freely go out and celebrate with men.

Many people prepared early, hoping to stand out on the day of the festival.

The most exciting part was the competition for the title of "First Warrior." There was a platform at the festival, and anyone under twenty years old with cultivation could participate.

The title of "First Warrior" was the main event. Once you won the title, it was hard to be low-key. The countless flower garlands from women could bury a person alive, and the thought of it was enough to make one's blood boil.

Seeing even the usually calm Shi Feng so enthusiastic, and looking at Yu Pao and the others, it was clear that these guys were like they had been injected with adrenaline, their eyes glowing blue.

"Brother Long, you must come. If you don't, we won't want to go either," Yu Pao pleaded.

"Then let's all stay and find a place to drink," Longchen said with a smile.

"No, Grandpa Long, we've been looking forward to this for a year," Yu Pao and the others immediately put on sad faces, rolling on the ground and clinging to Longchen's legs, refusing to let go.

"Longchen, if you don't go, it will be too boring. Now, in the entire capital, among the young generation, your cheers are the loudest. You are considered the first. If you don't go, many people will be disappointed," Shi Feng advised.

"Huh? When did I become so famous?" Longchen was taken aback.

"You don't know? Even children know: 'Alchemist and Martial Artist, shaking the world, the furious god on the Gathering Heroes Tower, the Phoenix spreading its wings to soar into the clouds, laughing at the nine heavens, looking at Longchen.'" Shi Feng looked at Longchen as if he were a monster.

"..."

What's going on? How did I not know? I've even been turned into a rhyming poem, Longchen couldn't help but be stunned.

"Alright, Longchen, all the brothers are counting on you to make us shine. You have to go," Shi Feng said.

Shi Feng was different from the others. He had always been a brother to Longchen and didn't need to be so cautious.

"Fine, I'll go," Longchen said with a bitter smile. He had originally wanted to practice for a few more days, but that plan was now on hold.

Yu Pao and the others couldn't help but cheer. They seemed to see countless beautiful women's eyes on them.

After parting ways with everyone, Longchen hurried home, not even stopping for dinner. He had wasted too much time and needed to focus on improving his cultivation.

Now that the Wind Mansion Star had successfully condensed, it was like having the first dantian. He needed to focus on condensing the qi vortex.

Currently, there were only three qi vortices in his dantian, and he needed to continue condensing more. However, there were only records of condensing nine stars, and no details on how to cultivate.

The last time the Wind Mansion Star condensed, it suddenly formed three qi vortices, even confusing Longchen himself.

This time, Longchen activated his dantian and found that the three qi vortices were spinning, continuously supplying energy to him. This was a combat state, not a cultivation state.

Injecting the spiritual energy stored in the Wind Mansion Star into the qi vortices, the vortices instantly expanded tenfold, and Longchen's aura became fierce, but it was still a combat state, not a cultivation state.

Longchen took a deep breath, hesitated for a moment, and slowly rotated the qi vortices, absorbing the spiritual energy from the outside world.

However, this time, Longchen did not send the absorbed spiritual energy into his body but condensed it and injected it into the Wind Mansion Star.

As Longchen absorbed the spiritual energy from the outside world and injected it into the Wind Mansion Star, the Wind Mansion Star began to rotate rapidly.

"There's a way."

Longchen was delighted. Although he didn't know what would happen, this was definitely not a combat state.

He continued to absorb the spiritual energy, and as it kept being injected, the Wind Mansion Star became brighter and brighter, eventually shining like the sun.

"Boom."

Suddenly, the Wind Mansion Star trembled, and the bright star suddenly dimmed. At the same time, a new qi vortex appeared in Longchen's dantian.

"Ha, finally figured out the cultivation path."

Longchen was overjoyed. With the birth of the fourth qi vortex, he found that his meridians had expanded, and his strength began to surge.

"Good, keep it up."

Longchen slowly closed his eyes and continued to advance to the fifth level of the Qi Gathering stage.