Chương 24: Bidding Battle

Rowan The inner disciple had already been banned from the Stone Dragon Refinery for picking a fight with Rowan. The auction house was a different kind of battlefield. Here, people fought with rumours for their reputation and with spirit stones for cultivation advancement. Rowan would have preferred it if Barrett attacked him on the side of the road. At least he had experience in those situations.

"Four spirit stones!" Rowan called out.

"Six!" snarled Barrett. Just as Rowan was debating whether to keep going, Senior Sister Nila clamped her hand over Rowan's mouth.

"Even a fully intact Iridescent Waves Tortoiseshell isn't worth a fragment more than two spirit stones," she whispered in his ear. He stayed quiet and the item went to Barrett. The Fross family was one of the wealthiest in the city. They mined silver, sending the ore directly to Deepwhale Pier to mint into taels. You could say their business was in money itself. But Rowan wasn't poor either. He had fifty-one spirit stones on him.

"Isn't that interesting?" Lady Hema whispered, making sure she was loud enough for Rowan to hear her. She was leaning forward over the balcony a few people to the left.

"Just this morning, there was a big commotion at sunrise when nearly a dozen servants from the Fross estate drove a carriage up Longevity Hill. On it was something very special. A bride price, to be paid to a minor merchant family on Tall Trees street." The man next to her stroked his beard. Rowan recognized him as Wynan Coury, the person who ran his uncle's biggest pill shop. A pill shop technically owned by Rowan himself, though it had been a clothing store before his uncle got his hands on it.

"Was it on behalf of—" Wynan squinted down at the general audience.

"That's Barrett Fross," he realized.

"Why is he down there with the common—with the general public? Shouldn't he be upstairs, introducing her to his grand uncle?" He stared up at the private box, where Rowan presumed Baudelain Fross was having tea with Lee's father or City Lord Rothlin.

"That's the interesting part," said Lady Hema.

"All the parties involved are in this auction. Our beloved auctioneer's only daughter was supposed to be the lucky girl."

"Supposed to be?" Wynan was fascinated.

"By noon, the servants returned to the Fross estate. The offer was rejected." Wynan harrumphed.

"What position do the Bruschards believe they're in, to have the audacity to snub a pillar of our community?"

"What indeed?" Lady Hema gave Rowan a knowing smile.

"The girl is part of the newest crop of our Righteous Mountain's disciples. And this class is particularly interesting, in just how many of our little princes and treasured beauties are starting their cultivation." Everyone had followed Hema's gaze to Rowan.

"And just who has this girl set her sights on?" asked Wynan.

"No one knows," said Lady Hema, not bothering to pretend-whisper anymore.

"I'm sure it's just a coincidence that the inheriting son of the Fross family was personally banned by Master Luzon from the forge for attacking the only son of Pyrus Helsing."

"It seems like we're doomed to repeat the mistakes of our parents after all," said Wynan Coury silkily, his face the picture of sardonic disappointment.

"It appears that the Helsing's main line has a penchant for bidding too much on common goods. It is a very pretty tortoise shell, even if it's cracked." That got a handful of chuckles from the crowd. Coury was insulting Lavinia, her mother, and Rowan's late parents in the same breath. Rowan decided that his first letter to his Aunt Iris would be a request to repossess the pill shop. Rowan opened his mouth to threaten Coury with his imminent eviction, but another person spoke up first.

"You're too bold, honored shopkeeper," said Lee, who had returned and was spitting with fury on Rowan's behalf.

"Your store sold my mother her wedding dress. Now, she complains every morning about the stink of your boiling medicines. But I suppose your little pill shop makes a lot more taels than imported gowns from Platform City." If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. The man recoiled as if he'd been struck.

"Young Master Lothesby, I didn't realize you were down here with us…" He trailed off.

"I wanted to show my friend Rowan the auction house. My mistake for not sticking to the private box."

"Excuse me, coming through. Excuse me!" Whatever muttered apology from Wynan Coury was interrupted by Matas who had balanced an improbable number of plates and mugs along his arm.

"Five beers for Yannick Pall and company. Squid rings for the Young Master. A house special for Julec Adelmo and a house special for Master Coury." Matas handed off the food and drink with practiced efficiency. Lady Hema used the distraction to change the topic to the recent flood of refugees from the nearby villages, and how terrible it was. Lee offered Rowan a squid ring. They were freshly fried, and very crispy. Lee gave Rowan a conspiratorial smile.

"Why didn't you tell me you had a girlfriend?" Rowan elbowed Lee roughly. Five or six more items passed through the Auctioneer's hands until an ornate porcelain pot appeared on the podium. Its lid had been tipped open very slightly, the unmistakable scent of Setting Sun Seabreeze Dew wafting through the entire room. Even stronger was the Water qi that bled off the solidified dew in waves. Rowan's heart palpitated with excitement.

"Dew from the fall equinox, formed in a Starlit Tidepool," said Lydia.

"The starting bid is five spirit stones." She didn't spend any time explaining where it had come from or why it was valuable. The treasure spoke for itself. This was the most expensive item shown so far. It also seemed to be one of the items everyone had been looking forward to.

"Six spirit stones!" someone from the audience downstairs shouted.

"Seven spirit stones!" Rowan called out in response immediately. This was exactly the sort of thing Master Luzon had asked for. A high-quality Water qi material. The many in Righteous Mountain who cultivated the Water Dream Scripture would salivate over something like this.

"Ten!" Barrett shot back. Rowan glowered at the man.

"How many spirit stones does this guy have to spend?"

"Seventy, in his left pocket," said Senior Sister Nila. Rowan hadn't expected an answer, especially not one that was so specific.

"And two in his right, that he's probably forgotten about." She recognized his confusion.

"Qi sense is a bit of a specialty of mine." The abilities of core disciples were truly profound. Rowan bid again.

"Fifteen!"

"Twenty!" Then before Rowan could bid gain, the man corrected himself.

"Thirty!"

"Thirty so far!" Lydia called out, before Barrett realized he'd outbid himself. From the beginning, it had just been a bidding war between Rowan and Barrett. As they fought, the audience continued their gossip.

"To think these two are fighting so viciously over the matter of Miss Bruschard!"

"The Fross family may have deep pockets, but can they afford to offend the Helsings? Everyone knows of the Silk Witch. I heard she was allowed to carve a third symbol onto the Valorous Wall. How many Foundation Establishment ancestors can even boast of a single symbol?"

Rowan didn't know the Valorous Wall by name, but he knew what Great Aunt Iris was known for - the frontlines of the demon rift, where righteous cultivators from across the continent went to fight for everyone's survival, and where most of them perished.

"Don't underestimate the Fross family. They also have a Foundation Establishment senior in the borderlands." A cough.

"They just don't advertise it. The relationships might be a bit complicated…" One of the auctioneer's fine eyebrows twitched as she tried to remain professional, ignoring the chatter. After all, this "Miss Bruschard" they were talking about was her very own daughter. Rowan, for his part, felt like he was about to explode from annoyance. Thirty spirit stones for that pot of Water qi? The auction house must be crying with joy. He wasn't opposed to spending spirit stones, but this was too far.

When the next item appeared, Rowan immediately bid one spirit stone.

"Two," countered Barrett. Rowan stayed silent. He didn't need that accessory that was being offered - he was just trying to whittle down Barrett's pockets. When the next big ticket item came, he would totally suppress Barrett. After a few turns, Barrett seemed to catch onto Rowan's gambit. That was how Rowan ended up with a hunk of Milky Starsurge Ore that thrummed with Metal qi in a strange pattern. He wasn't too upset about it. He had been wanting to find a thank you gift for Forgemaster Luzon anyway.

Just then, the auctioneer announced the Long Life Figs, gesturing broadly as an attendant brought them on an intricate platter. Two small purplish fruits hung from a branch bearing a single tired leaf. The spirit herb looked rather mundane to Rowan, aside from the small bit of Wood qi that washed over the room. He didn't want to fight Senior Sister Nila for the item and he wasn't sure it would meet Forgemaster Luzon's standards anyway. It didn't appear impressive at all. Suddenly the bloodstone warmed to life.

"You must obtain that spirit herb at any cost!"