Chapter 186: Marketing Genius

“The auction at Anqing Auction House is about to begin. We welcome all esteemed guests to enter~”

A soft, seductive female voice rang out. A reception girl belonging to the Anqing Auction House, dressed in a sexy exotic dance dress, was greeting the guests who had yet to enter with a face full of smiles.

“Let’s go, disciple.”

Putting the man she had just seen to the back of her mind, Xiu Qingcheng called for Meng Yingxing to enter with her.

Upon entering the depths of the Anqing Auction House, Meng Yingxing first saw an incredibly spacious hall. The area of this hall seemed somewhat disproportionate to the external architecture of the auction house.

Looking around, the decoration of the hall was dominated by dark colors, embellished with complex dark patterns for decoration.

While it wasn’t as magnificent as Meng Yingxing had imagined, it allowed him to feel an air of low-key luxury and hidden wealth.

At the very front of the hall stood a high platform with a long table on it. On either side of the table were two night-luminescent pearls that illuminated the surroundings clearly.

This was presumably where the auction items would be displayed, and the light from those two priceless night-luminescent pearls would highlight the details of the items perfectly.

“Would the two of you like a Heaven-rank private room or the Earth-rank hall?”

Like everyone else, Xiu Qingcheng and Meng Yingxing were stopped at the entrance of the hall by another smiling reception girl in revealing clothes.

Just as the reception girl said, Anqing Auction House had private rooms and a general hall.

In truth, “Heaven” and “Earth” simply corresponded to the private rooms and the general hall respectively.

“A Heaven-rank private room, then.”

Xiu Qingcheng chose without any hesitation.

“Very well. The entrance fee for the Earth-rank hall is one thousand spiritual silver, while the Heaven-rank private room requires an additional four thousand spiritual silver, totaling five thousand.”

The reception girl held up four fingers and spoke patiently to Xiu Qingcheng.

Xiu Qingcheng: “…”

Xiu Qingcheng fell silent on the spot.

‘Is this private room made of gold, or is the seat made of gold? You want four thousand extra?’

‘It’s not that we can’t afford four thousand, but right now, we need to fight for every penny.’

“The Earth-rank one is fine.”

Xiu Qingcheng remained calm, changing her mind with almost no change in expression.

“Very well, you two.”

The reception girl was well-experienced and didn’t show any extra emotion or thoughts just because Xiu Qingcheng changed her mind.

With a smile still hanging on her face, she turned and handed them a wooden plaque. Carved on the plaque were the word ‘Earth’ and the number ‘369.’ This was likely their seat number.

Xiu Qingcheng took the plaque and walked away without a word.

Meng Yingxing nodded to the reception girl and thanked her.

By the time the two of them were seated, the hall was already crowded, and the lights in most of the Heaven-rank private rooms on the second floor were lit.

Xiu Qingcheng looked around and saw many people staring at the auction platform.

She also saw quite a few people exchanging thoughts with others, critiquing the auction items that had already been made public.

It seemed that although the auction had not yet started, the atmosphere in the auction house was already buzzing with excitement.

“Master.”

Meng Yingxing called out to Xiu Qingcheng and gestured in a certain direction.

Xiu Qingcheng followed the direction of Meng Yingxing’s finger and saw the man wearing the straw raincoat sitting in the front row closest to the platform. The large ring of fur around his neck was particularly eye-catching.

“I thought he would be in a Heaven-rank private room.”

“So, Master, who exactly is he?”

He still couldn’t help himself.

He couldn’t help but want to know what kind of connection that person had with Xiu Qingcheng.

Xiu Qingcheng glanced at Meng Yingxing.

After entering Yelan City, her disciple seemed to have grown increasingly curious, wanting to ask more about everything.

“I don’t know, we aren’t acquainted.”

Xiu Qingcheng once again changed her previous tune. As soon as Meng Yingxing heard it, he knew his master was fooling him again.

Meng Yingxing felt somewhat helpless.

Seeing his helpless expression, Xiu Qingcheng eventually turned her face back.

“There’s nothing much to say.”

‘He’s just a somewhat familiar-looking person.’ She truly knew nothing about him.

Xiu Qingcheng instinctively looked at the man Meng Yingxing was focused on.

He remained motionless in his seat, like a perfect statue.

‘Yes, I am only the Ting Tian Sword; there is nothing much to say.’

A while longer passed, and the auction house closed its final entry.

The windows around the hall were covered with black cloth, and the hall suddenly went dark.

As the light dimmed, the clamor in the auction house also gradually faded. At this moment, the auction house was isolated from the world, forming a quiet corner of its own.

The light from the night-luminescent pearls on the high platform remained, making the platform the sole focus of the hall.

Of course, to Meng Yingxing, the one still glowing in this dark hall was Xiu Qingcheng beside him.

All the brilliance in the world could not compare to the radiance of the person by his side.

The auction at Anqing Auction House officially began.

However, the items auctioned first were just antiques, calligraphy, and paintings, which were useless to many spiritual cultivators present. The nouveaux riches from inside and outside Yelan City, however, had a special fondness for these things.

And Meng Yingxing saw that his master was also very interested in them.

“I’ll take this 82-year-old Qingshui Pearl Jade for two hundred thousand spiritual silver!”

Xiu Qingcheng excitedly raised the bidding plaque in her hand.

“Good! Earth-rank 369! This lady has added one hundred thousand spiritual silver! Is there anyone else!?”

The host on the stage shouted with some excitement.

“Two hundred and ten thousand spiritual silver!”

As soon as the host finished speaking, a rough male voice raised the bid.

Seeing this, Xiu Qingcheng was about to raise her plaque again when she was stopped by Meng Yingxing.

“Hey, Master, don’t forget our main business.”

Meng Yingxing tactfully reminded Xiu Qingcheng.

It wasn’t that Meng Yingxing was unhappy, but even if they weren’t here for the Blood Kong Flower, they couldn’t afford the sum of two hundred thousand.

Xiu Qingcheng gave a light huff.

“Of course I haven’t forgotten. I was just… just teasing these people.”

“Making them cough up their gold!”

Then, Xiu Qingcheng’s somewhat lingering gaze drifted back to the crystal-clear Qingshui Pearl Jade on the auction stage, which radiated a charming glow.

“I’m not interested in these things… even though this Qingshui Pearl Jade is so dazzling, so moving, so beautiful…”

“Ah! Two hundred and fifty thousand! It’s sold… Sigh, disciple, I’m really not interested!”

No matter how Meng Yingxing heard it, it didn’t sound like she wasn’t interested at all.

He went silent for a moment.

He only regretted his lack of financial power; otherwise, he would have definitely secured that pearl to please Xiu Qingcheng.

And now, seeing even a common pearl auctioned at such a price, he felt they probably wouldn’t be able to compete for the Blood Kong Flower later.

Thinking of this, Meng Yingxing cast a brief glance toward the man wearing the fur-collared coat.

A significant amount of time had passed since the auction started, and this man, like him, had just been watching without showing any interest in these antiques.

“One hundred thousand!”

In Meng Yingxing’s ear, he heard Xiu Qingcheng’s voice again, bidding on a brilliantly shining gemstone.

Meng Yingxing pinched the bridge of his nose.

‘As long as she doesn’t get carried away, it’s fine as long as Master is happy.’

The auction was divided into two halves. Soon, the first half drew to a close.

According to the auction house’s introduction, the items to be auctioned in the second half were all related to the world of spiritual cultivation.

However, even as the second half began, not many people left the auction house.

Even ordinary people were curious about the treasures of the spiritual world.

Not to mention that some items were good things that could protect one’s life without needing spiritual power to activate.

The second half of the auction began, and the first item to appear was the protective artifact registered by Xiu Qingcheng.

As Meng Yingxing sipped his tea, he heard the host on the stage begin the introduction.

“The next item is provided by an anonymous fellow cultivator.”

[Personal protective artifacts once worn by Nan Feixue, the Holy Maiden of the Yu Ji Sect.]

“We have had a professional team inspect them. These items indeed bear the exclusive mark of Nan Feixue, the Holy Maiden of the Yu Ji Sect; there is absolutely no fraud! I’m truly curious where this fellow cultivator obtained them!”

“The starting bid is fifty thousand spiritual silver. Please note, these all require spiritual power to use!”

After hearing this, Meng Yingxing almost spat out the tea he had just sipped.

He looked toward Xiu Qingcheng beside him.

As if she had already expected Meng Yingxing to show such an expression, she revealed a toothy grin beneath her veil and blinked her eyes, which were full of cunning, at him.

“How about it? My marketing tactic wasn’t bad, right?”

“Items personally worn by Nan Feixue, the Holy Maiden of the Yu Ji Sect~ Hmph, a person like her must be very famous in the spiritual world; there will definitely be many people interested in this.”

Xiu Qingcheng crossed her arms and nodded, feeling very good about herself.

In her previous life, some ordinary people would buy things like “worn panties” or “worn socks.” She didn’t believe the spiritual world of Jintian Kyushu lacked such people!

In fact, people in this spiritual world were even more perverted!

She was simply a sales genius!

Meng Yingxing looked at the earring on Xiu Qingcheng’s ear with a complex expression, then looked at the jade pendant hanging from his own waist carved with the word ‘Xiu.’ For a moment, he didn’t know what to think.

But it had to be said that there were indeed many perverts in the spiritual world of Jintian Kyushu.

Those few personal protective artifacts of Nan Feixue were each auctioned at a price beyond Meng Yingxing’s imagination.

Not only Meng Yingxing, but even Xiu Qingcheng hadn’t expected them to sell so well.

Nan Feixue had really done them a big favor, continuing to provide for them even now.

‘Why don’t you hurry up and say, “Thank you, Sister Feixue”?’

Xiu Qingcheng raised an eyebrow at Meng Yingxing with immense pride.

“See? Now we have the capital to compete with others for the Blood Kong Flower!”

“Watch closely and learn well! This is your Master’s skill!”

Meng Yingxing’s brow relaxed slightly, and a smile touched the corners of his mouth.

“Yes, yes, Master is the most amazing.”

Afterward, some medicinal pills and weapons were auctioned, and the much-anticipated Blood Kong Flower was finally brought onto the stage.

“The next item to be auctioned is a strange flower that was once seen everywhere in our Qinglan City, but is now rarely seen in a hundred years.”

“Ten thousand withered bones, burning blood into a flower…”

“The Blood Kong Flower!”

As the host’s voice fell, an exquisite transparent container was brought out before everyone’s eyes.

Inside this container was a handful of soil, nurturing a single, demonic-looking flower.

The Blood Kong Flower presented six petals with a black-to-red gradient. It had no leaves, and its stem was covered in sharp thorns, showing the same black-and-red color as the flower itself.

It looked as if a black flower had been stained with blood.

“Is this the Blood Kong Flower?”

Meng Yingxing gazed intently at the flower on the stage, murmuring to himself.

“Mm, it looks alright.”

Xiu Qingcheng, who had already seen it, toyed with her empty teacup with little interest.

‘It feels… not as good-looking as the flowers Meng Yingxing gave me.’

As soon as the Blood Kong Flower appeared, most people sat up straight.

This included the man in the straw raincoat who had remained indifferent until now.

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