Chapter 134 - 110: Tiancheng Auction House

Chapter 134: Chapter 110: Tiancheng Auction House

While Old Shen packed up his stall and headed toward the auction house, Jiang Hao was walking in the same direction.

Before entering the Holy City, he had asked Mu Zhen and his sister about the city. He learned there was an auction house with formidable strength and terrifyingly deep foundations, easily matching behemoths like the Divine Pill Pavilion.

"Tiancheng Auction House?"

Looking at the dazzling plaque, Jiang Hao took large, swift strides inside.

His purpose in coming to the auction house was naturally to exchange for some Spirit Stones. He chose this specific place because anything—alchemical pills, Cultivation Techniques, martial arts, Magical Artifacts, and more—could be exchanged or directly put up for auction here.

Entering the main hall, he was greeted by a lobby as massive as the Martial Arts Arena used for the grand competition in the Xingyue Earth Realm.

The lobby was divided into two main areas: Zone One and Zone Two. Evidently, Zone Two handled ordinary transactions, while Zone One was the true hub for trading rare treasures. Zone One not only had powerful experts standing guard, but the foot traffic was also sparse in the extreme.

Without hesitation, Jiang Hao headed straight for Zone One, only to be instantly intercepted.

"My apologies, sir. Are you familiar with the rules of the Tiancheng Auction House?"

A young woman wearing the uniform of the Tiancheng Auction House immediately blocked his path with a polite smile. "It’s like this, sir. Zone One of the Tiancheng Auction House generally only handles transactions involving rare treasures. If you wish to conduct an ordinary transaction, please step over to Zone Two."

Although she maintained a professional smile, her beautiful eyes betrayed a subtle hint of disdain. As a local Cultivator of Nanling, she could instantly sense the aura of an outsider on Jiang Hao.

Jiang Hao frowned slightly at her words but remained expressionless. "Zone One is exactly where I need to go."

As soon as he said this, the young woman paused, and countless gazes from the surroundings couldn’t help but converge on them.

"Do you have a rare treasure you wish to put up for auction, sir? Or do you want to trade?" the young woman asked, somewhat surprised.

Jiang Hao replied without a second thought, "Trade."

Hearing this, the young woman seemed to hesitate for a moment before stepping aside. "If that is the case, please follow me."

Jiang Hao immediately stepped forward, following her toward Zone One. However, a commotion instantly rippled through the lobby.

"Another blind outsider. He’s probably going to get kicked out again."

"A prodigy from some barren wasteland who doesn’t know the rules of the Tiancheng Auction House, let alone what level of item qualifies as a rare treasure here. I’ve seen this happen so many times it’s not even surprising anymore."

Many Cultivators couldn’t help but shake their heads. They had seen this scene play out too many times. Countless prodigies who had just arrived in the Holy City didn’t know the depths of these waters. They would mistakenly believe the items in their possession were rare treasures and confidently march into Zone One. And the inevitable result was being thrown out by the Treasure Evaluators inside.

In the eyes of the crowd, this young man was most likely no exception.

As Jiang Hao followed the young woman into Zone One, dozens of Cultivators around them turned their heads, looking him up and down.

"You can tell at a glance he’s an outsider prodigy who just arrived in the Holy City. He’s going to make a fool of himself in a minute."

"I wonder if this guy will die of embarrassment later? Hahaha."

"To find out that the treasure he’s always prized isn’t even considered trash in the eyes of the Tiancheng Auction... That must be a huge blow, right?"

"Who cares? Is there a shortage of prodigies getting their egos crushed here?"

The people around them spoke without any attempt to hide their mockery. Their voices were loud enough that not only Jiang Hao, but even the young woman leading the way heard them clearly. Among these Cultivators, some had eyes full of disdain, while others deliberately raised their voices in a mock attempt at ’kindly’ reminding the young man.

The young woman secretly observed Jiang Hao’s expression to see if he would back down. After all, anything the Tiancheng Auction deemed a rare treasure was certainly no ordinary item.

Yet, Jiang Hao remained perfectly composed.

The reason was simple. He wasn’t just here to trade the pills he had refined over the years; he was also here to offload the useless items he had scavenged from the Ancient Emperor Sect’s ruins. These items included pill recipes, Cultivation Techniques, martial arts, Magical Artifacts, Secret Techniques, Array manuals, and numerous heavenly materials and earthly treasures he no longer needed.

The items from the Eighteen Divine Peaks of the Inner Sect of the Ancient Emperor Sect ruins were exceptionally rare treasures. Forget the Nanling Sacred City—even in the entire Sword Dynasty, they were virtually unseen marvels. This was especially true for the Cultivation Techniques and martial arts.

At the same time Jiang Hao entered Zone One, the small stall owner from earlier also walked in, carrying large and small bundles of pills on his back. Surprisingly, the old man headed straight for Zone One. Not only was he not stopped by the guards, but people even greeted him.

"Uncle Shen, here to trade pills again?" a receptionist in Zone One smiled brightly, clearly recognizing the old stall owner.

Old Shen returned a kind smile. "Little Ah Lian, long time no see. Where’s that girl, Xin Yi?"

"Sister Xin Yi took a young gentleman inside. He seems to be an outsider prodigy who just arrived in the Holy City. He claims to have a rare treasure he wants to trade," the young woman named Ah Lian said, lowering her voice.

Old Shen didn’t think much of it. "Doesn’t this happen every day? Just treat it as entertainment."

"Uncle Shen, do you want me to take you inside?"

"No need, no need. I’m a regular here. I’ll go in myself."

With that, Old Shen hoisted his bundles and strode inside.

Before long, he spotted the ’girl Xin Yi’ he had just mentioned. Moreover, beside Tang Xin Yi, he saw a familiar figure.

"It’s him?"

The moment he saw Jiang Hao, Old Shen was momentarily stunned. He then recalled the young woman’s words: Tang Xin Yi had taken an outsider prodigy inside.

Looking at Jiang Hao’s back, Old Shen couldn’t help but shake his head. "A poor wretch who gets frightened by three thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones... what kind of rare treasure could he possibly have? He’s destined to be taught a lesson."

Though Old Shen muttered dismissively, something compelled him to follow behind.

Quite a few Cultivators also tagged along to watch the show. In this dull and monotonous world of cultivation, watching others make a fool of themselves seemed to be a popular source of amusement.

Inside the Zone One lobby, apart from dozens of open counters, there were also over a dozen private, isolated booths. Tang Xin Yi led Jiang Hao directly to an open counter where a Treasure Evaluator was seated, rather than bringing him into one of the private booths. The implication was clear: Jiang Hao wasn’t qualified to conduct his transaction in a private booth.

"Sir, whatever rare treasure you have, you may trade it here. The Tiancheng Auction House is fair and just; we will absolutely not maliciously lowball the price.

"Of course, if you find the price unsuitable later, you can also choose to put it up for auction. We have a grand auction event next week held simultaneously across dozens of venues. It certainly won’t delay you for too long."

After saying this, Tang Xin Yi exchanged a glance with the Treasure Evaluator, an unspoken understanding passing between them.

In an instant, many Cultivators gathered around. It wasn’t the prospect of a transaction that attracted them, but the non-local aura radiating from Jiang Hao that piqued their interest.

"This aura... which Earth Realm is this prodigy from?"

"I’m not familiar with it at all; in fact, it’s incredibly alien. He probably didn’t come from any major Earth Realm."

"Most likely a prodigy from some barren wasteland. I’ve looked through almost everyone in the Prodigy Registry, and I haven’t seen this guy’s portrait."

"From a barren wasteland? What kind of rare treasure could he possibly have that’s worth bringing to Zone One?"

"Isn’t it obvious? Just a prodigy ignorant of the Holy City’s depths. These kids from barren lands are no different from frogs in a well. He probably found some piece of trash and mistook it for a priceless treasure."

"Hahaha, you’re being too blunt, sir. You could phrase it a bit more delicately."

"Hurry up and take out your self-proclaimed ’rare treasure.’ I can hardly wait."

"You really just love watching the world burn, don’t you?"

Listening to the ceaseless chatter around him, Jiang Hao finally frowned, making no move to pull out his items. The longer he hesitated, the more the crowd perceived his inaction as sudden stage fright—an apparent realization of his own foolishness.

"Sir, please proceed with the transaction quickly. There are still many people waiting behind you," Tang Xin Yi urged.

Not far away, Old Shen watched the scene and shook his head emphatically. Thinking of the treatment Jiang Hao was about to receive, he couldn’t help but feel a twinge of pity.

Some Cultivators who truly lived for the drama began to heckle him from the sidelines.

"Boy, do you even know where you are? Is this a place you have any right to step into?"

"Did you just realize you walked into the wrong place? Too scared to trade now?"

"It’s not too late to back out. Don’t wait until you pull that thing out and make us laugh our teeth off."

"Hahaha—"

Snickers echoed throughout the Zone One lobby, and Tang Xin Yi sighed inwardly. She had seen far too many of these sheltered outsider prodigies who completely lacked any self-awareness.

If it weren’t for the auction house’s rules, she wouldn’t have wanted to serve this kind of person at all.