Chapter 552: Auction Lots

Chapter 552: Chapter 552: Auction Lots

Frankly speaking, Shen Hao was also a "bumpkin who hasn’t seen the world." He’d been to the Prince Mansion, met Third-grade Officials, visited Sects and seen Profound Sea Realm bosses, but he never had a direct impression of the so-called "upper-tier" circles of this world, let alone lived their "upper-tier" life.

His favorite meal was "sour soup noodles with chili," and his favorite drink was still Wuliangye; no matter how good the tea was, it was just to quench his thirst. What he wore or used was all about comfort, not "luxury." And with silver coins flowing in endlessly, Shen Hao never felt he was any different from the so-called "upper-tier."

But now he could feel it.

The incense burning in the private room was said to cost "one tael of gold per tael of incense," with effects hyped up to be all-purpose. The tea leaves, too, were so expensive that a single cup could take care of a regular person’s yearly expenses.

So this was what they called upper-tier? Deep inside, Shen Hao didn’t have the talent to savor it, he just felt one thing: pricey!

When he used to hang out in the Flower House, he learned what it meant to throw money around like dirt, but now, after attending this Gold Medal Auction, he realized that splashing silver coins was nothing—one had to toss Spirit Stones like sand before these people would look at you differently.

Lower-grade Spirit Stones were thrown out by the hundreds without even a frown.

Mid-grade Spirit Stones were tossed in handfuls, and they’d still be grinning like they were just tossing regular stones.

Upper-grade Spirit Stones were seen less often, and when they came out, it was usually as auction items rather than hard currency.

The Spirit Stones in Shen Hao’s hand couldn’t even stir up a ripple here, and he didn’t intend to use them anyway. He only pressed the bidding machine by the window when auction items came up that could be paid for in silver coins. Each press meant one bid—if the light flashed, it meant your bid succeeded, if not, someone beat you to that price and you’d have to try again at the next one.

Silver coins weren’t as valuable as Spirit Stones, but it’s not like everyone looked down their noses at them. Besides, those participating in the auction might be loaded, but the people providing items for auction weren’t necessarily wealthy. Plenty of folks needed silver coins for food or to trade for other resources.

What caught Shen Hao’s eye was a Middle-Grade Defense Disc. With this thing, if he ever needed to meditate in seclusion or camp outdoors, he’d be set—it wouldn’t be like before, when he had to rely totally on his own senses for safety.

This thing wasn’t cheap, but silver coins were allowed for the bidding. Normally, any good stuff that allowed silver coins to bid would be fiercely contested—usually going for many times the starting price, but this time was an exception.

Because when the auctioneer on stage received Shen Hao’s bid from his private box, he immediately used the sound-amplifying array to offer a "reminder," saying: "Deputy Thousand Households Shen Hao from Black Banner Battalion, Lord Shen’s bid has succeeded! Is there anyone who would like to bid higher than Lord Shen?"

Seriously, is that even something you say out loud? Several people who had just raised their signs or were about to press the bidding machine in their private boxes froze on the spot.

The mere mention of Black Banner Battalion would make people wary, not to mention it was that "infamously famous" Shen Shaxing himself in person.

Before, people could still pretend not to know, but now, how could they keep up the act?

Aside from cursing the Fengri City auction for being shameless, what could they do? Offending Shen Shaxing over one lousy Disc?

So after Shen Hao’s bid, the place fell silent. There was plenty of discontent, but no one dared step up to outbid him. Fortunately, the item’s listing was marked as a "house lot," meaning the auction itself acquired the piece and was selling it—it wasn’t a consigned item from someone else, so no one was getting slighted. Fengri City’s auction was just selling Shen Hao some face.

"Master, did you get it? Did you really get it?"

The three Xia Nu were so curious—just press that circular machine and you could buy things? They didn’t even see any money change hands! This was nothing like the market outside! And so many people fighting for one item, so expensive, so very expensive!

Even one hundred or one thousand taels already seemed outrageous to Xia Nu, but now the units were in the tens of thousands—this disregard for money was way beyond Xia Nu’s comprehension.

"Of course I got it; it’ll be delivered in a bit." Shen Hao lounged back in his chair, munching on a handful of dried fruit as he spoke.

So the three Fox Women left the window and stuck close to Shen Hao, their eyes flicking toward the door from time to time, curious if it would really be delivered.

It didn’t take long before a clerk knocked, entered with a yellow wooden box in his hands.

"Lord Shen, here is your Magic Disc, please inspect it." The clerk placed the box respectfully before Shen Hao, then stood obediently to the side. There was also another attendant dressed as a servant waiting nearby.

Opening the box, Shen Hao picked up the Magic Disc and tested it—no issues. Then he handed the winning silver notes to the servant who had followed the clerk in. The other party then issued a receipt to Shen Hao, marking the end of the transaction.

"This is quite a deal—at least fifty percent below the usual price, a real bargain." The two Guards from the Commander’s Office who’d accompanied Shen Hao saw right away how much of a steal he’d managed. Not that they were surprised—given Shen Hao’s current status, getting a few perks from an auction to maintain connections was normal. They’d seen it all before.

Too bad Shen Hao didn’t know the ropes—if he did, he would’ve gone for something even pricier as his first buy; the auction would still have given him a discount and he’d have scored an even bigger bargain.

Shen Hao just smiled. He actually understood all this, just couldn’t be bothered to explain.

And so, the first auction concluded in a lively manner. Shen Hao had bagged a Defensive Disc. The rest of the items either didn’t interest him or were beyond his means.

Afterwards, Shen Hao led the three Fox Women around the other halls of the auction, watching acrobatics, eating snacks, just like a stroll in the park. It wasn’t until afternoon that the second auction session began.

The second session wasn’t in the main hall but in a side room, with three auctions happening simultaneously. The format was still respectable, but compared to the main hall’s event in the morning, it was definitely a notch lower.

"Master, let’s take a look! I think there’s an acrobatics show over there!" Hong Chou and Brocade and Silk wanted to go to one of the side hall auctions, since they’d spotted the word "acrobatics" on the auction details at the entrance—it seemed there’d be a performance during the interval.

Shen Hao glanced at the auction details at the entrance. There was a list of auction items, and truth be told, a few did catch his eye. For example, several High Tier Talismans—not attack or defense types, but auxiliary ones. One was particularly striking, called the "Sky Soaring Talisman," which supposedly granted the user short-term, high-speed flight for the time it takes to burn one incense stick.

This was something Shen Hao wanted to try and buy. Plus, Talismans were external consumables, so their prices tended to stay reasonable.

"Let’s go in and have a look."

Since it was in a side room, there weren’t any private boxes like in the main venue. Even with his special gold medal, Shen Hao could only sit in the front row.