"The auction tomorrow is so sudden", said a young man at a table on the ground floor while talking to two others sitting with him.
"I know, right? With such short notice, how do they expect people to prepare for it?" responded a middle-aged man as he was wolfing down his steak.
"Perhaps something happened. Maybe they got a rare item and couldn't wait to make some money," responded another.
"Well, the mystery will be solved tomorrow, won't it?
I just hope that we'll be able to get in," replied the young man.
"Even if we get in, do you think we'll be able to afford anything inside. We'll basically just be going there to watch a show."
Adrian listened to all this with an amused expression on his face. 'So that was why he was rushing. He was probably trying to gather enough resources for the auction tomorrow.'
After learning of this information, Adrian didn't stay any longer as he paid for his meal and returned to the courtyard for some brainstorming. He played with his siblings for a while while giving them advice on their cultivation.
Olivia had already broken through and had become a first-stage Qi Condensation realm cultivator. This was a pleasant surprise to both Adrian and Jayson, and they became curious and began wondering how talented she was.
When the next day arrived, Adrian was already getting himself prepared. Given the short notice, there wasn't much he could come up with.
He had a risky plan that he was going to put into action today. Since the auction wasn't going to start until the late afternoon, he had just enough time to perfect his plan and carry it out.
The hours passed by quickly, and soon, it was mid-afternoon. A lot of people were heading toward the Golden Wheel auction house; however,
Adrian was heading in the opposite direction, towards alchemist Melvin's house. His plan was simple. He was going to steal Melvin's cauldron.
As he arrived in front of Melvin's house, he found a few guards who were at the peak of the Qi Condensation realm. Such strength couldn't threaten him, but since he was not here to fight, but steal, he couldn't dispatch them. He had to enter the manor without anyone finding out.
After finding a blind spot in the guard's formation. He nimbly scaled the wall and entered without much trouble. Because the guards were not paying full attention, this act of his didn't garner any attention.
Meanwhile, at the Golden Wheel auction house, Melvin was sitting in a private room on the second floor of the auction house.
There were about ten private rooms on the second floor, and Melvin could guess who was in a few of the rooms. One of them was obviously occupied by him, while another was probably occupied by the city lord.
The fact that the city lord attended such an auction on short notice signifies the importance. It also spoke of the allure of the items available for auction.
The family heads of a few small noble families would also be in a few other rooms, as they were probably the only ones who had enough prestige to be able to obtain a private room.
Melvin was quietly sipping his tea while waiting for the auction to start. The lower floor was already crowded with individuals who were able to enter.
Despite the relatively high entrance fee of 100 qi stones, many people still chose to pay in order to participate in the auction.
After a few more minutes, a beautiful young lady walked onto the stage wearing a pretty smile on her face. Immediately after her appearance, the whole suction house quieted down. Many of the men among the crowd were staring at her with lustful gazes, while some already had fantasies brewing in their minds.
However, amidst the hundreds of gazes on her, not only was the young lady not nervous, her smile was still as bright as ever. She bowed her head slightly towards the private rooms while saying,
"Greetings esteemed guests, welcome to the Golden Wheel auction house. My name is Amanda, and I'll be your auctioneer for today".
As soon as she said this, she clapped her hands as another woman brought out a pill bottle placed on a silver tray.
"Our first item today is a batch of Bronze grade blood Qi pills. Each bottle contains ten pills that can help anyone in the qi condensation realm have a 30% chance of breaking through to a minor realm while cultivating.
The starting price for each bottle of 1000 low-grade Qi stones and each increment must be at least 50 low-grade Qi stones".
As soon as her voice fell, shouts started to ring out from the audience.
"1,000 low-grade Qi stones."
1,100 low-grade Qi stones."
"2000 low-grade Qi stones."
"Fuck, brother let's pool our money together so we can buy it. We'll share the pills later."
As the shouting continued, the price finally stagnated at 3500 Qi stones and was sold to a middle-aged man standing within the crowd.
The man had an excited expression on his face as he couldn't wait to get his hands on the pills.
The next few bottles were sold at a similar price. However, on the ninth bottle, the price reached 4,000 Qi stones while the tenth sold for 4,700 Qi stones.
Amanda had a smile on her face. The auction had started on a great note. She was naturally happy to see such cheap pills going for such prices.
If they were to be sold in a store, they would only be able to be sold for about 2000 low-grade Qi stones.
When the final bottle was brought out, the price rose to 5000 low-grade Qi stones. It was eventually purchased by a group of people who pulled their resources together.
Their eyes sparkled as they almost fought amongst each other about who to collect the pills. Their display caused the crowd to burst into laughter, charging up the atmosphere.