YM778.TV Chapter 206: One year (Part 2)
Time passed leisurely, and Xie Qing didn\'t even notice how these three months passed. He devoted a month to each woman and enjoyed their company.
Over the year, his strength had significantly increased, and he had gained many insights into his Dao. However, all of this brought him less joy than embracing his beloved woman.
***
Of course, Xie Qing\'s dream was to laze around and spend his days carefree, but now he also wanted to take care of some matters.
According to Xu Mei, Liu Yang had managed to find ingredients that could replace the missing ones for the pill. However, there had been no particular success in refining the pill yet; the recipe was too complex.
Among the recent news, two months after Xie Qing\'s seclusion, the devilish path launched a large-scale attack and activated formations, turning mortals into dangerous monsters.
With the combined strength of the sects, the monsters were defeated, but the cost of victory was heavy. This only made him more disappointed in his own powerlessness.
The other side had the ability to access the outside world, while the righteous path could not find a way in. This caused waves of discontent, but what could mortals do? They could hardly protect themselves, so despite their obvious dissatisfaction, they tried not to express their thoughts aloud.
Xie Qing was gloomy when he learned of the losses. It was a disgrace. If he had his way, he would have stormed the barrier and killed everyone there, but two devilish lords would kill him before he could do anything. His mood had been bad in recent days, so he decided to go for a walk in the capital. Who would have thought...
"Hm?"
As he approached the capital\'s gates, the first thing the young man saw was a crowd of people. Although this was a common sight in this place, Xie Qing still heard something strange. It seemed that they... Hm?
"Is someone fighting?" He wondered, approaching the onlookers.
The first thing he saw was a cultivator at the fifth stage of the Soul Nascent realm. His Qi was unstable.
"What nonsense! Why did you attack me, fellow Daoist?"
His opponent was an old man who was two stages weaker. His face looked pale.
"Old man, stop pretending to be a saint! Do you think I don\'t know you tried to rob me?"
"Nonsense! Slander! I won\'t let you tarnish my bright name!"
Xie Qing rolled his eyes. To him, the conflict between these two was just a kindergarten. Although he could easily beat them up, the young man waited for the imperial guards. They arrived very quickly.
"Disperse! You two are under arrest! Grab them and throw them in jail!"
"P-please wait..."
"Daoist friends, this old man is innocent... Aaaa!"
Of course, the guards did not bother to listen to them or try to figure out the situation. The capital\'s laws were written in blood. Soon, the line returned to normal, and Xie Qing entered without any problems. Since he was wearing a mask and concealing his cultivation level, he did not have to deal with any unnecessary noise regarding his identity.
"The capital is still so noisy..." the young man thought, looking around. He came here to relax, as his long seclusion had cut him off from the outside world.
"Brother, today the Jianxuan Auction House is holding a major auction! They say a precious pill created by Lady \'Spring Flower\'* herself will be up for sale!"
"Seriously? I have to go!"
"Tsk, kid, do you think they let just anyone in? Only the especially rich can get in."
"I\'ve saved up two thousand spiritual stones..."
"Two thousand? The cheapest item there will cost over ten thousand! Oh, brother, you\'re barking up the wrong tree."
Xie Qing pricked up his ears. An auction house... he had never gone to such places before because he had the system.
"Could I also put something up for sale?" he wondered.
The items from the system were high-quality and cheaper than the market. He could make a lot of money just by reselling them. However, the system had limits on the number of purchases per month, so this business was somewhat questionable. Moreover, if the items ran out, they would only be replenished after breaking through to the minor stage.
Xie Qing had bought an item for a million spiritual stones. It was a pendant for women, with properties that improved Yin Qi and a function for accumulating Qi with subsequent purification.
Items with an emphasis on improving attributes, such as Yin Qi and Yang Qi, were expensive, so few could afford them. Moreover, Xie Qing had only encountered two cultivators with Yin as their primary attribute.
"But the Yin family will definitely be interested in this item..."
The Yin family, one of the oldest families in the dynasty, stood out because it officially consisted only of women.
As far as Xie Qing knew, the Yin family selected talented men and held sessions for their descendants to conceive the next generation. Afterward, the partners had to sign a contract forbidding them from saying anything in exchange for monetary compensation. Although Xie Qing did not like men and women who offered their bodies for money, it was simply dislike.
"The Yin family has an item I need, and I have what they want..." he thought, stroking his chin: "But... will they give it up? I doubt it, considering how zealously they guard this secret. If it weren\'t for Master, I probably wouldn\'t have even known about the existence of such an item..."
To avoid unnecessary mystery, in brief - the item was a book. Its special properties were that this book would only open for the heir of the Golden Dragon bloodline. There might be heritage and techniques in there that would be a wonderful gift for Xie Qing.
***
On the day of the auction, the Jianxuan Auction House opened its doors to all guests with wealth exceeding one hundred thousand spiritual stones. This time, there would be only VIP clients to deal with.
At the moment, Xie Qing had wealth equivalent to ten million spiritual stones with him. Where did he get so much money? Before going into seclusion, he bought items from his system and gave them to Xu Mei to sell. Since he needed to break through anyway, the problem of replenishment could be forgotten.
"Hello! Welcome to Jianxuan Auction House! Are you a guest or a client?"
"I am a guest, but I would also like to put something up for sale..."
"Hm?"
The courteous employee smiled, but upon hearing Xie Qing\'s answer, a slight annoyance appeared in her eyes. However, she still responded with a smile.
"Dear guest, the rules of Jianxuan Auction House state that items for sale must be submitted strictly one week in advance. I apologize, but we can hardly make such a deal at this time..." the girl said apologetically.
"Really?" Xie Qing smiled beneath his mask and leaned forward, ignoring the employee\'s displeasure. "But I heard that different rules apply to especially valuable items."
"Eh?"
The employee was taken aback, then nodded.
"The guest is correct. We do indeed have such a rule, but you must understand that we only accept truly valuable items," the girl said, adding, "I can ask our appraiser to meet with you, but please understand that if your item is not good enough, you will have to pay a penalty of one hundred spiritual stones. Are you agreeable?"
"I agree."
The girl bowed and asked Xie Qing to follow her. A slight annoyance could be seen in her eyes. It seemed that such scenes were common for her, considering how many people brought items with hopes of a better outcome.
***
Xie Qing settled into a comfortable chair inside a fairly spacious room. There was a cabinet with alcohol and glasses, two chairs, and a table between them.
Paintings hung on the walls that seemed to be a legacy from antiquity - Xie Qing could tell because he had seen something similar in Lian Lin\'s room. Although she used that painting as a fan on hot days... But that\'s a story for another time.
The door handle clicked, and the door opened. A beautiful, young woman with long, curly black hair and gray eyes entered.
Her figure was... mature. A large chest and a passionate butt could ignite the fire of desire. However, Xie Qing did not react strongly because he had seen prettier girls. Moreover, as an experienced guy, he had self-control. So, after a glance that lasted less than a second, he greeted the woman with a smile.
"Greetings."
"Hello. My name is Xian Jue, I am an appraiser," the woman said, sitting down on the chair and continuing brightly, "I have been informed of your request. I don\'t want to seem rude, but I must warn you that if the quality is poor, you will have to pay a penalty. So, if you are not confident, we can pretend that nothing happened."
Xie Qing smiled upon hearing the woman\'s monologue, which seemed skeptical of him from the start. Of course, this was normal. Xie Qing\'s identity was unknown, and he did not emit a single drop of Qi, making people think he was a mortal.
"Don\'t worry, I wouldn\'t have come here without confidence," Xie Qing replied casually and took out a wooden box. "Please, you may begin."
===
* I\'m sure you forgot, but...
Spring Flower is the Daoist name given to Liu Yan by the cultivation world.