Above them hung an elegant plaque bearing three golden characters. Red Pine Auction House.
Mo Xuan quietly studied the building as they approached. Every visible guard carried a stable, well-honed cultivation, but beyond that, he sensed several stronger auras deliberately kept out of view. Well-dressed attendants moved through the entrance, greeting each arriving guest with practised, professional smiles.
A young attendant stepped forward with a perfectly composed smile. "Welcome. May I see your admission tokens?"
Yu Lianxue reached into her cloak and produced the four jade admission tokens she'd purchased earlier after slipping away to inquire about the auction. The attendant examined each one carefully before handing them back. "Second-floor seating," he said, gesturing toward the entrance behind him. "This evening's auction will begin shortly. Please follow the lantern markings."
The four of them stepped through, and the interior surpassed even Mo Xuan's expectations. The entrance hall rose several floors high beneath an enormous domed ceiling painted with flowing clouds and crimson pines, the artwork catching the light of countless crystal lamps set into every corner of the space. A circular auction stage occupied the very centre of the hall, surrounded by rows of ascending seats that curved outward like the inside of a bowl. Private rooms overlooked everything from the upper floors, each one concealed behind heavy silk curtains that gave their occupants a view without exposing them in return.
Mo Xuan's gaze swept across the hall as they made their way to their assigned seats along the second floor. The view from there overlooked the entire hall — perfect for watching everything unfold without drawing much attention themselves.
Guests continued arriving below in a steady stream. A group dressed in matching green robes entered together, moving with the easy familiarity of people used to attending events like this as a unit.
"Greenwood Sect," Lianxue murmured, identifying them.
Another group wore dark crimson clothing embroidered with wolves along the collar and sleeves. "Iron Wolf Clan," she added a moment later.
An elderly man carrying an enormous sabre walked in entirely alone, cutting a path through the crowd.
Lianyan leaned against the railing, nodding toward the floor below. "Look."
Mo Xuan followed her gaze across the hall. The seats had filled almost completely now, the earlier noise gradually softening into a low, anticipatory murmur as everyone settled into place.
The lamps above the central stage brightened all at once, and a beautiful woman wearing elegant crimson robes stepped gracefully onto the platform. Her cultivation was not notably remarkable by room standards, but her presence undeniably was — as soon as she arrived, all conversations in the hall effortlessly paused, as if everyone had been waiting solely for her appearance.
She smiled. "Honoured guests. Welcome... to tonight's Red Pine Auction." Her clear voice carried effortlessly across the enormous space without any visible strain. "My name is Hong Yue. I'll be overseeing tonight's auction." She paused just long enough for the room to settle completely into silence. "As always, the rules remain simple," she said, her smile unchanged. "No disrupting the auction. Those who violate these rules will be escorted out."
Hong Yue clapped her hands gently, and a young attendant walked onto the stage carrying a jade tray covered with crimson silk. The cloth was lifted away, revealing a pale-blue herb resting inside a crystal display box, its leaves curved into shapes resembling tiny crescent moons.
"First item," Hong Yue announced. "A Moonpetal Frost Herb, harvested from the northern ice ranges. As many are aware, attaining the Soul Spirit realm is difficult. This rare herb greatly improves one's chance of breaking into the Soul Spirit Realm without damaging one's foundation."
She let the words settle before adding, "The heavenly tribulation, however, remains yours to face."
A wave of murmurs broke out at that, considerably louder than the polite hum that had greeted the item's reveal a moment earlier. Several disciples in the general seating turned to whisper urgently to their companions. Up in the curtained rooms, at least two panels shifted as their occupants leaned forward with sudden, undisguised interest. Even Jin Bao straightened in his seat.
She lifted one hand slightly. "The starting price — three hundred Lower Spirit Stones."
The hall remained quiet for a moment. Then—
"Three hundred fifty," a voice called out from somewhere below.
"Four hundred."
"Four hundred twenty."
The bidding climbed steadily from there, voices overlapping as the price crept upward in small, competitive increments.
Mo Xuan and the others watched in silence.
The herb ultimately fetched a price of six hundred and eighty Spirit Stones.
Jin Bao inhaled sharply beside him, pressing his hand against his chest. "Six hundred and eighty," he repeated under his breath.
One item after another followed in quick succession. A Grade Four sword, its blade humming faintly even resting on its display stand, went to a bidder in the Iron Wolf Clan's section. Spirit Beast cores, sorted by tier and element, moved through the crowd in a steady trickle of transactions. Rare ores mined from locations Mo Xuan had never heard of before tonight sold for prices that made Jin Bao visibly wince in secondhand sympathy. Formation plates, medicinal pills, and a scattering of smaller curiosities rounded out the early lots.
Mo Xuan himself won a modest alchemy book late in the evening, with so little competition in the bidding that he almost didn't need to raise his hand before it was secured. He slipped the thin volume into his storage ring without ceremony.
The atmosphere in the hall gradually grew warmer as the night wore on, the crowd loosening with every successful sale, conversations picking back up between lots as people compared notes on what they'd won or lost.
By the tenth lot, the atmosphere had changed; the more prominent guests — the ones seated in the private, curtained rooms above — had begun participating with real seriousness, their bids arriving sharper and faster than the earlier, more casual rounds. Hong Yue managed each escalation with the same calm confidence she started the evening with, maintaining her rhythm even as the figures rose to a level that caused most of the general seating to fall silent just to listen.
Then Hong Yue's smile shifted, taking on something faintly mysterious as she addressed the room again. "Our next treasure," she said, letting the words hang a moment before continuing, "comes from an ancient ruin."
The attendants carried out a wooden box, and immediately it was clear this lot was unlike anything that had come before it.
"The next item this evening," she announced, "is a complete cultivation manual, recovered whole and intact — a rarity in itself."
She let the weight of that settle before continuing. "It details a technique from an ancient lineage, over five centuries old."
The hall reacted instantly.
In the curtained private rooms, several silk panels rustled as their occupants leaned forward all at once. Even from the second floor, Mo Xuan could hear the faint murmur of interest sweep through the VIP seating like a current just beneath the surface of the room.
"Starting bid," Hong Yue said, "one thousand two hundred Spirit Stones, and every increase starts at three hundred Spirit Stones."
The opening bid alone was enough to silence most of the general seating outright, but the private rooms didn't hesitate.
"One thousand five hundred." The voice came from behind one of the curtained balconies, calm and certain.
"One thousand eight hundred," another voice answered almost immediately, sharper, clearly unwilling to be outpaced.
"Two thousand."
The numbers climbed rapidly between the VIP rooms, each bid arriving faster than the last, until it became clear the contest had narrowed down to perhaps three or four serious parties among the curtained balconies. Yet the rules of the house, as Hong Yue reminded the room with an easy smile, allowed anyone present to bid regardless of seating — and a few voices from the general floor did try, briefly, before being swallowed entirely by the pace the VIP rooms had set.
"Two thousand five hundred," came a new voice, edged with impatience.
"Three thousand." This one landed flatly, almost bored, from a balcony that hadn't spoken until now.
Hong Yue's gaze swept the room once, waiting a beat longer than usual before finally nodding. "Sold. Three thousand Spirit Stones, to the honoured guest in Room Seven."
Hong Yue allowed the room a moment to settle before continuing, her earlier composed brightness giving way to something more measured. "For our final item this evening," she said, pausing. "Welcome, Elder."
A murmur of surprise rippled through the crowd at that. Hong Yue bowed slightly and stepped back towards the edge of the stage. In her place, an old man walked out from behind the curtains at the rear of the platform — his robes plain, his movements unhurried. Yet the moment he stepped onto the stage, the air in the hall seemed to shift subtly around him.
Even the murmurs died immediately.
"This lot," the elder said, his voice carrying without any evident effort at all, "requires oversight beyond what our auctioneer is authorised to provide." He said it plainly, without any hint of insult toward Hong Yue, who inclined her head in agreement from where she stood.
The elder lifted one hand, and from behind the curtain, two attendants wheeled out a mysterious box, its surface layered with formation locks that pulsed faintly under the crystal lamplight.