Chapter 31: A Divine Sword, The Beginning of the Auction
Thunk!
Except for the sound of the sword hitting the ground, the entire room was completely devoid of sound as everyone tracked the destruction caused by the steel sword aided by gravity. Appraiser Wu's eyes bulged, as he hurriedly grasped at his chest, fishing out a terminal. Panting fiercely for breath, he quickly established a communications line with someone, before excitedly shouting,
"Manager Tang, come down to Examination Room 5! We've got a massive hit for this auction tonight!"
Li Mo Shang waited patiently at the side until the side door burst open five minutes later, a relatively bulky and fat man rushing through. Settling his eyes on the embedded steel sword and the nearby carnage that was previously a cast-iron desk, the man stood still, eyes flying everywhere. Appraiser Wu hurriedly rushed towards the man, giving a bow as he respectfully saluted.
"Manager Tang, you've come!"
"Where's the sword? Is it that one there?"
Hastily acknowledging Appraiser Wu's bow with a shake of his hand, Manager Tang carefully strode towards the embedded steel sword, surveying it from different angles. Eventually, he lightly tapped the pommel with his index finger, of which the blade promptly sprang out and clattered onto the ground.
The originally slender chasm created by the blade widened significantly from the extraction of the blade, which was captured by Manager Tang. Carefully picking the blade up with both hands and scrutinizing it, Manager Tang looked over at Li Mo Shang, his gaze expectant.
"Young man, did you bring this sword in?"
"Yes, it was mine. This sword- "
"Excellent! What's the secret behind it? The sword was obviously hand-forged using some ancient forging technique, but there's not a single mark that reveals what method was used? Where did you find it? Who made it?"
Firing off a barrage of questions and not even giving Li Mo Shang time to ponder and give his answer, Manager Tang made space before experimentally swinging the sword. Loudly praising the meticulously planned weight distribution and the blade's sharpness, Manager Tang became immersed in practice swings, quickly losing track of the situation.
Amidst a round of muffled grunts and suppressed roars of excitement, Li Mo Shang answered the questions for Appraiser Wu, who then diligently recorded it on a sheet of paper before storing it in a chest pocket.
"As far as what I know, this sword was found within the secluded forest near Withered Springs resort. The exact maker and forging method is still unknown, but I estimated it to be at least a thousand years old given the blade construction style. Although, the flower petals and crane engravings reveal the blade to be from the Zhou Qi dynastical period."
Li Mo Shang gave a smooth answer, sufficiently satisfying Appraiser Wu even if information was not completely provided. When making the blade, Li Mo Shang had followed the general procedures he had taken while forging his nameless spiritual sword, before executing a watered-down version to create the sword excitedly being "used" by Manager Tang.
The crane and flower petal engravings was from an excerpt of wandering Zhou Qi poet Wang Zi Shou, who had commented that the Empress' ceremonial blade was 'swift as a crane and delicate as a flower'. The sword was barely short of a meter in length and eight centimeters in width, as well as two centimeters in thickness. This sword, although frighteningly sharp, could only count as a ceremonial sword, for almost all of the weight was diverted towards the handle.
Li Mo Shang had assumed that there would be sword enthusiasts in tonight's auction, hence he created a sword requiring a high difficulty for mastery.
As Manager Tang was ignored and left alone to vent his cravings with the sword, Appraiser Wu began talking about the price with Li Mo Shang. Beckoning with his hand, the nearby maids quickly deposited a specialized notepad and pen into his hands before retreating. Speaking excitedly with several specks of spittle flying from his lips, Appraiser Wu shook with anticipation regarding tonight's auction.
"Alright young man, let's start hashing out the price. For metalcraft, the Treasure Pavilion has a flat cut of 2 percent of any profit from the auction, the rest allotted to you. As for the initial price, we can set it based on the craftmanship, material composition and purity, and finally the performance of the blade. The quality of steel in the blade is extremely pure, without any significant concentrations of other elements detectable within, hence it should be priced at three times of market value. The craftsmanship reveals no flaws, although the blade is a bit shorter than a typical longsword. I think the three-four times the price of a regular ceremonial short sword should be a decent starting value, and the performance is extraordinary! Honestly, I don't know what value to place it as, it's simply too marvelous, where even the slightest pressure will cause the blade to cut, although simply leaving it alone will not damage anything. Truly a masterpiece, a divine sword!"
As Appraiser Wu continued his rant, he eventually settled for an initial value of 13.2 billion RMB for the auction. Li Mo Shang had no qualms as constructing the blade merely took a few seconds and two strands of spiritual qi from the third orbital layer.
These types of swords, he could form hundreds of within moments, but attempting to profit off of these "antiques" would pose to be detrimental in the long run. Hence, Li Mo Shang settled for a one time reveal for every item he would bring to the Treasure Pavilion, maintaining a healthy selling price. People only paid vast amounts for objects of extreme rarity, after all.
Receiving a receipt of which he would require to claim the profits within a few hours, Li Mo Shang satisfactorily departed from the Treasure Pavilion branch housed in Nan Qing, leaving Appraiser Wu to struggle the steel sword from Manager Tang's crazed swings. Stepping into a secluded alleyway, he manipulated the <Cold Wind's Trace>, his image swiftly disappearing under the revolving cold winds, before becoming invisible.
It was only back within Magnolia Dormitory that he released his mirror image, heading towards his room to practice creating other weapons. This time, he would attempt to form a spear.
-
Seven hours past noon, Li Mo Shang waited for Wan Xue at the campus entrance as per her persistent pestering in the afternoon, casually conversing with the guards. Dressed in a black suit with a dark blue tie, Li Mo Shang wore a pair of fake glasses before imbuing spiritual qi in his eyes, changing their color to a faint azure.
Carrying himself with the demeanor of a rich young master instead of a university student, Li Mo Shang appeared unrecognizable when contrasted to his former self, receiving curious stares from the nearby students as they entered the campus. Just then, Wan Xue could be seen wandering out of the gates with a confused expression on her face, constantly sweeping her gaze around as if searching for someone. Giving a light cough, Li Mo Shang stepped forwards, calling out.
"Ms. Wan."
"Huh…? Stu-I mean, Mr. Li?"
Wan Xue could not help but stare at him in confusion for a short moment, before recognition shone within her eyes. Swiftly approaching Li Mo Shang, she handed her identification to the guard to verify before addressing Li Mo Shang, nearly blurting his other identity as a student at Blue Rose University. Inwardly, Li Mo Shang palmed his face and gave a light sigh.
This woman was excruciatingly annoying for a teacher six years older than him, why was she blundering around like a teenager naïve about the world!?
"Shall we go?"
Giving another cough, Li Mo Shang quickly led Wan Xue towards a silver luxury car parked nearby, attempting to diminish his presence. However, with Wan Xue's magenta sleeveless dress with gold edged threads, moonfox skin coat, and her originally attractive beauty, Li Mo Shang acting inconspicuous made the students' curiosity of his identity to drastically rise, a photo of his back even circulating the students' social media as "Wan Xue's mysterious lover".
Li Mo Shang could clearly remember himself telling Wan Xue not to worry so much about physical appearance, so he could only endlessly sigh but remain silent while driving towards the auction.
This month's auction was located in the north sector of Blue Rose City, in a popular auction house named the "Phoenix Roost". Quite literally a display of wealth, the "Phoenix Roost" was constructed from a black metallic substance, with golden engravings of phoenixes on the sides. The entrance was decorated with bronze sculptures of lions, dragons, and a nine-tailed fox, with many people streaming through the gates.
Li Mo Shang took note that although many dressed quite luxuriously, there were several plainly dressed, slightly more formal clothing than work uniforms. Li Mo Shang and Wan Xue were able to pass through without much attention, leading to both giving relieved sighs before admiring the interior.
A marbled flooring, stained-glass ceiling and windows, as well as jade paneling used for the walls. People were being led by waitresses to adjacent corridors, some even invited by the manager himself, members of royal families included within.
Seeing a waitress approaching them, Li Mo Shang paid the 30,000 RMB fee for a private room, before they were guided to a small but comfortable balcony room. Although a little plain compared to the grandiose foyer hall, Li Mo Shang preferred the private room compared to the riser seats in the lower levels of the auction. There were several recliners angled towards the uni-directional window allowing a clear view of the auction, and even a table of fruits and snacks.
Peering through the window, Li Mo Shang could determine that the auction room was quite similar to an auditorium's design, with dozens of rows of seats spanning across the entire chamber. Li Mo Shang estimated around just over a thousand guests as the maximum capacity of the auction, his eyes carefully surveying each person.
Wan Xue fidgeted nervously in her recliner, refusing to look outside. As the seats gradually filled, the lights dimmed a little, before a middle-aged man stepped onto the stage, dressed in ancient-themed official robes of green. His voice could be heard over the announcement system, attracting everyone's attention and silencing the hall. Li Mo Shang could see several peoples' eyes light up upon the words of the middle-aged man.
"Attention, ladies and gentlemen! The Treasured Mid-Annual Festival Auction will begin! Tonight, there is a myriad of rare treasures waiting for your possession! To not tarry and diminish your excitement, I will conclude by alerting you that the previous auction's highlights will appear once more! With that, best regards, and may luck be with you!"
The middle-aged man bowed low before stepping off the stage. Soon after, a beautiful woman dressed in a black and blue qiaopao emerged, walking directly onto the middle of the stage. Holding a large covered silver dish, the woman placed the dish onto a prepared table before bowing, her soft and seductive voice echoing throughout the auditorium and fixating the audience's attention.
"Hello! My name is Sun Zhen Zhen, and I will be tonight's commissioner! Without ado, let us begin tonight's auction! Please do give Zhen Zhen a large cheque tonight!"
Winking towards the audience, Su Zhen Zhen uncovered the dish, revealing a tattered tome held within a glass case. As the audience gazed in curiosity, Su Zhen Zhen began to explain, the contents grabbing Li Mo Shang's attention as his eyes briefly gleamed with an indeterminable light.
"The first item auctioned tonight is an antique from the ancient empires hundreds of years ago. From our Treasured Pavilion's translation experts, we have determined the title of the tome to be <A Record of Immortal Medicines>. After briefly reviewing the book, the contents have been decrypted to reveal complex and unorthodox of combining, preparing, and utilizing medicinal herbs to achieve a myriad of effects! The initial price will be 15,000 RMB, with a minimum increment of 750 RMB!"
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