The Auction Begins!

Lin Ke felt soft, silky smooth hair tickle his arm. Then, he felt a weight on his right shoulder. Looking over, Lin Ke froze. Lia had fallen asleep, right next to Lin Ke. Her head rested on Lin Ke's shoulders as her hair billowed out across her face.

She was so close Lin Ke could smell her scent. It was a faint, refreshing lavender smell that made Lin Ke want to continue smelling it. She was so close he could see every detail of her face.

Lia's sleeping face was so calm, so peaceful, it was like an angel. Every muscle on her face relaxed, and it was as if she had nothing to worry about. Her mouth was slightly open, making her seem even cuter.

Of course, Lin Ke couldn't help but feel nervous. On one hand, he kind of enjoyed this sensation, this new experience. On the other hand, Lin Ke instinctively wanted to back away. However, after thinking about it, Lin Ke decided to stay as still as possible. It didn't seem like Lia was able to have a good rest in the past few days. If that was the case, she should take advantage of any opportunity to sleep.

Lin Ke slowly tilts his head over to Ami, trying as hard as possible not to disturb Lia. With his left hand, he gestures at Lia, then at the lights, as he tries to motion to Ami to dim the lights a little.

Ami looks at Lin Ke, sees the sleeping Lia, and her face softens. She nods, and waves her hand, causing the lights to dim considerably. Lin Ke was still able to make out the feature of the room with his cultivation, but the room was most definitely darker.

Suddenly, the stage became bright, illuminated by countless stage lights. This gave Lin Ke a direct view of the stage beneath. The stage was set at the bottom, with rows and rows of seats slowly trickling upwards. The seats were mostly filled, and there were about a few hundred people in the room.

In the center of all this light was a man wearing a tailored made suit. He had longish hair slicked back into a small man bun, and his facial features were extremely hard. He had some stubble on his chin but it was neatly trimmed.

"Good afternoon, honored guests!" The man's voice resonated through the auction room. Behind the glass wall, the voice was muffled slightly, but still fully audible.

The moment this man began talking, Lin Ke immediately craned his neck over to see if LIa had been disturbed. Turns out, he was worrying about nothing. Lia was fast asleep, only shifting her face a little.

"Welcome to the Monthly Artifact Hall Auction, I'm your host, Mike Haws. Today, we have quite the series of goods for you! Throughout the past month, a lot has occurred, causing some items to surface. Now, allow me to introduce the first item on sale."

A worker wheeled out a small pedestal covered by a thin fabric.

"This is a special stone, recovered from deep underground. It has an extremely special use, especially for those who are in the Soul Cultivation Realm. This stone can help increase the chances of you stepping into the Soul Cultivation Realm by almost 10%!" Mike shouts excitedly.

With a quick tug, Mike pulls off the thin cloth, revealing a bright red ruby. It gave off a mysterious aura, and it was unquestionably unique.

When the crowd saw the object they began to roar in excitement.

"Supreme Soulstone!" Someone shouted.

"Really really! The moving lines in the red stone… That mysterious, undeniable aura… That bright red color!!!"

The crowd erupts, all of the clammering and talking heatedly to each other.

"Honored guests! Please calm down. We shall start the auction here with this item. The starting bid will be 1 Mid-Grade Chaos Stone."

"1 Mid-grade Chaos Stone and 200 Low-grade!"

"1 Mid-grade and 800 Low-grade!"

"2 Mid-grade Chaos Stones!"

"2 Mid-grade and 400 Low-grade Chaos Stones!!!"

The crowd called out many different numbers, each higher than the last. The price kept climbing higher and higher.

"4 Mid-grade Chaos Stones!" Someone called.

"Don't fight with me! I'll be taking this home! 4 Mid-grade Chaos Stones and 300 Low-grade Chaos Stones!"

"5 Mid-grade Chaos Stones!" Someone shouts.

At this point, the callers have already dwindled by a bit. There were still people calling out numbers, but nowhere as noisy as it was at the start.

"6 Mid-grade Chaos Stones!"

"6 Mid-grade Chaos Stones and 200 Low-grade Chaos Stones."

"15 Mid-grade Chaos Stones!"

For a moment, silence pervades. Someone had just shouted out a number much higher than what anyone thought they would. The voice resonated through the large auction room. It came from Higher up, behind one of the walls. It was someone in a VIP room.

This huge hike up in price threw everyone off. They were going up steadily, but this person threw them off. Not to mention, 15 Mid-grade Chaos Stones was more than what most people could afford to spend.

"Is there a bid higher than 15 Mid-grade Chaos Stones?" Mike shouted out, clearly a little surprised too.

"15 Mid-grade Chaos Stones going once!"

"15 Mid-grade Chaos Stones going twice!"

"15 Mid-grade Chaos Stones, SOLD! Congratulations to the honored guest in VIP room #2 for winning the Supreme Soulstone!" Mike shouted.

Lin Ke looked on in interest. Who was this person who was willing to spend such a large amount of money to choke out their competition like that? Perhaps the highest that Supreme Soulstone could've gone for would have been 10 Mid-grade Chaos Stones… Not to mention, this was only the first item in the auction!

Seeing the disappointment on the faces of some of the audience members, Mike quickly moves on from the first item. "Don't be discouraged, honored guests! We still have many more precious objects that will most definitely draw your attention!"

The first pedestal is wheeled out, and followed by another one.

"This next object is a weapon! A precious sword forged by a B-class blacksmith… Able to withstand… Perfect for the use of those of the Soul Cultivation Realm…"