Zhang Longwei

Meanwhile, down on the auction floor, the goods were sold. Lingman had been watching the auction and would notify the others when anything good was announced.

Nothing suitable had been announced by the time the deal had been struck. Lingyun sat down next to his brother and looked into the audience. The young Blood cult member was looking right at him. With his sensitivity, he could feel the blood lust coming from him. He knew that there must be some bad history between his Ling clan and the Blood cult.

As they resettled in their chairs Zhangmei had just finished auctioning off a set of flying sword arrays. The tensions were continuing to rise on the floor. As people competed with each other for the goods that were being sold they also tried to measure the wealth of the other patrons among them.

"It's coming," Lingman said as he noticed that the stage had become a flurry of activity.

Some bulky men walked in carrying two large boxes. They were made of black metal wood and one had blue inscriptions while the other which was nearly three times as large had red inscriptions.

"This is what you have been waiting for," Zhangmei said. She nodded and an old man with white hair and a long flowing white beard appeared as if out of thin air. He held a cane that was nearly as tall as he was. He had a scholarly aura about him. His mysterious blue eyes seemed to hold depths of the ocean in knowledge.

He tapped his cane lightly to the ground and lines of array inscriptions flowed surrounding the entire stage as well as the four people within it.

"Who is that?" Lingyun asked aloud.

"That is Zhang Long Wei," Zhangxuan said, "he is the former patriarch of the clan."

"What? I thought he died nearly five centuries ago," Lingman exclaimed. If this was true the power balance in the state would shift instantly. It seemed that Zhangxuan had spoken loudly enough that the people in the general audience hall had heard him

"Indeed, so did we. The last time anyone saw him, he was going into death seclusion." Death seclusion was when a martial artist reaching the end of their lifespan would go into secluded training either to make a final breakthrough or to die. It seemed that he had succeeded where everyone thought he would die.

Zhang Longwei raised his hand and even though everyone was still speaking no sound could be heard. Eventually, people stopped talking and he nodded to Zhangmei, "You can proceed."

"I won't waste any more time," She walked towards each chest and opened it. Inside them were distinct spherical stones about the size of a fist. They all shone with an inner light with one box being all red and the other all blue. She took out one of each and then shut the boxes.

The old man made a seal with his hand and their aura that was confined to the stage started leaking to the audience. For about two minutes the hall was filled with very rich yin and yang qi so pure that it circulated his body without prior order from him. Lingyun finally understood why all these figures had turned up today. Any person who got hold of even one of those would see their cultivation base rise significantly in such a short amount of time.

Zhang Longwei made another seal and the yin-yang aura stopped leaking. This was enough of a selling point that everyone was not unlike a hungry wolf. Once the initial excitement had died down and only a small murmur was going on Zhangmei took back control of the crowd.

"The terms of this exchange are simple," she began, " There are one hundred thousand Red Yang Essense stones and ten thousand Blue Yin Essense stones."

"What we are selling is not just the stone essence but also the entrance token to the secret realm where our clan ancestor made his breakthrough during his death seclusion. The price of this trade is anything above the Great Earth Tree realm."

"This..."

"So expensive.."

There was dissension in the crowd about the price but even when someone knew the real intention of this auction they were still tempted. Lingfeng looked back at Zhangxuan at this moment.

The Zhang clan was being extremely crafty with this auction. Getting to the Great Earth Tree realm was extremely difficult and the fact that that was the bare minimum for the auction meant that there was something in the secret realm that made it easier to break through. They would also take this chance to strengthen their clan while also denting the strength of their enemy faction.

"This old man is quite shrewd, " Xiaoya said, "He must have found some great treasures for him to make such a requirement. He is going to strengthen his clan in one fell swoop using resources from other factions."

"There are only fifteen thousand entry slots available, we shall give you time to confer. There is a trial pavilion in the secret realm for those below the Profound Core Mortal realm where they can gain an inheritance. The trade will start tomorrow." Zhangmei said. With that Zhang Longwei waved his hand and the two boxes were swept into his storage. Anyone who might have had any thoughts of robbing the place would have to think twice.

In no time at all people had already left. No doubt many were going to send messages to their clans and sects about what had happened. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The price was steep but if they found ancient treasures they could increase their cultivation and the overall strength of their factions.

For the rest of the day, the entire city was abuzz with stories and rumours about Zhang Longwei and what had happened at the auction house. Lingman left to inform the clan.

"Uncle, what do you think of all this," Linghua asked as they were having their food. They were in the top restaurant and Zhangxuan had offered to host them.

"A secret realm is both an opportunity and a curse. You may be separated from your allies or the challenges might actually kill you as you aim for the inheritance." Lingfeng said.

"Indeed to be a martial artist is to be greedy, but when you don't know your limits you may end up crossing the yellow river," Zhangxua said looking directly at Lingyun.

Lingyun stood up to leave. "Father, Uncle Zhang we'll be heading back first," he said and stood up. His brother was quick on the uptake and bowed and left with him.

There were a few stops to be made along the way in preparation.

They had been assigned to the same compound at the Ling Mansion. Linghua pulled out his new sword and started practice. Lingyun was tempted to do the same but he had to make preparations for the auction. If the clan purchases essence stones they would probably be on restricted use. He wanted to have his own stock of items.