**Chapter 18: Shopping Trip**

"This silent auction is perfect for me because I can go wild with my buying without really having to explain where I got the money from.

I can even disguise myself as long as I have the password that was written on the piece of paper. It does not matter. I will only have to do that for the Red Steel Relic Gu as well as maybe a few others if I end up spending more money than I should have right now.

This silent auction is honestly a great opportunity to learn a lot about a great variety of different Gu, their uses, and their foods.

And that is exactly what I planned to do while searching for any and all Gu that interest me.

Light Beam Gu Rank 1

- Shoots a beam of light that penetrates and burns the target.

- Eats 1 kilogram of sunflower every 3 days.

- Will be replaced in: 02:14:47

It stood on a small pyramid-shaped podium. The side that was facing me had that description as well as a small slit to presumably put a bid in.

'Interesting, but I don't see the potential to turn it into a poison path Gu, and the use is also not something I cannot currently replicate.'

Earth Qi Gu Rank 1

- Stores a lot of Earth Qi that can be used in combination with other types of Gu.

- To feed it, bury it in the ground for 8 hours once a week.

- Will be replaced in: 00:03:11

'Now if that one were poison path, or just a general Qi Gu, I would have definitely bought it to create some killer moves...'

Small Thought Gu Rank 1

- Will make the user smarter for a short duration after use.

- One day a week, it will feed on the Gu Master's thoughts.

- Will be replaced in 05:58:12

- Attention: If you use yourself to feed this Gu, the side effects include a shortened attention span and affected creativity on the day it is fed. The long-term effects are unknown.

'A wisdom path Gu!!! I want it…'

'These guys really care about their reputation a lot, or else they would not have put the disclaimer there...'

'But that is good for me, I might be able to get it for relatively cheap when there is no competition.'

'But let's not get too excited, wisdom path is rare but no reason to spend a stupid amount of money.'

'Now how much do I bid for this?'

Normally, rank 1 Gu are worth anywhere from 250 to 500 primeval stones. Of course, there are rank 1 Gu that do not fall into this category; for example, the Green Chopper Relic Gu costs at least 2000 primeval stones.

An example in the other direction are very useless Gu as well as one-time use Gu; they often are worth less than 250 primeval stones. In the original novel, the Vitality Leaf could be bought for 50 primeval stones and was a rank 1 Gu, but it was expendable, hence the price.

With that, I take out a small piece of paper, write down 250 and 703815556 as the only thing that could identify me as the buyer.

'250, that means I will get it if there is no other serious competitor, and if there is, then I and that Gu are not fated…'

There I was, back to looking at all the Gu and reading some descriptions…

*Boring*

*Have that*

*Who even is selling this*

Shaking my head, I look at the next Gu, one that I knew very well as I have been cultivating with its help for the last 3 weeks. A cute little guy.

Liquor Worm Gu Rank 1

- Refines primeval essence to a higher stage.

- It feeds on a liter of good wine twice a week.

- Will be replaced in: 01:07:25

This is an example of a Gu that could very easily be more expensive than the theoretical limit for rank 1 Gu of 500 primeval stones.

The problem with buying this is that a lot of the time elders will bid on this for their children.

'Hmmm… yeah, this is a good price.'

Without hesitation, I wrote down 600 and again 703815556. This was a price at which it is not unlikely for me to win the bid, but it is also not overly likely.

'I will just bid that on every liquor worm that I see from now on, as this is definitely not the only one. Worst case, I will have enough of them to refine mine to rank 3, or none at all, but I could live with both.'

That is how I spent the next 2 hours of my life, before I had gone through the whole floor once. By this time, the first of the Gu I had seen earlier was replaced already, but I did not want to spend the whole week on this ship running around like a headless chicken.

In all that time, I put a bid on 5 more Gu.

'Let's check out the floor with the rank 2 Gu.'

It turned out to be not that different; there were still a lot of rank 1 Gu Masters just checking everything out.

This time I have a specific goal in mind; I do not plan to shop for and buy rank 2 Gu now. It typically takes about 10 months to a year for someone of my talent to reach rank 2 without using relic Gu, so there will be another Merchant Caravan in the meantime.

What I did want to buy now is a rank 2 relic Gu. Just because there are not that many of them each year and I am not 100% confident that I can buy 2 of them in the next caravan.

'My plan is still to reach rank 2 and then skip all of the stages in there with relic Gu, just to instantly advance to rank 3. If that works out, it also means that I can then refine all my Gu straight to rank 3. But let's not get ahead of myself.'

It did not take long for me to spot the rank 2 relic Gu, as it was in a kind of center of the floor to get more attention to it.

The Rank 2 Red Steel Relic Gu can cost anywhere from 5000 to 8000 primeval stones.

'I will just bid 8000. If someone is desperate enough to bid more, they can honestly have it.'

8000 and 703815556 were promptly put onto a piece of paper and thrown into the silent auction.

"Hahaha… look at that rank 1 bidding for my relic Gu… hahaha"

Turning around, I see three rank 2 Gu Masters, one of them obviously drunker than the other two, just ridiculing me for putting in a bid. I just decided to ignore them.

"Hey, I am talking *hick* to you… little shit," he said as he was grabbing my shoulder.

'Fantastic… where are those rank 3 Gu masters patrolling when you need them?' I roll my eyes and turn towards the drunk idiot.

And with a smile that was unsettlingly big, I say, "I was making that bid for Elder Zhen of the Refinement Hall."

His eyes dilated, and he was silent for about 3 seconds. I just looked at him, my face slowly losing its smile.

"Who is my father, by the way?" I said in the coldest tone I could muster.

Before he could embarrass himself further, his friends took him away.

'Reputation and connection do have their advantages, but in the end, they all stem from strength.'

'I will have to kill 8 hours until the bids of all the Gu end. Now what should I do?'

'I can take a short look at the rank 3 and 4 Gu later… let's look for a slave.'

Having decided on my destination, I made my way over to the slave ship decisively. All of the 4 biggest ships were directly connected, fortunately.

Once there, I noticed it had a different look. There were cages, a lot of them. But fundamentally, only two types: the first held groups of 50.

'These are all mortals, the big cells are the slaves that can be used as servants and if you are a cynic, experimental and refinement materials.'

Then there were very small cells, in each of these there was only one person each. Well, Person is wrong, they were all women. And only the young and beautiful ones, all of them barely had any clothes on.

On each of the big cages, there were signs; they read anywhere from 20 to 30.

'Probably means 20 to 30 primeval stones per person, depending on the cage they were in.'

The beautiful woman in the single cages, on the other hand, cost, by that logic, at least 100 primeval stones.

'I am not here to buy sex slaves or experimental materials; I am here for stronger experimental materials…'

Thinking that these merchants always seem to arrange the higher-ranking things on the higher floor, I made my way up two flights of stairs.

'They all have individual cages… and a strong rank 2 aura is permeating the air.'

As I look around, I cannot help but feel a bit shaken.

*Cough*

*Cough*

*Cough*

'What the hell?'

Why, you ask? Because the cheapest rank 2 Gu master slave, that was rank 2 initial stage and severely injured, cost 3000 primeval stones.

The most expensive shook me. I read the little sign that stood before her cage.

Rank 2 peak stage slave

- 93% A-Grade Aperture Aptitude

- Virgin

- Price 50,000 primeval stones

- Buy on demand

Hint: Like with all slaves that we sell, the Enslavement Gu are not included.

This was easily the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. I don't know any man that would not want her for at least a night.

But I felt more like throwing up right now…

'Ahhhh… why is everything so expensive??? I am just going to throw out the plans I made for slaves till now; I definitely cannot afford this right now.'

This woman will probably get bought by some rank 3 Gu Master who wants to have children with better genetics and higher talent. But still, if I want to buy the shittiest rank 2 peak stage Gu master, it will still cost me way over 10,000 primeval stones.

'My plan was to get anyone that had rank 2 peak stage cultivation, enslave them with rank 3 Gu and then use the Man Beast Burial Gu to get an easy rank 3 slave that could make money and do difficult tasks for me.'

'But with my money, I can barely afford the worst rank 2 upper stage Gu master, so nevermind if i include the cost for enslavement.'

That said, I turned around without even asking the attendants here what those enslavement Gu would cost. I felt poor enough for today.

1855 words