Chapter 157: Faked Composure

　　“What are you intending to purchase this time?”

　　Removing the sound barrier, Gu Xi looked at Su Zimo and smiled.

　　“Nothing much. I’m just casually browsing.”

　　Even though he did not know what they were talking about, Su Zimo gathered that it must have something to do with him. Naturally, he would not reveal his plans foolishly as well.

　　Gu Xi smiled and did not ask further. She changed the topic and said, “The auction will start very soon. Why don’t you sit here? If you take a liking to anything, I might even be able to help.”

　　Despite the disparity in their statuses, Gu Xi was extending invitations to him repeatedly. Su Zimo made up his mind and thought, ‘Since I’m here, I’ll just go along with the flow. It’s not as though they will do anything to me either.’

　　With that, he sat down comfortably and started eating the fruits on the table as though there was no one else around.

　　Through the crystals in front of him, he could clearly see that the seats outside were already filled.

　　It was extremely lively and hyped.

　　Not long after, the auction officially began after the ring of a bell and the crowd gradually quietened down.

　　A middle-aged man dressed in luxurious clothes walked up to the round platform in the middle and surveyed the surroundings. Before saying anything, he smiled and cupped his fists. “I am the manager of Chiyu City’s Sky Treasure Auction House. Welcome, fellow daoists. I hope that all of you will be able to return with your hands full today.”

　　“Hurry and begin!”

　　Some of the cultivators were already growing impatient as they yelled.

　　The manager smiled and did not say another word. Waving behind him, a beautiful maidservant who was carrying a tray with both hands shook her hips and walked forward.

　　Unveiling the cloth covering the tray, the manager revealed a flying sword beneath. Its blade was sparkling like limpid autumn waters and there were three spirit patterns on it!

　　A superior-grade spirit weapon!

　　“This is the Autumn Water Sword and it was made by the most famous Advanced Weapon Refinement Master in our Great Zhou Dynasty, Mr. Lian. I’m sure everyone has heard of him so I shall not introduce further. The starting price of this sword will be at 2,000 spirit stones. Each bid must not be less than 100!”

　　Su Zimo was secretly speechless.

　　The auction started off right away with a superior-grade spirit weapon! He wondered what else would appear later on.

　　He also did not know who Mr. Lian was.

　　As if she could see the doubt in Su Zimo’s mind, Gu Xi said, “His name is Lian Feng and he’s from the True Fire Sect. He became famous after creating a supreme-grade spirit weapon. In the Great Zhou Dynasty, Advanced Weapon Refinement Masters are considered as rare talents. Out of respect, cultivators who are not familiar with him will refer to him as Mr. Lian.”

　　Su Zimo nodded.

　　Many cultivators outside were already starting to bid. In just a short while, the price of the Autumn Water Sword had already increased to 3,000 spirit stones!

　　Su Zimo had not much interest towards spirit weapons.

　　Before long, the Autumn Water sword was sold at a price of 3,700 spirit stones to a perfected Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

　　The manager was all smiles, seemingly pleased, as he beckoned with his hand for the second item to be brought forth.

　　Unveiling the cloth, there was a jade bottle beneath that should contain some elixirs.

　　“This is an inferior-grade Grade 2 elixir. I’m sure everyone is well familiar with it. I present to you… the Meridian Unlocking Elixir! It will start at 5,000 spirit stones and each bid will be nothing less than 500!”

　　Su Zimo’s eyes lit up.

　　After Foundation Establishment Cultivators reach the perfected stage, they would have to unlock the eight meridians. The amazing thing about the Meridian Unlocking Elixir was that a Foundation Establishment Cultivator would have a high chance of unlocking a meridian after consuming it!”

　　Of course, the better the quality of the Meridian Unlocking Elixir, the better the chances of unlocking the meridian. Furthermore, the elixir was only effective during the first consumption.

　　Even then, it was quite a fearsome effect.

　　Once a cultivator unlocked seven meridians and consumed this elixir, they would have a high chance of unlocking all eight!

　　Back in the ancient era, the Meridian Unlocking Elixir was extremely famous. Unfortunately, there were not many left behind and even the recipe had been lost.

　　Su Zimo was a little moved and leaned forward slightly.

　　Gu Xi glanced sideways and noticed Su Zimo’s subtle action. “If you’re interested, you can bid for it from here. The maidservants outside will help you relay the message.”

　　That was a privilege unique to rooms of this level.Read comics on our webnovel.live

　　All the rooms were marked. For example, Su Zimo was in Room 1 and there were ten of such rooms at the top.

　　The area below him where Golden Cores were at had 90 rooms – those were numbers 11 to 100.

　　In a short period of time, the Meridian Unlocking Elixir’s price was raised by many Golden Cores to 10,000 spirit stones. And… this was merely an inferior-grade Meridian Unlocking Elixir!

　　Naturally, those Golden Cores had no use for it themselves – most of them were getting it for their personal disciples.

　　Su Zimo took a deep breath and temporarily gave up the idea of bidding for it.

　　It wasn’t because he had insufficient spirit stones – the pill’s quality was too lousy for him.

　　In the spirit mine of Linfeng City, Su Zimo had managed to obtain quite a number of middle-grade spirit stones. By now, his storage bag had more than 100,000 spirit stones!

　　“Hey, are you feeling shy?” The girl in pink blinked and whispered, “If you like anything, I can help you! Hehe!”

　　“It’s fine, I have the ability to purchase it myself,” Su Zimo rejected her indifferently.

　　A look of shock flickered through the girl in pink’s eyes as she laughed and asked, “My, I couldn’t tell at all. To think that an early-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator like yourself actually has the ability to purchase those items!”

　　Pausing for a moment, the girl in pink rolled her eyes and suddenly asked, “Do you know… what spirit stones they are using to bid?”

　　Su Zimo’s heart skipped a beat as he realized that he had miscalculated something.

　　There was no mention that the bidding in the inner house was done with inferior, middle or superior-grade spirit stones! However, he had subconsciously thought that the bids were done with middle-grade spirit stones!

　　The difference in price between spirit stones of different grades was immense.

　　Normally,a hundred inferior-grade spirit stones was equivalent to a single middle-grade spirit stone.

　　A hundred middle-grade spirit stones was equivalent to a superior-grade spirit stone.

　　Of course, there were supreme-grade spirit stones above superior-grades.

　　If the bids earlier were referring to superior-grade spirit stones, Su Zimo’s 100,000 odd middle-grade spirit stones would only be equivalent to around 1,000 or so superior-grade spirit stones! He couldn’t buy anything at all!

　　Gu Xi commented at the side, “Anyone who’s been to the Sky Treasure Auction House will know that bids in the inner house are made with superior-grade spirit stones. If supreme-grade spirit stones are to be used, they would be mentioned explicitly.”

　　Su Zimo nodded. He looked calm and composed, pretending that he had known about it all along. However, he complained secretly in his heart, ‘This is awkward now…’

　　To normal people, Su Zimo’s composure may have been able to fool them. However, he could not hide from Gu Xi and the girl in pink.

　　What sort of cultivation did Gu Xi have?

　　A single look was enough for her to read through Su Zimo’s lies as she smiled faintly.

　　The girl in pink looked at Su Zimo with narrowed eyes. However, she did not expose him as well and merely smiled foolishly.

　　Suddenly, the girl in pink felt that this green robed scholar was rather interesting.

　　Under the girl in pink’s watch, Su Zimo could barely hold it in anymore.

　　‘Even if I continue staying here, I can’t buy anything. I might as well leave earlier.’

　　At that thought, Su Zimo stood up. Right as he was about to bid farewell, an item was brought forth in the auction that attracted his attention.