Golden Coin Auction

Every single day without fail Xiao Ming would always accompany Yun Nan to care for the sickly Fangsu who was still lying in bed, reviewing documents, "Big Sister! You should be resting, not working!" Xiao Ming took the documents away from Fangsu's reach.

Fangsu laughed, knowing that she wasn't supposed to work during her resting periods even though it was the reason why her body was failing on her, "No need to worry too much," Clenching her fist, "I would take a lot more for me to go down," Trying to reassure Xiao Ming stared at Fangsu with an angry expression about her statement.

Xiao Ming clenched his fist, "Why do you work so hard?" Tears falling down his cheeks, "Your body can hardly keep up with you!" He was extremely worried about Fangsu as she would have long work hours either on floor duty, reviewing documents and managing many people in Blossoming Fragrance

Fangsu took Xiao Ming into her arms letting him cry. Eventually, Xiao Ming just began hiccuping as the remaining tears ran down his face. Wiping away the tears with her sleeve, "I work so my family can live a comfortable life but not only since I can't cultivate," Fangsu gently caressed his small face as her cold finger helped with the redness of Xiao Ming's eyes, "I have to establish myself with a powerful backing so that no one can touch me," Her expressive eyes made Xiao Ming stare at Fangsu's ash-grey eyes which reflected helplessness because of the circumstances that have been placed on her since birth.

Xiao Ming grabbed Fangsu's hand into his small hands, "If you can't cultivate! I will for you!" A determined aura surrounding him, "I will protect you!" Those words caused a warmth to flood in Fangsu's heart.

Fangsu wrapping her arms around Xiao Ming, "That really makes me happy," His soft hair felt like silk under Fangsu's cheek, "All I want for you is to live a happy and healthy life," Giving a small peck on his forehead, Fangsu make sure Xiao Ming went to bed.

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Seeing that the sun had begun to set. Fangsu removed the blankets that covered her, changing into simple green hanfu overgarments with black undergarments. Typing her ash grey hair into a ponytail with an emerald green ribbon, while also donning a mask. Fangsu realised she didn't want to be recognised by her ash-grey hair so she dyed it black. Equipping the sword whip around her waist and the dagger also slide in a sheath that was part right at her lower back. Before leaving Fangsu wrote a message to her grandpa and Yun Nan saying she has some business. Climbing the rooftops once again, Fangsu made sure to watch her step to avoid her last careless mistake.

As she continued running on the rooftops, entering the familiar street where Treasure Trove's dingy entrance was. The same receptionist was there at the front, who recognised the same individual who made an outroar at their last visit but with just a different hair colour still wore the same mask, "Customer! Welcome to Treasure Trove!" His jubilant personality and mannerisms made Fangsu's already tired mind quite annoyed at the receptionist but she kept quiet. Handing over the Golden Coin Auction invitation ticket to the receptionist.

Once the receptionist saw the invitation ticket, his personality took a turn as he listened down and smile at her. Gesturing with his finger, the receptionist guided Fangsu into a separate entrance from the main entrance. Leading her into a dark hallway but as they continued down the hallway, loud volumes of masked people chattering were numerous.

It was a completely different atmosphere compared to the Treasure Trove black market where the entirety of the establishment was covered from floor to ceiling in expensive and rare materials. It was literally an epitome of luxury, the beams were expensive golden jade carved into the shapes of dragons. Each dragon held a circular ball of precious gems which were interlocked in the jaws, each colour gem corresponded with the elements. The lights hanging from the ceiling were made from high-quality Starstone which is collected from dungeons, and they were valuable as they seem to have unexpendable energy, therefore, have long usage life for many decades maybe even centuries. The floor was smooth marble from the Northern Shores and it's known to be an expensive material since of its long time process of marble formation and the costs of transportation of these materials would be astronomically expensive. This place would be a prime target for robbing just for its material used for building this underground auction establishment which also doubled as a casino.

To reach the auction hall, Fangsu was led through the casino where she saw the eyes of addictive gamblers hoping to gain a fortune that was bigger than their own. Only to lose it all in the casino's ploy to shake money out of the player's pockets. Fangsu remained neutral as she was led into another building which was dimly lit by star stones. The receptionist took special care in leading Fangsu past the crowded first ground floor to one of the private rooms in the upper floor, "Your room, customer," He also gave Fangsu a small black box with a red button that would light up if she intended to bid on an item. As Fangsu scanned the inside the private room, which was extremely lavishly decorative exactly like the casino area. Seating herself in the huge pouch chair that was provided, Fangsu waited for the Auction to begin but it would take a while before it would start.

As the fifth private room lit up, everyone from the ground floor began talking about the identity of the individual who entered one of the five prestigious private rooms of Golden Coin Auction. Even royalty couldn't have the luxury of receiving one of the rooms even with their massive wealth, however, Fangsu was ignorant of this fact and was given VIP treatment whilst waiting for the auction. Hsu Li Heng clenched his fist as black lines etched themselves into his forehead as he felt insignificant compared to the individual who was inside the private room, however, no one could tell because a mask covered his face. A surge of anger rushed throughout his being. He hated feeling insignificant. He hated being the inferior one, "Go, find out who is in the fifth private room!" He silently ordered a hidden guard who complied immediately.

However, as the hidden went to approach the private room to investigate the individual in the fifth room. However, a sudden chill rushed through him, paralysing him as a female spirit who he recognised as one of spirit that once worked for the Hsu Li Heng but disappeared once she achieved her goal. Dai-Tai clenched her finger around the guard's throat, "You are a danger to my master," As she began to pierce the guard's skin to rip out his Adam's apple. Ming Yue stopped Dai Tai from killing the guard as the doors of the room opened revealing Fangsu to see the guard paralysed to the ground.

The figure who exited the room exuded an extremely calm aura as they approached the guard who feared his life, "Who are you?" Fangsu stared down at the man with an odd sense of calm, "Answer me, I'm not a patient person," Grabbing the man's chin to face her. The man soon replied saying that he was assigned to the Third Prince who sent him to find out the identity of the person in the fifth room. Fangsu chuckling, sending the guard back.

Dai-Tai clicked her tongue at the running guard, "Why did you let that guard get away?" Following Fangsu back into the room without hoping to get an answer for Fangsu's decision to release the guard.

Fangsu seated herself back on the plush chair, leaning her head on the armrest, "If you had killed that guard, what do you think would happen afterwards?" Hoping to get some rest for her aching body that was still recovering.

Dai-Tai realised the error of her thought process, "I realise my mistake, Master," Bowing in response. Fangsu nodded, accepting the fact Dai-Tai understood her decision. The reason for releasing the guard was that if Dai-Tai had killed the guard then that would make it seem that she was a threat and it would lead to a headache of problems that Fangsu didn't want to deal with. Ming Yue floated midair, waving her hand in front of Fangsu's face to catch her attention for the auction that was now beginning.

The majority of items that were up for auction were cultivation manuals, weapons, pills and valuable decor which were all useless to Fangsu. As Fangsu decided that this auction was a waste of her time, a hostess announced the last item was spirit spheres which contained three powerful spirits who were cultivated under spiritual techniques. Fangsu looked at the items through the window where the three luminous spheres, "Ming Yue go take a closer look at those contained spirits," Fangsu ordered as she was deeply interested in the contained spirits.

After Ming Yue entered the premises of the stage to get a closer view of the spirits, there was one that was an exact copy of Fangsu but with a much wilder appearance with black hair. All three of the spirits contained in the spirit sphere were resting. Ming Yue quickly returned in a hurry, "Master! There is a spirit that is an exact copy of you but much more wilder in appearance," Ming Yue rushed to get the information out but the shock that there was another person that was an exact copy of Fangsu was mind-blowing, "It appears that all three of the spirits are related!" This statement caused Fangsu to widen her eyes in surprise.

Staring down at the stage where the three spirit spheres were displayed for all to see, "Everyone get excited for our last items! Three spirit sphere that contains powerful spirits each of them having a variety of abilities," The assistant held the first which was the one that had an exact copy of Fangsu, "This one is quite useful as a spirit core for weapons, the next one is a powerful spirit which is knowledgeable about many cultivating techniques that have been lost to time and finally the big finale was the last spirit which can freely allow an individual into the spirit world." The assistant showcases each spirit sphere and the last sphere was obviously the most desired as travelling to the spirit was difficult without learning spiritual techniques.

The announcer took a step on the stage, "Starting bid is 1,000 gold for the first spirit!" As soon the announcement was released everyone was bidding on the spirit.

"5,000 gold!" A bidder shot his hand up not wanting this opportunity to slip from his hand. The price was five times the starting bid. A bidder raised his hand wanting a spirit core to amplify the power of his weapon.

However, Fangsu pressed the button raising the price to 6,000 gold which irritated the man and the two bidders continued until they stopped at 8,000 gold. Most people wouldn't buy a spiritual sphere for that ridiculous amount of gold, it simply wasn't worth it but to Fangsu it didn't matter. Fangsu was determined to get all of her family members.

The second spirit orb was up for sale which was her big sister who knew many cultivation techniques even ones that were lost to time, someone bidding for the spirit for 10,000 gold but Fangsu easily overpowered the bidder with double the amount of gold. The last one was her mother who had the strongest spiritual abilities out of the entire family, a voluptuous fat old man with warts etched in his face with deep wrinkles that sagged hidden behind a toad mask bidding for 50,000 gold and yet again Fangsu doubled the price to 100,000 gold. However, the man was persistent as he wanted the spirit ability to travel to the spirit world.

The man shouted, "150,000 gold!" Knowing that the individual in the private room had spent money on the last two-spirit spheres.

However, the button buzzed, "200,000 gold!" Fangsu was determined to get the last spirit sphere even if it meant spending every single penny.

The man gritted his teeth in annoyance at the private room, "250,000 gold!" He continued to persist to buy the spirit sphere however he had a limit and he was thinking about spitting out blood thinking the person had so much money that they could buy the last two spirit cores.

Fangsu pressed the button once again, wanting this bidding war to end quickly, "500,000 gold!" The bidding war had finally ended when the old man simply did not have enough expenses to outmatch the mysterious figure in the private room. Everyone was alarmed at the amount of money that person spent on the spirit spheres seeing the person as a nouveau riche.

The same assistant from the stage held the cushion which the three spirit spheres were gently rested on, "The total for today's auction is 528,000 gold!" The assistant held in their hand was a small tray for the money to transfer on. Fangsu took out the gold in the form of banknotes and placed three banknotes on the tray each worth about 200,000 gold, "Thank you for purchase today! Please wait for us to return the excess money!" The assistant gave the three spirit spheres in Fangsu's hand.

Fangsu nodded as she felt that she got these spirit sphere for a reasonable price since the spirit sphere was still a new product on the market no one knew of it's the actual value. held the spirit sphere tenderly in her hand, "Wait for me to take you home," The warmth emitted from the spirit spheres was as gentle as sunlight that would be filtered through the leaves of the forest trees that surrounded their island home. As soon as Fangsu received back the remaining money, she quickly rushed out of Golden Coin Auction and Treasure Trove to return home.

It was already midnight when she exited Treasure Trove. But, Fangsu slowed down her walking speed as she heard the barely audible footsteps that followed hers. Turning to a narrow alleyway which could barely fit Fangsu, she rushed to get out of the person's line of sight. The person obviously forgot to silence his footsteps as he rushed to keep up with her. Entering the red light district, Fangsu quickly rushed into one of the brothels and into a private room, stripping off her clothes and changing into a similar outfit from the brothel. Hiding her clothes in one of the cupboards. Little did she know that she had entered a brothel known for their demonic prostitutes.

As she walked out of the room, a beautiful demon woman grabbed Fangsu by the arm, "Are you new here? Hurry, come with me!" Dragging Fangsu to the stage, "Can you sing or play an instrument? We are short of performers because one of the musicians fell sick!" The demon woman grabbed Fangsu by her shoulder interrogating Fangsu about her musical skill sets.

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The differences between the spirit realm and spirit world are that; the spirit realm is the realm that overlaps the earth and spirit can roam the surface whereas the spirit world is where all the spirits dwell as they await to drink the forgetfulness soup and reincarnate.