The Mysterious Egg

Li Zhu, having left Phoenix peak, simply returned to the outer sect, before training for hours with Buddy. His training regiment consisted of one hour of cultivation followed by one hour of fighting practice, which included fusing with Buddy and using Shadow Lurk.

Although it was a very rudimentary way to improve, it was highly effective, and Li Zhu was improving steadily, to the point that he now felt as though Buddy was connected with him, and they could fuse seamlessly.

He spent the night as usual, cultivating nonstop, which served as a kind of rest for him. He was now ready to sell the spirit plants that he and Hua Shu and discarded, and Li Zhu was very curios about the marketplace they would be going to.

As with the alchemy trade hall, there was a peak dedicated to general trade, where there was a massive marketplace, complete with an auction house and stalls set up by disciples.

The general market was at a grander scale than the alchemy trade hall, and every disciple visited it often, since it was a place where one could buy and sell anything imaginable.

Li Zhu and Hua Shu had planned to meet at the auction house in the morning, and they would try to auction off the spirit plants, hoping to gain a higher profit this way. Generally auctions were a competitive place, and if they were lucky the plants could be sold at a much higher price than their value.

Li Zhu headed towards the marketplace, which was near the center of the sect. The closer a peak was to the center, the more valued it was, since it was a very accessible location from all over the sect, which was very vast.

For Qi gathering realm disciples, it would take hours to walk from one side of the sect to the other, making the location of a peak very important, when it came to popularity.

When Li Zhu reached the the market, an imposing wall came into sight, wrapping around the entirety of the peak, with only two gates as openings.

The gates were just as impressive as the wall, since Li Zhu could clearly tell that they were covered in defensive formations, making them sturdy enough for even a golden core realm expert to be unable to break through.

Walking through the gates, all that could be seen was people, walking to and from stalls. The market was very lively, with thousands of disciples being here at this moment, either selling items they found exploring, or buying their necessities for cultivation.

When going on missions, disciples often found relics which they thought were valuable. That said, if the person did not know how the relic worked or what it was, they would often sell it in the market for spirit stones, which they would then use to buy cultivation resources.

Li Zhu, in fact, was hoping that a similar situation would happen today, and he, with his vast knowledge, could buy some ancient treasures for low prices.

Hua Shu was not hard to find, since she was standing at the entrance of the auction house, as planned. The building was three stories high, each level higher being reserved for more powerful people.

The first level was open to everyone, and there were no seats, while the second level was inner disciples only, with places to sit and enjoy the auction. Finally, the third floor was reserved for elders or guests of the sect, and they could stay in a small room, not visible by people on lower floors, and with refreshments available.

Li Zhu and Hua Shu, of course, could only stay on the first level, where disciples were crammed together, trying to get a good view of the stage.

Firstly, though, the two headed towards the selling booth of the auction, were they gave the spirit plants to the steward, who looked shocked, not having expected two outer set disciple to own so many treasures.

"All in all, these spirit plants are worth about 8000 spirit stones, but it all depends on how interested the buyers are. We will sell the plants, and you can come back to get your money. Since this auction is run by the sect, there will be no fee, and all the earned money is yours" quickly appraising the plants, the steward instructed them on how the auction functioned.

Li Zhu was not surprised about the value of the plants, since they were all extremely rare, and could usually only be found in locations with core consolidating realm beasts, which were deadly for anyone in Qi gathering realm.

"Okay, Hua Shu, let's enter the auction and see if there's something we can buy!" now having a budget of 8000 spirit stones, Li Zhu was excited to see whether there were any items worth buying.

Since the stewards had already set 8000 as an initial value for the plants, Li Zhu and Hua Shu could buy anything which stayed in those bounds, and the stones they spent would be subtracted from their earnings. That said, since the profit was split in half between Hua Shu and him, Li Zhu could only spend about 4000 spirit stones.

The auction would start in an hour, so the two entered the first floor, not caring for the crowd, which was only a minor inconvenience.

"Hua Shu, are you looking for anything special?" asked Li Zhu, trying to make small talk, as they waited for the auction to begin.

"Not really, anything which is related to fire could be interesting, though I don't think I'll buy an item today." replied Hua Shu, with a bored expression.

The hour passed slowly, as the two tried to pass the time talking, yet found no interesting conversations.

Fortunately, their misery was ended when a booming voice rang out, "Welcome to the Flaming Saber Auction, where disciples and elders of the sect can buy and sell their treasures, with no further fee! Today's auction is very exciting, since there are fifty treasures which are sure to entice you!"

Not all treasures would be accepted by the auction, and only rare or mysterious items would actually be sold, while the rest would be rejected, bound to be in the regular market.

"The first entry for the auction is a bundle of spirit plants. These plants include 3 Shadow Mushrooms, one Moon-Death fruit, a few leaves of Soul Sage, and Blood-Strengthening herbs. The plants will need to be bought together, and the starting price is 8000 spirit stones." as the announcer spoke, two stewards brought a wooden basket onto the stage, with all the spirit plants inside.

"Surprisingly they chose to sell our plants first" commented Li Zhu, who had been eager to see the first item, just to be disappointed at the sight of the treasures he had auctioned off.

"Yeah, and they even sell them as a whole, to make us more spirit stones!" replied Hua Shu, having noticed this little trick that the auction house had employed.

By selling all the spirit plants together, if someone was interested in one plant they would have to still buy the rest, allowing everything to be sold, and competition between buyers to form.

As expected, the people in the auction began bidding rampantly, each raising the price by 50 spirit stones, the minimum amount that one was allowed to add.

Li Zhu was not too interested by this, though, as he simply waited for the bidding to finish, before the second item was brought up.

Their spirit plants surprisingly sold for 10000 spirit stones, which was much higher than their actual value. This was partly due to the little trick the auction house had used to gain buyers, and partially due to the competition between bidders, which was intense as always.

"For the second item, this ancient egg, found in the deepest part of a cave, in the north of the kingdom. Although we cannot ensure that there is a spirit beast alive inside of it, we believe it must be a formidable treasure, and it can be used for research! The starting price is 1000 spirit stones." the item which was brought up was a dark blue egg, clearly affected by the passage of time.

Often mysterious items such as this egg were auctioned off, yet because no one knew what they were they sold at low prices, and were generally only bought for researching purposes, or by antique collectors.

'Wait a second, why do I feel like that egg is familiar? Have I ever seen it?' the moment he saw the egg, Li Zhu felt a sense of closeness with it, as though it had always been his.

At the same time, he felt a need to buy this egg, a desire which stemmed from the deepest part of his soul, something which he could not control.

Seeing the dust covered egg, seemingly dead, Li Zhu could not help but think, 'With all my knowledge, I cannot recognize this egg, yet my mind tells me to buy it... what secret does it hold?'