Chapter 9:Lord Qi's Trading Pavilion

-Get out of my seat!

-But I'm in my seat!

-Your leg is touching me!....

-Woman, how annoying you are!...would you like it to be something else?!....

Tian Shuangmen fell on his face opening the door with his weight as the carriage just stopped, landing on the carved rock floor practically on his face....

Feng sighed...he could hardly believe that the youngest generation of cultivators was so childish....

And the old man had no way of knowing that things had been strained since the morning....

Even if Mu Xiaoqi had interrupted their little argument...tempers had not calmed down...and although Sebastian pretended to use his old method of indifference with an annoying woman...Mu Xilei reacted worse...from a biased point of view...the situation was like trying to put out a fire with gasoline....

Tian Shuangmen stood up, with veins standing out on his neck as he focused on the restrained sneer of the one who had treacherously pushed him out of the transport....

-Well...we draw the line here...I promise this will not stand..." he growled softly as he shook the light blue clothes he wore...

Mu Xilei got down from the carriage with a look of total ignorance, as if she had not been the responsible one. .... and while being followed by the embarrassed Mu Xiaoqi, she smiled ....

-Are you threatening me? Feng will beat you up if you try anything against me!

-You think I care at this point? .... Feng's punches hardly hurt anymore!...nothing is going to save you from me, you piece of...!

-Youngsters...and Tian Shuangmen...please lower your voices...we have already arrived at Lord Qi's Profoundness Pavilion...I don't need to remind you of things, do I?

The young people paid attention and began to keep silent....

Mu Daoyun would arrive in a few months and with him the arrival of the selection of the family branch...Mu Huanzhi in his role as leader of the Mu clan foresaw one thing...they should start preparing...therefore he instructed the team members who remained in the clan to enlist and provide various things....

The clans used to have weapons, medicines and different kinds of treasures as their base...but only the wealthy ones in the city could allow their cultivators to source from other places...which could be beneficial...

And following this line of thinking...Lord Qi's Depth Pavilion was the best trading organization available in the Emerald Dusk City alone....

Unlike the Dragon Ambar Trade Guild... this organization was much more mysterious and lacked presence....

It was known that its owner, Lord Qi...was a very powerful cultivator but it was unknown to what extent...those who had gone against the Pavilion...simply disappeared...

This organization made a name for itself and a prestigious reputation not by flaunting its power...but by handling its problems in a very discreet way...

The day after the inconveniences for them formed...they simply disappeared without a trace...many businesses and wealthy merchants and traders tried to compete...who unexpectedly were never seen again....

Thus, Lord Qi's Pavilion of the Depth was established as the supreme and total commercial entity in the city...

Any cultivator who wished to purchase medicines, weapons, techniques or profound objects...was free to do so...in fact they were frequently encouraged to attend their auctions...however...each and every one of them knew what to expect once on site....

Lord Qi...was a mysterious person...his appearance was unknown...however...it was known that he hated bad manners...noisy people or those who did not know how to keep their manners in public...were the ones who often disappeared from the site if the opportunity arose....

There have been reports of famous cultivators disappearing...and their clans or families did not dare to pursue the matter once they heard that Lord Qi was involved....

No one was accusing him directly...because it could be said that it was a direct pass to disappear too...but it was known what would happen if the Pavilion owner's irritation was unleashed...it was like an open secret....

That's why Feng's alarm...

In the old man's opinion...the last thing they needed now was the disappearance of all the equipment of the family branch...

-So this is the Pavilion of the Depth..." he mused, looking up at the enormous pagoda that rose fourteen stories high that he personally counted...

The building was radiant and beautiful...with white tiles and two bronze dragons at the entrance, where the sign announcing the name could be seen....

Tian Shuangmen took it lightly....

In his opinion, he considered Mr. Qi to be a kind of Italian mafioso of the kind that could often be seen on television... for making the bodies disappear completely was impossible at best....

-No one studied the corpses that were found...-I asked Feng in a low voice...while they were going up the stairs...

The old butler looked at him and lowering his voice even more...gave him a scornful look....

-Do you understand what it means to make disappear?...when Lord Qi sets his eyes on you...there are no traces left once he deals with you!...no one has any desire to make him angry about this...much less to investigate how he does it...there are no more of those guys left...- he murmurs while warning him-.... do you understand now why none of the protector clans impose many restrictions on Lord Qi?...he is a mysterious man, when the chiefs set out to impose a cannon fee for him to operate in the city...he didn't even deal with them...he sent a messenger...one of his many personal servants who...- Feng's words died in his mouth....

From the top of the stone steps leading up to the pagoda and among the people attending the place...a woman completely dressed in white seemed to look at them silently and with a disturbing smile....

She was tall...taller than the average male crossing the main gate...and possessed a lovely body noticeable under her immaculate clothing that was intermingled with brownish colors for some details in the chest area and other reliefs...and at least half of her visible face seemed to be graceful given her fine chin and tremendous mouth. ...were it not for the fact that...her skin tone was cadaverous white and her lips were a gray color that hurt to look at...and the rest of her face, from her nose up was covered by a white veil that prevented seeing her eyes and the rest of her face.....

Hence the disturbing sensation...because they could swear that in spite of having her eyes covered...that woman was looking at them....

Feng, Mu Xiaoqi and Mu Xilei in the company of Sebastian did not take long to approach where this person was...and indeed...as soon as she had them near...she greeted...

-Welcome to the Pavilion of the Depth of Lord Qi...have a wonderful shopping day...-he greeted when they passed by him...and Tian Shuangmen did not know why but an unpleasant sensation ran through his body when he passed by her...

Not only him...all those who passed by had it...like a constant omen or aura of death...

The moment they entered the pagoda they discovered it...there were not many of this kind of maids inside the building...the merchants at least wore the same clothes as the women but they did not have their eyes covered or cadaverous complexion...they looked like normal employees...nevertheless the presence of the mysterious maids was still there...like silent guardians...

Feng felt tense...not because of the large number of these women...but because of the fact that although they acted as guardians of the building...they did not emit any deep pressure...I mean...it was as if they had no cultivation at all...

Being an older man, he hated mysticism and preferred more direct ways...so he couldn't help but feel harassed every time they came to this place...and in total they had come three times....

Mu Xiaoqi smiled at this and turned to the man....

-Well well...we shouldn't be so distressed...as long as the rules are followed we should be fine...she smiled before turning to Mu Xilei....Big Sister Xilei...let's go together.....

The cultivator in particular was surprised...maybe she intended to go shopping on her own...but that request threw her off...so she only nodded....

Mu Xiaoqi smiled...her main goal was to separate Sebastian and the other girl...just because she knew that if they stayed together it was very likely that Lord Qi would disappear them...she had good faith of this because of all the scandals they caused on the short way from the Mu Clan residence to there....

Feng noticed this and smiled in pleasure at the girl's responsibility.....

As for Tian Shuangmen...he was already a few meters away from the main group....

-All right!...see you in a few hours at the entrance...good luck with whatever you're looking for...-he murmured waving backwards as he walked away...

Regardless of his initial disinterest or the constant presence of death in the place...Sebastian was anxious... .... Any day now he had the opportunity to spend money at will...not so much on things like the ones he heard around him...

-Deep Treasure of Revolving Core Grade!...Celestial Sutra Bell!...come closer and look closely!...

-500 year old Ginseng!...perfect for making high quality medicines and recovery pills!...only 5000 silver coins!....

-Mountain Cutter Sword!...forged with black iron from the mines of the capital!...great treasure gentlemen!....

For every stall he passed by, a merchant offered a product of which he had no idea what it did or how to use it...but even so it fed his vast curiosity...

The only thing he knew about deep treasures was the brief introduction from the old man's history books he had made them read at the time...objects built or found by cultivators and infused with their personal energy over the years of their growth became artifacts of great power...none had a similar use to another and all had different powers...one could not know what it was until used....

Tian Shuangmen wanted to buy some...more because he felt that a cultivator needed a profound artifact...unfortunately...he was attacked by the typical feeling of the buyer who has a fixed sum of money and does not know if he will have it again in the future...therefore he decided whenever he saw a possible purchase...to wait to see if he could find a better thing to buy...

Thus, Sebastian walked the fourteen floors of the pagoda without having spent a single coin...he felt extremely indecisive, even more so under the gaze of the mute handmaids who seemed to focus on him continuously as soon as he left the range of vision of one of them....

The young man sensed an inherent hidden hostility on their part, but the feeling was so unnoticeable that he was not sure if it was just his own doubt or if he was truly in danger near these women.

Finally, after a few minutes of feeling disoriented, he sighed and turned to a cluster of people gathered inside a bedroom on the sixth floor, considering it his last attempt to make a purchase.

What he ended up seeing was a large number of people, young and old, of all ages and with diverse cultivation bases, all present and looking at a young smiling woman next to a sphere of light caused by various amounts of mystical matrices, evidently a deep treasure of great value and jealously guarded.

-Grandfather...that's the object!" exclaimed a young man standing a few steps away from Sebastian, which caught his attention because of the longing tone of his words as he spoke to a man older than him.

-Chen'er...calm down...your emotion can play against us...- replied the older man, speaking in a much calmer voice than the young man...

The boy nodded and flashed a radiant smile as he nodded obediently, clearly looking excited by the object.

Tian Shuangmen focused on them with curiosity, they wore similar clothes and the family relationship was obvious...however, he could not place them in any of the protective clans of the city, so after a few moments, he ended up placing them as part of a local clan outside of the big four.

With the people gathering so much around the girl that it looked like she was about to start a product auction, Tian Shuangmen decided to pay attention to the item they were going to trade and see if he could get her attention.

A gong sounded and the surrounding crowd was called to silence as the woman on the stage approached the sphere of mystical arrays glowing with cyan light.

-Gentlemen, thank you for being patient and waiting for our preparations, as a reward we promise that the quality and value of the product will be much higher than expected...

Tian Shuangmen narrowed his eyes and looked at her with great interest.

-As you know, Lord Qi's business policies are strict when it comes to auctions...we never know the availability of valuable products that are waiting, and although we have always had an influx of the latest quality items, the high bidding for these artifacts is only limited to one sale per day.

The protagonist smiled

It made sense, selling objects one after the other could lead to disinterest or indifference after a long time, even, they could be finished before their time and the Trade Pavilion would lose a great income just for not managing its own artifacts properly.

Deep treasures were not things that could be obtained like picking apples or oranges from trees, they had to be manufactured or looted from cloisters or old tombs to get them, the same happened with curious items such as herbs or rare minerals.

Auctioning them one at a time and collecting as much money as possible for each of them was the most logical thing to do.

-So, for the new bidders who have just joined us, it is a pleasure to present today's item..." he commented, while he described an incantation symbol in the air and the sphere of matrices that guarded the item began to unravel formation by formation.

What was inside was a medium sized stone slab, engraved in runes and letters that glowed in blue light, exuding a heavy ancient aura.

Numerous exhalations of surprise swept through the small room in which everyone was present, and Tian Shuangmen paid special attention to the grandfather and grandson duo beyond, who seemed enraptured by the object while a grimace of pure happiness appeared on the younger one's face.

Sebastian focused, after that, again on the china plate.

It seemed to be made of a material similar to gray volcanic rock and the amount of letters on it constituted a recipe, but because he had trouble reading the handwriting on it, he could not help but smile in relief when the young presenter spoke again.

-This stone ware was found in the tomb of Sage Mo, a cultivator of great caliber who was located in the territories of the city since before they could found it and at his death, deposited in a complex labyrinth according to his final decisions on the outskirts of the city, this treasure contains the specifications and the supporting aura necessary to produce a miraculous medicine that could open all the deep entrances in its entirety that the Sage Mo had discovered in his journeys, as you can see it is a very valuable, useful, too useful profound object for the cultivators, since it benefits the newly initiated practitioners as well as the oldest ones. ...thus, the Lord Qi Pavilion starts the bidding with 50,000 gold coins.

Everything got a bit messy since that...

-I bid 55 thousand!

-63 thousand!

-75 thousand!

Numerous deep practitioners began to bid in desperation, because the fully opened deep entrances meant not only an increase in the amount of energy, but also a new birth.

Having all the deep entrances open allowed the speed at which deep energy was gathered to be greater than it was with only two or three open entrances, and just as in the world of martial arts, in the world of cultivation, speed defines the winner, therefore, this recipe represented a miracle medicine.

However, despite what the presenter had said, Tian Shuangmen was not moved at all, and that was for two reasons.

One, clearly, was the fact that he didn't have the money to even bid for the first starting price...he barely had 30,000 gold coins that Mu Huanzhi had given him for those rare pills, so the boy knew from the start that the chinaware could not be appropriate for him.

And the second reason was that...

-I bid 100,000 thousand gold coins for the mystic stone ware," exclaimed a clear and powerful voice that rose above all the passionate cries of the other cultivators.

And this time, even Tian Shuangmen himself turned in surprise, to see a young man pushing his way through the crowd of people with an arrogant, bone-crushing countenance.

The black hair pulled back in a ponytail down his broad back shone in the light of the place, while his violet robe billowed with every step he took, he simply looked heroic.

-I offer 100,000 gold coins for that china..." he repeated, as if it had not been clear that he was offering such a large amount of fortune for the artifact.

And predictably, exhalations of surprise swept through the auction room.

For his part, Sebastian just looked at the man one last time before simply putting him out of his mind as if nothing, not that it was something transcendental at least for him, his presence or amount of money available, in fact he was even more willing to leave the place without having bought anything, and he would have done it if it wasn't that out of the corner of his eye he observed how the pair of grandfather and grandson suddenly seemed to pale.

-Grandfather, it's the young master of the Lan family...Lan Zhao," commented the younger one, with 8 parts incipient despair and 2 parts sadness.

-Get a hold of yourself Chen'er, it's not too late yet..." replied the old man as he walked towards him.

Sebastian seemed to have regained his interest...what could be so useful a stone slab like that?...certainly, for any deep practitioner it would be something exceptional, however even if they didn't have it one didn't have to have such a discouraged appearance, that was what made him observe this grandfather and grandson.

They seemed to be in great need of that recipe.

-But if it isn't young master Lan Zhao," he exclaimed with a tremendous smile, "it is a pleasure to have you with us today and a great honor.

-There is no need for grandiloquent words, announce that I will take the object at once so that I can retire," the young man cut him off in a disdainful manner.

Absolutely arrogant!

Tian Shuangmen simply sighed, unable to contain his disappointment at seeing that all the great geniuses in the city were morally trash, and Lan Zhao had a cultivation that took him to the Profound Boom Realm rank 2, which was surely more than enough fuel to be deadly arrogant, a frequent saying of these people, would be that he more than anyone else had the qualifications to be arrogant!

Miss Presenter's mouth twitched in embarrassment at being reprimanded in front of all the other people, but she saw that she was partly right.

Those hundred thousand gold coins apparently sent the others hiding under their own lack of capital and some of them were already withdrawing, so many people had more or less given up on getting the chinaware.

However, only two people had the courage to approach Lan Zhao in a determined manner, namely the grandfather and his grandson.

-Greetings, young master Lan, this here is Wang Cheng and I am accompanied by my venerable grandfather, Wang Yi, we are members of the Wang family, I ask just a few minutes of your time and please show us some face..." He asked while cupping his fists in front of him as a respectful greeting.

Lan Zhao frowned as one who discovers that he has shit stuck to his shoe, but said nothing, while Miss Presenter suddenly stopped to see how these people were in the middle of an exchange of words.

-This Wang is a fool and does not know how to speak his mind frankly, so I will tell him directly what I want," she said smilingly, "the Wang family wants to buy the stoneware with the Celestial Overture Pellet Recipe from him.

As soon as those words left the boy's mouth, many eyes focused on them and looked at the 3 individuals with great surprise, and immediately some returned to their places to observe this matter.

-You see young master Zhao, as you know, the Wang family was very important in the past, and although I am ashamed to say it, we were unable and unfilial to even lose the territories that contained the tomb of our ancestor, Sage Wang Mo...so although we could say that this stoneware belongs to us, we do not want to lose our little dignity begging for alms and we are willing to buy it from you. ...we only ask for some time to be able to gather the total sum of the value you are paying for it plus a little more compensation...-commented the old man with a tired voice-...let me explain, we are having a delicate moment with my granddaughter, Chen'er's sister, she had an accident with her cultivation and the pill could...

-Cut your story," I commented raising a rude hand to stop the explanation of the elder Wang Yi... I have already decided what to do with the stoneware and no sad story of easy tears will make me change my opinion.

Those present in the hall were astonished and somewhat stunned by the suppressive manner he had towards an elder who was seeking his understanding.

-You come as if you want to discuss with me on equal footing...you have nothing that I want, why should I protect one of your clan...is it that your family has fallen so low that they can't even deal with their own wounded...and you still come to talk about dignity and pride...is it that you want me to laugh?

Wang Cheng took a deep breath, letting the veins in his neck swell dangerously.

Lan Zhao's words had not only slapped the dignity of his clan, but also his reverse scale, his mother.

-Young master, there is no need to be so vicious, this old man is only begging for benevolence, we can return this favor later, this old man's granddaughter suffers daily," Wang Yi pitifully asked, not caring a bit to throw his face to the wind, even if he implored him after his cruel words, just to save his granddaughter.

-It's none of this Lan's business...the stoneware with the recipe for the Celestial Overture Pellet is already set as a gift to ask for Yan Yuhua's hand...you don't want to ruin his image with his fiancée, do you?...do you consider your dying granddaughter's life more important than that?

Tian Shuangmen only looked at him sideways.

How cold-hearted could a person be in this world?...every time he asked himself that question he was afraid to know the answer....

Lan Zhao had decided not only to refuse the request of grandfather and grandson Wang, but to ridicule them in front of a crowd of people and not only that...but even when they came back to plead with him, he sent them away with a backhand, dropping what little face he had left.

At this point it was impossible for him to even let it pass, so he began to walk towards the center of the hall, although strangely enough he was not heading towards the three men.

At this point it was impossible for him to even let him pass, so he began to walk towards the center of the hall, although strangely enough he was not heading towards the three men.

At the same time, Wang Cheng had only one chain to the ground that prevented him from throwing himself at Lan Zhao, even if he were weaker than him, and that was his grandfather, who was holding his arm tightly to prevent the young boy from jumping at the arrogant Lan Zhao.

-Chen'er, don't do anything rash," the old man scolded him while looking at him sternly, although he could see a light of fear in his eyes, he knew it was a bad idea to come with him to the auction, but he simply could not refuse in front of his beloved grandson.

-But grandfather!...this damned bastard spit in our faces!

-You must learn to tolerate!...Chen'er, in this vast world around us, power defines who spits and who gets spat on, you must adapt to this helplessness and deal with it...or you won't last in the cultivation world!

Wang Chen swallowed his anger and glared hatefully at Lan Zhao, who deliberately ignored them and turned his gaze back to Miss Presenter.

-So... will you announce that I am the new owner of the Stoneware or what?" he asked reluctantly, while giving a self-superior smile.

The woman on the stage gasped a couple of times, a bit shaken by the Wang's affair with Lan Zhao, which took her a few minutes to get herself together, but in the end business was business.

-The stoneware with the Celestial Overture Pellet Recipe is sold for 100,000 gold coins to young master of...

-I offer 125 thousand gold coins for the stoneware..." commented the languid voice of Tian Shuangmen.

-But what?!" Lan Zhao turned around and exclaimed those words in disgust...who was that idiot who raised his hand and dared to bid again?

-125 thousand coins miss...-commented the boy again, as if Lan Zhao's inquisitive gaze did not exist....

Forget about the hostess, everyone present was looking at this upstart who had openly slapped Lan Zhao's presumption.

-What's wrong with it?...it's an auction or not?...it's not over until it's over...besides...if young Lan has nothing more to bid, then I'll give you 30 thousand more to wrap it up nice and neat...there's nothing wrong with it, is there?...he commented, casually shaking the ring where he had the 30 thousand gold coins that Mu Huanzhi had given him....