Chapter 53 - Bidding Wars

A little before lunch time, the dark blue curtain pulled back on its own to reveal a massive theater type space. Deep rows went straight up to where Lind could look straight down but he found he was almost 5 to 6 floors above. There were still 2 more above him as well! He noticed that he could not see through all the windows of the suites.

A quick glance at the rim of his own window showed simple formations even he could understand. By default, his window was opaque and he had no desire to change that. He looked over the other things and immediately noticed a protection formation was available. He used his staff to infuse his harmony flames into it and it lit up the room for a moment before settling down.

A quick glance showed surprise on Irene's face, but she made no comment and Lind simply felt better with the added layer of protection. The other formations could block the walls, but the window was only activated if he turned that formation on.

Lind turned back to the floor and saw a massive stage with what looked a lot like projectors to his eyes set up. There were blank canvases that he was willing to bet would project an image of what was up for auction for the higher floors. Lind noted the controls to place a bet but he doubted he would need it for today. Mostly, he was here to collect his profits once the sales were completed.

He could have come later, but both old Ye and his granddaughter Su felt that Lind should collect it with the majority of other sellers. That way, it would be much harder to identify him as there were very precious items up for sale on par with his elixirs. Lind found the logic sound and came to see the results.

He felt guilty about his tantrum earlier, but he could not blame his 17 year old body this time. While his age did affect his mentality as he well knew, that overreaction had nothing to do with his age. The stiff atmosphere was not one he enjoyed.

"I wish I could see what was going to be auctioned in advance." Lind mumbled the words as he could at least get a better idea of what kind of items were in such an auction for the future.

"Do you have a particular area you wish to know about?" Irene's hearing was far better than Lind realized. He internally berated himself for underestimating the improvement World Realm gave a person. Lind thought about it and decided to narrow his interests to what he needed.

"Anything related to 6 elementals that is not the technique recently submitted by the Lotus Academy, alchemy, and elemental tempering resources or treasures." Lind already knew this covered the majority of many cultivators' interests, but it still narrowed the field of inquiry by a large margin. After all, he had no interest in weapons, formations, Soul Arts in general and so forth.

Irene took out an item that looked remarkably like a tablet to Lind. It was made of jade and glowed with Qi as formations responded to her manipulations, but it was definitely another odd similarity to Earth. Lind knew others had been reincarnated from Earth based on his research, but this was a clear sign that some had come from his particular century yet long before Lind was reborn.

"Here you are." She passed him the tablet and looked stunned as Lind instinctively manipulated it himself. He suspected he was supposed to ask how it worked but given how the elevator so closely mirrored its Earth inspiration, Lind was not surprised that the tablet was similar.

He really was more interested in the formations that allowed it to work to touch like a tablet from earth. All it was missing was a logo and it would fit right in with the big brands he knew from back then. Lind moved his focus away from the intriguing functions of the jade tablet and looked more on its contents.

As he suspected, there was nothing specifically for 6 elementals aside from what the Lotus Academy donated. It was disappointing, but he had been prepared. He was slightly interested in some of the recipes listed, but Lind could not send anything home to his mother at the moment even by the Sapphire Auction House. There was only so far the Lotus Empire would overlook his actions to defy restrictions.

The materials were mostly grade 3 and above, but a few rare grade 2 herbs popped up. Lind noted them down mentally as he might try for those. According to the listing, they would be fairly early, but he had some soul stones to his name that might be enough. The beast cores were of little use to him, but he noted a few rare ones. He had no idea what a stone dral was but it was late in the early session soon to start.

Lind was swiftly confirming that he had nothing to buy really but then froze. Elemental tempering items were in high demand but not always compatible with cultivators. Lind had learned that himself, thus seeing a few pure shards of fire, air, etc were not particularly useful, but that changed when he got to the end of the list.

"What is a harmonic crystal?" Lind did not see any details and Irene retrieved the tablet that seemed to double as an internal communication jade. There was some back and forth with someone until Irene frowned.

"They only know that it is not an element exactly but according to the Ruin jade slip that was with it, that is what the item is called. Our appraisal experts confirmed it has something to do with tempering, but no one could get to react." Lind felt his heart rate increase slightly. Was it possible? Could there actually be something specifically for 6 elementals? Lind went over the list and knew his grade 1 elixirs would be at the highlight of the first session. He would make a decision based on his profits then.

The lights dimmed and Lind turned back to sit on the couch as a spot light focused on the front of the stage. The murmuring that had to be happening down below went to silence as all faces were now staring at the only well lit spot in the theater.

Lind saw a shadow move into the light and felt his own breath be taken away. A woman with a mix of green and red skin stood in a slim dark robe that accentuated her lithe figure. Her hair was a wonderful blend of green and red as well down to her mid back. Lind was unable to make out many details but the telling thing was her eyes. One was a crimson orb while the other was deep green.

"An aether child of air and fire." Lind was aware that such an aether child would be very powerful. The dual combination of fire and air could be nearly impossible to defeat even in a human, never mind the innate instincts of an aether child. The awe in his voice brought a smirk to Irene's face. The thaw in awkwardness made Lind more comfortable.

"Good day to you all! I, Mythra, am your hostess for this annual auction in the Lotus Empire. There are many good items this year as well as many resources all could desire up to Diamond Tier!" Lind was stunned at that revelation. The list he had seen topped out at Iron Tier but given his limited interest, that was normal.

Mythra held up her hands as the crowd had gotten a little rowdy and it spoke to the power of the Sapphire Auction House that silence instantly descended. The beauty was not surprised by the response and smiled wide at the crowd.

"As some are new and may not know all the rules, I will cover the most important ones." The blank canvas suddenly lit up with a display of words. Lind noticed some were in different languages and only recognized 2 others from his studies. He wondered at the others but focused on the spoken words as most were.

"First and always, our certification of anonymity is without exception. Anyone attempting to pressure our staff or fellow buyers to learn if they contributed an item will result in immediate expulsion. You will be banned if you attempt to fight back at that time." This rule was well known to the point that even Lind knew of it. He was so focused on his cultivation issues that it spoke of how common this knowledge was. "Next, if we determine that an item is stolen from a known power and can be proven so, we reserve the right to remove an item from the auction live. Keep in mind that our appraisers research any manufactured item that is not imbued with its creator's Qi."

Lind found this a wise rule for the auction house. It was entirely reasonable to know that nothing is foolproof. This also protected the buyer from being accused of theft if found with an item that was stolen. The proof piece did leave wiggle room as obviously the stronger party would decide what is proof.

"The final big rule that all newcomers should be aware, trade is not an option at this auction. Soul, World, or Sky Stones are the only commodities accepted for the majority of our auction. Grade 1 items, no matter the rarity, can accept gold but the seller sets the price." This was not a large surprise for this particular auction. The local auction halls often had a lot more haggling over price with sometimes rare items being used to pay rather than just Qi stones.

To avoid this massive event from dragging on for months on end it was a good rule to enforce only a commodity rule. Lind did wonder how they dealt with rarity. The primary 4 elements were roughly the same value, but light and dark stones were considered more valuable. It was possible there was a conversion rate set up, but Lind also knew there was an easier method available to cultivators.

It was possible to convert your personal wealth into a common overall element recognized at a usable value. All that meant is a cultivator that came with a lot of light Soul Stones, could convert them all into equivalent fire Soul Stones for the auction to avoid such issues. Lind did not see such a distinction in the rules but it may be possible the rule of each item will spell out what is accepted.

"Now, without further ado, here is our first item!" Applause filled the theater as light bright the full stage back into the world and revealed an array of items covered by clothes. The many shapes and sizes did not easily reveal what was beneath as another woman, a human with bright red hair, brought out a tray with the first item on it.

Lind watched as the grade 1 items began to move. Almost no one made a peep at the suites, but the lower audience had an almost festive mood as people bid on the items. Lind noticed with his Eyes that most of the people bidding were tier 1 Soul Realm or at most tier 3. Likely they needed these for family or something to help fix their foundation from Body Refining Realm.

This session went relatively quickly. It was also more vibrant to the few local auctions Lind had attended. There was usually just a forthright atmosphere with no desire to waste time on unnecessary conversation during those, but here it was like Lind expected to see popcorn and soda while the crowd watched a movie.

This all changed when grade 2 began. At first it was still fairly common items, so it was not too bad. Lind noticed that Mythra sometimes specified the kind of Soul Stone desired but nothing crazy had been asked for. Soul Stones were easy to obtain compared to World Stones, and Sky Stones go without saying in the Lotus Empire.

"The next item is a rare grade 2 herb. It was found near the Rakathi Wastes and was thought to be extinct." This time a man and woman escorted out a glass case holding a potted plant. Bright yellow petals surrounded a bright orange stem that seemed to spark fire. It was the blazing tulip! Lind was somewhat curious where this would start. "The seller has no specific stone request, the opening bit will be–"

Mythra did not get a chance to finish as one of the suites lit up and a distorted voice spoke over her.

"Two World Stone." Silence fell over the whole room and Lind felt his chest tighten. It would take 1000 Soul Stones to equal 1 World Stone. Lind had only amassed 10,000 Soul Stone with the missions from the Alchemy Guild. The atmosphere now changed.

Lind realized the reason for all the rules of this auction now. It was not a simple festival, this was the feeling of battle. The first shot of a war had just been unleashed and it was quickly followed by more.

"3 World Stone!" Another suite lit up and soon more followed and swiftly went up to 15 World Stones. Lind was left floored as the tension ratcheted up and wondered if he would be able to get any of the rare grade 2 herbs.