Immortality Starts With Generosity

It was a new moon that hung in the sky and the night was pitch black. With all the secrecy involved in this auction, Chen Haoran wouldn’t have been surprised if the organizers deliberately chose to host it today with that in mind.

Lan Fen had the carriage drop them off in one of the seedier shopping lanes. They donned large figure obscuring black robes and full-face black masks. Lan Fen then had him follow her on a complicated path that saw them cut through dark streets and narrow alleys back down the way they had come on the carriage and into a wealthier district. They finally stopped at what he assumed was the home of a merchant where two more figures in black were waiting for them with another carriage. Lan Fen handed them the purple token and the figures silently bid them to enter the carriage.

Seated inside the boxlike carriage Chen Haoran had no idea where they were being taken. He had thought Lan Fen wanted to be low-key to avoid news getting back to the Lan family. He was now realizing that when she said ‘exclusive’ she meant hidden and when she said ‘special’ she probably meant highly illegal.

“How safe is this?” he whispered. He had been planning to spend a boatload of money and it would suck pretty hard if he got shanked because of it.

“The Golden Lily Association takes the security of their auctions and the privacy of their guests very seriously. They earn the premium they demand.”

Oh good, professionals. At least he wouldn’t be forced to do a line of magical coke if they thought he was an undercover cop. They’d just kill him.

That carriage suddenly stopped and the door was opened. Chen Haoran and Lan Fen shared a look and he stepped out first. They were in a large unlit tent he felt grass as he stepped so they were still outside as far as he knew. Thankfully his cultivation boosted his night vision enough that he could still somewhat see but this wasn’t a place he’d like to get trapped in. Another black-robed figure directed them down an equally unlit tarp-covered path until they reached the entrance to a manor of some kind. The Golden Lily Association clearly didn’t want anyone to see the exterior of the location.

The inside of the manor was just as dark as the rest of their journey had been so far and barren of any furniture or decoration. Large bolts of black cloth covered the walls, the floor, and anything that might be used to identify the location.

They were led into what Chen Haoran figured to be a large meeting hall or ballroom. A simple stage had been erected in the center and about thirty-odd curtain-covered booths were arrayed before it. The black-robed figure brought them to a booth in the center and left them as they entered. Inside Chen, Haoran was tempted to ask if he was at the wrong kind of secret meetup because of the magic glowing purple circle on the floor with a blue stone at its center.

“It is safe to speak now,” Lan Fen said. “That is a Silencing formation, no sound will leave this booth.”

There were two rather simple-looking chairs placed before another smaller formation circle centered around a tall stand upon which sat a polished crystal orb. A screen of sheer silk let them see the stage but the other booths were strategically placed so that he couldn’t see their fronts.

“What are they even selling here that it needs this much secrecy?”

“Smuggled goods,” Lan Fen said. “With the Emperor’s ban on foreign trade buyers have had to turn to the black market. The Golden Lily Association exclusively deals in high ticket items so their markups are particularly large.”

There was movement on the stage. As was becoming a theme it was another black-robed figure who seemed to materialize out of the shadows.

“Welcome honored guests to our humble fair,” the man said in a cold, almost robotic tone. “Our first item is an ingot of Scarlet Iron Essence.” Another robed servant brought up a burning red metal and displayed it for all to see. “The price starts at 5 thousand gold taels with bidding in increments of 100 taels.”

The abrupt start to the auction caught Chen Haoran off guard and he was left flailing around for an idea of how to bid. The auctioneer had already started rattling off price increases but no verbal bids were called out in the otherwise silent auction hall.

Lan Fen pointed at the crystal ball. “Insert your qi into there and it will place your bid.”

Chen Haoran did as she said and at some unseen prompting, the auctioneer raised the price to 5600 taels. There was a spell of silence before he said, “Sold.”

“Congratulations on a successful bid,” Lan Fen said.

“They make it pretty convenient.”

“Only the Golden Lily Association knows who bids. Once the auction is over you can pay for your purchases.”

There went the last of his inhibitions. Chen Haoran rested his hand on the crystal buying ball and settled in to enjoy the show.

“I’ll have to ask that you accept everything in advance Lan Fen, tonight will be a doozy.”

——————

“Wintersteel Scale Armor. 8 thousand gold taels, sold."

“Profound rank Golden Refinement Pills. 15 thousand gold taels, sold.”

“Liquid Meridian Realm Stone Elephant Ivory. 30 thousand gold taels, sold.”

Lan Fen was right, this auction did have a serious price tag. Everything the Golden Lily Association brought out cost thousands of taels in gold. Chen Haoran was sure that his fellow bidders comprised the absolute elite of Clearsprings City and brought with considerable wealth to bid on these items.

Not that it mattered to him.

“Swiftwind Scimitars, sold.”

“Heavy Crystal Sand, sold.”

“Moon Moth Silk, sold.”

Chen Haoran rested his head in the palm of his hand. He was honestly getting a bit bored. Sure spending money without care was a heady feeling but it’s not like he knew the value of anything he was buying. There was no slamming down a last-ditch bid by a competitor, no shocked whispering at him claiming yet another expensive goodie all to himself. No awe at him making the richest people in Clearsrpings city look like chumps and turning their most exclusive auction into his personal catalog. In the end, it was safer this way he wouldn’t have minded some excitement though.

Maybe he let killing the Tree Sitting Python get to his head.

He could always rely on Lan Fen at least. Though he couldn’t see her face she had bodily turned to him in what he knew was astonishment as his streak kept going.

“Sold.”

“Sold.”

“Sold.”

Lan Fen pointedly looked the other way.

“If you see anything you want let me know,” he said. “I’ll get it for you.”

“When you’re going to buy the whole auction anyway?”

“Why do you sound so scandalized? Isn’t this what you wanted?” Lan Fen made a disgusted sound and he smiled at finally being the unfathomable character for once.

“I’m mostly seeing processed and non-perishable goods here. Are the places their smuggled from far away?” Of course, those were also some of the easiest types of goods to smuggle no matter the distance but he figured all the superpowers around here would allow for some kind of preservation at least.

“It is not an insignificant distance but living spiritual herbs do get traded as well. If you’re interested in any then perhaps you should write to the Chen family.”

“Please, the less I have to interact with them the better off I’ll be.”

“Pure Redwood Tree Heart.” Chen Haoran jumped as the auctioneer opened a display case and revealed a golden green crystal that looked exactly like what Lan Fen had pulled from her buried storage bag.

“Don’t bid on this one,” Lan Fen asked him.

“I thought you said this auction was for smuggled goods?”

“Who said it was not?”

“Why are you selling it though-” He stopped himself. Not why she was selling it but- “Who do you want to buy it?” In the background the bidding for the crystal was intense, the auctioneer practically a machine gun with how fast he spit out the bids.

“The Lan family.”

Chen Haoran wasn’t surprised they were here too but that didn’t explain why Lan Fen wanted them to buy it.

“And how are you going to guarantee they’ll get it? It seems like plenty of people want it right now.”

“The Lan family can’t afford to lose. The Patriarch is a particularly greedy man after all.” He could hear the dark smile in Lan Fen’s voice as she spoke.

“800 thousand Gold taels,” the auctioneer said. “Sold.”

“How is selling the Lan Family that crystal supposed to hurt them?”

“All I need is for the Tree Heart to be seen-” Lan Fen whipped her head to the back of the booth. “Incoming. Peak Liquid Meridian realm.”

“Threat?” Chen Haoran felt cold and cast out his sense only for it to be blocked within the booth. At that moment the fabric of the black curtains were more stifling than if he had been locked in a steel box

“It should be the supervisor in charge of this auction.” So it was definitely because of him but they shouldn’t be coming to shank him… yet. Still, he gripped the crystal ball tightly as he waited.

The entrance to the booth parted open and the cultivator stepped inside. Chen Haoran immediately bit back a curse and clutched his head as searing pain flashed through it. The obscured Golden Lily supervisor was short in stature but in presence, Chen Haoran had just gazed at something greater in size than the Tree Sitting Python and paid the price for it.

Lan Fen steadied him with a hand on his shoulder. “I do not recall the Golden Lily Association ever so rudely intruding on its customers like this.” Lan Fen sounded as if every word was a sword to cut the Liquid Meridian realm cultivator.

“I apologize for my rude entrance,” the woman said, sounding absolutely unapologetic. “This is also an unusual situation for us however so I beg for your understanding.”

“Speak.”

“I am just here to confirm beforehand that you can, in fact, afford all these purchases.”

“As if the Golden Lily token is given to anyone who can’t,” Lan Fen mockingly responded.

“I am just here to remind you that per the Golden Lily Association’s policies all payments must be made immediately and in full at the end of the auction.”

So the Golden Lily Association suspected they were trying to pull a fast one on them. Chen Haoran had the feeling that if their answer to her question was anything less than satisfactory they’d be the next ones displayed on that stage. Good thing money questions only needed money answers.

He waved his hand and the space between them and the supervisor was filled with chests. There was a sharp snap as the weight of the gold taels crushed the silencing array and the energy within it burst out with a force that toppled the gold taels like a tidal wave into the stronger cultivator.

For her part, she reacted quickly, a rush of liquid energy leaving her hands and catching the falling gold while simultaneously erecting a field around the booth to isolate the sound.

Blessed silence.

“Paid immediately and in full,” Chen Haoran said. Rubbing his head. “Get out.”