Chapter 4008 — Something Anomalous

Hong Zhong had sat in the position of Hong Clan Merchant Guild's North Island manager for several decades, and never before had he seen a transaction of such scale.

"Heh, I'm simply making preparations for the auction. Without enough spirit jade on hand, it'd be pointless for me to attend today," Wei Zhao said with a faint smile.

"True enough. Auctions are places where fine things abound, but the prices run high as well. If one doesn't prepare sufficient capital and ends up losing out on a treasure, that would be a great pity." Hong Zhong nodded in agreement, then mused for a moment before speaking: "Young Master Lin, these thirteen top-grade Foundation Establishment Barrier-Breaking Pills—I'll take them at fifteen thousand spirit jade. What say you?"

Fifteen thousand spirit jade! Wei Zhao was taken aback, drawing a sharp breath. "Manager Hong, that price is far too high. I've been looked after by you time and again—I couldn't bear to accept such a favor."

The last time he had come to the Hong Clan Merchant Guild to sell top-grade Foundation Establishment Barrier-Breaking Pills, it had been to compete with Yu Jiang for the Star Ink Stone. Back then, a single top-grade Barrier-Breaking Pill had been valued at only eight hundred spirit jade.

Eight hundred spirit jade apiece—calculated at that rate, thirteen top-grade Barrier-Breaking Pills would come to just over ten thousand spirit jade, nearly five thousand short of the price Hong Zhong was offering!

To give five thousand extra spirit jade all at once was no small discount, even for someone of Hong Zhong's stature. He was being nothing short of generous to Wei Zhao.

Hong Zhong laughed at once, waving a hand. "Young Master Lin, you're overthinking it. The normal purchase price for top-grade Barrier-Breaking Pills generally runs around a thousand spirit jade, sometimes even higher. The reason I only gave you eight hundred last time was simply because you were a newcomer trading with us for the first time—the usual merchant tactic of cutting a new customer down. We always press the price a bit."

"But even at a thousand spirit jade apiece, that would only come to thirteen thousand spirit jade," Wei Zhao said, shaking his head.

"True, but in any transaction, the customary price is only a reference point. The final price still depends on the market. And right now the market is favorable—fifteen thousand really isn't excessive at all," Hong Zhong said with a smile.

Since the other man insisted, Wei Zhao could no longer refuse. He could only shake his head with a wry smile. "Manager Hong, this is the first time I've met a merchant who goes out of his way to offer customers discounts while also finding excuses to justify them. If every merchant in the world were like you, they'd all go bankrupt."

Hong Zhong roared with laughter. As he personally transferred the spirit jade to Wei Zhao's card to settle the account, he explained, "Young Master Lin, not a single word I just said was false. The auction we're attending today—the lots are generally provided jointly by the various merchant guilds, and my North Island branch has lately been short on items of sufficient caliber. So those thirteen top-grade Barrier-Breaking Pills of yours are a timely gift. This price is absolutely fair and reasonable."

"If I can be of help to Manager Hong, so much the better," Wei Zhao nodded, then asked, "By the way, where is this auction being held?"

Last time, Hong Zhong had mentioned that the auction was not in the inner streets of the market district, and he had specifically urged Wei Zhao to come early—which suggested the place was not close by. Wei Zhao was rather curious about it.

"The Far North Island. North of Cloud Terrace Island, the northernmost isle that can be explored. On the map it's no bigger than a palm, but it's the most exclusive locale in the northern territories—a money pit that ranks among the top five islands of the entire Heaven Tier," Hong Zhong explained.

Though he suspected Wei Zhao must have some deep and hidden background, he already knew Wei Zhao's public identity: a mere newcomer to the Azure Cloud Pavilion. For a place like the Far North Island, the most normal situation would be that he had never even heard of it.

And that was indeed the case. Though the Far North Island was a renowned money pit, it was exclusive territory for the great and powerful. Ordinary cultivators had no right to enter or leave, and those who even knew of its existence were exceedingly few. Even someone like Senior Brother Bitter, who had muddled along in the Triple Stack Pavilion for some years, knew nothing of it.

"The Far North Island—sounds decent enough. How do we get there?" Wei Zhao asked, raising an eyebrow.

Hong Zhong understood his meaning and shook his head. "There's no teleportation array, so the only way is a flying spirit beast. Even at top speed, the flight takes two hours, so we must set off at once."

As the two spoke, Hong Zhong had already made the preparations. A massive flying spirit beast stood waiting in the street. For this trip to the Far North Island auction, besides Hong Zhong and Wei Zhao, two staff members would accompany them, tasked with assisting Hong Zhong.

With a rushing whoosh, the giant flying spirit beast soared into the air and sped northward.

Standing on the beast's back, Wei Zhao could see that besides himself and Hong Zhong, a dozen or so other flying spirit beasts were also taking off from North Island, rising from all directions and heading the same way—toward the Far North Island.

Watching this, Wei Zhao suddenly noticed that Hong Zhong's expression had turned somewhat strange. Puzzled, he asked, "What is it? Is something wrong?"

It was an auction, after all. The Hong Clan Merchant Guild would send people, and so would the North Island Triple Stack Pavilion and the other merchant factions. There was nothing strange about that, surely?

"Nothing. It's just that these people seem to have gone to rather excessive lengths. In past years, the North Island auction never mobilized so many at once..." Hong Zhong stroked his chin thoughtfully.

Wei Zhao looked over at his words and saw that the other flying spirit beasts each carried a dozen or more people, while his own side had only four. By comparison, they seemed rather sparse.

By custom, the North Island auction was held once every half year—a frequency neither high nor low. The various factions of North Island would all send representatives, but few ever went to such lengths.

Normally, Hong Zhong bringing two assistants was enough to handle matters; more people would just be idle. After all, this wasn't a fight—it was ordinary auction business. There was no need for strength in numbers.

Yet it would have been one thing if only a single faction had mobilized so heavily. But now, looking around, nearly every other flying spirit beast was densely packed with a dozen or more people, some even more. This was simply too anomalous.

Hong Zhong shot a glance at the assistant steering their flying spirit beast, then had him slowly bring them alongside the nearest beast (Yesterday a reader on the public WeChat account 22 mentioned Xu Lingchong changing his cultivation method. This was mentioned earlier when we first came to Cloud Terrace Island: under the Heavenly Dao there is one cultivation method, and above the Heavenly Dao one may change to another method for cultivation. Xu Lingchong had never changed his before, so he can change once. This will be mentioned in future chapters.). (To be continued) R752