The Eastern Pearl Building was a tad quiet, with all the folks who were earlier chomping at the bit for the remains of Tong Wei taking a moment to sigh dramatically.
The Lingxi Gate had quite the reputation in the martial arts world; their disciples weren’t just any old fighters, they were ranking strongholds on the leaderboard!
Now, Qiao Ziyu had a special something about him that made him stand out among the many heirs of the sect: a unique constitution that made him the golden child.
With the mysterious remains of Tong Wei in his possession—paired with his own special physique—he might just uncover the secrets of Tong Wei’s power and bring back the glory of yesteryear. Naturally, this was something he simply had to possess!
As for the others? Well, it wouldn’t do them any good, so why go stirring up trouble with the Lingxi Gate?
With silence looming in the air, Qiao Ziyu clasped his hands again, “Thanks for gracing me with your presence, everyone.”
“Young Sect Master, don’t you think you’re bending the rules a little?” Qian Bufan shot back, his face darkening.
“Honestly, this item is just too important to me. In a moment of desperation, I hope Elder can forgive my rudeness.”
Qiao Ziyu grinned widely, his tone surprisingly polite: “Don’t worry! We shall follow the rules of the Eastern Pearl Building!”
“Well, Young Sect Master, please go ahead,” Qian Bufan replied with a glower before sweeping away.
“No sending off! Thanks for the gift from the Qingyuan Sect, hahahaha…” Qiao Ziyu chuckled as he made his way to the counter.
At an auction at the Eastern Pearl Building, this treasure would’ve cost a fortune.
Of course, even now, it wasn’t cheap—two hundred Mystic Crystals! When converted to gold, it would be an astronomical figure.
But hey, he could negotiate!
With three thousand people involved, after some haggling, Ke Mo might end up coughing up some coin for him.
“Let’s see if luck’s on my side.”
“Sure, here’s your flying dart.”
Qiao Ziyu was the first to grab the flying dart from Lan Tian’s hand. He squinted and found that the flickering lights seemed completely random.
Well, of course! The Eastern Pearl Building wasn’t your run-of-the-mill establishment, they’d surely prevent anyone from pulling a fast one.
In that case, it was all about luck! But…
He actually had a trick to temporarily boost his luck!
Swish—
The flying dart zapped through the air, a streak of black, seemingly destined to hit its target. Qiao Ziyu had cast a self-jinxing spell on himself.
It was on himself! The backlash was real, but the price? He’d be having a streak of bad luck for a while.
Bam—
“I hit it! I hit it!”
“What did you hit?”
“Uh? Not a discount? Looks like… a pearl? What does a pearl even mean?”
Qiao Ziyu frowned and glanced over at Lan Tian.
Lan Tian pondered for a moment, her eyes widening: “You actually have such good luck?”
“Oh? What’s up with this pearl?”
Qiao Ziyu felt a weight lift off his chest; this seemed better than a discount!
Well, considering he willingly jinxed himself…
“This isn’t a pearl; it’s a Dragon Ball! Collect all nine Dragon Balls… and you can claim items for free! Plus, you get cash rewards worth half the item’s value!”
“Bwahahahahaha! Got it! Awesome!”
Qiao Ziyu laughed heartily.
He was the first to grab a Dragon Ball; this jackpot was too easy!
The rest of the process flowed smoothly; folks from the Lingxi Gate were lining up.
“Young Sect Master, I got a Dragon Ball!”
“Young Sect Master, I too got a Dragon Ball!”
…
Seven people went up and, astonishingly,
“Young Sect Master, I also… uh, this Dragon Ball looks a bit different?”
The disciple remarked, causing Qiao Ziyu to follow his gaze.
What he saw wasn’t a golden Dragon Ball but a silver one.
“Uh, what’s this? What gives?” Qiao Ziyu asked with a furrowed brow.
Lan Tian blinked: “This is a Jiao Ball! Collect nine of those and you can exchange them for a Dragon Ball! Wow, you’re lucky; I’ve seen customers with eight Dragon Balls already!”
Well, of course, the rules were set today, and it was her first day on the job—talk about bad timing!
“Alright then, I’ll keep at it.”
Qiao Ziyu shrugged it off; he had plenty of helpers to share the load.
…
“Lan Tian’s performance was completely unremarkable; she’s like a clueless black sheep!”
Li Mo said, removing a layer of mysterious glass as he stood atop the building, observing.
“She’s got good instincts; she’s actually fit for this job,” Elder Qian nodded in agreement, then shook his head: “But you? You are the real black sheep! Selling one of my leftover pig trotter bones for a hundred Mystic Crystals? Even if it’s not ruined, that’s still a loss!”
“From the sound of things, the Lingxi Gate is doing pretty well?”
“Not as good as you, but we qualify to be in the town of Zhenzhou; we have a thousand Mystic Crystals at least.”
“Oh, I see.”
As Li Mo maneuvered his Mirage Spirit Pearl, he glanced down.
Elder Qian could tell he was cooking up some wild scheme again. This kid, though often aloof, has deep feelings for the sect…
Meanwhile, below, Qiao Ziyu had moved from Dragon Balls to Clam Balls, then to Fish Balls, and Shrimp Balls, his previously calm demeanor completely vanishing—he was now in a frenzy.
His patience running thin, he was ready to pop.
“Hmm?”
A few investors sitting nearby stood up, looking displeased.
Qiao Ziyu could only abandon logic: “How many more are there? Is this ever going to end?”
“Seems like your friends are having bad luck, eh? Someone just finished collecting nine Dragon Balls, can’t blame us!”
“Then let me ask you this: where do the shrimp balls come from? There’s got to be some logic to this!”
“Sorry, but the final interpretation of this event belongs to the store!”
Lan Tian said cheerfully, leaving Qiao Ziyu with a growing frustration.
He couldn’t counter their argument; after all, others actually managed to collect nine Dragon Balls.
Accuse them of cheating? You’d need evidence for that.
Three thousand people sounds impressive.
But as dusk fell, only one remained. Qiao Ziyu wasn’t broke, but he was sweating like a gambler at the last round.
“Young Sect Master… what I got is…”
“What’s yours, mine, it’s all mine!”
“Oh, you got a pearl, Young Sect Master.”
Qiao Ziyu: “?”
Folks around began whispering, murmuring, “Could Qiao Ziyu have done something dastardly to have such awful luck?”
Lan Tian stifled a yawn: “Hi there, after you’ve finished, the price is still a hundred Mystic Crystals.”
“…..”
With everyone chattering away, Qiao Ziyu clenched his fists: “Considering I’ve been at this for so long, how about a little discount?”
“Hey there, you’re not out of cash, are you?”
“Alright, alright, here! Take it!”
Qiao Ziyu gritted his teeth and begrudgingly forked over two hundred Mystic Crystals to make the purchase.
After getting the jade box, he and his entourage stormed out, a strong sense of injustice brewing inside him.
As they say, when a person’s in a bad mood, they just want to stuff their face with food.
Thus, the first thing he did at the Tavern was order an assortment of food—grilled meat, pig trotters, you name it.
“Unbearable! This truly makes my bl**d boil!”
Qiao Ziyu bit into the pig trotter with a vengeance.
“Young Sect Master, chill! We just hit a rough patch.”
“Even though we lost some cash, as long as we get that peculiar Tong Wei remains, your future is limitless! How’s that little bit of money gonna be a measure?”
The elder tried to calm him, tossing the gnawed pig trotters to the dogs.
