The Sect Leader System-Chapter 287: Auction Anticipation

The morning visit to Sixth Flawless Flowing City had done nothing to reduce Benton’s excitement about the upcoming auction. In fact, if anything, he was even more eager to attend. The appraiser had seemed to think that the swords would go for much more money than Benton had anticipated, leaving him all the funds he needed to buy materials.

With an hour yet to go before the start and wearing his best sect robes, Benton teleported to the courtyard outside the auction house. He was definitely early because he didn’t sense any cultivators present other than the ones that had been onsite earlier in the day.

That was okay, though. The fewer people who knew he was there, the better.

When he walked inside, he found a different young lady attending the front counter than the previous one, and his experience was much different as well. She immediately greeted him as Sect Leader Chao Su and showed him great deference.

“Greetings,” he said, cupping his hands.

Her eyes went wide at his act of politeness to a Foundation Establishment realm junior, and she froze for a moment.

“Is there some kind of private viewing room or something set up for me?” he said to help prod her along.

“Of course, Sect Leader,” she said, recovering nicely. “Please follow this lowly clerk.”

Interesting. She used the same manner of speech as Sun Hua. Maybe his assistant’s mother had trained with merchants.

The clerk led him to a well-apportioned room. There were four quite luxurious chairs, a table, and a glass window overlooking a stage.

“Since the Sect Leader is a Formations Master, feel free to modify or improve any of the privacy measures the Premiere Jade Treasures Auction House have established for you.”

Benton took a moment to examine the formations. The intent was obviously to block spiritual and physical senses from detecting anything inside the room, and he supposed the efforts weren’t bad per se. But they weren’t good, either. A high realmed Golden Core or a Nascent Soul could pierce the arrays with a bit of effort.

“Give me a moment,” Benton said.

Using his Time Aura, he quickly dashed around the room, making minor modifications.

“There,” he said. “Now there is no way anyone below Nihility will sense, see, hear, smell, or even taste anything coming from this room.”

A look a confusion crossed over the young lady’s face before she quickly schooled it. Benton was confused himself for a moment before he realized that the combination of him manipulating time and using his already supernatural speed along with the weak perception ability of a junior cultivator meant that, to her, it must have looked like he hadn’t even moved.

He thought about explaining for a moment, but it was far more amusing to appear to be highly eccentric.

“Gr-gratitude, Sect Leader,” she said. “Should this lowly clerk extend an invitation to anyone else to view the auction in this room?”

“I’m assuming the Poison Claw Sect has their own viewing area?”

“Of course, Sect Leader.”

“I’ll be fine alone, then. Gratitude.”

“O-of course, Sect Leader.” She pointed to what looked like a tablet lying on a small end table. “That device will allow you to place bids, tabulate the total amount of greater spirit coins earned and spent, and send a request for refreshments.”

The auction house had apparently invented an iPad with apps to run things. Cool. After dismissing the young lady, he sat down to play with the device and, of course, determine how it was made so he could make one for himself.

Mao Biya couldn’t wait for the auction. She hoped she got a chance to see Chao Su’s devastated face when all his plans for selling his swords and purchasing whatever caught his eye went for naught.

Her underling, Chang Wencheng, knocked and entered after receiving permission to do so.

“Report,” she said.

“The Jade Chameleons are on board with your plan, and the smaller sects and merchants have been intimidated into compliance, Branch Sect Leader.”

“Excellent. And the City Lord’s coterie?”

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He grimaced, not a good sign. “There have been difficulties, Branch Sect Leader. Rumors are circulating about just how good the swords in question are. The Emperor is sending a representative to the auction, someone who outranks the City Lord by quite a bit if the rumors have any truth to them.”

Mao Biya frowned. That news wasn’t good. At all. There were only so many levers she had to pull with the City Lord’s people, and none of those controls would work with someone from the capitol. With both the Emperor’s flunky and the Poison Claw Sect bidding, she might not be able to depress the selling price for the blades as much as she wished.

Still, there was a limit to the wealth the relatively poor Poison Claw Sect could afford to waste on swords. Even if the Emperor devoted significant sums to the endeavor, there was only so much damage his representative could do without someone actively bidding against him.

On the other hand, she wanted to make Chao Su pay, not be minorly inconvenienced.

“How many greater spirit coins do we have in the treasury?” she said.

“One hundred fifty thousand, Branch Sect Leader.”

Hmm. That was a good start. And she could also count on the auction house extending her sect a line of credit for a quarter million. With three hundred and fifty thousand greater spirit coins at her disposal, she could surely at least prevent Chao Su from getting his grubby little hands on whatever it was that he desired.

At the very least, she could drive up the prices that Chao Su paid. Doing so would cost her nothing.

Of course, her sect leader, Dong Qiao, would not be happy with her if she did end up spending even the majority of what was in the branch treasury without something important to show for it, much less going into debt. As long as she was successful in keeping something important out of an enemy’s hands, though, she could get the council of elders to side with her.

The gamble was worth it. She just had to be careful.

“Bring it all,” she said.

Kang Ya-Ting was quite sure that the day’s auction would be extraordinary. Chao Su’s craftsmanship had been a revelation. The fight with the Jade Chameleon Nascent Souls exposed his status as a Foundations Master, and the quality of the weapons he created meant he was also a Master Blacksmith.

Who knew what other wonders the man was capable of?

Overall, Kang Ya-Ting thanked the heavens that his instincts had paid off. His star, along with his granddaughter’s, was rising because of that man, and Kang Ya-Ting was more than willing to ride those coattails as high as they’d go.

Which was why he was in Elder Dai’s study.

“You’ve heard the latest rumors, right?” Dai Shuren said. “Mao Biya is trying to intimidate people into not buying Chao Su’s swords, but as word spreads about what might be on offer, her efforts appear to be failing.”

Kang Ya-Ting chuckled. “She’s in for a bad night.”

“Should we warn her or Chao Su?”

“Friend Su will figure it out quickly, and I’m sure he’ll make her regret her actions. As for her…” Kang Ya-Ting shrugged. “She’s putting herself more and more on an enemy footing with the Rising Tide Sect. You know where I stand.”

“That’s one of the Big Three you’re dismissing in favor of one man.”

Kang Ya-Ting laughed. “The big two, you mean, and that one man is the reason for that change. Soon it will be the big one.”

“You think the Poison Claw Sect will be all that will remain?”

Kang Ya-Ting made sure to keep his expression flat. He was absolutely confident that the Poison Claw Sect would be the only one of the Big Three left standing and would become bigger and better than ever. The big one, however, would be the Rising Tide Sect. “Definitely. That’s what I believe, Elder Dai.”

She flattened her lips into a line. “Our sect leader was quite impressed by the weapons Chao Su provided us.”

“He’s already seen them?”

“Elder Feng brought both of them to main sect grounds shortly after you gave them to us,” Elder Dai said.

Interesting. Chao Su certainly was good at making ripples that splashed even the highest levels of the sect leadership. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

“The sect leader was so impressed that he authorized us to use a half million greater spirit coins for bidding,” Elder Dai said. “He wants a sword with a mythical element.”

Kang Ya-Ting’s eyes went wide. “A half a million? For one sword?”

“Absolutely. We hope we can get it for that. We also hope recoup some of it. He ordered us to sell two materials we know Chao Su is seeking.”

“Why not simply try to swap directly?” Kang Ya-Ting said. “I’m sure Chao Su would be willing to make whatever the sect leader wanted in trade.”

“That option will be our last resort. The sect leader is wary of an exchange of value that leaves us giving Chao Su far too little value in return for a treasure like the sword. It’s important to achieve balance with him. You’ve done well to tilt things in our favor, but it’s been quite noticeable that he’s been pulling back as of late.”

“Understood, Elder Dai.” Kang Ya-Ting paused. “Do you think the sect leader would authorize any Lightning aspected materials to be auctioned off as well?”

“Lightning? Why? Chao Su didn’t mention that as something he was seeking.”

“Just a hunch,” Kang Ya-Ting said. “Just a hunch.”

Teng Wuying winced as rumors started flying around the city. Not about the high quality swords that his enemy, Chao Su, was selling. The man would be dealt with during the tournament, so the more money and resources he collected now, the better loot his ring would contain when Teng Wuying took possession of it.

No, he was worried about his ally, Mao Biya.

The woman was an excellent warrior and usually a fairly competent administrator. She was about as subtle as a blacksmith’s hammer, though. If there was anyone wholly unsuited for attempting to manipulate an auction, it was her.

Normally, he wouldn’t care. Let her suffer a loss of both spirit coins and face. As long as it didn’t harm him, why should he care?

The problem was that a large enough setback might get her demoted and recalled to the main branch of her sect, putting her part in arranging for four Nascent Souls for the ambush in jeopardy.

There was no help for it. Teng Wuying would have to attend the auction with her and lend his aid. A little humbling would do her good, but he needed to prevent her experiencing a complete disaster.

The more he thought about it, the more fun the prospect of the auction seemed. Chao Su was turning out to be a much more worthy adversary that Teng Wuying had believed. Matching wits with an imbecile was no fun, but a challenging opponent was a different matter entirely.

Maybe the two of them would turn out to be each other’s nemesis. How exciting!