Chapter 69
Long Hao Chen furrowed his brows and, without paying any attention to the youth with long hair in front of him, turned around and told both Li Xin and Lin Jia Lu: “Big sisters, we should go.”
“No, no, don’t go. I really want to buy it, I will pay 2000 gold coins, how about it?” The youth, seemingly full of remorse, hurried to speak.
Hearing this number, Long Hao Chen couldn’t help but halt his steps: saying that he did not care would be a lie. 2000 gold coins, this was more than twice as much as the starting price. It may even not be sold for the starting price during the auction.
The middle-aged man with the auction house looked unconcerned, and said in a low voice to the long haired youth: “Do not cause a scene and disturb the peace here, now hurry up and leave.”
The long haired youth’s mouth twitched, and he took out a black card from his waist, handing it to the man: “Brother, it seems like you are new here. You don’t even recognize this master.”
The middle-aged man instantly reacted upon seeing this black card, his face instantly becoming stiff; he inspected the card in his hand very carefully, looking at it from different angles, before respectfully handing it back to the long haired youth.
“Respectable distinguished guest, you have the right to purchase this merchandise immediately, all you need is the seller’s consent.”
The long haired youth looked extremely proud of himself as he took the card back, before turning once more to look at Long Hao Chen, saying: “How about it, young junior? You see, I didn’t violate any rules of this auction house. Sell it to me. It will be no lower than 2000 gold coins. I need the body of this Dark Green Dual Bladed Demon to use a part of it to make some medicine.”
Lin Jia Lu blurted out, amazed, “You’re an alchemist?”
The long haired youth’s face grew dark, “Who said that I was an alchemist? I am a mage, a very, very powerful mage. Making medicine is a mere hobby of mine. I will tell you that this great master is going to participate the Demon Hunt Selection Competition. Have you heard about demon hunts before? It is the sword of our Six Great Temples.”
As if he didn’t hear his words, Long Hao Chen pointed at this green-colored Dual Bladed Demon, and said: “2000 gold coins? Sold to you.” He was ice cold to him; his first impression of this babbling narcissistic was not good at all.
“Alright, alright. Take out your magic crystal card, I’ll transfer the gold.” Saying so, he waved his left hand, and a red light flashed as the dark green Dual Bladed Demon disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Long Hao Chen looked at him with astonished eyes. Clearly, this youth before him also possessed a storage type magical tool.
“I don’t have a magic crystal card,” Long Hao Chen shook his head and said.
“Just set up an account then. You can do it here, at the front. Let’s go, I’m taking you there.” The youth pointed at a counter on the other side. As he said this, he stretched out his hand and grasped Long Hao Chen’s shoulder amiably.
Long Hao Chen’s shoulder instantly moved, shaking off the youth’s hand.
The long-haired youth didn’t mind, and laughed: “Hehe, don’t be so cold. Look, we’ve both grown so handsomely and we are such a beautiful sight to behold. We should get to know each other more instead. I’m called Lin Xin, what’s your name?”
“Long Hao Chen.”
“A good name, a good name.” Lin Xin laughed openly and brought Long Hao Chen over to the other side to go set up a magic crystal card.
Lin Jia Lu looked at Li Xin and warily said: “Can it be that this fellow is a swindler?”
Li Xin answered in a low voice: “Just watch him closely. As a mage, do you think he can just run off?”
The middle aged man behind the counter rolled his eyes, saying: “You two misses, no need to worry like that. The black card that that young master just took out is actually our Holy Union Auction House’s highest ranking VIP black card. This kind of VIP card cannot be purchased under any circumstances, and can only be received as a gift. The people that possess this card, whenever they wish to purchase anything in our auction house, will receive a ten percent discount as preferential treatment. The ten percent difference will be covered by our auction house. Furthermore, at any auction house headed by the Holy Union, they can receive help covering expenses that exceed their budget within 100,000 gold coins.”
The two girls sucked in a breath of cold air, their expression immediately changing. Even with their background, they had actually never even heard of the existence of such an honored VIP status within the Holy Union’s auction houses.
Setting up a magic crystal card was more trouble than Long Hao Chen had thought. Furthermore, he needed to pay 100 gold coins up front. Where would Long Hao Chen have such a large amount of money? However, Lin Xin flashed his card yet again, and the setup cost was annulled.
The size of a magic crystal card was only about half a palm, and it was inlaid with four gems cut from the same gemstone. In the process of setting up the magic crystal card, one needed to funnel in their internal spiritual energy for it to be fully functional. As such, only people in the third step of their vocation could set one up. Every single person’s spiritual energy had their own unique qualities, and when using a magic crystal card, it was necessary to input your own spiritual energy within it. Thus, no one would worry about losing a card or someone else taking it for their own use.
Transferring money over was an even simpler matter. In the center of the magic crystal card, there was a specific area where one would simply stick a needle shaped rod with the sum of money written on it. Both parties would then input spiritual energy into the cards, and the two cards would dock together, resulting in a successful transfer.
Over a time period of about halfway through a lighted incense stick, Long Hao Chen’s magic crystal card had attained two thousand gold coins.
“It’s been settled.” Putting away his magic crystal card, Lin Xin patted Long Hao Chen’s shoulder, saying: “This brother should be attending the auction. As I don’t plan on treating this as just an accidental encounter, let’s go attend it together. Come with big brother, and you can get a discount on the stuff you buy.”
After receiving two thousand gold coins, Long Hao Chen’s mood had gotten a lot better. Nodding, he answered: “Then let’s go together.”
Calling Li Xin and Lin Jia Lu over, the four people entered the auction house together.
Entering the auction house, Long Hao Chen was immediately astonished by the scene before him. In the auction house, there were rows and rows of seats placed in a circle. Every five rows, the seats would be a different color. According to Lin Jia Lu’s explanation, different colors signified different ticket prices. Seats closer to the inner area of the circle would be substantially more expensive. In the area closest to the center was a circle of soundproof booths. At the center of the auction house was a circular platform, which was obviously for the auctioneers to use as a means to sell goods.
Once they had entered the auction house, Long Hao Chen immediately felt a dense accumulation of magical elements assaulting his senses. Clearly, this place implemented a good amount of magical installations.
“Our tickets are for the back row.” Looking at the number plate Li Xin had given him, Long Hao Chen turned and informed Lin Xin who was currently working his way towards the front of the auction hall.
Lin Xin paused his steps, saying: “Never mind. I have a booth in the front, and I’m by myself anyway. The interior of the booth is very spacious, so how about you just come with me.”
Long Hao Chen hesitated a bit, only to have Lin Jia Lu gently nudge him and tell him to accept Lin Xin’s offer. In regard to this long-haired youth, Li Xin and Lin Jia Lu were both quite curious. One must know that alchemists were extremely rare, and their status was far beyond that of mages. Although this fellow didn’t admit that he was an alchemist, he still stated that he had this kind of hobby. Furthermore, he possessed a black card. To make friend with this kind of person was not a bad idea at all.
“Alright,” Long Hao Chen obligingly answered him.
Under Lin Xin’s guidance, they followed the stairs, heading down lower and lower. After reaching the booth area at the front, there were female professional attendants there to help serve them. These attendants all wore silver dresses and had slim figures with beautiful, elegant appearances.
“Master Lin, you’ve come.” Seeing them come, a female attendant hastily approached Lin Xin and greeted him with a smile and a curtsy.
Lin Xin spoke in a straightforward manner: “Xiao Nuo, these few people are my friends. Take us over to the booth please.”
“Yes.” The young lady’s gaze flitted over Long Hao Chen’s face and expressed slight astonishment. Lin Xin’s appearance could already be considered to be one of the most outstanding among males, but in comparison with Long Hao Chen, he fell a bit short. With both of them standing side by side, Lin Xin would immediately be compared to Long Hao Chen.
However, the female attendants were quite classy here, and her vision only lingered for but a moment before she brought the four people across the red carpet to the interior of booth.
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*[Long Taos]: side characters in Chinese operas who perform acrobatics and fight scenes
*[12.47 to 13.07]: don’t ask me about the tree sap