Chapter 165 The Floating Auction
A wandering city built by beings from the surface world.
Yan Shi immediately became interested.
Moreover, Chu Mengfu said that the authorities also have admission tickets for the Floating City every year.
But Yan Shi had never heard of it.
Yan Shi pondered, "I'll go to the bureau tomorrow and ask Gui Gemu."
After seeing Yan Shi put away the necromancer halberd, the black-robed man above had already left silently.
“The Floating City isn’t a good place.” Seeing Chu Mengfu’s disappointment, Meng Shi suddenly spoke up, “You don’t need to have too high hopes. It’s fine if you don’t go.”
"It's full of lunatics and psychopaths." As he spoke, Meng Shi frowned in disgust, seemingly thinking of someone. "If it weren't for..."
“Isn’t punctuality a good quality of your character?” Wen Ying interrupted. “Aren’t you leaving? The auction starts in twenty-five minutes.”
Teacher Meng: "Oh, right. Goodbye then." She waved to Yan Shi.
Lin Cai looked at Yan Shi.
Yan Shi shrugged and took out an auction admission ticket from his pocket. "I'm here to attend the auction too."
Chu Mengfu looked up with some anticipation.
"Just one," Yan Shi said, then pointed to Lin Cai, "Take Chu Mengfu back to the city to rest as soon as possible."
She felt that Chu Mengfu needed sleep and rest most in his current condition.
Chu Mengfu lowered his head again: "Okay...Teacher Yanlan."
After saying that, Yan Shi turned to Meng Shi and Wen Ying, "You shouldn't mind if I travel with you, right?"
Master Meng: "...I don't mind."
Gritting teeth.jpg
The admission ticket stated that the auction would be held on the Dono Sea.
But when Yanshi reached the seaside, he found that there were no buildings or large ships in this direction.
The beach was deserted.
Above the Dono Sea, there was nothing but moonlight.
Yan Shi remained expressionless, his gaze falling on Meng Shi and Wen Ying beside him.
Teacher Meng took out his phone to check the time. "Eighteen minutes to go. We'll arrive three minutes early. Perfect."
As she spoke, she turned to look at Wen Ying, "I thought you weren't interested in this auction."
Wen Ying didn't reply, her eyes fixed intently on the sea, lost in thought.
Time is up.
A low, rumbling sound suddenly came from the sea.
Yan Shi looked up.
The previously empty space began to fluctuate, with ripples spreading out from the void.
As the ripples gradually expanded, a massive building slowly emerged from the air.
Initially, it was just a faint outline. As time went on, the ripples spread out completely, and the outline of the building became clearer and clearer until it was fully revealed in the sky, suspended dozens of feet above the sea.
It is a huge castle.
The castle is constructed entirely of dark gray stone, each brick engraved with intricate and ancient runes that emit a faint blue glow. The outer layer of the castle is inlaid with countless crystals, making it appear as if it has imprisoned a piece of the starry sky from afar.
After the castle was fully revealed, the surrounding sea also moved. The originally calm water was drawn to the foot of the castle, but did not reach the bottom of the castle.
The castle eventually floated above a thin layer of mist.
Yan Shi lowered his head, which had been held high, with a serious expression, and rubbed his neck.
She underestimated the financial power of the black market.
Such a huge castle appeared out of thin air, floating in the air, involving countless alchemy techniques and formations.
She said there was a problem with the total amount of money seized from the black market during the last raid.
The black market in Sunrise City looks quite large, so why was the final report so short?
Identify the key point and be alert.jpg
The castle was floating in mid-air. While Yan was observing the castle, Meng Shi took out another plastic ball from his storage space.
It looks a lot like a gashapon toy from the real world.
Teacher Meng twisted open the plastic ball, took out a model from it, and after pressing something, the model quickly grew larger and became a small submarine.
"Do you need me to give you a ride?" Master Meng asked, standing on the floating boat. "The black market is next to a forbidden area, and it's very troublesome to get up there."
Wen Ying glanced at her, clearly expecting this, and tossed a bag of spirit stones to Meng Shi, saying, "Fuel fee."
"And you?" Meng Shi then looked at Yan Shi.
Yan Shi pointed behind Meng Shi.
The sea monster, which had just leaped back into the Dono Sea, soared up from the surface again, slapping its tail and causing the tide to surge, capsizing Meng Shi's floating boat on the shore and throwing Meng Shi into the sea. Finally, it obediently floated on the shore, giving Yan Shi a beautiful splash ingratiatingly.
Yan Shi: "Do you need me to give you a ride?" She smiled, her eyebrows and eyes beaming.
Master Meng climbed out of the sea, wiping the water from his face. "This is malicious competition! You're hurting your competitors' business!"
Her clothes weren't wet; only the ends of her hair had water droplets on them.
Meng Shi angrily righted her floating boat, poured the bag of spirit stones that Wen Ying had thrown to her into the fuel tank at the stern, slammed the lid shut, and took off directly towards the castle.
The sea creature floated gently beside the castle, raising its head to the same height as the ground next to the gate.
Yan Shi jumped off the sea monster and looked around at the castle gate.
It was pitch black inside the door, and you couldn't see anything.
At the entrance, there was a guard dressed in a black robe, completely covered up.
The sea monster was much faster than Meng Shi's floating boat. Behind her, Meng Shi and Wen Ying had just stepped off the floating boat.
"The one hosting this auction is indeed the deceased." Meng Shi approached, handed the admission ticket to the guard at the door, and muttered under his breath, "They're all pursuing death, yet they're still obsessed with money."
Wen Ying stood beside her: "Pursuing death is not true death." She also handed the admission ticket to the guard, and at the same time took out her sword again. After the guard nodded, she handed the sword and the sword to her.
Weapons are not allowed at this auction?
Yan Shi peeked out from behind and was somewhat surprised to see Meng Shi also take out his gun and hand it to the guard.
She always felt that Wen Ying and Meng Shi didn't seem like people who would follow the rules so well.
The two people in front of him walked into the dark door, leaving only Yan Shi at the entrance.
The man in black robes stared at Yan Shi.
Yan Shi took out the admission ticket from his pocket, hesitated for a moment, then took the Sun Crown off his wrist and handed it to the guard.
The guard placed the admission ticket and the Sun Crown together in a tray next to her.
The tray lit up, and the admission ticket transformed into a dark box, enveloping the blazing sun crown within.
At the same time, a voice sounded in Yan Shi's mind, "The auction item has been inspected. Estimated value: SSS. Auction room: Blazing Sun. Note that the auction house will charge a 20% commission on the final auction price."
The auction house reserves the right of final interpretation.
"Welcome to the Floating Auction."
Yan Shi: ?
What is it?
Has the inspection of the auction items been completed?
She stared blankly at the tray next to the guard.
The next second, the tray was swallowed by the castle and disappeared.
In the same spot, the castle spat out a token made of obsidian. On the token, deep red patterns intertwined, as if locking away a cluster of flames.
[Blazing Sun and Falling Glory]
Guard: "Madam, based on the value of the item you provided, you have six bidding opportunities. Enter the amount in the room near the door of your desired item and swipe your token to successfully place your bid."
"After the auction, the auction house will bring you the item for which you have made the final and confirmed highest bid, and settle the account with you in your auction room."
Have a pleasant evening.
Yan Shi took the token and walked stiffly into the castle.
She felt she wouldn't have a pleasant evening.
She wants to bid for the Sun Crown later.
Auction houses charge 20% of the winning bid as a commission; why don't they just rob people?!
Yan Shi heard the sound of his wallet being empty.
It was pitch black inside the castle gates.
Yan Shi felt the token in his hand was getting slightly warm.
She tentatively took a few more steps forward, feeling as if she were passing through a cold, thin membrane.
When I opened my eyes again, I was in a magnificent, golden room.
The room wasn't large, only about the size of a normal study. The walls were covered with soft velvet wallpaper and framed with large, gilded picture frames. The frames were intricately carved with bas-reliefs of flames, and the paintings within them were enlarged versions of the patterns on the tokens.
The room's ceiling was extremely high, and painted with a huge image of a deity legend that Yan Shi was completely unfamiliar with.
The room features exquisite parquet wooden floors, with a large, intricately patterned handwoven rug spread out in the center. A display case sits atop the rug.
Above the display case was a glass box, within which the Crown of Blazing Sun floated. It had changed from the size of a bracelet back to the size of the crown Yan Shi had first found, with flames leaping at its top.
Dazzling and eye-catching.
It blends perfectly with the opulent gold and silver of the entire room, becoming an integral part of it.
Yan Shi's vision went black.
The crown of the blazing sun looks incredibly valuable.
According to the common sense of auctions, the highest bidder owns the crown. How much money would she have to give to the auction house to redeem the blazing sun crown?
"No," Yan Shi muttered to himself, "I can't be a sucker."
She looked towards the doorway.
As the guard said, there was a display screen embedded in the wall on the side of the room near the door, which was probably used for bidding.
Yan Shi turned on the screen.
The display screen is very simple, with only a currency box and a numeric keypad.
There is a confirmation button at the very bottom.
Yan Shi pondered for a moment, entered 100, clicked to confirm and submit, and after organizing his thoughts again, said in a low voice, "All subsequent bids for items in this room will be rejected."
The law responds.
Yan Shi let out a breath.
My wallet is safe.
One hundred yuan is the price Yan Shi set for the crown of the blazing sun; that's the highest it can go.
She glanced back at the blazing sun crown one last time, then pushed open the door and walked out of the room.
Outside the room was a not-too-long corridor. At the very end of the corridor was the stairwell.
Yan Shi counted; there were only seven rooms in the corridor. Yan Shi was in the third room from the left.
A crystal ball hangs at the entrance of each room. However, the crystal balls in all the other rooms are dark, except for those in the room next to Yan Shi's room, where they are lit.
It might mean there are no items up for auction.
Yan Shi pondered.
She pushed open the door to the next room, which also had a lit crystal ball.
The overall decor of this room was completely different from the room Yan Shi was in, much heavier. From the reliefs on the walls to the chandelier hanging from the ceiling, everything was a deep gold, carrying a strong sense of metallic hardness.
Gui Gemu sat inside a large glass case on top of the display case, holding a talisman-shaped shovel, trying to pry open the edge of the glass case and climb out of the display case.
Yan Shi: ...?
She met Guige Mu's gaze as he worked diligently, and slowly greeted him, "Excuse me."
Author's Note: Chapters 159-164 have undergone major plot revisions; please reread them. I'm back! Thank you for waiting! (heart emoji)
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