A bustling crowd flowed by as the three of them walked through the alleyways, finally stopping in front of a shop called Jianbaoge.
The servant at the door greeted Yao Ling warmly as soon as he saw her, "Miss, you've arrived. We've prepared a private room for you on the second floor."
Yao Ling nodded. "Thank you for your trouble. Please lead the way."
Yin Ming curiously surveyed the store's layout. From the outside, the Appraisal Pavilion looked like a medium-sized antique shop, but little did he know that its interior held a different story—
Another building was built in the backyard of the shop, which was more than twice the size of the shop in front, and it seemed that this was their main business.
As Yin Ming had suspected, the Treasure Appraisal Pavilion was ostensibly just an antique shop, but in reality, it was an auction house.
They would auction off all the rare and precious materials they received, and according to Yao Ling, sometimes they would even get some truly extraordinary items.
Upon hearing this, Yin Ming glanced silently at Ling Yao beside him. It seemed that some extraordinary treasures would surely appear today.
“Young Miss, I heard that there is a piece of black iron armor among today’s auction items. That armor is no ordinary piece; it is said to have been forged by the master blacksmith Duan Jiang.”
"The lords in the pavilion have tested it, and the armor's defensive capabilities are extremely strong. It can even withstand a full-force attack from a seventh-realm cultivator. If you are interested, you might as well take a look," the servant whispered after leading everyone to the private room.
Yao Ling nodded her thanks and gave the servant some jade as a reward. The servant then happily closed the door and left.
While Yao Ling and Ling Yao were still discussing whether the Xuan Tie Battle Armor was really that powerful and what the starting price would be, Yin Ming had already leaned back on the soft kang table with an unsurprised expression, resting his chin on his hand and waiting for the auction to begin.
After the three of them browsed the clothing store for a while, Yin Ming had a flash of inspiration and remembered that there were black markets in cultivation novels, where the protagonists would find many treasures. He then subtly expressed to Yao Ling that he wanted to go and broaden his horizons. Unexpectedly, he was now able to really broaden his horizons.
Wow, it's an incredibly strong defensive armor right off the bat! See? I told you there would be something good.
Yin Ming thought expectantly, maybe he could also find something good.
The windows of the private rooms are one-way glass, allowing people inside to see the auction stage and audience seating in the center of the first-floor hall, while those outside cannot see into the private rooms.
The private room's window is connected to a mechanism for guests to use when participating in the auction. Simply press a button on the kang table, and the mechanism will light up, accompanied by the guest's voice.
The first item up for auction is three bottles of mid-grade Soul Nourishing Pills, with a starting price of three thousand.
Yin Ming yawned, waiting listlessly to see if there would be anything else of interest.
The host in the center of the room enthusiastically introduced each item to be auctioned, but Yin Ming in the private room was falling asleep.
Damn it, they dare to put this junk up for auction? It's worthless.
As if he had thought of something, Yin Ming suddenly opened his eyes, which were about to close, and looked at Ling Yao with a malicious sneer.
If I remember correctly, the male lead shouldn't have much money left, so how is he going to buy this Xuan Tie armor? Is he going to live off a woman?
The future supreme god and demon, even he has a time when he lives off a woman. Yin Ming almost wanted to laugh out loud. How embarrassing, so incredibly embarrassing.
It wasn't until Lingyao stared longingly at Yinming that Yinming realized he had laughed too soon.
What?! What's with that look?! You don't ask your wife for money, but you're asking me?!
You can't ruin my wallet just to avoid embarrassing yourself in front of girls!
Dame, Dame!
Despite his obvious resistance, Yin Ming eventually obediently took out his money and paid the huge sum of ten million for Ling Yao.
Sobbing, his Mane, just like that, gone, he did nothing, just gone...
Yin Ming burst into tears. His total net worth had already exceeded 100 million, but now that he had lost 10 million, he immediately went from being a billionaire to a millionaire. This change in status was so disheartening!
"Well, I guess I'll just consider this a purchase to build up goodwill," Yin Ming thought with a long face. "Right, I promised to give the male lead a magical artifact."
Yin Ming turned to look at the black iron armor that the servant had respectfully handed to Ling Yao in the private room after the successful auction...
Yin Ming sniffed and forced a smile: "This is for you, Yao."
Seeing the glint in Ling Yao's eyes, Yin Ming managed to salvage his mood somewhat. Thankfully, the money wasn't wasted.
But that's ten million! Yin Ming really couldn't be happy. The male lead was such a spendthrift.
And this lousy auction house is a total rip-off! They're selling armor for ten million! I thought I was going to buy something good, but I just ended up getting ripped off. I'm never coming here again!
The host had already announced the end of the auction, and Yin Ming and his companions were preparing to leave when a servant rushed in from backstage and whispered something to the host. The host immediately raised his voice again:
"Please wait a moment, esteemed guests. The Pavilion Master has just acquired another treasure. Would you be interested in taking a look?"
After hearing this, Yin Ming turned to look at the auction stage with great interest. Was the world system forgetting to give the male protagonist something and now it was making up for it?
No! Run for your lives! The thing the male lead has his eye on is going to ruin Yin Ming's wallet!
Yin Ming was shoving Ling Yao and Yao Ling to leave the private room, but he stopped when he heard the host's introduction.
Something's not right. What was she saying? I didn't hear her clearly. Let me listen more carefully.
"So, is anyone interested in this ring? The starting bid is 500,000. All are welcome to bid."
Huh? She asked what kind of ring it was.
The servant beside him offered a friendly reminder: "The host said that the purpose of this ring is currently unknown, but since it was unearthed from the tomb of a master blacksmith, it is unlikely to be a simple burial item, so it is priced at 500,000."
"I don't know what it's for?" Yin Ming frowned. Aren't spatial rings supposed to have two uses? Either to store inanimate objects like rare and precious materials, or to store living creatures like magical beasts.
Could it be… Yin Ming’s heart suddenly pounded violently. Could it be the ring that the male lead used later in the story?
That ring is called the Soul Ring.
As its name suggests, it doesn't contain rare and precious materials or magical beasts, but rather souls.
Yin Ming still remembered the scene in the original novel where this ring appeared.
In the original story, the male protagonist once encountered a magical beast with a higher cultivation level than himself. What did he do when he couldn't defeat it? He simply played dead.
The male protagonist immediately left his body and entered the soul ring, thus escaping the detection of the magical beast.
The monsters didn't have any fetish for corpses, and seeing that the protagonist was no longer alive, they left satisfied.
After the monster left, the protagonist's soul immediately emerged from the soul ring and returned to his true form, thus coming back to life.
As for what happens later, when the male protagonist's cultivation level rises to a higher level and he goes back to give that magical beast a good beating, that's a story for another time.
Although it's unclear why the ring, which was supposed to appear later in the story, has suddenly appeared at this time, that's not important. What's important is that Yin Ming really needs this ring right now!
Buy! We absolutely must buy it! We'll sell everything we own to buy it!
Yin Ming immediately pressed the button on the kang table, "I'll offer one million!"
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