67 The auction begins (1/2)
Just as Zhang Zi finally calmed down, the curtains that covered the stage was pulled back. A middle aged man walked on to the stage. As he stood there, he exuded an aura of confidence and strength. Considering the fact that most of the people here were here to buy items to prepare for the youngster's tournament, it made sense to use such a person to inspire them to buy more. Not only that with someone at the soul step in charge of the auction, but they also do not have to worry about anyone stealing anything.
Zhang ZI pushed Bai Yun away and sat down with a flourish, once again regaining the image of a noble young master. Song Hui just looked at the two of them as if they were acting out a play, not understanding what had happened. Thankfully Zhang Zi had managed to make her take out the balloons, which they were, she hid in her chest before he went mad. Song Hui's maid, who had followed her inside, nearly kowtowed before Zhang Zi upon his success.
”Hello and welcome to the youngster's auction.” The middle aged man said. ”I am glad to see that there are many enthusiastic people here to buy many unique things. Well, I know that none of you are here to hear me drone on, so without any further ado, I, Zhang Tianyi, declare the start of the auction.”
When Bai Yun heard the name of the auctioneer he turned to Zhang Zi with a raised eyebrow.
”He is my uncle.” Zhang Zi explained.
Bai Yun was surprised by this. He was under the impression that the auction was conducted by the hunters union. All the members of the Zhang family were in the Little Merchant Association, and this auction was hosted by the Hunters Union instead.
Seeing Bai Yun's confused look, Zhang Zi quickly explained. Even though it may seem as if the event is hosted by the Hunters Union, in truth it was jointly hosted by both the Hunters Union and the Little Merchant Association. Only then could they get a truly wide range of products to make the auction a success. And the members of the Association were better auctioneers anyway.
”The first item up for the auction is ” Zhang Tianyi started. Then he waved his hand as a beautiful young lady brought in a tray. There was something on the tray that was covered by a cloth. With a flourish, he removed the cloth to reveal a few small bottles, each with a pill in them. ”ten second circle qi breakthrough pills.”
Qi breakthrough pills were pills that aided one in the breakthrough of stages of the qi condensation realm. By having one before trying to break through, it could increase the chances of success as well as decrease the backlash in case of a failure. Bai Yun was never worried about a breakthrough, as he had cultivated to the pinnacle once before. With his experience, all he needed was sufficient accumulation to make sure that there was no instability in his foundation.
But for most others, this was not true. Since most people were only children when they went through qi condensation, both their age and inexperience would cause problems while cultivating. In fact more people had troubles during qi condensation than foundation establishment.
As a result, once the qi breaking pills were shown, it caused a commotion in the audience. Qi breaking pills were nothing much for the people in the VIP seats, but for the people in the general seats, it was a great opportunity. Since the auction was or the whole city, and not only for the rich, the first half of the auction tended to be for the general public, with not a lot of valuable items.
”The auction starts at one hundred gold.” Zhang Tianyi stated. ”Each increment must be at least five gold.”
While everything inside the clan might be bought with points, the outside world worked with gold and silver coins. A hundred silver coins were equal to a gold coin. The poorer people used silver, while the wealthier ones used gold. But in auctions like this, you could also use clan points in lieu of gold according to the exchange rate at the time. The current exchange rate was two thousand gold for a single clan point of the Bai clan. But this was applicable only in Yellow city. Clan points were useless outside the city.
”One hundred and ten gold.” Someone shouted.
”One hundred and twenty.”
”One hundred and twenty-five.”
One after the other, people in the general seats started to shout out. The people in the VIP seats did not care much about these items and did not even bother looking at them. In fact, a third of the booked seats weren't even filled as the people who booked them were waiting for the latter half of the auction before they arrive. Only people who had nothing better to do, like Zhang Zi and Bai Yun or people who had to show off like Bai Qing were there.