Chapter 18: The Mysterious Treasure
The doors of VIP Suite Seven opened, and an attendant of the Merchant Guild entered, his hands trembling violently as he carried the Zither resting atop a velvet cushion.
The attendant kept his head bowed, not daring to look directly at the mysterious grandmaster or his veiled companion. To present an item worth one hundred thousand Spirit Stones was a terrifying responsibility; to collect the payment for it was even more daunting.
"E-Esteemed guest," the attendant stammered, his voice laced with reverence and fear. "The Zither, as won by your bid."
Lin Yuan did not even stand. He simply flicked his wrist, and a spatial pouch sailed through the air and landed squarely on the silver platter the attendant held out.
"One hundred thousand Spirit Stones. Count them if you must," Lin Yuan said smoothly.
The attendant cautiously opened the pouch with a sliver of his qi. The moment the blinding light of one hundred thousand spirit stones hit him, he nearly suffered a Qi deviation. He hurriedly sealed the pouch, bowing so low his forehead practically touched his knees.
"T-There is no need to count! The Premier Merchant Guild thanks Senior for his patronage!" the attendant squeaked, hastily retreating from the room and closing the door behind him.
Once they were alone again, Lin Yuan lifted the zither and gently placed it across Bai Qingyue’s lap.
Even through the silk of her robes, the chilling, serene aura of the zither seeped into her body. It was a comforting cold that seemed to instantly wash away the lingering anxiety in her mind. She ran her trembling fingers over the smooth body of the instrument, a single tear slipping from beneath her veil.
"It is beautiful..." she whispered, her voice filled with emotion. She looked up at Lin Yuan, her eyes shimmering. "Thank you. Truly."
"It is only right that a peerless fairy wields a peerless instrument," Lin Yuan smiled, reaching out to wipe the tear away. "Though you cannot channel qi into it yet to play its true spiritual melodies, you can pluck the strings to calm your heart. Keep it safe."
With a thought, Lin Yuan helped Bai Qingyue willed the zither into the small spatial ring he had previously given her.
Then....
[Ding!]
[Host has invested: Resource Spent Gifting Dao Companion.]
[Triggering critical multiplier... calculating...]
[Congratulations to the Host! You have triggered a Resource Return!]
[Reward: +200,000 Spirit Stones]
Down below, the auction had resumed, but the atmosphere had been irrevocably altered. The crowd was still buzzing, whispering frantically about the madman in Suite Seven. The subsequent items—a set of defensive array flags and a bottle of mid-tier foundation pills—sold for respectable amounts, but the bidding lacked the explosive fervor from before. The specter of a man who could casually toss away a hundred thousand spirit stones hung heavy over the room.
Lin Yuan stood up, stretching his arms casually. He had accomplished his goal. He had secured his wife’s gift, and none of the other items on the auction block held any appeal to him.
"Shall we leave?" Lin Yuan asked, offering his arm to Bai Qingyue. "The grand finale items will surely drag this out for another hour. I have no interest in fighting over whatever item they have saved for the end. It is best we slip away now, before the auction concludes and various clans decide to investigate the exits."
Bai Qingyue nodded in agreement. "Yes. We have drawn enough attention today. Let us return to the outer city."
Lin Yuan was about to activate his Immortal Cloud Step, ready to envelop his wife in his qi and drift out like a passing mist.
However, just as the spiritual qi began to cycle through his meridians, the auctioneer’s voice rang out, carrying a strangeness that caught Lin Yuan’s ear.
"Esteemed guests," the auctioneer began, wiping a bead of sweat from his brow. "Our next item is... strange. The appraisers of this Guild pride themselves on identifying all treasures beneath heaven, but this particular artifact has stumped even our Core Formation elders."
Two attendants walked onto the stage. They were carrying a simple, heavily weathered wooden frame.
The auctioneer pulled back the cloth to reveal a scroll painting.
The crowd immediately erupted into a chorus of disappointed murmurs and outright scoffs.
The painting was incredibly dilapidated. The canvas was yellowed and fraying at the edges, and the ink was faded to a dull, washed-out gray. It depicted a simple, unremarkable landscape: a towering mountain on the left, and a winding, torrential river on the right. There were no hidden arrays glowing on the paper, no spiritual qi radiating from the ink, and no signatures to identify the artist.
"Are we selling mortal garbage now?!" a harsh voice yelled from the back of the hall. "I have a prettier painting hanging in my outhouse!"
"Has the Premier Guild lost its mind?" another chimed in, laughing. "What is this trash?"
The auctioneer raised his hands defensively. "Please, guests, allow me to explain! While it appears to be a mundane painting, we recovered it from the center of the Scorched Realm. The entire realm was a sea of unquenchable heavenly fire... yet this painting was found entirely untouched by the flames! Furthermore, our appraisers attempted to test its durability. It cannot be torn by attacks even from a Core Formation expert!"
The laughter died down slightly, replaced by skeptical mutters. An indestructible painting? That was certainly curious, but if it couldn’t be used to attack, offer proper defense, or aid in cultivation, it was nothing more than an indestructible piece of trash.
"Because its true purpose remains entirely unknown," the auctioneer continued hastily, "we are setting the starting bid at a mere five hundred Spirit Stones! Do we have any takers? Five hundred?"
The hall remained silent. No one wanted to waste even a single Spirit Stone on a mystery that the guild’s own experts had given up on. To bid on it was to admit you were a fool willing to buy scrap.
Up in VIP Suite Seven, Lin Yuan was halfway through his movement art when he casually glanced down at the stage.
The moment his eyes locked onto the painting, an explosive reaction occurred within his body.
Thump!
Lin Yuan’s heart slammed against his ribs. Deep within his Sea of Consciousness, the vast, tranquil ocean of his Dao of Rain suddenly began to tremble. The conceptual raindrop—the absolute essence of his years of enlightenment—vibrated so fiercely it sent shockwaves through his meridians.
It was an undeniable resonance.
The Dao within him was reacting to the painting!
Lin Yuan’s eyes widened, the deep azure light flaring intensely within his pupils. He immediately stopped and stepped back to the window.
"Lin Yuan?" Bai Qingyue asked, startled by his sudden halt. "What is it? Is something wrong?"
"Hold on a moment, Qingyue," Lin Yuan murmured, his gaze entirely fixated on the stage.
He didn’t hesitate. With his newfound comprehension, he was able to notice every detail of the painting!
To the naked eye, it was just faded ink. But to him, the truth was laid bare.
He saw the brushstrokes. They were not painted with mortal ink, but with condensed, liquid spiritual essence. More importantly, he saw the intent behind the brush. The person who painted this landscape had possessed an unfathomable understanding of the world.
In a fraction of a second, his comprehension allowed Lin Yuan to deduce the painting’s origin.
This is not the original painting, Lin Yuan’s mind raced. It is a replica. A forgery. Someone attempted to paint a copy of a supreme artifact known as the ’Mountain and River Screen’.
However, the forgery was done by a cultivator whose realm was so terrifyingly high—likely a Nascent Soul almighty or a Soul Transformation demi-god—that even their casual attempt at copying a supreme treasure had accidentally infused the canvas with genuine traces of their Heavenly Dao!
The artist had poured their understanding of rivers and waters into the right side of the canvas. Because it was a mere copy, the Dao intent was trapped, hidden beneath the mundane exterior. But to someone who had just began comprehending his own Dao, the painting was a beacon in the dark.
And If a normal cultivator bought this, it would be a useless paperweight. But if Lin Yuan bought this, he could use his terrifying comprehension to extract the hidden Dao traces from the ink, fusing the ancient expert’s understanding with his own understanding.
It would skyrocket his mastery over the Dao to an untouchable realm!
"Five hundred Spirit Stones going once..." the auctioneer sighed, lifting his gavel, preparing to pass the item. "It seems we have no takers for this—"
"Ten thousand," Lin Yuan’s voice echoed lazily from VIP Suite Seven.
The entire auction house collectively snapped their necks toward the second floor.
The crowd was dumbfounded. The madman in Suite Seven was at it again! After spending a fortune on a zither for his wife, he was now throwing ten thousand Spirit Stones at a piece of trash! Was his wealth truly infinite?
"Ten thousand! Suite Seven bids ten thousand!" the auctioneer screamed, his eyes practically turning into Spirit Stones. "Do we have twenty? Anyone?"
There was not a single counter-bid. The attendees simply shook their heads. There was a saying in the cultivation world: ’Only a dog barks at a shadow, and only a fool fights a madman.’ No one was going to contest the mysterious grandmaster over a faded drawing.....