Chapter 63: 7-Star Gold Card
Chapter 63: The Seven-Star Gold Card
Four attendants stood guard at the entrance to the third floor of the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower.
The crowd heading to the auction formed two lines, filing into the auction hall one after another. Those with a Gold Card could present it for direct entry. Those without one had to exchange gold tickets worth one hundred Gold Coins for an entry ticket. After the auction, they could exchange the entry ticket back for the gold tickets before leaving.
The crowd attending the auction was enormous, and everyone present was clearly either rich or noble, each one dressed in fine silks and magnificent clothes. However, even among the wealthy, their speech and demeanor revealed two distinct types. One type was clearly aristocracy, having received strict etiquette training, their expressions carrying a superior arrogance. The other type looked like nouveau riche, loud and boisterous.
Most attendees entered using entry tickets; only occasionally would one or two people present a Gold Card. A quick glance suggested that over eighty percent of the people were exchanging gold tickets for entry, with less than twenty percent using a Gold Card. In other words, the vast majority did not possess a Ten Thousand Treasures Tower Gold Card; only a small minority did.
The crowd was split into two orderly lines, entering sequentially. After all, these were all upper-class individuals—either Martial Artists with considerable cultivation, disciples from Major Sects, wealthy merchants, or noble officials. All of them cared deeply about their public image. No one would cut in line and lose face over a little bit of time.
"Having a Gold Card is so convenient. You get to sit in a private room on the fifth floor. Not like us, stuck in the normal seats on the fourth floor."
"It’s more than just that. With a Ten Thousand Treasures Tower Gold Card, you get a discount whether you’re buying items or winning them at auction. Even a simple One-Star Gold Card gets you ten percent off."
"Brother Zhou, look! That person up ahead seems to be Young Master Tuoba. He has a Three-Star Gold Card, making him a Three-Star VIP of the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower."
"The Tuoba Clan is overwhelmingly powerful in our Sunset City..."
"A Three-Star Gold Card... that’s incredible. I wouldn’t even dare to dream of that. I’d be happy just to get my hands on a One-Star Gold Card."
"Easier said than done. The Ten Thousand Treasures Tower doesn’t just hand out Gold Cards to anyone. You think a One-Star Gold Card is that easy to get?!"
As the crowd waited in line, they whispered amongst themselves.
"Junior Sister, when it’s time to bid on things later, you have to lend me your Gold Card, okay?"
"Mhm, okay, no problem. It’s a ten percent discount, after all. Every little bit helps!"
Behind him, a pair of martial sisters were chatting. The junior sister looked to be about sixteen or seventeen, while the senior sister appeared to be around thirty.
"Hey, miss, can I ask you something? How does one apply for a Ten Thousand Treasures Tower Gold Card?" Ye Xing asked the sixteen-year-old girl behind him. Having heard that the Gold Card offered discounts, Ye Xing suddenly wanted to get one for himself. He already had a Gold Card in his hand, but it belonged to Tantai Mengxue. He had to return it to her after the auction. ’If I could get my own Gold Card, it would be much more convenient,’ he thought.
The senior sister, who was around thirty, shot Ye Xing a disdainful glance and said in a cloying tone, "A Gold Card isn’t something just anyone can get. If any riffraff could get one, wouldn’t the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower’s Gold Cards be a dime a dozen by now?"
Ye Xing ignored the woman and looked at the sixteen-year-old girl instead.
"You don’t apply for a Ten Thousand Treasures Tower Gold Card; they’re issued by the tower itself!" the sixteen-year-old girl said. "Only powerful people who earn their recognition are issued a Gold Card. I don’t have one. This One-Star Gold Card belongs to my father."
"Oh, I see. Thanks, miss!" Ye Xing said with a smile.
Clearly, a Gold Card represented power and status. Only those with sufficient power and status were issued one by the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower. The requirements for this so-called power and status were evidently not low; otherwise, more than twenty percent of the people here would have had a Gold Card.
The line was long, and people filed into the auction hall one by one.
After a short while, it was finally Ye Xing’s turn.
Ye Xing immediately took the Gold Card from his pocket.
"Huh? You have a Gold Card too? Then why did you ask me?" the sixteen-year-old girl pouted, puffing out her cheeks, a little indignant.
"Uh, this card belongs to a friend. I don’t have one of my own, which is why I was asking you how to get one," Ye Xing explained to the young girl with a smile, then handed the Gold Card to the attendant in charge of inspection.
The attendant casually took the Gold Card from Ye Xing and flipped it over. On the back were seven sparkling, translucent Gemstones.
"A Seven-Star Gold Card!!!" The attendant’s hands trembled, and he almost dropped the card. His face filled with shock, and he said with the utmost respect, "Honored guest, please wait a moment. I will inform our Shopkeeper at once."
After speaking respectfully to Ye Xing, the attendant dashed into the auction hall as if on wings.
Meanwhile, inside the auction hall, next to the auction table.
The Ten Thousand Treasures Tower’s Shopkeeper, Zheng Fu, was giving some instructions to the elderly auctioneer for the event.
"Shopkeeper! Shopkeeper!" the attendant yelled, rushing over in a hurry.
"What’s the meaning of this? Such disgraceful panic!" The Ten Thousand Treasures Tower’s Shopkeeper, Zheng Fu, frowned, his expression displeased.
"Shopkeeper, the Gold Card... this Gold Card!" The attendant was slightly out of breath as he handed the card to the Shopkeeper.
"What’s wrong with the Gold Card? Is it a Four Stars or a Five Stars?" Shopkeeper Zheng Fu casually took the card from the attendant. He flipped it over, and his chubby eyes instantly went wide. He couldn’t help but exclaim, "Seven Stars—it’s actually a Seven-Star Gold Card!!!"
"A Seven-Star Gold Card?" The elderly auctioneer was also visibly shaken. "Shopkeeper, could this card be a fake? I don’t think headquarters has issued any. There shouldn’t be any Seven-Star Gold Cards in the Tang Country, right?"
"No, there is one Seven-Star Gold Card in the Tang Country, but only one, and it’s in the hands of the Royal Family!" The Shopkeeper came to his senses and quickly examined the card again. His expression grew solemn as he said, "This card is real. Come on, we must go out and greet our honored guest!"
The moment he finished speaking, he was already sprinting toward the entrance of the auction hall.
Back at the entrance, entry for one of the lines had temporarily stopped due to the attendant’s sudden departure.
’What’s going on? Why did that attendant suddenly run off?’ Ye Xing was a little confused. The people queueing behind him also looked baffled, sensing that something significant was happening.
Fortunately, the attendant was quick. He returned a moment later, accompanied by a chubby, middle-aged man dressed in magnificent, gold-trimmed robes and wearing a gold ring. Both of them seemed to have run the entire way, as they were slightly out of breath.
"Greetings, honored guest. I am Zheng Fu, the Shopkeeper of the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower’s Sunset City branch. It is a pleasure to meet you." The Shopkeeper’s attitude was incredibly respectful as he bowed to Ye Xing.
"Uh, hello. So... can I go in for the auction?" Ye Xing asked.
"Of course, of course! I will personally escort you to a private room on the fifth floor!" the Shopkeeper said hastily. He then led Ye Xing into the fourth-floor auction hall and up the stairs toward the fifth-floor private rooms.
After Ye Xing and the Shopkeeper left, a stir went through the crowd on the fourth floor, and they began whispering to one another.
"What just happened? Who was that young man in the green robes? Why did the Shopkeeper of the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower come out to receive him personally?"
"No idea! I’ve never seen him before!"
"That Shopkeeper is usually so arrogant. Why was he acting so respectful just now?"
"What’s that green-robed young man’s background?"
The crowd buzzed with astonished whispers.
"Excuse me, can I ask what star-level that green-robed young man’s Gold Card was? Why did your Shopkeeper come out to greet him personally? I don’t think he even came out when Young Master Tuoba went in earlier," the thirty-year-old senior sister couldn’t help but ask as she handed gold tickets worth one hundred Gold Coins to the attendant.
"Heh, Tuoba Quan is merely a three-star guest. He is far from worthy of having our Shopkeeper greet him personally!" the attendant said. He took the gold tickets from the senior sister’s hand and gave her an auction entry ticket.
"Three-star... is far from enough? Then was that young man in green robes a Four Stars or a Five Stars?" The senior sister’s face paled in shock, her mind buzzing.