The Otherworldly Adventures of a Super Naive Girl

Chapter 339-340: The Auction Begins; Ai Lin’s Back

339: The Auction Begins

The one who gave Ming Xi the token was none other than the prince who founded the Ancient Moon Auction Houses. Despite being royalty, the prince had enjoyed participating in commerce since he was a child. There were many other businesses in many other industries under his name.

He was generous and was willing to give a token to every member of his family. To date, aside from other royal family members, elders of the temple also had one.

“The elder in your family must be amazing, to be able to give thirty percent off. That will save a lot!” Margaret said enviously.

Jier tried to get everyone to sit down. “Enough talking. There are so many delicious foods on the table. Sit down and eat. The catalog is there too. Look through and see if there are any things you like. Senior Ming Xi has a thirty percent discount you know.”

It was obvious Jier wanted them to stop asking, so they stopped. After all, everyone had their secrets. josei

They did note, from his actions, that Jier knew Ming Xi’s identity, and because he knew, he had wanted them to stop.

Ming Xi could see what Jier was trying to do. The truth was, Ming Xi didn’t want his identity revealed. Even if Jier hadn’t interfered, Ming Xi would have shifted the conversation to another topic, but it was easier to have someone else lead it. Looked like he would have to be nicer to this kid. Maybe take him along on a mission or two in the virtual world later?

Jier would have been in a good mood if he knew Ming Xi’s thoughts.

Feng Wu was eating cakes as she flipped through the catalog. There were many uncommon monster cores, herbs, potions, weapons, minerals, holy books and even monster eggs. They were all precious items, but Feng Wu was only interested in eating. The treasures, others would spend a family fortune on, weren’t of interest to her.

Feng Wu was more interested in the food items than the auction items. The food provided by the auction house was exquisite and delicious, and most importantly, all you can eat. It was a benefit limited to the special boxes.

To get refills, she only needed to let the maids outside the door know. It was very convenient. Ming Xi let her do as she pleased. As long as she wanted to eat more, he would keep having the maids bring more.

At some point, Jier couldn’t stand to watch it any longer. He told the maids the small plates were too stingy and to use larger family sized plates.

The maids outside nearly got angry at this. Clearly the guests were the ones eating too much. Just look at the other guests. Which one of them were as focused on the food? These guys were the only wierdos engrossed in eating!

The maids didn’t let their thoughts show in their expressions though. Their smiles were as graceful as ever. You would never know they were just bad mouthing the customers mentally.

The auction house had given them careful training, so they were gentle and considerate. They could also be purchased if a guest took a fancy to them. Their lives would have been hell as orphans if the boss hadn’t rescued them, so they didn’t hold any resentment against him for his policy. After all, wasn’t it better to serve nobility than be trampled on by ordinary men? It was just common sense to prefer the high over the low.

The women certainly had ideas about Ming Xi’s group, Ming Xi in particular. They hoped to catch his eye, but unfortunately, he had absolutely no interest in them.

The maids were trained exceptionally well and weren’t like those girls who clung needlessly. They wouldn’t get entangled with a man who showed no interest in them. Their demeanors were so graceful that patrons would never take offense. They would try their best to satisfy their clients, no matter how strange the request.

Soon enough an extra-large plate of food was delivered.

“Eat,” Ming Xi pushed a plate of appetizers toward Feng Wu. He gazed at her with a smile that was as refreshing as a spring breeze.

It looked like she was smiling back. It was hard to tell with her poker face, but her eyes were crinkled as she tilted her head toward the plate.

The plate was demolished in short order.

The maid who delivered the snack wondered: So the young master likes young girls with expressionless faces?

The snacks were just a draw, the main event was, of course, the auction. Three hundred admission tickets and ten VIP tickets had been issued.

Those VIP ticket holders could enter VIP boxes for the auction.

“Everyone! Welcome to our Ancient Moon Auction House.” All the lights focused on a gorgeous dark-haired girl on stage. She glowed radiantly in the spotlight.

“Wow! It’s Miss LeXue!”

“Who is that beauty?” Someone who didn’t know who LeXue asked.

“You don’t know LeXue? She's the youngest daughter of the lord, Miss LeXue Bilou!” The man gave his buddy an eye roll.

“How come the daughter of the lord is the master of ceremony?” The friend was even more confused upon finding out her identity.

“Seriously? You don’t know this? Miss LeXue is Young Master Henry’s fiancé. This is the biggest auction in over fifty years, of course she would help out!”

“Oh! So that’s why.”

“Wow, even Miss LeXue came to help out. That old Claude, he’s not pulling any punches.” A certain middle-aged man sneered as he sipped a glass of red wine.

“Looks like Claude is spending a lot on this,” came another voice from a box nearby.

Ming Xi’s group stayed quiet as they watched LeXue with interest on stage.

“There will be three hundred lots up for bid today. One final special item will be auctioned off at the end... But for now, allow me to present the first lot. Please take a look.”

Another beauty walked up with a long box and placed it in the center of the table.

340: Ai Lin’s Back

LeXue opened it with a big smile. “The first lot is a magic sword crafted by Master X. It is made with fifteen high-grade ores and has a ninth-level demon core embedded in the hilt. It is an extremely swift sword that high-level users won’t be able to resist. The master has named it Wind Chaser.

The reserve price for this sword is five hundred gold, at minimum increases of fifty gold increments. There is no upper limit. Let’s start bidding!”

“A thousand gold!”

“One thousand one hundred!”

“One thousand two hundred!”

“One thousand five hundred gold!”

The bidding went on like that. Ming Xi’s group could see the auction clearly but were themselves shielded from outside eyes.

“That’s a really good sword. It’s just the first lot and it’s already priced in the thousands. I had wanted to do some bidding, but didn’t expect it to get so expensive so fast,” lamented Margaret. She felt poor.

“That kind of sword would go for up to five thousand gold in the open market, but it may not do so here. That’s the allure of an auction.” Ming Xi said before taking a sip of fruity tea.

“That’s true. I always feel like if I’m not the final bid, then I’m missing something.” Ink nodded in agreement.

Feng Wu: These dishes are delicious.

“Six thousand five hundred gold, going once... going twice... going three times – sold!” LeXue knocked her gavel three times and officially ended the bidding for the first lot. “Wind Chaser is sold to customer number 117 at six thousand five hundred gold. Let’s all congratulate customer number 117 for his winning bid!”

A wave of enthusiastic applause followed. The thin middle-aged man, who greatly resembled a bean pole, blushed at the attention. It was probably the first time in his life he was noticed.

The second lot, a magic wand, was brought out and auctioned off at about the same price as the sword before it.

At the same time in another box, a girl in an indigo robe with waist length indigo hair was looking through the auction catalog.

“Ai Lin, is there anything you want? Let me know if there is. I’ll help you get it if you don’t have enough funds for it,” said a girl playfully. She was dressed all in white.

The girl offering was not your ordinary person. Her name was Eliza and she was a young princess of Water Cloud. she was a cute little thing.

Ai Lin had heard the news about the sea emperor’s tomb after completing the mission with her team. She knew the tomb opening was a big opportunity for the heroine.

It was inside the tomb that Zi Cheng would get what every water magician dreamed of – the heart of water – the physical embodiment of the magical elements of a water system. It was extremely rare as it took tens of thousands of years to form a single drop, so rare that only one ever formed on any continent.

Anyone who obtained it would have their cultivation level soar without suffering any side effects.

Zi Cheng was originally a five-elemental magician, so the heart of water was very useful to her. It was because she obtained the heart of water that she came to see how useful the hearts were. She eventually went on to look for all the other elemental hearts as well.

By the end of the novel, she ascended to the god realm after collecting all the hearts – gold, wood, fire and earth.

A favorability system was already too good. Ai Lin couldn’t let Zi Cheng have any more advantages, so she knew she couldn’t let Zi Cheng get the heart of water.

But that wasn’t why Ai Lin was at the auction house; she was there to keep Zi Cheng from realizing a different opportunity, and that was the ancient rui beast egg.

The auction house would auction it off and Zi Cheng would be the winning bid. Of course, the auction house had no idea the egg was that of an ancient beast. It had been up for auction thirty-six times before.

Rui beasts liked to attach themselves to other more powerful attackers, like sacred beasts and humans. They used their abilities to seek the protection of the strong because their own offensive abilities were so weak.

Ruis were strong, smart, and had wonderful support capabilities. This one in particular had the peculiar ability to predict.

Zi Cheng contracted with it after spotting it at the auction. From then on, its prescient abilities helped her to avoid all kinds of catastrophes.

Seeing into the future. It was such a powerful ability, even Ai Lin’s heart was moved. This time, her goal was to snatch the egg from Zi Cheng.

She met her companion, Princess Eliza, on the way to the Bilou islands. The princess had a kind heart. She had allowed Ai Lin to ride with her on her boat when she saw that Ai Lin was looking for passage to Bilou. The two had chatted and became good friends on the trip.

The tomb was a dangerous expedition, so Ai Lin’s team captain had decided against bringing the newbies to explore it. She had rushed over on her own after the team had handed in their mission assignment.

It didn’t matter how dangerous it was, Ai Lin wasn’t going to let Zi Cheng get any more advantages. But just thinking about the maritime world gave her a headache. It was practically dedicated to giving Zi Cheng all kinds of overpowered equipment. The demon suppression sword, the rui egg, the heart of water, all three items were obtained from the maritime world.

The worse of it was the harm she did there. Despite victimizing all the different nations of the maritime world, she was idolized and showered with gratitude. The adoration they gave her was intoxicating.

Zi Cheng met her love interest here as well. The man wasn’t an ordinary person either. The young master, who was engaged to Princess Eliza, was from a powerful and illustrious family.

According to the original story line, Zi Cheng should have met him in the virtual world. At the meeting both parties developed a mutual appreciation and admiration for one another.

Eventually they would meet in real life inside the sea emperor’s tomb and Zi Cheng would have a lock on his heart. From then on, there was no space for Eliza. She became cannon fodder for their love story.

Originally, Zi Cheng wasn’t aware her male lead was engaged. She only found out about it when Eliza tracked her down and confronted her, asking her to leave her fiancé alone.

Zi Cheng realized she unintentionally became the other woman in a relationship. To be put in such a role, she was angry and resentful, so of course she promised to leave the male lead alone.

But when the male lead found out about it, about how Eliza was the one responsible for destroying his relationship with Zi Cheng, he broke all contact with Eliza and dissolved their engagement contract.