Michael and Gaya were flying at a low altitude after being separated from Noah and the girls, so low they almost touched the mountain peak while admiring the island's splendid scenery. The entire island's landscape caused them to feel extremely relaxed. The more they saw, the more they felt that this Julius was someone who truly knew how to enjoy life.
"Do you know how this auction works?" While flying, Gaya asked him.
"Nope, no idea," Michael replied with a smile.
"Human, this auction fair is divided into two parts, and it will last for two days. There is a huge square on the south side of the island, and it can hold over ten thousand men at any point in time. The first part of the auction fair is held within this square, and many humans will put treasures with hopes of selling them. Some will sell pills, potions, weapons, spell scrolls, and many other shits. If you were lucky, you could find something precious for an affordable price here"
"What about the second part?"
"The second part is the auction that's held within Julius's Manor. Many people who have precious treasures will entrust them to Julius, and auction them off on the second day. Of course, he will take a small cut if this treasure is successfully sold. Unlike the first day, you'll definitely find something precious and valuable if you can pay the price.
Those who participate in the auction are all filthy rich men, and the treasures that appear in the auction are something that ordinary people could afford."
I do wonder, can I find a dragon baby here?" After seeing that golden fur monkey on Noah's shoulder, he too wanted a pet so badly and not an ordinary pet but a dragon.
Gaya rolled her eyes and lightly elbowed him in the gut "what is up with you and dragons? Those thieving lizards are good for nothing except bringing trouble"
He noticed a tinge of enmity and fear deep in her tone. Although nothing she could say would make him change his mind, he did wonder why she is so adamant and trying to stop him.
"Did you see Noah and his pet? If he can have a pet, why can't I? But I don't want a monkey, I want a dragon. If you want me to change my mind, name something that is more badass and awesome than a dragon"
"I can name one"
"Do tell"
"A Naga" she proudly said as he put his hands on her shoulder
"So your kind is more badass and awesome than the dragons?"
"Of course, we are superior to dragons in every way" Again, she couldn't help but show her pride on her face while talking.
"Then will you be my pet?" He moved closer and whispered in her ears.
"Arrghhh!" She never expected this question and when she heard him, her face slightly reddened in anger. However, he held her hands tightly, therefore, she couldn't vent his anger using her hands but only her mouth.
"How dare you! Pet? Fuck you bastard! You'll never find a dragon in your life or a girl, I curse you!"
She looked so cute while she's angry. Michael couldn't help but smile and feel light whenever he teased her and made her mad. It was a new kind of feeling for him to have someone who could become a friend in the future. However, Michael didn't know one thing, the loyalty meter in the system wasn't as straight forwards as he was thinking, especially when he and Gaya were on the same wavelength.
"Don't worry honey, I will find both"
"Eww, who're you calling honey?! Don't you ever call me that or I'll do something to you"
"Hahaha'' He laughed and the duo landed on the island to see a huge manor standing magnificently. Looking ahead, he could find rows of finely built buildings, green hills, and clear water almost everywhere. There was even a waterfall there. The manor reminded him of the Biltmore estate in North Carolina. He had never lived in a mansion like this and everything on the island, including the whole island, made him desire the life of being the wealthy powerful immortal more and more.
On the south side of the island, there was indeed a huge and empty square. The Heaven's gate square that held Heaven's gate competition was big, but compared to this square in front of him, it could only be considered a small square.
The square was filled with carriages and people wearing all kinds of dresses. He walked towards the square to check it out leaving the pegasus in Gaya's hands.
" Come closer, come closer! 78% pure cultivation focus pill, a must-have item for all cultivators! With this pill, your concentration will go up by many folds!"
"Flying swords for rent! Only 5 gold coins and you can take a tour around the Phoenix island despite your cultivation level!"
"Top-level uncommon spell scroll for only twenty thousand gold coins!"
Around him, he could see merchants and peddlers everywhere, and more and more warriors began to set up a small hut and took out items to sell.
"Old man, is that really 78% pure cultivation focus pill?"
"Of course it is! Young man, I've been in this business since before you were born and I never, I mean never in my life sold something that's not what I claim"
"Alright, how much is it?"
"You can have it for only forty thousand gold coins"
With a self-flattering smile, the old white-bearded man held a fist-sized pill in his hand. The pill was glowing like a shiny crystal.
"Forty thousand?! Dang that's expensive, I'll give you twenty"
"twenty? Do you think I'm selling fruits? Forty thousand is the best I can do. if you don't want to buy it, move aside, I'm sure that someone will buy it"
"Fuck! You win old man, here's your forty thousand!"
The young warrior took out his pay cube and handed them over to the old man. The Cultivation focus pill had a great effect on ordinary cultivators, it could help them focus their mind quickly and enter a state of cultivation.
Michael saw this deal from a few meters away and shook his head.
"What is it human?"
"That pill is just 20% pure and barely worth the price that guy paid "
Gaya wasn't looking very surprised to hear what he just said, "this place is filled with con men and swindlers, human. if you are not smart enough, they will sell you a Gecko as a dragon"
Nodding at her, he strolled through the square to find something interesting and when they passed a shop that seemed like a female clothes shop, Gaya halted her steps.
"Human" he saw a hint of awkwardness in her eyes.
"What?"
"Can you..."
"Here" before Gaya could finish her words, he took her space ring and transferred two hundred thousand gold coins into her ring. She was not the type to horde fancy dresses and jewelry like normal girls but when Michael rummaged through her space ring, he found that she had only three pairs of dresses and one was torn in the back. So after seeing her stop in front of a clothes store, he realized her intention and gave her enough coins to buy as many clothes as she wanted.
"Go crazy. We'll meet at the center of the square in two hours" he left her before she could say anything and when she looked into her space rings, she couldn't help but be surprised at the amount he left her with. She wanted to ask only a couple of thousand gold coins because, with that amount, she could buy some really nice clothes but he gave her enough coins to buy the entire shop and a few more. Moreover, she could tell that he didn't give her these coins as a loan. This gesture of him slightly warmed her heart as he let out a small smile and entered the shop.
**************
Leaving Gaya to go on a shopping spree, Michael wandered around the square in the hope of finding something interesting because most of the novel MCS would find rare and valuable things that normal people overlook in places like this.
With more people coming to the place, the business was getting hotter. All sorts of things and strange items began showing up, and the entire place became very lively.
[How long does the host plan to blindly wander around the square?]
Suddenly the system's voice appeared in his head.
"Until I find something valuable"
[4000 badass points] the system said with a lazy tone.
"For what?"
[To find something that host will love]
"Dragonling?" his face lit thinking about him riding a majestic and powerful dragon but the system's silence disappointed him.
He still chose to spend two thousand badass points because if the system wants 4000 badass points, he knew he would really get something worth that price.
"Take it"
[The system marked the location on your Environmental scanning]
Just like the system said, he saw a white dot on his Environmental scanning and made his way towards it wasting no time.
When he came closer, there was a crowd gathered around the white dot as he entered the crowd before someone could buy whatever item that system marked.
In front of the crowd, he saw an old white-bearded man with a stall before him.
"Noah?" Michael's heart jumped when he saw Noah and Alicia. His shock was because he didn't want Noah to get his hands on the mysterious item he paid four thousand badass points.
Noah and all the crowd were looking at a rusty scrap metal on top of the stall. Clearly, it seemed like part of a broken sword in Michael's eyes as it looked really old.
"Old man, who are you trying to fool? Claiming that this scrap metal is a broken piece of an Epic weapon… you're nuts!"
"Yea! Isn't that just a rusty old metal?"
"Why don't you claim it as a Legendary weapon?"
The crowd burst out into laughter.
"You guys know nothing! Although this broken sword looks terrible, it's really a precious treasure! You guys simply don't have enough knowledge!"
The old man wore torn clothes, but his cultivation base was quite decent. He was at level 6 of the core formation stage.
"Haha, old man, how much are you selling this scrap metal for?" Someone mockingly said.
"I'll sell it for a rare combat weapon," The old man said.
"Fuck! A Rare Combat Weapon? You're too greedy!"
The old man's words caused the crowd to burst into laughter once again. It was really funny, trying to exchange a Rare Combat Weapon with just mere scrap metal. Every spell and weapon in this world was categorized into five classes; common, uncommon, rare, epic, and legendary. Although a rare combat weapon may not be a big thing for a powerful sect or a family, it was eye-catching for the rogue and young cultivators who had limited resources would.
"Young Master, do you want this broken metal of an Epic weapon?" the old man turned his gaze away from Noah and asked Michael.
"I want that"
A voice sounded out from within the crowd, instantly stopping all laughter.
Everyone threw their glance at the young man in black including Noah and Alicia. When they saw the cultivation level of the young man and his young look, they knew he's one of the monstrous talents.
Noah was the most handsome and manly man Alicia had ever seen but the youngster in the black fell no short in comparison to Noah. Both Noah and he looked like they were the same age. Noah was slightly astonished to see two swords on his back because only swordsmen with high mastery and talent in swords can wield two swords at the same time.
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully being a badass. The reward is 800 badass points]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully being a badass. The reward is 600 badass points]
"Hehe, young master surely knows the value of this treasure! You're not going to suffer any losses by trading a Rare Combat Weapon for it" When the old man saw Michael, a flattering smile immediately emerged on his face. He knew he has an incredible cultivation base, so he already thought of him as someone filthy rich.
Noah was already prepared to buy the scrap as he took the scrap metal in his hand.
"I don't want that, I need this" Fortunately the white dot was not the scrap metal in Noah's hand but a book on the stall. Everyone was surprised including Alicia and Noah as they quickly took a glance at the thick old book that Michael pointed to.
"Young Master, you want this?" By the look of the old man, Michael knew the book was not as expensive as the metal scrap because if it was, the old man's smile wouldn't have grown smaller.
"Young Master, I found this book on an ancient ruin..."
"How much?" Michael was not in the mood to hear the old man spin a crazy story about the book as he interrupted the old man and asked.
"Ten...no..twenty thousand gold coins"
"Damn it, this old man has steel for balls. He's even trying to sell a fucking old book for twenty thousand gold coins"
"Old man, sometimes, wanting too much will leave you with nothing. I'll give you five thousand gold coins for this book" Most people agreed with him with a nod after hearing Michael. When the old man stuttered to name a price, he knew that the old man had no idea about the book's value and he would be glad to sell this book for anything. Although he could have simply given the twenty thousand gold coins and bought the book, the people around him would have thought of him as a fool instead of a badass.
"Five thousand it is then, here you go Young Master" as Michael said, the old man didn't want to lose the chance of earning five thousand
Michael waved his hand as stacks of gold coins appeared beside the old man. The old man didn't even count the coin as he respectfully handed the book to Michael, but he was laughing in his mind, "Lucky me! I sold nothing but an old book for five thousand coins, hehe"
"Sigh! Although the young man didn't pay twenty thousand, he still paid five thousand for a book"
"I don't know, the kid seemed to know what he's doing"
People were puzzled by Michael's action but they were afraid to ask for an explanation.
Noah and Alicia cautiously stared at the black-clothed young man turning around to leave. Noah met his fair share of arrogant prodigies in Kingdom Dradel and Kethen but he never met someone like the black-robed youngster before. He came here without bearing an arrogant look or the prideful demeanor of a prodigy, he was calm and didn't show off his wealth even though Noah could tell he's rich by the clothes he wore.
Usually, prodigies at his age would feel threatened by his and Alicia's cultivation level yet Noah felt like he wasn't threatened by them. However, it was Alicia who felt threatened by the black-robed youngster as she only thought Noah was the only one who could match her cultivation talents.
Whoosh!
Just as they were looking at the black-clothed young man leaving and turning their eyes back at Noah, an arrow flew straight towards the black-robed youngster and pierced into the ground just an inch away from him.
Michael abruptly halted his movements when he saw the arrow and crouched to pick the arrow up with a frown on his face.
"Gaya?"
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Normally if a chapter reaches almost 2700 words, I would split it into two chapters but now that my readers are using the free pass and other means to unlock my chapters, I didn't want to split the chapter. Therefore, this chapter might have felt like a long read. I hope you enjoyed the chapter!