196 Sky Room Number One

Every person they passed looked curiously at their group as the guards guided them to their room.

A lot of people were given a seat number and followed the stream into the hall to find their seats.

A few special people would head up the stairs into the many boxes and balconies where they had a better overview of the auction hall and stage.

The ground floor had seats next to one another in front of the stage itself.

The second floor had open balconies which could be rented by anyone. Everyone on the ground floor could see who occupied these balconies.

The next floor had boxes. These were also balconies, but they were covered with glass that made it possible to see out but impossible to look inside.

These boxes were not for rent. One could only get in if they had been specially invited by the Golden Chambers.

Lastly, there was the final floor. This floor only had one room, Sky Room Number One. This room was for royalty or the most esteemed guests that were present in the auction.

The royal members of the Skyward Empire were all invited, but they could only be given one of the box rooms this time. Sky Room Number One had been occupied by a formation master.

But no one knew who it was. Usually, it would be either the royals from Chengzi Kingdom or Skyward Empire, and sometimes both sides would share the room, but it was different now.

When the royals from the two kingdoms appeared and saw that they were given a box room rather than the usual Sky Room Number One, they were stunned.

"Who has been given the room, then? Who is more important than royalty?" one of the princes asked, perplexed.

He did not mean to sound arrogant, but he was truly astonished. While the prince from the Skyward Empire was shocked and perplexed, the expression on the face of the Chengzi Kingdom's prince was ugly.

"This is a disgrace," he stated calmly. His face was black, and his eyes displayed anything but happiness.

The ones who had been tasked with receiving the princes and their entourages were sweating when they heard this. They could sense a threatening air roll off the prince's person.

"We apologize, your highness, but we are unable to do anything about it. This is a decision made by the highest authority of our Golden Crow City's Golden Chambers." The servant was trembling as he spoke.

"Can you at least tell us who has been given the room? Who is considered more important than us?" The prince of Skyward Empire crossed his arms over his chest.

"I am sorry, the identity of this person is known to be a well-guarded secret. We cannot leak his name to others, not even your highnesses." The more the servant spoke the more terrified he became.

He knew that the one to take the blame would be him, and the one to bear the brunt of the princes' rage was also him. But if he revealed anything, then the Golden Chambers would banish him.

He was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Right as they were having this conversation, Xue Wei and his friends were being guided up the stairs by a set of guards. Their group drew the attention of the princes and their entourages.

"You there, halt!" the prince from the Chengzi Kingdom called out. Xue Wei stopped in his tracks while lazily turning to look at the two groups.

"Do I know you?" he asked curiously. He was certain that he had never seen them before. He was using a mask, so his facial features were different from how they were before, and this was the only appearance that the people from the Black Iron Fortress knew.

"We would like to know where you are going," The other prince said. Although he did not as such look down on Xue Wei and his friends, there was a distinct arrogance and disdain in his eyes.

"What is it to you?" Xue Wei noticed the disdain and felt slightly annoyed. He was minding his own business when they suddenly started questioning him.

"Outrageous!" one of the lackeys yelled out. "This is not how you treat royalty! When his highness is asking you questions, you answer!"

Xue Wei raised a brow when he heard the word 'royalty', but he still did not care too much.

The pride that was now bone deep made him feel indifferent towards royalty.

"Let's go," Bai Tianyi was the one who spoke this time. He loathed those that used their background to intimidate others. Personal strength was all that mattered to him.

Xue Wei nodded his head, grasped Wang Xiaoyun's hand, and started walking towards the stairs.

Hei Gou snickered and shook his head before he casually followed behind. He too felt no reverence for a human prince.

The lackey who had spoken out was livid. Were this not within the Golden Chambers, he would have long since started a fight.

"Let us follow!" The princes had never before seen anyone treat them like this. But they were both shrewd individuals able to cope with the stress of being royalty, so they rushed to the stairs instead of getting insulted to see if this young independent cultivator was the one who was in Sky Room Number One.

Unfortunately, Xue Wei and his group had vanished by the time they reached the stairs. Xue Wei had guessed that they would be followed so he rushed up the stairs.

There was a large stream of people heading upstairs, most of which were heading for the open balconies.

Xue Wei and his friends reached the top floor. There were exquisite paintings and statues, as well as gold inlaid figures in the walls and carved out symbols on the door frame leading into the room.

As they entered the room they looked around appraisingly.

The room was equipped with chairs and tables. There was every kind of drink one could think of, and every kind of delicacy one could think of had been prepared for them.

Xue Wei swept a grape off the table before he found a place to sit down. He noticed that although the boxes were closed for those on the other floors, he was capable of seeing what was inside them.

He saw that the princes had each entered their own with their entourages, and both were looking at the Sky Room with contemplating expressions on their faces.

The Argent Moon Sect was in another box nearby. The Cerulean Starlight Sect and the Crimson Sunshine Sect were also present in their own boxes.

There were in total eight boxes, and all of them were occupied, but Xue Wei did not know to whom the last three boxes belonged.

While sweeping his eyes over the audience, Xue Wei patiently waited for the auction to start. He had a lot of gold coins and quite the stash of essence stones, but he had to be careful. If he displayed his wealth, he was likely to be the target of others, especially because of his high-quality essence stones.

Soon, the light dimmed in the auction hall and the bustling atmosphere died out. The buzz died down and all eyes went towards the stage.

A beautiful woman had appeared onstage. Her eyes were glistening, and she smiled gently to the entire room. It was clear that she enjoyed being in the limelight.

Xue Wei glanced at the woman but felt a tight squeeze on his waist. Looking to the side, he saw Wang Xiaoyun staring at him with big eyes and a sweet but chilling smile on her face.

"Is she pretty?" she asked in a sugar-coated voice.

"Compared to my Xiaoyun, not at all," he said smugly. The woman who had been ready to throw a tantrum instantly quieted down with a flush on her face.

"Look at the auction, don't stare at me!" she exclaimed. Xue Wei chuckled and placed his hand on top of Wang Xiaoyun's and shifted his focus back to the stage.

The woman had finished her introduction of the auction. Xue Wei had missed it, but he did not care about it too much; flirting with Wang Xiaoyun was many times more enjoyable for him.

A group of servants rushed onto the stage with multiple items, which caused Xue Wei's eyes to light up. He curiously observed the items.

There were herbs, pills, and spiritual fruits on the stage. The herbs and spiritual fruits were sold one at a time. The pills of lesser purity were sold in batches, whereas the high-purity ones were sold individually.

"We will start the sale with a heavenly herb, a Seven Star Nightflower that our Golden Chambers acquired through a trade of information. It is a mature Seven Star Nightflower."

Xue Wei and company could not help but look at the flower with peculiar expressions. Was this not the flower they had found at Goat Mountain?

"I guess they needed some help from the Golden Chambers," Bai Tianyi said after some time. "They most likely exchanged the flower for some information," Xue Wei agreed.

"But I never expected the Seven Star Nightflower to be the first item of the auction." Xue Wei frowned. "Is every thing they set up as amazing as that?"

"They might have started with an important item to keep the people entertained," Wang Xiaoyun mused, and the others agreed. If every item was as outstanding as the Seven Star Nightflower, this auction would suit the center of the continent.

"So do you want the Seven Star Nightflower?" Wang Xiaoyun asked curiously. Xue Wei shook his head.

"I already gifted it away," he said casually, "I don't want to spend money on taking it back."

"Is it even useful for you?" Hei Gou asked. Xue Wei nodded his head. "The Seven Star Nightflower is very useful. It lets you raise your strength by a full layer, but you can only consume it once in your lifetime. If you try to consume more than one you will get poisoned."

"Is it not a waste to consume it while being in the Warrior rank, then?" Hei Gou asked with perplexion. Xue Wei nodded his head, "It's better to consume it when you are a Knight or perhaps even a Saint."

"Even if we were to buy it now, we should not consume it as we are," Xue Wei said with a sigh. "It is a very rare herb around here, but it is not as rare in the center of the continent so we ought to come across another later when we get there."

All this information came from the jade slip he had bought in the Black Iron Fortress.

While they were talking, a fervent bidding war was ongoing below. The main characters were the experts from the three great sects, but although they bid fiercely, all of them were still holding back as they knew what the main attraction was.

In the end, the Seven Star Nightflower was purchased by a person in the open balconies for ten thousand and three hundred gold coins.

It was an actually reasonable price. Commoners would never earn this much money, but the path of cultivators was filled with trials, and spending your money was mandatory.

Xue Wei was at present quite wealthy. Not only that, he also had the formations he listed for the auction to draw from, so if he fancied something he was planning on bidding on it. The only thing he did not want to bid on was the Seven Star Nightflower since it had once been his.

The next item was a high purity Shimmering Cardamom Pill. Xue Wei already possessed one of these from when he won the tournament.

But he still wanted more. Especially now that his team had grown to four.