I Just Won't Play By The Book
chapter-111

Wu Qingce found Jiang Beiran, who had taken off his straw hat and was waiting for him. He reported, “Brother Jiang, I’ve asked around.”

Jiang Beiran put on his straw hat again and nodded at him. “Go ahead.”

“The manager said that the auction house prioritized the privacy of their guests, so every guest has their own private room. They can’t see each other. Moreover, there were many Sect Masters in the house today. So, they even set up a few maze formations and defense formations. They’re worried the mystic emperors will start a fight.” “Very good. What else?”

Wu Qingce thought for a moment and then replied, “Oh, they only need to check the token, and they didn’t care who the guests are. After entering, the guests will find an empty private room on their own. Therefore, the organizers don’t know who is sitting in the room.” In this world where one’s safety could not be guaranteed, the protection of private information in a place like an auction was especially important. Otherwise, the moment you bought something, someone would kill you and steal it. If such dangers happened a few times, nobody would dare to come to an auction house again. Nobody would risk their lives.

Therefore, whether it was the mystic emperor or a mystic practitioner, all of them had to abide by the rules of the auction house. In other words, the first requirement to open an auction house was the same as the founding of the sect. That was, the founders had to be strong enough, or they would be killed at any moment.

However, even if the auction house set a bunch of rules, there were still some loopholes that could be exploited.

For example, if someone’s ability to sense things was particularly strong. Even if they were separated from the private room, they could still track you down. Another example was the sellers tampered with the items they sold. Then, they would be able to find you whenever they wanted through the items. There were also some people who were waiting at the entrance of the auction house. They were like hunters waiting for their prey, waiting for a fat sheep to walk into their trap. In short, nothing was absolutely safe in this world. However, people were still willing to put their treasures up for auction under such circumstances was because of the huge profits. The seller could sell their items with a much better prices in the auction house compared to selling them privately.

As for the buyers, risks and benefits coexisted. Although they might be attacked, if they could safely buy the treasures they wanted, they were able to increase their strength greatly.

Of course, most people who had the ability to open an auction house would do their best to avoid such troubles. So, those people with ulterior motives would not carry out their evil plans in a high-risk place like an auction house. But for Jiang Beiran, there was a reason that made him very clear that he was targeted by this world. Every time he wanted to hide his identity and find an auction house to sell or buy something, the option of black grade or even earth grade would pop out. It was extremely dangerous. Around 8pm, Jiang Beiran and Wu Qingce arrived at the entrance of the auction house. The token owners could bring other people into the auction house. After Wu Qingce showed the token, Jiang Beiran followed behind him and walked into the magnificent auction house.

“No options are triggered so far, good!”

The moment he entered the auction house, Jiang Beiran felt a sense of unreality. This was because in the past, the system would trigger option for him once he was thinking of going to an auction. But this time, it seemed that there was really no danger here. “The Sect of Masked Moon is really a good place.” Jiang Beiran thought happily

After doing two ‘major events’ in a row without triggering the option, Jiang Beiran liked Sect of Masked Moon even more. However, everything happened for a reason. After some analysis, Jiang Beiran felt that the various major sects of Fengzhou should have gathered at the Sect of Masked Moon in the past few days. This allowed the security of the Sect of Masked Moon’s auction house to reach an unprecedented level.

With a mystic master hosting the auction, there were no mystic emperors and mystic kings stupid enough to cause any troubles. “As expected, only at this kind of special occasion would the goddess of luck favor me.”

After choosing an empty private room, Jiang Beiran sat comfortably on an armchair. He took off his mask and took a grape from the side and threw it into his mouth.

“Brother Jiang, you seem to be in a good mood today.” Wu Qingce, who was following behind him, also took off his mask and sat beside Jiang Beiran.

“Yes, it’s not bad. If you have something you want, you can tell me now.”

“No, no.” Wu Qingce quickly waved his hand. You have already given me a lot.”

He picked up another grape and threw it into his mouth. Jiang Beiran changed the topic and said, “Guess who are the people who are bidding with us today?”

Wu Qingce thought for a moment, and his expression suddenly froze. “The Sect Masters of the major sects?”

Since he got this token from the Sect Masters, it meant that most of the people who came to the auction today were the Sect Masters of the other sects.

“Judging from your expression, you seem to have just realized it?”

“I’m not very bright. Please punish me, Brother Jiang.”

Wu Qingce only remembered Sect Master Lu said that there would be good things in the auction because of Sect Master Guan’s birthday. He completely ignored who he would be bidding with for these good things.

When he came back to his senses, he realized that the two lowest-level disciples of the Sect of Returning Hearts were actually going to compete with a group of mystic emperors and mystic kings. Just thinking about it made his scalp go numb. Jiang Beiran waved his hand after hearing that. “Forget it this time. Next time, remember not to only look at the benefits in front of you. Think more about the risks that come with it.”

“Yes!” After agreeing, Wu Qingce thought about it and said, “But is it possible that most Sect Masters are not interested in the auction and have given the token to their disciples, just like what Sect Master Lu did?”

He picked up a sand fruit and took a bite. Jiang Beiran smiled and said, “Who said that the Sect Master Lu won’t come by himself after giving the token to you?”

“Brother Jiang, you mean…”

Wu Qingce’s scalp went numb when he thought about the competition with his own Sect Master later.

But soon, he asked curiously, “Then why did the Sect Master give me a token instead of bringing me with him?”

Jiang Beiran glanced at Wu Qingce and answered, “That’s an opportunity for you to choose. There will be a lot of good treasures in this auction. If you have a good attitude, you can take it as an insight. But if you have a bad attitude, you’ll become impatient when looking these treasures but not able to buy any of them.”

Looking at Wu Qingce’s lowered head in deep thought, Jiang Beiran continued, “Tomorrow, Sect Master Lu will definitely ask if you came to the auction today and evaluate your performance.”

This time, Wu Qingce completely understood. He suddenly realized and said, “If I show impatience or any bad attitude, the Sect Master will not continue to nurture me, right?”

Jiang Beiran took another bite of the sand fruit and laughed, “That might not be the case. There are different ways to train people with different personalities. If you like treasures, then the Sect Master will reward you with treasures to motivate you. After all, it’s not wrong to like treasures. You just need to control yourself and not overly indulge in those treasures.”

“The, what do you think I should answer when the Sect Master asks me tomorrow?” “What did I usually teach you?”

Wu Qingce thought for a moment and replied, “Follow my heart!”

“That’s right.”

After saying that, Jiang Beiran threw the seed of the sand fruit into the bucket beside him, stood up, and walked to the wooden wall facing the chair.

“The spring equinox divided into three, nine, six. Between the 9th and 22nd solar term, the winter solstice showed sequence of three, corresponding to seven, three, water, and heavenly pillar star. It’s quite exquisite.’

Thinking of this, Jiang Beiran shouted, “Qingce.”

“Here.” Wu Qingce immediately replied. “Come and take a look. Tell me what formation is carved on this wooden board.”

Wu Qingce first put on a desperate expression, then obediently walked to Jiang Beiran’s side, and stared at the wooden board for a long time.

“It’s okay. I’m in a good mood today. You can answer as you like.” Jiang Beiran said with a smile.

“This… I’ve been to the auction house before. The wooden board is carved with the Heavenly Eye Formation. You can look out through the wooden board, but this seems to have been improved a little.”

“This is the Hidden Earth Formation mixed into the Heavenly Eye Formation. Not only can you see outside, but it can also cover up the aura in the room, making it difficult for others to sense you.”

“Hidden Earth Formation…” Wu Qingce blinked his eyes twice. “Is this how the Hidden Earth Formation is set up?”

Wu Qingce couldn’t help but shrink his neck as soon as he finished speaking, but he didn’t expect that his senior brother really didn’t knock him this time. “Formations were flexible and modifiable. The person who set up the formations is definitely an expert. The formations are difficult to be broken by others, and their effects are also much more powerful than those of ordinary formation masters.”

If it were not for the fact that there were all the big shots around, Jiang Beiran would really want to break this mixed formation on the spot. He did not want to look for any trouble but was purely interested with the formation.

Just as Jiang Beiran was carefully studying it, the formation patterns on the wooden board suddenly lit up with a burst of white light. In the next second, the wooden board became like glass, and one could look outside through it. It was a little dark outside, one could only see the outlines of some other private rooms.

Even so, Wu Qingce still exclaimed, “Brother Jiang, the Heavenly Eye Formation here is indeed much clearer than the other auction houses.”

“Well, the number sect does have better quality stuff than the other sects. Go back and sit properly. It should be starting soon.”

Just as he sat back on the armchair, Jiang Beiran noticed that countless lanterns and eternal lamps were lit up outside. In an instant, the originally dim auction house became brightly lit.

Then, a large number of orange petals fell from the sky. At the same time, a burst of music sounded. Dozens of young girls dressed in azure robes sat in the center of the auction house and began to play the musical instruments in their hands.

“So flashy…”

Although Jiang Beiran had never been to the auction house, he knew that usually, the auction house didn’t have such things at the beginning

“Sect Master Guan really likes to show off.”

In the midst of the music, a young female cultivator wearing an exquisite dress walked to the table in the middle and used mystic energy to amplify her voice. “The fragrance of the fallen butterfly flowers leads to a colorful dance, and one can smell the fragrance of ink.”

“Welcome, everyone. I’m the auctioneer tonight, Lin Nianshan.” After saying this, she bowed to the surrounding people.

“Hmm… she’s not bad.’

As a host who could not see the “audience”, she had performed quite well.

Then, amidst the music, Lin Nianshan said some more conventional opening remarks, and the auction quickly began.