Chapter 35:
Six Harmonies
“SHIDI, why are you buying such expensive raw materials?” Menghu looked at the chunk of pitch-black iron in Mo Tianliao’s hands.
The luminous stone wasn’t really expensive, since it was needed for crafting treasure artifacts and above, but Xuanyuan Iron was a different story. Rumor had it that Xuanyuan Iron was the raw material used to craft the ancient divine artifact, the Xuanyuan Sword. The ore was sold by weight, and its price was comparable to that of high-quality crystals. Mo Tianliao had purchased a thousand catties of Xuanyuan Iron at once.
“A fist-sized amount of Xuanyuan Iron ore can only yield this much iron.” Mo Tianliao showed him his fingernail. “To gather enough for one artifact, you need at least a thousand catties.” And this was assuming minimal waste. If the artificer had poor skills, a thousand catties would probably only be enough to craft a dagger.
Menghu gaped—that wasn’t why he was asking!
Mo Tianliao was in a good mood, and so he’d explained the intricacies of forging to his senior in a rare display of patience. Alas, Menghu didn’t seem to understand. Mo Tianliao shook his head and headed for the auction house.
The auction house in Six Harmonies Bazaar was called the Six Harmonies Auction House—the largest among the orthodox sects. Jointly managed by the three great sects, it was safe, reliable, and offered fair prices. As it was a major auction house, the items for auction were all meticulously screened; anything that failed to make the grade wouldn’t be accepted. Unlike smaller auction houses that operated every other day, the Six Harmonies Auction House held an auction only once every week.
Located in the heart of the city, the auction house was encircled by a towering wall made of blackgold stone about a hundred feet tall. Flanking the grand entrance were two vividly carved black jade dragons, with scales forming complex array patterns.
“The auction will be held the day after tomorrow. Feel free to see if there’s anything you need here.” The attendant at the door smiled and gestured to the black wall on the right side of the entrance; it was inscribed with words formed with gold dust that could be wiped off and rewritten again.
Apart from the three treasures that were the highlights of the auction, the others had been listed out here. There was a dazzling array of superior-grade spiritual artifacts, high-grade elixirs, thousand-year-old spiritual herbs, and rare raw materials. It was enough to excite any craftsman, but unfortunately, there was no Meteorfall Stone listed.
“Is there any material for artifact forging among the three highlights?” Mo Tianliao asked the attendant.
“I’m not privy to the specifics, but we did indeed receive an extremely rare forging material a few days ago. I’m not sure if it’ll be up for auction this time,” the attendant said mysteriously, covering his mouth, although his voice was loud enough to be overheard by everyone around them and build suspense.
Mo Tianliao nodded and led his senior away from the crowd.
“Shidi, why don’t we check out the cultivators’ stalls?” Menghu suggested.
“We’re even less likely to find them there. Let’s try our luck tomorrow at the auction.” Mo Tianliao nonchalantly walked into a restaurant. There was going to be a rare forging material, so he’d check it out. Even if it wasn’t Meteorfall Stone, a substitute material would work too.
The restaurant was quiet, with only a few tables of pretentious customers drinking tea. Among the orthodox sects, most cultivators at the foundation establishment stage preferred taking inedia pills so they could save time for cultivating, and those who had reached the inedia stage didn’t eat at all.
Traditional cultivation methods stressed the need for self-restraint in one’s cultivation. The old saying warned about excessive sensory indulgence: The five colors blind the eyes, the five tones deafen the ears, and the five tastes dull the palate.7 The orthodox sects therefore believed that they should be pure of heart and free of desires, and avoid getting entrapped by worldly possessions and secular attachments.
In contrast, the unorthodox sects advocated following one’s heart. Human relationships, as well as the desires that arose from the five senses, were a part of human nature, and suppressing them would only drive you mad. Excessive restrictions were counterproductive, and it was better to maintain a balance. By keeping true to one’s nature, one could achieve enlightenment.
This was one of the things Mo Tianliao appreciated about the unorthodox sects. The act of seeking immortality was in itself defying heaven’s will, so all that rhetoric about restraint was bullshit. You needed a great deal of faith to overcome the hardship and obstacles of cultivation; more faith than the average person possessed. And this faith in itself was rooted in desire. The hypocritical orthodox cultivators preached compassion, but the sordid deeds they carried out in secret were no less vile than those of demonic cultivators.
Mo Tianliao ordered a spread of delicacies. “Waiter, do you have coldspring fish?”
“Are you talking about the variety of fish from superior cold springs?” the waiter asked, having served a diverse range of customers over the years. “Unfortunately, we don’t have it here. But we do serve the icelake fish unique to the outskirts of Tongtian City. Would you like to try it?”
Mo Tianliao nodded and paid him with spiritual stones. He also ordered roasted highland curved-horn sheep. The other patrons at the neighboring tables watched disdainfully as dish after dish was served, making snide remarks about this uncouth bunch.
A young cultivator in white curled his lips in contempt. “How vulgar.”
“They’re probably from some isolated small sect and have never seen the world,” a cultivator in blue said in hushed tones.
Naturally, a demon lord with a powerful divine soul and two spirit cultivators with keen hearing could hear everything clearly. But Mo Tianliao had always been thick-skinned, so he paid no mind to the idle chatter. Instead, he focused on deboning the fish for his cat and placing its meat into the frost jade bowl.
When he smelled the fish, the white cat poked his little head out and sniffed. Then he jumped onto the table, stretching elegantly, before pulling the jade bowl closer to dig in.
Mo Tianliao pinched the cat’s left paw and rotated the bracelet. He’d just remembered he’d inscribed an aura-concealing spell array on this bracelet when he made it, which could hide Pawpaw’s spirit beast aura. As long as no one probed with their divine sense, they would just see an ordinary kitten. He’d been a demon lord for so many years that he’d never had to worry about anyone trying to steal his spirit beast, so he’d forgotten all about this spell array.
Menghu glared at the gossiping patrons, unleashing his intimidating aura as a core formation cultivator, and the foundation establishment cultivators promptly behaved themselves. They’d only focused on how unsophisticated these people were—they hadn’t expected them to possess such high cultivation. They couldn’t afford to offend them. The oppressive pressure didn’t let up, and some of the gossipers broke into a sweat and stood up to apologize.
Just then, the roasted curved-horn sheep was served, its aroma permeating the air. The oppressive aura weighing down on those people instantly disappeared as this senior at the core formation stage grabbed the entire sheep and began scarfing it down with relish.
The cultivators shrank back, threw down some spiritual stones to pay their bill, and left, fearing they might say something inappropriate again if they stayed.
One man and two beasts feasted and enjoyed themselves at Six Harmonies Bazaar for an entire day, until the auction house opened the following day.
Seating at the Six Harmonies Auction House was arranged based on the guests’ cultivation level. No matter how wealthy a foundation establishment cultivator was, he could only purchase a red wooden token for a seat in the main hall. Core formation cultivators received yellow wooden tokens for seats on the second floor, while nascent soul cultivators were given blue wooden tokens for the third floor, and so on.
The entrance tokens weren’t expensive—they were all priced the same. Even if you had the money, you couldn’t access the private rooms if you didn’t meet the cultivation requirement.
Through the jostling crowd strolled a figure in a snow-white robe, woven from high-quality merfolk silk. His ink-black hair cascaded over his shoulders, adorned only with a crystal-clear glass hairpin. His face was obscured by a light veil, revealing only his cold eyes, so beautiful they took everyone’s breath away.
This exquisite man looked up, radiating a powerful aura.
The queuing crowd quickly made way. The attendant at the door presented a tray of tokens. Slender fingers swept over them, and the white wooden token for soul transformation cultivators lit up and sprang into his hand. The crowd gasped—a soul transformation cultivator!
Everyone carefully stopped staring at him as the attendant led him into the private room on the fourth floor, leaving the crowd to breathe a collective sigh of relief in their wake. The gorgeous man strolled in, followed by two tall attendants—Mo Tianliao and Menghu.
The materials they wanted to buy were too valuable to be purchased by a foundation establishment cultivator like Mo Tianliao—that would only draw unwanted attention, so they decided to let their master do the honors.
There were only three private rooms on the fourth floor, and each one was extremely spacious. A large plush couch dominated the center, with a low crystal table laden with spiritual fruits and tea. A transparent orb sat beside the couch, flashing occasionally.
“If you see something you like, just place your hand on the crystal orb and bid using your divine will.” The attendant explained the bidding process with a smile, but Qingtong impatiently waved him away.
Once the attendant had left, Qingtong took off his veil and reclined lazily on the couch. Menghu circled the room, but there was no seat other than the couch, so he tried to squeeze onto the edge beside his master, only to be slapped to the floor. In the end, he transformed into a tiger and curled up miserably on the footrest.
Mo Tianliao looked sympathetically at his senior and walked over to sit on the footrest, leaning against the furry tiger like it was the most natural thing in the world.
✦ ✦ ✦
MINI EXTRA
Six Harmonies Anecdotes: Third Month Issue
Cover Page: Stunning Beauty Appears at Six Harmonies Bazaar (Candid Shot Included)
Feature Interview: Six Harmonies Auction House’s Secret to Success—The Bigger the Hype, the Better the Sales
Street Snap: Two Men One Cat with Uncouth Table Manners. Small Sect’s Future in Doubt.
Woodworker: This sort of backwater tabloid is really trashy.
Shizun: Indeed. *holding the rolled-up magazine*
Woodworker: *speechless*