A shockwave went through the Soft adow Continent, at the announcent of an auction held by the Soaring Feather Trading Company, with a 3rd-tier Profound Grade Heaven Turning Pill as the main item.
It was not only an incredibly precious and rare treasure, but also, crucially, an item that was capable of tipping the scales of balance in the upcoming conflict.
There were also a 2nd-tier and around 10 of 1st-tier pills which would be auctioned off.
This imdiately put the Soaring Feather Trading Company at the center of attention, as well as boosted its status.
Not all of this attention was, of course, positive.
The announcent was made in the evening, and in the morning the next day, there were people standing outside the Trading Company’s headquarters in the Silver Wing City.
One look at these visitors would tell anyone they were so of the roughnecks who ca to the Soft adow Continent sensing opportunities that only the chaos of conflict can provide.
And a cursory look at their expressions, would tell that they weren’t here as custors either.
There was also a large crowd of bystanders, sensing sothing worth watching was brewing by the overall mood. There were of course, not just curious or bored eyes of onlookers, but more inquisitive and attentive gazes of various powers, using that crowd as a convenient cover.
The gates of the Soaring Feather Trading Company opened for business at the start of the day, but today it wasn’t just employees who ca to welco the custors as usual.
Zhao Xieren, with a slightly unstable aura, after being allowed to advance into Essence Gathering Realm, appeared from within, followed by 30 people in wooden masks, 10 of them in Essence Awakening Realm, and 20 in Mortal Transcendence Realm.
The faces of so of the rcenaries changed, but it was not that simple with those who stood front and center. There were a lot of rcenaries who have arrived on the continent not long ago, and thus have yet to join a side in the conflict.
Old Man Zhao smiled, "Good morning, dear custors. It seems the news have already-..."
"Stop stalling and show us the pill!", a shout cut his speech short as one group of rcenaries, who stood among the unaffiliated, were seemingly determined to cause trouble.
’Heh, right on ti...’, Zhao Xieren inwardly chuckled, having expected this developnt, his eyes looking at the crowd seemingly searching for sothing, ’But it’s not enough, there should be... ah there they are...’
Reflected in his eyes were another group who already showed signs of chiming in, following the first group’s lead, "Yeah! How do we know you’re not full of bullcrap and feeding it to us?! Show us the treasure so we know you have it!"
"You’re not just using words to bait everyone into attending your auction, are you? Planning to say the pill was stolen or sothing...!", another accusation was fired off without any pause from another direction.
"Now that you said it, it’s likely true! Who would believe a small Trading Company that doesn’t even have a reputation has such a great treasure!"
"That’s right! Show us, or admit you don’t have it! Don’t waste people’s ti with empty promises you can’t keep!"
This barrage of exclamations with growing levels of suspicion was finally enough of a spark to light the crowd on fire, as another shout ca, now from a truly unaffiliated rcenary, and then another. Exclamations rose from all sides, as the crowd began demanding proof.
"Hohoho, of course, my employers have anticipated there would be doubt. Given how young and yet-to-be-widely-known the Soaring Feather Trading Company is, it is only natural to question the validity of such claims", Zhao Xieren’s voice, sounding both elderly and powerful at the sa ti, resounded over the shouting crowd like a thunder, silencing everyone.
He then continued without enhancing the voice with Spiritual Qi, "Relax everyone, this old man was just about to announce that the treasures announced, will be displayed within the main hall of the Trading Company for the entire month leading to the auction starting today"
This announcent caused an uproar among the crowd, as people began conversing with each other in low voices.
But before the attention he previously gathered completely dispersed, Zhao Xieren spoke with a light amused chuckle, "Of course, it will be placed in a protective array, so you will not be able to inspect it too closely, but that’s just natural given how precious it is, I trust no one here would object to that"
A wave of agreeing sentint went through the crowd, since it was an objectively reasonable condition.
However, the leader of the ’unaffiliated’ group of rcenaries who started this whole spectacle, stepped forward in a nacing manner.
"Did you know, Old Man?", a smirk appeared on his face, "Just having sothing valuable can beco a cri in the cultivation world if you can’t protect it..."
Zhao Xieren raised his eyebrows, pausing for a mont, and then laughed, sounding truly amused, "Hahaha, young man, what you said is true... but if you think I and my colleagues here are the ones you need to worry about if you want to try your luck, you’re sorely mistaken"
His words caused slight confusion, since the way he ca out with quite a powerful lineup sure looked like a show of force, just not a powerful enough show to deter malicious intentions.
anwhile, Zhao Xieren continued with a nonchalant voice, "What protects this treasure is... this"
He pointed behind him, and with a loud, low-pitch buzzing sound, rows of glowing symbols and patterns began rising into the skies, the surrounding Spiritual Qi shuddering, agitated.
In that mont, everyone felt an imnse pressure of a Grand Formation, similar in power to the one that protected the Desolate Fortress.
This feeling was enough to crush the will of even the strongest experts around, and snuff out any thoughts of taking advantage of the ’small, insignificant, and powerless’ Trading Company.
Any frivolous ideas simply evaporated in front of such overwhelming, crushing pressure.
City Lord Ko, observing the situation from a balcony of the City Lord Manor, clenched his fist, crushing Baoding balls made of natural stone that he was calmly rotating in his palm before.
His expression, also calm, but to an extent, even amused, turned sour, as he grit his teeth.
He could sense it, this Formation, which was unbeknownst to him, layed out right in the middle of his city, was not only dangerous for him, but, as if mocking his authority, was far more powerful that the Grand Formation protecting the entirety of the Silver Wing City, and which core was around his City Lord Manor.
Zhao Xieren, satisfied with the reaction he saw, waved his hand, and the pressure gradually dissipated as the formation began turning invisible.
Facing the dazed crowd, he made a few more polite remarks in flowery language, expressing gratitude for the attention to the upcoming auction, expressing hope to see people there, and similar obligatory words for those doing business.
And after finishing, turned around, leading back the thirty people he ca out with.
In the depths of the Trading Company, away from the eyes of outsiders, one of the masked Mortal Transcendence Realm people took off his mask, revealing Wu Long’s satisfied face, "Good work"
"Valley Master is being too kind, I just did as planned", Zhao Xieren shook his head with a wry smile, "Though I still think it was too small affair to use your precious ti on..."
"I was there just in case of sothing unexpected... you never know when soone might do sothing irrational", Wu Long shrugged his shoulders.
"Boss is as careful as always", Old Yen chuckled, as he, Nie Guanting and Kwon Qianhong approached.
"Yea, though I don’t get the point of showing we have 10 Essence Awakening Realm experts and 20 Mortal Transcendence Realm experts when showing the Formation is much quicker and more straightforward...", Nie Guanting scratched his head.
"We were a foil to increase the effect of the Formation", Wu Long replied, "To first create a sense of opportunity, and then take it away by showing the Formation, leaves a much more lasting impression because any funny ideas about stealing the pill were already crushed once"
"Oh, I see...", Nie Guanting nodded.
At this ti, Zhao Xieren turned to Kwon Qianhong, "This reminds , the people you hired were quite rude, Mr. Kwon, I did expect them to agitate the crowd, but I didn’t expect them to say I was full of... bovine excrent"
"Ahaha, sorry about that Old Man Zhao", the latter made a dry laugh with an apologetic expression, "I didn’t hire actors, but real rcenaries... I also didn’t have them curb their language, they would’ve been suspected if they were too polite... it was necessary for crowd manipulation to work, I apologize to you instead"
"It was a bit too staged... but you can’t expect more from rcenaries", Wu Long smiled, "The main thing is, it did the trick"
"Won’t soone notice though?", Zhao Xieren asked, since he also saw that the crowd reacted with suspicion toward the hecklers at the very beginning, as the first two sounded particularly over the top.
"It’s fine if they do, or rather, they probably did", Wu Long replied with indifference, "That’s the perk of dealing with many parties all of whom don’t cooperate with each other, or outright compete"
"Oh, so they’ll just think it was one of them! It’s also believable since multiple parties prepared people in that crowd to stir trouble if we didn’t start if first...", Old Yen understood.
Wu Long "Yes, we just did it in a more controlled manner that allowed us to steer it into our advantage. But even if soone noticed, it doesn’t matter either way, since you can’t start the sa kind of trouble twice. In that sense, we won the mont we did it first"
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