Book 9 - Chapter 2 – Ban

Lei Xinfeng was speechless. It was his first time here. In his previous life, there we very rigid rules in auction houses, but it was different here. “By the way, Older Brother, can I go up too?”

“As long as you’re inside, then you can go up. Remember to not take out cheap or low quality items, though. They’ll laugh at you,” Xin Zhaolun warned.

Lei Xinfeng nodded. “I’m going then!”

Xin Zhaolun laughed. “What will you display?”

In reply, Lei Xinfeng grinned. “Purple crystals!” He had many things that he could show, but of all of them, the Purple Crystals were without a doubt the best. And because he got so many of them, he could spare some to trade.

“That’s fine, go on,” Xin Zhaolun said.

Lei Xinfeng got out of his seat. As he walked up, all eyes were on him. His true power was on display for all to see. Their eyes were filled with disappointment and disdain. He was only a Fifth Ring Sage! What could he possibly have?

When he reached the stage, Lei Xinfeng calmed himself. Waving his hand over the display desk, he summoned few of his top quality Purple Crystals, around twenty of them the size of apricots. They glowed with mesmerizing radiance. He smiled and said, “Purple Crystals of the best quality, twenty three and trading for Yin Rings!”

In an instant, the audience erupted in commotion. Purple crystals were extremely rare and desired by even Monarchs. One person called out. “Little fellow, how much do you want for it?”

Lei Xinfeng laughed internally, and held out one finger. “One Yin Ring… as a minimum. For example, if you were to give me one Yin Ring and no one tops you, then with just one Yin Ring, you can get all twenty three of these crystals. Of course, if someone calls out two, then it will be his! Crystals to the top bidder!”

The audience suddenly became rowdy as excitement reached an alltime high. It wasn’t unusual to trade three or four Yin Rings for a single Purple Crystal, and if there was a Monarch in urgent need of some, that price became five or six. In other words, it would be normal to open with twenty three crystals for a hundred Yin Rings. However, by opening with all twenty three for a single Yin Ring, Lei Xinfeng sent the whole house into a frenzy.

“One Yin Ring! I will give one Yin Ring!”

In his heart, Lei Xinfeng thought, “What a rip off.” Then, smiling, he called out to the crowd. “The highest bid is one Yin Ring! Is there anyone who wish to have these Purple Crystals top with two? Anyone?”

“Three Yin Rings!”

“I bid ten!”

“Twenty!”

…

“I will pay a hundred Yin Rings!”

“A hundred twenty!”

Amidst the chaos, Xin Zhaolun, Jin Daya, and Fengying sat tongue tied. What is this?

In just a few minutes time, the prevailing price had ballooned to a hundred and thirty Yin Rings.

Before the commotion and confusion can die down, Lei Xinfeng pointed at the last and highest bidder. “This person is bidding a hundred and thirty, how generous! This prideful expert has reached a hundred and thirty; is there anyone else? If there isn’t, then these Purple Crystal will go this great customer!”

“A hundred and sixty Yin Rings!”

Lei Xinfeng poked the wasps’ nest, starting the bidding anew.

When the price broke two hundred, Jin Daya’s chin was approaching the floor and Xin Zhaolun was repeatedly shaking his head. He couldn’t believe that a single Purple Crystal was going for ten Yin Rings. The price wasn’t logical.

Finally, the bidding stopped at two hundred and thirty Yin Rings, or in other words, ten Yin Rings per Purple Crystal. It was more than twice the normal price of the crystals.

Lei Xinfeng took in the two hundred and thirty Yin Rings and left the stage. This time, no one looked down on him. Everyone had a thoughtful look to their gaze, including the first one to present, Meiya, who looked very annoyed. She lightly knocked on her own head, face full of regret.

When Lei Xinfeng sat down, Fengying gave him a big thumbs up, “Ah Feng, you’re so smart!”

“Little brother, how did you think of this idea?” Xin Zhaolun asked.

Lei Xinfeng laughed. “It’s really nothing.” In his heart, he knew that it wasn’t that he was smart of clever, it was that there were many auctions like that in his past life. Even if he hadn’t attended one personally, he’d heard enough about it.

People after him learned fast, copying his method, but the effect wasn’t as good.

After a few more people went up, Lei Xinfeng still hadn’t found anything that he wanted. But he didn’t care. He liked his kind of atmosphere. He could expand his knowledge since there were so many thing that he’d never seen and he often asked Xin Zhaolun or Jin Daya.

Then, an old man walked onto the stage. “Mao Damao, Ninth Ring Sage.”

“This is a Star Python Record, an extremely old one. Recorded on it is the method of condense Lightning Stamps. It’s very interesting item; and if anyone here is a low level Lightning practitioner, this will be very helpful.”

Lei Xinfeng’s eyes almost sparkled. It was something he desperately need, and he couldn’t obtain it without a lot of luck. “How does he have it?” he asked himself.

Someone yelled, “What the hell is that? Who would want it?”

“Yeah. Don’t bring out these kind of trash.”

The old man’s face reddened. “This item isn’t bad. I only want five Yin Rings for it. Does anyone want it?”

The surroundings fell silent. Almost everyone are already Ninth Ring Sages, so there wasn’t anyone who would want to spend on something the method of condensing stamp for Sixth Ring Sages. It didn’t matter that it was something rare, the point was that it was utterly useless to them. Besides, Yin Rings was something all of them needed. Who would want to spend them for such trash?

Except, Lei Xinfeng, a Fifth Ring Sage, was present. As soon as he ascended, he’d need to condense his own Lightning Stamp. Although he had old Lei Bao’s Lightning Stamp, it was still someone else’s stamp. When Lei Xinfeng heard, he thought that definitely wanted it.

“Five Yin Rings!”

Lei Xinfeng stood up, drawing everyone’s attention, and they all understood. They cursed Mao Damao internally, realizing that his offer was directed toward Lei Xinfeng.

Mao Damao smiled. He’d obtained this Star Python Record a long time ago, and it was, to him, utterly without use. When Lei Xinfeng came up, he saw that he had only attained five Ring Bodies, as well as his Lightning affinity. He immediately thought of the item in his storage and decided it was a good chance to get rid of the Star Python Record while getting something for it.

To be honest, this kind of Star Python wasn’t worth a single Yin Ring. He was luck if he could get ten Lun Rings for it. However, Mao Damao went big, straight to five Yin Rings. As he expected, Lei Xinfeng stood up. He was elated. Yin Rings were important to Ninth Ring Sages, and was extremely difficult to get his hands on one. But here, he managed to get five by trading out a useless Star Python Record.

When Mao Damao returned to his seat with five Yin Rings, everyone couldn’t help but be impressed by his perceptiveness.

On the other hand, Lei Xinfeng didn’t think that it wasn’t worth it. After affirming the contents of the Star Python Records, he gleefully went back. His heart thumped. This item was more important than anything else at the moment.

Another old man went up, scanning Lei Xinfeng briefly, and smiled. “I have here a Chaos Wheel, a lightning attribute weapon. Fellow, do you still have any purple crystals? If you do, then you may trade this for it.”

The gossip started. Two people in a row targeted Lei Xinfeng!

Lei Xinfeng stood up. “Senpai Senior, can you please introduce this… Chaos Wheel to me?”

“As everyone know, before ascending to Monarch, no matter whether you’re a First Ring Sage or Ninth Ring Sage, almost no one had a decent weapon that fit them, because there was no weaponsmithing specialist. The Chaos Wheel in my hand is a lightning attributed weapon, allowing you to fight with power above your level.”

He continued. “Not only that, you will see this weapon’s true power when you attain your ninth Ring Body, and will be able to use it to great effect.”

Lei Xinfeng nodded. “How many Purple Crystals do you want? However, I must tell you that I do not have many left. I must save some as a gift to my own elders.”

“Not much, just ten!”

Lei Xinfeng laughed nervously. “That’s too much, at most five.”

“Too little. How does nine sound?”

The prices went back and forth while the audience watched wordlessly. Finally, the two of them reached a consensus with the price set on seven Purple Crystals for the old man’s Chaos Wheel weapon.

Lei Xinfeng happily ran to the front to trade with the old man.

With his new Chaos Wheel, he returned to his seat, smiling. He’d never thought he’d get something so good. He’d always said that things that are valuable is all good, but nothing beats something that suits him.

When he sat down, he suddenly realized… the old man was definitely a Monarch as he never even gave his name. As a rule of thumb, those that didn’t give their name were usually Monarchs. The only reason they come is to gather materials they need, and they did not take anything else seriously.

As expected, Xin Zhaolun whispered to him. “You idiot, even I sweated. That was a Monarch, and you dare barter…?”

Hindsight is twenty twenty, as they say. “Ah, I didn’t realize,” he said.

“Don’t worry. I was afraid that you weren’t going to trade at all and make him mad. Since he agreed, everything is fine. At their level, if they agree, then no one will be able to do a thing.”

Lei Xinfeng began playing with his new Chaos Wheel. It wasn’t large, only thirty centimeters wide, and shaped like a disk. The edges were sharpened to a blade edge. Lei Xinfeng pressed on the center of the Chaos Wheel, and with a little check, the Chaos Wheel split apart, forming three Chaos Wheels. It seemed that the Chaos Wheel was made up of three layers; it wasn’t a single weapon, but was actually a set of three weapons.

Xin Zhaolun was surprised. “Wow, this is a weapon set. Ah Feng, you really struck gold this time!”

Lei Xinfeng wanted nothing more than to leave, so he could test the power of this weapon. “If only I could go test it,” he sighed.

Baolun/Lunbao is written as 暴轮, as well as backwards. This leads me to believe that it’s a ring that amplifies one’s Lun power. 暴 is violent and chaotic, powerful. 轮 is a wheel, or the Lun power. Logically, this is something that makes the power you use violent and powerful, and amplifier.

Edit: After reading a comment, I’ve decided to change Baolun/Lunbao to Chaos Wheel.

Thanks for reading, guys!