Chapter 78

Chapter 78: Scenes at the Auction Gathering
The regular seats for the Blackwater City Auction were the first to sell out, but that did not mean there were only a few of them. On the contrary, the regular seats were always the most numerous at every Auction Gathering.

So long lines formed outside the six entrances for the regular seats.

Meanwhile, there were only a few people lined up at the entrance for the high-grade seats where Yu Zhao and Chen Tian Dong were heading. After they joined the line, it did not take long before they followed the passageway into the auction hall.

For this Auction Gathering, the stage had been set up in the center, and all the seats fanned out around it.

The first two rows closest to the stage were the Honored Guest seats, lavishly decorated and the most spacious. Behind them were the high-grade seats, and further back were the regular seats.

The difference in how each section was arranged was huge, so it was easy to tell them apart.

Right now, the large auction hall was full of noise.

Many cultivators were already seated in the regular and high-grade sections, excitedly talking about the items that would be auctioned today.

As Yu Zhao was looking for her seat, she suddenly heard Chen Tian Dong beside her mutter under his breath: “Why are they here too?”

She looked up, and at a glance found three familiar backs in the second row of the auction seats.

Young Master Fan was dressed especially grandly today. His fine clothes made him stand out in the crowd.

Maybe it was because of the impression she already had of him, but just from his back, Yu Zhao could tell that he was bursting with smug pride.

Yu Zhao said calmly: “At a time like this, nine out of ten cultivators who show up in Blackwater City are here for the Auction Gathering.”

Chen Tian Dong laughed: “Senior Yu, you are right. I just did not expect them to actually show up in the Honored Guest seats.”

Chen Tian Dong also came from a cultivation family clan. He could see that although Young Master Fan made a high-profile show on the surface, his true background was not that impressive, probably not even as good as the Chen Clan.

The fact that the other party was willing to buy tickets for the Honored Guest seats truly surprised him and even made him doubt his own judgment.

Yu Zhao smiled lightly and did not bring up what had happened the day they bought tickets, so of course Chen Tian Dong never thought it had anything to do with her.

They had not bought their seats at the same time, so they were not in the same area. After they found their spots, the two of them naturally separated and sat down in their own places.

On Yu Zhao’s right sat a round-faced young girl. Her cultivation level was at the seventh level of Qi Refining, and her personality was lively and outgoing.

As soon as Yu Zhao sat down, the girl could not wait to greet her and quickly introduced herself.

The young girl was surnamed Meng and named Yue. She was a local cultivator from Blackwater City and knew all the procedures of the Auction Gathering like the back of her hand.

Meng Yue leaned over and said with a bright smile: “Sister Yu, this should be your first time at the Blackwater City Auction, right? It is my first time too! I heard that this Auction Gathering is bigger than the previous ones. I begged my family for a long time before they finally let me come.”

Meng Yue looked very excited.

Although she kept one thing back and did not tell Yu Zhao about her family background, a person’s origins could be seen from her words, actions, and clothing.

Meng Yue clearly fit the image of a noble family’s younger disciple far better than Young Master Fan.

She lowered her voice and said: “I also heard that the final item in this Auction Gathering is a fourth-grade pill recipe. A lot of people came here just for it.”

Yu Zhao was a little surprised.

She had only heard that once in a while a fourth-grade pill might appear at an Auction Gathering. She had never heard of a fourth-grade pill recipe being put up for auction.

After all, even in the Greenwood Sect, which was famous for alchemy, a fourth-grade pill recipe was extremely precious and would never be revealed to disciples outside the Alchemy Hall.

Yu Zhao could already imagine how fierce the competition would be for the final round of the auction.

Seeing that Yu Zhao did not react much, Meng Yue looked at her doubtfully and asked: “Sister Yu, you did not come for the fourth-grade pill recipe too, did you?”

Yu Zhao shook her head.

Meng Yue let out a sigh of relief and even patted her chest in an exaggerated way, saying: “That is great, Sister Yu. You must not fight those people over that fourth-grade pill recipe. It is very dangerous.”

As she spoke, Meng Yue wrinkled her nose, as if she had remembered something unpleasant.

Her emotions rose and fell quickly. In no time, she had forgotten about the fourth-grade pill recipe and chirped away to Yu Zhao about the other auction items.

Time slipped by in her light, cheerful voice. Just as the Auction Gathering was about to officially begin and the hall had begun to grow quiet, it suddenly boiled over again.

Voices rose from all around: “Zhang Clan! The Zhang Clan members are finally here!”

“Patriarch Zhang actually came as well. Could there be some incredible treasure at this Auction Gathering?”

“That must be the Zhang Clan Young Heir. He really is handsome and elegant!”

Since Blackwater City was hosting the Auction Gathering, the ones who made up the largest part of the crowd were local cultivators like Meng Yue.

So when the strongest local family clan of Blackwater City appeared, the scene naturally became lively.

The Zhang Clan had sent four people to this Auction Gathering. Leading them was a lean middle-aged man with sharp eyes.

Closest to him stood a young man who resembled him by about half and carried himself with great presence.

After the four of them entered the auction hall, they went straight to the first row of Honored Guest seats and sat down. They did not say a word the whole time, their faces solemn.

Meng Yue said seriously: “The Zhang Clan is the number one family clan in Blackwater City. Their ancestral patriarch is said to be only one step away from Shatter Core to Form Nascent Soul.”

In truth, Yu Zhao did not need Meng Yue’s introduction. She had already heard about the Zhang Clan from other people.

Besides their ancestral patriarch, who rarely showed himself in public anymore, the Zhang Clan also had two Golden Core cultivators. The patriarch of the Zhang Clan was one of them.

The Zhang Clan Young Heir was also the young cultivator in Blackwater City with the greatest hope of breaking through to the Golden Core stage, so the Zhang Clan’s influence in Blackwater City had been growing by the day.

However, to the surprise of all the cultivators in Blackwater City, they had thought that the seven remaining seats in the first row of Honored Guest seats all belonged to the Zhang Clan.

But when the Zhang Clan members sat down, they discovered that the Zhang Clan had actually left the seats in the center empty.

Everyone could not help guessing who those three best Honored Guest seats were reserved for.

People whispered to each other: “Strange. The Wei Clan, the Wang Clan, and the Zhao Clan people are all here. Who else could it be?”

Meng Yue was also very puzzled. She began counting off the nearby major family clans on her fingers.

When she saw that everyone who should be here had already arrived, she looked completely confused.

Yu Zhao’s heart moved. [Could those three remaining seats be for them?]

Just as a guess formed in her heart, she saw three young men walk out from the Honored Guest passageway.

Yu Zhao froze for a moment, then the corners of her lips curved up. She had not expected to run into acquaintances here.

Of those three men, Yu Zhao had seen two of them before.

If she remembered correctly, the slightly taller man was named Tian Han, and the burly one was named Guo Ming En. Both were disciples of the Greenwood Sect’s Martial Hall.

They were the ones who had protected Mu Ye last time in Dragon Roar Valley.

Because Mu Ye had refused to let Yu Zhao take risks alone and had insisted on acting together with her, she had fallen out with the four Martial Hall disciples.

Later, after they escaped danger, the four Martial Hall disciples had gone to find Mu Ye again, wanting to continue protecting her, but she had mercilessly refused.

The scene back then had been quite awkward. Yu Zhao remembered it clearly, so when she saw the two of them again now, she recognized them at once.

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