Transmigrator meets Reincarnator II

Chapter 14| The Risks & Rewards of Baiting

The day of the auction, Xia Meixiang stepped off the Xia Family carriage in the company of not only her father, but Xia Ling-Er and Third Uncle Xia Jiaolong. Although the crowd around the Four Clouds Auction House was light, it was only because some patrons were already inside.

Xia Meixiang pet BaoBao, who had accompanied her out today, ruffling its scarlet fur slightly with her ministrations. She stared at the duo with a complicated expression, lighter than the one she had expressed before at the manor, but no less suspicious of the young girl who was her cousin.

Tagging along under the excuse of finding a means to help her breakthrough to the Martial Scholar Realm, Xia Ling-Er had been a talkative and inquisitive companion in the carriage, making Xia Meixiang quite irritated with her fast.

Accompanying Xia Meixiang was Xiao Zhong, who stood taciturn behind her mistress, frowning at the blushing attendant behind Xia Ling-Er.

The other girl kept glancing over at her mistress, and Xiao Zhong did not have a good impression of Xia Ling-Er's people, let alone Xia Ling-Er. They were all a crafty and unreliable set of servants whose only talents seemed to lie in decoration and being mouth pieces.

After Xia Yuanzhou showed the Xia Family's Pass to the doorman, they were warmly led upstairs by a blue-robed older gentleman. Xia Meixiang gave the older man a smile upon being seated. He handed them each a list containing the treasures being auctioned away, his smile professional.

"Uncle Shen treats us so well." After saying this, she motioned for Xiao Zhong to pass his a small pouch with three silver coins in it.

The man called Uncle Shen was named Shen Kong, and he was a senior worker of the Four Clouds Pagoda. For as long as Xia Meixiang had been attending the auctions with her father, Xia Meixiang had seen his amiable face serving their Family's private box.

"This servant only acts as he should," Shen Kong smiled warmly at the young girl, accepting the pouch, "Second Young Miss Xia flatters this one too much."

Shen Kong was considered an existence third only to the auction house manager and the owner. Having worked his way to his position since he was a rowdy young boy, he had seen plenty of young masters and misses of temperaments great and small. Xia Meixiang stood out as one who was both cunning and cool.

When she had first offered him the pouch, she had been only the size of his calf, barely a slip of a girl. He had peered inside, thinking it would hold a candy or a shiny toy, only to find three silver coins, shiny and heavy in the simple silk pouch.

At first, he had thought her father whom she had accompanied, had shown her this trick. Until she returned again half a year later, executing the same move.

Three silver coins was the monthly salary of someone like himself. It was enough to serve his family and have some savings to scrape together for his grandson's education later. Being handed so much money by a little girl frightened him. He had tried to give it back to her, but she had told him in her six-year-old milky voice, "Uncle Shen cares for Mei'er whenever she is here. Mei'er only wants to repay him accordingly."

He insisted that she take the money back, but she simply added. "Then if Mei'er may ask, if anything good appears in the auction house, send word to Mei'er."

Shen Kong had understood then that this young miss from the Xia Family was not a simple girl. Gradually, he no longer felt uneasy taking the pouch from her and would send word to the Second Household when good things appeared on the auction list.

With this transaction, he became a staunch supporter of the Xia Family's Second Household, forming a good relationship with the Second Household's people.

Shen Kong bowed to the four people in the private box before retreating outside.

"Second Older Sister," Xia Ling-Er immediately called. "What do you hope to get?"

Xia Meixiang spared her a glance, before returning her eyes to the list provided. She already knew that there were four items on the list she wanted to buy: the Azure Blade technique, the Purifying Body Pills, the Qilin Lightning Needle technique, and the Fanged Jade Serpent whip. "Jiejie is still deciding what to get. What does meimei want?" she deflected smoothly.

Among the listed items, there was only one that Xia Meixiang felt unconfident in obtaining, and that was the Purifying Body Pills. It was a cliche point that meridians and purity were the key to great cultivation- any fan of Xuanhuan novels would know this. As well as knowing that pills- and their makers, Alchemists- were a rare existence usually belonging to major sects. Rarely did fresh pills circulate outside of a sect.

As such most cultivators put their hopes into other methods to boost their cultivation, such as qi-enriched materials and herbs like the Seven Star Grass her family harvested and refined into elixirs and powders.

Xia Meixiang worried that there would be many people bidding on the pills and escalating the price outside of her price range.

"Daddy, I want this one and this one." Xia Ling-Er gushed over the list. "So many treasures, ah~!"

"Daddy will get you all the treasures you want, okay. Just pick what you want." indulged Xia Jiaolong, beaming down at his little girl.

Xia Meixiang paid no attention to them, instead studying the other balcony box patrons from over the edge of her list. It seemed both the Wei Family and Gu Family boxes were in used, though who was occupying them remained a mystery.

Turning her attention to the lower level of the auction house, Xia Meixiang could see some well known experts and rouge cultivators who made their base in the capital city. She saw a figure who seemed eerily familiar to her, if not by face then by description. Frowning, Xia Meixiang leaned closer to make out the figure in the crowd.

"Second Older Sister, have you found out what you want?" Xia Ling-Er's voice distracted Xia Meixiang from her perusal of the crowd.

Suppressing the urge to hit Xia Ling-Er, she replied, "Possibly...." Seems that I should deploy my bait now and see if she picks it up, thought Xia Meixiang. "After consulting with Elder Sister Lan Yu, I determined I should look for a weaponed technique to practice." Turning to her father, she asked, "Would it be alright if I ask for the Yuanling Tempest Whip script?"

A complex look flashed across her father's face. "Mei'er... that is a yellow-ranked technique..." he explained.

He knew his daughter had great talent with a whip. She knew the basics flawlessly, and the tutor he had hired to aid her said her comprehension and dao with the whip were remarkable.

However, the Yuanling Tempest Whip script was something he knew of from his schooling days. It was a remarkably tricky technique to learn, and unless one was willing to scrap their foundation to learn it, there could be no real merit. A classmate of his with great talent for the whip had showed off the first stage once, boasting that it would be his greatest technique. In one month's time, the young man had deviated his own dantian so severely, he was forced to retreat from the academy in shame.

"I have great confidence that I can achieve success with this one, father." Xia Meixiang promised. "Hall Master Hong has said he would be willing to guide me as well."

Xia Yuanzhou looked unwilling, extremely unwilling, but this little girl could convince him to do anything, ah... "Only if you practice under strict instruction from Master Hong, and you purchase your own whip." he agreed with stipulations.

"Thank you, father!" Xia Meixiang gave a cheerful smile, the picture of excitement and earnest longing.

Xia Ling-Er, from the side, had a look of contempt on her face. In her hands was a Sound Receptive Stone, linked with the one held by Wei Qi Qi, who was in the Wei Family's private box.

Today, the two hoped to crush Xia Meixiang's spirit by taking what she fancied. Xia Ling-Er would provide the information and Wei Qi Qi would make a bid. She would drive the price completely out of Xia Meixiang's price range and make her feel hopeless.

Cultivators researched for months when first taking on martial skills and techniques, as they were the crux of their foundation. A Martial Scholar with no suitable foundation was essentially crippled!

Sadly, Xia Ling-Er did not think her machinations would bear no fruit from there, as Xia Meixiang truthfully had no interest in this Yuanling Tempest Whip script!

This was the bait Xia Meixiang laid down for her "good" cousin Xia Ling-Er. Assessing how much Xia Ling-Er's scheming had grown over the past few weeks was smart but risky. If she miscalculated, she could lose her hidden network advantage.

Using the Yuanling Tempest Whip script as her focus, she was seeing how fast and ruthless this cousin could strike.

Truthfully if given the chance, Xia Meixiang would have practiced the technique. Upon seeing the depiction when her spiritual essence touched the parchment, she had seen a formidable and violent technique. Too bad it belonged to the protagonist's second harem member, Hua Wei An.

"Second Older sister is truly ambitious..." Xia Ling-Er praised, while inwardly snickering at her cousin's ignorance.

Soon the auction began, and the first item, a bolt of Tranquil Grace silk came up. Tranquil Grace silk was a unique fabric that was hard to spin. The spinning technique had been lost for over one hundred years, and most garments with even a belt of the stuff sold for 1 000 silver coins more than average. To find a bolt... Either the seller was a truly desperate person or it was a scam.

The bids started with 500 silver and slowly began rising from there. In the end, the bolt of pale blue fabric sold to the Gu Family house for 3 500 silver.

Next was a piece of double bronze ranked armament, a sabre with a deeply curved blade called the Backbiter. Armament experts were like Alchemists, belonging primarily to large powerhouse and sects. Even a piece of bronze armament was priced at 800 silver, let alone a double bronze.

The bidding rose quicker than the Tranquil Grace silk, peaking at 4 000 silver and going towards a Blacksmith's Association member dressed in brown robes.

Xia Meixiang listened to prices rise along with voices, mentally taking note of who bought what on her list. Finally it came to an item she wanted. The scroll for the Qilin Lightning Needle technique was displayed on a tray and the emcee described it vividly to the audience, boasting its power and majesty.

"Let's begin the bidding with 1 000..."

"1000 silver!" shouted Xia Meixiang, meeting the emcee's price.

Shortly after her another voice called out, "1 200!"

"1 300!" a new voice called.

"1 500!"

"1 700!"

Bids poured in like a floodgate breaking. Xia Meixiang expected as much and bid a couple more times.

2 000 silvers was the final price Xia Meixiang managed to obtain the technique.

In truth, the Qilin Lightning Needle technique was considered a technique that was difficult to master in regards to cultivation attribute.

Cultivation attribute was determined by birth, and lightning was rarely seen, those with pure lightning spirit roots were even rarer to the history of Fanrong.

In fact, in the recent batch of cultivators conceived in the last half a century there were only three: the Emperor Yun Wu Lian, the Third Prince YunLi Tien, and the protagonist.

The Qilin Lightning Needle technique was meant for those with pure lightning spiritual roots. It was a powerful subduing technique that inflicted large amounts of damage in critical areas.

Still, it wouldn't hurt for Xia Meixiang to take the technique into her own possession. It was one of the techniques that the protagonist had used to torture "Xia Meixiang" in the novel, and she would rather it be in her hands than his.

"Second Older Sister, why buy that technique, ah?" pouted Xia Ling-Er, curious as to what her good for nothing cousin was planning.

Xia Meixiang gave a small smile. "Eldest Sister is marrying soon. I want to give her that technique as a way to remember. After all, once she marries into the imperial family, she very well cannot look after me anymore."

Xia Ling-Er accepted that answer as plausible, knowing very well that Xia Meixiang and the Yu Twins were close.

Inwardly, Xia Ling-Er sneered at her cousin. Trying to curry favor with the imperial family to build some face. Absolutely shameless!