From the fake emperor to the concubine

"Who made it?" Zheng Yi asked in a low voice.

Shen Changyuan turned around and pushed the empty alchemy furnace aside; purplish-black medicinal dregs still remained on the furnace wall.

"That old fellow Ku Lian was in charge of the furnace, Bi Xiao assisted with temperature control, and I was there to oversee things. It took seven days and seven nights, and three furnaces were ruined before we finally produced this one."

Zheng Yi held the pill up to his eyes, examining it closely in the sunlight streaming in from the window. The purple patterns flowed slowly in the light, like a living thunder serpent. He suddenly asked:
"To sell or not to sell?"

Shen Changyuan was taken aback, then burst out laughing, his shoulders shaking with laughter:
"Sell? You just crawled back from the brink of death, and you're already thinking about cashing out?"

Zheng Yi placed the pill back in his palm and closed his fingers:

"If we don't sell... it's a waste."

"Hold an auction."

"Let everyone in the city know that Hongyun City can now... even refine Nine-Turn Pills."

Shen Changyuan's smile faded, and his gaze turned serious:

What do you want to do?

Zheng Yi looked out the window.

The main street is bustling with activity after the snowfall. Steam from breakfast stalls is melting the snow at the street corners. Water vendors are carrying water on their shoulder poles, which are creaking. A man selling charcoal by the roadside is using an iron shovel to strike charcoal blocks, producing a crisp "clanging" sound.

"To give people in the city more confidence."

"It will also let the outside forces know that Hongyun City is not a pushover."

Shen Changyuan was silent for a moment, then slowly nodded:

"it is good."

"The auction is scheduled for seven days from now."

"Location...the main hall of the City Lord's Mansion?"

Zheng Yi shook his head:

"The top floor of the new dormitory building in the east of the city."

“That’s…high enough.”

"You've seen far enough."

Shen Changyuan's eyes lit up:
"High enough...can see far...good!"

He turned and walked out, calling out as he went:
"Guo Tianyou! Zhao Sanhuai! Get over here! Meeting!"

Footsteps soon echoed in the courtyard.

Guo Tianyou was the first to rush in, not even fully dressed in his armor; a clasp on his breastplate was missing. He was panting heavily.

"Sir! Senior Shen! What's the matter that's so urgent?"

Zhao Sanhuai then entered, his broken leg thumping on the ground, the scar on his face gleaming in the sunlight.
"I heard that! An auction? What's being sold?"

Zheng Yi placed the Crimson Gold Pill on the table.

The elixir trembled slightly in the sunlight, like a beating heart.

Zhao Sanhuai's eyes widened instantly:
"This is... the Nine-Turn Pill?!"

Guo Tianyou took a closer look, and his breathing became heavy:
"Sir... how much can this pill cost?"

Zheng Yi's voice was calm:

"Not for sale."

"auction."

"Starting bid... five hundred mid-grade spirit stones."

Zhao Sanhuai gasped:
"Five hundred?! I used to live on the upper reaches of the Blackwater River, and I've never seen so many spirit stones in my entire life!"

Guo Tianyou swallowed hard.

"Sir... if this pill is auctioned off... the eyes of the entire city will be drawn to it."

Zheng Yi nodded:

"We just want to gather them together."

"Let everyone know... that Hongyun City can now refine Nine-Turn Pills."

"It can also... protect the people you want to protect."

Zhao Sanhuai slapped his thigh hard:

"Great! I'll go and spread the word right away! Let the whole city know!"

Zheng Yi raised his hand to stop him:
"Not urgent."

"First, we will collect items for auction."

"Anyone who has something to sell can register at the City Lord's Mansion."

"The auction... isn't just selling this one pill."

"Sell...everything that can be sold."

Guo Tianyou's eyes lit up:
"Sir, you mean... bring out all the unused magical artifacts, magic weapons, elixirs, and cultivation techniques in the city?"

Zheng Yi nodded:

"Correct."

"Let everyone see... how many good things Hongyun City has now."

"Let the outside forces... see too."

"We...don't lack anything."

Zhao Sanhuai grinned:

"I understand! I'll go post the notice right away!"

He turned and ran, his broken leg stomping loudly.

Guo Tianyou clasped his hands in greeting:
"Sir, I'll go arrange the venue."

Zheng Yi nodded:

"it is good."

"Tell everyone... thirty percent of the proceeds from the auction will go to the city government and be used to repair the city walls, build schools, and provide relief to the poor."

"Seventy percent...returned to their original owners."

Guo Tianyou's eyes lit up:
"Sir... what is this...?"

Zheng Yi looked out the window.

Smoke curls from chimneys along the main street after the snowfall.

Someone is selling hot buns on the street corner.

Someone was drying quilts at the entrance of the alley.

Someone was leading a child to school.

His voice was very soft:
"Let the people in the city...know."

"There are things... that can be sold."

"If I sell it... I can live even better."

Guo Tianyou clasped his hands tightly in a fist salute, then turned and left.

The room became quiet again.

Only the flames flickered in the charcoal brazier.

And outside the window... the sounds of the streets and alleys gradually becoming lively.

Seven days later.

The top floor of the dormitory building in the east of the city.

The top floor was temporarily converted into an auction venue.

The area was surrounded by a steel fence, with red silk ribbons wrapped around the railings. The ribbons fluttered in the wind like long red dragons. In the center of the arena stood a high platform made of black stone, covered with a thick Persian carpet. On the carpet was a long sandalwood table, on which lay the crimson-gold Nine-Turn Purple Cloud Pill. The pill was covered by a crystal dome, the four sides of which were engraved with light-gathering array patterns, amplifying the pill's light tenfold, making it dazzlingly bright in the night.

The audience was packed.

There were merchants, monks, artisans, and women and children from the city.

Even... there were several groups of people who came from Hanyuan City.

Han Wuhen sat in the center of the front row, with Elder Liu and Iron One-Eyed beside him.

The three men had different expressions.

Han Wuhen smiled.

Elder Liu's face was gloomy.

Iron One-Eyed held a blade of grass in his mouth, his gaze fixed intently on the pill.

Zheng Yi stood on the high platform.

He wore a gray-blue cloth shirt and had a purple-gold longsword hanging at his waist.

He looked around the room.

The voice was not loud.

Yet it pierced through the night:
"Gentlemen."

"Tonight...the auction."

"The first item up for auction... Nine-Turn Purple Cloud Pill."

"Starting bid... five hundred mid-grade spirit stones."

The entire room fell silent instantly.

Then... it exploded.

"five hundred?!"

"This is insane!"

"Who can afford it?!"

Han Wuhen was the first to raise his sign:
Five hundred and ten!

Elder Liu sneered and held up a sign:

"Six hundred!"

Iron One-Eyed snorted:
"Seven hundred!"

Bidding calls rose and fell.

The price quickly soared to 1,200.

Zheng Yi stood on the stage.

Look below.

Look at those hands holding up signs.

Looking at those reddened eyes.

He suddenly spoke:
"pause."

The entire room fell silent.

Zheng Yi looked at everyone.

The sound was very soft:

"Tonight... we're not just selling this one pill."

"And... other things."

He raised his hand.

Behind him, Zhao Sanhuai brought over a tray.

There were more than a dozen items on the tray.

It has a magical artifact.

There is a magic weapon.

There are elixirs.

There is a jade slip containing the method of cultivation.

There were even... a few pieces of purple-gold ore brought back from Broken Sword Valley.

Zheng Yi's voice was calm:

"These... can all be sold."

The highest bidder wins.

"Seventy percent of what is obtained will return to its original owner."

"Thirty percent...return to the city government."

"Used for... road repair, school construction, and poverty relief."

The entire room fell silent.

Then... an even bigger uproar erupted.

Someone shouted:
"I have a broken sword! I can sell that too?!"

Zheng Yi nodded:

"Yes." "As long as... someone wants it."

Someone else shouted:

"I have an heirloom jade pendant! Can I sell it?"

Zheng Yi nodded:

"can."

"Tonight... everything can be sold."

"Sell it... and you can get money."

"Exchange money... so that I can live a better life."

In the crowd.

Someone cried.

Someone laughed.

Someone lifted the child in their arms so that he could see the figure standing straight on the platform.

Zheng Yi looked at everyone.

The sound was very soft:

"Let's begin."

Who wants to go first?

An old man was the first to raise his hand.

He was holding an old jade pendant in his hands.

The jade pendant has cracked.

But he wiped it clean.

"Sir...this jade pendant...it was left to me by my mother...I want to sell it...to pay for my grandson's tuition..."

Zheng Yi looked at him.

Gentle gaze:

"it is good."

"Starting price... one tael of silver."

Tears streamed down the old man's face.

But he nodded vigorously:
"One tael...I'll sell it!"

offstage.

Someone is holding up a sign.

"Two by two!"

"Three ounces!"

The price quickly rose to ten taels.

The old man's tears fell even harder.

But he couldn't stop smiling.

Zheng Yi looked at it.

The sound was very soft:

"continue."

The night wind on the top floor of the dormitory building in the east of the city was more biting than anywhere else in the city. It rushed in from the direction of the Hanyuan River, first making the red silk on the railings flutter loudly, then swirling around the dozens of glass lanterns hanging around the platform. The lanterns were tossed about by the wind, and the candlelight struggled desperately inside the thick leather lampshades, casting orange-yellow halos onto the faces of the dark crowd below. Each face was cast with a long shadow, deep-set eyes, and high-bridged noses, like a group of ghosts that had just crawled out of the ground.

On the long sandalwood table in the center of the high platform, the Nine-Turn Purple Heaven Pill was still covered by a crystal dome. The pill was crimson gold, and the nine purple patterns, illuminated by the candlelight, resembled living thunder serpents, slowly moving about. The fragrance of the pill was so strong that it almost solidified, drifting down the platform on the night breeze. By the time it reached the third row, it had been diluted by the body temperature and breath of the crowd, but it still made the cultivators in the first few rows twitch their nostrils and their Adam's apples bob.

Zheng Yi stood on the left side of the long table, wearing a grey-blue cloth shirt and a fox fur coat. His right hand remained resting on the hilt of his purple-gold sword, his knuckles white from the pressure. He didn't sit in the main seat, but instead had Han Wuhen sit in the center of the VIP section on the right. He himself was like a shadow guarding a treasure, his gaze constantly shifting through the crowd—from Han Wuhen's overly round smiling face, to Elder Liu's gloomy eyes, to Iron One-Eyed's mouth with a straw in his mouth, and finally settling on a middle-aged rogue cultivator in a black cloak in the third row below the stage. That man hadn't raised a card once since the beginning, but he was staring intently at the pills, the greed in his eyes almost burning through the cloak.

Han Wuhen cleared his throat, his voice, imbued with spiritual energy, resonating throughout the entire area:

"Ladies and gentlemen, the starting bid for the Nine-Turn Purple Cloud Pill is five hundred mid-grade spirit stones, and each bid must be at least fifty taels. Now... let's begin!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the middle-aged man in the black cloak in the third row suddenly raised his right hand, clutching an ebony token engraved with the character "玄".
"Six hundred!"

His voice was hoarse, like sandpaper scraping against a rusty iron plate.

Immediately afterward, a young man in a brocade robe in the second row from the front followed, waving a folding fan with whalebone ribs and a painting of snow-capped mountains and waterfalls on the fan surface.
"Seven hundred!"

Behind the young man, an elder from the Han family's seats snorted coldly and raised his hand:

"Eight hundred!"

The audience erupted in cheers.

Someone muttered a curse:

"Is the Han family going to take it all for themselves?"

"Nonsense, Lord Han is already sitting on the platform, how could he not take it all for himself?"

"But that pill... it's a Nine-Turn Pill! Eating it can force you to advance half a level!"

Before the murmurs had subsided, Elder Liu slowly raised the jade token in his hand, his voice unhurried:
"one thousand."

The entire room fell silent instantly.

Han Wuhen looked at Elder Liu with a smile:
"Elder Liu has great courage."

Elder Liu ignored him, staring only at the pills, a cold smile playing on his lips.

Iron One-Eyed suddenly spat the grass stalks onto the ground and held up a blood-red token:
"One thousand two hundred!"

Han Wuhen frowned slightly, turned to Zheng Yi and whispered:
"Sir, this price... has exceeded our expectations."

Zheng Yi's gaze remained fixed on the middle-aged man in the black cloak. The man hadn't raised his paddle since 1,200, but he was staring intently at the pills, the greed in his eyes almost tangible.

“Five thousand five hundred,” Zheng Yi suddenly said.

The sound wasn't loud.

But it struck the crowd like a muffled thunderclap.

The entire room fell silent.

Han Wuhen suddenly turned his head:
"gentlemen?!"

Zheng Yi looked at him, his voice calm:

"I'll pay."

Han Wuhen was stunned, then burst into laughter, slapping his thigh:

"Alright! Sir, you'll handle it personally! 1,500 per time!"

Iron One-Eyed's face turned ashen, and he abruptly stood up:

"two thousand!"

An uproar erupted in the stands.

Someone gasped in shock:

"This is insane! Two thousand mid-grade spirit stones... that's enough to buy half a small sect!"

Elder Liu's face was grim as he stared at Zheng Yi, his voice icy:
"Fellow Daoist Zheng... are you going to make an enemy of the entire audience?"

Zheng Yi didn't look at him.

His gaze remained fixed on the middle-aged man in the black cloak.

The man suddenly laughed.

He was laughing so hard his shoulders were shaking.

He slowly stood up, his cloak slipped down, revealing a face covered in scars. His left eye was covered by a black cloth, but his right eye shone with an alarming light.

He held up a domino inscribed with the characters "Xuanming," his voice hoarse:
"Two thousand five hundred."

The entire audience erupted in chaos.

Han Wuhen's expression changed drastically, and he looked sharply at the person:

"Xuanming Sect?! Didn't you say you wouldn't participate in the auction?!"

The one-eyed man in black cloth sneered:

"Lord Han, the auction... the highest bidder wins."

He looked at Zheng Yi, his voice filled with deep-seated hatred:
“Zheng Yi…you killed my martial uncle Li Wuji and destroyed the foundation of my sect.”

"Today... this pill, my Xuanming Sect is determined to have it!"

A murmur of surprise rippled through the audience.

"The Xuanming Sect? Li Wuji's sect?!"

"Didn't they say they were staying home and not going out?"

"Two thousand five hundred...this madman!"

Zheng Yi looked at the one-eyed man.

His gaze was calm.

The sound, however, carried clearly throughout the entire venue:

"Three thousand."

Dead silence.

Absolute silence.

The jade thumb ring in Han Wuhen's hand fell onto the table with a "thud".

Elder Liu's face turned deathly pale.

Iron One-Eyed slammed his fist on the table and stood up abruptly:

"Three thousand?! Are you crazy?!"

Zheng Yi ignored them.

His gaze remained fixed on the one-eyed man.

"Three thousand per time."

"Three thousand twice."

"Three thousand three times."

"make a deal."

He looked at Han Wuhen.

The voice was calm.

"Lord Han, bring down the gavel."

Han Wuhen's throat bobbed, and finally he slammed the jade hammer down heavily.

"Boom--!"

"Three thousand mid-grade spirit stones! Nine-Turn Purple Cloud Pill... Return to Mr. Zheng of Guihongyun City!"

The audience was silent.

The one-eyed man stared intently at Zheng Yi.

His fists were clenched so tightly they cracked.

The sound was squeezed out from between his teeth:

"Zheng Yi...you wait."

Zheng Yi didn't look at him.

He simply turned to the crowd below and said:
"The auction... continues."

"Next item."

He raised his hand.

Zhao Sanhuai brought over a tray.

On the tray lay a broken sword.

The sword was only three feet long, and the blade was full of nicks.

Yet it exuded a sharp sword intent.

It was the broken sword "Broken Mountain" brought back from Broken Sword Valley.

Zheng Yi's voice was calm:

"Broken Mountain and Broken Sword".

"Starting bid... one thousand mid-grade spirit stones."

The entire venue erupted in cheers.

Elder Liu suddenly stood up:
"Five thousand five hundred!"

Iron One-Eyed Roar:
"two thousand!"

Han Wuhen's face was ashen, but he still raised his sign:

"Two thousand five hundred!" (End of Chapter)