And just like that, Jiang Xia was brought along to dinner as well.
Over the next two days, Jiang Xia followed the three of them to tour many places, and the group quickly became friends.
It turned out that Lan Jing was the youngest disciple of the Kunlun Bishui Sect, only twenty years old this year, and also the daughter of the sect's Seventh Elder.
She could be considered the darling of the entire Sect; whether older or younger than her, everyone treated this cute little girl very well.
Muyun was the closing disciple of the Seventh Elder in the Kunlun Bishui Sect, and also Lan Jing's favorite senior sister.
Jiang Chao was the grandson of the First Elder of the Kunlun Shanhaipai Sect. Furthermore, he had liked Lan Jing since they were children, and the two reportedly even had an arranged marriage, making them look like a bickering yet affectionate pair.
Muyun was extremely fond of Jiang Xia's arrival and welcomed her warmly.
After all, this way she wouldn't be the only third wheel anymore, and she would no longer have to watch those two flirt by themselves.
In these two days, they visited most of Beijing's famous scenic spots—after all, there were simply far too many of them in Beijing.
Since it was their first time here as well, naturally they wanted to check out everything.
In the blink of an eye, the day of the auction arrived.
"Jingjing, this must be the Miss Jiang Xia you mentioned," Lan Jing's mother said, looking over at Jiang Xia and appraising her.
"Yes, Mother. Sister Xiǎoxiǎo, this is my mother, and this is my father," Lan Jing introduced them to Jiang Xia.
"Hello, Seniors," Jiang Xia greeted them.
Lan Jing's mother and father looked Jiang Xia over, nodding repeatedly with satisfied expressions. This child had great potential and was very perceptive.
"Not bad, a fine talent. Would you be interested in joining our Bishui Sect?" Lan Jing's mother was exceedingly pleased with Jiang Xia and desperately wanted to recruit her into her sect.
What a wonderful prospect this was! Although she couldn't read Jiang Xia's depth, the aura radiating from the child was thoroughly captivating.
"Thank you for the kind offer, Seniors, but I'm afraid not," Jiang Xia declined.
"No matter, no matter. You are always welcome to come visit," Lan Jing's mother had already anticipated this outcome, as her daughter had previously tested the waters, and Jiang Xia had no such intentions.
"Well, the time is almost here. Let's head to the private box," Lan Jing's father said.
The auction began.
The host on the stage wore a long black robe and held a script, launching into an impassioned opening speech that whipped the atmosphere of the entire venue into a frenzy.
Next, he began introducing the items up for auction, which was what everyone was most eager to know about.
To Jiang Xia's surprise, it turned out to be exactly as she had guessed: weapons, talismans, and elixirs.
"Next, we would like to present the following lot to everyone. This is a long sword named Biqiao. Its grade is yet undetermined, and it was discovered by a seller within the Kunlun Secret Realm. Forged from dark iron, this sword is exceptionally sharp. Please take a look at this lot."
With that, the host raised a hand to lift the red velvet cloth covering the sword, setting it aside before retreating to a corner to give everyone a clear view.
People in the audience stared intently at the sword on stage, murmuring and discussing it among themselves.
After all, the grade of this sword had not been determined, so no one knew its true quality. Moreover, everyone's ultimate targets were the items at the very end; since this sword appeared right in the middle, it shouldn't be all that precious.
Consequently, not many people were participating in the bidding, and the competition was far from fierce.
"Darling, what do you think of this sword?" Lan Jing's mother asked her husband beside her.
"In my opinion, it should be a good sword. It's worth it," Lan Jing's father answered. He was a rogue cultivator who had stumbled upon the path of Cultivation through a fortuitous encounter. After marrying Lan Jing's mother, he joined the Bishui Sect, serving as an external elder.
At that moment, he was peeling a grape in his hand, and once peeled, he popped it straight into the mouth of his wife beside him.
This left the younger generation sitting behind them speechless.
"All right, let's try to win the bid for it," Lan Jing's mother said, nodding as she chewed. She had absolute confidence in her husband's appraisal skills.
While the two elders discussed up front, the juniors sat in the back eating and drinking.
Jiang Chao, Lan Jing, and Muyun had no decision-making power; they simply listened to whatever the adults said, having come here purely to broaden their horizons.
As for Jiang Xia, she had no interest in this at all, seeing as she already possessed an exceptionally fine sword.
Besides, this Biqiao sword wasn't nearly as pretty as her own.
"Very well, observation time is over. Those who want it can now choose to place their bids," the host stepped in to manage the schedule, knowing there were still more lots to come.
"The starting bid for the Biqiao sword is 80 million. Each increment must be no less than 1 million."
Outwardly, Jiang Xia kept her expression calm, putting on a front, but inwardly she was storming with complaints.
*Good grief, so expensive! My entire net worth wouldn't even be enough to buy this single sword.*
*How can a sword be this expensive? The items auctioned off earlier weren't nearly this pricey; the price just skyrocketed out of nowhere.*
And this was only the beginning.
"81 million," a voice called out from the opposite box.
"85 million," another voice chimed in from the neighboring box.
"90 million," this time from a seat in the audience.
"91 million."
"One hundred million."
The price continued to climb.
"One hundred and ten million."
"One hundred and fifty million," Lan Jing's mother spoke up.
Once the bidding reached this point, no one else stepped forward, as everyone preferred to save their strength for the later items—especially since nobody knew the exact tier of this sword.
No one dared to take the gamble.
"Going once at one hundred and fifty million, going twice at one hundred and fifty million, going three times at one hundred and fifty million, sold. Congratulations to Box Number 5 for winning this lot," the host said deliberately slowly.
"We now move on to the next lot."
"The next lot is..."
"And now, we come to the third-to-last lot. This lot is the Hundred-Flower Pill. This elixir is refined from the essence of a hundred different flowers, taking forty-nine days to form."
"The effect of this elixir is that it allows a Spirit Practitioner to advance by one star level. Everyone need not worry about its efficacy, as our auction house has already tested it for ourselves. One of our senior Spirit Practitioners has already advanced by a star and is currently a 9-star Spirit Practitioner. You can all bid with absolute confidence."
*Advancing just one star? Is that really supposed to be so precious?*
At that moment, Jiang Xia had no idea just how grueling it was for anyone other than herself to advance even a single star in this realm. Even among those with high cultivation talent, the absolute fastest took a whole year to move up one star—and those were geniuses among geniuses.
Still, Jiang Xia only thought it to themselves without saying it out loud.
One look at the expressions of everyone else convinced Jiang Xia that voicing those thoughts would probably get her beaten up.
Because the moment that elixir appeared, the entire venue erupted in pandemonium.
"What?!"
"It's actually real!"
"I never thought this elixir could really be successfully refined!"
"I've been stuck at my rank for five years; this time I'm definitely going to win it."
"Bullshit, this one is mine!"
"You guys have only been stuck for a while? I've been stuck for ten years!"
"Everyone, please quiet down," the host stepped in to regain control of the room.
The crowd instantly quieted down.
The host then continued, "The starting price for the Hundred-Flower Pill is one hundred million, and each bid increment must be no less than five million."
"Gasp—"
"One hundred and ten million," someone raised the price by ten million right off the bat.
"One hundred and fifty million," another bid.
"One hundred and eighty million," someone shouted. *People really are loaded.*
In the end, this elixir was purchased for a staggering price of three hundred million.
Watching the ferocious bidding war in the auction hall, Jiang Xia's mind was in absolute turmoil. *Oh my god, an elixir is worth this much? I really am seeing the grand wide world today.*
"This is way too expensive!" she couldn't help but sigh.
Hearing this, Lan Jing turned to Jiang Xia and said, "Sister Xiǎoxiǎo, this actually isn't even the most expensive one."