Chapter 32: Sword Seal

As he spoke, he picked up another spirit fruit and asked casually, “Senior Brother, what about you? Is there anything you especially like?”

Lu Fengmian waved his fan and said lightly, “Not for now.”

No one knew that behind those four calm and steady words hid such a simple yet heartbreaking truth.

It was not that he was not interested.

It turned out he had no money.

Senior Brother’s stipend was quite considerable—sixty-five thousand Spirit stone a year—something that was practically an astronomical figure in the eyes of ordinary rogue cultivators.

But compared with the people next door, who could casually bring out several million dollars at a time?

Forget it, he would just treat this as watching a performance.

The next collectible was brought out.

The moment Su Jinxiu lifted the red silk cloth, a wisp of pale golden spiritual light escaped from the tray, carrying with it a faint ancient aura.

“The seventeenth item: the

‘Barrier-Breaking Pill’

made according to an ancient pill formula.”

Su Jinxiu’s voice rose slightly; clearly, she also attached great importance to this auction item.

This pill could be used by Golden Core-stage cultivators to break through bottlenecks, and it could also raise the success rate of forming a Nascent Soul by thirty percent. It was flawless and perfect for cultivators attempting to break through to the Nascent Soul stage. At present, there were fewer than ten such cultivators in the world.

She paused for a moment, her gaze sweeping across the second floor.

“Starting bid: two million.”

The entire hall fell silent for an instant, and then the bidding erupted.

“Two and a half million!”

“Two point seven million!”

“Three million!”

“Three point five million!”

One lamp after another lit up inside the private rooms on the second floor, and the bidding rose and fell with them, nearly blowing the roof off the place.

Lu Fengmian watched with interest.

His cultivation was restricted by the system, so this pill was completely useless to him. Still, watching rich people fight was a kind of entertainment too.

The price rose steadily, quickly breaking through the five million mark.

Just as the bidding began to slow and only three or four private rooms remained locked in a stalemate...

He Shi’an, who had been sitting quietly across from Lu Fengmian the whole time and seemed to have little interest in the auction, suddenly spoke.

“Eight million.”

His voice cut clearly through all the noise outside the window.

Lu Fengmian’s hand jolted violently, and his fan nearly fell to the floor.

He whipped his head around to look at He Shi’an.

He Shi’an still maintained his upright sitting posture, but the expression on his face had completely changed.

The young man who had just been eating spirit fruit with great relish now carried an air of noble composure between his brows.

He raised his chin slightly, his gaze falling indifferently upon the auction stage below, as though eight million spirit stones was merely a number he had spoken in passing.

Lu Fengmian: “...”

Hold on.

Who are you?

The people in the neighboring room clearly had not expected a dark horse to charge in so suddenly, and the room fell silent at once.

Then it sounded again: “Eight point two million.”

He Shi’an did not even blink. “Nine million.”

The neighboring room went silent.

Su Jinxiu’s voice rang out at just the right moment: “Nine million once... three times—sold!”

The sound of the wooden hammer striking was crisp and loud.

“Congratulations to this distinguished guest for winning a Barrier-Breaking Pill.”

Lu Fengmian slowly turned his head to look at He Shi’an.

He Shi’an looked away, and the moment his eyes met Lu Fengmian’s, that noble expression vanished instantly.

“Senior Brother?” He blinked, looking innocent. “Why are you staring at me?”

Lu Fengmian was silent for three seconds.

“You...” he said with difficulty, “are you very rich?”

He Shi’an froze for a moment, then reacted, smiling somewhat embarrassedly.

“It’s nothing.” He waved his hand, his tone so easygoing it was as if he were commenting on how nice the weather was today. “After all, the Chamber of Commerce is my family’s business, so we still have this much money.”

Lu Fengmian: “???”

He opened his mouth, then closed it again.

Opened it and closed it again.

In the end, he took a deep breath and asked in an exceedingly complicated tone:

“The Lin'an Chamber of Commerce belongs to your family?”

He Shi’an nodded as a matter of course. “That’s right. Senior Brother, didn’t you notice? The ‘An’ in Lin'an Chamber of Commerce’s ‘An’ is the same ‘An’ as in my name. My name is He Shi’an.”

Lu Fengmian: “...”

He slowly closed his eyes.

No.

Who could possibly have guessed this!

A junior brother who wore the sect’s standard sword robe every day, squeezed into the dining hall to eat with the other disciples, blushed when being scolded by his master, and was so timid he did not dare make a sound when locked outside the door by an artifact spirit...

He was actually the young master of the Lin'an Chamber of Commerce?!

Lu Fengmian opened his eyes and looked at He Shi’an’s honest, innocent face, suddenly feeling that his perception of reality had suffered a tremendous shock.

He had thought they were all ordinary people.

Who could have guessed, who could have guessed.

He Shi’an, with that honest and simple appearance of yours, was actually a capitalist.

Under his stare, He Shi’an grew somewhat uneasy and asked carefully, “Senior Brother? Are you all right?”

Lu Fengmian waved his hand and said nothing.

I need to calm down.

During the auction that followed, He Shi’an truly did not make another move.

He sat there obediently, continuing to eat pastries, as if the person who had just spent nine million had never existed at all.

The private room next door moved a few more times, still steady, precise, and ruthless, as though spirit stones were nothing more than numbers to her.

Lu Fengmian could not even be bothered to feel amazed anymore.

Until—

Su Jinxiu set down the jade hammer in her hand, put away her smile, and stepped back. “Everyone.”

Two attendants carefully carried an ancient bronze coffin and slowly walked onto the stage. The coffin was only about one square foot in size, yet it felt as heavy as a thousand tons.

The entire hall instantly fell deathly silent.

“The grand finale of this auction.”

She raised her hand and gently tore off the talisman sealing the ancient coffin.

Buzz—

The sound of a sword blade cutting through the air came from inside the coffin.

Every cultivator present, regardless of cultivation level, felt a chill at the center of their brows, as if touched lightly by an invisible sword intent.

The ancient coffin opened.

A palm-sized green jade seal lay quietly within.

This jade object was extremely old, and fine cracks covered its surface, yet they did not diminish its sharpness in the slightest. Sword-shaped patterns could vaguely be seen upon the seal, as though they might break through the jade at any moment and soar straight into the clouds.

The entire hall exploded into chaos.

In the private rooms on the second floor, many curtains were suddenly pulled open. People leaned forward, their eyes burning as they stared at that tiny green jade seal on the stage.

Lu Fengmian also sat up straight.

He looked at the sword seal, and his gaze suddenly froze.

Even from such a great distance, even through the thin protective barrier over the auction stage, he could still feel the cold, sharp, pure sword intent within that jade seal.

That was the imprint formed from the lifelong sword path of an ancient powerhouse.

Lu Fengmian’s breathing grew heavy.

He thought of someone.

Junior Sister Yun.

His cold and taciturn second junior sister, and her damaged sword bone.

When the Yun family had been massacred many years ago, she had suffered grievous injuries and hovered on the brink of death. The innate sword bone within her body had also been severely damaged.

For many years, he had done everything he could to restore her health, asking the elders to treat her and nourishing her with spiritual medicines, but that sword bone had never seemed to recover.

It was like a crack that could never heal, embedded there forever.

But if he could give this sword seal to her and let her comprehend the meaning within it...

If he could use the sword dao wisdom passed down by this ancient powerhouse to nourish, repair, and perhaps even reshape her damaged sword bone...

Lu Fengmian gripped the Yun-Wielding Fan tightly in his hand.

He stared fixedly at the green jade seal on the stage, his gaze profound.

He knew this was an opportunity.

Perhaps a chance to heal Junior Sister Yun.

This was an opportunity he could not resist.