The long-awaited Wanbao Auction officially began on the first of September.
Slightly after seven oāclock in the morning, Lin Huang knocked on Yi Zhengās door as his room was just next to his.
After a short while, Yi Zheng opened the door and was stunned when he saw Lin Huang. He then shook his head helplessly. "Iām not used to seeing you in this guise."
"Iāve no choice but to temporarily use this identity in Division 3 to avoid getting into trouble." Lin Huang shrugged his shoulders as he had already disguised himself as Lin Xie. "Youāll get used to it soon."
He had told Yi Zheng about his fake identity the night before. He even showed him how he looked like after putting on his disguise. It was Yi Zhengās second time seeing this face but he still could not get used to it.
"Your name is Lin Xi, isnāt it?" Yi Zheng confirmed with Lin Huang again. Lin Huang had already told him the night before, but he was afraid that he might recall wrongly.
"Youāre right." Lin Huang nodded his head.
"Iāll address you as Lin Xie from now onwards." In order to avoid calling him the wrong name, Yi Zheng decided to start addressing him as Lin Xie.
"I guess you should get a pseudo-relic in the future. Itād be best if it were an ancient relic which can cheat most imperial-levels," Lin Huang then said, "Itās very complicated in Division 3 with so many underworlds. Some of the footholds are ridiculously confusing. Thereās almost half a year left to the new year. Youāll face some trouble. Sometimes, when you donāt feel like getting involved at all, trouble will come to you too. Having a pseudo-relic can save you from that hassle."
Yi Zheng was not weak and he was just as experienced as Lin Huang.
Lin Huang was telling him all this not because he doubted Yi Zhengās ability and experience. Instead, he was worried that Yi Zheng did not realize how dangerous Division 3 was. He would die if he were to be careless especially in places like Division 3.
"Iāve got it. Donāt worry. I wonāt put my life at risk." Yi Zhengās facial expression became serious. "As for the pseudo-relic, Iāll get myself one soon."
In fact, before meeting up with Lin Huang, Yi Zheng did not take training seriously. He used to think that he was now on immortal-level and nothing could possibly endanger his life. He thought that the half-year training program could not be compared to the training at home. However, after listening to what Lin Huang said regarding the distribution of various organizations and some of the incidents between the organizations in Division 3 the night before, he suddenly felt that he had entered an ancient forest. There were cruel, carnivorous monsters that could kill him at any time.
After chatting for a while, they then entered the floating staircase and had their buffet breakfast on the first floor of the hotel. It was just 7.30 a.m. After leaving the hotel, they leisurely headed towards the auction house. Soon, they arrived.
Many of the stalls had been set up at the plaza in front of the auction house. Some of the crowd was casually walking around the stalls but most of them were there for the auction.
The auction began at 9 a.m. and they could only enter at 8.30 a.m. They had to wait for another hour. Since they had gone there early, they could only walk around to kill time.
"Letās walk around?" Yi Zheng asked, turning his head back at Lin Huang.
"Thereās nothing to see here. Letās enter the auction house." Lin Huang then walked towards the entrance of the auction house.
"Weāre only allowed to enter at 8.30 a.m.!" Seeing the two guards in uniforms stationed in front of the entrance, Yi Zheng whispered to Lin Huang. He could sense that the both of them were at least on immortal-level rank-7.
"Iām a member, so Iām allowed to go in earlier." Lin Huang did not stop and continued heading towards the entrance of the auction house.
Yi Zheng had no choice but to follow after him.
As they reached the entrance, the guards blocked their way.
"The auction hasnāt started yet. Only members and Supreme members are allowed to enter. Please show us your member card."
Lin Huang then projected the Supreme member card that had been synced to his Emperorās Heart Ring. A beam of red light shone out from the Emperorās Heart Ring of the guard on the left. A notification sound was then heard.
Beep...
"Identity is verified. Identity: Supreme member. Youāre allowed to bring three people along."
"A gold flame-level Supreme member?"
Both of the guards secretly exchanged glances with each other and moved aside. They then allowed Lin Huang to enter. "Welcome."
Although Yi Zheng did not say anything, he looked at Lin Huang with a strange expression.
As they entered the auction hall, a tall female staff approached them.
"Please follow me."
The female staff then led them to a closed floating staircase and said, "Please scan your member card at the detector."
Lin Huang projected the Supreme member card and scanned it on the detector built into the floating staircase. The number three then lit up on the upper part of the floating staircase.
Soon after, the floating staircase began to move.
Lin Huang could clearly tell that the floating staircase was moving upward. After reaching a certain distance, it began to move horizontally.
After a short while, the floating staircase stopped moving and the door opened.
He then noticed that the floating staircase had actually stopped right in front of a room.
The female staff led them out of the floating staircase and entered one of the big halls.
"The rooms on the third floor are VIP rooms for the Supreme members. Thereāre a total of eight VIP rooms. Weāll arrange it according to the sequence the VIP members arrive. VIP room No. 1 is now full and this is VIP room No. 2."
"Is this the hall?" Seeing the luxurious design of the hall which was more than 500 square meters, he felt that it resembled a small palace.
"Yes, it is. The Grade-S VIP room for all the Supreme members has been renovated with the highest standard of design. The total area of each of the VP rooms is more than 3,000 square meters. Aside from its living room, bedroom, kitchen, toilet, and other basic functions, itās also equipped with a training room, game room, cinema, bathhouse, swimming pool, balcony, and other facilities. Of course, the most important facility will definitely be the stage that enables them to have a full view of the auction.
"Building the VIP room must cost a lot. Is the room left vacant when thereās no auction?" Lin Huang, who followed after the female staff, asked. Perhaps the price of building the VIP room would far exceed the price of an ancient relic.
"No. The VIP rooms normally serve as a hotel. This isnāt only an auction house, but itās also one of the three most expensive hotels in Wanbao City. However, the Grade-S VIP room will never be opened to the public. Only members and Supreme members are eligible to check into the hotel. Non-members are only allowed to check into the Grade-A VIP room.
"Also, during the auction, the VIP room wonāt accept any check-ins. Weāll provide a free stay for members and Supreme members. When thereās no auction going on, even Supreme members will need to pay for their stay.
"The guests in VIP room No.1 came three days ago. They have to pay for their stay up until last night. Heās eligible for the free stay starting from tonight. There are other guests in the Grade-S VIP room too. However, because of the auction today, all of them have checked out yesterday."
"So, the hotel business is quite profitable?" Lin Huang raised his brows.
"Yes, it is. Weāre booked out until next June."
"Are there many of them who book the Grade-S VIP room as well?"
"As for the Grade-S VIP room, the bookings are full until next September since the number of rooms available is relatively few," the female staff laughed as she said.
"Iām wondering if we should check out from our current hotel..." Lin Huang thought to himself.
The female staff guided Lin Huang and Yi Zheng to walk around the room. It took her about 50 minutes to finish introducing all the functions available in the VIP room.
"Dear customer, if you need anything else, you may visit the check-in webpage of the hotel on the Emperorās Heart Ring and click on the bell-shaped button. Weāll then make the arrangements for you." After telling them what to do, the female staff then left the room.
"The auction is about to start. Letās go to the stage and have a look." Lin Huang glanced at the clock. It was about 8.30 a.m.
The stage in the VIP room spanned about 20 meters. There was an artificial periosteum that was akin to a huge, arc-shaped, transparent glass which separated the VIP room from the auction hall.
It was as clear as glass if one were to look at the auction hall from the stage. However, from the auction hall, it seemed like everything behind it was covered by a huge black curtain.
The both of them then sat on a sofa in front of the stage. Lin Huang unsealed an alcoholic beverage, pouring it for himself and Yi Zheng.
They then gulped the drink, slowly finishing their beverages. Yi Zheng, who had been keeping quiet all the while, then turn his head back and looked at Lin Huang. "Iāve been wanting to ask you in the beginning. What did you offer them for sale to the point that youāre now the Supreme member of Wanbao Auction?"
"To be honest, Iāve no idea what we should do in order to become a Supreme member of Wanbao Auction. However, I know that there are two ways to become their ordinary members. The first one is to spend more than 100 million Life Crystals and the other is to sell items that worth more than 500 million Life Crystals. That being said, even if you were to sell an ancient relic, you need to sell at least 10 of them."
Yi Zheng paused for a moment. He then added, "Of course, itās okay if you donāt feel like telling. Iām just asking out of curiosity."
"Thereās nothing that I canāt tell." Lin Huang then downed the other half of his drink, turning his head back with a smile as he looked at Yi Zheng. "Iām just selling off a few demigod relics."