Calamity Messenger-Chapter 100 - 80: Auctioning the Manual
"Who would have thought that just doing a daily quest would lead someone to give a rare token..."
In the Thief’s House, Yan Qing held the Bingzi Pepper Forest, completed the enchantment division for Qiu Mo, and then returned it to the public storage for ’Ye Si’ to equip.
Qiu Mo’s two abilities are both passive; as the number of attacks increases, the armor penetration and bleeding efficiency also improve. But Jiang Shi needed to use the Golden Ring Saber to farm Qi Blood, and using other weapons would reduce her efficiency in farming Qi Blood. So indeed, Ye Si was more suitable to equip Qiu Mo.
Although Yan Qing foresaw Jiang Shi’s Red Face Calamity Water, because Jie Yuan Shao Shang Xinlei had previously blocked the swarming suitors, he never had an accurate grasp of Jiang Shi’s charm. It wasn’t until now, just a few days after Jiang Shi arrived at the Ping City Military Camp, that someone was rushing to deliver a rare token, even taking their anger out on Ye Si because Jiang Shi rejected it.
Well, now it seemed that staying at the Ping City Military Camp might not be an option anymore.
The only thing to do was to work overtime these days, run a few more dungeons, and when it’s time to fight, just rush out. After all, it’s only a low-level dungeon, and it’s time to switch to another place to farm... 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺
The many major concerns of the Ping City Military Camp’s guards were just minor issues to Yan Qing.
In comparison, another small matter was a big deal in his mind.
He snapped his fingers, and the Treasure Hunting Token appeared in his hand. Pressing it hard, the trade market light screen immediately floated in front of him.
Yan Qing picked up a bottle of Blood Replenishing Pill from the table; he had about thirty or forty bottles of this elixir on his table. Whenever he got tired during training, he would take one, and his stamina would instantly be restored to full. However, he was afraid of overexerting his body, so he only took one a day.
As his thoughts shifted, a new item appeared in the trade market: "Blood Replenishing Pill, priced at 100 Spiritual Jade."
This was the highest price he could set. The Blood Replenishing Pill, something that any dungeon could produce, almost no player would spend 1 Spiritual Jade to buy it. Selling it for 100 Spiritual Jade was practically treating others like fools.
But just five seconds after he put it up for sale, 70 Spiritual Jade landed on his desk, and someone bought the Blood Replenishing Pill from the trade market.
Who on earth was idiotic enough to buy this?
Yan Qing had been testing the mechanism of the Treasure Pavilion these past two days. Firstly, not everything could be put on the market. The only standard for listing was that he had to have ’seen’ the item in-game.
Just like how he had to understand all the information about an item to store it in the public warehouse, he also needed to understand all the information about an item to list it on the Treasure Pavilion, which greatly limited the practicality of the Treasure Hunting Token—Yan Qing initially thought that when he encountered good things on missions in the future, he could first tag them with 99999 billion Spiritual Jade and hang them on the Treasure Pavilion as a temporary inventory.
Secondly, Yan Qing discovered that whatever he sold would quickly be bought by someone.
He fell into deep confusion; could there be other players in this world besides him?
It might not be players, just messengers with Treasure Hunting Tokens. But whether it’s one or the other, why don’t they list any items? Are they so poor they have nothing to sell, or are they unwilling to reveal themselves?
Yan Qing kept waiting, pressing the Treasure Hunting Token whenever he had free time to check the market, but he always found the market empty.
Could it be a market recovery mechanism?
Yan Qing suddenly thought of this possibility. He had played a Tarkov-like game before, where you had to scavenge resources from maps and list them on the marketplace to trade with other players. However, the players’ items couldn’t always be bought, so the market directly recovered items priced below market value to quickly replenish the players’ cash flow.
That was probably the reason; otherwise, Yan Qing couldn’t think of any other explanation. He opened the public warehouse, and soon ten copies of the "Basic Saber Mastery Secret Manual" appeared on the table.
Basic manuals, unlike elixirs and tokens, other items can still be consumed, but manuals just keep piling up unless Yan Qing creates a smurf account—even if he did, he couldn’t use so many manuals.
Of course, Yan Qing could use a smurf account to sell to other forces, but he couldn’t explain the source of the manuals, and the mortality rate of smurf accounts would greatly increase. If Jiang Shi stayed in the Jiangnan Region and maintained a good relationship with Jie Yuan Shao Shang Xinlei, he could use them to fence goods. Unfortunately, this route was temporarily blocked.
Anyway, these manuals were just gathering dust in the warehouse, so he might as well list them on the Treasure Pavilion to exchange for some money.
"Do you want to list the ’Basic Saber Mastery Secret Manual’? The price range is 10-1000 Spiritual Jades (or player-specified item), with a transaction fee of 30% of the deal amount."
"Since the maximum sale price is ≥1000, you can choose the auction mode."
Auction mode?
Yan Qing looked at it and realized it was a timed auction.
First, you have to set an auction time limit. At the end of this time limit, the highest bidder wins the auction.
Then, set a starting bid price, which cannot exceed one-tenth of the maximum sale price. The starting bid for the "Basic Saber Mastery Secret Manual" cannot exceed 100 Spiritual Jade.
Finally, you have to set whether unsold items return to the warehouse or are relisted.
Yan Qing pondered for a moment. Regular listings were subject to market recovery, but auctions couldn’t possibly be recovered, right? If someone bids, it means there’s indeed a buyer in the Treasure Pavilion.
The "Basic Saber Mastery Secret Manual" is up for competitive bidding with a maximum bidding time of 4 hours. The starting price is 100 Spiritual Jade, and if unsold, it will be relisted at a price of 1000 Spiritual Jade.
All ten manuals are listed for auction! If no one bids, the market may repurchase them at the high price of 1000 Spiritual Jade.
If someone wins the ten manuals at the lowest price, Yan Qing won’t mind — confirming the existence of other Treasure Hunting Token holders is more important than this loss. He even worries that this bargain isn’t enticing enough to lure hidden buyers out.
After listing them, Yan Qing waited a few seconds without seeing any bids. Just as Jiang Shi and the others were about to delve into the Secret Realm, Yan Qing put this matter aside and started his venture into the Secret Realm.
...
...
In Chang’an County Town, a luxurious carriage rolled over the bluestone avenue, guarded by four knights in front and back. A flag emblazoned with ’Jin’ flew high above the carriage, prompting pedestrians to dodge. Even as the carriage sped through the county roads, no one dared question it.
Inside the carriage, Pharmacist’s Wish leaned against her seat, carving something with a small knife. Her fingers were long and powerful, lacking feminine softness but filled with a vigorous wildness. Despite the violent shaking of the carriage, her hands remained as steady as a rock. Amazingly, she wasn’t carving wood, but iron blocks.
Under her carving, the outline of a foolish-looking dog-headed figure gradually emerged. Beside her were completed carvings of a fox-faced human, a snake-necked human... each was vividly lifelike, yet looked utterly stupid.
"Commandery Princess, we’re almost at the Golden Light Sect," said the coachman.
Pharmacist’s Wish paused her carving, placing the dog-headed figure by her side, then gathered the three statues with both hands, continually squeezing them. Her expression seemed relaxed, as if squeezing an orange, but the iron statues in her hands emitted a disturbing crunch!
"Finally back."
A hint of coldness flashed in her eyes. Yellow Dog, White Fox, Red Snake, you thought I only got the worst reward, the Comprehension Pill, unaware this is precisely what I needed. Now I’ve broken through the toughest bottleneck, and the Thief’s House... is already mine!
All the rewards of the Thief’s House are mine!
Whatever you took, I will reclaim!
The speeding carriage suddenly halted. The coachman said, "Commandery Princess, the city gate is blocked."
Pharmacist’s Wish was somewhat annoyed, "Even the city gate can be blocked? Where is the Shence Army?"
"The Shence Army is inside, surrounded layer after layer."
Pharmacist’s Wish stepped down and saw the coachman’s words were true — the city gate wide enough for four carriages was filled with hundreds of people. The Shence Army seemed to be guarding something, forming a human wall to block the crowd, but still, some people broke through their defense to touch the wall behind them.
"I have Spiritual Jade! Let me in!"
"The Court orders no one is allowed—"
"The Court means nothing here. Do you recognize me?"
The speaker was masked, directly pushing aside the Shence Army to approach the wall. Although quickly pushed back, he still squeezed in again, as this was already Chang’an City’s main district where the Shence Army couldn’t harm him.
Mask-wearing strategies were widespread; if only one or two wore masks, they’d be easy targets. But a large group masked meant no one bothered to reveal their faces.
Pharmacist’s Wish frowned slightly, unwilling to squeeze with such a crowd, and curious about the commotion, she waved her hand to signal the knights to clear the way. When the knights approached the Shence Army, Pharmacist’s Wish said, "I am Princess Zhaorou, move aside." Without caring for their reactions, she squeezed past them, looking at the wall they protected.
The city gate wall always held a large blackboard, which never bore any mark, nor could anything imprint on it. Pharmacist’s Wish saw this board every time she left the city; as a child, she called the guards to cut it, finding nothing left marks. Trying burning and even smearing muck proved futile, letting her forget it.
Chang’an’s gates and crossroads all had such blackboards, which seemed divine rules like the city’s supremacy.
Now, this ever-markless blackboard displayed ten rows of writing, each stating similar content:
"’Basic Saber Mastery Secret Manual’ starting bid 100 Spiritual Jade, auction ends at Noon, current highest bid: 1200 Spiritual Jade."
Other rows were similar, with slightly different high bid numbers.
"Basic Saber Mastery Secret Manual"? Bidding?
Pharmacist’s Wish’s mind raced with thoughts. Suddenly, a masked person squeezed beside her, glancing at the board and pressing the item at the bottom, raising the bid from 1150 to 1300 Spiritual Jade.
He finished pressing and glanced at Pharmacist’s Wish, a provocative look in his eyes, as if asking, ’Can you afford it, pauper? ’
Pharmacist’s Wish laughed in anger. Checking her pouch, she touched the board, pressing every item from top to bottom, raising all high bids to 1500 Spiritual Jade!
