In the blink of an eye, the Hundred Clan Coalition had earned themselves two hundred gold taels from a pair of young women.
One had fought for a spot on the quota for the Ju Yuan Jian District, while the other had claimed the entirety of Jiang’an.
As they slowly but painfully regathered their mood, the crowd couldn’t help but curse and praise the two women in their hearts.
They cursed and praised the first young girl for dominating over the tirade of arrogant Young Masters in the conquest for the transference array leading to the infamous Ju Yuan Jian District.
They cursed…and didn’t praise the second.
Starting off with a bombshell of a hundred gold coins as the initial bid – what were they supposed to do with the remaining slots on the quota?
Bid more than a hundred gold?
Who could afford such lunacy!?
“…this young lady here…”
…don’t go around wasting your father’s hard-earned money on an inconsequential trip to the capital! At the least, wait until after we’ve made our bids?
The crowd sung within their hearts, but the young girl couldn’t care less. After having shouted the astronomical sum, An Fei relaxed her body as happiness coursed through her body.
“Ling… Lingxue… a hundred gold taels?”
The hoarse whisper was devoid of hope, as though its owner had lost all of his vitality.
The young girl blinked as she turned around to face the devastated Wang Qinian, an innocent expression on her countenance.
“Lingxue… a hundred gold taels is no laughing matter,” the elderly man wheezed as he clutched his heart.
“If the Hundred Clan Coalition finds out that you don’t have the sum, then their wrath will be something beyond even my ability to mediate, ah!”
The young girl blinked again, a charming smile snaking its way across her lips. As An Fei’s lips parted, the elderly shopkeeper’s soul plummeted to the depths of hell.
“I have the money – haven’t I said so from the start?”
“Lingxue…”
Wang Qinian murmured as he briefly scanned his memory, resulting in his eyebrows shooting towards the sky as he realized that the young girl had, in fact, admitted that she had money – several times.
Alas, the elderly shopkeeper’s reminiscence didn’t cease at that point, treading further along the road of memories towards his recollections of poverty and desolation…
If you had money… couldn’t you spare some for your Master, ah!?
“Because you’re not my Master, ah.”
“H-hi~…”
One of the prestigious Earth Guardians of the Hundred Clan Coalition was instantly defeated by a single statement uttered by a mortal young girl, reducing his dignity to the extent that the old man hugged his knees as he sat dumbly on the ground.
Furthermore, it was even possible to hear broken sobs escaping his throat.
“Er…”
Was the old man attempting to pull a joke?
The young girl raised her hand in an attempt to console, yet the five Heavenly Guardians recovered before she could finish. The five men jerked to their senses, and five equally miserable auras enveloped the plaza.
“Will the Esteemed Guest arise to the stage?”
The air became intensely heavy, and each breath was coarse and rough to the lungs. Those who were weak-willed instantly collapsed onto the ground clutching their throat, while others fought to retain standing, their hands on their knees in desperation.
“Ah… even those seniors are agitated by the temptation of a hundred gold taels…”
“Surely not – it’s their face that they care for. If they can’t…”
The crowd murmured with anxiety and terror burning through their throats, their countenances revealing a distressed expression as the five Heavenly Guardians’ gazes bored through the entire plaza.
They wished to hide, but the shivering of their souls revealed their innermost thoughts to the five pairs of omniscient eyes.
Soon enough, the silhouette of a young girl dressed in a pale orchid hanfu appeared before the five inquisitive and alarmed Heavenly Guardians. She stood upright as though the full force of their cultivation and aura had no effect on her being – a prideful crystal amongst a sea of sand.
Not even Wang Qinian dared stare directly into the eyes of his superior, a Heavenly Guardian, yet An Fei didn’t care too much about the temperamental etiquette across cultivators and organizations.
As the five men and one young woman on the wooden platform stared at her frail figure, the young girl returned the equally pervasive and curious gaze.
“Are you the person who raised the bid of a hundred gold coins?”
A sharp voice rudely interrupted the tense, nonverbal conflict between the two parties. As the Heavenly Guardian in the green-colored robe rapidly defused the boiling atmosphere, everyone within the plaza allowed the sigh of respite to leave their lungs.
“I am indeed the person who raised the bid.”
An Fei delivered a seemingly meek reply, her scalp tingling at the thousands of glares pouring onto her back. The young girl’s fingers curled around the handle of the mutated taijijian, loosely hugging it to her chest.
The five Heavenly Guardians shared a nod in unison, and the gold-robed man stepped forth to reclaim the situation.
“We request for the young lady to retract her bid,” the man slowly enunciated with an awkward glare residing within his eyes.
“The Hundred Clan Coalition will grant any single favor in exchange.”
A favor from the Hundred Clan Coalition in exchange for allowing the others to bid?
Surely, any intellectual could realize that though a hundred gold taels was an astronomical sum regardless of their social status or wealth, the favor of the Hundred Clan Coalition was much more valuable. Not to mention, they were even retrieving their cast reputation to allow the bidder to retain their gold.
Gold could buy the lives of others, but it couldn’t buy the life of its owner from those who withheld greed in their hearts.
As such, the stares locked onto the young girl’s every movement increased in their intensity, a mixture of expectant and acrimonious intentions locked within.
And yet…
“Sorry, I decline.”
An Fei’s expression didn’t fluctuate for a single moment as the harsh reply left her lips. Moreover, the fierce expression on her countenance was sufficient to startle the Heavenly Guardians from their contempt.
“Decline?” the gold-robed man murmured to himself in deep thought, before waving his hand in a dismissive manner.
“Very well. The young lady may join us on the platform.”
She could step up to the platform?
Then what about the remaining slots on the quota for Jiang’an?
They wanted to go to the famous capital city of their own empire as well, ah!
Ignorant of the grumbling and resentful hearts of the multitude of people surrounding her on all ends, the young girl gathered her leather bag and slowly made her way across the plaza towards the wooden platform. With slow, methodical steps, An Fei marched onto the stairs and stood onto the flat platform.
Five men and one young lady with a veiled hat gazed back towards the newcomer, their eyes tinged with interest and caution.
After having confirmed that the young girl had indeed stepped onto the platform, the Heavenly Guardian’s methodical voice began to ring across the platform.
“We will now begin the next quota’s auction. Starting with the Feng Bi Province…”
The crowd fell back, feeling utterly defeated in their hearts. Having missed their opportunity to enter Jiang’an, the number of people in the plaza abruptly decreased by a sizeable margin.
The reasoning, was perhaps beautifully simple.
It was because the Hundred Clan Coalition was the strongest entity in Great Yong except for Jiang’an and the Lu Imperial Family.
Thus, as the strongest entity within the common people’s hearts, the reputation of the Hundred Clan Coalition was paramount.
They had to appear righteous, just, and adhering to social principles – as the figurehead of Great Yong must be.
No matter what circumstances they encountered, the influential entities of the Hundred Clan Coalition could break their personal oaths, but never the reputation and honor garnered by the coalitions.
Even if someone like An Fei dared to pull off a despicable tactic of launching an overwhelming initial bid in the auctioning of transference array quotas, they had established the rule that only the five highest bidders could obtain a spot. Hence…
“Young lady, the Hundred Clan Coalition will not question your decision to bid regarding the transference array quotas,” the violet-robed man turned around to speak to the young girl.
“However… a few questions must be answered.”
“Questions?” An Fei raised an eyebrow.
“What questions does the Hundred Clan Coalition wish to raise towards this little girl?”
“Questions regarding the validity of the young lady’s bid of a hundred gold taels, as well where the young lady came from and why she has an Earth Guardian as a bodyguard.”
It was not the Heavenly Guardians that spoke, but the young woman standing across of An Fei on the wooden stage.
The words were sharp and biting, searching for the smallest cracks in the young girl’s armor.
