Read Novel Full Chapter 51 - The Auction
Chapter 51 - The Auction
After the monk extracted 10% of the elixir and explained to Dugu Zhuo the usage of each elixir, players could click on the elixir to see the effects described by the monk.
For example, the two identical Foundation Establishment Pills in Ye Jian’s hand: one of superior quality grants 60,000 experience points upon consumption, while the other, of inferior quality, grants only 40,000 experience points.
“Foundation Establishment Pills, Blood Replenishing Pills, Qi Replenishing Pills… these elixirs are superior to the herbs on the market, but they are not irreplaceable,” Ye Jian analyzed. “You shouldn’t exchange these for silver, but rather for spirit stones, and you could even set a higher price.”
Ye Zhou said, “Cousin, spirit stones can be bought with money. I planned to spend tens of thousands to buy spirit stones to establish a sect.”
Ye Jian said, exasperated, “Using money to pile up resources is the worst strategy. You want to establish a sect, and there will be endless places where you need money. If you keep spending, it’ll be a bottomless pit!”
“But I don’t lack money…” Ye Zhou said cautiously, knowing that this person was the manager of his fund, “I don’t lack money, right?”
Ye Jian flicked his forehead. “It’s not about whether you lack money. You can’t play the game like this. If you invest too much money in the game, won’t Uncle and Aunt misunderstand again, worrying that you are neglecting your health for the game?”
Ye Zhou wanted to say more, but Dugu Zhuo held his hand and said, “I didn’t plan to let Ye Zhou buy spirit stones with money. I need silver because I think it’s easier to earn spirit stones than silver.”
Ye Jian analyzed, “Easier or not is relative. You have to know, there are many types of players in the game. Some are willing to spend a lot of money on the game, some want to enhance their game account through their own efforts, and there are merchants and studios who make money from the game. With such a good resource as elixirs, you can categorize these players and manage them separately to maximize profits.”
Dugu Zhuo even asked the waiter to bring paper and pen, and quickly started taking notes.
Ye Jian continued, “For elixirs like Foundation Establishment Pills, Blood Replenishing Pills, Qi Replenishing Pills, and Youth Retaining Pills, which are all useful for leveling up and dungeon runs, you can price them slightly higher and exchange them for spirit stones with players willing to spend money, as long as better elixirs haven’t appeared in the game yet.
“You can then open a shop to exchange spirit stones for silver. Even though silver is a scarce resource in the game, since spirit stones can be exchanged for real money, there will be merchants willing to exchange silver for spirit stones. To get more silver, you can offer a bit of a discount. High prices for spirit stones will attract players in need of silver to sell theirs.
“Once you have the spirit stones, some self-sufficient players might use these spirit stones to exchange for your higher-priced elixirs. This way, you can recoup the spirit stones you discounted during the silver exchange.”
Ye Zhou was dumbfounded: “Cousin, you’re a money-making perpetual motion machine!”
Taking advantage of Ye Jian’s pause to drink water, Dugu Zhuo glanced at his notes and asked, “You didn’t mention the Youth Retaining Pill.”
Ye Jian explained, “These two types of elixirs target different groups. How much silver do players have? No matter how much they earn, they can’t match the truly wealthy NPCs. Jinchuan City is a large city; we could try selling the Youth Retaining Pills to the women in the inner courtyards of wealthy households.”
Dugu Zhuo: “…”
Ye Zhou: “…”
No wonder he could sell rotten vegetables and eggs in the Yongye District; his thinking is truly unconventional!
After a round of business training, Ye Jian saw that there was still an hour before Ye Zhou logged off, so he called the waiter to settle the bill, planning to take the two business novices to explore the bustling Jinchuan City for business opportunities.
Before leaving the tavern, the three of them quickly consumed Foundation Establishment Pills, boosting their levels to 30. As members of the same sect, the Foundation Establishment Pills Ye Jian received were free this time.
Ye Jian originally intended to keep the two at level 29, accumulating enough experience for levels 30-40 through the pills. He wanted to exploit a game loophole, since consuming Foundation Establishment Pills above level 30 no longer grants experience, but at level 29 it should still work.
Unfortunately, the game was strict. Even if they were at level 29, once the experience was enough to reach level 30, consuming more Foundation Establishment Pills had no effect.
Ye Jian had to give up.
Currently, the highest-ranked player was Yi Meng Xiaoyao, who reached level 31 by crazily absorbing human essence. Although Dugu Zhuo and the other two had surged to level 30, they were tied for second place with over three hundred players, not standing out enough to attract attention from other players.
When Ye Jian settled the bill, he tipped the tavern waiter a little extra and asked him about the wealthy individuals in Jinchuan City.
Taverns were the easiest places to gather information. Don’t underestimate the waiters; they knew a lot, just didn’t often share it.
Dugu Zhuo had previously sought information from a waiter but only got some useless information.
Now, the waiter, having received the money, was forthcoming and told Ye Jian about several wealthy families in the city. He proudly claimed that their tavern was part of the dowry of Liu Fu’s second wife, and their tavern manager could speak to her chief steward.
Ye Jian smiled, took out two Youth Retaining Pills, and entrusted them to the waiter, asking him to sell them to the second wife through the tavern manager and the chief steward for ten thousand taels each. He promised a ten percent commission from the sale and another ten percent to smooth things over with the tavern manager and the steward.
He cautioned the waiter not to raise the price too much out of greed, as this was a long-term business. If he found out, he wouldn’t use the waiter as a middleman again.
The waiter eagerly agreed and happily took the pills to sell.
Ye Zhou whispered, “These pills aren’t permanent. Aren’t we selling them too expensively?”
Ye Jian shook his head. “This game is experiencing severe inflation. Prices in Jinchuan City are much higher than in Penglai Town. That meal we just had cost 700 taels of silver. Think about the daily revenue of this inn. This inn is just one of Liu Fu’s second wife’s properties. She probably has assets worth tens of millions of taels. Selling for 10,000 taels isn’t overpriced.
“She’s the mistress of a prominent family, so she surely knows many wealthy mistresses. Once she experiences the benefits of the Youth Retaining Pill, she’ll definitely come back for more. How long does the Youth Retaining Pill last?”
Dugu Zhuo replied, “The duration is the product of its quality times hours. The quality of my Youth Retaining Pill is 120.”
“120 hours, which is ten days, is just right,” Ye Jian nodded.
Ye Zhou worriedly asked, “Won’t Liu Fu’s wife get angry when the effect wears off suddenly?”
“She will, but once she’s tasted beauty, she’ll definitely buy more,” Ye Jian said with a sly smile.
Dugu Zhuo calculated the cost of his pill-making and the number of pills per batch. Suddenly, what once seemed like an astronomical figure of tens of millions of taels now felt within reach.
He proactively said to Ye Jian, “Cousin, let’s add each other as friends in the game.”
Previously, he thought it was enough for Ye Zhou to add Ye Jian as a friend. Now, he realized that such a talent must be befriended.
Ye Jian sent a friend request to Dugu Zhuo. After accepting, Dugu Zhuo noted “tycoon” next to Ye Jian’s name.
Ye Jian then took them around the city, retracing Dugu Zhuo’s steps, leveraging generous tips to glean information Dugu Zhuo hadn’t obtained.
For instance, players could lease shops in Jinchuan City for business after paying a sufficient silver deposit. Ye Jian, using the sect’s startup funds, leased two shops in prime locations: one for selling elixirs and another as a silver exchange.
After opening the shops, Ye Jian asked, “How is the security in this game? Our shops won’t get robbed, will they?”
Dugu Zhuo smiled, “If they do, we can justifiably rob them back.”
Initially planning to hire a couple of bodyguards, Ye Jian decided to save that money upon seeing Dugu Zhuo’s confidence.
Additionally, Ye Jian learned from a jade shop owner that Jinchuan City’s largest pawnshop would auction some treasures in two days. Both players and NPCs could participate, but each participant had to pay a 1,000 spirit stone deposit. A private box cost 100,000 spirit stones but could accommodate eight people, who wouldn’t need to pay the individual deposit.
Ye Zhou was very interested in the auction, but hearing it was from 7 to 9 PM, he realized he couldn’t log in and said dejectedly, “Pay for two people; you two can go. I can’t make it.”
Even if he wanted to sneak online, the caregiver would confiscate his headset.
Seeing his cousin’s sad expression, Ye Jian suggested, “You can transfer your account to a new headset.”
Ye Zhou’s eyes lit up.
Ye Jian continued, “I can get you a new game headset, but I’ll supervise you in-game. You can log in for occasional events like this but not regularly, and definitely not stay up late. Understand?”
Ye Zhou nodded repeatedly. After thanking his cousin, he couldn’t help but glance at Dugu Zhuo and said, “I can play with you a bit longer.”
Dugu Zhuo, feeling sorry for him, raised his hand to pat his head but stopped upon seeing Ye Jian’s wary look. Instead, he gently smiled and said, “No staying up late; I’ll help supervise.”
With this agreement, Ye Jian generously bought the private box. He said there was no need to skimp on spirit stones since they wouldn’t lack money in the future. He didn’t want to squeeze into the common seats below.
The sect’s finances were now entirely managed by Ye Jian. Whatever he said, Dugu Zhuo and Ye Zhou followed. Besides, Dugu Zhuo didn’t mind being alone with Ye Zhou, except the private box would also include Ye Jian.
In the following days, Ye Zhou maintained a regular schedule and behaved well. Privately, he and Ye Jian transferred his game account to the new headset, which he hid in a secret spot, thus regaining flexibility in his login times.
Besides them, many players learned about the auction through other channels and quests. Some paid the deposit not to buy anything but to experience a cultivation world’s auction.
On the auction day, feeling guilty, Ye Zhou didn’t log in that afternoon. Pretending to be very tired, he ate an early dinner and went to his room, instructing not to be disturbed.
His game headset was put away, and since Ye Zhou was usually well-behaved and honest, the caregivers didn’t suspect anything. After helping him to bed, the caregiver left.
### Chapter 51: The Auction
After the old monk extracted 10% of the elixirs and explained their usage to Dugu Zhuo, players could click on the elixirs to see the effects as described by the monk.
For example, Ye Jian had two identical Foundation Establishment Pills in his hand: one of high quality granting 60,000 experience points and one of low quality granting only 40,000 experience points.
“Foundation Establishment Pills, Blood Replenishing Pills, Qi Replenishing Pills… these elixirs are superior to common herbs but not irreplaceable,” Ye Jian analyzed. “You shouldn’t exchange them for silver, but for spirit stones, and even price them a bit higher.”
Ye Zhou replied, “Cousin, spirit stones can be bought with money. I’ve already planned to spend thousands on spirit stones to establish our sect.”
Ye Jian chided him, “Using money to accumulate resources is the worst strategy. If you want to establish a sect, you’ll need money for many things. Continuously spending money is a bottomless pit!”
“But I’m not short of money…” Thinking about the person managing his fund, Ye Zhou cautiously asked, “I’m not short of money, right?”
Ye Jian flicked his forehead. “It’s not about whether you lack money; this isn’t how you play the game. If you invest too much real money, won’t Uncle and Aunt think you’re wasting your life and neglecting your health for the game?”
Ye Zhou wanted to argue, but Dugu Zhuo held his hand and said, “I didn’t intend for Ye Zhou to buy spirit stones with money. The reason I’m short on silver is that spirit stones are easier to earn.”
Ye Jian analyzed, “Ease of earning is relative. Remember, there are many types of players: some are willing to spend a fortune, some want to improve their accounts through effort, and others are merchants and studios making money from the game. With such valuable resources like elixirs, you should categorize these players to maximize benefits.”
Dugu Zhuo quickly took out pen and paper and started noting down Ye Jian’s advice.
Ye Jian continued, “Elixirs like Foundation Establishment Pills, Blood Replenishing Pills, Qi Replenishing Pills, and Beauty Pills, which are highly useful for leveling and dungeons, can be priced slightly higher to convert into spirit stones, targeting players willing to spend money.
“Then, open a shop to exchange spirit stones for silver. Even though silver is scarce in the game, merchants who convert in-game wealth to real currency will be willing to trade silver for spirit stones. To attract more silver, offer a favorable rate. Players in need of cash will come to trade silver for spirit stones.
“After obtaining spirit stones, some self-sufficient players might use them to buy your higher-priced elixirs, allowing you to recoup the spirit stones spent on trading for silver.”
Ye Zhou listened in amazement, “Brother, you’re a perpetual money-making machine!”
While Ye Jian paused to drink water, Dugu Zhuo reviewed his notes and asked, “You didn’t mention the Beauty Pill.”
Ye Jian explained, “These elixirs target a different audience. How much silver do players have? Even if they earn more, they can’t compare to wealthy NPCs. Jinchuan City is a big city; we could try selling Beauty Pills to wealthy noblewomen.”
Dugu Zhuo and Ye Zhou were both speechless. This was the person who managed to sell wilted leaves and eggs in the Evernight District; his perspective was indeed unique!
After the business lesson, Ye Jian saw there was an hour left before Ye Zhou logged off. He called the waiter to settle the bill and planned to take the two business novices to explore bustling Jinchuan City for opportunities.
Before leaving the inn, they consumed Foundation Establishment Pills to level up to 30. As part of their sect, Ye Jian received the pills for free.
Ye Jian initially wanted to keep them at level 29, accumulating enough experience from the pills for levels 30-40, trying to exploit the game’s mechanics. Unfortunately, the game was strict: even at level 29, once the experience was enough to reach level 30, further pills had no effect.
He had to give up on the idea.
Currently, the highest on the leaderboard was Yi Meng Xiaoyao, who had reached level 31 by absorbing human essence. When Dugu Zhuo and the others shot to level 30, they were tied for second place with over 300 players, not attracting much attention.
When Ye Jian paid the bill, he tipped the waiter generously and asked about wealthy people in Jinchuan City.
Inns were excellent places for gathering information. Never underestimate waiters; they knew a lot but were often tight-lipped.
Dugu Zhuo had previously sought information from the waiter but received nothing useful. However, this time, with a hefty tip, the waiter eagerly shared details about several wealthy families in the city and boasted that the inn was part of the dowry of Liu Fu’s second wife. The innkeeper had connections with her chief steward!
Ye Jian smiled and handed the waiter two Beauty Pills, asking him to sell them to the second wife for 10,000 taels each, promising the waiter a 10% commission and another 10% for the innkeeper and the steward.
He warned the waiter not to inflate the price out of greed, or he would cease doing business with him.
The waiter happily agreed and went off to sell the pills.
Ye Zhou whispered, “Aren’t these pills too expensive since they’re not permanent?”
Ye Jian shook his head. “This game has severe inflation. Prices in Jinchuan City are much higher than in Penglai Town. Our meal cost 700 taels of silver; imagine the daily revenue of this inn. This is just one of Liu Fu’s wife’s properties. She has assets worth tens of millions of taels. Selling for 10,000 taels isn’t overpriced.
“She’s a mistress of a wealthy family and knows many rich women. Once she experiences the benefits of the Beauty Pill, she’ll come back for more. How long do the effects last?”
Dugu Zhuo replied, “The duration is the product of its quality times hours. My Beauty Pill has a quality of 120.”
“120 hours, or ten days, is just right,” Ye Jian nodded.
Ye Zhou worried, “What if Liu Fu’s wife gets angry when the effects wear off?”
“She will, but after experiencing beauty once, she’ll definitely buy more,” Ye Jian said with a cunning smile.
Dugu Zhuo calculated the cost of making the pills and the number of pills per batch. What once seemed like an astronomical figure of tens of millions of taels now felt achievable within a few days.
He proactively said to Ye Jian, “Cousin, let’s add each other as friends in the game.”
Previously, he thought it was enough for Ye Zhou to add Ye Jian as a friend. Now, he realized that such a talent must be befriended.
Ye Jian sent a friend request to Dugu Zhuo. After accepting, Dugu Zhuo noted “tycoon” next to Ye Jian’s name.
Ye Jian then took them around the city, retracing Dugu Zhuo’s steps, leveraging generous tips to glean information Dugu Zhuo hadn’t obtained.
For instance, players could lease shops in Jinchuan City for business after paying a sufficient silver deposit. Ye Jian, using the sect’s startup funds, leased two shops in prime locations: one for selling elixirs and another as a silver exchange.
After opening the shops, Ye Jian asked, “How is the security in this game? Our shops won’t get robbed, will they?”
Dugu Zhuo smiled, “If they do, we can justifiably rob them back.”
Initially planning to hire a couple of bodyguards, Ye Jian decided to save that money upon seeing Dugu Zhuo’s confidence.
Additionally, Ye Jian learned from a jade shop owner that Jinchuan City’s largest pawnshop would auction some treasures in two days. Both players and NPCs could participate, but each participant had to pay a 1,000 spirit stone deposit. A private box cost 100,000 spirit stones but could accommodate eight people, who wouldn’t need to pay the individual deposit.
Ye Zhou was very interested in the auction, but hearing it was from 7 to 9 PM, he realized he couldn’t log in and said dejectedly, “Pay for two people; you two can go. I can’t make it.”
Even if he wanted to sneak online, the caregiver would confiscate his headset.
Seeing his cousin’s sad expression, Ye Jian suggested, “You can transfer your account to a new headset.”
Ye Zhou’s eyes lit up.
Ye Jian continued, “I can get you a new game headset, but I’ll supervise you in-game. You can log in for occasional events like this but not regularly, and definitely not stay up late. Understand?”
Ye Zhou nodded repeatedly. After thanking his cousin, he couldn’t help but glance at Dugu Zhuo and said, “I can play with you a bit longer.”
Dugu Zhuo, feeling sorry for him, raised his hand to pat his head but stopped upon seeing Ye Jian’s wary look. Instead, he gently smiled and said, “No staying up late; I’ll help supervise.”
With this agreement, Ye Jian generously bought the private box. He said there was no need to skimp on spirit stones since they wouldn’t lack money in the future. He didn’t want to squeeze into the common seats below.
The sect’s finances were now entirely managed by Ye Jian. Whatever he said, Dugu Zhuo and Ye Zhou followed. Besides, Dugu Zhuo didn’t mind being alone with Ye Zhou, except the private box would also include Ye Jian.
In the following days, Ye Zhou maintained a regular schedule and behaved well. Privately, he and Ye Jian transferred his game account to the new headset, which he hid in a secret place, giving him the freedom to log in at any time.
Apart from the three of them, many players learned about the auction through various channels and quests. Some players paid the deposit just to witness the grand auction in the world of cultivation, without necessarily aiming to buy anything.
On the day of the auction, Ye Zhou, feeling guilty, didn’t log in during the afternoon. He pretended to be very tired, ate an early dinner, and went to his room to rest, instructing others not to disturb him.
Having safely hidden the headset, and given his usual honesty and gentle nature, the caregivers didn’t suspect anything. They helped him to bed and then left him alone.
At 18:30, Ye Zhou sneaked to his room’s door, locked it for the first time, and finally felt secure enough to take out his game headset and log in.
He had arranged to log in with Dugu Zhuo at 18:50, but being 20 minutes early, he found Dugu Zhuo wasn’t waiting at their last logged-out location.
Immediately upon logging in, he received a message from Dugu Zhuo via a paper crane: “I’m in the Level 30 Mass Grave dungeon. Miscalculated the time, will find you in 10 minutes at most.”
“No problem, I logged in early, I’m not in a rush,” Ye Zhou replied.
Among the people in the dungeon with Dugu Zhuo was Ye Jian, who also sent a message: “Don’t come here, it’s too scary. I regret it so much… Ah! Stay away!”
Listening to Ye Jian’s screams, Ye Zhou couldn’t help but laugh.
Alone, he entered the auction house, observing the bustling players and NPCs, feeling a sudden sense of loneliness. Though he had initially played the game alone, since meeting Dugu Zhuo, he was never solitary. Dugu Zhuo was always there waiting for him every time he logged in.
Now, reverting to his solo play, he found it unexpectedly uncomfortable.
Ye Zhou entered the private box prepared for the three of them. It was luxurious, with a table full of desserts. In real life, Ye Zhou’s diet was strictly controlled for sugar, salt, and oil, making him disciplined, but in the game, he indulged in sweets.
However, the spacious private box felt empty, and the desserts seemed tasteless when enjoyed alone.
He left the box and leaned on the second-floor railing, looking down at the busy preparations in the auction hall below. The game was highly realistic, even the pre-auction setup seemed convincing.
As other guests began arriving on the second floor, Ye Zhou noticed that apart from a few players, most of the private box guests were NPCs.
Giving way to the NPCs, Ye Zhou was about to return to his box when he saw a figure in white clothes fly up to the second floor. Though the figure’s face wasn’t covered, it was obscured by a strange fog, making it impossible to see his features.
Ye Zhou didn’t intend to cause trouble, but he couldn’t help staring at the figure’s face.
The white-clad person noticed Ye Zhou’s stare and stopped, asking, “Why are you looking at me?”
“I don’t know, sorry,” Ye Zhou apologized hastily, wanting to look away but finding himself unable to, as if the person in white deeply attracted him.
The white-clad person scrutinized Ye Zhou, then swiftly moved to stand in front of him, lightly tapping Ye Zhou’s forehead with his finger.
“Huh?” Ye Zhou touched his forehead in confusion.
After the touch, the white-clad person vanished into thin air.
Then, a system notification sounded in Ye Zhou’s ear: “Ding, congratulations to player Ye Zhou for triggering the game’s Role-Playing Mode. In the future main storyline, you will play an important NPC. When this NPC is needed, you will become him. If you can change this NPC’s fate in the final main storyline, you will receive the legendary creation sword—Su Jian.”
“Huh?” Ye Zhou rubbed his temples. “What mode is this? How can a game use players to replace NPCs in the main storyline?”
Why was he chosen? Was it because he met that mysterious white-clad person? The first main storyline they encountered was about the master of the Xuanjian Sword. If he played this NPC well, he could obtain Su Jian, so he triggered the main storyline?
Excitedly, Ye Zhou asked, “Who is the NPC I have to play?”
He was speaking to himself, not expecting an answer, but the system unexpectedly replied: “The NPC you will play is Ye Zhou, the elder of the Xingchui Peak of the Qingtian Sword Sect.”
“What?” Ye Zhou was even more bewildered. “Why is this NPC’s name so similar to mine?”