Chapter 142 — When Paupers Meet: The Pure Aura of Poverty

The guards on the fifth floor were stricter than those on the first, but there were more people coming and going. This floor was dedicated to transactions — the demonic beast materials and spirit plants posted as bounties on the lower levels would eventually end up at this auction floor. However, this floor was not directly managed by Star-Plucking Tower; the tower merely provided the venue and auction items, taking a portion of the spirit stones from the auction proceeds as commission.

Relying on this business model, Star-Plucking Tower had remained unshaken among the various rogue cultivator factions for centuries.

Lian Mu arrived with Muzhou. Muzhou, wearing his perpetual sour expression, called over the steward and had him show her the list of items for auction that day.

She had come early enough — the items she wanted hadn’t been sold yet and were listed for a session half an hour later.

Muzhou pointed out a seat for her and sat down himself, clearly not wanting to deal with her.

Lian Mu was perfectly content with that; she didn’t want to look at his corpse-like face either, so she chose a quiet corner and waited.

Meanwhile, plenty of other people came in. She recognized a few faces she’d seen just a little while ago on the first floor.

Lian Mu asked, “There’s no bounty restriction here? Anyone can come in?”

“You’ve snatched so many bounties from Star-Plucking Tower yet still don’t know the rules?” Muzhou scoffed. “On this floor, anyone can enter — as long as they pay.”

After all, some people didn’t come for demonic beast bounties but simply to buy spiritual materials.

Lian Mu asked, “Is your business this extensive, or only in Black Tortoise North?”

“What’s it to you? You ask too many questions.”

Lian Mu made a show of pulling out her token. Muzhou’s brow twitched as he snapped, “Our tower master oversees the Third Domain, with towers only in Black Tortoise North. But eighty percent of all demonic beast materials and spirit plants in the world pass through Star-Plucking Tower — even the Four Great Sects rely on us for their demonic beast supplies.”

“Oh, I see. No wonder you all look so rich.”

Xu Xianxing had never mentioned this to her. Thousand Spirit Peak was tightly guarded, so she’d never had a chance to see for herself.

“If you’re Feng Tianche’s disciple, you must be from Returning Immortal Sect too, right?”

Lian Mu mimicked his tone, “You ask too many questions.”

Muzhou snorted and turned away.

Lian Mu felt he harbored deep resentment toward her — not just because she’d milked Star-Plucking Tower’s bounties, but more because she was Feng Tianche’s disciple.

From the tower master’s words, it seemed Feng Tianche and Muzhou must have had some falling out before. Yet even with that tension, Master Feng still sent her here. He truly wasn’t worried she’d never return.

Seeing him fall silent, Lian Mu reopened the slip and checked her list of spirit plants: Big Mountain Flower, Little Mountain Grass, Less Nonsense Weed, Dog-Doesn’t-Bite-The-Butt Flower…

Master Feng really had a knack for naming things… And unbelievably, they were all actually on the list.

“Hey, the next batch is up!”

Two black-clad men pinned an image-recording stone on the public notice wall, previewing the upcoming auction items. The last few slots were left blank, reserved for the finale.

People instantly crowded around to watch.

Since Lian Mu had already seen it, she stayed put. But the chatter carried over.

“Pfft… what the heck are these names? So random.”

“You’re new — what do you know? Any decent alchemy cultivator knows the more casually named spirit plants are the rarer ones. These names were coined by the number one alchemy cultivator, Feng Tianche, and recorded in the Record of Pill Cultivator Spiritual Plants. It’s considered a must-learn classic.”

“Ha, naming them like this? That so-called Feng Tianche is overrated. I heard he was just an illiterate thug. Looks about right.”

Their voices were so loud that even Muzhou couldn’t help but glance over. “They’re badmouthing your master — aren’t you going to say something?”

Lian Mu listened quietly, giving no reply.

Before she left, Master Feng had told her: no matter what rumors she heard about him outside, never respond.

“You mean Feng Tianche? Well, my family has ties to him. My great-grandfather fought him once, back in our village.”

“Back then he was just a rogue good-for-nothing. His brothers all joined major sects and left him behind with useless spiritual roots. He had nowhere to go, spent his days loafing around, offended everyone, so poor he couldn’t afford food but still scraped up coins to buy herbs and refine pills. People called him an idiot.”

“Rumor has it he once took his pills to the Wushuang Sect, knelt on their steps and kowtowed three times — but the gatekeeper tricked him, the elders never intended to accept him.”

“Who’d have thought he’d later invent a spiritual root reforging method and become the number one alchemy cultivator? Talk about fate turning around. He was the worst talent in his family but turned out the most accomplished. His brothers must regret it to this day.”

“So what? He still died young. Didn’t even live as long as my sickly father.”

Suddenly, Muzhou slammed his chair and stood up, shouting at them, “What do you think this place is? Watch your noise! Have you no manners?”

The crowd fell silent instantly, recognizing him at a glance.

Lian Mu gave him a long look.

When he’d heard Feng Tianche’s name before, he’d shown nothing but disdain. Why the sudden shift?

Muzhou’s face flushed with anger. Only when the entire hall quieted did he sit down again.

A guard quickly stepped forward to placate him, “Deputy Chief, please don’t be angry. The floor master’s rules allow everyone to speak freely regardless of rank. If word got out, it’d hurt business, and we’d lose money too.”

Muzhou said coldly, “Go pass a word to the people in back — tell them to keep order. Star-Plucking Tower doesn’t need just anyone collecting spirit materials. And some people should mind their tongues.”

“Yes, Deputy Chief.”

The auction floor fell silent for a while. Only when the next auction session began did things liven up a bit again — but with Muzhou’s presence suppressing the crowd, no one dared gossip too freely.

“The third session on the Treasure Floor is about to begin. Friends, please take your seats.”

Lian Mu immediately grabbed a spot in the front row, but bumped into someone reaching for the same seat. They both extended their hands at once.

There were no restrictions here; people could sit wherever they liked, or even stand.

Lian Mu looked up — the other person looked up too. Their gazes met and, strangely, they felt a kindred spark.

If nothing else, Lian Mu’s appearance already marked her as the poorest soul here. But this man was clearly even poorer — dressed in a white robe so worn it was impossible to tell if it had been bleached or was just old, patched all over, radiating a pure aura of poverty.

“Miss, I saw this seat first,” he said crisply, sounding like a boy of sixteen or seventeen.

Lian Mu didn’t waste words — she sat down at once. “Seeing it first means nothing. I’m sitting first.”

He fell silent for a moment, then went and sat diagonally across from her.

Before long, the auction officially began.

With Muzhou’s purse footing the bill, Lian Mu planned to grab as much as she could. It wasn’t her loss anyway.

So when the first item appeared, she didn’t even look at it before bidding.

“This is quintessence liquid from a fifth-tier water beast. Starting bid, one hundred thousand spirit stones.”

“One hundred thousand,” Lian Mu said expressionlessly.

The entire hall fell dead silent. All eyes turned to her, stunned.

Starting off with this kind of bid?

Muzhou beside her nearly choked himself. “You… you did that on purpose?!”

A mere fifth-tier water beast material wasn’t worth nearly that much.

Just when everyone thought this would cap it, someone else called out after her, “Two hundred thousand.”

Lian Mu turned her head and saw that it was the same person who had fought her for the seat. He was looking at her with a beaming smile, as if deliberately trying to provoke her.

Everyone: “…”

No one expected there to be someone even more foolish.

How could these two, practically reeking of poverty, call out such high bids with straight faces?

Lian Mu didn’t hesitate: “Three hundred thousand.”

Muzhou clenched his fists.

That person followed up: “Four hundred thousand.”

Lian Mu: “I’m out.”

That person was momentarily stunned, then bit his lip: “…”

After four hundred thousand, no one else bid, so the fifth-tier water beast material fell to the person sitting diagonally across from her.

Lian Mu smiled faintly and waited for the next item to come up, while Muzhou finally let out a breath of relief.

He thought the bidding war between the two would end there, but to his dismay, it was only the beginning. For the next few items, these two drove prices up to absurd heights like it was a game, with no regard for the suffering of others.

For the first few items, Lian Mu graciously “let” them go to the man opposite her, not taking a single one for herself.

“The fifth item, a first-tier Twin Mountain Sprout. This spiritual plant grows peculiarly: flowers and leaves grow together, roots take hold at the foot of the mountain, while its vines creep halfway up the slope to bloom. As a first-tier material, it’s a rare treasure for alchemy. Starting bid: two hundred thousand spirit stones.”

Lian Mu studied the plant displayed in the case — it must be the ‘Big Mountain Flower’ and ‘Little Mountain Grass’ Master Feng had mentioned. As expected, the auction house still cared about appearances, so they gave it a fancier name; after all, calling out those casual names in public would instantly make people lose interest in buying.

She had to get this plant.

Instinctively, Lian Mu glanced at the man across from her. He seemed to be thinking too. As soon as the host announced the bidding open, he immediately called out:

“Five hundred thousand.”