Huang Jin had sales pitches planned out for both of his products, and now he got the chance to use them. The sensation of Baoshi clinging to his shirt, rather than being stuffed in his clothes, refreshed him.
He reveled in the spotlight.
Throughout the presentation, [Cognitive Enhancement] allowed him to split his focus between his own words and the sporadic murmuring of the crowd. One conversation in particular stood out: Bai Shanyao and the Elder, in their vast horticultured VIP box. The First Princess made no attempt to be quiet. “Why, doesn’t that sound tailor-made for a difficult physique, Elder?”
“Indeed. Indeed…” he trailed off, before other voices drowned out the exchange.
‘Difficult physique?’ Ah, the Metal/Wood suppression reaction. Huang Jin’s own cultivation now neatly sidestepped the issue thanks to the ‘Prana Bindu’ techniques, prerequisite to [Cognitive Enhancement]. He hadn’t made the Perfect-Balance Pills with such problems in mind, but their adaptive nature would make them a perfect resource for antagonistic affinities.
But before the bidding could start on the pills, the prince had to introduce the Serum. After a certain point of this sales pitch, all noise from the stands ceased. “-And each kit includes a handy, entry-level guide to common meditation techniques as a bonus,” he finished.
When he looked to the auctioneer, he found the man staring open-mouthed and silent. The normally unflappable, flamboyant showman aimed a glance at the Master, who nodded in confirmation. The product had her guarantee.
Silence gave way to pandemonium. The auctioneer took a moment to recover, and during that moment the entire venue erupted in excitement.
“We will begin taking bids… for the…” the poor fellow tried to push back against the wall of sound. “Perfect-Balance Spirit Refining Pills first!” Somehow, he won out through sheer determination, and the bidding began with something of a grudging air.
From the first minute, the winner was clear. Nobody could match the spending power of the Imperial Household. The moment Bai Shanyao made it clear she wanted these pills, it was only a matter of driving up the price. Even then, the Sects knew not to test the boundaries. The Adept bottle sold for five silks, the Master bottle for ten.
Then the bidding began for the Serum of Awakening. Everything went off the rails immediately.
Huang Jin could clearly make out phrases like, “One more jade and it’ll be a matter of blood, you bastard!” and “Then maybe you should have brought more!” After less than a minute, the mortal nobility- the intended audience for the product- were priced out. This was a financial bloodbath among high-level cultivators.
As the price ballooned above ten silk notes for a single kit, the prince backed toward his Master. “Um, I thought you said cultivators wouldn’t be interested,” he whispered up to her.
She clicked her tongue before whispering back. “You know, it occurs to me that I don’t exactly have my finger on the pulse of cultivation culture. Like, I run my little experiments, I tend my farm, I sell consent to gross people for good times and pocket change.”
After a beat of consideration, she added, “Also I spent like fifty years in faithful marital bliss with a peasant fisherman, mostly so I could sing ‘The Downeaster Alexa’ in context. So yeah, maybe don’t take my word for this specific shit.” She could fit a lot of words into a single, directional whisper; likely some kind of technique.
They stood side-by-side and watched the numbers and tempers climb. Fifteen silks, then seventeen, and then…
“Enough!” A single, mighty voice pierced through the cacophony. In the VIP booth, the Elder had risen from his seat and extended his right hand, palm-upward. Power crackled through his grey mane of a beard, and even from the stage Huang Jin could sense qi rolling off of him.
“Yǐ xiānzǔ yùlóng de míngyì!” The words descended from on high like a thunderbolt. The prince found his hands folded, his head bowed in reverence by instinct. Out of the corner of his eye, he found that he was not alone; the command struck all save for his own Master. It was an ancient phrase in an old ritual dialect, and it took a moment for the meaning to connect.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
‘In the name of Ancestor Yulong.’ This was a declaration that the Empire was stepping in directly. When he’d recovered from the withering outpouring of qi, Huang Jin returned his gaze to the Elder.
“In the name of the Great Dragon Emperor, I lay claim to this matter. Recompense shall be provided equal to twenty silk notes for each regimen. This resource shall not enter general circulation. I have spoken.” No argument would be permitted, no defiance would be forgiven. One of the Household’s high-ranking servants, faceless and voiceless, melted from the shadows of the gallery to take the stage. All three Serum of Awakening kits were neatly collected as the auctioneer gave the figure a monumentally wide berth.
There was no recovering the mood after that… but then again, the auction was over anyway. Huang Jin and his Master scurried backstage, as their part had ended and closing ceremonies needed to begin. Whatever became of the seething audience was not their business, at least for the moment.
Their moment of peace did not last long.
-
The suppliers now faced the least-favored period of the whole Auction: waiting for their hard-won profits to be delivered. They had the run of the city, technically. By tradition stretching back millenia, the Crystal Soul Sect promised protection for every single person or group who faithfully contributed to the Grand Auction.
In practice, most stayed within the Beckoning Granite Heart’s Hall until their payments had been processed. The city above would be a loud, bright, roiling mass after the Auction, a final festive fever pitch before the rich outsiders departed and normalcy reasserted itself.
Better to stay in the system of antechambers provided by the Sect. Far from garish luxury, these were muted, uniform rooms, sparsely furnished and well-lit. The refined grey of stone and the pristine white of quartz provided a perfect space to relax and reflect on the day’s events.
And reflect they did.
“Hey, if you think about it, it’s a huge honor to have the Empire itself go, ‘fuck you, mine now’ on your work. Most alchemists never get forcibly regulated.” Master had been in an exceptionally bright mood since the Auction had ended. She reclined on a stone couch, while her apprentice sat at a small table that had been provided.
Huang Jin busied himself trying to comprehend the events, thoughtfully stroking Baoshi’s scales. “Hey… do you think they want to reverse-engineer it? A cultivator is a scalable military asset, and talent is such a limiting factor…” Somehow, the idea that the Serum would have immediate military applications hadn’t occurred to him during the design process.
“Ha! Good luck to them. It’s hard enough reverse-engineering regular alchemy stuff. So much moment-by-moment subconscious problem-solving goes into it, triply so for you and I with [Cognitive Enhancement]. And you made that juice do backflips even by our standards.”
Even as they discussed, the prince noted a qi signature approaching their little room. Amid a sea of Earth-affinity qi from the Crystal Soul disciples standing guard, he felt a little spike of Wood mixed with Metal. Not so little, in fact; certainly in the Advanced Realm, and accompanied by greater Wood-aspected powers. He ceased speaking and rose to his feet just as these newcomers reached the door.
It opened without a sound, and a disciple acting with terrified humility ushered a small, regally-dressed girl into the antechamber. Two Imperial house-servants, each with the power of a Master, stepped in flanking her. For the first time in over four years, Huang Jin stood in the same room as his younger sister. Baoshi looked from one to the other, then moved from his ‘father’s’ shoulder to his back.
Her soft face, nearly identical to his own, wore an expression of serene contempt. Her smile was self-assured, eyes half-closed. Her gaze flicked over Huang Jin for a brief moment before focusing on his Master.
“Honored Immortal of the Great River, this Yulong Bai Shanyao gives you her greeting,” she said, with a polite bow mimicked by her guards.
The Master didn’t bother getting up. If anything, she reclined even further, lazily waving a hand in the most casual manner possible. “‘Sup.”
With the principle formality out of the way, the First Princess turned her attention back to Huang Jin before he could offer a greeting of his own. “Dear brother, I see that you haven’t gotten around to fulfilling our Father’s will. Have you not yet found a place for it?”
He was too taken aback for an immediate reply, but his brain kicked back into gear quickly. “I’ve found a very good teacher. That’s a start,” he said.
Bai Shanyao cocked her head, adopting a faux-quizzical expression. “How strange. Are you not supposed to be some kind of genius? But half the Empire has already figured it out.” She straightened up and took a step forward, the better to look her brother directly in the eye. “Father sent you out here to die. And yet, here you are.”
