At that moment, he spotted two young cultivators walking towards him. One was a young boy with the robes of an outer disciple of the Cedar Sect. The other was a young girl with expensive looking attire.

The auctioneer smiled. He waved his hands in a friendly matter.

"Young couple! Over here!"

The two people looked at him. The boy's expression was unreadable. There was a slight trace of haughtiness on the girl's face, as she disdained to speak to him.

The auctioneer did not let go of his smile, "Young man, are you looking for treasures for this young lady, today? Let me tell you, I have been an auctioneer for the Mystery Object Sale for over ten years now, and I am very experienced at identifying treasures."

He led them over to the chest and picked out a few objects covered in ancient crust, "Look at this object here, doesn't this shape remind you of something? This teardrop shape could be hiding a Brightmoon Pearl, a legendary pearl capable of keeping a person's skin supple and smooth for over a hundred years. I will teach you another trick, this kind of object – shaped like a star, you see – is far more likely to contain a precious treasure."

Van was inwardly sneering. All the objects Van could see were very low in quality or trash. There were only one or two that seemed that it might contain an ancient, precious pill. However, it was rotten and would have no effect!

As the auctioneer spoke, more and more people drew closer. They crowded around and sighed with amazement as the auctioneer practised his craft. It seemed as if the more he spoke, the more compulsive his voice became and the more the customers were drawn into his spell.

The mystery objects in the street weren't expensive, after all, only 1-10 silver taels apiece. Some were even only a few coppers! Even the smartest of people became as dumb as sheep in front of the lure of cheap treasure.

"Is that true, sir?" One man said eagerly, his eyes gleaming.

"Yes," the auctioneer nodded, "No one knows why, but you are far more likely to pick a precious object if you look for this distinct, star-like shape."

The man grew excited, "I just picked a hundred of them because I thought they looked quite unique. I never knew I had such a good eye! Let me buy them right now." He held out a sack full of them and showed the auctioneer.

Van had a look. The coldness in his expression spread.

[This auctioneer… he is quite cunning. These star-shaped objects are actually 100 times more likely to contain trash than everything of the other items!]

The auctioneer's smile grew wide, "Perfect! I will sell them to you for ten silver taels apiece!"

The enthusiastic man handed over one thousand silver taels to the auctioneer. Excitedly, he opened all of them.

As he looked at the results, his expression became disappointed, "The only thing here that is not trash is a half-chewed ancient pill. From the smell, it is clearly rotten and contains no effect anymore."

The auctioneer saw his sour expression and shrugged, "You are simply very unlucky. If you think about it, however, the presence of a half-chewed ancient pill means that some might contain intact ones!"

The man felt doubtful - he had just splurged one thousand taels in the heat of the moment and yet he had nothing to show for it, "Should I try again…?" he mumbled to himself.

"Aaaaaaah!" Someone shouted shrilly.

Van and Delphine, who had been standing silently the entire time, turned their heads as they heard a cry of joy.

A red-faced woman stood in front of another auctioneer with tears in her eyes, "T-This is…!"

The female auctioneer in front of her smiled, "Congratulations, you have discovered an ancient Serene Flower Pendant. Not only does it increase the defence of the wearer, it also imparts resistance to poisons and an affinity for nature. If it was sold in an auction, it might reach over six thousand taels."

The woman was ecstatic, "And I only spent one silver tael? Am I dreaming!?"

The crowd immediately gathered around her, amazed and envious.

Van saw the object in her hands.

[Not a bad item,] Jet commented lazily, [But not worth our time, either.]

Van turned back to the chest in front of him and saw the enthusiastic man busily picking out more mystery objects. Despite having already wasted 1000 taels, he was clearly inspired by the luck of the woman who had just bought an expensive treasure with only one silver tael!

Van shook his head. Another fool had taken the bait.

The auctioneer smiled happily and turned his attention back to Van and Delphine, after all, they wore the most prestigious and expensive clothes in the crowd, "You saw that lady just then, she spent only a single silver tael and yet was able to-"

Van cut him off, "Cut the blather. I will look in the chest myself."

The auctioneer's face turned ugly. The customers usually tried to flatter and cosy up to him in hopes that he would give them advice. When had he ever been so maltreated!

"Hmph! Do as you like!" The auctioneer ignored Van and continued to speak to the crowd.

Van walked up to the chest.

[Let's get to work, Jet.]

[Finally!] The ring shouted. It spun excitedly, [Let me sniff out these treasures!]

____

Half an hour later, Van had searched through the entire chest. He had seen many items worth between 50-1000 silver taels. However, they were mixed with thousands and thousands of worthless items.

After being there a while, he noticed that most other customers were finding treasures, but at a rate in which they were losing money overall. For example, they would spend 2000 taels only to find several objects worth 100 taels or a single item worth 300.

Only occasionally did a customer walk off with something worth more than 5000, and most of them had spent well over 10,000 taels to do so. Of course, there were those that were extraordinarily lucky and managed to score a treasure without spending significant money.

Van shook his head. Still, what an impressive money-making scheme!

Currently, Van held five items in his hands. They appeared ordinary and nondescript – the same as hundreds of other mystery objects within the chest. Individually, they were worth between 5000-9000 taels.

Van turned away, satisfied.

Delphine felt curiosity chewing a hole in her stomach. She couldn't hold it in, "You searched for half an hour, and yet you only chose those five?"

Delphine couldn't fathom it. Only people who felt that they had some talent for identifying treasures would bother to do that, ordinary people just grabbed a handful or listened to the auctioneer!

[Is he just posing in front of me?] She couldn't help but wonder.

Van smiled, "These five are treasures worth a couple thousand taels each."

"Pfft!"

Delphine laughed.

Then she saw Van's stoic expression, "What? You are trying to tell me that, despite the tiny chance of picking treasures, you have somehow picked five? There is not a single item of trash in there? Don't make me laugh!"

Van's face became cloudy, "Brat. Just watch."

Delphine followed him with a disbelieving expression on her face.

Van walked up to the auctioneer, "I will purchase these five objects."

The auctioneer saw that it was the kid who dismissed his words as 'blather' earlier. Immediately, his face was unpleasant, "One hundred taels for each."

Van didn't blink. He sh.e.l.led out the silvers. The treasures were worth enough that he didn't feel it was worth arguing with the auctioneer.

The auctioneer was stunned. Was this kid a fool? Who would pay a hundred silvers like that? d.a.m.nit, he should have asked for more money!

The auctioneer smiled and said, "Young man, why don't you choose some more mystery items? Only five seems too little, how about another hundred items? That's 10,000 taels, but I'll reduce it to 9500 for you!"

Van laughed, "No need!"

The auctioneer's face became ugly again, "Very well! Don't complain to me when your little handful of five doesn't yield a single treasure."

Van raised an eyebrow, "Want to bet?"

Delphine grabbed his sleeve.

Van looked mockingly at the auctioneer.

The auctioneer was angry, this kid was looking down on him! In fact, the kid had been looking down on him since the start. He quickly scanned the five crusted objects in Van's arms and scoffed. Relying on his experience, he knew that there was a 90% chance that none of them were treasures.

He was willing to bet on a 90% chance!

"Fine, I bet! I bet 1,000 silver taels that all of your items are worthless tras.h.!.+" the auctioneer shouted.

Van raised an eyebrow, "Such a little amount of money? Raise the stakes."

The crowd heard this and went silent. They were shocked that someone could make such an audacious statement! They gathered around to watch the spectacle.

The auctioneer's eyes narrowed. Where did this kid's confidence come from? He felt uneasy but didn't want to look like a wimp so he put on an arrogant face.

"Hah! I will raise the bet. 15,000 taels if a single treasure in your arms is worth more than 5,000 silver taels!" He didn't think that a lowly outer disciple of the Cedar Sect would have that much money on him. He bet the kid wouldn't dare to bet!

Van saw the auctioneer's arrogant expression and held in his laughter.

[f.u.c.k! This guy is a gift that just keeps on giving.]

The auctioneer crossed his arms, "Well? Feel free to start humiliating yourself. Crack open the ancient crust if you dare!"

The crowd leaned closer. Did the kid dare to take the bet?

No one believed that the kid could have found something worth 5,000 taels in one shot. They secretly wanted to see him be humiliated and shamed to vent off a little steam! They shuffled closer with gloating looks in their eyes.

Van smiled serenely and picked up one of the pebble-sized mystery objects in his grasp.

Delphine closed her eyes. She couldn't bear watching.

Cr-ack!

There was an awful silence.

...

The sound of many people gasping filled the air.

"N-no way!"

Delphine's eyes snapped open.