The rooms and lectures halls within the outer scholar school were of a decent size, that could not be denied. Unlike other schools, a Teacher could almost guarantee that they would have excellent attendance, unless their subject was a little obscure, even for the most enquiring minds. However, there was no way they would cope with the number of bodies that poured in during every Interschool Exchange. But naturally, they were ready and organised for such things; mages had visited before the competition had even begun to reinforce arrays and recharge the crystals feeding them to cause the space within the selected lecture halls to expand to an abnormal size, then they had been refurbished for this event.
Three spaces had received such treatment; two were where the lots were held for inspection, one was where the auction would take place.
Leon was beside Jin Li as they wandered around the crowded hall holding the open auction lots. Sixty displays were formed in the space, each protected by arrays from accidental damage, from theft and from time itself. Most of the displays held animal parts and herbs, occasionally, as with Pike's team's display, there were gemstones and ores. One team was selling some rare wood that they had found and a few had arranged to sell left over paper talismans and pills. Leon's team had decided not to do this, after all, some of his pills were not exactly common.
The small alchemist didn't look at others' pills, ignoring even the higher quality ones as they mostly had no use to him. However, there were more than one stalk of herbs that caught his eye. He particularly found interest in the whole plants, ones that could be repotted and continuously nurtured. Some were common, some were not, that part was not something he worried about.
Jin Li glanced at one or two things, just that these things happened to have little value in his eyes. Skins, furs, horns and teeth, he could hunt those things himself. The ores were nothing special to him and he had no use for jade and gemstones; he could not blacksmith nor craft weapons and jewellery, so why would he buy them? Beside, he'd already found a treasure in the sword he'd named Xunsu Bagong; these people could keep their own measly finds. He didn't want them.
That's not to say he lacked interest in everything placed in the auctions, but that was due to the fact that the second room held truly valuable and more interesting things.
The things held for the closed auction were not held in groups, just displayed individually. The other displays were made to show a fraction of the reason behind their overall scores in the competition, thus quelling some doubts. In this room, the things being sold didn't just give their finder's points toward the competition, they were valuable and sought after. Plus, non-competitors would display their finest works here in order to obtain some money or other things for themselves.
While the open auction, all the bids would be made in front of an auctioneer and all bids would be in points, the bids for the closed auction could be anything; coin, Pills, rarities, weapons. And the item would not necessarily go to the 'highest' bidder in terms of monetary value, but the seller could pick the bid that suited themselves the most. Weaker, less prosperous students could only look on bitterly, while others, including wealthy outsiders and experienced Teachers whisked away all the more interesting things. It never stopped people from trying and hoping though.
In amongst these lots, Leon's senior brother Hue happened to be standing, with his other senior brother, Stygar. They happened to be standing next to a display with a jade bottle upon a pedestal, a single, rare pill inside. It was known as the Scarlet Barrier pill and was an defence-enhancement pill aimed at Fire Mages. If a mage or even a martial artist with fire roots took this pill, it would form a reflective barrier around them made of fire, which would not only burn any weapon or fist that attempted to make contact with them, but would retaliate with small fireballs. The major downside was naturally its reduced market; without fire roots to control the volatile nature of the magic pill, the consumer would suffer internal and external damage from the flames.
"D-d-did b-big brother m-make this p-pill?" Leon found himself asking the large man.
"En," came the simple response.
Leon couldn't help exchange glances with Jin Li and as if reading their mind, Stygar answered their unasked question. "Hue likes to stand guard over his pills before they exchange hands," he told them, then muttered with a sneer; "it's not as if there is no protective measures in place. He does this every year."
He didn't tell them why he chose to stand beside Hue; Leon understood that their relationship was not unlike that between himself and Jin Li, so he did not say anything in regards to this. But a sudden thought did cross his mind.
"C-can b-big brother m-make other p-pills m-m-m... that mages like?" Leon asked him.
"En," Hue replied, but a slight curiosity did develop in his dark eyes.
"These pills aren't cheap, you know," Stygar informed him, quickly. "You are our junior brother, but we can't give away things for free!"
"I understand," Leon responded quickly and murmured something to Stygar that he could possibly trade with them for one of Hue's pills. Stygar's eyes widened and he blinked a couple of times, his eyes drawn towards a display amongst the herbs. He had thought about making a bid for one of those stalks, but they were not easy to transplant. Growing from seed wasn't easy either, but with the right conditions... "What d-do you think?"
Stygar glanced up at the man shadowing him, who was also listening with apt concentration. Noticing Stygar's gaze, he said simply; "I'll listen to you."
"Alright," Stygar decided after thinking it over for a few minutes. "Come over to our place in a few days after the auctions are over. We'll discuss it then."
"Okay," Leon agreed with a nod, then noticed that Jin Li was no longer close beside him, but rather he'd wandered over to a stand nearby. He was placing his bid upon parchment square, which was then sealed with wax and placed in a box with other bids. His action naturally gained Leon's and the small alchemist returned to his side to take a look. He appeared to be bidding for an insignificant looking piece of amber, which happened to hold a tiny, downy feather in its midst. The gem itself was no bigger than Leon's smallest fingernail.
Glancing down, he noticed that the description claimed that the trapped feather was believed to be from a phoenix chick. Not the Phoenix, Feng Huang, the mystical bird that was immortal and would not bear offspring as it had long since removed itself from the cycle of life and reincarnation. The phoenixes were an offshoot species, said to have been born of pheasants, but the eggs were caught in the spiritual fire of a Dragon that was locked in battle with it. Feng Huang was upset that innocents were caught up in the battle and used its own energies in an attempt to protect and heal them, before drawing the raging Dragon away. The embryos within the eggs, exposed to the fire of the Dragon and the benevolent heart of the Feng Huang were reborn in the image of the latter, but formed of the fire of the former.
That was the legend, the truth was lost to time, but it was believed that lava cranes, red sparrows and flame wisps all descended from these fire phoenixes.
As for the downy feather, it escaped imagination how a feather made of fire could be trapped within a piece of amber, perhaps the chick within its shell was still more flesh and blood that what it would evolve into, Leon didn't know. But each feather, each drop of blood, each talon of a phoenix was a pure thing that attracted the natural spiritual energy around it. Although the effects would be lessened thanks to the transparent orange shell containing it, if a Cultivator placed this close to their skin, they could draw more energy to themselves during cultivation. How much they could absorb, though, was down to their own luck.
Unsurprisingly, this was part of the treasure that the placed first above all other martial artist team obtained as part of their trove, ensuring their victory over the others, even if first place over all still remained out of their grasp.
Leon didn't ask how much Jin Li bid for it, just noticed that the man looked satisfied with his offer.