After settling the matter with the Wootz steel sword, Wang Chong heaved a sigh of relief. In the days to come, he focused his efforts on looking for traces of the ‘Demonic Emperor Old Man’ while continuing to visit the Ghost Tree District for the chess match.
On the other hand, Uncle Li Lin had acted swiftly on the matter Wang Chong entrusted him with.
As though out of anger from the bold attempts of the Assassin Pavilion in attempting to assassinate Wang Chong, in just two short days, news had reached the streets. The Imperial Army had found the nest of an assassin organization that seemed to be harboring malicious intentions.
Every single one of them was killed on the spot, and corpses filled the entire courtyard!
This matter caused quite a storm in the capital. It was said that many of the experts of the Imperial Army were mobilized, and five to six commanders were involved in the operation.
Many people had witnessed the operation with their own eyes, and all of them said that there was likely to be a backstory to this matter. Even so, given their dress up, cloaked in black and armed with secret weapons, without a doubt, they were all assassins.
Thus, no one spoke up for them.
When Wang Chong heard of this matter, he chuckled lightly. He wrote a letter to Miyasame Ayaka and dumped the matter to the back of his head.
Just when Wang Chong was living his life peacefully, a commotion was going on in the depths of the royal palace.
The darkness of the night loomed over the sky. It was an abandoned palace in a remote location of the royal palace, but at this moment, it was brightly illuminated by whole rows of lanterns hung on the trees and the roof.
Imperial Army members densely filled the courtyard of the palace, and with a single glance, they numbered in hundreds, perhaps even reaching a thousand.
Today was a huge day for the Imperial Army members. There wasn’t a single person in the Imperial Army who didn’t know that this was the day for the auction for the second weapon of the number one blacksmith of Great Tang. As such, many commanders had arrived early and were waiting in anticipation for the unveiling of the weapon.
After the battle between Zhao Fengchen and Huang Xiaotian, there wasn’t a single person here who didn’t know about the sharpness, beauty, and rarity of the Wootz steel sword. To them, this was a huge opportunity to heighten their own strength.
More importantly, this item was exclusive! It was one-of-a-kind, and it was impossible to obtain it anywhere else!
What other weapons could be more fitting than the Wootz steel sword to complement the standing of the Imperial Army!
“I’ve finally waited for the day for the unveiling of gongzi’s new weapon!”
“It’s a weapon that took an entire month to forge! I truly can’t wait to see what it is. If only he could forge more of it!”
“The first weapon has been taken by Commander Zhao. I wonder who’ll be lucky one this time!”
“Indeed! If only I had a Wootz steel sword as well. Why must it be so expensive!”
…
The courtyard of the palace was bustling.
Everyone knew that Wang Chong had entrusted the sales of the Wootz steel weapons to his uncle, Li Lin, and at this moment, there wasn’t a single person in the Imperial Army who didn’t know of Li Lin.
“It’s starting, it’s starting!”
Suddenly, a commotion sounded. Everyone lifted their heads and saw the doors before them open. Brilliant light poured out from the interior of the room.
Dressed in heavy armor with a sword by his waist, Li Lin appeared imposingly before the crowd.
In an instant, the bustling Imperial Army members abruptly fell silent.
“Those who wish to join the auction can enter now based on the note issued previously!”
Li Lin said authoritatively.
Immediately, an Imperial Army commander passed the note that Wang Chong issued to them previously and entered the room with a huge smile.
Everyone knew that the competition for this auction would be intense, and the Wootz steel weapon would be anything but cheap.
But money… Who the heck cares about money.
As long as they could buy the sword that was capable of slicing through metal as though mud, what did money mean? Besides, as members of the Imperial Army, they didn’t have many places to spend money on anyway.
On top of that, even if they found themselves in dire need of money in the future, surely they didn’t have to worry about being unable to sell this kind of top-notch weapon?
Twenty to thirty Imperial Army commanders entered.
“Next, those who have the wooden token can enter!”
Li Lin continued.
This was Li Lin’s own initiative. Even though Wang Chong wanted to sell the bidding qualifications batch by batch, Li Lin thought that there was no need for it. Being in the Imperial Army, he knew how popular the Wootz steel was.
Regardless of where he went, everyone was talking about the auction in Bluebottle Pavilion and the battle between Zhao Fengchen and Huang Xiaotian.
The Wootz steel weapon which was described to be unbreakable and unimaginably sharp had everyone’s blood boiling in passion, and their desire to possess it blazed.
Being in the Imperial Army, he understood how strong the thirst for it was. That was also the reason why he dared to set up such a system.
One must know that there were more than a hundred thousand troops in the Imperial Army.
Yet, Wang Chong only sold a single Wootz steel sword every month. It would be surprising if they weren’t frenzied about it!
Thus, Li Lin decided to split the auction into two tiers on his own accord.
The first tier was the holders of the notes that Wang Chong issued previously. These note holders were entitled to a ten percent discount.
The wooden tokens that Li Lin issued formed the second tier, and this tier possessed fewer privileges than the former.
Those in possession of the wooden token were allowed to join the auction, but they had to pay an additional ten percent on top of the auctioned price.
Every wooden token cost two hundred gold taels, and it would become useless after the auction. If one wanted to join the next auction, they had to buy another one.
Others might think it was expensive, but Li Lin felt that he had already lowered the price to the bare minimum. Given that there were more than a hundred thousand soldiers in the Imperial Army, lack of demand was something he didn’t fear.
Furthermore, how could those who were willing to spend several dozen thousand gold taels to buy a Wootz steel sword hesitate over a mere two hundred gold taels? ——In Li Lin’s view, this was the best way to auction the Wootz steel sword! At the same time, he would be able to sieve out those insincere buyers through this method.
As for the notes which Wang Chong issued… It was a huge waste! However, the matter was already done, so there was no use saying anything about it.
In an instant, seventy to eighty commanders of the Imperial Army rushed in.
By from the sales of the wooden token, Li Lin had already earned a profit of around fifteen thousand!
To earn fifteen thousand taels from the entrance fee from an auction alone, he would be a fool to not do this!
“Next, those with the metal token can enter.”
Li Lin said.
This was the lowest tier! There were many people who were interested and curious about the Wootz steel sword. Since that was the case, Li Lin thought of profiting from them as well.
After all, the more spectators there were, the easier it was for word to spread. This could help to broaden the number of interested buyers in the Imperial Army.
Thus, Li Lin chose to implement the system of the steel token as well. Each of these steel tokens cost just ten gold taels. With these, one was given the right to spectate the proceedings of the auction.
But of course, they weren’t allowed to bid. At the same time, they weren’t allocated any seats as well.
Despite the lack of service, given that there were more than a hundred thousand potential customers out there, Li Lin wasn’t worried at all.
In an instant, several hundreds of Imperial Army members charged in. This was yet another profit of a few thousand gold taels. Just by setting up this auction, Li Lin had already earned over twenty thousand gold taels.
After which, Li Lin returned to the inner room.
The palaces in the royal city were exceedingly vast, residences of ordinary large clans couldn’t start to compare up to them. At the very front of the hall, away from the crowd, sat three commanders.
The one seated in the middle was Zhao Fengchen.
Time passed swiftly, and it had been a month since Zhao Fengchen had become a marshal. Compared to before, Zhao Fengchen’s disposition seemed much more valiant, imposing, and authoritative.
Li Lin walked in and bowed slightly to Zhao Fengchen before walking to a massive wooden stand of around one zhang long in the center of the hall.
(3.33m)
“Lord Li, where is the Wootz steel sword?”
“Hurry up and take it out. Stop hooking our appetite!”
“Indeed, we’re all anxious to see it!”
“Lord Li, it has already been a month! We brothers are already dying of anticipation so hurry up and show it to us!”
…
Everyone in the room urged impatiently. They couldn’t bear to wait any longer for it.
“Lord Li, surely you aren’t playing with us?”
Some of the Imperial Army commanders even expressed their clear displeasure.
“You all are so anxious that you all can’t even wait a moment longer?”
Li Lin chuckled. This was the kind of effect he wanted.
“Since that’s the case, I won’t keep you all hanging. The second Wootz steel sword is right here!”
Pah!
As he said those words, Li Lin struck the one zhang long wooden platform before him. Peng! The wooden platform immediately broke apart, and hidden in the platform was a seven chi long weapon.
It was seated on top of a black metal table of the same length.
In an instant, the entire hall fell silent.
Everyone thought that Li Lin was using the wooden platform to organize the auction. No one thought that there would be such a trick behind the wooden platform.
“Lord Li, what’s that?”
An Imperial Army commander stood up as he pointed at the bizarre weapon seated atop the metal table. Many people thought that Wang Chong’s new work would be a sword, similar to what he crafted before.
But from the looks of it, that wasn’t the case.
Even though it was concealed within a black wooden sheath, they could make out the shape of the weapon. It was only two fingers thick, but it had a length of seven chi. On top of that, the weapon had an elegant curve to its blade. It was very different from any other weapons they had seen before.
“Hahaha, well asked! This is the first saber that my nephew, Wang Chong, had forged. This, in itself, adds to the collectibility of this saber. On top of that, I see that most of you are surprised by the length of it. That’s right, the design of this saber is different from the sword before, and the material used for this saber is also twice of the sword!”
“On top of that, this saber is even sharper than the sword from before. Borrowing the words of my nephew, this saber is crafted for slaughter. Thus, he gave this saber the name Death’s Abyss. None of those in the range of this saber would be able to escape from death!”
Li Lin spoke with composure. Even though he was facing so many Imperial Army commanders, there wasn’t the slightest hint of fear on his face.
“Death’s Abyss!”
Everyone was impressed. Just by the name itself, they could sense that it was a top-notch product with high collectibility. More important, it was the first saber forged by the number one swordsmith in the world. Just this by itself meant that it could be sold at a very high price in the future.
“The trip here is indeed worth it! His first saber! This is truly a one-of-a-kind object!”
In the hall, the Imperial Army commanders trembled in excitement. They didn’t lack money; rather, they found nothing worthy to spend their money on.
This kind of weapon could help bring out their noble standing, augment their strength, and it had collecting value as well. This was truly the ideal product for them to spend their money on!
“Li Lin, how much is this weapon worth?”
“Well asked!”
Li Lin smiled. His eyes lit up as he announced the starting price of the auction.
“The starting bid for this Death’s Abyss is eighty thousand gold taels! There is only one saber, and the highest bidder wins! The auction starts now!”
Boom!
Li Lin’s words caused a huge uproar in the hall. The excitement which they had suppressed for an entire month suddenly came bursting out.