Sect Leader's Rise to the top!

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the annual Lee family Auction!. Today, We have some incredibly rare and precious items on offer so I hope you all came fully prepared so you don't miss this chance of a lifetime!"

The crowds in the regular seats burst out into cheers and applause as the announcer spoke. She was obviously quite popular with the people. After her introductions, the large red curtains behind the stage opened up.

"Our first item is a masterpiece weapon created by our very own Craftsmaster Lee!. Forged expertly using the rare beast core of a powerful [Grade-3] Crimson flame Chimera as the base."

The item was unveiled to be an intricately decorated spear with a subtle red tint on the blade. Every few seconds, the spear gave off a slight red glow which mesmerized the crowds.

"Qi-weapon?!...". Someone in the crowd yelled, which prompted the rest of the crowd to break out into a commotion at the sight of the spear. The announcer waited for the chatter to die down before she continued to explain.

"This weapon has three charges that will allow the user to imbue fire element Qi into the blade to deliver powerful fire-Qi based attacks."

The opening bid will now start at 50,000 gold coins!"

"50,000!", yelled one man from an adjacent balcony.

Kai looked over to the man who was wearing bright red robes and had crimson red hair, which made him look like a walking flame. The man had an excited look on his face that he didn't even bother to try hiding.

"60,000!", said a figure in another balcony. The person had their features hidden so Kai couldn't even guess the person's gender.

"90,000!", yelled the man with the red robes again.

Kai was gobsmacked. The auction had just started but they were already auctioning off something at almost 100,000 gold coins. Kai's concept of money was being destroyed daily at this point.

He looked over to the man who had created the weapon, Craftsmaster Lee, who was sitting beside him with a neutral expression. For Kai, the weapon looked nice and he had actually wanted it when he found out that it could emit elemental Qi-based attacks. Kai knew very well how powerful elemental Qi was since he now had control over Wind-Qi that had essentially doubled his combat effectiveness. However, Kai still wondered why they would auction off something so valuable at the start of the auction.

Craftsmaster Lee noticed Kai's gaze and decided to explain. "Mr. Kai, this spear is something that I made in my youth. In reality, this spear is a failure. After the three charges are used, it will crumble to dust..."

"So you're selling a failed product in your auction?...", Kai asked skeptically.

"Haha, please Mr. Kai, don't think I'm doing anything unscrupulous here. Everyone here is already aware that only those rare and reclusive grandmaster craftsmen can create Qi-weapons that are not destroyed after use. My lacking ability could only help me create a weapon with three charges at most..."

"Uncle is being modest..." chimed Mei Lee. "Most Qi-based weapons only have one charge at most. No matter how good the materials used are, this is a fact. Some truly gifted craftsmen can create weapons with two charges, however, those are extremely rare. So the fact that uncle was able to create one with three charges means that he has already surpassed most Craftsmasters and is close to becoming a Grandmaster craftsman.

"Kai soaked in the information quietly while looking towards the stage. He now understood why everyone was going crazy over this spear. Having a weapon with the ability to use Qi-based attacks would be advantageous in any fight, especially to those who couldn't use Qi-enhancements. Kai figured that most internal cultivators around these parts would be interested in this weapon as it could work as a life-saving artifact or even a deterrent against others.

After an intense bidding war, the spear was finally sold to the man in the red robes for a whopping 130,000 gold coins, which prompted loud cheers from the crowds below.

Craftsmaster Lee sighed and shook his head. "It would have been difficult to save such a weapon in the coming conflicts anyway. We should get something for it now..."

The man in the red robes was laughing hysterically while his attendants were trying to hold him back from jumping down onto the stage.

After this, the next few items were interesting but nowhere near as exciting as the spear. There were some rare herbs and medicines, as well as unique armors and powerful-looking artifacts. Most people would never see such items in their lifetimes so many took the chance to buy anything that the powerhouse families were not interested in. These were sold at exorbitant prices in Kai's opinion, however, nothing ever came close to the spear.

During this time, the VIPs up in the balconies would rarely react to the items. Only when a particularly rare or interesting item appeared would their curiosity be piqued, which would then start a small bidding war.

"Now, onto our final item..." Said the announcer carefully after reading her next cue card.

"This last item was submitted by a powerful internal Cultivator. Those of you who practice internal cultivation will know this item quite well!".

The woman unveiled a pedestal with a single Qi-Crystal on it. Those who were more knowledgeable in the crowds gasped in surprise when they saw it.

"Qi-Crystal?!"

"This cultivator must be desperate for gold if he is willing to sell something so precious..."

"Maybe I'll buy it and see if it can improve my grandson's Qi-Root quality..."

"Bah, you will be lucky to be able to leave here alive after buying that, let alone getting it to your grandson. Every internal cultivator here probably wants it..."

The crowds' comments were varied however they gave up when they noticed that most people in the VIP seats had perked up.

Kai was interested to know why the Lee family would sell their spear first and have his core as the last item. Usually, in auctions, the main attraction would be last. Based on what he knew, his core wasn't anywhere as valuable as that spear, so it didn't make much sense to have it as the final item.

"The opening bid will start at 1000 gold!"

"5,000 gold!", yelled a hidden figure in one of the balconies.

"10,000 gold!", yelled another figure. This time it was a woman in an alluring purple dress.

Kai was shocked and sat there with his mouth wide open behind his mask. Why were they spending so much on a Qi-Crystal?. The Qi crystal was indeed rare, but they were obviously over-bidding for it right now.

"As I suspected, it seems a few figures have already identified you Mr. Kai...", said Craftsmaster Lee. He spoke softly but the worried tone in his voice was evident.

After listening, Kai quickly realized what was going on. Word of his exploits must have gotten out and these families were effectively trying to buy their way into his good graces. Kai just didn't know if this was due to his hunting sprees, or the conflict that he had with the Qin Family.

"30,000!" yelled the figure in a nearby balcony.

"50,000 and a favor from the Song family!", announced the woman in the alluring purple dress.

"..."

The room fell silent with everyone looking towards the woman in disbelief. The woman in question simply smiled while looking directly at Kai.

"Song family..." whispered Mei Lee softly.

Kai was slightly worried, but the fact that he had made 50 times what he had originally hoped for made him happy. Whatever ulterior motives that these families had were irrelevant to Kai. "I'll just deal with it as it comes".

"S...sold!", the announcer broke the silence by announcing the outcome since no other bidders had come forward.. Not many would be willing to oppose the Song family, and those few who could were all keeping quiet, so she knew that the bidding was over.