Chapter 177: Attending the Auction
In the guest room, Zhou Ming looked at the bare, empty plates and finally chose to turn the last Sapphire Fish on his body into sashimi.
The Sapphire Fish sashimi had just been prepared. He had only taken a single bite when Scorpion-Lion tossed three scrolls into his hands, claiming they were for inspection to see whether there were any problems.
Seeing this, Zhou Ming immediately understood Scorpion-Lion’s intention.
Either he inspected the contents of the scrolls, in which case the Sapphire Fish sashimi would have nothing to do with him, or he did not inspect them and they could eat together—but once Scorpion-Lion finished eating, he planned to leave, and if there were any problems with the scrolls, he would not be responsible.
In the end, Zhou Ming still chose to inspect the scrolls.
What he got in return was a single sentence from Scorpion-Lion.
“You not only lost the chance to taste the Sapphire Fish, you also lost my trust in you.”
It was simply gaining the advantage and still acting aggrieved. Not only did he make Zhou Ming lose a Sapphire Fish for nothing, he even made Zhou Ming out to be a petty man who did not trust his friends.
With a face full of resentment, Zhou Ming directly turned the last Sapphire Fish into sashimi, so that Scorpion-Lion would not keep thinking about it.
After finishing the Sapphire Fish, making use of the effects brought by the fish meat, Zhou Ming returned to the bedroom and began to comprehend the Moon Lake Meditation Method in his hands.
A silver moon hung high, the heart transformed into a lake, reflecting the moon’s shadow.
It existed both in the sky and within the heart—observe the heart and illuminate the reflection.
The Moon Lake Meditation Method had a trace of similarity with the White Bone Contemplation Meditation Method, but the deeper meaning within required Zhou Ming to slowly comprehend it.
The Original Meditation Method could be said to have no distinction between low-tier and high-tier. It was merely that the Alliance, based on the effects of increasing spiritual power, made a simple distinction between their levels.
When the Alliance opened up the Beast Taming cultivation system, the earliest meditation methods came from religious concepts before the Doomsday Era.
Their conceptual level was high, their potential great, and cultivators could make corresponding changes based on their own situations.
The drawback was that the difficulty of cultivation was high, and it was also accompanied by various dangers.
Later, it was Professor Li Yuan of Hell Base who perfected the Basic Meditation Technique, which was simple to cultivate, safe, and widely adaptable, and also refined the Beast Taming system, allowing the number of Blue Star’s Beast Tamers to increase dramatically.
Only then did it prevent Beast Tamers from becoming an extraordinary path that only the chosen of heaven could master.
As the Alliance developed, low-tier meditation methods and high-tier meditation methods were successively derived from the Basic Meditation Technique.
These two levels of meditation methods also inherited the characteristics of safety and broad adaptability, but compared to the Original Meditation Method, their effects in increasing spiritual power were weaker, and their potential was also inferior to that of the Original Meditation Method.
However, relying on their safety and wide adaptability, the new-style meditation methods gradually became mainstream, while the Original Meditation Method would only be used by a small number of people.
Back then, Scorpion-Lion only had the White Bone Contemplation Original Meditation Method that he could freely allocate, so Zhou Ming could only choose to cultivate White Bone Contemplation.
However, the benefits brought by White Bone Contemplation made Zhou Ming unwilling to use the new-style meditation methods, and instead he planned to continue comprehending the Original Meditation Method.
As Zhou Ming continuously deepened his comprehension of the Moon Lake Meditation Method, he gained new insights into his own White Bone Contemplation Meditation Method.
Among them, the core of the White Bone Contemplation Meditation Method—the Heart Seal of White Bone Contemplation—could even be used as a means to stabilize the mind.
With plentiful gains, he abandoned his plan to tour Yunhai Base and instead hid in the guest room like a shut-in, not coming out at all.
More than ten days later, when Scorpion-Lion called and told him that the Jinque Grand Auction was about to be held, Zhou Ming finally broke free from this intoxicated, self-forgetful state.
“I didn’t expect that this accidental entry into a state of complete absorption would increase my spiritual power to a degree comparable to having eaten ten Sapphire Fish.”
Feeling his spiritual power shining brightly, with far less of the floating instability than before, Zhou Ming knew that this harvest might very well exceed his own estimates.
Unfortunately, his comprehension of the meditation method this time was unexpectedly interrupted by Scorpion-Lion.
However, this was not the other party’s intention, and he himself had also deliberately planned to attend the auction this time.
Relying on Scorpion-Lion, he had completed the Han Family’s task, but he did not choose to return to Qinghui Base immediately.
His purpose, aside from consigning for auction the two Earthcore Fire Stones that he no longer needed, was also to take this opportunity to auction for extraordinary equipment suitable for himself.
As for the two pieces of equipment, Fire Sparrow and the Green Vine Whip, Zhou Ming also had Scorpion-Lion handle them. In the end, he received two thousand Source Crystal Coins.
This price was clearly Scorpion-Lion purchasing them at the highest price, and it could be considered compensation for not having eaten his Sapphire Fish for nothing.
The next day, Zhou Ming took a car to Jinque Building. This building had a total of five floors, with each floor at least five meters high, resembling a small gymnasium.
This was an industry of the Duanmu Family that sold various items required by Beast Tamers.
Among them, the fifth floor was a massive auction hall capable of accommodating over a thousand people bidding. It could be considered Yunhai Base’s number one auction, which was why outsiders referred to it as the Jinque Grand Auction.
As soon as Zhou Ming arrived at Jinque Building, he saw a large number of Beast Tamers gathering, among whom there were quite a few Professional Beast Tamers.
However, Zhou Ming had arrived a bit early. The major powers of Yunhai had not yet arrived; otherwise, he might have had the chance to see those figures in person.
“Hello, may I ask if you are Mr. Zhou Ming?”
Just as Zhou Ming was surveying the surroundings, a formally dressed young man approached him.
“And you are?”
“I am a staff member of Jinque Building. My young master asked me to wait here for a long-haired young man.”
“If you are Mr. Zhou Ming, please follow me. Young master has already arranged a VIP room for you at the auction. He said he will arrive later.”
After learning the young man’s identity and purpose, Zhou Ming naturally did not refuse Scorpion-Lion’s arrangement. Recently, he had suffered quite a few losses at the other party’s hands.
Through a dedicated passage, Zhou Ming quickly arrived at the auction’s VIP room. One side faced the auction hall.
The layout was semicircular, and through the floor-to-ceiling one-way glass of the VIP room, one could clearly see the situation in the auction hall.
On the other side of the VIP room, it just so happened that one could clearly see the parking lot where people entered Jinque Building.
With nothing to do, Zhou Ming picked up a teapot and carried some fruit and snacks to the other side, planning to see who would be attending the auction today.
However, not long after, a mocking voice sounded behind Zhou Ming.
“Can you recognize the various factions attending the auction?”
“Isn’t there you, the tour guide, who’s responsible for introductions?”
Upon hearing the voice, Zhou Ming knew who had arrived. Turning around, he saw that there was also a young woman accompanying Scorpion-Lion.
“It’s you.”
The other party immediately let out an exclamation filled with anger.
Zhou Ming did not expect that the girl he had refused to get acquainted with on the airship would actually be related to Scorpion-Lion.
“You two know each other?”
Scorpion-Lion glanced at both of them, sensing that the atmosphere was not particularly friendly, and immediately introduced them to each other.
“She is my cousin, Duanmu Lingyan. She studies at Qinghui Scientific Research University. She came home to play during the summer vacation, and since she had nothing to do, she came to the auction to broaden her horizons.”
After introducing his cousin to Zhou Ming, Scorpion-Lion then introduced Zhou Ming to his cousin.
“This is my friend Zhou Ming, a Professional Beast Tamer. Don’t be disrespectful.”
“Zhou Ming, that name sounds very familiar.”
Duanmu Lingyan quickly looked him over carefully and finally recognized Zhou Ming from the photo left on the academy wall at Qinghui Scientific Research University.
“You’re Senior Sister Lei Yuan’s boyfriend—the Zhou Ming who had his auditing student status revoked by the school.”
Hearing his cousin reveal Zhou Ming’s background, Scorpion-Lion also became somewhat curious about Zhou Ming’s experiences.
Moreover, given his status, he naturally knew who Lei Yuan was. The pulse energy communication technology had caused quite a stir within the Alliance.