--- Cinema Dimension---
In the vast cinema, many screens were floating in the air, replaying various scenes of Minas Mar's recent exploits on the Voracious Cloud Continent. Only the core audience was currently enjoying the live feed of the little blacksmith's honeymoon.
"I wish he would already start crafting with the souls and new materials, but this is also nice," Hephaestus commented, his mouth watering at the sight of the feast they were having at The Five-Savoring Flavors. This chef, Lao Ban, was really pulling all the stops.
"Hmm, yes. It really looks delicious," Seth commented. "However, I prefer his previous meal," he said, suppressing a chuckle as if he had not already spent several hours laughing his ass off at the clip of Seth suffering for a whole night.
Hades gave him a disapproving look, but didn't speak up. He agreed with his nephew. As the god of the dead, he had a special appreciation for the moment when people lived life to the fullest. Although he himself had no interest in taking part in festivities, he appreciated Nephews like Dionysus that helped people put aside their worries once in a while.
"Yes, yes, such calm moments really are a nice breath of fresh air once in a while," the robe covered in stars sitting in the second row joined the conversation. Several ears perked up as the eyes of various gods focused on the System God.
"What?" the empty robe asked innocently, suddenly facing the gaze of several high-ranking deities.
"When you phrase things like that, people are bound to think you are up to something," Persephone explained helpfully. The System God had a reputation, and it was the opposite of empty. The robe froze for a moment. The empty stare of the hood was slightly unsettling.
"I have no idea what you mean," he finally said, shrugging his shoulders innocently. His actions did nothing to calm them; on the contrary. They were on high alert. It was almost certain the System God would be pulling some shit to "make the honeymoon more interesting".
The only one among the group not looking at the System God with suspicion was the Dungeon God. There was no need to feel suspicious if one already knew everything. After all, he helped....
---Konan---
The meals provided by Lao Ban were everything that was promised and more than expected. Despite not being a cultivator, alchemist, or system chef, Lao Ban was able to create dishes with permanent effects.
As such, all their basic attributes rose by 2-3 points across the board, and Seth's personality actually rose by 5! It was crazy that even a special attribute like Personality rose from a dish. And Lao Ban was "only" a local master.
He didn't even count as a rumored immortal chef that specialized in creating beneficial dishes for cultivators. Just how much did the man spend on materials to accomplish this result?
No wonder a thug like Yi Mo wanted to have control of such a talented master. In this backwater town, he was like a good laying golden eggs. The experience only served to further raise their expectation for future dishes once they entered bigger cities of the province.
"I hope you like the menu I prepared for my benefactors," Lao Ban approached their table after the last course was served and their dishes were stacked on their table.
"My compliments to you, Lao Ban. They don't call you the best of the region for nothing," the blacksmith praised the meal. From his perspective, Lao Ban's meals were comparable to the meals Link cooked, taste-wise at least. Filled to the brim with tasty the trauma of last night was healing. Almost forgotten.
"We should get ready; the auction begins soon," Mina finally mentioned as they recovered from their feast. No matter how pleasant it was, all things ought to come to an end, and they had prior plans for their evening.
"Come by again, my door will always be open for you," Lao Ban accompanied them to the door and said his farewells with a bow. After some more pleasantries, the trio finally left the restaurant behind and made their way to a large building close to the center of the commercial district.
This was the auction house, not like the system's auction house, but a proper real-life one, where people came in person to bid on items. However, this was no special or secret event, like the big cultivator auction Yu had sometimes talked about.
The Blue Sparrow Auction House of Konan was too small to afford any sizable auctions with items like the "qilin horn" Master Mountain had given him last time. Considering the average level of cultivators in the city was the middle of Qi Gathering and the highest was Golden Core at best, it made sense.
Still, it was an interesting activity, and they were looking forward to seeing exotic items and maybe medicines they had yet to come across. The Blue Sparrow Auction House was one of the few buildings built from thick, sturdy stone in the city. The outsides were also visible, secured with formations, a sign of their tight security measures.
"Look, you can also put your own things up for auction," Fin exclaimed, pointing at a counter to the right of the building's entrance hall. There was a sign stating the rules for putting up items for auction.
"It says you can put up items until 30 minutes before the auction. Why don't you put something up?" the fairy suggested, knowing that Seth's inventory space and legion were bursting with loot from the Silk River Sect.
Any of the uncommon swords he had looted would probably be enough to cause havoc here; even the common sword would drive bidders into a frenzy, considering how starved most cultivators were for good equipment.
Even when the weapon quality of the Silk River Sect was nothing impressive to Seth, as a big sect, any weapon they held was above average compared to the rest of the province. He would have been embarrassed to put these up for auction in the system auction house under his name, but here?
It was viable, but it still didn't sit quite well with Seth to simply sell these weapons as is. If he was going to put something up for auction, he wanted to make it something a little more... special. He looked at the clock. They had come a little earlier to peruse the items before the auction, which meant there were still 30 minutes to put something up.
"Give me 5 minutes, I'm back right away," he said with a smirk. The girls only smiled wryly as they watched the blacksmith momentarily leave the auction house. Outside, the bard looked for a deserted place without people, ending up in a narrow alley between buildings.
Then he vanished, stepping into Legion's space. At the center was the big tree, grown into a multi-story warehouse holding items and golems. The meadow surrounding it was also littered with all kinds of junk he and the golems had looted from the Silk River Sect.
Without a care, Seth pulled out one of the most common pieces of loot, an unadorned steel sword with the emblem of the Silk River Sect at the hilt. The sword was okay for a common item; the description said it was mass-produced for the disciples of the outer sect, despite looking properly forged.
"Hmm, but maybe that is a little too common," the blacksmith thought, pulling out a decorative spear from another pile. The richly decorated weapon looked ostentatious, but the blade was no better than the sword's.
Ultimately, he shrugged and took both to the side, where most of his workshop was already summoned. He didn't like forging inside of Legion, since the place always felt a little cramped, but it was the best option when traveling the continent.
He didn't do much at the anvil. Using < Pyrokinesis>, he heated places where the logo of the Silk River Sect was shone, hammering the flat and smooth. He didn't want people to track the source of the weapons.
The next step was the important one. With a malicious smile, wielding a brush drenched in acid, Seth began chanting a song.