Stepping into the shop, the counter was laden with an array of dazzling items.
Large establishments almost universally followed a rule: the items on the first floor were always the lowest grade. To acquire better equipment, one had to ascend.
This shop was no exception; the first floor sold low-grade black iron equipment and items of minimal value.
There were no sales assistants in this establishment. Only personnel stationed at the counter handled sales.
He glanced around casually, finding the wares truly beneath his notice. Consequently, he headed directly for the second floor.
The second floor offered bronze and silver quality equipment, along with some slightly better items.
If the equipment prices on the Canglan Continent were used as a benchmark, the equipment in this world was half again as expensive.
Equipment that was worth only a thousand Spirit Coins on the Canglan Continent sold for around fifteen hundred here.
With such a slim profit margin, he had no intention of engaging in such low-profit ventures.
He wasn't interested in any business that didn't yield a profit of several times the investment.
He hadn't seen any building-type items for sale. According to Little Wei, those two S-rank buildings were reserved for auction. He wanted to check out the third floor.
However, as he attempted to ascend, he was stopped by two heavily armed staff members who said, "Please present your VIP card. Our third floor is exclusively for VIP service."
Zhou Yan inquired, "How does one become a VIP?"
"It's simple," they replied. "Accumulate a total consumption of five million Spirit Coins in our shop to receive a Bronze VIP card. Ten million Spirit Coins earns a Silver VIP card, one hundred million for a Gold VIP card, and over a billion grants a Platinum VIP card."
Zhou Yan nodded and asked, "Do you have an auction here?"
"Of course," the other replied. "Do you intend to participate in the auction?"
"I wonder if your establishment would be willing to help auction these few items of mine."
Zhou Yan casually produced several dark-gold quality accessories, along with two A-quality skill books and an A-quality job change scroll.
While these items might not be exceptional on the Canglan Continent, in this world, the higher the quality of equipment, the rarer it was, and the higher its price.
These items were certainly enough to warrant their attention.
Upon seeing these items, the two exclaimed in surprise, "Dark-gold quality accessories!"
"And skill books!"
"Even a job change scroll, and an A-quality one at that!"
Accessories were far rarer than weapons and armor.
Every item in Zhou Yan's possession was quite remarkable, and the addition of A-quality skill books and a job change scroll elevated their value considerably.
The combined worth of these items was easily tens of millions.
Seeing how casually he produced these items, they surmised he must have even better things on him.
One of them quickly said to Zhou Yan, "Esteemed VIP, please follow me."
Zhou Yan followed one of them up to the third floor.
The "tail" following behind Zhou Yan also saw the items he had produced and was greatly shocked.
He quickly transmitted a message to his companions: "This is a big catch. I saw him go up to the third floor of the Dragon Radiance Merchant Guild. He probably has some strength. Should we go for it?"
"Let's! Why not? We live by our wits. Gather more brothers, and let's take him down!"
"This score is worth more than several of our usual jobs. We absolutely can't let it go."
"I agree!"
"I'll go gather the brothers!"
...
Zhou Yan met with a manager at the Dragon Radiance Merchant Guild and was escorted into a VIP room where two other individuals were present.
A man, around forty years old, extended both his hands for a handshake and said, "Hello, my name is Luo Jiahai. I'm one of the appraisers responsible for auctions. Are you here to auction items?"
His primary purpose for being here was those S-rank buildings, so he nodded and said, "Yes, these."
He placed the items he had previously produced on the table, handing them over for appraisal.
They primarily examined the quality, attributes, and durability. After their inspection, they nodded and said, "These items can indeed be put up for auction. The final transaction price will be based on the auction results. If there are no further issues, we can sign the agreement."
This agreement was drawn up according to the rules of the entire trading market. Violating it would result not only in severe punishment but also in being barred from the trading market itself, so no one would easily breach a signed agreement.
The other party handed him the agreement and produced a Silver VIP card, saying, "Upon signing this agreement, this Silver VIP card will be presented to you."
He reviewed the agreement, found no issues, and proceeded to sign it.
A few dark-gold equipment pieces were nothing; if he wanted them, he could acquire them from other worlds at any time.
"When will the auction take place? I'm primarily here to observe the auction," Zhou Yan asked.
"Our auction has already been in progress for an hour. If you're in a hurry, we can arrange for your items to be auctioned ahead of schedule. What do you think?" Luo Jiahai inquired.
He nodded. "That would be best. My time is also quite valuable."
"Then I shall make arrangements to have someone escort you into the auction hall to observe. How does that sound?" Luo Jiahai asked.
"Thank you very much," Zhou Yan replied.
Shortly thereafter, a young woman in her early twenties escorted Zhou Yan to the auction house on the fifth floor.
The auction was in full swing inside. It was spacious, capable of accommodating tens of thousands of people.
He found an empty seat and sat down. Beside the seat was a placard for auction participants; by speaking a number, the displayed amount would reflect his bid.
The item currently being auctioned was a crystal, rated at six stars.
The value of such an item depended on its specific use in different locations.
On the Canglan Continent, this type of crystal would be worth at most one hundred thousand Spirit Coins.
Yet, here, its price had already reached three hundred thousand Spirit Coins.
He wouldn't sell this type of item just for this; after all, he had numerous other profitable ventures available. Why focus solely on this one?
Item after item was auctioned, but none caught his eye at the moment.
Soon, however, something did appear at the auction that piqued his interest.
It was one thousand units of six-star lumber.
Such high-quality lumber was extremely scarce on the Canglan Continent.
The price for six-star lumber on the Canglan Continent had already risen to over fifty thousand per unit.
Furthermore, it was very difficult to obtain, with every offering being snapped up instantly.
The primary reason was the immense amount of high-grade lumber required for developing territories and upgrading buildings.
However, here it was listed for only one million. This surprised him greatly; the price was five times cheaper than even the Elven Forest.
He also noticed that no one was bidding on it, indicating that the people here had no need for such materials.
This was a boon for him.
He immediately bid one million, drawing the attention of many who looked at him curiously.
Clearly, they couldn't comprehend why he would buy such 'scrap wood'.
Unsurprisingly, he successfully purchased the one thousand units of six-star lumber for one million.
These one thousand units of lumber, if sold on the Canglan Continent, would immediately fetch fifty million.
However, he needed them himself, so selling them was out of the question.
The later stages of territory development required enormous capital.
Especially since his buildings were all high-quality, demanding an astronomical sum.