Mary, too, could see the various chats. After all, as the auctioneer, she needed to have a detailed understanding of the sentiments of the buyers. The right words at the right time could send the price of any item soaring. More importantly, she was here to have fun, so she wanted the chat!

Although the value of the first time she auctioned had been inflated by a large amount, nothing like that happened afterwards. She started off by auctioning all the items useful solely to mortals. This was also the largest category by far, so it would take a long time. Surprisingly, though, some of the items she auctioned off were actually quite interesting, if somewhat unusual.

“Next up we have the Forever Gum! This piece of gum, produced by a chocolate factory of all places, never loses its flavor no matter how much you chew it! Unfortunately, the chocolate factory went out of business for child labor and human experimentation before more of the gum could be produced. This is the one and only piece available! The starting price is… a whopping 1 MP!”

FemmeFatale006: A piece of gum? Who would want something like that? New bid: 2 MP!

CaptainVenezuela: What’s wrong with working a summer job as a kid and earning a little on the side! This is child discrimination!

DuckDetective33: It doesn’t even offer any cultivation benefits? What’s the point of something like that? New bid: 3 MP!

Eventually, the gum sold for 7 MP, which was a highly inflated price. But the person who bought it worked for a candy store and they wanted to recreate the effects of the gum, so maybe they’d find a use for it.

Other items, though, were actually genuinely useful for certain mortals.

“Alright, next up is a cultivation method for mortals who do not have meridians, spiritual veins, or the equivalent. This technique relies, instead, on refining mental energy to cultivate, and can be used by a majority of races. As long as they have enough self awareness to use this cultivation technique, it can be used regardless of race. It’s called The Mind Maze. Bidding starts at 10,000 MP, and the lowest bid is for 10 MP.”

Lifepainter: A technique that can be used without meridians? Don’t fight me for this, I need it for my panda! New bid: 11,000 MP!

MySectIsFullOfBeauties: Who cares if you have meridians or not? We can cultivate it simultaneously for double the benefits! New Bid: 12,500 MP!

DefinitelyNotASpy: Why is the Midnight Inn selling something like this? There are free techniques similar to this available in their library! Speaking of which, does anyone know where they source the techniques in their library? New Bid: 20,000 MP!

The technique was sold for over 100,000 MP, and attracted a whole lot more attention than one would have expected. At least, Lex agreed with DefinitelyNotASpy. With free techniques available for perusal, what was the point in purchasing something like that?

But the universe was vast, and many people had their own ideas. He wasn’t going to stop people from spending their money.

A jovial mood spread across the Inn as everyone watched all the amazing items being auctions, and broadened their horizons. It was like watching the Olympics, with contestants competing with their wallets instead of their physical skills.

Lex, meanwhile, was reading through the Guest Race glossary, learning quite a bit about all the various races visiting the Inn during the auction.

For the entire next day, Mary kept auctioning off items for mortals, until at least she reached the end of that list. Even though the items listed in the auction at that point were still specific to mortals, their use was genuinely impressive by any standards.

“Next up, we have the Guardian Choker. Don’t be fooled by the unusual name, this choker, which can be worn by any mortal of any race so long as they have a neck, can protect the soul from annihilation even if the body dies. In fact, upon body death, the soul can even be transplanted into another body with ease – the only condition is that the soul itself be strong enough to survive. The choker only protects from physical death, nothing else.

“The demand for this item is a treasure that can entirely heal the soul of a Golden Core cultivator, and a minimum payment of 10,000 MP! Those who have the required treasure must, as usual, submit the item to the Inn before they can bid. In the scenario where someone is unable to win the bid, the item they submitted will be returned to them.”

MashedPotatoIsPotatoSoup: What the heck? That’s seriously OP! Unfortunately, I don’t have the item or else I’d definitely get this!

AfroKing101: This is genuinely a good item, but for 10,000 MP you could get something better, right?

DefinitelyNotASpyIsASpy: To the commenter above, you are correct. This is a wasteful item. Save your money, don’t waste it. New bid: Item + 11,000 MP!

VelmaILoveYou: This is the perfect gift for my future daughter with Velma. Everyone, stay away! New bid: Item + 12,000 MP!

The items continued to increase in rarity and use, right about until Mary was about to enter the list of items for the Foundation realm.

“Hey Lex, check this out,” said Z, causing him to look up from the glossary. “The competition on this one is crazy.”

Lex turned to look at the auction. The item being auctioned was the last one for mortals, and it was a coupon to get tested for admission in Ventura for someone who had never cultivated before! He frowned, as he did not recall that item being on the auction list.

“I didn’t know we had that on the list,” he said, even as he mentally checked when the coupon was entered into the auction. “Neither did I, but the price is already the highest I’ve seen so far in the mortal section.”

Indeed, it was true. The price was already in the millions, but what concerned Lex was that… no one had entered the coupon in the list. It had just magically appeared.

As far as Lex was concerned, that could only be because of a couple of things – there was interference, and it was from another system, or his own system was supporting Ventura for some reason.

Why was that? Was Ventura a system too?

Even though he could see she was busy with the auction, Lex was forced to ask Mary. After all, she could surely multitask. Even if she were merely a projection, she was very capable. Underestimating her would be a huge mistake.