After circling around the garden and passing through a pavilion built between a rockery and a pond, a grand hall could be seen.
The roof of the hall was decorated with shiny tiles and intricate wood carvings. Along the eaves, there were all sorts of majestic carvings of ferocious beasts.
Above the hall was a plaque that read 'Hall of Beasts'.
Lu Xiaoyun obviously knew more about the Friar Association than Zu Can. After a brief explanation, Lin Jin understood. Despite the domineering words on the plaque, just like the 'Mahavira Hall' in his previous world, every temple had one of these.
The Friar Association's auction would be held here.
In terms of influence, the Beast Appraisal Association was undoubtedly the most influential. But in terms of strength, the Friar Association reigned supreme. Moreover, the number of Friar Association members far exceeded that of the Beast Appraisal Association.
The Friar Association focused on cultivating blood contracts to improve their pet beasts' and their own cultivation level and strength. However, they also had a very important mission, which was to hunt various beasts.
Most of the beasts at this auction were hunted by the Friar Association.
Upon entering the grand hall, there were already many people waiting inside. The hall was spacious with dozens of beast cages of varying sizes covered in thick cloths.
Each cage had a five-foot radius around it, separated by ropes and guarded by two Friar Association disciples. As the auction hadn't started yet, no one was allowed to approach the cages.
The beast cage was covered with a thick cloth to maintain a sense of mystery.
Zu Can rubbed his palms together eagerly. He told Lin Jin that his sapphire turtle had been auctioned here for three hundred low-grade spirit stones back then.
In the Friar Association and other places, spirit stones were used instead of gold and silver.
That sapphire turtle was worth at least five hundred taels of silver.
Indeed, only the rich could afford to spend money here.
"Pet beasts that cost a few hundred spirit stones are common. There are often pet beasts that cost several thousand spirit stones here. Not even my Zu family can afford that," Zu Can said with a smile.
Generally speaking, the best age to form a blood pact with a pet beast was sixteen.
Before sixteen, one had to train their body, strengthen their physique, and increase their knowledge. Otherwise, a sickly person who knew nothing would have a low chance of forming a blood pact with a pet beast.
If he failed, both his pet beast and himself would suffer great damage, and he would have to recuperate for a long time.
Any capable family would naturally hope to choose a pet beast with high potential and compatible attributes for their children. A pet beast auction like this was the most suitable place for such a family.
Zu Can was chatting with Lin Jin when he noticed a few people in the distance. He was stunned and his expression darkened.
Zu Yingying also saw it and immediately came over. "Brother, it's Second Uncle and the others."
Zhu Can nodded and didn't say anything.
Those people on the other side obviously saw Zu Can as well, and they walked over.
Zu Can's eyes flashed with displeasure, but he still took a step forward and bowed to one of them together with Zu Yingying.
"Greetings, Second Uncle."
They were from the Zu family.
However, no matter how they looked at it, they didn't see eye to eye with each other. Sure enough, aristocratic families had a lot of grudges.
The middle-aged man looked dignified as he looked at Zu Can and Zu Yingying. Surprisingly, he shook his head and said, "I've told Big Brother that I should handle such important matters like purchasing pet beasts for the family myself. Yet, he insisted on sending the two of you here. What an unnecessary move. But so what if you're here? You two should watch and learn more. It's good to broaden your horizons."
Upon hearing this, Zu Can and Zu Yingying's expressions darkened. However, as the man was their elder, they couldn't lash out. "Oh, right.
Let me introduce you two. This is Master Liao. Master Liao is a contemporary expert who doesn't care for fame and fortune, but his beast appraising skills are unparalleled. He's not inferior to a Rank 3 beast appraiser. It wasn't easy for me to invite him here to pick out pet beasts for the Zu family. Hurry up and greet him, "said Zu Can's second uncle.
Next to him stood an old man with an ethereal bearing. He was gently stroking his beard as if everything was under his control.
Zu Can was displeased.
'I'm greeting you because you're my second uncle. But who is this old man? I don't even know him. Why should I greet him? '
Zu Can didn't move.
Zu Yingying did the same.
Descendants of prominent families were prideful. Moreover, they clearly didn't see eye to eye with Zu Can's second uncle's faction. They might even be enemies, so of course they wouldn't listen to everything.
Before Zu Can's second uncle could say anything, Master Liao was clearly displeased.
Perhaps being ignored by these two youngsters had embarrassed him, he scoffed and said, "Mr. Zu, the descendants of your Zu family sure are arrogant."
Zu Can's second uncle's name was Zu Tianli. In the Zu family, he didn't get along well with the current patriarch, Zu Tianhong, who was also his elder brother. Both openly and covertly, he already had a grudge against Zu Can. Now that the other party had embarrassed him in front of Master Liao, Zu Tianli was obviously annoyed.
He had indeed spent a large sum of money to invite this Master Liao over. In order to invite Master Liao, one would need at least a thousand taels of gold and a favor.
"Zu Can, Yingying is a young girl so I won't hold it against her. But you, as the eldest son of the Zu family, how can you be so rude? Hurry up and apologize to Master Liao, "Zu Tianli reprimanded with a straight face.
Despite Zu Can's cheerful personality, he had a stubborn personality. Even when Zu Tianli reprimanded him, he couldn't refute because of his status as his second uncle. Yet, he didn't budge.
And thus, he fought back.
"Hmph!" Zu Tianli's expression darkened. The old man called Master Liao waved his hand and said, "Forget it. It's fine if you don't want to bow. After all, your Zu family is so big. It's normal to have a few uneducated youngsters every now and then."
His words were a little harsh.
Zu Can's expression immediately changed. Zu Yingying couldn't help but ask, "Who are you calling uneducated?"
Having said that, she stepped forward to argue.
Master Liao's expression darkened as well. With a sweep of his sleeve, a strong gust of wind surged. Zu Yingying lost her footing and almost fell to the ground from the gust.
Enraged, Zu Can wanted to step forward as well but was held back by someone.
He turned around to see Lin Jin holding him back.
"Brother Lin, you …"
Just as Zu Can was about to ask, Lin Jin shook his head and said, "They set this up on purpose. You two didn't even think twice before jumping into it. Aren't you stupid?"
His words were crude but they were for Zu Can's own good.
The latter immediately understood what was going on.
Zu Tianli was doing this on purpose. Knowing Zu Can's personality, Zu Tianli would never listen to him. This way, Zu Tianli could accuse Zu Can of being rude and teach him a lesson as a senior.
Even if word got out, no one would think that Zu Tianli was in the wrong. Even if Zu Can's father found out, there was nothing he could do. He might even teach Zu Can a lesson.
When that happened, Zu Can would be the one in the wrong.
Others wouldn't care about the twists and turns in his story. All they knew was that Zu Can was arrogant and disrespectful to his elders.
At this, Zu Can calmed down and nodded at Lin Jin gratefully.
Then, Zu Can took a deep breath and saluted Master Liao. "Sir, since you're an expert invited by my second uncle, I'm sure you're a broad-minded person. If my sister and I have offended each other, I hope you won't take it to heart."
As the saying went, 'Take a step back, and you'll see the world'.
Zu Can knew that because he and his second uncle had been holding back, he didn't greet this so-called 'master'. As a result, his second uncle accused him of disrespecting his elders. Strictly speaking, they couldn't be blamed for this. After all, they didn't know this person and he wasn't a senior in the family, so it was understandable for them not to greet him. However, with his second uncle's interference, things were different. The best thing they could do now was to avoid the conflict to prevent others from gossiping.
And so, Zu Can apologized.
However, he wasn't a pushover. Although Zu Can was young, he was still the Zu family's young master. He knew that his second granduncle, Zu Tianli, must be here for the 'purchasing rights'.
This task was originally assigned to Zu Can, but Zu Tianli suddenly interfered and used his seniority to pressure him. He was obviously trying to provoke Zu Can so that he could use the young man's immaturity as an excuse to seize the purchasing rights.
Purchasing pet beasts for the family was a big deal. If it was done well, Zu Can would be honored. Of course, his father, Zu Tianhong's reputation would rise as well, and vice versa.
Hence, the purchasing rights couldn't be lost.
"Second Uncle, let me introduce you as well. This is an official beast appraiser from the Beast Appraisal Association, Appraiser Lin. I've invited him to appraise pet beasts for the family."
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