Isshin was trying to get back to the academy to find Rune and Karin, but it would take days for him to get back. Right after getting out of the forest, he started hesitating.
"Are they even at the academy right now? It should be break time. They should probably be going to their homes… although I have no clue where they could be," Isshin thought.
Isshin would need to find a way to learn their whereabouts, but that would be very difficult since no one he knew actually knew them. After thinking about it for a while, he slowly gave up on the idea.
"Should I just go back?" he asked Raijin.
"Instead of going back to the Divine Sword Sect, you should explore a city instead," Raijin replied.
Isshin barely had any experience in the normal world. He had spent most of his life staying close to only two or three people, so exploring and making connections would probably help him more than rushing back somewhere.
"I have an immense amount of wealth, but none of it is valuable in this world," Raijin continued. "Even relics that could destroy this world are useless here. No cultivator would even understand what they are. You should go to an auction and sell this Dark Jade Crystal I have. I have thousands of them, and the cultivators here will probably see it as an incredible treasure. It isn't flashy enough for people to kill you over it, but it's valuable enough that you'll earn a lot of money."
Raijin clearly wanted Isshin to go to an auction.
"How much would this even sell for?" Isshin asked.
"I would assume at least five or six million coins in this place," Raijin replied.
That was enough money to last Isshin an entire lifetime.
After hearing that, Isshin decided to head toward a nearby city he had heard about called Florent City. It was the closest large settlement in the area, and it seemed like the perfect place to start.
Over the next day, Isshin traveled quickly using Flash Step, moving through forests and open land far faster than any normal traveler. By the time the sun began to lower, the large walls of the city finally came into view.
When he arrived at the city gates, there were already tons of people gathered there. Merchants with carts, cultivators traveling alone, and ordinary civilians were all waiting to enter for different reasons.
Isshin walked up with the crowd.
One of the city guards stopped him.
"What business do you have here?"
Isshin froze for a moment. He had no idea what to say. This was his first time exploring a real city after all.
"Repeat after me," Raijin said calmly.
"I-I am here for the auction," Isshin told the guard.
The guard narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Do you have a permit?"
"No… but how can I get one?"
"There is a twenty coin fee to enter without a permit."
Isshin wasn't too broke to pay that. Compared to what Raijin said the Dark Jade Crystal would sell for, twenty coins was basically nothing.
He handed the coins to the guard and was allowed to enter the city normally.
The moment he stepped inside, Isshin immediately noticed something that stood out. In the center of the city was a massive building that towered above everything else around it. It had to be at least fifty meters tall, easily the tallest structure in the entire area.
Even from a distance, Isshin had a feeling that it had to be the auction hall.
Still, he decided to confirm it.
He walked over to a nearby merchant stall.
"Where is the auction hall, sir?" Isshin asked a shopkeeper.
The man pointed across the street toward the massive structure.
"That building over there has everything you would need," the shopkeeper said. "It has an inn, an auction house, a restaurant, and just about anything you can think of in this city."
Isshin was a bit surprised to hear that.
A single building with all of that inside it?
Without wasting time, he walked straight toward it.
As he got closer, a huge text label on the front of the building caught his eye.
The Florentines
The letters were large and carved into the stone above the entrance.
Isshin stepped inside.
The interior was even bigger than he expected. The lower level had a large inn filled with travelers sitting around eating and talking loudly. Servants were walking around with trays of food while merchants discussed deals at different tables.
Isshin found a seat and ordered some regular food.
While he was eating, he asked one of the workers about the auction.
"When will the auction begin?" Isshin asked.
"It will start in three days," the worker replied.
Isshin nodded.
That meant he had plenty of time.
His main goal was to auction the Dark Jade Crystal and hope for the best. For now, he decided to get a room and rest.
He paid ten coins for a room at the inn and began walking up the stairs to explore the rest of the building.
As he reached the upper levels, he suddenly noticed a massive hall behind a set of large doors. When he looked inside, he was shocked.
The room was enormous, easily five times bigger than the auditorium at Isshin's academy. Rows of seats surrounded a large stage in the middle, clearly designed for displaying treasures to large crowds.
Isshin immediately understood.
This place wasn't just a normal auction house.