The massive golden gong echoed through the Golden Dragon Pavilion, signaling the start of the Grand Auction.
The crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling dimmed, casting a dramatic spotlight on the center stage. A beautiful woman wearing a sleek, form-fitting silver dress walked out. She had a charming, professional smile that could easily melt the wallets of half the men in the room.
"Welcome, esteemed guests, to the Golden Dragon Pavilion's Decennial Grand Auction!" the auctioneer announced. Her voice was amplified by a sound array, ringing clearly in every corner of the nine-story pagoda. "I am your host, Su Mei. Today, we have gathered treasures that will shake the very foundations of the cultivation world!"
The general seating area on the first floor erupted into excited cheers.
Up in the Heavenly Emperor Skybox, Yan Shuo leaned back into the soft silk couch. He rested his arm behind Tantai Zhi, perfectly playing the role of a relaxed, spoiled young master.
"She has a nice voice," Yan Shuo commented lazily, picking up a cup of tea.
Tantai Zhi instantly stopped peeling a spirit grape. She looked down at the auctioneer through the crystal window, her golden eyes flashing with a sudden, freezing chill.
"Does Husband like her voice?" Tantai Zhi asked. Her tone was incredibly soft, but the temperature in the VIP box dropped by ten degrees. "Should I go down there and bring her to you? Or maybe I can just cut out her throat so she can't speak to you anymore."
Yan Shuo nearly choked on his tea.
I forgot she's basically a walking heavenly disaster with jealousy issues, he mentally sweat-dropped. He quickly set the cup down and wrapped his arm tighter around her waist, pulling her flush against him.
"No, Wife, I was just making an observation," Yan Shuo said smoothly, kissing the top of her head. "Her voice is nice for selling things, but it sounds like a squawking chicken compared to yours. I only want to hear you."
The freezing temperature in the room instantly vanished. The deadly Saintess melted back into a puddle of absolute, blushing devotion.
"Husband is too sweet," she giggled, hiding her face against his shoulder. "I will sing for you tonight."
Please don't, Yan Shuo thought, remembering her hilariously off-key humming. My ears might actually bleed. But outwardly, he just gave her a warm, loving smile.
Down on the stage, Su Mei clapped her hands. A beautiful attendant walked out carrying a silver tray covered by a red silk cloth.
"Let us begin with our warm-up items!" Su Mei smiled, pulling off the cloth. "A Mid-Grade Flying Sword, forged with rare Wind-Rider crystals. It increases flight speed by thirty percent! Starting bid: Five thousand low-grade spirit stones!"
It was a completely average sword. Flashy, but practically useless in a real fight because the wind arrays made the blade too fragile.
In a hidden viewing room on the highest floor of the pavilion, Manager Qian stood next to two Righteous Alliance elders. They were watching Yan Shuo's VIP box through a scrying mirror.
"Watch this," Manager Qian sneered, rubbing his fat hands together. "I have three actors planted in the crowd. We will bid the price up slightly, just to see if the boy bites."
Down on the floor, a planted actor raised his paddle. "Six thousand!"
Before anyone else could even blink, a loud, clear chime rang out from the Heavenly Emperor Skybox. The crystal window flashed with a bright golden light, projecting a number for the entire pavilion to see.
Fifty Thousand.
The entire auction house went dead silent.
People snapped their necks upward, staring at the highest VIP box in absolute shock. Fifty thousand low-grade spirit stones for a mid-grade sword?! That was ten times its actual value! You could buy a small sect with that kind of money!
Su Mei, the professional auctioneer, actually stuttered. "F-Fifty thousand?! We have fifty thousand from the Heavenly Emperor Skybox! Going once! Going twice! Sold!"
In the VIP box, Yan Shuo yawned, tapping his finger against his chin.
"It's a little slow," Yan Shuo said loudly, making sure the surveillance arrays in the room picked up his voice. He looked at Tantai Zhi with a wide, arrogant grin. "Wife, this is boring. I thought they said things here were expensive."
Tantai Zhi just beamed at him. "If Husband wants to throw spirit stones, throw them. I have three more mountains of them in my spatial ring back home."
In the hidden viewing room, Manager Qian and the Alliance elders burst into cruel, mocking laughter.
"Did you hear him?!" an elder wheezed, slapping his knee. "The boy is a complete idiot! He just wants to show off in front of the Saintess!"
"He has no idea what anything is worth," Manager Qian grinned, his eyes gleaming with pure greed. "He is playing right into our hands. Tell the actors to push the next item even higher. Let's bleed this soft-rice eater dry!"
And so, the greatest scam in the history of the Golden Dragon Pavilion began.
The second item was a flashy, glowing spirit beast egg that supposedly belonged to a rare lightning bird. In reality, Yan Shuo's veteran eyes could tell the shell was painted and the aura was completely artificial. It would probably hatch into a very angry, very normal chicken.
"Starting bid: Ten thousand!" Su Mei called out.
An actor raised his paddle. "Twelve thousand!"
Chime!
One Hundred Thousand.
The crowd gasped again. Yan Shuo was leaning against the window, looking incredibly bored as he casually slammed the bidding button.
The third item was a set of glowing blue robes. They offered zero physical defense and only looked pretty.
Eighty Thousand.
The fourth item was a massive, clunky pill furnace that had a crack hidden near the base.
Two Hundred Thousand.
For the next hour, Yan Shuo bought absolutely everything. He didn't even let the regular crowd bid. The moment an item was revealed, the Alliance actors would shout a low number, and Yan Shuo would instantly crush them with an absurd, mind-boggling amount of money.
He looked exactly like a spoiled, ignorant kid who had just been handed his terrifying wife's treasury and was completely drunk on the power.
The crowd on the first floor was practically numb. They were watching a bidding slaughter.
Up in the viewing room, Manager Qian was sweating with sheer joy. "He's spent over two million stones on absolute garbage! The Azure Sword Sect is going to go bankrupt by tomorrow morning! The Righteous Alliance will be thrilled!"
"Keep going!" the elder laughed eagerly. "Push the trash items! Don't bring out the real treasures yet!"
Down in the VIP box, Yan Shuo was happily chewing on another spirit grape. His spatial ring was currently holding the entire ancient treasury of a Demon Lord. Two million low-grade stones was literally the equivalent of pocket lint to him.
They really think they are robbing me, Yan Shuo chuckled internally. This is almost too easy. It's like taking treasure from a fool.
Finally, item number fourteen was brought out.
Su Mei looked incredibly awkward as the attendant carried out a plain wooden tray. There was no glowing aura. There was no grand presentation. Sitting on the tray was a rusted, completely black chunk of ugly metal. It looked like a piece of burnt firewood pulled from a dirty campfire.
The crowd immediately lost interest. People started whispering among themselves, waiting for the next flashy sword.
"Ahem," Su Mei cleared her throat, forcing a polite smile. "This item is... unique. It was found in a deep trench. Our pavilion appraisers cannot identify it. It cannot be melted by any standard sect furnace, and it absorbs spiritual energy instead of reflecting it. It might be useful as a very heavy paperweight. Starting bid... one hundred low-grade spirit stones."
Silence filled the pavilion. Nobody wanted to buy a rusted rock.
In the hidden viewing room, Manager Qian rolled his eyes. "Who put that piece of junk in the lineup? It's embarrassing."
"Should we have the actors bid on it?" an elder asked.
"No, don't bother," Qian sneered. "It's a literal rock. If we push the price on garbage, the boy might realize we are manipulating him. Let him have his little break before we bring out the Nascent Soul pill. That's where we will take ten million from him."
Down in the Heavenly Emperor Skybox, Yan Shuo's heart gave a slow, steady thump.
There it was. The Abyssal Star-Core.
The most violently dense, heaven-defying forging material in the mortal realm. With that single chunk of black rock, Yan Shuo could re-forge his Abyssal Dragon Spear or create a Core Formation foundation so heavy it could physically crush mountains. It was priceless. A supreme grandmaster would slaughter a whole city just to get a fingernail-sized piece of it.
And they were selling it for one hundred stones.
Yan Shuo didn't sit up. He didn't lean forward. He kept his posture incredibly lazy and bored. He let out a loud, highly exaggerated yawn.
"What an ugly rock," Yan Shuo said, making sure the surveillance array caught his voice. "But the table in my courtyard is a little wobbly. It might make a good wedge for the table leg."
He lazily reached out and tapped the crystal bell.
Chime.
One hundred and one.
The crowd on the first floor actually laughed. The crazy young master from the VIP box who was throwing around hundreds of thousands of stones had just bid one extra stone for a piece of rusted garbage. It completely fit his unpredictable, spoiled-brat persona.
Su Mei looked relieved that someone actually bid on it.
"We have one hundred and one stones from the Heavenly Emperor Skybox!" she called out quickly, not wanting to waste time. "Going once! Going twice! Sold!"
Bang.
The auction hammer fell.
In the VIP box, Yan Shuo finally allowed a genuine, dark smile to touch his lips.
Fools, Yan Shuo thought, his veteran eyes gleaming with absolute victory.
He didn't care about the two million stones he spent on fake eggs and fragile swords. He had just walked into the center of the Righteous Alliance's greatest merchant guild, let them think they were outsmarting him, and legally walked away with the most powerful ancient artifact in the building for the price of a cheap lunch.
"Husband?" Tantai Zhi asked, looking at his smiling face. "Are you happy with your rock?"
"Very happy, Wife," Yan Shuo said, wrapping his arm around her and pulling her close. "This auction is fantastic. I'm having the time of my life."
Right on cue, the heavy golden doors of the VIP box swung open. Two attendants walked in, bowing deeply, carrying the tray with the heavy black Star-Core.
Yan Shuo waved his hand, tossing a small bag of spirit stones onto the tray, and smoothly swept the black rock into his spatial ring before anyone could look too closely at it.
The heist was complete.
But the auction wasn't over. Su Mei clapped her hands, her voice rising in dramatic excitement.
"And now, esteemed guests, we move to the grand finale items!" Su Mei announced. "The items that will change the fate of your sects forever!"
The attendant carried out a glowing jade box. Inside sat a perfectly round, violently red pill that radiated a wave of intense heat across the entire pavilion.
"The Crimson Heaven Pill! Guaranteed to grant a ten percent chance to break through to the Nascent Soul realm! Starting bid: One million mid-grade spirit stones!"
The crowd went absolutely wild. Sect leaders stood up, their eyes bloodshot with greed.
In the viewing room, Manager Qian grinned like a demon. "Here we go. Tell the actors to get ready. We are going to make that boy bleed until the Azure Sword Sect begs for mercy!"
In the Heavenly Emperor Skybox, Yan Shuo looked at the fiery pill. He knew exactly what it was. It was a defective, highly toxic failure that would cripple whoever ate it.
Yan Shuo leaned back, a malicious, lazy smirk on his face. He crossed his legs and grabbed another grape.
Alright, Manager Qian, Yan Shuo thought. You let me have my treasure. Now, let's see how much of your own money I can force you to spend on poison.