"Sixty thousand spiritual stones," said Mu Chen leisurely.
Alcoholic items like the Purple Orchid Jade Wine, no matter even if they are rare and exquisite in flavour, usually did not typically attract the kind of cutthroat, competitive.
Most cultivators in the hall were pragmatic; they preferred to hoard their spiritual stones for treasures that could ensure their survival in the upcoming ancient ruins rather than squandering them on a temporary indulgence of the senses.
Just when Shen Xi and the others believed the bid was a settled matter and that Mu Chen would secure his prize without further effort, the predictable nature of trouble reared its head.
A voice, sharp and dripping with practiced arrogance, cut through the quiet murmurs of the hall from a different VIP suite.
"One hundred thousand spiritual stones."
The sudden jump in price was nearly double the previous bid, an aggressive move that sent a ripple of surprise through the crowd below.
Shen Xi turned her gaze toward the direction of the opposing VIP room, clearly something strange was occurring. A bottle of wine was simply not valuable enough to justify such a massive, sudden escalation in price.
She turned to her companions, she asked Xiao Li and Yun Er. "Who is in that room?"
Xiao Li thought for a moment before sharing what she knew. "VIP Room Number One is reserved for Tianxuan, the Young Master of the City Lord's Mansion,"
Yun Er leaned in, adding a layer of gossip to the information. "I've heard that lately, he has become something of a lackey for Ling Xi. Ling Xi is widely considered the most talented among the younger generation, and rumours say he has already been approached by a Super Sect for recruitment."
The weight of that information settled over the room. In front of the overwhelming power of a Super Sect, even a grand dynasty like the Great Xia was essentially worthless.
A Super Sect could erase an entire dynasty with a casual swipe of a hand; therefore, for a youth like Tianxuan, being the son of a City Lord was a minor status. Following someone like Ling Xi was a calculated move, a way to secure a foot in the door of a super sects.
"What are you thinking?" Shen Xi asked, turning her head to look at Mu Chen.
Mu Chen had not responded to the bid yet. He sat with one hand propped under his chin, his eyes half-lidded as if he were contemplating a difficult puzzle. There was no anger on his face, only a strange, detached focus.
"I am thinking... should I erase him?" Mu Chen mused softly. He spoke without a trace of malice, his tone as flat as if he were reading through a grocery list. "Or should I simply turn him to dust? Perhaps I could create a timeline where he is nothing more than a starving beggar, or..."
Mu Chen trailed off, seemingly genuinely troubled by the sheer number of options at his disposal. To him, dealing with a nuisance like Tianxuan was a matter of logistics rather than emotion.
There were more ways for him to dismantle the young man's existence than there were breaths he had taken in his entire life. It was not a question of whether he could bid higher; Mu Chen could summon a never-ending supply of spiritual stones with a thought.
But to do so would be to participate in Tianxuan's game. Why bother playing a game when you have the power to smash the board?
Xiao Li and Yun Er felt an eerie chill crawl down their spines as they listened to his calm, clinical assessment of Tianxuan's possible fates. The sheer indifference in his voice was far more terrifying than any roar of rage could ever be.
Shen Xi, however, only smiled. She was used to his peculiar way of viewing the world.
"So, what have you decided?" she asked.
In the midst of the silence, Nibi, the golden cat nestled in Shen Xi's arms, let out a sharp, rhythmic meow. She looked up at Mu Chen, flicking her tail and then flicking her golden hair as if offering a specific suggestion. She even stuck out her pink tongue and bared her tiny fangs in a playful, devious manner.
Mu Chen's eyes brightened. "Oh? That is actually a very good idea, Nibi."
Below them, the auctioneer regained his voice, though he sounded uncertain. "One hundred thousand spiritual stones, once! Does anyone wish to challenge the Young Lord's bid?"
In VIP Room One, Tianxuan sat lounging on a silk divan, a smirk of absolute arrogance plastered across his face. He watched the auction floor through the one-way spiritual glass, savoring the silence from the other chamber.
"What happened?" Tianxuan's voice boomed through the hall, amplified by the suite's spiritual formation. It was laced with a thick, insulting tone. "No more bidding? I was hoping for a challenge. Who allowed such pathetic beggars into the VIP rooms in the first place? It's a disgrace to the establishment."
A wave of laughter erupted from the participants in the main hall. Many of them were eager to curry favor with the City Lord's son and found his public shaming of the unidentified guests in Room Five to be excellent entertainment.
To Xiao Li and Yun Er, the words were a stinging insult. They were princesses of their own domains, and their tempers flared at being called beggars. Just as they were about to retort.
Mu Chen acted.
He didn't speak. He simply tapped the arm of his chair once with the lazy tip of his finger.
The causality of the room shifted, rewriting the future.
In VIP Room One, the arrogant laughter of Tianxuan came to an abrupt, jarring halt. His eyes glazed over for a fraction of a second, and then his mouth opened of its own accord.
"I bid my family mansion!" Tianxuan's voice rang out, louder and clearer than before. "And I wish to gift this wine to the young friend who is currently sitting in VIP Room Five!"
The entire auction hall fell into a state of absolute, suffocating silence. Every person in the room held their breath, their minds struggling to process the words they had just heard.
The auctioneer's hammer remained frozen in the air, and his mouth hung open, forgetting to close.
Tianxuan himself was the most shocked of all. He sat in his chair, his mind screaming in confusion. He didn't understand why he had said those words.
In his heart, he had wanted to humiliate Mu Chen, to drive him into the dirt—but as soon as he had opened his mouth, the very structure of his intent had been warped. It was as if his own tongue had betrayed his soul.
Below the stage, the auctioneer's hands began to shake. He looked up toward the first VIP suite, his voice trembling. "Young Lord... did I hear you correctly?"
No one in their right mind would believe it. A bottle of wine worth fifty thousand spiritual stones was being bid on with a mansion worth millions. It was a trade so lopsided that it defied the logic of the known world.
No sane person would ever dream of such a thing, especially not for the purpose of gifting the prize to the very person they were just insulting.
Tianxuan's mind was in a frantic tailspin. He tried to retort, to scream that it was a mistake and that he took back the words, but when he opened his mouth, the sounds that emerged were entirely different.
"Do you take this Young Lord's words for a fart?" Tianxuan's voice shouted back, his tone sounding genuinely offended. "Of course I mean it! If you don't believe me, then let's do it right now and settle the matter!"
Before the guards in his room could react, Tianxuan's hand moved as if possessed. He pulled out a sheet of imperial paper—the kind used for binding legal contracts within the dynasty.
He bit his own finger, making a small cut, and quickly wrote out the deed to his secondary manor. He signed it in his own blood with a flourish of terrifying efficiency.
His guards moved to stop him, realizing the disaster unfolding before their eyes, but Tianxuan's other hand waved dismissively. A blast of spiritual energy erupted from his palm, pinning the guards to the floor with such force that they could only watch helplessly, their faces pressed against the carpet.
"Here! Take this! Now, no more questions!" Tianxuan shouted, throwing the bloody contract through the spiritual barrier of his room. The paper drifted down through the air like a falling leaf, landing squarely on the auctioneer's podium.
Tianxuan's body was trembling violently. Inside, he was crying, his mind a whirlwind of terror and horror. He couldn't believe what he was doing.
He knew he wasn't under a simple mind control; his mind was clear, his soul was alert, and his body felt entirely free—yet the words and actions simply would not follow his intent. It was as if everything is predestined.
The auctioneer held the paper with trembling hands, his body shaking with a feverish excitement. He checked the seal and the blood signature. It was authentic.
He hit the hammer with a deafening crack. "The wine goes to Chamber VIP Number Five!"
The auctioneer wasn't worried about whether the City Lord would try to take the mansion back later. They now had public documentation and hundreds of witnesses, including the gathered geniuses of the domain.
If the City Lord tried to interfere, he would be striking a blow against the very trade rules that allowed the Great Xia to prosper.
In the other VIP rooms, several other prodigies who had come for the auction began to chuckle.
"Hey, what do you think?" one of them laughed. "Will Tianxuan's ass be red from a beating tonight?"
"I think the City Lord will doubt his own creation," another replied, his voice full of mockery. "He'll wonder how he could have given birth to someone so incredibly brainless."
Laughter rang out once again, this time at Tianxuan's expense.
Mu Chen's voice drifted out from Room Five, sounding perfectly calm and subtly mocking. "Well, I thank the Young Lord for such a generous and thoughtful gift."
Nibi meowed happily, looking up at Shen Xi with her chest puffed out. Her tails wagged as if she were saying: How was it? Praise me! I told him what to do!
Shen Xi smiled warmly and scratched the cat behind the ears. "It was very fun, Nibi. Good job."
Yun Er felt as though her mind were about to explode. She had witnessed everything from start to finish, yet she couldn't fathom how the events had taken such a bizarre turn.
She looked at Mu Chen, her eyes shining like bright stars.
"How did you do that?" she asked, her voice a mix of awe and suspicion.
In her mind, a thought began to sprout. If she could learn such a trick and apply it to Mu Chen himself, could she make him agree to a marriage proposal?
Mu Chen suddenly felt a wave of goosebumps and looked at her with a wary expression.
"Maybe he just changed his mind," Mu Chen said, looking back at the auction floor.
"Even a ghost wouldn't believe that" Yun Er muttered, rolling her eyes.
She looked over at Xiao Li, finally beginning to understand the deeper meaning behind the girl's previous warnings. "So this is what you meant? About them being... different?"
Xiao Li nodded with a knowing grin. "Now you've got it."
In the first VIP chamber, Tianxuan's body slumped to the floor, his face pale as a ghost. He began to murmur to himself, his eyes vacant.
"How did it go like this? What happened to me? What type of sorcery is this?"
He received no answer. He had made the fatal mistake of trying to mess with someone he couldn't afford, just to please someone else, and now he was left with nothing other than a legacy of stupidity.