Chapter Sixty-Three: The Seven-Leaf Lotus

The Lin family would be under the care of the Jiang family, and he himself was at the Celestial Book Academy. He did not believe the Liu family would dare to seek revenge! When he placed another bid, shocking everyone once again, his negative emotion points surged by twenty thousand. Originally, he had just over thirty thousand, and with the first wave of negative emotions, it had reached around forty-five thousand. Now, with the additional twenty thousand, it had already surpassed sixty thousand!

“Good! Good! Good—!” Liu Chuanzi’s voice rang out, icy cold, and anyone could hear the anger in it. He indeed lacked the Soul-gathering Grass, but he hadn’t reached the point where he would disregard the price and spend an extra four or five hundred thousand to compete. The price this youth called out left him unable to continue bidding.

“I only hope you live to claim your bid, but not to use it!” The chill in his words swept through the room like a bitter wind, causing everyone present to shiver collectively. They understood that this youth had utterly offended Liu Chuanzi.

“If you’ve got the money, keep bidding. If you don’t, get lost!” Lin Fan never indulged people like this. His voice rang out from the private box, bluntly rebuffing Liu’s threat.

“Are you looking for death—!” Liu Chuanzi roared in fury. When had he ever endured such humiliation? The door of Box Three burst open, revealing his burly figure, his energy surging as he strode directly toward Box Thirteen.

Boom!

Yet before he could act, a black shadow appeared before him, striking his chest with a single palm.

With a loud bang, Liu Chuanzi’s figure was sent flying back into his box, and the door of Box Three was slammed shut.

Swish!

The black figure returned to the auction stage, revealing Qian Xin. With a frosty gaze toward Box Three, he spoke coldly, “I said you’d only get one chance. This time, it’s just a warning. If you try again, you’ll leave your life here.”

With those words, Qian Xin didn’t wait for a reply. His icy face instantly broke into a smile, the change so swift it left people speechless.

“Well then, seven hundred thousand for the first time. Any higher bids?”

“Seven hundred thousand, second call!”

“Seven hundred thousand, third and final call—sold!”

As the gavel fell, Qian Xin announced the sale of the Soul-gathering Grass, and the tense crowd finally let out a sigh of relief, each person snapping out of their shock.

The exchange had happened so quickly, they were still left reeling.

Only now did they fully realize the Four Seas Trading Company’s domineering stance—they regarded none of the local families in the Azure Snow Prefecture as worth their concern.

They struck without hesitation, without the slightest scruple; after dealing with Liu Chuanzi, they even threatened the Liu family!

Too domineering…!

Nevertheless, everyone understood this was because Liu Chuanzi had broken the Four Seas Trading Company’s rules and was in the wrong from the start.

Hadn’t they seen Liu Chuanzi, after being sent flying by a single palm, not daring to make another appearance, not even uttering a word?

Yet no one knew that at this moment, inside Box Three, Liu Chuanzi’s face was ashen and terrifying, his eyes burning with murderous rage, blood at the corner of his mouth.

With just one strike, Qian Xin had gravely injured him!

He had held nothing back. The injury from that palm would take at least a year to recover from, even with Liu’s own abilities.

He neither replied nor reappeared, for he now understood Qian Xin’s attitude—if he continued to push, he would truly be killed!

“Damn it—!” Liu Chuanzi’s fists clenched so hard they cracked, his jaw tight, but he didn’t dare cause trouble for the Four Seas Trading Company.

At this moment, he clearly saw how the Trading Company viewed families like his, and the disdain with which they were regarded.

“Find out everything about the person in Box Thirteen!” he spat, leaving those words behind as he exited through a hidden door.

He would not remain in this place where he had lost all dignity, his reputation trampled into the dirt. He had no strength to take revenge on the Trading Company.

But that upstart who had started it all—he would find out who he was and make sure he died…!

With Liu Chuanzi’s departure, the auction regained its fervor as one item after another went under the hammer.

Yet the mood was tinged with a discordant note.

The youth in Box Thirteen participated in every auction, always increasing the bid by the minimum increment, forcing others to pay far more than they intended.

Take, for example, the two stalks of Purple Gold Ginseng. They could have been won for just over two hundred thousand taels! Each time the bid rose by two thousand. When the price reached two hundred thirty thousand, and there were no other bidders, just as someone was about to win, he would add another two thousand. Would you give up for a mere two thousand after having already bid two hundred thirty thousand?

Of course not. So you raise your bid, and the moment you do, he drops out—cleanly and politely, as if yielding courteously.

It was enough to make people grit their teeth in frustration…!

And this youth didn’t just do it for the coveted items—he bid on everything.

If not for the Trading Company’s strict reputation for never using shills, people would have suspected he was their ringer, deliberately driving up prices.

Unbeknownst to all, the final highlight of the auction had already appeared.

First up was a rare treasure of nature—a century-old Seven-Leaf Lotus!

It was well known that those at the Meridian-passing Realm had to open one hundred and eight vital points and liquefy their internal energy, a slow and arduous process.

Yet a single century-old Seven-Leaf Lotus was enough to allow a newly advanced expert to make great strides, saving decades of painstaking cultivation!

By now, the bidding for the Seven-Leaf Lotus had reached fifteen million taels, and as with the Soul-gathering Grass, there was no reserve price.

“Sixteen million!”

“Sixteen and a half million!”

“Eighteen million!”

At this price, only three bidders remained—from Boxes One, Five, and Seven.

However, when Box One offered eighteen million, the other two fell silent, evidently weighing whether to continue.

“Eighteen million and one tael!”

Suddenly, a light, amused voice rang out, and two black lines could almost be seen rising above everyone’s heads.

“He’s at it again! Who is this wastrel from some family?”

Everyone cursed inwardly. Since his first bid, he had become more and more brazen, always increasing by the minimum, and when there was no minimum, just adding a single tael—truly shameless to the extreme.

If shamelessness were a realm, this fellow had surely mastered it…

Some had tried to take revenge by dropping out after he raised the price, hoping to stick him with the bill, but he simply accepted it with ease.

From his bidding war with Liu Chuanzi until now, three hours had passed, and he had taken part in every auction. Thanks to his irritating bidding technique, many items ended up his.

All told, he had spent over twenty million taels—a staggering fortune.

Even the scions of the ten great clans could not squander so much so freely!

And now, with a Seven-Leaf Lotus costing over eighteen million, he dared to join in? Was he not worried someone would suddenly drop out, leaving him to pay the full amount?

Even for the great clans, to suddenly spend forty million taels on an item of little use would be painful!

“Nineteen million. Youngster, if you raise the bid again, I’ll drop out!”

A gentle voice came from Box One, calm but unequivocal.

“Senior, I have no wish to take advantage of you. I truly want it—twenty million!”

Lin Fan saw the name Jiang Beihu on the system’s backend, and the negative emotion value only ticked up by a few dozen. He smiled and raised the bid.

If others show you respect, you should return it. That is the basic decency of a person.

In three hours and more than seventy items, he had accumulated over 150,000 negative emotion points. Together with his original 65,000, the total reached 215,000.

With the final items coming up, he had no intention of bidding further.

Truth be told, even he felt his actions were…less than honorable!

To disrupt proper auctions at the critical moment—how much enmity had he sown?

He was self-aware enough to admit it!

But the lure of negative emotion points was just too great…

Fortunately, with the highlight items arriving, he was ready to stop. Yet this Seven-Leaf Lotus, he genuinely wanted—for his grandfather, Lin Batian!

Moreover, Jiang Beihu could afford such a price, and with a surname like Jiang—just one character’s difference from Jiang Beicheng—it was clear he belonged to the Jiang family.

His plan still depended on the Jiang family, so he didn’t wish to offend them.

Thus, he raised the price…

He wanted everyone to know he genuinely desired this item—not merely toying with others as before!