Mu Chen’s gaze burned as he stared at the "Glazed Lamp," which was still emitting a seven-colored halo. His heart filled with boundless anticipation.

When Linglong saw the confused looks on the buyers’ faces, she cursed inwardly. ’This is bad.’ She had made a huge mistake. The Seven-Colored Glaze was indeed an extremely precious item on the Extreme Martial Continent. But precisely because it was so rare and valuable, very few people knew about it. That was one thing, but for a low-class empire like the Xuanling Empire, the Seven-Colored Glaze was a completely foreign object.

People tend to be skeptical of new things, unwilling to try and understand them. That was the best-case scenario. Others, more set in their ways, would outright reject them. Realizing this, Linglong started to feel nervous.

"Is this thing really as miraculous as you claim?" the buyers asked one after another.

Linglong said firmly, "Everyone, rest assured, this item is absolutely of the Earth Rank Level. I swear on the reputation of the Shanjin Commerce Association, if you obtain this Heart of Glaze, your strength will absolutely skyrocket to a terrifying degree."

With Linglong’s assurance, all the buyers finally began to take the item seriously.

"Without further ado, the rules are the same as before. The starting price is ten thousand, with each bid increment no less than five thousand Purple Elemental Crystals. Let the auction begin." Linglong’s confidence was still lacking. Although the crowd was paying attention, they hadn’t reached a state of frenzy. She gave a wry smile and thought, ’It seems the final price for this item will be much lower than my target.’

"One million."

Just as she’d feared, the opening bid was only one million—a third of the opening bid for the Essence Cultivation Pill.

"One million five hundred thousand. It looks quite nice. It would be a decent collector’s item," said someone from a VIP room.

Hearing this, Mu Chen chuckled softly. ’Looks like the price will be much lower than I expected.’

"Three million. If it’s truly as Miss Linglong claims, then this Heart of Glaze should be worth more than that," another VIP from a different room spoke up.

"Three million five hundred thousand."

"Four million."

...

"Six million eight hundred thousand."

The price climbed slowly amid the relaxed atmosphere. After about an hour, it had barely broken the ten million mark. Onstage, Linglong’s expression soured. She tried to stir up the crowd again, "Ten million! Surely someone is willing to go higher! Think about it—the boost to your cultivation speed just from sitting next to this Heart of Glaze is no worse than some pills. What’s more, its effect can be stacked with pills, which is like having two cultivation-boosting aids at once! What are you waiting for? It’s only ten million!"

"I’ll trust you this once. Fifteen million," a VIP with a weathered voice said grimly. "That’s my highest bid. If someone goes higher, then they can have it."

"Then I suppose I’ll make a bid as well. Seventeen million. That is also my final offer." The bidder this time wasn’t a VIP, but a man in a black robe sitting in a corner of the hall. He was exceptionally plain, the sort of person you could look at once and never be able to pick out of a crowd again. Yet it was for that very reason that he had captured the attention of the entire audience.

Hearing these two consecutive bids, a faint smile finally broke through Linglong’s tense expression. ’Almost twenty million.’ While it was still a far cry from her target price, it was much better than selling it for a mere ten million.

"Seventeen million! Any higher bids? Going once for seventeen million... going twice... for seven—"

"Wait! I bid twenty million!"

Finally, once he was certain no one else would bid, Mu Chen spoke up. He had expected the price to at least double again, but it stalled at a mere twenty million. He could have easily won the Seven-Colored Glaze with a bid of seventeen million and five thousand Purple Elemental Crystals, but he had a feeling. ’For an item like this, if you truly want it, you should show some sincerity.’

Beaming, Linglong turned toward VIP Room Seven and said in a sultry voice, "The guest in VIP Room Seven is truly a connoisseur. Twenty million. If there are no further bids, then this Heart of Glaze belongs to the esteemed guest in VIP Room Seven."

Three seconds later, the Seven-Colored Glaze was declared Mu Chen’s. He was overjoyed as he watched a woman in red carry it off the stage.

"Excellent. Tonight’s auction, which lasted three hours, has now come to a successful conclusion. Not a single item went unsold. On behalf of everyone at the Shanjin Auction, I, Linglong, thank all our guests. Our next auction will be held at the end of next month, and I will be here to greet you all again. For now, would all winning bidders please come backstage to complete your transactions." With that, Linglong gave a slight bow, revealing her deep cleavage.

The auction was over. Mu Chen walked to the corner and looked at Kong Ye Ming, who was in a puddle of his own drool. Mu Chen’s brow twitched. ’Falling asleep like this... you’re really something else.’

He formed a palm with his left hand and, with a sharp PAT, struck Kong Ye Ming on the back. A gentle stream of Primordial Power flowed from his palm into Kong Ye Ming’s body.

About five seconds later, Kong Ye Ming’s eyes suddenly shot open. He looked at the scene before him with surprise. When he realized where he was, he asked, bewildered, "Huh? How did I end up sleeping on the floor?"

The corner of Mu Chen’s mouth twitched. Putting on a serious expression, he said, "You said you were hot, so you went to find a corner to sleep in and ended up on the floor."

A person’s mind is groggy right after waking up. If you feed them information during that brief, disoriented period, they tend to accept it as true. This was precisely the state Kong Ye Ming was in.

Kong Ye Ming scrambled up, wiped away his drool, and brushed the dust from his chest. He said, a little puzzled, "Why does my chest hurt a bit? Was the floor too cold?"

Mu Chen nodded. "Probably. Anyway, the auction is over. I won a few items. Want to come with me to pick them up?"

Kong Ye Ming shook his head. "No, they don’t let anyone but the winner inside during collection. I’ll just wait for you outside. If you’re short on Purple Elemental Crystals, just give them my name and tell them to send someone to my family’s home to collect the rest."

With that, Kong Ye Ming walked toward the door without looking back, still a bit dazed. He muttered as he went, "Never sleeping on the floor again. That felt awful."

Mu Chen shook his head in exasperation, then left the VIP room and headed backstage. Unseen by him, Tang Yu and Yan’Er were watching from a dark corner. Seeing Kong Ye Ming leave alone, Tang Yu’s lips curled into a cold smirk. "They’ve split up. Heh heh, this makes it even easier to teach him a lesson. Divide and conquer. Let’s go, Yan’Er. Watch me get some payback for you."

With that, Tang Yu nodded to a distant spot in the shadows. Four figures instantly vanished from the auction hall...

...

Arriving backstage, Mu Chen was met with a sudden brightness. The auction house had kept the main hall deliberately dark so the audience could clearly see the items on stage. After growing accustomed to the dim light, the sudden brilliance was a little jarring.

’It’s just like the backstage of the Shanjin Auction House back then.’

The backstage area was a hallway lined with private rooms. Each door had a plaque bearing the name of an auctioned item. Mu Chen scanned them one by one, and on a door in the middle of the hall, he found the names of the three items he’d purchased: the Map Fragment, the Ice Soul Essence Pill, and the Heart of Glaze, which was the Seven-Colored Glaze.

After glancing around to make sure no one was nearby, Mu Chen stepped into the room. The moment he entered, he saw a woman sitting in the center, holding a teacup. It was none other than Miss Linglong, the auctioneer who had just left the stage.

Seeing Mu Chen enter, Linglong gently set down her teacup. With a captivating smile, she sized him up from head to toe before speaking in a sultry voice, "So the one with such a discerning eye is a young man. I must say, I’m surprised. Of your three purchases, aside from the Map Fragment, the other two are worth far more than you paid. I simply misjudged the situation and underestimated the crowd’s hesitation toward new things."

Mu Chen hadn’t expected to be greeted with her lament. He rubbed his nose, at a loss for words for a moment, before nodding. "But it’s because of people like them that I was able to win these three items so smoothly, isn’t it?"

Linglong was taken aback for a moment, her expression growing complex. The young man before her looked no older than fifteen, yet for some reason, the way he just stood there gave her the feeling that he was unfathomable. Moreover, his last sentence was not something an ordinary fifteen-year-old could articulate. ’His mind is so sharp,’ she thought. ’This boy is truly extraordinary.’

"Fair enough. The victors are always the minority. In that case, let’s finalize the transaction." With a wave of her slender hand, a ring on her finger flashed, and the three items appeared in front of Mu Chen.

To avoid any misunderstanding, Linglong opened the Jade Boxes containing the Ice Soul Essence Pill and the Seven-Colored Glaze, allowing Mu Chen to verify their authenticity.

Mu Chen merely glanced at them before nodding. "The items are fine. But I have a problem on my end."

Hearing this, Linglong didn’t frown. Instead, a slight smile touched her lips as she asked, "Oh? And what problem might that be?"

With a wave of his left arm, Mu Chen released a pile of over three million Purple Elemental Crystals from his ring, which cascaded onto the table with a CLATTER. Linglong ignored the mountain of crystals, her gaze fixed on Mu Chen, waiting.

Seeing her silence, Mu Chen suddenly smiled. He cupped his fists respectfully. "Miss Linglong truly lives up to her reputation as the long-standing host of the Shanjin Auction. Your composure is admirable. The problem I mentioned is that I don’t have enough ready currency. I only have three and a half million here."

Linglong nodded. "I’ve hosted auctions for many years, and I’ve seen every type of buyer imaginable. There are those who try to snatch their winnings without paying, those who come up short and want to barter with other items, and those who have someone else foot the bill. It’s only natural for me to remain composed. So, little brother, which method do you intend to use for this transaction?"

Mu Chen felt a wave of awkwardness at being called "little brother," but he didn’t let it show. Instead, he said calmly, "I’d like to trade for it with another item. And... this item is more than worth the price. It could even make the name of the Xuanling Empire’s Shanjin Auction House renowned."

...

Meanwhile, just as Mu Chen and Linglong were negotiating, trouble had found Kong Ye Ming outside the Shanjin Auction House...