Snatching the divine treasures and bringing the arrogant young miss to tears
Brilliant seven-colored light silently emerged in her fair, tender right palm.
As the Douluo Continent's foremost auxiliary tool Martial Soul, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda not only possessed a terrifying ability to amplify others, but also an unparalleled instinct for appraising treasures!
Through the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, Ning Rongrong clearly sensed that the blue ore and three ancient coins on the tray below contained a pure resonance of law that even the Ten Thousand Year Soul Bones she had seen could not compare to!
What amazing treasures! If I buy them and take them back to Father, Grandpa Sword, and Grandpa Bone, they'll be overjoyed. Then, even if they find out I sneaked out, they definitely won't have the heart to punish me!
Ning Rongrong's big eyes curved into crescents. Without the slightest hesitation, she walked straight to the railing of the private room and called out in a clear, sweet voice tinged with spoiled arrogance:
"Ten thousand Gold Soul Coins! I want all three!"
Her very first bid doubled the price!
Several noble Soul Masters in the hall below who had been considering a tentative bid promptly sucked in a breath and shut their mouths.
Seeing that no one in the entire hall dared respond, Ning Rongrong's lips curled into a smug smile.
In the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, she had never failed to get anything she wanted since childhood. Who in an auction house in a little city in the mere Balak Kingdom would dare compete with her wealth?
The old auctioneer was overjoyed and was just about to raise his gavel and call "Ten thousand Gold Soul Coins, going once" when, inside Heaven Room Three, Chu Yuan glanced indifferently at Zhu Zhuqing behind him.
Zhu Zhuqing instantly understood her master's intentions and stepped up to the window, her piercingly cold voice carrying throughout the hall:
"Twenty thousand Gold Soul Coins."
Whoosh!
An uproar swept through the hall!
In Heaven Room One, diagonally opposite, the smug smile froze on Ning Rongrong's face.
She turned and glared in the direction of Heaven Room Three:
"Someone actually dares compete with me? And raised the bid by ten thousand in one go?!"
The Little Demoness, who had been pampered in the palm of her sect's hand since childhood, instantly lost her temper. Without thinking, she slapped the railing and shouted:
"Twenty-five thousand Gold Soul Coins!"
"Fifty thousand."
Zhu Zhuqing did not even bat an eyelid. Her voice was utterly unruffled, as though she had named not a sum large enough to buy a small manor, but a string of insignificant numbers.
"You!"
Ning Rongrong's fair, pretty face flushed scarlet.
When she had sneaked out of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect this time, she had brought a purple-gold card containing only sixty thousand Gold Soul Coins in spending money!
Her opponent's bid of fifty thousand had backed her straight into a corner!
"Sixty thousand Gold Soul Coins!!"
Ning Rongrong gritted her teeth and bid everything on her card, then shouted viciously toward Room Three:
"Hey! You over there, I've taken a fancy to those stones! If you know what's good for you, stop competing with me, or you'll be in more trouble than you can handle!"
Hearing the childish yet overbearing threat, Keqing gently shook her head inside Heaven Room Three:
"So spoiled and arrogant, just because her family has some wealth and influence."
Chu Yuan sat upright in his cushioned chair, his lips curving into an indifferent smile.
With a slight turn of his wrist, he took a heavy bag of Gold Soul Coin cards from his personal space, obtained from the Star Luo Empire Soul Ancestor deathsworn the previous night. At the same time, he drew a strand of law power interwoven from the Crown of Heavenly Principles and Irminsul to his fingertip and casually infused it into an ordinary century-old crystal ore on the table.
Hum!
Under the influence of the source of Heavenly Principles, the impurities within the ordinary crystal, originally worth only a dozen or so Gold Soul Coins, were instantly purged. It transformed into a flawless violet-green gemstone suffused with rich life essence and the divine resonance of lightning!
"Zhu Zhuqing, throw it down to the auctioneer. Tell him ten thousand—no, one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins, and have him bring down the gavel."
"Yes, Master!"
Zhu Zhuqing respectfully accepted the violet-green gemstone and the Gold Soul Coin card with both hands, then flicked her wrist.
Whoosh!
A streak of dark-purple light crossed several dozen yards and landed steadily on the edge of the cold jade tray on the auction platform below.
"Heaven Room Three bids one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins! This accompanying spirit crystal and Gold Soul Coin card are payment in full. Sir, you may bring down the gavel."
Zhu Zhuqing's icy voice echoed through the auction house.
The old auctioneer on the platform looked down in shock. When he sensed the pure life energy emanating from the violet-green gemstone, his breath stopped!
This supreme-grade spirit crystal alone, which could be absorbed directly to aid cultivation, would fetch no less than eighty thousand Gold Soul Coins in Heaven Dou City, to say nothing of the fifty thousand in cash on the bearer Gold Soul Coin card!
"Th-this is a priceless supreme-grade life spirit crystal!!"
The old auctioneer's beard trembled with excitement. How could he dare hesitate any longer?
But in Heaven Room One diagonally opposite, Ning Rongrong was frantic.
She only had sixty thousand Gold Soul Coins on her card and simply could not produce a hundred thousand!
Seeing that the old auctioneer had already raised his gavel high, Ning Rongrong abandoned all concern for exposing her identity and hurriedly leaned over the railing, shouting anxiously:
"Wait! Don't bring down the gavel! I bid one hundred and twenty thousand Gold Soul Coins! I only have sixty thousand on me right now; put the remaining sixty thousand on my account. I'm Ning Rongrong of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. Just send someone to the sect in Heaven Dou City to collect it. Never mind sixty thousand-even if it were six hundred thousand, my father would pay you!!"
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect?!
At those words, the Soul Masters in the hall below erupted into an uproar, looking toward Room One with eyes full of awe.
The old auctioneer on the platform and the chief steward who had rushed over both jolted, troubled expressions appearing on their faces.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, one of the Upper Three Sects, was indeed rich enough to rival a nation. No one dared doubt this young miss's ability to pay.
But the chief steward looked up at the deep, silent Heaven Room Three, then thought of the black-haired youth's godlike bearing when he had entered earlier, and how casually he had produced a supreme-grade life spirit crystal. A fine layer of cold sweat instantly beaded on his forehead.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was far away in Heaven Dou City, and this young miss had clearly sneaked out, without even a sect elder to guard her. By contrast, the mysterious young master in Heaven Room Three had produced a genuine hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins in ready payment, and the strength of the guard at his side was unfathomable!
The auction house's foremost rule was payment and goods exchanged in full, with no credit under any circumstances.
After weighing the pros and cons for no more than two breaths, the chief steward gritted his teeth and signaled to the old auctioneer on the platform. He then bowed deeply toward Heaven Room One and called out:
"Please forgive us, Young Miss Ning! The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's credit is known throughout the land, but since its founding, our auction house has had an ironclad rule: only ready payment is accepted when bidding on the final lots, and there has never been an exception for credit! The honored guest in Heaven Room Three has already paid in full. By the rules, these three wondrous objects from beyond the heavens belong to the honored guest in Room Three!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the old auctioneer's wooden gavel came crashing down:
"One hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins! Sold!!"
"You... you actually dare deny me face?!"
Hearing the crisp fall of the gavel, Ning Rongrong froze in Heaven Room One. Her exquisitely carved little face turned deathly pale with anger, and the rims of her eyes reddened faintly.
All her life, she had played pranks on Sword Douluo Chen Xin and Bone Douluo Gu Rong in the sect until even they had no temper left. Yet today, in this tiny Suotuo City auction house, someone had beaten her down with money until she could not lift her head, and nobody had even cared when she invoked the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's name!
Before long, the chief steward personally entered Heaven Room Three, respectfully carrying the cold jade tray.
Chu Yuan brushed his fingertips over it, and the raw Lumenspar ore, three adeptal ancient Mora coins, and Plaustrite fragment turned into streams of light and vanished into his palm. The branch of Irminsul within him swayed gently, sending out a wave of pleased resonance.
He extended both hands and gently brushed the smooth, delicate backs of Keqing's and Mona's hands as if to soothe them:
"We have the items. Let's go."
Keqing and Mona exchanged smiles, then obediently rose and followed Chu Yuan out of the room.
However, just as the four of them crossed the red-carpeted VIP corridor on the third floor and reached the white marble stairs leading to the outer courtyard, a petite but fiercely imposing figure in white suddenly rushed out from the side and spread her arms, blocking the middle of the corridor!
"Stop! You're not going anywhere!"
Ning Rongrong raised her little chin, her large, sparkling eyes fixed on Chu Yuan at the front. She gave a spoiled, haughty huff:
"Hey! You're the one who snatched my auction items from that private room, aren't you? I made myself perfectly clear just now. I'm Ning Rongrong, a direct disciple of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect! Hand over the blue stone and three ancient copper coins you just bought. I'll give you all sixty thousand Gold Soul Coins I have and write you an IOU for the remaining forty thousand. When you get to Heaven Dou City, I'll pay you back double!"
In her view, her willingness to compensate him double was already an enormous favor. Once these people heard the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's name, they ought to offer the items to her with both hands in heartfelt gratitude.
But Chu Yuan merely paused and glanced down at her with his black eyes, deep as an abyss. He could not even be bothered to speak to her.
There was no need for Chu Yuan to give an order.
"How dare you! You dare block my master's path!"
Zhu Zhuqing, who had been standing silently behind Chu Yuan, suddenly turned an icy gaze on her. She stepped forward, instantly placing herself in front of him!
Boom-!
The presence of her peak level twenty-nine Hell Thunder Shadow Cat Martial Soul burst forth without restraint!
Fine arcs of dark-purple lightning flickered across Zhu Zhuqing's slender, taut body. Killing intent filled her dark-purple catlike eyes, and a terrifying pressure, mingling the lightning might of Heavenly Principles with the bloody, murderous presence of an assassin of the night, surged toward Ning Rongrong like a tangible current of icy air!
"Ah...!"
How could Ning Rongrong, an auxiliary Soul Master with only level twenty-six cultivation and no practical combat experience, withstand the intimidating killing intent of Zhu Zhuqing, who had just undergone a bloody battle of life and death and the baptism of Heavenly Principles' lightning and shadow?
She felt as though a primordial fiendish cat wreathed in violet-black lightning was pouncing straight at her!
Th-that presence is terrifying... She clearly looks about my age, so how can her pressure be so strong?!
Ning Rongrong's heart pounded. She instinctively looked over Zhu Zhuqing's shoulder and met the deep eyes of the black-haired youth behind her.
Their eyes met for only an instant, yet from the depths of the soul of this Little Demoness of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, who feared neither heaven nor earth, an unprecedented sense of dread and trembling inexplicably surged up.