How Is That Any Different from Stealing My Best Sister's Man?

For some reason, a flicker of panic rose in Qin Nanyue's heart, as if she had been caught doing something.

She composed her expression, looked up at Lu Yang, and forced a smile as she teased, "Wow! You're giving me a supreme-grade Law Artifact? I get the same treatment as Yingying now? Kid, you're not really planning to have both of us sisters, are you?"

She kept her tone as light as she could, even raising an eyebrow, as though it were nothing more than a harmless joke.

Lu Yang was about to speak when Qin Nanyue's expression suddenly darkened.

"No!" Her voice abruptly turned serious, and there was not a trace of humor in her bright, beautiful eyes. "I'll be angry if you do this!"

Lu Yang froze, his heart skipping a beat.

What did she mean?

Giving her a supreme-grade Law Artifact lowered her affection instead?

Had he done the wrong thing?

A little nervous, he looked at the affection module.

Qin Nanyue (affection: 72)

Lu Yang: "?"

A huge question mark slowly appeared in his mind.

Wait, hadn't her affection clearly risen by twelve points?

Hadn't it just been sixty?

That was a huge increase!

Then why were the words "I'm very angry" written all over Qin Nanyue's face?

Lu Yang could not make sense of it, no matter how hard he thought.

Were women's thoughts always this complicated?

He could not understand the logic behind Qin Nanyue's behavior at all.

If he had not been able to see her affection, Lu Yang would have thought he had messed things up.

Seeing Lu Yang's astonished expression and the confusion filling his clear, handsome eyes, Qin Nanyue felt a sudden, inexplicable panic and an unaccountable pang of pity.

She pursed her lips and let her gaze drift awkwardly to the side, not daring to meet his eyes.

Then something occurred to her. She lifted her chin and said softly, "Since this red silk suits me, I'll bid on that Gold-and-White Sword-Scar Waistband for you. We can call it a trade of supreme-grade Law Artifacts."

She spoke quickly, as though clutching at a life-saving straw.

Lu Yang was taken aback.

He looked at Qin Nanyue. Her expression was serious, her chin slightly raised and her red lips pressed into a line. She did not look as though she was discussing the matter with him at all.

There was no room for negotiation.

He thought for a moment, then nodded. "That works too."

Although the Gold-and-White Sword-Scar Waistband was not as valuable as the Cinnabar Sword-Binding Silk, he would not have to pay for it himself.

He was happy to get a Law Artifact for free.

Only then did Qin Nanyue breathe a sigh of relief. She folded her arms across her chest and lifted her chin slightly, her tone deliberately casual. "Then this counts as an exchange, not a supreme-grade Law Artifact you gave me."

As she spoke, she kept a discreet eye on Lin Ying from the corner of her eye.

Lin Ying seemed to notice something. She looked up, a gentle smile spreading across her pretty face like ripples stirred by a spring breeze over water.

The stone weighing on Qin Nanyue's heart finally fell away. She relaxed completely, her shoulders no longer tense and her breathing growing slow and deep.

Qin Nanyue regarded Lin Ying as a true sister.

If she accepted a supreme-grade Law Artifact from Lu Yang, how was that any different from stealing her best sister's man?

She did not want to do anything that would hurt Lin Ying.

Fortunately, Lu Yang had not put her in an awkward position.

Lu Yang had been silently keeping an eye on Qin Nanyue's affection.

When he saw the number silently tick up another three points to seventy-five, he had already gone completely numb.

Forget it, forget it...

Women really were complicated creatures.

He didn't understand. He didn't understand at all.

He gave up thinking about it.

While Lu Yang and the other two were talking, the bidding for the Gold-and-White Sword-Scar Waistband had reached a fever pitch.

The starting price for the supreme-grade Law Artifact was ten thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones, but that price had been left far behind after the first round of bids.

Fifteen thousand, eighteen thousand, twenty-one thousand...

The numbers shot upward like a lit fuse.

The cultivators in the first-floor hall had long since fallen silent as one.

A Rogue Cultivator at the foundation establishment early stage clenched his fist, veins faintly throbbing on the back of his hand. After a long while, he let it fall open in defeat and muttered, "Damn it, it's over twenty thousand... My life savings wouldn't even be enough to make one bid."

His companion gave a bitter smile and shook his head, not even bothering to speak.

The people sitting here were not qualified to bid.

The only bidders left were in the VIP rooms on the second floor and above.

"Twenty-three thousand!" A warm, mellow voice came from a VIP room on the fourth floor.

"Twenty-four thousand!"

"Twenty-five thousand!"

Bids rose one after another, but as the price kept climbing, fewer and fewer people joined in.

When the price reached thirty thousand, a brief silence fell over the room.

Only when Liu Yaoyao began counting down did someone raise the bid.

Clearly, even for the cultivators in the VIP rooms, the price of this supreme-grade Law Artifact had just about reached its limit.

Any higher, and it would not be worth the price.

"Thirty-one thousand!"

Another bid came from VIP room nine on the third floor.

For a moment, no one matched it.

Liu Yaoyao's red lips curved upward, and her voice turned captivating and enticing. "This is a Supreme-Grade Law Artifact waistband for sword cultivators~ In all Yaoyao's years of hosting auctions, you might not see a single Supreme-Grade Law Artifact waistband in ten years~ If you miss it today, who knows what year or month it'll be before you see another? Fellow Daoists, the price is thirty-one thousand. Any higher bids? Counting down... three!"

Inside room nine on the third floor.

The youth clenched his fists tightly, staring fixedly at Liu Yaoyao with a tense expression.

The young man beside him took a sip from his teacup. Composed, he chuckled and said, "Don't be nervous. The price of this supreme-grade Law Artifact has just about reached its limit."

The youth gave him a resentful look and lowered his voice. "Brother, that's what you said about the Supreme-Grade Yellow Dragon Pill just now."

The young man's expression stiffened, and a trace of embarrassment appeared on his face.

He said irritably, "How is that the same? Everyone can use a supreme-grade pill, but only sword cultivators need this waistband Law Artifact. There's far less competition. This time, I'm sure—"

Before he could finish, a crisp female voice rang out.

"Thirty-two thousand!"

The young man: "????"

The youth whipped his head toward the room the bid had come from, his eyes nearly spitting fire. "It's number fifteen on the second floor again! Could they be targeting you, Brother?"

The young man frowned and glanced at him. "The one bidding is a young lady of the Qin Household's direct line. Our Li Household has no quarrel or grudge with the Qin Household, so why would she target me? The Qin young lady is also in the Qi Refining Realm. She most likely wants the waistband for herself."

The youth said resentfully, "Then why do they raise the price every time we bid? How could it be such a coincidence?"

The young man set down his teacup, his tone growing somewhat stern. "Li Yao, I don't know how your parents spoil you at home. But this is the Golden Rainbow Sword Sect. What kind of logic says other people can't bid at an auction? If you don't change that temper of yours, sooner or later you'll bring trouble on yourself."

Li Yao lowered his eyes without a word, but in his heart, he did not agree at all.

The Li Household was a Golden Core Aristocratic Clan, and its ancestor was at Peak Golden Core.

Among all the Golden Core powers under the Golden Rainbow Sword Sect's rule, it ranked at the very top.

What trouble could he possibly get into?

He even thought his older cousin was a bit of a coward, so timid outside the household that he had none of the imposing air of an Aristocratic Clan's young master.

The young man frowned as he watched Li Yao's unconvinced expression.

He intended to write a letter home to the clan as soon as he returned, explaining Li Yao's problems in detail.

The kid had been spoiled rotten.

But when he thought of Li Yao's parents, he felt somewhat helpless.

His uncle and aunt were no easy people to deal with either. It was hard to say whether a letter home would do any good.