Fierce Competition at the Auction

Sword Douluo and Ye Xiaofeng arrived at the Imperial Capital Auction Hall, where the crowds were equally massive. People fought desperately over items they fancied. Even when the bid exceeded an item's actual value, someone would still raise it.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am Lingling, the auctioneer for this auction. We will now auction the first item: a Soul Guiding Device Storage Ring with fifty cubic meters of storage space. The starting price is five hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins, and each bid must increase by no less than fifty thousand Gold Soul Coins." A female auctioneer in a qipao displayed the Soul Guiding Device Storage Ring to the crowd.

"I bid five hundred and fifty thousand." A middle-aged man immediately made his offer.

"Contestant number 22 has bid five hundred and fifty thousand. Is there anyone else?" Lingling smiled at the crowd.

"Six hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins."

"Six hundred and fifty thousand Gold Soul Coins."

"Eight hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins."

Ye Xiaofeng thought the Soul Guiding Device Storage Ring was quite good and could give it to Bing'er. After all, they did not have storage rings yet, which made storing items especially inconvenient.

"One million Gold Soul Coins." Ye Xiaofeng raised his number 22 paddle with a faint smile.

"Contestant number 22 has bid one million. Is anyone willing to offer more? This is a rare opportunity." As an auctioneer, Lingling's duty was to sell every item at a higher price, and the higher the price, the greater her commission.

"I bid one and a half million." Ye Xiaofeng saw Chang Sheng make a bid. Clearly, he still held a grudge over the previous sect competition.

"It seems contestant number 88 also likes this item very much." Lingling saw Chang Sheng's bid.

"Two million Gold Soul Coins." Ye Xiaofeng got angry the moment he saw that disgusting fellow and directly added another five hundred thousand.

"Three million." Ning Rongrong suddenly snatched the paddle from Chang Sheng's hand.

The auction hall had its rules. Without an auction paddle from the hall, one could not bid. When Chang Sheng saw the young sect mistress and Elder Bone, he hurriedly stood and yielded his seat to Ning Rongrong.

Ning Rongrong had come to the auction hall this time precisely to prevent Ye Xiaofeng and Sword Douluo from having a pleasant auction.

Sword Douluo glanced at Ning Rongrong, then saw Bone Douluo beside her. Bone Douluo was also looking at Sword Douluo and wore a smug smile.

Sword Douluo immediately understood that Rongrong had been brought here by that foolish dark fellow. Judging from Rongrong's earlier bid, she seemed determined to oppose the two of them. As the young sect mistress, she lacked nothing. What use did she have for a storage ring?

"Contestant number 88 bids three million. Three million, going once!" Lingling shouted enthusiastically again. The storage ring itself was only worth one million, yet its price had now tripled.

"Feng'er, don't bid anymore. Let's look at the next item." Sword Douluo knew that even if Ye Xiaofeng kept bidding, he would not be able to buy it.

"Three million, going twice! Three million, going three times! Sold!" Lingling's hammer came down, sealing the deal.

"The second item up for auction is Sand-Shooting Shadow. This item was consigned to our auction hall by a young man one week ago. Tests showed that within ten meters, its attack can pierce a steel plate one centimeter thick. The appraiser valued it at five hundred thousand. As before, each increase must be no less than fifty thousand Gold Soul Coins. Oh, and this item is especially useful for support-system Soul Masters as a means of self-defense. The auction begins now." Lingling gave a detailed introduction.

"One million Gold Soul Coins." Ning Rongrong saw that this item could make up for her lack of offensive power and would be good for self-defense.

Seeing Ning Rongrong open with one million, everyone else wondered why she could not take it slowly. They gritted their teeth in frustration, but with Bone Douluo beside her, they could only quickly shut their mouths.

"Five million Gold Soul Coins." Ye Xiaofeng saw that Ning Rongrong had stopped him from winning the previous item, so he directly made his bid.

"My heavens, contestant number 22 has directly bid five million Gold Soul Coins in one go! Is there anyone offering more?" Ye Xiaofeng's bid stunned everyone, including Lingling.

"I bid six million."

"I bid seven million."

"I bid eight million."

"I bid nine million."

"I bid ten million." Ning Rongrong refused to lose to Ye Xiaofeng. Money was no concern to her; as long as she liked something, that was enough.

"Since the young sect mistress likes it, I'll gladly yield it to you." Ye Xiaofeng stopped bidding. The price had already far exceeded Sand-Shooting Shadow's actual value. It was useless to Ye Xiaofeng anyway; he had only bid to set Ning Rongrong up once.

"You... Fine. I'll remember you." Ning Rongrong stomped her foot in anger. It was not that she cared about the money, but she could not stand seeing Ye Xiaofeng looking more pleased with himself than her.

The auction continued until the afternoon. However, neither of them bid again. For a while, the two managed to coexist peacefully.

"The final treasure of this auction is next: Soul Master Armor. This armor was crafted by Divine Craftsman Lou Gao. Its defensive power can withstand a full-force strike from a Soul Saint in Martial Soul Avatar form. The starting price is twenty million, and each bid must increase by five million. The auction officially begins now."

"Fifty million Gold Soul Coins! Let's see who dares compete with this prince!" Prince Xue Xing directly raised his paddle and unleashed his big move.

"My heavens, number 1 has directly bid fifty million Gold Soul Coins! Is anyone raising the price?" Lingling shouted.

Prince Xue Xing was not someone ordinary people could afford to offend. Even if they had money, many people did not dare bid. This was the sort of thing the auction hall least wanted to see.

"I bid sixty million." Ye Xiaofeng directly raised his paddle. He had no reason to fear some prince.

"You dare compete with this prince..." Prince Xue Xing was about to curse Ye Xiaofeng, but when he saw Chen Xin, Sword Douluo, beside him, he hurriedly shut his mouth.

Even as Xue Ye's younger brother, he did not dare act arrogantly before a super Titled Douluo, especially Sword Douluo, an Assault System Titled Douluo.

"Sixty-five million Gold Soul Coins." Ning Rongrong felt that she needed this armor too and would not simply let it go, especially since Ye Xiaofeng was bidding on it.

"Young sect mistress, this is men's armor. How about you let me have it? I'll owe you a favor." Ye Xiaofeng smiled at Ning Rongrong. When one was under another's roof, it was best not to offend them too deeply. When it was time to lower one's head, one had to lower it.

"My apologies, I neglected to mention that earlier. This armor is indeed men's armor." Auctioneer Lingling spoke to Ning Rongrong, looking somewhat embarrassed. Although she wanted the price to go as high as possible, she still had to make things clear for the auction hall's reputation.

"Sixty-five million Gold Soul Coins, going once."

"Sixty-five million Gold Soul Coins, going twice."

"Give it to him. Let him owe you a favor." Ning Rongrong was about to bid when Bone Douluo stopped her. Hearing Bone Douluo's words, Ning Rongrong agreed, though she still could not bring herself to feel happy.

"Sixty-five million Gold Soul Coins, going three times! Sold!" Lingling brought down her hammer once more.

"This auction has now concluded. The next auction will be announced separately." Lingling smiled at the crowd. For someone who had only recently become a senior auctioneer, this had undoubtedly been her most successful auction. It looked like she would receive quite a generous commission.

Ye Xiaofeng paid the money and smoothly received the armor. With Sword Douluo at his side, others could only look on enviously. Even if they had ten thousand times the courage, they would not dare covet it.

"Rongrong, why are you here?" Sword Douluo looked at Ning Rongrong with a smile.

"Does only Grandpa Sword get to bring his disciple here? Can't Grandpa Bone bring me here?" Ning Rongrong talked back, but she did not dare throw a tantrum at Sword Douluo.

"Rongrong, if I'd known you wanted to come, Grandpa Sword would have brought you." Sword Douluo continued smiling and did not change because Ning Rongrong was being petulant.

"Rongrong, let's go. Don't believe that coward's words." Bone Douluo became displeased and hurriedly tried to take Ning Rongrong away, afraid his lie would be exposed.

"Young sect mistress, don't be in such a hurry to leave. Let's go to the Heavenly Human World Inn together..." Ye Xiaofeng wanted to ease the tension between them.

"Go stand somewhere else. Rongrong, Grandpa Bone will take you there and let you taste Shopkeeper Li's cooking." Bone Douluo nearly had his lie exposed by Ye Xiaofeng, so he hurriedly tried to curry favor with Ning Rongrong.

Sword Douluo helplessly shook his head. That foolish dark fellow had definitely been speaking ill of him to his little granddaughter. Yet Sword Douluo soon gave a sly smile.

"Feng'er, it's getting late. We should head back too." Sword Douluo looked at Ye Xiaofeng, then turned and followed Ning Rongrong and Bone Douluo.

"Hey, you two little tails in the back, why do you keep following Rongrong and me?" Bone Douluo looked unhappily at Sword Douluo and Ye Xiaofeng.

"This isn't your family's establishment. If you can come, why can't I?" Sword Douluo immediately shot back.

"You..." Bone Douluo's teeth itched with anger. He had not expected Sword Douluo to use his own words from noon against him.

"Forgive me for failing to welcome the four of you properly." Shopkeeper Li hurriedly greeted the four before him.

"Shopkeeper Li, I brought my granddaughter to taste your cooking. Don't disappoint me." Bone Douluo smiled at Shopkeeper Li. Shopkeeper Li had not offended him, so there was no need to vent his temper on him.

"Oh, right, just the two of us." Bone Douluo gave a lewd smile.

"You foolish dark fellow, are you blind? There are clearly four people, yet you insist there are only two. Could it be that you can't afford the bill?" Sword Douluo teased Bone Douluo in front of everyone.

"Bullshit!" A dignified Titled Douluo had been accused of being unable to afford a meal. Fortunately, it was Sword Douluo making the joke. If it had been anyone else, they would have long since been dead.

Watching the two bicker at the entrance, Ning Rongrong burst out laughing.

"Everyone, please go up to a private room. There are too many people here." Shopkeeper Li could barely stand watching anymore. Two Titled Douluo from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect were actually bickering outside his inn. If word got out, it would surely become the hottest headline.

The four arrived at the private room from noon. Since Ning Rongrong was present, Shopkeeper Li replaced the alcohol with clear tea.

"Rongrong, what did this foolish dark fellow tell you?" Sword Douluo smiled at Ning Rongrong.

"Hey, don't judge a gentleman's heart with your petty mind." Bone Douluo grew anxious and quickly spoke over him, not giving Ning Rongrong a chance to answer.

"You went to the auction hall, so can't the two of us go to the auction hall?" Bone Douluo immediately fired off a string of questions.

"Please enjoy. The dishes will be served shortly." Shopkeeper Li poured tea for the four and hurriedly withdrew.

Ye Xiaofeng had no chance to join the conversation the entire time and simply accompanied them in silence. To Ye Xiaofeng, the afternoon meal did not taste as good as the one before.

It was not that Shopkeeper Li's cooking was poor, but Ye Xiaofeng's state of mind had changed. After the afternoon meal, the four chose to return to the sect.

"What's wrong, Feng'er?" Sword Douluo could tell that Ye Xiaofeng was not in a very good mood.

"Ah, nothing, Master. I want to begin learning the sword path sooner." Ye Xiaofeng hurriedly changed the subject.

"To learn the sword path, the most important thing is one's state of mind. When your heart has become calm, come learn the sword path from me." As a grandmaster of the sword path, Sword Douluo's understanding of the sword had surpassed the limits of his own realm.

"This disciple understands. I shall take my leave." Ye Xiaofeng said nothing further and directly left Sword Douluo's room.

After returning to his room, Ye Xiaofeng fell onto his bed. He did not know what he was thinking about. He wanted to calm his heart as quickly as possible, but the more he tried, the more chaotic it became.

In the end, Ye Xiaofeng could not be bothered to think about it anymore. He closed his eyes and fell asleep.