Snatching in Broad Daylight

"Number Seven, junior, I wonder if this old man's face carries any weight with you?"

Elder Shui sneered, his eyes flashing like lightning as he fixed them on Number Seven's face, hidden beneath a black veil.

"P-please calm your anger, senior. I am a member of the Feng family. The Shui and Feng families are close as one household, so please, for the sake of our elders, rein in your thunderous wrath."

Elder Shui's Late Qi Sea Realm cultivation was formidable. The pressure radiating from his eyes alone made Number Seven tremble all over.

Hmph, spineless rat!

Elder Shui withdrew his gaze and looked down over the crowd. "One thousand one hundred and fifty gold. Old Li, you can bring down the hammer!"

"One thousand one hundred and fifty gold, going once. One thousand one hundred and fifty gold, going twice..."

Just as the silver-robed elder was about to lower the hammer in his hand, a voice rang out. "One thousand two hundred gold!"

The voice was hoarse and feeble, yet the moment it sounded, the temperature in the room seemed to plummet.

There was no doubt about it. The one who had spoken was Xu Yi.

By now, he had thought it through and resolved to win the item at all costs.

Money could be earned again, but if he missed a defensive treasure like Dragon Crocodile Hide, he would regret it for the rest of his life.

Besides, he knew he would soon face one life-or-death battle after another. Dragon Crocodile Hide's defensive power was exactly what he desperately needed.

As for Elder Shui throwing his weight around, he might scare others, but he wouldn't scare Xu Yi. He had already made an enemy of Zhou Daogan, a legendary figure said to have entered the Liquid Condensation Realm. Why should he fear a mere Elder Shui?

"Rat, you dare!"

Elder Shui was consumed by rage. His eyes blazed as he stared fixedly at Xu Yi, who was not far away.

His formidable pressure spread out, making the people around Xu Yi tremble. Xu Yi alone remained perfectly still.

With his powerful Soul Power, that pressure wasn't even enough to tickle him. In a hoarse, unruffled voice, he said, "Don't get carried away, old scoundrel. This is Linglong Pavilion. Here, buying and selling are fair, and you don't get to snatch things by force!"

Boom!

The whole room erupted. Everyone's gaze converged on Xu Yi.

What sort of giant was the Shui family? It had dominated Guang'an for centuries. When the Shui family patriarch celebrated his birthday, even the Guang'an Prefecture Governor had to attend and offer congratulations.

And what sort of figure was Elder Shui? A mighty cultivator in the Late Qi Sea Realm, he could be said to rule Guang'an with an iron fist.

Yet today, someone had openly called him an "old scoundrel." It was so unbelievable it hardly seemed real.

"Rat, you've got guts! Dare to give me your name? I'll make you pay!"

Elder Shui was so furious his nose nearly twisted out of shape. He almost spat up a mouthful of old blood. After throwing his weight around Guang'an all these years, today he had truly seen it all.

"Old Li, I've made my bid. Please call for more offers. If no one raises the price, this Dragon Crocodile Hide is mine."

Xu Yi ignored the furious Elder Shui and coolly reminded the silver-robed elder. He had deliberately altered his voice to make it sound old, so he addressed the silver-robed elder in the same manner.

Xu Yi knew perfectly well that no matter how arrogant Elder Shui was, he wouldn't dare incur the wrath of the entire crowd. And Linglong Pavilion had stood tall in Guang'an for years; it wasn't a place that a mere Qi Sea Realm cultivator could simply flatten.

Sure enough, the silver-robed elder spoke up. "Elder Shui, this is an auction. If the two of you have a grievance, please settle it in private. We'll continue with the bidding. Number Twenty-Three has offered one thousand two hundred gold. One thousand two hundred gold, going once. One thousand two hundred gold, going twice..."

The silver-robed elder had long been fed up with Elder Shui. As a professional auctioneer, he considered anyone who openly suppressed the bidding his mortal enemy.

Qi Ming had been all right earlier, making a reasonable request and even saying that if he refined a Divine Essence Pill, he would put it up for sale through Linglong Pavilion. That had been a generous gesture.

But Elder Shui was unreasonable and overbearing, using sheer force to bully others. The elder had held back from criticizing him because of the Shui family's influence—and because he had already let Qi Ming get away with it earlier.

Now that Xu Yi had stood up to this tyranny, the silver-robed elder was naturally glad to see it.

"One thousand three hundred gold!"

Elder Shui glared furiously, wishing he could stare Xu Yi dead on the spot.

Indeed, no matter how powerful the Shui family was or how high Elder Shui's cultivation reached, he would never dare openly snatch something in Linglong Pavilion.

"One thousand three hundred and fifty gold!" Xu Yi raised the bid without hesitation.

He had made up his mind to give it everything he had. Even if he ultimately failed, at least he would have no regrets.

"One thousand four hundred gold!"

Elder Shui's eye twitched. He forcibly suppressed his boiling anger and said coldly, "Number Twenty-Three, if you stop here, I'll pretend what happened earlier never took place."

At Elder Shui's words, everyone's hearts jolted. Since when had the ever-arrogant Elder Shui started speaking so conciliatorily?

Those with sharper minds began to wonder which great power Xu Yi belonged to.

Even Xu Yi's heart stirred. Then he was delighted, wondering if the Shui fellow had spent so extravagantly earlier that his purse was nearly empty. "One thousand four hundred and fifty gold!"

"One thousand five hundred gold! Number Twenty-Three, do you truly intend to make an enemy for life of my Shui family?"

Elder Feng was practically going insane.

Xu Yi had guessed half right. Elder Shui's purse was not nearly empty; he still had reserves.

The Shui family was immensely wealthy, and as one of its elders, Elder Shui certainly wasn't short of money. He had brought a full ten thousand gold to the auction.

Who could have guessed that Linglong Pavilion would offer nothing but top-grade items this time? The three lots he had already bid on had cost him more than four thousand gold.

That still left Elder Shui with over five thousand gold in reserve. At this rate, he should have been able to secure the Dragon Crocodile Hide with ease.

The trouble was that Elder Shui was determined to win the auction's grand finale. That left him with only a modest budget for the Dragon Crocodile Hide.

Worse still, Number Twenty-Three had appeared out of nowhere—a stubborn, unyielding pest who wouldn't back down. Elder Shui had no idea how much longer he would have to fight before he could claim the Dragon Crocodile Hide.

To make matters worse, Linglong Pavilion had a rule: payment had to be settled immediately when the auction ended. They absolutely did not allow buyers to pay later. Even if Elder Shui wanted to go home and fetch more money, there wasn't time.

It wasn't that Elder Shui had failed to think things through or bring enough money. The Dragon Crocodile Hide had appeared too suddenly and had never been part of his plans. He had come this time solely for the grand finale.

He had only bid on the other three items on a whim. Who could have known that the Dragon Crocodile Hide would suddenly appear and catch him completely off guard?

Others might not know how precious Dragon Crocodile Hide was, but Elder Shui knew all too well. Thirty years ago, he had traveled through the northern lands with his great-uncle and encountered a dragon crocodile among a range of ancient volcanoes.

The monster, ten zhang long, with a crocodile's head and a dragon's body, had left a deep impression on him. At the time, his great-uncle—a Shui family elder who had one foot in the Liquid Condensation Realm—had wielded the family's treasured Azure Luan Sword and still only managed to fight the dragon crocodile to a draw.

He remembered clearly how his great-uncle had landed several of his signature techniques squarely on the dragon crocodile's head, without even leaving a white mark.

Elder Shui had never forgotten such terrifying defensive power.

Now that Dragon Crocodile Hide had appeared, Linglong Pavilion clearly had no idea what it was worth. They had even let Gao Junmo, a mere Mid Qi Sea Realm cultivator, test it—and forbidden him to use the Seven Absolute Swords. It would have been a miracle if that had revealed the true quality of Dragon Crocodile Hide.