Lin Ming's sudden bid left Xia Xuan stunned for a moment before he abruptly came back to his senses.
The smug look on Xia Xuan's face froze as though someone had ripped off his mask, and a flash of disbelief crossed his narrow eyes.
Xia Xuan stared at Lin Ming for a full three breaths before his handsome face darkened completely, like the sky before a storm, with churning clouds sweeping away all his composure and laziness.
He suddenly turned, his gaze shooting like blades toward the pavilion where Lin Ming sat. In a somewhat chilling tone, he said, "Kid, this isn't a place for you to fool around. If you bid recklessly, you'll have to pay the price."
Xia Xuan's words carried undisguised menace. He placed particular emphasis on the words "pay the price," as though implying something more.
Everyone present could hear that the youngest imperial brother of the Great Xia Imperial Dynasty was truly enraged. Given his status, being challenged in public by an unknown Rogue Cultivator from the Northern Domain was more unbearable than losing the auction itself.
Lin Ming lifted his eyelids, his abyss-dark eyes calmly meeting Xia Xuan's grim gaze. The faint smile remained on his face as he leisurely placed a piece of fruit pastry into his mouth, chewed twice, swallowed, and only then spoke.
"No need for Your Highness to remind me. But I can still afford twenty-eight million."
Lin Ming said it as lightly as if it were an insignificant matter.
His unhurried demeanor stood in stark contrast to Xia Xuan's gloom, like a block of ice thrown into boiling water—silent, yet making the surrounding temperature drop sharply.
Beside him, Zi Yan was also somewhat stunned by Lin Ming's sudden high bid. Her violet-gold eyes widened slightly as she turned to