Over the next dozen or so auctions, Xia Ping kept making bids, flaunting his wealth and constantly driving up the prices as one item after another went up for auction.
Whenever anyone tried to outbid him maliciously, he would immediately back out before the price reached the reserve. Plenty of people were left holding the bag, paying several times what they otherwise would have.
A crowd soon grew furious with Xia Ping.
"Damn it! That bastard's nothing but a damn troublemaker. If he can't benefit, he makes sure nobody else enjoys themselves either."
"He's a shill! There's no way he isn't a shill for the Cosmic Sea Auction Company, artificially inflating prices. Shameless!"
"That shameless bastard! I wanted to buy a gourd of pills for only a hundred and fifty Universal Coins, but that son of a bitch kept bidding, and I had to pay seven million to get them. I'll kill that bastard sooner or later!"
"That's nothing! I wanted to buy a Mid-grade Spirit Artifact. Ten million Universal Coins would've been more than enough, but that bastard drove the price all the way up to forty million. I've suffered a huge loss!"
"Let me catch him out on the street. He's dead. I'll beat his legs until they're broken!"
Many people were seething with rage, their teeth practically grinding at the thought of Xia Ping. If they weren't in the Cosmic Sea Auction Company, they might have stormed up and beaten him to a pulp.
Cutting off someone's livelihood was like killing their parents. Xia Ping had maliciously driven up prices while provoking people left and right, so it was easy to imagine how much anger he'd stirred up. They were ready to tear him apart.
"Look into it! Find out who this kid is right away."
"Has