As Expected

The young man across from him saw that Li Xingluo had stopped bidding, and his face darkened. He hadn't expected Li Xingluo to give up so quickly. He stared at the damaged piece of parchment in Liu Ya's hand.

He had meant to get under Li Xingluo's skin, but the other party hadn't paid him any attention at all. Spending twenty thousand gold coins on a piece of parchment like that had astonished everyone present.

"The An Family really is loaded."

"Isn't that the truth? Twenty thousand gold coins for a scrap of paper like that. I wonder if Young Master An has lost his mind."

The sound of people discussing him rose and fell in his ears, making him feel thoroughly uncomfortable.

From the box beside them came another mocking remark.

"Everyone says the An Family has produced a genius. In my eyes, he's nothing but a fool."

An Yun listened to the various comments around the hall, and his provocative attitude crumbled. His eyes blazed like midsummer flames as he glared fiercely at Li Xingluo, then slammed his fist down on the table. The servants beside him all lowered their heads at the sight.

The more An Yun acted like this, the more delighted Li Xingluo felt. He was especially excited to see the look on An Yun's face, as if he wanted to kill him, though he remained perfectly calm on the outside.

The auction continued. Though Maple Forest City was small, the event was lively.

"The next lot is a high-grade Xuan-tier Dou Technique, known as the Wind Splitting Art."

Liu Ya opened an exquisite box, revealing a scroll of a Dou Technique to everyone. The moment this high-grade Xuan-tier Dou Technique appeared, the entire hall fell silent.

Most people knew perfectly well they couldn't afford it. They had simply come to catch a glimpse of a high-grade Xuan-tier Dou Technique.

Now that they had seen it with their own eyes, their wish was fulfilled. But the three great families were another matter entirely.

As soon as the Dou Technique appeared, members of all three great families rose to their feet, their eyes fixed firmly upon it.

Liu Ya swept her gaze across the hall. This was the atmosphere she wanted. The quieter it was, the fiercer the bidding to come.

"Liu Ya, get started already!"

Someone was already getting impatient. Liu Ya smiled faintly and tapped the auctioneer's hammer in her hand.

"The bidding starts at five hundred thousand gold coins."

At that figure, Li Xingluo was taken aback. Five hundred thousand? A high-grade Xuan-tier Dou Technique was worth more than that, but Maple Forest City wasn't very large. Did the three great families really have that much money?

He was still astonished. After all, five hundred thousand was an astronomical sum to Li Xingluo at the moment.

"Five hundred and fifty thousand!" The elderly man beside An Yun, who looked like a family elder, was the first to bid.

With him making an offer, the other two great families naturally weren't willing to fall behind.

The Mu Family, who had mocked An Yun earlier, especially couldn't resist adding a taunt after bidding.

"Six hundred and fifty thousand! Who bids in increments of fifty thousand? An Yun, if you don't have the money, you'd better stop competing. Otherwise, losing later will only make you look bad. Hahaha!"

Mu Yuan burst into laughter. An Yun was so furious his face and neck turned red. He stood up and stepped onto the platform jutting out from the box.

Turning his head, he saw Mu Yuan laughing uproariously, and rage flared within him.

"Mu Yuan, don't think the Mu Family is the number one family in Maple Forest City."

Seeing An Yun's furious, flustered appearance, Mu Yuan was quite pleased. He put on a face that seemed to say, "Come over here and hit me."

"Eight hundred thousand!"

Just as the two were red in the face from arguing, the box across from them called out eight hundred thousand, raising the price by a full one hundred and fifty thousand.

An Yun and Mu Yuan temporarily set aside their grudge and looked toward the opposite box in unison. Both their expressions darkened.

The bidder across from them was none other than the Jiamo Family, one of the three great families.

"Eight hundred and fifty thousand!"

An Yun continued bidding.

Mu Yuan naturally wasn't willing to fall behind, though he had reined in some of the bravado he'd shown earlier.

"Nine hundred thousand!"

"One million!" The Jiamo Family bid again, pushing the price straight up to one million.

This was the highest price ever paid at an auction in Maple Forest City.

Mu Yuan's face darkened. His hands clenched into fists of their own accord as he stared at the Jiamo Family, who had made the bid from the opposite box.

An Yun wore much the same expression, but he still couldn't resist taunting them.

"Patriarch Jiamo, don't tell me you sold off your entire family to come up with that money?"

The middle-aged man addressed as Patriarch Jiamo heard An Yun's taunt and jeer.

His eyes narrowed, and his face turned as dark as a storm cloud. He sprang to his feet and released a stream of Dou Qi that shot straight toward An Yun.

"Boy of the An Family, even your father would have to show me some respect. How dare you treat an elder like this? It seems I'll have to teach you a proper lesson on your father's behalf."

The Dou Qi Jiamo Lin unleashed in an instant swept over An Yun, with most of its force aimed at him.

Jiamo Lin's Dou Qi forced An Yun backward. Beads of sweat broke out on his forehead, and his face turned pale.

Li Xingluo glanced at Jiamo Lin in the box beside them. He could tell from the Dou Qi the man had just released that he was probably already a Dou Ling. Hadn't they said there were no Dou Lings in Maple Forest City? Could this man be an exception?

Sure enough, strength mattered. An Yun, who had just been running his mouth, was now back in his seat with the elder's support. Mu Yuan, who had also been caught in the pressure, could only grimace and laugh awkwardly.

Jiamo Lin's display of force quieted the hall considerably. Seeing the two younger men across from him fall silent, he looked rather pleased.

"Liu Ya, go on. If they don't raise the price, just announce the result."

Downstairs, a few spectators murmured among themselves.

"I didn't expect the Jiamo Family to be so formidable. They casually bid a million."

"Exactly. Looks like Maple Forest City is in for a shake-up."

For years, rumors had circulated that the Jiamo Family intended to swallow up the other two great families and dominate all of Maple Forest City.

Jiamo Lin found those remarks very pleasing to hear. He was quite satisfied.

"Jiamo Lin, what kind of achievement is it to bully a junior? The An Family bids one million one hundred thousand."

At that moment, someone pushed open the door to the An Family's box. His voice rang out, and when An Yun saw who had arrived, the clouds on his face instantly gave way to delight.

"Father, you're here!"

The others naturally paid their respects, calling out, "Greetings, Patriarch!"

An Batian didn't give An Yun a kind look. There was even a note of reproach in his voice.

"I heard you spent twenty thousand gold coins on a piece of worthless paper. Do you know why you came here today?"

An Yun felt helpless under An Batian's scolding, but he could only endure it. All he could do was shift the blame onto Li Xingluo.

After hearing An Yun's account, An Batian naturally turned his gaze toward Li Xingluo.

Li Xingluo didn't mind in the slightest. He looked perfectly composed, and nothing about him seemed unusual.

"Someone dug a pit, and you jumped right in. Forget it. I'll talk to you about this after the auction. The most important thing now is to get that Dou Technique."

An Batian's gaze came to rest on the high-grade Xuan-tier Dou Technique. He looked determined to claim it.

Jiamo Lin stepped back onto the platform and glanced at An Batian with indifference.

"I wondered who it was. So it's the An Family's patriarch. What, you're interested in this Dou Technique too?"

"Are you the only one allowed to be interested?"

"Well said. But is your An Family confident it can win the bid? Or confident it can protect what it gets?"

Jiamo Lin unleashed his Dou Qi again. An Batian refused to back down. When their two streams of Dou Qi met midway and collided, the impact was naturally tremendous.

An Batian took a small step back, leaving a deep footprint in the floor beneath him.

After the two men tested each other, An Batian couldn't help frowning. When had Jiamo Lin advanced to Dou Ling?