An Expected Matter

The youth opposite saw Li Xingluo stop bidding and his face turned completely gloomy. He had not expected Li Xingluo to give up so quickly, eyeing the tattered cowhide paper in Liu Ya's hands.

He had intended to disgust Li Xingluo, yet the other party hadn't even bothered to acknowledge him. Spending twenty thousand gold coins on such a piece of cowhide paper left everyone present in shock.

"This An Family is truly wealthy and imposing."

"Who's to say otherwise? Spending twenty thousand gold coins on such a scrap of paper; one wonders if this Young Master An has lost his mind."

The waves of discussion regarding him reached his ears, which was truly uncomfortable.

The people in the adjacent private box also let out sarcastic remarks.

"They say the An Family produced a genius, but in this young master's eyes, he's nothing more than a fool."

An Yun listened to the various discussions in the hall, his provocative composure crumbling. His eyes were like the scorching heat of July, glaring fiercely at Li Xingluo, and he slammed a fist heavily onto the table. The servants beside him lowered their heads upon seeing this.

The more this happened, the more delighted Li Xingluo felt. He was particularly excited to see the look on An Yun's face as if he wanted to kill him, though his own expression remained extremely calm.

The auction continued; despite being in a small city, it was quite lively.

"The next item up for auction is a volume of high-grade Xuan-tier Dou Technique, known as: Wind Splitting Art."

Liu Ya opened the exquisite box, and a scroll of Dou Technique was presented to everyone's eyes. As soon as this high-grade Xuan-tier Dou Technique appeared, the entire venue fell silent.

Most people knew in their hearts that they couldn't afford it at all; they had only 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 different.

When this Dou Technique appeared, the people from the three great families stood up one after another, their gazes locked tightly upon it.

Liu Ya scanned the room; this was the atmosphere she wanted. The quieter it was, the more intense the upcoming auction would be.

"Liu Ya, hurry up and start!"

Someone was already impatient. Liu Ya smiled slightly and tapped the auction gavel in her hand.

"The starting price is five hundred thousand gold coins."

When Li Xingluo heard this number, five hundred thousand? Although a high-grade Xuan-tier Dou Technique was worth more than that, Maple Forest City was not large. Did the people of these three great families have that much money?

He still felt surprised; after all, five hundred thousand was an astronomical figure for Li Xingluo at this moment.

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

With him making a bid, the other two great families naturally would not fall behind.

Especially the Mu Family, who had previously mocked An Yun; after bidding, they didn't forget to throw in a taunt.

"Six hundred and fifty thousand! Who increases their bid by only fifty thousand? An Yun, if you don't have the money, you'd better stop competing, lest you embarrass yourself when you can't win later, hahaha!"

Mu Yuan laughed heartily, making An Yun so angry his face turned red and his neck thick. He stood up and walked to the protruding platform of the private box.

Turning his head, he saw Mu Yuan's wild laughter, and the anger in his heart was instantly ignited.

"Mu Yuan, don't think that the Mu Family is the best in Maple Forest City."

Watching An Yun's exasperated appearance, Mu Yuan was very smug, putting on an expression that said, "Come over here and hit me then."

"Eight hundred thousand!"

Just as the two were arguing until their faces were red, the opposite private box shouted eight hundred thousand, directly raising the price by one hundred and fifty thousand.

An Yun and Mu Yuan temporarily set aside their differences and looked toward the opposite box in unison, both of their faces sinking at the same time.

Indeed, the person bidding from across the way was the Jiamo Family, one of the three great families.

"Eight hundred and fifty thousand!"

An Yun continued to bid.

Mu Yuan naturally did not want to fall behind, though he was slightly more restrained than his previous bravado.

"Nine hundred thousand!"

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

This auction price was the highest in the history of the Maple Forest City auction house.

Mu Yuan's face was gloomy, his palms unconsciously clenched into fists, staring fixedly at the Jiamo Family bidding from the opposite box.

An Yun wore the same expression, though he did speak up to tease them.

"Patriarch Jiamo, you wouldn't have sold the entire Jiamo Family, would you?"

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

He squinted, his face looking very unpleasant, like dark clouds pressing down. He even slammed his hand on the table and stood up, a surge of Dou Qi radiating from his body, aimed directly at An Yun.

"Little brat of the An Family, even your father has to give this old man some face in front of me. To think you would treat an elder this way; it seems I must teach you a lesson on your father's behalf."

The Dou Qi that Jiamo Lin erupted with instantly affected An Yun, with the majority of the pressure directed at him.

An Yun was forced back by Jiamo Lin's Dou Qi, beads of sweat seeping onto his forehead, his face turning much paler.

Li Xingluo glanced at Jiamo Lin in the neighboring box. From the Dou Qi that had just erupted, he could feel that this guy was likely already a Dou Ling. Wasn't it said that there were no Dou Ling in Maple Forest City? Could this guy be an exception?

Sure enough, strength was important. An Yun, who had been sharp-tongued just a moment ago, was now back in his seat with the support of an elder, while Mu Yuan, who had also endured the pressure, just bared his teeth and smiled awkwardly.

Jiamo Lin's move caused the venue to quiet down significantly; seeing the two juniors opposite him fall silent, Jiamo Lin felt quite smug.

"Liu Ya, continue! If they aren't going to raise the bid further, then just announce the result."

The onlookers downstairs began to whisper among themselves.

"I didn't expect the Jiamo Family to be this formidable; they throw around a million just like that."

"Indeed, it seems like the sky over Maple Forest City is about to change."

For years, rumors had circulated that the Jiamo Family intended to swallow up the other two great families so that they could dominate the entirety of Maple Forest City alone.

Jiamo Lin listened to these discussions with great comfort and satisfaction.

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

At this moment, someone pushed open the door to the An Family's private box, and their voice rang out; upon seeing the newcomer, the dark clouds on An Yun's face instantly transformed into joy.

"Father, you've come!"

The others naturally bowed, calling out in unison, "Greetings, Clan Head!"

An Batian did not give An Yun a pleasant look, even scolding him slightly.

"I heard you spent twenty thousand gold coins to buy a piece of waste paper? Do you even know what you came here for today?"

Facing An Batian's reprimand, An Yun felt helpless, but he could only endure it and shift the blame onto Li Xingluo.

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

Li Xingluo did not care in the slightest; he remained calm and composed, showing nothing out of the ordinary.

"Someone digs a pit and you jump right in. Forget it, we will discuss this matter after the event concludes. Right now, the most important thing is to secure this scroll of Dou Technique."

An Batian's gaze rested on the Xuan-rank Advanced Dou Technique, his posture one of absolute determination.

Jiamo Lin walked back onto the platform, sweeping a dismissive glance at An Batian.

"I wondered who it was; so it's the An Family Clan Head. What, are you interested in this Dou Technique as well?"

"Is it only allowed for you to be interested?"

"Well said, but does your An Family have the confidence to win it? Or perhaps, do you have the confidence to protect it?"

Jiamo Lin erupted with Dou Qi once more, and An Batian refused to show weakness. When the two streams of Dou Qi met midway and collided, the resulting shockwave was naturally intense.

An Batian retreated half a step, his foot leaving a deep imprint in the floor.

From this probing exchange, An Batian couldn't help but frown. Since when had Jiamo Lin advanced to a Dou Ling?