At Last, This Overwhelming Fortune Was Mine

The young woman named Liu Qingqing opened box number 1-26 first.

"A blue-and-white porcelain bowl, worth five Copper Soul Coins."

With a professional smile, Liu Qingqing generously displayed the blue-and-white porcelain bowl.

Orleans was instantly dumbfounded. The gap between her expectations and reality was simply too great. She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but nothing came out. She merely snorted. She had chosen it herself, and the process had been transparent, so there was no possibility of a switch.

Xu Huxiao's box was right next to hers and was about the same size. Now, she could only hope that whatever was inside his box was worth less than five Copper Soul Coins.

But that hope was slim.

The young woman then publicly opened box number 1-27.

"A pair of green jade wine cups, worth five Gold Soul Coins. The distinguished guest who drew black box 1-27 wins. Since neither black box purchased was worth more than one thousand Gold Soul Coins, there will be no refund."

Liu Qingqing felt somewhat helpless. These two Seven-Star distinguished guests had terribly poor luck, somehow picking the two least valuable boxes on the first floor.

"Sorry, but I won the first round." Xu Huxiao looked at the unconvinced Orleans and spoke.

"Hmph, don't get cocky. That was only the first round. For the second round, we'll still pick from the one-thousand-Gold-Soul-Coin floor. This time, you choose first."

She had not expected her luck to be so bad. Orleans had already decided that Jin Huan would make the next two picks.

"Fine by me. Then I'll choose first."

There were probably over a hundred black boxes on the first floor, but Xu Huxiao had already seen their values through the Eye of Omniscience during his earlier glance around.

To Xu Huxiao now, these black boxes were practically transparent. Their values were clearly marked one by one.

"Then I'll choose black box number 1-96."

[Black Box 1-96 Value]: Twenty thousand Gold Soul Coins.

Xu Huxiao directly chose the most valuable black box on this floor.

When it was Orleans's turn to choose, she looked at the Soul Sage Jin Huan beside her, waiting for him to pick the most valuable one for her.

Jin Huan appeared calm, but inwardly, he was somewhat uneasy. In his perception, the black box numbered 1-96 that the other party had selected was clearly an item of high value.

Jin Huan sighed inwardly. This blond brat's luck was ridiculously good.

Still, it was not impossible to win. After sensing for several minutes, Jin Huan selected black box number 1-78. In his perception, it was also highly valuable.

The two black boxes were placed on the betting platform. The black box Xu Huxiao had chosen was only the size of a brick, while the one Jin Huan had chosen was over a meter in length, width, and height.

The sexy young woman, Liu Qingqing, was still responsible for opening the boxes. This time, she opened the larger black box, number 1-78, first.

"One piece of Blue-Pattern Black Iron Ore, worth eight thousand Gold Soul Coins. Congratulations to the distinguished guest for drawing a precious treasure."

Besides the items, every black box contained an appraisal of its value from the auction house's professional appraisers. The staff only needed to open the box and read it aloud.

Seeing the Blue-Pattern Black Iron Ore over a meter tall before her and hearing the attendant's valuation, Orleans wore a smug expression.

"Now you can't beat me, can you? Attendant, hurry up and see what's inside that tiny box."

Since the black box she had drawn was so valuable, Orleans could not wait to see what Xu Huxiao had drawn.

"Certainly, please wait a moment, distinguished guest."

Liu Qingqing then opened Xu Huxiao's black box number 1-96.

"What?! It's actually... a Floating Tent!!"

"Sorry, I lost my composure."

"Black box number 1-96 has produced a Soul Tool, one Floating Tent, valued at twenty thousand Gold Soul Coins. Congratulations to this distinguished guest!"

When the black box was opened, there was a palm-sized silver cube inside. Beside it, the appraisal was written in gold letters:

'Value: 20,000 Gold Soul Coins.'

"What?! That Floating Tent is worth more than my iron ore? You didn't make a mistake, did you?"

Orleans was dumbfounded again. She had lost this round. Two wins out of three meant she had completely lost the bet.

Liu Qingqing patiently explained, "Distinguished guest, the items in these black boxes have all been jointly appraised by three top appraisal masters of our Seven-Star Auction House. The values they provide are highly accurate."

"Both of you have drawn items worth far more than one thousand Gold Soul Coins. According to the rules, your one-thousand-Gold-Soul-Coin purchase fees will be refunded. Congratulations again to both distinguished guests."

Xu Huxiao smiled. When the black box had been opened, he had also received the detailed information on the Floating Tent.

[Item]: Floating Tent

[Effect]: A household Soul Tool containing six cubic meters of space. It can be used for outdoor lodging, can float at a controllable height, and can change color according to the surroundings for camouflage. In terms of defense, it can withstand attacks from a Soul Elder.

[Value]: Twenty thousand Gold Soul Coins.

[Item Description]: "Stopping the tent to enjoy the maple woods at dusk, turning clouds and rain to savor springtime... Hehe, this tent also comes with a high-frequency vibration function. You know what I mean~"

Ignoring that rather lewd item description, Xu Huxiao found this Soul Tool quite good aside from its somewhat weak defense.

"So, I won the second round. Two wins out of three means I won, right? According to our wager, you have to call me Boss, and you must obey my requests one hundred percent. Is that correct?"

Hearing Xu Huxiao's words, Orleans unwillingly looked at the silver cube, then at Jin Huan beside her, who wore an awkward expression.

For a moment, she found it hard to accept reality. Orleans was not someone who broke her word, but making her call this brat from the Xu Family Boss in front of everyone was more painful than killing her.

But reality was right before her. This brat from the Xu Family had absurdly good luck.

Then Orleans turned and saw her younger brother, and another idea came to her. She refused to believe Xu Huxiao's luck could remain this good forever.

"I, Orleans, am a person of my word. A bet is a bet, and I accept defeat! However, I lost, but I still have... Ao Li'ao. Xu Huxiao, do you dare to bet against my younger brother once more? The rules will be the same as before."

"We'll add another condition to the wager. If my younger brother wins, the previous oath won't count, and you must call my younger brother Boss."

"Well? Do you dare? The son of Demon Bear Douluo isn't going to be a coward, is he?"

Orleans provocatively looked at Xu Huxiao, who was slightly taller than her. If he refused, she would say she would never call a coward Boss.

"Sure. I accept."

Xu Huxiao agreed readily. It would make no difference no matter how many times they did this.

"Oh... oh, good. Little brother, you'll compete against him next."

The other party had agreed so directly that Orleans had not even reacted yet.

"Big Sister, I don't want to..."

Ao Li'ao looked utterly confused and wanted to refuse, but before he could finish speaking, Orleans glared him into silence.

"Relax, trust me. We'll definitely win this time. We have Uncle Jin."

"Fine."

Ao Li'ao could only agree.

They selected black boxes again, this time on the second floor, where each black box cost two thousand Gold Soul Coins. Jin Huan looked at the blond boy across from him, who was unnervingly calm for someone his age, and felt a faint sense of pressure for the first time.

So this time, he was exceptionally serious about choosing the black boxes.

But no matter how serious he was, Jin Huan could only vaguely sense which items might be more valuable. He was utterly incomparable to Xu Huxiao's Eye of Omniscience, which could determine an item's value at a glance.

Thus, after two selections, Xu Huxiao once again won completely. Orleans could not believe it. The siblings stared at each other, and just as Orleans was about to ask Jin Huan to compete again—

Jin Huan coughed violently and claimed he was unwell. His senses were off today, and he could not participate in the black-box betting.

What a joke. If he lost, would Jin Huan, a Soul Sage, have to call a child whose hair had barely grown in Boss?

That was absolutely impossible!

This blond brat's luck was too freakish today. Jin Huan felt there was a ninety percent chance that he would lose.

Without Jin Huan's help, Orleans could no longer find anyone to assist her. She could only swallow this loss and, together with her younger brother, mumble out the oath in low voices before stomping away from the auction house in anger.

Xu Huxiao let the siblings leave and did not use the wager to provoke or make things difficult for them. He felt somewhat sentimental. It seemed Demon Leopard Douluo had done a decent job raising his children.

At the very least, they were good about honoring bets.

Then Xu Huxiao looked at the black boxes filling the nine-tiered pyramid, and the corners of his lips curled up.

Under the shocked gazes of Liu Qingqing and everyone in the hall, he directly bought every black box that the Eye of Omniscience showed was worth more than its purchase price.

Then came opening boxes, refunding Gold Soul Coins, opening boxes, refunding Gold Soul Coins...

There were a total of one hundred and sixty boxes, and every single one was a high-value black box!

The onlookers were all dumbfounded, while the attendant Liu Qingqing had become numb from opening boxes.

This Seven-Star distinguished guest's luck was far too good!

Liu Qingqing felt like crying. Every one of these black boxes had been opened in her hands. Her Gold Soul Coin bonus for the month would probably be deducted clean away.

Unlike the young woman's sorrow, the surrounding people saw a child draw high-value items from every box, and their eyes lit up.

One person's luck could not possibly be this good!

Could there have been some malfunction in the auction house's treasure-drawing area today, with all the displayed boxes containing high-value items?

Wouldn't that mean...

"I want to open ten!"

"Me too, me too! I'll use every Gold Soul Coin in my card to buy black boxes!"

"And me! Today, I'm striking it rich! I want to open a hundred!"

"..."

While Liu Qingqing was grieving inwardly, cards loaded with Gold Soul Coins were thrust before her one after another.

Liu Qingqing stared blankly at this overwhelming fortune. Seeing the attendant's stunned expression, the people in the hall who were buying black boxes became even more convinced of their speculation and bought even more frantically.

"Don't just stand there, beauty. The auction house isn't going to stop selling black boxes, is it?"

"What?! They won't sell them? That won't do! There are still several thousand in this treasure-drawing area!"

"That's right! Hurry and take our money. Any mistake is your problem. I, Old Wang, have to open a hundred today!"

"..."

A mistake?!

What did that mean? Liu Qingqing did not understand, but it no longer mattered. Her professional smile returned, and this time it came from the heart.

With so many people buying, today's sales alone could equal three months of performance. Thank you, Seven-Star distinguished guest, you handsome little blond boy. Of course, the winning rate for black boxes was not one hundred percent—of that, Liu Qingqing was certain.

"Everyone, please purchase rationally. Line up and don't fight. One at a time."

But when they heard her say "purchase rationally," everyone became even more excited.

And so, after Xu Huxiao consecutively opened one hundred and sixty black boxes, a black-box buying frenzy erupted across the first floor of the auction house.

However, those black boxes were destined to never yield another high-value item.

After the auction ended, Xu Huxiao returned home with his mother. As soon as they arrived, all the auctioned items and purchased black boxes were delivered.

However, among the opened black boxes, Xu Huxiao felt that only the Floating Tent was remotely useful in terms of practicality. After putting it away, he had the butler Luo Ming move all the others into the Xu Family warehouse.

Xu Huxiao specifically instructed that the Bronze Giant Clam be sent to his courtyard. Just as he was preparing to study it, his eldest and second uncles arrived.

Their families came with them as well.

Since guests had come to the house, Xu Huxiao could only set aside his research for now.

This family dinner had been gathered by Xu Bayan. It was the first time the three Xu brothers had come together since the turmoil a month ago.

It was also the first gathering of the Xu Family's second generation.

His cousin Xu Yanran was still as quiet and polite as ever, but Xu Huxiao keenly noticed that his two male cousins, Xu Luo and Xu Lin, seemed to hold faint hostility toward him.

After reading their inner thoughts, he discovered that both of them seemed to want to defeat him in order to prove something.

Xu Huxiao found it baffling. But with one of them having one Soul Ring and the other two, even if they joined forces, they could not possibly be his match, so he did not pay it any mind.

The family dinner did not end until nine that evening.