Verification of Funds

"What? Private Room Seventeen in the second row has bid again? One million? This... this is too terrifying!"

"Even the Four Great Families couldn't produce that much money in one go. Who exactly is it?"

"What is going on? One million silver taels, heavens..."

Seeing the new words suddenly appear on the jade tablet, everyone rubbed their eyes, afraid they had misread them. But once they confirmed it was one million, the room erupted once more!

One million silver taels—even the Four Great Families could not produce such a sum. Who was this person? How could they possess so much money?

They had already spent taels of silver on the Di Lian Flower, and now they had produced another one million silver taels. Casually taking out taels made people unable to stop wondering just what exalted figure was in Private Room Seventeen of the second row!

"I don't believe he has that much money! I demand a verification of funds. If he doesn't have enough, you won't even need to act—I'll kill this fraud for you!"

Just when Yang Jun thought the dust had settled and was feeling immensely pleased with himself, he saw the words that had appeared. He nearly died on the spot from rage! Unable to endure it any longer, he smashed the window with a punch and let out a roar!

He was practically going mad. He had risked bankrupting his family to offer the enormous sum of seven hundred thousand, convinced he would surely crush all rivals and obtain the Blazing Axe. Who would have thought that Private Room Seventeen in the second row would suddenly emerge halfway through, pinning him down so tightly he could barely catch his breath!

One million silver taels... Since when had Luoshui City gained such an incredible figure?

As for the verification of funds he had proposed, it was also a common practice at auctions. When an item's value exceeded a certain amount, bidders had to verify their funds to prevent someone from disrupting order with an empty promise.

Only buyers with sufficient funds could continue bidding. Otherwise, they would be executed for disturbing the auction's order. Even if they were killed, no one would say a word!

When Yang Jun demanded verification of funds, the auction house's managers hesitated as well.

Though verifying funds sounded disrespectful to the bidder, they could only do so in order to prevent the auction house from suffering losses!

"Verify his funds. If he truly possesses such wealth, then the people in that private room must have changed. He is an extraordinary great figure, perhaps even someone from the imperial capital. It would be more appropriate for me to go personally!"

While the auction house's managers were still hesitating, a calm voice sounded from the room, and a young man walked in.

"Young Master Chen Xing has come..." Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Chen Xing, the Chen Family's first heir among the Four Great Families and the young master of Luoshui Auction House, held an exalted position. His word carried absolute weight, and he possessed unquestioned authority. Once he made a decision, no one dared defy it.

"What do we do? Why did you quote such a price? If they verify our funds, we don't have that much money—we'll definitely be killed!"

Inside Private Room Seventeen of the second row, Yang Yan's face was full of anxiety. No matter how hard he thought, he could not understand why Nie Yun, who had always been so wise, had named such a price!

They had previously swindled eight thousand one hundred jin of gold from Li Fu's home, which came to only eight hundred and ten thousand silver taels altogether. Even adding the seventy thousand taels obtained from Nie Yu, the two of them possessed only eight hundred and eighty thousand taels. How could they possibly come up with one million?

Not to mention that they had just spent more than taels!

If they had no money, they could simply choose not to buy it. But having named that price, what would they do if the auction house came to verify their funds? How could the other party possibly spare them?

Half a year ago, someone had apparently reported false funds at this very auction house. After being discovered, he was hung alive in front of its gates! That person had even been an Inner Disciple of one of the Four Great Families, yet that family did not dare say a single word!

Forget about the punishment for falsely declaring funds—even Yang Yan's half-brother, the family's first heir, would receive the family's harshest punishment if he wrote a bad check at this auction house!

"This is over..." Even the usually composed Yang Yan felt that they had caused a disaster this time!

"Don't worry." Ignoring Yang Yan's anxiety, Nie Yun smiled faintly. He casually took out a jade tablet from his robe, pressed his palm against it, and formed many profound hand seals in the blink of an eye, as though branding something onto it.

"What are you doing?" Though Yang Yan was anxious, he could not help asking when he saw the strange sight.

"Making money, of course. This jade tablet is worth at least four hundred thousand now. When the auction house comes to verify our funds in a moment, just hand it to them!"

Nie Yun tossed the jade tablet over and smiled.

"Four hundred thousand? You're not talking nonsense, are you..." How could a jade tablet possibly be worth so much? Yang Yan scratched his head and was about to inspect what was special about it when a knock sounded at the door.

"Honored guest, I am Chen Xing, the Chen Family's first heir and the young master of Luoshui Auction House. I have presumptuously come to verify your funds. I hope you will forgive the offense!" A gentle, refined voice sounded outside.

"Come in!" Nie Yun was somewhat surprised that they had sent the auction house's young master himself, but he was not overly startled. He had Yang Yan open the door.

"Honored guest, I am truly sorry. It is mainly because the one-million price for this Blazing Axe is simply too high. Our auction house is a small business, so... forgive the disturbance!"

As the young master of the auction house, Chen Xing naturally knew who sat in every private room. Though he had long guessed that it was no longer Nie Yu of the Nie Family's inner branch, he still could not help being startled when he saw two unfamiliar faces he had never met before.

But what sort of person was Chen Xing? Having honed himself for many years, he was already as shrewd as an old hand. Though puzzled within, he revealed nothing on his face.

"Hehe, no matter. Give him the jade tablet first and let him determine how much it is worth!" In his previous life, Nie Yun had never encountered Chen Xing due to his low status. Seeing that the man was neither servile nor overbearing, he immediately took a liking to him.

"Alright!" Though Yang Yan did not know why Nie Yun was so confident, he still handed over the jade tablet as instructed.

"A cultivation method for a martial skill... inscribed on an ordinary jade tablet?" Chen Xing casually swept his gaze over it after taking it, then immediately jumped in fright. His expression changed at once.

As the young master of an auction house, he had seen countless treasures. Being widely experienced, he naturally knew much more than most.

Martial skills were special techniques that allowed one to unleash combat power beyond one's level. They were extremely precious; there were not even many sets in all of Luoshui City! Like cultivation methods, martial skills could only be recorded on special cultivation jade tablets. Yet this one had been recorded on an ordinary jade tablet... It was simply inconceivable!

Ordinary jade tablets were very fragile. If diagrams or writing were recorded on them, the slightest carelessness would cause them to shatter... Who could achieve something like this? What kind of identity did they have?

He had long heard that there were super experts in the Shenfeng Empire's imperial capital who could carve things onto ordinary jade tablets, but he had never believed it. Could these two truly have come from the imperial capital?

"The heads of the Four Great Families all possess martial skills, and they are all Noble Grade skills. Let's see what grade this martial skill is. Since it is recorded on an ordinary jade tablet, it probably isn't too powerful!"

Like bloodlines, martial skills were divided into five grades: Emperor, King, Marquis, Noble, and Common. The higher the grade, the more precious it was and the greater its power.

With that thought, Chen Xing swept his spiritual power across the jade tablet. His eyes gradually widened, and his entire body began to tremble!

Three Waves of the Yangtze River, Noble Grade!

The martial skill on this jade tablet was actually Noble Grade as well!

Though he had not cultivated it, Chen Xing knew that even among Noble Grade martial skills, this set absolutely ranked near the top!

Taking a deep breath and forcibly suppressing the shock in his heart, Chen Xing could not help saying, "I cannot estimate this jade tablet's exact value, but it is worth at least four hundred thousand silver taels. If you two are willing, I can arrange for it to be auctioned right away. The auction house will take only five percent of the proceeds as commission!"

"Fine." Nie Yun said no more and casually waved his hand.

"Forgive the disturbance!" Chen Xing turned and walked out.

"You... sold a family martial skill?"

Only after Chen Xing had gone far away did Yang Yan understand what was on the jade tablet. His eyes widened as he looked at Nie Yun as though he were a monster.

Cultivation methods and martial skills were the most core possessions of any family. Once a family discovered that someone had sold one, they would absolutely punish that seller as a traitor!

"This isn't a martial skill of our Yang Family!" Seemingly seeing through Yang Yan's doubts, Nie Yun explained, "Alright, I'll tell you about these matters later. Just sit back and enjoy the show!"

"Nie Yun... you've changed!" Recalling everything he had seen today after hearing the youth's words, Yang Yan finally understood that the gap between himself and this young man was no small thing. He took a deep breath to suppress the shock in his heart and slowly said, "But I like you this way..."

P.S. Bromance, bromance—bromance again... For the sake of good bros, hand over those votes...