Three Waves of the Yangtze River

"You like..." Hearing those words, Nie Yun stumbled and nearly fell.

Why did that sound so awkward... Remembering what he had done to Nie Liu before, Nie Yun shuddered all over.

Brother, I'm a man, and my orientation is perfectly normal...

While the two spoke, the auction below continued. This time, the original auctioneer stepped down, and Chen Xing strode onto the stage.

"I am Chen Xing, the Chen Family's first heir and the young master of the auction house." Chen Xing introduced himself first, then said, "Regarding Mr. Yang Jun's doubts from private room number four in the first row, I have already conducted a verification of funds!"

"What? The investigation was finished so quickly? Did the people in private room number seventeen of the second row admit it? Where are they? I'll deal with them for you!"

From the very beginning, Yang Jun had believed that the people in private room number seventeen of the second row had no money. Hearing that their funds had been verified, he immediately let out a long shout and was about to leap out of his room.

"Brother Yang Jun, this is the Luoshui Auction House, not one of your Yang Family's racetracks!" Chen Xing and Yang Jun were both the first heirs of the Four Great Families, with equal status. Seeing Yang Jun interrupt him so rudely, Chen Xing's expression immediately turned ugly.

The Yang Family of the Four Great Families had started out by breeding horses and owned seventeen enormous racetracks. Chen Xing's words were equivalent to a direct slap across Yang Jun's face.

"Chen Xing, you..."

Yang Jun had already been furious, and these words enraged him further. However, Chen Xing held the same status as him. No matter how arrogant he was, he did not dare clash head-on with the Chen Family, so he could only snort coldly and vent his anger on the people in private room number seventeen of the second row again. "You'd better hand over that fellow who bid recklessly without money, or our Yang Family will never let this go!"

"Bid recklessly? Never let this go? I'll tell you right now: the honored guests in private room number seventeen of the second row are qualified to purchase the Blazing Axe. This Blazing Axe already belongs to them!" Chen Xing flicked his sleeve.

"What? They're qualified? Does that mean the people in that room can produce one million?"

"One million? How could they possibly be so rich..."

"Impossible, absolutely impossible! I don't believe anyone can produce one million!" Hearing Chen Xing confirm it, Yang Jun's eyes turned bloodshot. He no longer had his previous composed bearing and seemed on the verge of going mad.

"Alright. Although the Blazing Axe has been auctioned off, everyone, don't be anxious. Next, I will preside over the auction of the most precious item in this auction!"

"The most precious item? Wasn't the Blazing Axe the final auction item? There's more?"

"Who knows? Was it added at the last minute? That's impossible. I want to see what could possibly be more precious than the Blazing Axe!"

The crowd quieted down once more, all wanting to see what this so-called most precious item actually was.

"The final item up for auction is a martial skill set called Three Waves of the Yangtze River. It is of Noble Grade upper-tier quality. When unleashed at full force, its power stacks in three waves, with boundless might, comparable to a lower-tier Marquis Grade..."

Chen Xing raised the jade tablet in his hand and explained it in detail.

Before he had even finished explaining, the entire auction house had fallen silent enough to hear a crow caw. The final item was actually a Noble Grade upper-tier martial skill... This had exceeded everyone's imagination and was simply hard to believe!

"...Alright, the starting price for this martial skill is four hundred thousand taels of silver. I know everyone may not have brought enough money, so we can wait for half an hour. The auction will resume in half an hour!" Chen Xing said calmly.

"Half an hour? That's enough time. Quickly notify the family and see how much the family can offer at most!"

"A Noble Grade upper-tier peak martial skill comparable to a lower-tier Marquis Grade—even our family's greatest martial skill cannot compare to this. Once we obtain it, our family's overall strength will rise by an entire level... No matter the price, we must buy it!"

"Quickly ask the family head to come personally. A martial skill of this level is not something we can decide on..."

Once they understood the final auction item, all the people of status and standing in the various private rooms could no longer sit still. They used their Message Tokens to notify their family heads, hoping they would come personally to participate in the bidding for this martial skill!

Martial skills were more precious than weapons. No matter how high a weapon's grade was, it could only be used by one person at most. Martial skills were different: once obtained, they could even raise the strength of an entire family by a significant margin!

"Luckily I didn't win the Blazing Axe. Isn't this far stronger than the Blazing Axe? It must be mine!" Yang Jun in private room number four of the first row grew excited once again.

"Our family must obtain it!" The people in private room number eleven of the first row also secretly steeled themselves.

In short, the moment the Three Waves of the Yangtze River martial skill appeared, it made the other three of the Four Great Families, aside from the Chen Family, see red with envy! It seemed that no matter the cost, they intended to buy this martial skill set!

"It seems the great melee among Luoshui City's Four Great Families will begin ahead of schedule!"

Seeing how casually tossing out a martial skill had caused such chaos, Nie Yun sighed.

He knew at least several hundred martial skill sets of this level. To him, they were nothing at all; tossing one out casually did not matter. Besides, when he had recorded it earlier, he had deliberately altered the most important point, leaving behind a method—a flaw.

To him, this martial skill was ordinary and not worth cherishing in the slightest. Yet in a small place like Luoshui City, it was absolutely the fuse that could ignite a war. Whichever family obtained it would likely become the target of the other families' joint assault!

Nie Yun had already anticipated this outcome. This was also the main reason he had rather swindled money before than sell martial skills for money.

After all, his current strength was still somewhat low. Once unrest began, he would be utterly unable to handle it with his present power. However, after unexpectedly purchasing the Di Lian Flower, that way of thinking changed!

With the Di Lian Flower, the Spirit Rhinoceros Body Refining Technique could soon be cultivated to the first level, giving him the capital to protect himself. Without this support, if he caused turmoil by exchanging martial skills for money and ended up making a mess of things, it would be too late even to cry!

"The Demon Race invasion is only a little over a year away. If the Four Great Families begin their melee now, it will certainly be better than waiting until a year later!"

Taking a deep breath, Nie Yun nodded.

According to his memories of his previous life, a melee among the Four Great Families was unavoidable. Since that was the case, starting later was certainly worse than starting earlier!

If it began early, the elite disciples of the Four Great Families could be tempered by the flames of war and rapidly increase their combat power. That would give them a greater chance of resisting the Demon Race invasion a year later!

As for people dying in battle, those who could be killed were all weaklings. The strong would only grow stronger. Rather than be killed by the Demon Race then, they might as well temper themselves now!

Lost in wild thoughts, Nie Yun did not know how much time had passed. By the time he came back to himself, the auction outside was nearly over.

In the end, the Three Waves of the Yangtze River martial skill was not bought by Yang Jun. Instead, it was purchased by the people in private room number eleven of the first row for one million three hundred thousand taels of silver!

This nearly angered Yang Jun to death again.

"Sir, I am Chen Tongsheng, head of the Chen Family. It is our honor that you chose to auction your item at our auction house. This is the money earned from the sale of the Three Waves of the Yangtze River martial skill, after deducting payment for the Blazing Axe and our commission. In addition, this is the highest-grade honored guest medal of our auction house. As long as you carry this medal, you will receive the highest standard of respect from our auction house and the Chen Family!"

Walking down the street with Yang Yan, Nie Yun could not help smiling as he recalled how, after the auction ended, Chen Tongsheng, the Chen Family head, had personally come to present him with an honored guest medal.

To be honest, the Chen Family had been very clever in doing this. They seemed to have seen through his disguise, but since they could not determine his true background, they did their best to befriend him!

After all, how could someone who could casually produce a Noble Grade upper-tier martial skill for auction be an ordinary person?

Of course, if they learned his true identity, they would probably die of anger. He really was an ordinary person; he possessed high-level cultivation methods and martial skills only because of his memories from two lifetimes!

"Nie Yun, following the method you gave me, I really refined the Blazing Axe! I thought it would take at least three days, but it took less than the time it takes for one stick of incense to burn!"

With a flick of his wrist, the Blazing Axe in Yang Yan's palm flashed with a sheet of cold light. His eyes were red with excitement.

With Yang Yan's current cultivation, it would have been impossible for him to refine a weapon of the Blazing Axe's level in less than three or four days. Left with no choice, Nie Yun had taught him a Devil Race method for binding weapons to their owner. With this method, Yang Yan succeeded in no time and was exceptionally excited.

"Heh, don't celebrate too early. We're already being followed. They cannot make a move while we are in the city, but once we leave it, I'm afraid they'll rush us directly!"

Seeing Yang Yan like this, Nie Yun smiled and shook his head.

The moment they left the auction house, Nie Yun had sensed someone following them. Their private room had drawn far too much attention at the auction. Anyone would be curious after seeing them casually produce more than a million taels of silver, so it was only natural to send people after them to investigate!

"Hmph, they dare follow us? I'll make sure they come but never return!"

Having just refined the Blazing Axe, Yang Yan's combat power had increased greatly, and his confidence swelled to the extreme. He gave an excited cold snort.

"Come but never return? Let's hope you can bring yourself to do it! Keep following my orders later. Let's go faster!"

As if he knew something, Nie Yun smiled faintly. With a flash, he vanished into the crowd.