Auction Ends!

Inside the auction hall, bids rang out one after another, the numbers climbing higher and higher.

"Four hundred and thirty thousand!"

"Heh, this friend is truly persistent about Miss Ning's secret. I bid four hundred and fifty thousand!"

Inside the Field Master's Office, Ning Liu watched it all with keen interest.

Suddenly, an ill-timed knocking sounded at the door—thump, thump, thump.

Ning Liu's brow lifted slightly. At a time like this, who would come and interrupt his amusement?

"Come in."

Ning Liu's voice was calm. He was not worried; in his own estimation, Wang Wei's strength was enough to handle most sudden situations.

The door was shoved open with great force, and a figure rushed in, brimming with fury.

It was Ning Rongrong.

Her eyes were red, clearly from having just cried, and even her delicate makeup was a little smeared. At that moment, she was glaring fixedly at Ning Liu.

"Ning Liu!"

Her voice was shrill as she roared with a sobbing edge.

"How dare you do this! How exactly did you get that thing!"

Seeing this, Wang Wei was just about to step forward when Ning Liu waved his hand.

"Wang Wei, go outside and guard the door first. Without my orders, no one is allowed in."

"Yes, Field Master."

Wang Wei bowed and withdrew, closing the door behind him.

Only then did Ning Liu slowly rise from his seat and walk over to Ning Rongrong. He forced back his laughter, but his face wore an expression of feigned surprise.

"Oh my, Junior Sister, what happened?"

"Who dared make our little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect angry?"

Then he paused, changed the subject, and his tone carried a hint of teasing.

"But then again, Junior Sister, as expected of you!"

"A perfectly ordinary account book actually managed to fetch such an astronomical price."

"How about this? Senior Brother will make the decision. Later, every last Gold Soul Coin earned from auctioning this account book will all be given to you. What do you think? You've made a huge profit out of thin air!"

Ning Rongrong trembled all over with anger at his words.

She had thought Ning Liu would feel guilty, would explain himself, but she had not expected him to act like this—and even turn around to mock her.

A thought suddenly struck her: was Ning Liu doing this because he was dead set on humiliating her?

Seeing that being forceful would not work, the fury on Ning Rongrong's face instantly collapsed, replaced by a tearful, wronged expression.

"Wuwuwu..."

She began to sob, tears rolling down like beads from a broken string.

"Senior Brother... Senior Brother Ning Liu..."

"I was wrong. I really was wrong..."

Her voice choked, thick with a nasal tone.

"Please don't play with your Junior Sister like this..."

"Junior Sister is begging you. Stop the auction, please, I'm begging you..."

Ning Liu looked at her tear-streaked, pitiful appearance and laughed inwardly, then said cleanly and decisively:

"No."

"The auction has already begun. How could there be any reason to stop halfway? Unless..."

He deliberately drew out his voice.

"Unless you buy it yourself."

"Aren't you very rich? When you bought the Soft Armor just now, you didn't even blink."

Ning Rongrong's crying hitched.

"I... if my dad finds out I spent this much money buying an account book, then from now on... from now on, he definitely won't give me any more allowance!"

"Wuwuwu..."

She cried even harder, as if she had already foreseen the tragic life of poverty that awaited her.

Ning Liu felt that the timing was about right.

If he pushed any further, this little girl might truly break down.

He got up, walked to Ning Rongrong's side, and took out a clean silk handkerchief from his Storage Soul Tool.

"All right, all right, stop crying. If you keep crying, your makeup will be ruined, and you won't be pretty anymore."

He reached out and gently wiped the tear tracks from Ning Rongrong's cheeks.

The silk handkerchief was soft, carrying a faint, delicate fragrance, and Ning Liu's movements were unexpectedly gentle.

Ning Rongrong froze for a moment, then lifted her tear-misty eyes to look at Ning Liu.

Under the lights, Ning Liu's profile was sharply defined, and the faint smile at the corner of his mouth did not seem quite so annoying just then.

She suddenly felt that this Senior Brother, who usually did not stand out much, seemed... seemed rather handsome.

But the thought only flashed through her mind.

Because in the next instant, she remembered all the complaints about certain people in her diary, even some of her first times, along with those girlish little romantic thoughts—all of it had been seen clearly by this guy.

All at once, Ning Rongrong's cheeks flushed scarlet, the red spreading all the way to the tips of her ears.

Ning Liu took in every bit of her embarrassment, and his heart was practically bursting with delight.

He lowered the silk handkerchief, his tone softening.

"Junior Sister, how about this? You bid Nine Hundred Thousand Gold Soul Coins and buy that notebook."

"After you win it, Senior Brother promises I'll give you a huge surprise!"

Ning Rongrong blinked her still-wet eyes, somewhat hesitant.

But if she did not win it, and those random messy people saw what was inside...

"What... what surprise?"

She asked with a trace of uncertainty.

Ning Liu smiled mysteriously.

"If I told you now, would it still be called a surprise?"

Ning Rongrong bit her lower lip. In the end, her sense of shame still overcame her hesitation over the money.

"Fine! I'll trust you this once!"

She picked up the bidding device inside the private room, her finger trembling as she pressed the number.

Nine Hundred Thousand Gold Soul Coins!

Inside the auction house, all the clamor seemed to have had the pause button pressed.

Everyone looked at one another.

"She also spent nine hundred thousand on the Soft Armor earlier. Looks like that really is all the money she has."

"No one will dare follow now, right? If it really gets stuck in their hands, who could afford that?"

Those who had originally still wanted to join in the fun and drive up the price all died down at once.

They were only doing it for amusement. If it really came to spending several hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins on some incomprehensible notebook, they were not that stupid. If Ning Rongrong stopped following, would it not be stuck in their own hands?

And if they could not take out the money, that would be even worse. Once Seven Treasures Auction House came knocking, it was not something a simple "it was just a joke" could brush off!

On the auction stage, Doudou was also slightly stunned, but she quickly reacted, and her sweet voice rang out again.

"Nine Hundred Thousand Gold Soul Coins! Is there any higher bid?"

She looked around the entire hall. No one answered.

"Nine Hundred Thousand Gold Soul Coins once!"

"Nine Hundred Thousand Gold Soul Coins twice!"

"Nine Hundred Thousand Gold Soul Coins three times!"

Clang!

The crisp sound of the gavel falling rang out.

"Congratulations to this guest from the VIP private room for successfully winning this one-of-a-kind auction item!"

"Then, all items in this Suotuo D-Class Auction have now been auctioned. Thank you, honored guests, for your presence and support!"

"We look forward to seeing you again next time!"

As Doudou announced the end of the auction, the lights in the venue gradually brightened, and the crowd began to leave one after another.

In another VIP private room.

Ning Fengzhi looked at this result, a complicated expression appearing on his face.

"Rongrong, that child... is still too willful, too unaware of restraint."

He sighed softly, his tone carrying a hint of disappointment.

Beside him, Bone Douluo Gu Rong stroked his chin, but his eyes gleamed with thought.

A moment later, as if he had thought of something, he suddenly slapped his thigh.

"Ah! Fengzhi, I know!"

Ning Fengzhi and Sword Douluo immediately looked at him in puzzlement.

"Old Bones, what do you know?"

Sword Douluo asked.

"Think about it. That brat Ning Liu—wasn't his sect assessment mission this time to complete an auction house turnover of One Million Gold Soul Coins?"

Bone Douluo chuckled.

"This account book didn't appear sooner or later, but just had to appear at this exact moment."

"And that girl Rongrong, in the sect, doesn't she ignore every male disciple? Yet she talks a little more with that brat Ning Liu."

"Tell me, could it be that Rongrong is secretly helping Ning Liu complete his task?"

"That nine hundred thousand might just be something they agreed on, moving money from one hand to the other, just to make up the turnover!"

When Ning Fengzhi heard this, he paused slightly.

Thinking it over carefully, he felt that Gu Rong's guess was not entirely unreasonable.

In the sect, although Rongrong bossed most disciples around, she did seem to interact with Ning Liu a little more than with others.

"If that is truly the case, then it does make sense."

Ning Fengzhi slowly nodded.

At the side, Sword Douluo Chen Xin's brows furrowed even tighter.

"Helping him? I don't think it's that simple."

"Could it be... Rongrong likes that brat Ning Liu?"

There was a trace of worry in his tone that was not easy to detect.

As soon as these words came out, Ning Fengzhi and Gu Rong were both stunned again.

"That won't do!"

Sword Douluo continued, only his voice had sunk a little.

"According to the sect rules, disciples of my Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect can only marry non-support-type soul masters!"

"If Rongrong really falls for a support-type soul master, Old Bones and I would throw away our old faces if we had to, and still find a way to fight for her."

"But that brat Ning Liu's martial soul... is the Two Treasure Glazed Pagoda!"

"If... if those two really get together and have a child, once the quality of their martial souls averages out, wouldn't it be at most a Five Treasure Glazed Pagoda?"

"Then the future of our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect..."

The more Sword Douluo spoke, the more agitated he became, and faint ripples of sword qi stirred around him.

Ning Fengzhi's mind was somewhat in chaos as well.

Sword Douluo's words had stirred a trace of worry in him too.

However, he still forced himself to calm down.

"It is... still too early to draw a conclusion on this matter."

"Once the auction is completely over, I'll go find Ning Liu and talk to him. Then we'll know."

He paused, then continued.

"As for Rongrong... it is also time she learned a lesson."

"For now, we should first go meet the seller who put up the Hidden Arrow."