Money He Couldn't Spend
"What are you looking at?!"
Ning Rongrong tilted her head toward Ye Qiu, a spoiled look in her pink eyes.
"Nothing. I was just a little dazzled by all that money."
Ye Qiu chuckled in amazement.
"That's an inhuman amount of wealth..."
"Hmph! Of course it is. My family is famously rich enough to rival a nation..."
Ning Rongrong folded her arms across her chest, brimming with pride.
"Heh... that's true."
Ye Qiu nodded in understanding.
If he had money, he'd do as he pleased too.
Besides, Ning Rongrong's family had a vast fortune, both money and power, and formidable strength to boot.
So she liked to curse a little and play a few pranks.
What of it?!
In her place, he probably would've gone straight to swearing off beef.
The bidding for the dog girl onstage was in full swing. A prize of such quality was indeed in high demand.
But Ye Qiu suddenly remembered that Ning Fengzhi was always accompanied by a Titled Douluo whenever he went out, either Sword Dao Chen Xin or Gu Rong!
"..."
The smile slowly faded from Ye Qiu's face. Curious, he glanced toward the row behind him... and his pupils immediately contracted slightly.
"!!!"
A middle-aged man with silver-white hair at his temples was sitting right behind Ning Fengzhi, his eyes closed, with sword-shaped brows and a face like jade.
He wore a spotless white robe.
Not a trace of Soul Power fluctuation could be seen about him, nor the slightest hint of sharpness.
But Ye Qiu was certain... this silver-haired middle-aged man was one of the white jade pillars holding up the sky and purple-gold beams spanning the sea for the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect: a level ninety-six Titled Douluo, Sword Douluo, Sword Dao Chen Xin, hailed as having the strongest attack!
"..."
Ye Qiu didn't know when he had sat down,
but most likely, he had been sitting there the whole time!
Still shaken, Ye Qiu turned back around and patted his chest, feeling somewhat relieved... luckily, he hadn't said anything strange to Ning Rongrong just now, or he might have died without ever knowing how.
Ning Rongrong caught Ye Qiu looking her way again and asked in confusion, "Hey! Why were you looking at me again?"
"Young miss, you're very pretty, but don't you think you're being a little too full of yourself?"
Ye Qiu said irritably.
"Y-you actually called me full of myself?!"
Ning Rongrong clenched her fists and thumped the armrest, frowning as she demanded an answer.
Ye Qiu sighed, looked at Ning Rongrong seriously, and said helplessly, "Young miss, I just said you were pretty too..."
"Hmph! So what? That's a fact!"
Ning Rongrong snorted and said firmly, "You were looking at me just now!"
"Uh..."
At a loss for words, Ye Qiu rolled his eyes and gave in. "Fine, I won't look at you anymore, all right? I'll look at Yanzi instead..."
With that,
Ye Qiu turned to look the other way.
"You!"
Ning Rongrong stared at the back of Ye Qiu's head with wide pink eyes, grinding her teeth.
"Hm?"
Her little nose twitched, and she suddenly caught the fresh scent of plants and a faint medicinal fragrance on Ye Qiu.
It actually smells quite nice...
Ning Rongrong couldn't help leaning closer for another couple of sniffs, then immediately retreated, her face red.
On the other side,
Dugu Yan met Ye Qiu's unblinking gaze, her pretty face flushing slightly. She raised a hand to partially cover her face and gave him a push.
"Ye Qiu, can't you behave yourself? You clearly weren't like this before..."
"Uh..."
Seeing Dugu Yan's bashful expression, Ye Qiu gave an awkward laugh and looked away.
"Sorry, Yanzi."
"..."
As Ye Qiu turned to look at Dugu Yan,
Sword Douluo's eyes suddenly opened. He glanced at Ye Qiu's back, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.
What an interesting little fellow...
"..."
Soon, the beast girl in the iron cage found an owner, as Ning Fengzhi won her for 250,000 Gold Soul Coins.
"Haha... thank you, Dad."
Ning Rongrong swept away her earlier displeasure and smiled happily.
Ning Fengzhi smiled and shook his head. "Managing your maid corps well will count as a kind of training too," he said indulgently.
"..."
Hearing that,
Ye Qiu and Dugu Yan were both left somewhat speechless.
It was hard to imagine that this young miss's maid corps alone was worth several million Gold Soul Coins.
"Don't worry, Dad. They're very well-behaved!"
Ning Rongrong said proudly.
"Mm~"
Ning Fengzhi nodded in satisfaction and pointed at the auction stage, signaling Ning Rongrong to keep watching.
At that moment,
the enormous iron cage was wheeled away.
An old man hurried onto the stage and whispered a few words to the host,
who nodded repeatedly.
Seeing this, Ning Fengzhi frowned slightly and murmured to himself, "It seems... we'll only be watching the show for the rest of the auction."
"Hmph! They always act like sore losers."
Ning Rongrong snorted disdainfully.
As the young miss of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, she naturally understood what was happening...
The bidding for the beast girl just now had mostly been a contest between bidders in the red and black VIP sections, and it should have been even fiercer.
But Ning Fengzhi wasn't wearing a mask,
and when those powerful, influential people saw him, they didn't dare bid any further.
As a result, Ning Fengzhi's presence would undoubtedly cost the auction house a considerable amount of money, so naturally, they wanted this great Buddha to leave as soon as possible.
"It's not like we aren't paying!"
Ning Rongrong complained.
Such were the troubles that came with supreme wealth and power: even when you had money, you couldn't spend it.
Sure enough,
the following lots were all ordinary goods with low starting prices. Several in a row started at just 1,000 Gold Soul Coins...
Ning Fengzhi showed little interest in any of them.
Soon, another lot was brought out. This time, it was only a small cart, and the items on it weren't covered with a red cloth.
There were just three pale purple pills.
At the sight of them, Dugu Yan perked up a little.
"Your items are finally up."
"Mm-hm!"
Ye Qiu nodded emphatically.
That was right.
What had been wheeled onto the stage was the product of Su Yun'er's first Soul Skill—the Qi-Gathering Soul Ascension Pill.
"???"
Ning Rongrong immediately turned her gaze toward Ye Qiu.
Onstage,
the host was introducing the lot.
"Our next lot consists of three pills called Soul Ascension Pills! Any Soul Master below level fifteen who takes one will unconditionally advance one level, with no side effects. Only one pill will take effect; taking more will have no effect... They make an excellent reward for the younger generation. The starting price for the three Soul Ascension Pills is 10,000 Gold Soul Coins! Everyone... you may begin bidding..."
As soon as the host finished,
Ye Qiu pressed the button on the armrest to raise the bid by 10,000 Gold Soul Coins.
"Very good! Twenty thousand Gold Soul Coins! A red VIP has bid 20,000 Gold Soul Coins... do I hear a higher bid?!"
the host called out.
Dugu Yan stared blankly at what Ye Qiu had done, then quietly leaned toward his ear and lowered her voice. "Ye Qiu, isn't that against the rules?"
"No one knows anyway."
Ye Qiu smiled, unconcerned.
Dugu Yan said helplessly, "Then what if you can't pay later?"
"Don't worry, Yanzi."
Ye Qiu looked up at the pretty face before him and smiled slightly. "I know what I'm doing... I won't drive the price up recklessly."
"..."
Looking at Ye Qiu's face so close to hers and feeling his breath, Dugu Yan blushed again and pulled back somewhat awkwardly.
Apart from her family, this was the first time she had been so close to someone of the opposite sex.
"All right, all right. Do as you see fit,"
Dugu Yan said, a little embarrassed, turning away and covering the side of her face.
"Mm."
Ye Qiu nodded, not paying much attention to Dugu Yan's reaction.
He reached out again and raised the bid by another 10,000 Gold Soul Coins!
Ning Fengzhi's lavishness had shown Ye Qiu that these red and black VIPs were not short of money at all. They had vast family fortunes—who among them didn't have a younger relative in need of a reward?