“Who are you to say if I’ve got money?” Yan Zhen shot back with a pitying stare reserved for the terminally clueless. “Ask Manager Nian if I can cover it.”
Lan Ke eyed the auction stage suspiciously. Nian Lun called back,
“Young Master Yan Zhen does indeed have sufficient funds guaranteed for bidding. Young City Lord Lan Ke needn’t worry—please bid freely.”
Laughter rippled through the guests. From VIP Room Three, the face-saving troublemaker Yu Yue chimed in with a mocking jab:
“Can’t afford it, Young City Lord Lan Ke? Trying to bully with your status? Might work elsewhere, but this is the Golden Jade Chamber of Commerce. Your clout doesn’t stretch that far~”
Lan Ke flushed crimson, ears burning as he ducked back inside, fuming.
“Calm down, Lan Ke. Don’t let that kid cloud your judgment,” the Silver Moon City Lord chided. “You’re not usually like this. Why do you always crumble against him? Because the girl you like got snatched? Or are you jealous he’s better than you?”
Lan Ke clenched his jaw, seething.
The Silver Moon City Lord sighed inwardly.
“Fine, secure the item first. Otherwise, you’ll look even worse.”
Lan Ke nodded and resumed bidding.
Yan Zhen matched him every step.
The price climbed to 800,000, way beyond reason, but Yan Zhen showed no signs of quitting. Lan Ke’s expression hit rock bottom.
The Silver Moon City Lord reassured him,
“Just a childish tantrum. Keep bidding—see how far he goes.”
Buoyed by his father’s backing, Lan Ke confidently added 100,000!
Yan Zhen replied breezily,
“One million.”
“1.5 million!”
Lan Ke’s temper flared at Yan Zhen’s nonchalance. In a heated impulse, he tacked on 500,000—then instantly regretted it.
What galled him more was Yan Zhen upping the ante again.
“Two million.”
Bang!
The window flew open. Lan Ke exploded,
“Yan Zhen, shut your mouth! You don’t have that kind of money— who do you think you are, bidding like that?”
Two million—even for him, that required scraping together funds. And shelling out that much for shoes was insane!
It was starting to hurt, but Yan Zhen lounged there all cool and collected? Martial Tang City was a backwater, barely above bumfuck nowhere!
Yan Zhen leaned out and called down to Fatty Nian,
“Manager Nian, you sure I’ve got that much?”
Nian Lun beamed.
“Most certainly.”
—After all, the Chief Manager’s funds might as well be yours, heh~
Lan Ke nearly spat blood, teetering on the edge of losing it entirely and shouting three million. His father’s sharp rebuke snapped him back.
The Young City Lord of Silver Moon slammed the window shut and went dead silent.
Yan Zhen smirked disdainfully.
—Punk, that all you got? I’ll bury you.
Moments later, the Surging Spring Boots arrived.
Their effects synergized perfectly with the Shadow Following Step Mentor Yu Xuan had taught him. Wearing them turned the technique into Pursuing Shadow Flow, making it even more fluid and nimble.
—Perfect for dealing with Lan Ke and his goons later.
The auction pressed on.
From then on, whatever caught Lan Ke’s eye, Yan Zhen sniped it, driving prices to absurd heights and claiming everything. Lan Ke walked away empty-handed, while Xiao Mie and Yu Yue scored some wins. At this rate, the gap between them would only widen.
Lan Ke was practically coughing up blood, baffled at Yan Zhen’s bottomless wallet.
Yan Zhen pulled his head back in, closed the window, and turned to gaze at Good Big Sister’s breathtaking fox-like beauty of a face. He smiled and said,
“Thanks, Sister Ji Ya~”
Ji Ya took Yan Zhen’s hand and had him sit back down properly. With a doting tone, she said,
“They just bullied you, so of course we had to bully them right back~. Feeling better now? If you’re still not satisfied, Big Sis can make sure that Silver Moon City Lord can’t buy a single thing either. What do you say, Little Brother Yan Zhen?”
In his previous life, Ji Ya hadn’t gone out of her way to target the City Lord’s Mansion on his account. After all, the Golden Jade Chamber of Commerce was in the business of making money, and harmony breeds prosperity. They never meddled in grudges or took sides—that went against their core principles.
But things were different now.
The two of them were as close as real siblings. How could she stand by if someone bullied her own little brother?
Yan Zhen vaguely understood Ji Ya’s thinking. He wanted to mess with the Silver Moon City Lord too, but it didn’t fit the script. Messing with Lan Ke was enough.
“Let’s just forget it, Sister Ji Ya. The Golden Jade Chamber of Commerce does business in Silver Moon City. Going against the City Lord’s Mansion isn’t a good idea.”
Ji Ya’s lips curved up in a slight smile, a touch of delight in her expression.
Her silly little brother was always thinking of her, which only made her more determined to stand up for him.
“No worries. Silver Moon City can survive without the City Lord’s Mansion, but it can’t do without the Mystic Academy and the Golden Jade Chamber of Commerce. Otherwise, it’d slide right back into being a second-rate city—and that’s something none of the other families want to see.”
And right now, the two stunning beauties representing the Mystic Academy and the Golden Jade Chamber of Commerce both had their arms linked with Yan Zhen’s. They sat intimately close to him on the same chair, showing clear favoritism and affection.
It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that Yan Zhen now held the future fate of Silver Moon City in his hands. A single word from him could decide whether the city continued to thrive.
Finally, the auction reached its final highlights: the grand finale and the closing item.
The finale was a General-rank Mystic Art.
Cultivation arts were vital inheritances. In Silver Moon City, only the Three Great Families possessed General-rank arts. Everyone else made do with Master Tier arts at best, which could only take cultivators up to Mystic Master.
A single General-rank Mystic Art could very well produce a Mystic General powerhouse!
As soon as this General-rank art appeared, every guest in the hall fixed their gazes on it with burning intensity. The big shots quickly jumped in, driving up bids in fierce competition.
Before long, the price had skyrocketed. The Silver Moon City Lord held the lead, with the Xiao Family Head and Yu Family Head hot on his heels.
It wasn’t until the Silver Moon City Lord called out a staggering fifty million that the two family heads finally gave up the chase.
But before he could celebrate, a bid came from the neighboring box—not from Yan Zhen, but from a woman:
“One hundred million.”
Her voice was sultry, yet it carried an undeniable dominance.
From fifty million straight to one hundred million in an instant!
Way out of line.
The Silver Moon City Lord’s expression twisted, mirroring his son’s exactly.
He didn’t recognize the voice, but it was clear she was gunning for him.
One hundred million? What could he do but fold? He let go of that General-rank Ice Mystic Art and shifted his eyes to the final Incomplete King-Grade Mystic Skill.
However, just when the Silver Moon City Lord thought he’d secured the Incomplete King-Grade Mystic Skill for sure, that woman spoke up again.
Another one hundred million!
Her tone was light and casual, as if a hundred million was just a number to her.
The Silver Moon City Lord slumped heavily back into his seat and fell silent.
In the end, every major power at the auction walked away with something or other. Only the City Lord’s Mansion left empty-handed, despite arriving with ample funds prepared in advance.
