In the adjacent room, Meng Haizhou and Li Zhen were so furious their noses were practically crooked, their not-so-handsome faces instantly turning a sickly green! While a sum of one million plus taels of silver wasn't a trivial amount to them, it wasn't an insurmountable one either; they could afford it! But after the debacle at the Thousand Gold Hall last time, those few lads were thoroughly beaten—barely escaping with their pants on—and their finances were currently quite strained!

Yet, this piece of Jade Coral was precisely what they absolutely had to obtain on this trip! Three days before every auction, Shengbao Hall customarily sent a list of auction items to the major families in Tianxiang City. The moment Li Youran saw the name of the Jade Coral, he immediately issued an order: obtain this Jade Coral at any cost!

Actually, the Jun family also possessed this auction list, but the Jun family never participated in such events, so, over time, the list stopped its journey at the Jun family’s gatekeepers. |//| Consequently, Jun Moxie was unaware of this matter. Moreover, Jun Wuyi’s collection of medicinal herbs was extremely secretive; only three or so people within the Jun family knew about it.

If he hadn't coincidentally gone to find Tang Yuan, he might have missed out on even the Burning Sutra Lotus... Although the Jade Coral was precious to other Xuan cultivators, it was merely an auxiliary item for cultivation. However, for Grand Tutor Li Shang, whose Xuan Qi had been crippled, it was genuinely a life-saving treasure capable of extending his years!

It might even offer a chance for him to cultivate again! This was because Li Youran had learned from a reliable source that if this Jade Coral absorbed the essence of heaven and earth through a specific method, there was a chance—a very promising one—for people like Grand Tutor Li, whose Xuan Qi was ruined, to have their severed meridians reconnected! And very few people knew about this effect!

Li Youran had been searching secretly for a long time but had never found any trace of the Jade Coral. If Grand Tutor Li’s body could endure for a few more years, or even decades, how much value would that hold for the Li family? Therefore, while this Jade Coral was merely an exotic decoration to other families, for the Li family, it concerned the entire future of the clan!

The sudden appearance of this item was undoubtedly a windfall from heaven for the Li family! Thus, the Li family was determined to secure the Jade Coral, and Li Youran had given Meng Haizhou and Li Zhen a strict, unyielding order! If it weren't for the consideration that Li Youran appearing in person would draw too much attention and invite sabotage, he would likely already be seated here!

Meng and Li, having joined forces, planned to use the prestige of their two great clans to bid a high price early on, hoping to scare off other buyers and acquire this treasure. The two young masters had made thorough preparations for this! Who would have thought that at such a crucial juncture, an utterly detestable fat man would pop up, and worse—a sworn enemy!

Not only that, but Jun Moxie, possessing an incomparably powerful spiritual sense, had already detected their intentions. Of course, they were completely unaware of this fact! Even the auctioneer on stage, veteran as he was, was startled by Tang Yuan’s sudden, booming interjection.

After a long moment, a grinding voice emerged from the adjacent box: “I bid one million two hundred thousand taels.” Li Zhen and the other were forced to bid, steeling themselves, but the silver they brought was sufficient; this 1.2 million taels was still within their budget. Moreover, immediately adding another 200,000 taels was partly intended to intimidate that fat fellow, Tang! Unexpectedly, before that voice had even settled, Tang Yuan already roared out, pulling his voice wide: “Are you trying to scare me?

Two million taels!” The fat man shouted with utter abandon. This act of merely speaking numbers to inflate the price without actually needing to produce the silver, especially when it meant forcing those hateful rivals to bleed heavily, was truly... exhilarating!

Li Zhen and Meng Haizhou next door nearly spat blood! The silver Li Youran had allocated this time totaled only two million taels. The two of them had felt they were getting a huge bargain then, since even though the Jade Coral was rare, the starting bid was only one hundred thousand taels, and at most, forty or fifty thousand taels of silver should have been the limit.

Two million taels was definitely more than enough! They had even been considering how to pocket some of the money to cover their previous losses, never imagining that a troublemaker like fat Tang would interfere, driving the price to its peak after just one bid! If they kept shouting, the remaining silver would have to come out of their own pockets.

As for going back to Li Youran to ask for reimbursement... they wouldn't even consider such an idea. “Two million four hundred thousand taels!” This was Li Zhen’s voice.

It was clear that this young master of the Grand Tutor’s residence was absolutely incandescent with rage; his face had shifted from green to blue, showing definite signs of turning purple. “Tang Yuan, do you really want this Jade Coral that badly? This thing is completely useless to you!” “Nonsense!

How do you know this thing is useless to me! If it were useless, why would I bother wasting breath arguing with you? Do you think you’re handsome?!” Tang Yuan snorted, stomped his foot, causing his entire body of fat to jiggle violently, shaking the box slightly, and roared, “Three million taels!” The sound of heavy, ragged gasping from the next box could actually be heard even within these well-insulated private rooms.

Meng Haizhou’s voice was clearly faltering: “Three million five hundred thousand taels!” Whether it was from anger or something else was hard to tell. As soon as this was called out, he immediately sprang out of the box and rushed to the door of the Tang family’s private room, his face contorted: “Fat Tang, regarding that previous incident, you already extorted two million taels from my family, far exceeding your actual loss. What more do you want?

Remember, one shouldn't push things too far in life! Always leave a way out for future encounters!” “Eh? You two are truly strange.

Tang Yuan shouted the first bid, starting at one million taels, and no one contested it—he clearly had secured it. Yet now, you are deliberately competing with Tang Yuan to inflate the price. Your intentions are clearly malicious; everyone can see that.

How has it become Tang Yuan’s fault now?” Before Tang Yuan could speak, Jun Moxie called out in surprise: “Are your Li and Meng families without any sense of reason?” As soon as he spoke, a girl’s voice from the opposite Tianxiang Royal Box cried out with delight: “It’s Jun Moxie.” It was Dugu Xiaoyi’s voice, full of joy, full of happiness, and full of... relief. “Jun Moxie!

This is none of your business, stop meddling!” Meng Haizhou’s face was ashen. It was this fellow who ruined his plans last time, and afterwards, he received severe ‘family discipline’ from his household. Not only did he fail to gain anything and end up being extorted two million taels by Tang Yuan, but his injuries hadn't even fully healed.

Seeing these two together again now made his anger surge uncontrollably. “My business is Young Master San’s business! Stop the nonsense, if you want the item, bring the silver.

If you don't have silver, scram!” Tang Yuan puffed out his stomach, roaring with mountain-like vigor: “This young master bids four million taels! Dare to contest me? This young master has nothing else, only money!

I’m telling you! This young master has so much money it’s burning a hole in my pocket!! What about it?” Now, everyone could see it clearly; on one side were the Meng and Li families, and on the other, the Jun and Tang families.

This was plainly a feud between the young masters of these four great clans; everyone wisely kept quiet. Now, just after Elder Jun violently purged the capital, with the blood still fresh on the streets, who would dare stick their neck out to get struck down? Cursing fiercely, Meng Haizhou stood trembling outside the box, desperately wanting to storm off, but ultimately, he dared not defy Li Youran’s instructions given before they arrived.

He had no choice but to swallow his anger, grit his teeth, and say hatefully: “I bid five million taels! Five million taels of silver! Tang Yuan, dare you raise it again!” Jun Moxie narrowed his eyes slightly, subtly probing Meng Haizhou’s agitated emotions with his spiritual sense.

Seeing that he was approaching hysterics, he knew this was likely the absolute maximum Meng Haizhou and Li Zhen could scrape together. If Tang Yuan kept bidding, there was a real risk he would end up genuinely purchasing the item against his better judgment. He signaled Tang Yuan with his eyes.

Tang Yuan understood, burst into loud laughter, and said, “The Meng family is indeed wealthy and powerful! Five million taels of silver! Buying a Jade Coral worth only five hundred thousand taels at ten times the price—truly admirable.

This young master has run out of money; I’ll let you have it this time.” With that, he leaned close to Meng Haizhou, lowering his voice conspiratorially: “Mr. Meng, actually, I didn’t bring any money today. I was just shouting for fun earlier.” Meng Haizhou’s eyes instantly widened round, his face turned pale, and his fingers trembled as he pointed at Tang Yuan.

After a long pause, a splutter of blood shot out. He pitched backward, falling toward the sky. “Too fragile, wasn’t it?

Just joking around. How could he really not have the money?” Jun Moxie shook his head repeatedly, watching with folded arms as Meng Haizhou crashed heavily onto the floor with a loud thud, sneering: “Can’t even take such a simple statement. Truly contemptible.”