Seeing Qin Xiao agree to use Cang Chen's credit limit, Luo Yunshuang immediately regained her confidence.
"Twenty-two million."
Luo Yunshuang did not hesitate, raising the bid straight to twenty-two million.
Qin Xiao's private room was once again bidding against itself, a maneuver that left everyone utterly bewildered.
"Which high roller is in that fourth-floor private room? Playing it like this?"
"Perhaps this is simply how the wealthy amuse themselves. As for that fourth floor, if you are not born to reach it, you will never set foot there in this lifetime."
"The fourth floor requires a Supreme Membership Card to access. Could it be the City Lord? Or perhaps the Pure Yang Sect's Sect Leader? Even they wouldn't mess around like this, would they?"
"It is not them. This time the Pure Yang Sect is led by the Second Elder, and the Sect Leader didn't even come. The City Lord is even less likely-he has far too many matters to manage. Besides, I see the Young City Lord is on the third floor. If the City Lord had come, why would he be down there?"
Thoroughly baffled by the anomalies coming from Qin Xiao's private room, the crowd below fell into endless speculation.
"What game is Brother Qin playing? Could it be that the Junior Sisters are fighting against him?"
Inside the Mysterious Yin Sect's private room, Su Lin murmured with a bitter smile.
"Su Lin, do you perhaps know the person on the fourth floor?"
Naturally, the Mysterious Yin Sect's Great Elder, Wei Jian, had overheard his murmurs and immediately inquired.
"Great Elder, that fourth floor belongs to the Qin Xiao I mentioned to you earlier. My Junior Sister is up there with him."
When asked previously where his Junior Sister had gone, Su Lin had only vaguely replied that she had joined a friend in a private room without specifying the fourth floor. Now that he could no longer conceal the truth, he had no choice but to confess.
"Qin Xiao? The fourth floor? Even Lin Tiancheng only sits on the third floor. By what right does he qualify?"
Wei Jian was first startled, then deeply puzzled. He had certainly heard of Qin Xiao-the youth who had rescued Su Lin in the Abyss Secret Realm-so his impression of him was not unfavorable. But how could this kid possibly possess a Supreme Membership Card? Even their own Sect Leader only had access to the third floor.
"This disciple knows nothing of it. Yet judging by the bidding, it seems Junior Sister and Qin Xiao are locked in a contest over this Spirit-Burst Pill."
Su Lin could only offer a helpless, wry smile.
"Impossible. Where would those two acquire so many Spirit Stones? The sect has not approved any massive disbursements of stones for them."
If someone claimed Qin Xiao merely held a fourth-floor room, Wei Jian might have been mildly surprised. But the notion that the Luo sisters were driving this bidding war was something he refused to believe.
"This... perhaps Qin Xiao lent the stones to them."
Su Lin dared not mention the wager; if the Great Elder flew into a rage, the fallout would be impossible to manage.
"It seems this Qin Xiao is not simple."
Wei Jian pressed no further, letting out a soft sigh.
In the Pure Yang Sect's private room, Cang Xing was silently praying: Little brother, you had better not meddle in this mess.
"Where on earth does this kid get so many Spirit Stones? And is he actually lending them out?"
Naturally, Yu Shaoqing was well aware that Qin Xiao occupied that particular room, which housed three different parties-hence the absurd spectacle of bidding against oneself. Yet how did Qin Xiao possess such astronomical wealth? Having just dropped twenty million, he was now bidding past twenty million once more, all while tossing loans around.
Whether informed or completely in the dark, everyone found themselves utterly unable to fathom the financial depth of that fourth-floor room. Exactly how many Spirit Stones must one possess to play such games?
"Twenty-three million."
Qin Xiao remained unhurried, raising the price by a mere million at a time. He feared that a larger increment might cause Luo Yunshuang to drop out entirely.
"Twenty-five million."
Luo Yunshuang had no patience to crawl along with him. Her total credit limit capped at thirty million, so she threw out twenty-five million straight away.
"Twenty-six million."
Qin Xiao quietly added another million.
"Qin Xiao, what on earth is your game?"
Luo Yunshuang's temper flared. It was obvious Qin Xiao had no intention of letting her have the pill; he was simply toying with her to humiliate her.
"What game? Isn't this how auctions work?"
Qin Xiao replied with an expression of absolute innocence.
"State your bottom line and stop playing around with me. If you keep this up, I'll drop out and let you have it. Do you think we lack methods of our own? We can still defeat you without this Spirit-Burst Pill."
Realizing she was being played, Luo Yunshuang prepared to wash her hands of the matter.
"My bottom line is thirty million. Beyond that, I drop out."
Seeing her ready to bolt, Qin Xiao revealed his limit.
"Is that true?"
"Naturally true."
"Very well, thirty million."
Luo Yunshuang decided to make one final push, shouting the figure of thirty million. If Qin Xiao raised it further, she truly could not afford it and would gladly abandon the pursuit without incurring any debt. As for the wager, she would simply find another path. If she secured it, victory in the bet was guaranteed-meaning Qin Xiao would be footing the bill either way, leaving her with nothing to lose.
"Ah, very well then. I yield."
Qin Xiao feigned a look of deep regret.
The crowd had long since grown immune. Whatever price emerged from the fourth floor was now within their tolerance; after all, after bidding against oneself, any madness was permissible.
The moment Luo Yunshuang's bid of thirty million echoed out, no further voices challenged it, sealing victory for one side.
Yet even the insiders within the other private rooms remained clueless as to who had actually triumphed. Was it Qin Xiao himself, or one of his Junior Brothers or Junior Sisters?
The private room communication arrays were specially refined to obscure gender and completely mask the bidder's identity. Each room required a manual press of a jade toggle to transmit a voice outward; without it, the chamber remained entirely soundproof.
This was designed purely to safeguard anonymity, for not everyone wished to bare their identity to the world.
"Since there are no further bids, this lot belongs once more to the fourth-floor private room."
Though Cai Mu had presided over many auctions, this bizarre scenario was a first for him. Being an old hand, however, he smoothly steered the proceedings back to the standard rhythm.
At his declaration, the realization finally dawned on the audience: both opening items of the auction had been swept up by the fourth-floor room.
Yet no one felt a shred of envy. Fifty million Spirit Stones vanished over two simple items-an utterly irrational expenditure, given that both combined were barely worth ten million.
The subsequent lots grew relatively ordinary. After all, an auction could not sustain a continuous stream of supreme treasures.
Qin Xiao made no further moves; from his current perspective, those ordinary goods held no appeal whatsoever.
Inside the private room, Luo Yunshuang clutched the newly acquired bottle of Spirit-Burst Pills, turning it over and over, stroking it with reverence. This small bottle represented a staggering thirty million Spirit Stones.
In truth, Qin Xiao did not possess anything close to that sum on hand. However, as a Supreme Member, his tab would be tallied at the very end, and with Ling Ruoxue seated right there in the chamber, there was zero chance of him running off.
"Such a precious treasure-why not clutch it to your bosom while you cultivate tonight?"
Seeing her doting on the pill bottle, Qin Xiao couldn't help but toss out a teasing remark.
"Mind your own business. It rests in my hands now, and as the tide rises, so do our chances. Wanting to win against us is pure delusion. A Spirit-Burst Pill picked up for absolute nothing-you had better prepare your Spirit Liquid by tomorrow."
Luo Yunshuang took the teasing in stride. Since it had essentially cost her nothing out of pocket, her heart felt no pain whatsoever.
The auction steadily drifted toward its midpoint. Stirred by the frantic bidding of the opening acts, the subsequent lots commanded quite respectable prices, yet something palpable still felt missing. Knowing it was time to unleash heavy hitters to reignite the hall's atmosphere, Cai Mu smiled.
"This next item is a rare treasure indeed-a Body-Protecting Turtle Armor. This is an inner-garment-style defensive Dharma Treasure. Although appraised as a Middle Grade Dharma Treasure, its defensive resilience is entirely beyond the reach of ordinary peers. The sole reason it sits at the Middle Grade is a minor flaw: its core defensive plate is missing."
Cai Mu had laid hands on this oddity not long ago, and with the auction looming, he had withheld it from official reporting to serve as a highlight for the day.
With a wave of his hand, attendants hoisted a display frame onto the stage, bearing a piece of inner armor. At a glance, its construction from some exotic variety of armored turtle shell was unmistakable.
The single glaring defect was the empty void across the chest where a protective heart-mirror plate should have been-a profound pity.
The instant his gaze fell upon the armor, Qin Xiao's eyes locked straight onto it.
"What? This thing?"