My CEO Bai Fumei’s wife

Xiao Jiuxiao's captain of guards leaned close to his ear and whispered something that made Xiao Jiuxiao's eyes light up again.

“Young Master, the Heavenly Secrets Merchant Guild has a rule that newly crafted magical treasures cannot be used as chips at auctions; they must be assets that have been registered in advance.”

Xiao Jiuxiao had attended dozens of auctions but never paid attention to this rule, because no one had ever been able to forge a magic weapon on the spot.

"Manager, I remember that the Heavenly Secrets Merchant Guild has an ironclad rule: only spirit crystals and registered assets can be used for bidding on auction items. Temporarily crafted items do not count."

Xiao Jiuxiao's voice regained its confidence; he had finally found a loophole.

The manager's expression turned somewhat troubled. This rule did indeed exist, but the problem was that the quality of those two sets of top-grade Heavenly Armor was too high. There were very few pieces in the entire Heavenly Secrets Merchant Guild's inventory that could compare.

“Young master, according to the rules of the Chamber of Commerce, magic weapons that are temporarily crafted cannot be used as bidding chips.”

The manager's words made Xiao Jiuxiao's lips curl up; these were exactly the words he had been waiting for.

"Did you hear that? Those makeshift junks you concocted are unusable. Give me the Nine Nether Soul Nourishing Grass."

Qin Yu tapped the lid of the Chaos Furnace twice with his fingers, and the furnace spirit's voice rang in his mind, carrying a sense of enjoying the spectacle.

“Master, there is another rule in the Heavenly Secrets Merchant Guild: as long as the asset value exceeds ten times that of the auctioned item, you can disregard all other rules and have priority to purchase it.”

"Does Xiao Jiuxiao know about this rule?"

"He couldn't possibly know that this is a privilege enjoyed only by VIPs with tens of millions in assets. Even his father, the sect leader of the Spirit Sword Sect, didn't have this privilege."

Qin Yu stood up and walked to the window of the private room. His gaze passed over Xiao Jiuxiao and landed on the manager.

"Manager, can I use the Tianji Chamber of Commerce's priority purchase right for VIPs worth tens of millions?"

The manager's leg trembled slightly. The status of a VIP worth tens of millions required approval from the core members of the Chamber of Commerce, and the number of people in the entire Northern Region who were qualified could be counted on two hands.

"Young master, a VIP guest worth tens of millions requires..."

"What do I need? Do I need proof of assets?"

Qin Yu reached into his storage ring, and what he pulled out made the air in the entire auction house freeze.

It was a jade plaque, engraved with the emblem of the Heavenly Craft Pavilion, and below the emblem were three characters—Chaos Furnace.

The Chaos Refining Furnace Recognition Token of the Heavenly Craft Pavilion is a unique item in the entire cultivation world.

The steward's knees buckled, not on purpose, but because his legs couldn't support him. The Chaos Refining Furnace was the treasure of the Heavenly Craft Pavilion for three thousand years, and there was only one possibility for the person who could produce the recognition token—he was the owner of the Chaos Refining Furnace.

"Heavens... the Chaos Refining Furnace of the Heavenly Craft Pavilion."

An even greater commotion erupted in the arena than before. The Chaos Refining Furnace was ten times more renowned than the Chaos Refined Gold; it was a legendary ancient artifact capable of fusing all things.

Xiao Jiuxiao's face went from smug to deathly pale. The loophole in the rules he had just seized was nothing but dust in front of the Chaos Refining Furnace.

"Am I qualified enough?"

"That's enough...that's enough. Young Master is a lifetime honorary guest of the Heavenly Secrets Merchant Guild, and can purchase any item with priority."

The manager's words made Xiao Jiuxiao sway slightly. What was the concept of a lifetime honorary VIP? In the entire five-thousand-year history of the Heavenly Secrets Chamber of Commerce, only three people had ever been awarded this title, and each of them was a figure who changed the landscape of the cultivation world.

"I'll buy that Nine Nether Soul Nourishing Grass."

Qin Yu's words did not indicate any intention to raise the price, because he no longer needed to compete with Xiao Jiuxiao. The right of first refusal meant that he could take it by offering the reserve price.

"How much is your offer, young master?"

Starting bid: 30,000.

These three words were like a bucket of cold water poured over Xiao Jiuxiao's head. He had just bid 20,000, and the other party bought it for 25,000. The difference of 5,000 was all burned in the air by him.

"Why did you pay 30,000 for it? I paid 25,000."

"Because my status is higher than yours, because my assets are greater than yours, and because I can use as much as I want." Qin Yu's words made Xiao Jiuxiao feel as if a stone had been stuffed into his chest. He was the young master of the Spirit Sword Sect and was fawned over wherever he went. When had he ever been crushed by someone because of the difference in status?

"So what if you're rich? My Spirit Sword Sect is a first-class sect in the Northern Region."

"First-class sect, do you know what I did half a month ago?"

Qin Yu's question startled Xiao Jiuxiao, who had no idea who the other party was.

"I emptied the Heavenly Craft Pavilion's treasure vault and fed all 108 of its guardian puppets into my furnace. What is your Spirit Sword Sect compared to the Heavenly Craft Pavilion?"

These words silenced the entire auction house. News of the looting of Tiangong Pavilion had spread widely in the cultivation world, but no one knew who did it. Now the culprit had come forward and confessed.

Xiao Jiuxiao's captain of guards took a step back, his legs trembling. What kind of concept was it that someone could empty the Heavenly Craft Pavilion? The entire Spirit Sword Sect combined wouldn't be enough to fill one of their fingers.

"You are Blood Fiend."

The guard captain's voice startled Xiao Jiuxiao so much that he almost jumped out of his seat. He had heard of the name Blood Fiend before. His achievements in destroying the Xuan Yin Sect, killing Lin Tianhao, and repelling the Dragon Whale General were all chilling.

"Whether I am a Blood Fiend or not is none of your business. I'm just here to buy things and I'll leave as soon as I'm done."

When Qin Yu put the Nine Nether Soul Nourishing Grass into his storage ring, Xiao Jiuxiao's mind was still buzzing. He had just been bidding against Qin Yu at the auction. If word got out that he, the young master of the Spirit Sword Sect, would lose face.

"Young Master Xiao, would you like to continue bidding?"

The manager's voice pulled Xiao Jiuxiao back from his daze. He realized that he simply didn't have the courage to continue. Was he tired of living, trying to steal from someone who could empty the Heavenly Craft Pavilion?

"No... I'm not filming anymore."

Xiao Jiuxiao's voice was barely audible, like a mosquito's buzz, and his captain of guards had already begun packing up to leave.

"and many more."

Qin Yu's voice came from the VIP room, and those two words made Xiao Jiuxiao's heart skip a beat.

"What did you just say? You said I was a poor, rogue cultivator, and that you would teach me the rules of the Spirit Sword Sect."

Xiao Jiuxiao's face turned even more ashen than a dead man's. He wished he could sew his mouth shut; every word he had just uttered felt like a slap in the face.

"Lord Blood Fiend, I was blind."

"You have to pay the price for being blind. Which sect do those three jade tokens belong to?"

Xiao Jiuxiao glanced down at the jade token at his waist. The tokens for the Spirit Sword Sect, the Myriad Manifestations Pavilion, and the Azure Cloud Sect were all obtained by his father through various means.

"Keep two, and you can take the last one home."

"This...this is mine..."

"You think you can just stay like this? Do you think you can reason with me?"

Xiao Jiuxiao's hands were trembling, but he still took off the jade tokens from the Spirit Sword Sect and the Myriad Manifestations Pavilion, leaving only the one from the Azure Cloud Sect.

The steward took the jade token from Xiao Jiuxiao and delivered it to Qin Yu's private room. Qin Yu didn't even look at it and just threw it into his storage ring.

"Those two female cultivators beside you, were they with you willingly or were they forcibly taken by you?"

This question caused Xiao Jiuxiao's expression to change again. The two female cultivators did not have a respectable background; they were snatched from small sects after he took a liking to them.

"It was...it was voluntary."

"Ask them."

Qin Yu's gaze fell on the two heavily made-up female cultivators. Their eyes held no emotion, only numbness and fear.

"Do you want to leave?" (End of Chapter)