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"Fifty million!" Zhao Tianming's voice boomed in the auction hall, causing the huge crystal chandelier to shake violently.

He puffed out his chest, clutching the number plate in his hand as if he held the lifeline of the entire Donghai City in his grasp.

The woman sitting next to him was wearing a sequined deep-V long dress, with half of her body hanging on Zhao Tianming's arm.

"Young Master Zhao, I knew you were the best to me. The people who possess this creature are determined to get it."

The woman kissed Zhao Tianming hard on the face, leaving a lip print as red as if he had just drunk blood.

Zhao Tianming pursed his lips, glanced around the room, and finally fixed his gaze on the empty seat diagonally opposite him.

"In the East China Sea, no one dares to reach for what the Zhao family wants."

The auctioneer stood on the stage, his small wooden gavel raised in mid-air, his smile lines so deep they could trap a fly.

"Young Master Zhao has offered fifty million! Any higher bids? Fifty million once, fifty million twice..."

Just a second before the wooden hammer was about to fall, a deep, muffled sound came from the loudspeaker of the top-floor VIP box.

Li Haotian picked out another spicy strip covered in chili oil and casually pressed his finger on the purple-gold "increase price" button.

"Fifty million and one yuan."

The entire room fell silent instantly, and the guests who were about to applaud froze in mid-air.

Zhao Tianming's smug face turned liver-colored in a second.

He suddenly jumped up from the leather chair and shouted at the private room upstairs.

"Who? What kind of penniless wretch is this up there making fun of me?"

He was panting heavily, the expensive suit fabric on his chest stretched out of shape.

"Add a dollar? Are you buying cabbage at the market?"

The woman with the snake-like face next to him also started yelling, her voice so shrill it sounded like fingernails scratching a blackboard.

"Exactly, if you don't have money, don't try to act important in Wande. Is this a place for lowlifes like you?"

Li Haotian took a big gulp of lukewarm draft beer in the private room and let out a long burp into the microphone.

"Even a little money is still money. The rules of the auction house are that as long as you have more than me, it's fine."

As he spoke, he casually tossed the spicy snack packaging into a gold-plated trash can next to him.

"Young Master Zhao, if you can't keep up, hurry up and make room, don't delay my rescue."

Zhao Tianming was so angry that he trembled all over. He pulled out a stack of checks from his pocket and slammed them on the table.

"I can't keep up? I'll throw money at you today and smash you into the ground!"

He looked up and stared at the dark window of the private room, his eyes seeming to spit fire.

"Hey, if you can really come up with a hundred million, I'll do a handstand and eat dirt in front of the entire East China Sea today!"

Upon hearing this, Li Haotian nearly spat out his beer.

"I've never heard of such a request in my entire life."

He touched the tattered vest he was wearing and pulled a crumpled piece of paper out of his pocket.

It was something he brought out from the Han family's underground laboratory, stained with blood and years of dust.

"Manager Qian, could you please come down and get something?"

Li Haotian threw the paper out the window, and the piece of paper wobbled and landed in the center of the hall.

Manager Qian, who was standing below the stage sweating profusely, quickly ran over upon seeing this.

He initially thought it was a check, but when he picked it up, he found it was an old newspaper.

The edges of the newspaper were yellowed, and there was a suspicious smear of braised pork fat on it.

"What is this? It's just a piece of trash!"

Zhao Tianming burst into wild laughter, clutching his stomach and pointing at what Manager Qian was holding.

"Haha! That's hilarious! This poor wretch is trying to pay a hundred million with a newspaper?"

"Manager Qian, why aren't you calling security to throw him out? This is blatant disruption!"

The guests in the hall shook their heads and sighed.

"Look at that shabby look on his clothes, Wande has really embarrassed himself this time."

Manager Qian was holding the newspaper, his palms sweating. Just as he was about to say something, a sudden, rapid cough came from behind him.

An elderly man with white hair stumbled out of the VIP section, supported by several attendants.

The old man wore thick reading glasses, and the tip of his nose was almost touching the old newspaper.

He is Mr. Sun, the most famous antique appraisal expert in Donghai.

Old Sun's originally cloudy eyes suddenly lit up the moment he saw the purple runes on the back of the newspaper.

His hands, as dry as withered grass, began to tremble violently, and a hissing sound came from his throat.

"This...this is the Purple Extreme Treasure Map from before the Great Cataclysm?"

Old Sun's knees buckled, and he knelt down on the ground with a thud in front of everyone.

His tears streamed down his wrinkles, his fingertips lightly touching the flowing purple veins.

"This is an original artifact that has been lost for a full thousand years! It's a genuine piece from before the break in human civilization!"

"What? A treasure map?"

Someone in the hall screamed, and the previously noisy crowd was instantly silenced.

Old Sun, lying on the ground without raising his head, shouted, "What? One hundred million! This thing is priceless!"

"With this, you can exchange it for anything, not just a hundred million, but even ten gold mines!"

The room erupted in chaos, all eyes fixed on the greasy newspaper like searchlights.

Zhao Tianming's laughter stopped abruptly; his mouth was agape, like a duck being choked.

"Impossible... This is definitely an act, Mr. Sun, are you getting senile?"

He rushed forward to grab the paper, but Manager Qian dodged him.

Manager Qian's eyes were now colder than knives, a far cry from his previous fawning demeanor.

"Young Master Zhao, if Elder Sun's judgment is wrong, then no one in the East China Sea can tell the difference between the real and the fake."

Manager Qian turned his head and bowed deeply at a ninety-degree angle towards the direction of VIP room number one.

"Sir, this treasure map is worth two hundred million, and the Dew of Life is yours."

Li Haotian sat in the private room, looking at Zhao Tianming's blank face on the screen, and felt a sense of satisfaction.

He stood up and strode downstairs; no one dared to give him a second glance now that he was wearing a tattered vest.

Zhao Tianming huddled by the edge of the stage, his previous arrogance completely extinguished by that newspaper.

The snake-faced woman next to him had already let go and quietly hid behind the crowd.

Li Haotian stopped in front of Zhao Tianming and looked down at the huge blue and white porcelain flowerpot at the other's feet.

A money tree, about half a person's height, was planted in the flowerpot, and the black soil underneath still felt damp.

"Who just said they were going to eat dirt while standing upside down?"

Li Haotian patted Zhao Tianming on the shoulder with such force that the man stumbled.

Zhao Tianming's Adam's apple bobbed up and down, his eyes darting around as if he wanted to disappear into a crack in the ground.

The surrounding guests were all watching the show, their eyes full of mockery.

"Young Master Zhao, you shouted so loudly just now, you can't back down now."

"The rule in Wande is that you have to lick back the saliva you spit out."

Someone in the crowd started making a fuss, their voice revealing an excitement that seemed to thrive on chaos.

Zhao Tianming gritted his teeth as he looked at the mocking faces around him.

He knew that if he reneges on this debt today, the Zhao family will become a complete joke in Donghai.

He took a deep breath, steeled his resolve, and slammed both hands onto the cold marble floor.

Although his body was somewhat weakened due to long-term excessive drinking and womanizing, he was still an awakened being and managed to do a somersault.

His legs dangled in mid-air, the hem of his designer suit hanging down, covering half of his face.

Zhao Tianming laboriously brought his head close to the flowerpot, his nose touching the damp soil.

He opened his mouth, grabbed a handful of dirt, and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing until his mouth was full of black bits.

The bitter, salty, and fishy taste, along with a hint of fertilizer, exploded on his tongue, choking him and bringing tears to his eyes.

"Cough cough... Pfft!"

He spat out a mouthful of mud and lay limply on the ground like a puddle of mud.

Li Haotian accepted the transparent bottle containing the Elixir of Life that the waiter brought him.

The emerald green liquid flowed under the light, like a beating little heart.

He tucked it into his clothes and glanced again at Zhao Tianming, who was dry heaving on the floor.

"Young people, the soil is rich in minerals, so eating more of it is good for your health."

Li Haotian laughed twice, then swaggered out of the auction hall in his ripped shoes.

The night wind blowing in from outside carried the salty smell of the sea.

He pulled the pulsating purple beacon out of his pocket; the light on it had begun to flicker.

Su Wan's voice came through the earpiece, rapid and urgent, like a machine gun firing.

"Boss, quick! Lin Mo's breathing and heart rate have dropped to twenty, and the purple lines have spread to the base of his neck!"

Li Haotian's eyes narrowed, and he quickened his pace, leaving a clear crack in the cement ground.

He sprinted onto the dilapidated shared bicycle by the roadside, his legs pushing off, the chain screeching loudly.

"Wait for me to get back."

He pushed off the pedal with all his might, and the bicycle, like a green lightning bolt, rushed into the misty urban village in the distance.

And in the deepest part of that thick fog, a huge black crack was silently opening up.

A series of viscous breathing sounds emanated from the crack, and countless slender purple tentacles were tentatively reaching out.

Above Donghai City, the purple beams of light grew thicker and thicker, as if something was about to fall.

Li Haotian walked through that familiar narrow alley and stopped in front of the roller shutter door of Old Zhang's Watch Shop.

Purple liquid was seeping out from the crack in the door, and the sign that used to hang at the door had fallen to the ground and shattered into pieces.

He smashed open the locked roller shutter door with his fist, and the sight inside made his heart sink.

Lin Mo curled up on the counter, her white dress had turned dark purple, and countless tiny blood vessels were emerging from her back.

Su Wan was bracing herself against the mechanical legs, desperately using freezing spray to suppress the eerie long whiskers.

"Dew of Life!"

Li Haotian rushed over, pried open the bottle with his fingers, and a burst of vibrant life force exploded in the room.

Just as he was about to pour the medicine into Lin Mo's mouth, a large hole suddenly appeared in the ceiling.

A black, fleshy pillar covered in eyes hung down from the hole and suddenly wrapped around Li Haotian's wrist.

"Finally... this moment has come."

A hoarse, worn-out voice came from the shadows, carrying the scent of rotting lilies.

Li Haotian turned around abruptly, and the golden light in his pupils surged instantly.

Hook: What is the true form of that black fleshy pillar? Is Lin Mo's mutation the beginning of redemption or utter ruin? Does that aged voice belong to the Han family or the true upper echelons of the Mirror World?