When I stopped licking, the lady panicked.

Lin Xuan sat down in front of Dugu Sihai, and Ruoshui poured tea for the two of them.

Dugu Sihai smiled and said, "Young Master Lin is from Qingzhou. Did you come to Kuiwen specifically to attend our auction?"

Lin Xuan replied, "Of course."

He nodded and continued, "Senior Dugu, let's speak frankly."

"I enjoy talking to intelligent people." Dugu Sihai smiled. "Then I'll get straight to the point. Although the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion is vast and powerful, since the Zhenbei Prince died in battle, the Lin family's heir has bequeathed most of his fortune to the Yun family and spent tens of millions of taels of gold as a dowry to marry Yun Xiyue, so..."

"So, you think I'm broke now, is that right?" Lin Xuan said.

Dugu Sihai smiled and said, "Young Master Lin, we are businessmen after all, and doing business involves taking certain risks."

Lin Xuan asked, "Just tell me directly, what do you want?"

"I want to see how much money Prince Lin brought this time," Dugu Sihai said.

Lin Xuan smiled and said, "Senior Dugu, are you afraid I'll renege on my debt?"

"No, it's just that this auction involves a huge sum of money, and we're just being cautious," Dugu Sihai said with a smile. "Young Master Lin, there's no need to panic. It's just a simple verification of funds. Even if Young Master Lin can't come up with that much money, we can still be friends."

Lin Xuan smiled meaningfully, looking at the cunning old fox before him, and said, "That's certainly possible, but what if I have enough money to cover the cost of this auction?"

Dugu Sihai said, "We will treat Young Master Lin as an honored guest, and our auction house will provide free assistance if needed in the future."

"Even if Prince Lin needs wives and concubines to dance with him, our auction house can provide them for free."

Lin Xuan smiled and shook his head, saying, "I'm not interested in ordinary women; all I need is a promise from Senior Dugu."

"Speaking."

"I need to be the first to know if there are any items up for auction in the future."

"Of course, since we treat Young Master Lin as an honored guest, these are the bare minimum."

Lin Xuan smiled calmly and said, "That's good then."

After saying that, he took out a money pouch from his storage bag and casually tossed it onto the table.

Dugu Sihai opened the money bag and saw that it contained many high-quality imperial crystals.

Upon seeing this, Dugu Sihai was stunned speechless.

Even the well-traveled Dugu Sihai, who had lived for so many years, had never seen so many Imperial Crystals of such high quality.

"Is this enough?" Lin Xuan asked.

Dugu Sihai came to his senses, pushed the money bag back, and said, "That's enough, Young Master Lin. We were reckless before."

"Ruoshui, quickly serve the fragrant tea and properly entertain Young Master Lin."

Ruoshui had just recovered from her shock when she quickly changed the tea to the finest Xueya Xiangcha. She held the teacup in both hands and presented it to Lin Xuan, bowing slightly as she said, "Young Master Lin, please have some tea."

Having a lot of Imperial Crystals isn't capital, but if Imperial Crystals are of high quality and plentiful, then they are a very substantial form of capital.

High quality indicates that you have strong support.

A large quantity indicates that you have a wealthy family background.

In short, by providing these Imperial Crystals, Lin Xuan was not only telling them "my family is very rich," but also "my family is not to be trifled with."

Therefore, Dugu Sihai naturally treated Lin Xuan with utmost respect.

"Can I go back and continue participating in the auction now?" Lin Xuan asked.

"Of course, of course," Dugu Sihai said with a smile, personally seeing Lin Xuan out the door.

After Lin Xuan left, Dugu Sihai pulled Ruoshui aside and said, "The Prince of Zhenbei is dead, but Lin Xuan still has such a strong family fortune, which means that the Prince of Zhenbei had already made arrangements for his affairs before his death."

"I'm afraid Lin Xuan has a master guiding him."

Rukasui said, "Should I go and test the waters?"

"No need, to avoid upsetting the people behind him. But you should try to get as close to him as possible, and if possible, make him one of your many suitors," Dugu Sihai said.

Ruoshui nodded and said, "I understand."

……

After Lin Xuan returned to his seat, the auction continued.

Ruoshui remained on the stage, introducing the upcoming auction items to the audience.

Lin Xuan wasn't very interested in the items up for auction, except for martial arts techniques and some weapons that he didn't care about.

Although there were occasionally one or two that were decent, Lin Xuan wasn't interested in them at all, and even felt a bit drowsy.

Lin Xuan didn't wake up from his drowsy state until the final item was auctioned.

Ruoshui looked at the crowd below the stage and slowly said, "The last item to be auctioned is a spatial jade slip. This spatial jade slip contains an ancient battlefield, but its age is unknown."

"Because its malevolent aura is too strong, it is difficult for people with ordinary cultivation to open and verify it. Therefore, we cannot yet assess the specific value of this spatial jade slip."

"However, Ruoshui can guarantee that this spatial jade slip is worth tens of millions of taels!"

"The starting bid is now ten million."

Upon hearing this, the audience fell silent.

Everyone was whispering among themselves, seemingly discussing the value of the jade slip.

"This is a gamble. The ancient battlefield contains not only magical treasures, martial arts techniques, and elixirs, but also evil energy, vengeful spirits, and even powerful souls waiting to be possessed."

"Indeed, if the price were lower, we might be willing to take the risk, but ten million taels is really not worth it."

Seeing the situation below the stage, Ruoshui became a little anxious.

This jade slip was supposed to be the grand finale, and everyone thought it would ignite the entire audience. However, to everyone's surprise, they all became hesitant to act.

"Gentlemen, although the value of this jade slip is hard to estimate, it is definitely worth ten million taels!" Ruoshui said.

At this moment, someone spoke up: "Who knows what's sealed inside? What if it's the soul of a powerful being waiting to be possessed?"

"Exactly! We spent ten million taels to buy back a menace. Isn't this like shooting ourselves in the foot?"

"That's right. Besides, you said that people with average cultivation levels can't open it. Who knows what exactly 'average cultivation level' means? Earth Profound Realm, Heaven Profound Realm, or Dao-Awakening Realm?"

Opinions varied among the audience.

At this moment, Lin Xuan calmly raised his hand and said, "I'll take the ten million taels."

Everyone looked at Lin Xuan.

"It's him again?"

"Brother, even if you have money, you can't waste it like this! Are you trying to spend a fortune to buy a menace?"

Lin Xuan ignored their mockery and looked expressionlessly at Ruoshui, who was full of gratitude on the stage.

Ruoshui smiled at Lin Xuan to express her gratitude.

Lin Xuan said, "Is anyone else going to bid? If not, then this jade slip is mine."

After he finished speaking, no one responded.

Ruoshui smiled helplessly and said, "Since no one else is bidding, then congratulations to Young Master Lin for winning this spatial jade slip."

"Wait!" At that moment, a discordant voice rang out.