Legendary Son-in-Law: The Man with Poison Talismans

Huo Lie quickly realized that this person wasn't after his daughter's awakening.

This person is gambling, betting that the fruit will appreciate in value in the future.

After all, this is the only one available in the entire Marfa Empire so far. Regardless of whether it is truly effective, if there are no more available in the future, this item will be a unique treasure.

Whether you collect, study, or resell, you can't lose money.

Huo Lie didn't hesitate for long: "30."

The voice followed closely: "35."

Huo Lie: "40."

"45."

Huo Lie paused, as if assessing the man's confidence, before offering: "50."

The voice paused for a moment, then put down the sign and didn't follow up.

But another voice followed, coming from behind the lower seats, neither too loud nor too soft: "55." Huo Lie turned his head and glanced in that direction.

A man in an old leather armor leaned back in his chair, not holding a number, as if he were calling out for someone else.

Huo Lie didn't recognize the man, but he knew that there were far more people eyeing the fruit tonight than he had imagined.

Some genuinely needed it, some wanted to stockpile it, some wanted to investigate its origins, and even a few guild members exchanged glances, huddled together and whispered a few words before one of them raised his paddle and announced a price.

It looks like it was filmed by several guilds together; we plan to take it back, disassemble it, and study it.

Prices surged again like a lit fuse, reaching 60, 65, 70...

Each bid was more aggressive than the last, as if everyone had been provoked by the previous battle and no one was willing to give in first.

Huo Lie tightened his grip on the sign, then loosened it, and then raised the sign again...

Ultimately, the price of acorns settled at a full 100 million gold coins.

After that number was announced, the hall fell silent for a moment. Even the auctioneer paused for a second before asking if anyone else would raise the bid. No one responded.

The man in the old leather armor put down his sign, and the guild leader also stopped early. After some hesitation, the members of the other guilds put down their signs one after another, as the price was no longer worthwhile.

One million is a lot.

But he is the lord of Shabak, and this amount of money is no match for him.

He glanced down at his daughter by the window; she was still leaning against the window, her shoulders slightly tense, and she never turned around.

Huo Lie didn't say much, but simply turned his gaze back to the audience, waiting for the hammer to fall.

The auctioneer raised his gavel, the sound echoing in the quiet hall: "One million gold coins, first time… one million gold coins, second time… one million gold coins, third time. Sold!"

The hammer fell, and the brown fruit was taken off the stage. The candlelight flickered on its surface one last time before disappearing behind the curtain backstage.

Huo Lie then reached out and gently patted his daughter's shoulder, his voice low but carrying a reassuring certainty: "This fruit is yours."

The girl's shoulders trembled slightly, and she finally turned around. Her eyes were a little red, but the corners of her mouth were curved, like a flower quietly blooming in the quiet night.

The auctioneer stood on the stage, his gaze sweeping across the room. His voice, though softer than before, still carried clearly to every corner: "Ladies and gentlemen, all items for tonight's auction have been put up for sale. Thank you all for your support. Whether you won or not, those seated here are all prominent figures in Mengzhong. Jubaozhai is grateful for your patronage over the years. If there has been any inadequacy in our hospitality, please forgive us. The next auction will be at the same time and place, with even more fine items awaiting you. Please take care."

She bowed slightly, and a sparse round of applause broke out from the audience. Then some people got up and left their seats, some were still talking in hushed tones, some were taking pictures of things, and they walked backstage to prepare for the handover.

Lin Mu sat in the private room, not quite back to his senses for a moment.

A single acorn, which I initially bought just to try my luck, actually sold for a whopping 100 million gold coins.

He leaned back in his chair, holding the now-cold teacup, unable to suppress the urge to smile.

A million. He silently calculated in his mind.

Adding the 1 million, plus the 45,000 for the Spirit Gathering Pearl, the 300,000 for the Dragon Slayer Sword, the 180,000 for the Rainbow Feather Robe, the 250,000 for the Demon Blood Set, and the 98,000 for the two Crimson Moon equipment pieces, the total comes to 1,873,000.

After deducting the auction house's commission and the 3 for the Heavenly Venerable's robe, the net amount is 175 million.

Furthermore, he still had 47 of these fruits.

But he quickly calmed down. Scarcity drives up prices, and these kinds of things can't be released all at once, otherwise the price will plummet. They have to be released one by one, or wait until the hype is stronger. This is called scarcity marketing.

Even so, tonight's 100 million has far exceeded his expectations.

Lin Mu leaned back in his chair, holding a teacup, a smile still lingering on his lips.

After a moment of silence in the private room, he heard footsteps coming from the corridor.

The footsteps stopped at the door for a moment, and then someone gently knocked twice.

Lin Mu put down his teacup: "Come in."

The door was pushed open, revealing an elderly man in a dark purple robe, none other than Steward Sun, whom they had met in the private room earlier.

He was holding a dark red wooden box in his hands. The lid was closed, so it was impossible to tell what was inside.

After entering, he first bowed slightly to Lin Mu, then placed the wooden box on the table and pushed it in front of Lin Mu: "Young Master Lin, the Heavenly Venerable Daoist Robe that you purchased has been delivered to you."

He paused, then added, "Your items have all been successfully sold, and the payments are being verified. They will be delivered to you shortly."

Lin Mu opened the wooden box. The Heavenly Venerable's robe was neatly folded and gleamed with a warm white light under the candlelight.

He didn't take it out; he just glanced at it and closed the lid. "Thank you for your trouble."

But Steward Sun did not leave immediately.

He stood in front of the table, hesitated for a moment before speaking, his voice a few decibels lower than before: "Young Master Lin, there is something... I am not sure if I should say it."

Lin Mu raised his eyes: "Go on."

Steward Sun leaned forward slightly: "Lord Huo sent word that he wishes to meet the owner of the Overlord's Blade. Also... Prince Gu asked the same question. They are all waiting in their respective private rooms and haven't left. My suggestion is... if it's convenient for you, you might as well meet them. They are all very important figures in Mengzhong, and getting to know them will be beneficial for your future endeavors in Mengzhong."

Lin Mu did not answer immediately.

He picked up his teacup, took a sip, and stared at the rim as he pondered.

Chapter 245 Lin Mu Asks About Courage

"Lord Huo wants to see him? Prince Gu also wants to see him? They're both waiting in the private room? They're making quite a show of it."

He glanced at the dark red wooden box on the table, then at Steward Sun's respectful face, and continued to think with his head down.

"Want to see the master of the Blade of the Conqueror?"

The problem is, this Overlord's Blade is now in Lin Mu's hands, so he's in charge.

It's true that you, Lord Huo, are the most influential person in Mengzhong, and it's also true that you, Gu Changfeng, are the newly appointed Prince An. But if you want something from someone else, do you really expect them to come to your door in person to pay you a visit? That's putting on a show of being far too arrogant.

The whole of Mengzhong is now saying that the Prince is the bravest man in the world, so Gu Changfeng must be a person who loves to boast and achieve great things.

The other party realized he was faking it and was clearly eager to obtain the Overlord's Blade.

But her original intention was not to give him the knife; she wanted to get close to him, enter the upper echelons of Mengzhong, rescue Qingyi, and find out the truth about Mengzhong.

Once he made his move, in the eyes of everyone, especially the current Prince Gu Changfeng, he went from being a mysterious figure who needed to be approached to being just an ordinary awakened one, or perhaps even less than ordinary.

The Blade of the Conqueror is now bait hanging over everyone's head. Everyone wants it, but no one can guess who it will be given to, so everyone has to think carefully before dealing with it.

Once the bait is released, the fish on the hook will naturally scatter.

Only if Gu Changfeng puts his mind, effort, and thought deeply about the Blade of the Overlord, and only then is he allowed to obtain it, will he cherish it and think highly of himself.

If you give it away too easily now, he'll just take it for granted and forget who you are as soon as he turns his back. So you can't rush things now.

But we can't leave it out either.

Gu Changfeng is the newly appointed Prince An, the de facto head of Mengzhong. Regardless of whether his position is legitimate or not, he is currently riding high and cannot be offended.

Lord Huo was no pushover either.

We can't afford to offend either side, and we can't easily accept either offer.

There must be a reason, a reason that is tenable, flawless, and one that Gu Changfeng cannot refute even if he disagrees.

With a great calamity looming, what good is it if two people fight each other and are incredibly brave?

What we should really see is their ability to slay monsters and their capacity to protect the continent of Marfa.

Winning against one person in the arena is a completely different matter from defending a city and protecting its people.

This standard, if presented to others, would leave no room for criticism, and it would even allow Gu Changfeng to consider whether he truly deserved that knife.

Steward Sun stood still, waiting for him to speak.

After a while, Lin Mu put down his teacup and suddenly asked, "Old Sun, what do you think constitutes the greatest warrior in the world?"

Steward Sun was taken aback by the question, paused for a moment, and then said after careful consideration, "I have seen many masters. Some can take on a BOSS alone, some can fight against a hundred, and some can overpower all the heroes in the martial arts tournament... I think the bravest person in the world is probably like this, who can fight against a thousand troops with his own strength."

Lin Mu nodded after listening, but did not rush to answer.

He held his teacup, his gaze fixed on the flickering candlelight, but his mind was churning with thoughts of things from long ago.

That was when he was still in another world. Back then, he was a student who randomly flipped through some books and read some words and ideas. He didn't pay attention to them at the time, but later, these thoughts and words were like nails driven into his mind, and he couldn't pull them out no matter what.

In those years, he huddled in front of his computer day after day, grinding and leveling up, losing all his dignity in real life. He was afraid to go home, afraid to see anyone, living like a breathing zombie. It was during that time that he began to ponder the meaning of those few words.

Lin Mu put down his teacup, the candlelight flickering in his pupils.

He was silent for a while before slowly speaking, as if he were peeling a walnut from long ago, the shell broken but the kernel still inside: "When I was young, I flipped through a few old books, but I didn't understand them at the time. Later, in the deep of night, I would stay alone and think about them over and over again until I finally figured out a little bit of their meaning."

"The book says, 'Knowing shame is close to courage.' I used to disagree with this. What kind of courage is it to know shame? Later I realized that the hardest thing for a person is not to show their sword to others, but to cut open their own wounds, admit that they are not good enough, admit that they are afraid, admit that they have been hiding in the shadows all these years and dare not come out. Being able to see one's own inadequacy and still dare to take a step forward, that is the foundation of courage."

He paused, tapping the rim of his cup lightly with his fingertips: "But having a sense of shame isn't enough. True courage is knowing what to fear and what not to fear. If the sky falls and you stand still, that's not courage, that's stupidity; knowingly doing the impossible is not courage, that's stubbornness. Courage is having a scale in your heart, and on one side of that scale is something worth risking your life for. You're afraid of losing it, so you dare to raise your knife. Courage without fear is empty."

"Some say that true bravery is measured by how many people you knock down and how many corpses you trample over. But I remember another saying: 'He who conquers others is strong; he who conquers himself is mighty.' You can take down the person opposite you because you have strong arms and hard fists; but you can also subdue the wild beast running rampant in your heart, making it quiet when it should be quiet and roaring when it should roar. That is true skill. No matter how hard a person's fist is, if their heart is scattered, they are not brave, but just a weapon; and no matter how sharp a weapon is, if no one holds it and stabs it in the right direction, it is just scrap iron."

He raised his eyes, shifting his gaze from the candlelight to Steward Sun's face. His tone remained calm, yet it struck like a nail: "Prince Gu subdued the heroes on the arena with strength, skill, and a 'fight if you're not convinced' spirit. But it's still a veil between 'benevolence and courage.' The blade of a hegemon—'hegemony' isn't about suppressing others, but about bearing what others cannot. With a great calamity looming overhead, and the future filled with wailing people, the knife in your hand isn't for carving names, but for shielding them from disaster. Kill one who deserves to be killed, protect ten thousand who deserve to be protected. The moment the blade falls, your mind is clear, your hand is steady—that is the ultimate courage."

"What are you afraid of? What are you protecting? For whom are you wielding this sword? Only by answering these three questions clearly can you keep your sword sharp."

The candle flame popped and sparked, and Steward Sun stood there stunned, remaining silent for a long while.

After listening, Steward Sun remained silent for a long time, as if he were taking each word into his heart, and then nodded solemnly: "I understand. I will definitely pass on this message."

He was about to step back when he stopped and asked in a low voice, "Young Master Lin, what about Lord Huo? The buyer of the acorns is Lord Huo. He also sent word that he would like to meet you."

Lin Mu thought for a moment. The effects of the acorn had not yet become apparent, so now was not the best time. Seeing it would only be a brief encounter. He should wait until it showed its effects before making any decisions. He couldn't rush things.

Chapter 246 Invited