Chapter Seventy-Nine: Reading the Cards Is Reading the Player

Su Yizhao suddenly whipped his head around, stunned. Ning Yuhe was peering in from outside, his face twisted with hatred as he glared at him.

“Forty-eight million, first call!” came the delighted voice of the Qin clan’s female cultivator from below.

Su Yizhao locked eyes with Ning Yuhe, whose gaze was sharp as arrows. With a final glare, Ning Yuhe turned and left.

Su Yizhao leapt to his feet, about to rush out, but a young female cultivator beside him suddenly pounced, her arms winding around his waist, her soft curves pressing insistently against his back.

Just as he was about to fling her off, two cultivators appeared in the doorway.

He’d been set up!

“Forty-eight million, second call!”

No one from the Supreme Section made a sound, nor did any other cultivators. The two guards stood rigidly at either side of the curtain, blocking the exit.

Su Yizhao drew a deep breath and threw the scantily clad woman to the floor.

She fell with a soft whimper, then lay on her back, the thin veil slipping aside to reveal a field of snowy skin. She looked up at him with a wounded, longing gaze.

Su Yizhao’s thoughts raced. Charging out now was impossible—he’d likely be struck down by the auction house on the spot, without a chance to explain. But Ning Yuhe’s scheme to use a borrowed knife to kill him was far from foolproof.

He sat down calmly and shouted, “Fifty million!”

The hall erupted in astonishment. Even the red-robed Qin clan woman on stage froze for a moment.

Bidding was allowed, of course, but no one had ever seen someone outbid themselves before.

Was this cultivator deliberately making trouble?

But the idea was quickly dismissed. After all, who would dare to cause a scene from the Supreme Section? Would anyone have the nerve?

“Esteemed cultivator, are you joking?” the Qin woman asked uncertainly.

Su Yizhao replied seriously, “I am not joking. What if I told you that the forty-eight million bid just now wasn’t mine, would you believe me?”

She shook her head. “The voice came from the middle Supreme box. Everyone here—more than twenty thousand—heard it.”

Realization dawned on Su Yizhao, and he cursed inwardly. Damn these Supreme boxes! The sound transmitted from within was altered by formation magic, so no one could tell who had spoken—a means to protect the privacy of the Supreme Section.

Since there was no way out, he resolved to act the part of the wealthy fool. “Then I bid fifty million!”

The Qin woman’s face lit up, and she bowed deeply toward him on stage, setting off another round of teasing and laughter below as her snow-white skin was once again revealed.

“Fifty million, first call!”

“Wait, I suspect this cultivator is making a mockery of the auction!” At that moment, a neighboring Supreme box reacted—after all, who would really raise their own bid?

The Qin woman straightened, her beautiful eyes moving between the two Supreme boxes.

This was a first for her—the Gou family auction house had not seen such brazen disruption in many years.

She considered for a moment, then bowed toward the upper section. “I request that a Patron verify the bid.”

Instantly, silence fell over the crowd of more than twenty thousand.

Ning Yuhe stood outside, his face grave. A cultivator appeared at the entrance to the Supreme box and strode in without hesitation.

Ning Yuhe turned sharply to the wall, eyes brimming with tears as he choked back a sob. “Yuan, your brother has avenged you!”

Ever since the Gou family started running the auction house, any troublemakers had been executed on the spot—a fact Ning Yuhe knew well. As soon as the Patron made a move, anyone below the Tenth Void stage would be obliterated without a trace.

Time ticked by in tense silence.

The Supreme box remained quiet, but the thousands of cultivators were patient. So was Ning Yuhe—he was certain that the brothel scum from Kaoshan City couldn’t possibly have that much spirit stone.

If it turned out he’d caused trouble on purpose, death would be his only fate.

Suddenly, a voice came from the box: “I have verified this cultivator’s credentials—he is indeed qualified to sit in the Supreme Section!”

The words fell, and the crowd’s expressions shifted. Was there really someone who would raise his own bid? Someone who truly qualified for a Supreme box?

A few were even disappointed—not to witness a Patron execute someone was something of a letdown.

Ning Yuhe spun around, disbelief in his eyes as he stared at the box.

Impossible! Absolutely impossible! How could a cultivator from Kaoshan City possess so many spirit stones? The Patron must be lying!

The curtain lifted and the Patron emerged.

Ning Yuhe mustered his courage and stared the Patron down.

The Patron’s face was blurred by magic. He asked softly, “What is it? Do you doubt me?”

“No, not at all!” Ning Yuhe’s spirit nearly left his body, sweat pouring down his back. What a joke! He wouldn’t dare voice suspicion even with a hundred lives to spare.

If the Patron killed him on the spot, nobody would even blink.

“Many thanks, Patron. My apologies to the esteemed cultivator—in a moment, I will personally offer an apology for my rashness,” the Qin woman bowed again.

Su Yizhao laughed lightly. “No need! Please continue.”

In truth, he was sweating just as much as Ning Yuhe.

Fortunately, Gou Yuer hadn’t been joking after all.

The jade token was indeed authentic, though very few could recognize it.

When the Patron recognized it, he actually saluted him. “To see the token is to see the holder. Gou Xuefeng greets the young master!”

Su Yizhao was thunderstruck.

Young master?

Gou Yuer, who had come from the Upper Realm, was actually the young master of the Gou family auction house? Didn’t that mean he’d “struck gold”?

This was the continent’s one and only auction house!

A flurry of thoughts raced through Su Yizhao’s mind in an instant.

Gou Yuer was the young master, which meant the Gou auction house was run by people from the Upper Realm. By extension, did other mighty sects—like the Xuantian Sect of Vast City—also have ties to the Upper Realm?

Returning to the present, Su Yizhao quickly rose to return the Patron’s salute—Gou Yuer might be the young master, but he certainly wasn’t. The Patron’s cultivation was unfathomable; he couldn’t afford the honor.

Still, he asked, “Can I refuse to buy the Golden Stone Golem?”

The Patron regarded him silently, then said as he was leaving, “Even with the young master’s token, once you enter the auction house, you must follow the rules. If you lack spirit stones, borrow from Gou Jianren.”

Su Yizhao fell silent.

Suddenly he understood what Gou Yuer had meant when she handed him the token: “Perhaps one day you’ll need this token. Perhaps our Gou family auction house will need you.”

A trap!

Both Gou Jiancheng and Gou Yuer had been trying to maneuver him into borrowing spirit stones.

Just like now—a twist of fate, and he’d have to borrow even more.

In a flash, Su Yizhao realized something.

He already owed Gou Jiancheng twenty million spirit stones—he couldn’t possibly repay that anytime soon. Borrowing another fifty million wouldn’t make much difference!

“Fifty million, third call! Congratulations to the guest in the Supreme box. We will personally deliver the Golden Stone Golem to your box.”

“This concludes today’s auction. Fellow cultivators, please exit the venue.”

A smile had just dawned on the beautiful face of the Qin clan woman, but suddenly it froze.

The entire hall of cultivators remained seated, none making a move to leave.

Clearly, everyone was curious to see the face of the man who had raised his own bid.

The Qin woman, helpless, carried the tray and started up the stairs.

At that moment, Su Yizhao spoke up: “Would Senior Gou Jianren please come in person!”

His words halted the Qin woman in her tracks.

The hall erupted into noisy speculation.

A sinister smile crept onto Ning Yuhe’s face...