Free Web NovelChapter 306: Chapter 74: Majesty
"3,500!" A senior alchemist from a southern city alchemist faction barked from the lower tier, his voice cracking with desperation.
"4,100!" A rogue student alchemist in a grey cloak countered immediately, his spiritual qi flaring to warn others away.
"5,000!"
"10,000!"
The sudden, monstrous jump of the bid shattered the rhythm of the auction house entirely. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
The numbers on the massive, runic projection screens flickered violently before locking onto five digits.
The sheer audacity of the price increase startled everyone in the grand auditorium as a collective gasp rippled through the seating, and thousands of heads couldn’t help but look up in unison at the pristine, darkened glass of VIP Room 012.
To drop ten thousand points on an initial opening volley was not a standard bidding strategy; it was an absolute declaration of financial dominance.
Down in the crowded rows of the common gallery, Chu Yan didn’t panic.
Instead, a dark, predatory grin slowly spread across his face as se adjusted his robes, felt the remaining spiritual resonance of his token, and typed in his counter-offer with absolute confidence.
"15,000!"
He naturally was completely fearless in this specific arena. Il
In his mind, he was only ever truly afraid of Shen Haoran. That man was a walking nightmare—not only was he the literal, canonical final villain of the original web novel plot, but he was also a fellow transmigrator who possessed the knowledge of this world’s script.
Against a monster like that, Chu Yan knew he had to tread with absolute, razor-sharp caution just to survive.
But for everyone else in this room? For these random native heirs, spoiled young masters, and faction leaders?
He didn’t even take them seriously.
To him, they were just hollow non-player characters destined to be stepped on by the true movers of the world, and he was more than willing to play with them.
"20,000!" The central array instantly flashed with Shen Jian’s furious counter-bid from the highest balcony.
"30,000!" Chu Yan chuckled viciously under his breath, his eyes gleaming with a malicious, chaotic amusement.
He could clearly deduce from the frantic, aggressive pacing of the inputs that the fella sitting inside that specific VIP room seemed to really, truly like this item.
He was sure that the target was emotionally compromised, acting on impulse rather than logic.
Since that was the case, Chu Yan was determined to make him bleed every single drop of his financial reserves before the gavel fell.
"35,000!" Shen Jian bid once more, his input slamming into the terminal.
"40,000!" Chu Yan competed without a single second of hesitation, pushing the price to an unprecedented height.
Up inside the luxurious sanctuary of VIP Room 012, the atmosphere had turned completely toxic.
"That... absolute, nameless bastard!" Shen Jian roared, his handsome face hideously contorted with an unhinged fury.
In his explosive rage, he violently threw his heavy crystal wine glass straight down onto the polished jade floor, the expensive glass breaking into a thousand jagged shards as the crimson spiritual wine splattered across the room like blood.
Xu Xiansu sat calmly on her sofa, her sharp eyes scanning the frantic numbers on the display panel before she slowly turned her head to look at him.
"He’s openly baiting you, Shen Jian. Anyone with half a brain can see he is intentionally driving up the price just to watch you ruin your balance."
"I know that! I am not an idiot!" Shen Jian clenched his fists so violently that his knuckles popped like small firecrackers, his breathing incredibly ragged. "But if I don’t continue to bid right now, if I back down in front of thousands of people, the entire student populace down below will think that the descendant of the Second Enshrined Elder has no money! My family’s prestige will be dragged through the mud! I cannot stand that humiliation! I will definitely get that piece, no matter what!"
"50,000!" Shen Jian roared, his palm slamming down on the runic interface.
Down below, the screen instantly flickered with Chu Yan’s immediate, mocking response.
"60,000!"
"Bastard! Absolute piece of trash! I will definitely hunt him down and kill him the moment he steps out of this building!" Shen Jian screamed, his spiritual energy leaking out from his body, cracking the nearby wooden furniture.
"Shen Jian, that is more than enough."
Huo Yue suddenly spoke up.
This time, her voice was not carrying its usual playful, energetic cadence, and was completely, chillingly serious.
Her beautiful eyes locked onto him with an intense clarity. "That Heart-Shaped Immortal Rose is undeniably precious, but it is absolutely not that precious. We don’t even currently possess the other rare auxiliary ingredients required to actually create the Rank 8 Nine Heart Breaking Pill anyway. Even if you buy it for sixty thousand points, it will just end up getting uselessly stored away in the dark vaults of your family treasury for centuries. Stop this childish madness."
"Shut your damn mouth!" Shen Jian aggressively spun around, his eyes bloodshot with pure ego as he glared at her, completely losing his composure. "I don’t care about the pill! I will absolutely not allow that fucking, nameless bastard down below to beat me in a public arena! I will get that flower even if it means bleeding my entire personal registry dry!"
The entire VIP room instantly went dead silent as an absolute, suffocating stillness fell over the lounge.
The moment the disrespectful shout left his lips, Shen Tao and Shen Xun’er suddenly stood up from their respective seats in perfect, ominous unison.
Their expressions turned completely dark, their eyes burning with a terrifying, cold martial intent as they glared at Shen Jian.
Their hands began to glow with power as the air pressure in the room began to drop to a freezing point.
However, before they could even take a single physical step forward to discipline their cousin, the temperature inside the VIP suite suddenly, violently rose as thick, suffocating heat wave expanded outward from the sofa.
Huo Yue was staring directly at Shen Jian, her facial expression was completely calm, smooth, and unmoving.
It was that exact lack of emotion that made her look infinitely more terrifying, majestic, and dangerous than she had ever appeared before.
At this moment, the playful girl who loved money had completely vanished.
Even Xu Xiansu couldn’t help but stare at her in awe. This is the Huo Yue she remembered, the cold and aloof Flame Empress capabel to dominating the world.
"Shen Jian," Huo Yue spoke, her voice dropping to a low, icy whisper that resonated with the absolute authority. "Although I habitually like to joke around and play games with everyone in this group, do not ever forget your place... I am still the formally recognized fiancee of Shen Haoran. I am the future primary Mistress of the Shen Clan. Who on earth do you think gave someone like you the right to raise your vulgar voice at me?"
Shen Jian completely froze in his tracks.
The hot, suffocating wave of ego and anger in his chest was violently, instantaneously crushed by the absolute weight of her words.
Reality crashed over his mind like a bucket of freezing water. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com
He looked at her calm, majestic eyes, and then darted his gaze to the side, seeing Shen Tao staring at his neck as if he were currently calculating the cleanest angle to murder him right then and there to defend the Young Master’s honor.
A cold sweat broke out across Shen Jian’s entire body as he swallowed hard, his throat dry, his knees trembling slightly as he realized he had just committed an unforgivable political blunder due to petty rage.
He slowly, submissively lowered his head all the way to his chest, his voice trembling. "My deepest... my deepest apologies, Lady Huo. I lost my mind. Please forgive my insolence."
At that sudden display of absolute authority, the rest of the Ten Crowns and the villa girls stared at Huo Yue in profound awe.
Seeing her stand tall like a queen, they realized that despite her casual habits, she truly, undeniably deserved to be the woman that their magnificent Young Master had chosen to stand by his side.
The contrast to her usually jovial, money-obsessed personality was striking. She was like two completely different persons wrapped into one flesh.
Their internal respect for her rose to an unprecedented peak.
"Do not ever, do that again. Now, once the handlers deliver the painting and Saint stone you purchased earlier, let’s immediately leave this establishment," Huo Yue commanded coldly, turning her back on him.
And at that final order, everyone in the room firmly nodded their heads in absolute obedience.
Down below on the cold obsidian seats, Chu Yan was starting to completely, utterly panic.
His fingers were shaking against his jade token as he stared at the static projection screen.
He had just placed a massive, logic-defying bid of 60,000 Dao Points—which was quite literally double the amount of his own entire physical life savings.
He had fully expected the arrogant, wealthy playboy in VIP Room 012 to instantly fire back with a massive counter-bid of 70,000 points out of sheer pride, allowing Chu Yan to safely withdraw and watch him suffer.
But the screen remained dead. The timer was ticking down, and it looked like the guy from the upper balcony had absolutely no intention to bid for more.
The room was completely silent, and he was getting profoundly, desperately frantic.
Realizing his entire life savings and his position in the academy were about to be forcefully wiped out by a default purchase he couldn’t afford, he stood up from his seat and decided to loudly call out to the high balcony, his voice amplified by his qi.
"Hah! Is that truly all you’ve got up there in VIP 012!?" Chu Yan mocked loudly, a frantic sweat breaking out on his face as he threw his hands wide. "I thought the high-and-mighty heirs that can afford a VIP room were swimming in endless mountains of wealth! Turns out you are all just a bunch of broke, pathetic cowards who run away the moment a real man shows a little bit of points! If you don’t have the backing to play in the big leagues, you should have just stayed home and sucked on your mother’s milk!"
However, despite his intense, vulgar provocations echoing through the colosseum, the darkened glass of VIP Room 012 remained completely silent and unmoving.
Not a single number shifted on the screen.
"60,000 Dao Points going once!" Li Hua’s voice called out, her gavel raised high as she looked at the standing youth.
Chu Yan’s entire body began to violently sweat, his heart hammering like a trapped beast.
He turned his head directly toward the high suite, screaming another volley of desperate, provocative words. "Come on! Don’t tell me you’re actually scared of a freshman!? Where is your pride!? If you back down now, your family name will become the absolute laughingstock of the entire outer court by tomorrow morning! Prove your nobility and place a real bid, you worthless cowards!"
Absolute, heavy silence.
The balcony ignored his existence entirely, treating his words like the buzzing of an insignificant insect.
"60,000 Dao Points going twice!"
Chu Yan’s vision began to turn black at the edges. In a final, utterly desperate act of survival, he spun around toward the thousands of other cultivators sitting in the surrounding rows, waving his arms frantically as he screamed at them, trying to force anyone to save him.
"What are you all just sitting there for!? This is the fabled Heart-Shaped Immortal Rose! It’s a Divine herb! Someone place a bid! 61,000 points is a steal for a treasure of this caliber! Don’t let a masterpiece like this go to waste! Anyone! Place a bid right now!"
But absolutely no one in the grand auditorium was that stupid.
Every single veteran cultivator in the audience could see clear as day that this frantic youth had completely trapped himself in his own toxic bidding war, and if they placed a bid now, they would be taking over a massive, catastrophic financial debt for an herb they couldn’t even refine.
They simply looked at him with expressions of profound pity and mock amusement.
"Sold!"
Li Hua’s wooden gavel slammed down onto the obsidian podium with a sharp, definitive bang that echoed like a executioner’s axe.
"The legendary Heart-Shaped Immortal Rose is permanently sold to the honored disciple on the main floor for the final sum of 60,000 Dao Points! Please step forward to the registry to settle your balance!"
*Thud.*
Chu Yan’s knees completely gave out beneath his weight as he collapsed heavily onto his knees right on the cold, hard stone floor, his identity token slipping from his numb fingers and clattering against the cobblestones.
His eyes went entirely blank, his breathing stopping as a wave of absolute, cold despair hollowed out his chest.
It was over.
His points were gone, his debt was absolute, and his entire path in the academy had just been completely, utterly destroyed.
