After Yang Kai snapped up the fifth-grade Solar True Fire with a single bid of three million, the next two final auction items—each worth no less than a fifth-grade Open Heaven material—fell into Yang Kai's pocket without the slightest suspense.
The grand auction concluded amid an atmosphere that could only be described as bizarre. Whether they were the independent warriors in the main hall or the managers lounging in their private boxes, every last person felt they had witnessed something eye-opening.
Never had anyone attended an auction like this. Excluding the first few items on the block, practically everything else had been bought out by a single person—and that person was actually at the Emperor Realm! His total spending across the entire auction exceeded ten million!
Everyone was privately wondering which sect this young man belonged to and how he could possibly possess so many Open Heaven Pills. After all, even the managers could only mobilize a few million at most; a figure in the tens of millions was beyond their capacity to handle.
A few had recognized Yang Kai's identity, but they were few and far between. After all, Yang Kai had spent these past days visiting nineteen shops to collect debts, meeting face-to-face with nineteen managers of various factions. Bound to be some of them at the auction.
In the VIP room of the Fengyun Auction House, Yang Kai and Old Bai sat across from each other at the table, savoring fragrant tea. A massive pile of items had already accumulated in front of them, yet maids continued filing in one after another, setting down yet more objects.
These were all the items the two had won during the bidding. The Fengyun Auction House operated on a bid-first, pay-later basis. Now that the auction was over, it was time to settle accounts.
The voluptuous auctioneer stood before them both, a smile on her face. Each time an item was delivered, she would cheerfully introduce it to Yang Kai—what it was, and how much he had spent to win it.
Beside her, another fellow who looked like an accountant worked his abacus without pause, continuously tallying the prices of the auctioned items.
Maids came and went, and the pile before Yang Kai and Old Bai only grew larger. Old Bai sipped his tea, but kept glancing sideways at Yang Kai with a hint of guilt. It wasn't every day you did something like this—especially inside the Fengyun Auction House. He had no idea how this was going to end.
It took quite a while before the accounts were finally tallied. The auctioneer smiled sweetly at Yang Kai: "Sir, the total cost of your auctioned items comes to eleven million three hundred and sixty thousand."
She turned to Old Bai: "And for this gentleman, your total comes to nine hundred and thirty thousand!"
Compared to Yang Kai, Old Bai had won very few items—just assorted odds and ends from earlier rounds. It was mainly because Yang Kai bid so quickly each time that Old Bai rarely got the chance to open his mouth.
"Pack it all up," Yang Kai said without even lifting his head.
At her cue, the auctioneer signaled to the side, and assistants promptly placed everything one by one into spatial rings. She then took the rings and presented them to Yang Kai with both hands.
Yang Kai accepted them without so much as a glance. With a flick of his fingers, a faint ripple of spatial law pulsed outward, and the rings vanished from sight.
He then rose to his feet and called to Old Bai: "Let's go."
The smile on the auctioneer's face froze. She shifted to block his path, speaking politely: "Sir, have you perhaps forgotten something?"
Yang Kai looked left, then right, and looked up: "I haven't forgotten anything."
The auctioner forced a smile onto her face, her voice soft as silk: "You forgot to settle the bill!" As she spoke, her expression turned wounded and reproachful.
"No money!" Yang Kai declared with complete sincerity, looking straight at her. Behind him, Old Bai's mouth twitched slightly.
The auctioneer blinked her large eyes several times, then suddenly covered her mouth and giggled: "Sir, you do love to joke." Elder Yu had verified his funds earlier—without that level of wealth, how would they have let him keep bidding? Now claiming to have no money? Who would believe that?
"I'm not joking." Yang Kai regarded her flatly. "Your Fengyun Auction House already owes us brothers ten million. Consider these auction items collateral. Once you pay back that ten million, I'll return the goods."
The auctioneer was stunned, staring blankly at Yang Kai. She hesitated: "Sir, what do you mean?"
She was merely an auctioneer at the Fengyun Auction House. She had no knowledge of what had transpired before, so his words sounded like utter nonsense to her. When had the Fengyun Auction House ever owed someone ten million?
"What I mean, your manager certainly understands—right, Manager Yun?" That last line, Yang Kai shouted toward the door.
Though he hadn't sensed Yun Zhenhua's aura, it was almost certain the man was outside by now. After all, he and Old Bai had been thrown out of the auction house only to sneak back in shortly after, and had spent the entire auction bidding at sky-high prices. As a manager, there was no way he wouldn't know about this.
And if he knew, he would certainly make an appearance.
The door creaked open. But the one who entered was not Yun Zhenhua—it was Elder Yu, the same man who had verified Yang Kai's funds earlier.
At this moment, Elder Yu's expression was grim. One hand was clasped behind his back while the other rested lightly before his abdomen. He fixed Yang Kai with a hard stare: "Young friend, do not bring ruin upon yourself!"