"Ten million!"
A distinctive voice rang out across the venue—rich and magnetic, instantly recognizable as that of Young Master Ji San of the Panlong Grand Family.
This bid was even more insane.
Leaping straight from seven million to ten million—such audacity instantly silenced the many young masters from prominent families who had been itching to try their luck.
Come on, ten million! Most young masters of Ninth-Rank clans simply couldn't afford to play at that level.
Moreover, judging by Young Master Ji San's bearing, he was clearly determined to win. The air about him practically screamed that anyone who dared compete with him would be dealt with accordingly.
The young master of Lianshan Studio flushed with excitement upon hearing this bid and grinned. "Young Master Ji San is truly magnanimous—leaping straight to ten million! Such extravagant spending is exactly what we'd expect from the foremost tycoon of Glazed Royal City! But tell me, are we to believe our Glazed Royal City has only one such tycoon?"
These words were nakedly provocative, practically designed to stir up the crowd. But as the premier auction house in the city, Lianshan Studio had nothing to fear from offending anyone.
True enough, with the young master of Lianshan Studio egging them on, another scion from a major family immediately shouted, "Eleven million!"
"Very well, eleven million! The Iron Wing Great Faction bids eleven million! Now that's the style of our Glazed Royal City's elite! Can anyone top that?"
Young Master Ji San didn't even glance at his competitor. He raised his hand directly. "Fifteen million!"
They were all the most notorious young masters of Glazed Royal City—who would back down from anyone? Young Master Ji San's stubborn pride was clearly flaring up. A man of his stature naturally wouldn't blame the young master of Lianshan Studio for fanning the flames. Stirring up bidding wars was the auction house's business; they could hardly be faulted for doing their job.
In a setting like this, it was all about boldness, about wealth, about who had the most nerve.
They were all scions of the city's most powerful factions—playboys facing off against playcards. Everyone was playing with open hands; who would be afraid of whom?
"Ha ha! Fifteen million! Truly worthy of being our Glazed Royal City's number one faction for over a hundred years running! Such magnificent spending—absolutely unstoppable!"
The young master of Lianshan Studio, seeing that Young Master Ji San had given him such face, openly praised him and publicly declared the Panlong Great Faction as the number one faction.
And his claim wasn't wrong. In name, at least, the Panlong Great Faction was indeed still the number one faction of Glazed Royal City.
But that depended on how the common folk ranked them, and how people compared them behind closed doors.
Yet in name, the Panlong Great Faction remained the number one faction of Glazed Royal City—something none of the other great factions could openly deny.
However, these words visibly displeased the young master of the Royal Court.
Seeing Wang Teng's expression harden, Sikou Nan, as his subordinate, immediately raised his arm: "My Sikou family bids eighteen million!"
The moment this bid was announced, the entire venue erupted in commotion.
The Sikou family? They were merely a tier-nine family—how could they openly challenge a great faction? This was a contest between the scions of the great factions, so what business did a mere Sikou family have butting in?
Still, everyone quickly figured it out.
The Sikou family was doing their master's bidding—acting on behalf of the Royal Court Great Faction to deliberately antagonize the Panlong Great Faction! In everyone's view, it was clearly the young master of the Royal Court who wanted to compete, yet Wang Teng refused to show up in person, instead sending his subordinates to do so, all to spite Third Young Master Ji.
Oh, you Third Young Master Ji are all refined and dashing, are you? Well, I'll disgust you by forcing you to bid against my Wang family's underling, to enrage you, to make you lose all composure and embarrass yourself.
One had to admit—Wang Teng was extremely cunning.
Even Jiang Chen, watching from behind, could see it. Wang Teng having the Sikou family compete for these three Myriad Life Pills was absolutely a deliberate provocation aimed at Third Young Master Ji.
Moreover, Wang Teng had clearly figured out Third Young Master Ji's weakness. He knew Ji was absolutely determined to obtain the Myriad Life Pills, so he drove the bidding ever higher, forcing Ji to keep raising his price and playing the fool.
For a moment, Jiang Chen also frowned. Although he had no particular feelings toward Third Young Master Ji, he found Wang Teng's actions even more distasteful.
"Brother Zhen, are you saying the Myriad Life Pill really has no effect on empyrean realm experts?" Wei Jie had also caught on. Seeing Third Young Master Ji's state, he understood that Ji intended to use the Myriad Life Pill to delay the Panlong Grand Marquis's energy dispersal.
"It has little effect, and the side effects might be even worse," Jiang Chen said with great certainty.
"Then should I tell Third Young Master Ji?" Wei Jie hesitated slightly. Because of the previous Pill King incident, there was a clear rift between the Wei family and the Panlong Grand Marquis.
Third Young Master Ji and Wei Jie could not exactly be called close. At this moment, if Wei Jie spoke up, it might not necessarily convince Ji.
If Ji's thinking went astray, he might even suspect that Wei Jie was deliberately trying to prevent him from obtaining the Myriad Life Pill, further substantiating the outside rumor that the Wei family was an informant for the Royal Grand Marquis family.
Thus, Wei Jie was quite conflicted.
He did not want Ji to be used and bid endlessly higher, but neither did he want to be misunderstood by Ji.
Seeing Wei Jie's expression of absolute loyalty, Jiang Chen knew the Wei family's righteous fervor was overflowing again. He glanced at Third Young Master Ji's determined expression.
Jiang Chen gave a bitter laugh inwardly and transmitted his voice: "Wei Jie, do you think Third Young Master Ji will listen to you? If you tell him now that the Myriad Life Pill has no effect on empyrean realm experts, he definitely won't listen and will even suspect your motives. Do you think you have a chance of convincing him? Besides, looking at this Third Young Master Ji, he doesn't seem like someone short of money. Let him spend a bit, let him bleed a little, it's not a big deal."
Wei Jie sighed. "It's not about money. Third Young Master Ji truly isn't short of it—even if it were ten times the price, he could grit his teeth and pay. But the current situation is clear: these people are deliberately squeezing him, forcing him to keep raising the bid. To put it bluntly, they're making a fool of him!"