Chapter 1 The Beginning

Wan Lei's words caused many people in the room to look at him, and many recognized him.

Even those who didn't recognize him knew that this person was Wan Lei, the number one genius of Qishan Prefecture, after his "self-introduction."

"This is Young Master Lei! Young Master Lei is indeed a handsome man."

"Young Master Lei is the youngest talent in our Qishan Prefecture. It is only natural that he gets this item. I won't compete with Young Master Lei."

"I heard that Young Master Lei has signed up for the Myriad Pride Ranking this time. This item in Young Master Lei's hands will surely unleash its greatest power and bring glory to our Qishan Prefecture."

These inexpensive, pleasant words were spoken to Wan Lei as if they didn't cost a thing, making Young Master Lei a little embarrassed. After all, he was still playing the image of a纨绔少爷 (wánkù shàoyé, good-for-nothing young master) who throws money away.

However, he was still pleased with their performance. The more they acted this way, the more he would occupy the moral high ground, and the fewer people would compete with him.

"Thank you all for your kindness. Wan Lei is extremely grateful."

Wan Lei stood up, clasped his hands, and made a luoquanyi (拱手礼, a traditional Chinese hand gesture expressing respect).

Seeing this, the old shopkeeper didn't wait any longer. He wanted to start the auction of the next item as soon as possible.

"Alright, since none of you fellow Daoists are bidding, then this item will belong to Young Master Wan Lei…"

"Hold on!"

A loud shout interrupted the old shopkeeper's words.

People looked in the direction of the voice, wanting to see who was so blind as to go against so many people.

You had to know that everyone had just stated that they wouldn't compete with Young Master Lei.

Some of the more hot-tempered ones even opened their mouths to curse.

But ultimately, they didn't utter a word.

The one who stood up to speak was an old man.

That wasn't important.

What was important was that

He was a Yuanying (Nascent Soul) cultivator.

"What dog-fart Wan Lei? This old man has never heard of him. A mere Jiedan (Core Formation) cultivator dares to act presumptuously here.

This old man will bid eight thousand spirit stones, just because I can't stand your arrogant attitude!"

Wan Lei's pupils shrank as he looked at the cold smile on the old man's lips.

He didn't believe that the other party was a shill. Shengbaotang couldn't afford to hire a Yuanying cultivator as a shill.

As for the other party's words, that he just couldn't stand his arrogant appearance, that was even more impossible. In an auction house, no one would be idle enough to throw money at others for no reason. Maliciously raising the price was also risky, in case it ended up in their own hands?

So the other party… must also be after that pearl.

"Senior Qiu Tianchi has bid eight thousand spirit stones. It seems that Senior also likes this pearl. I wonder if any of you fellow Daoists would like to bid?"

He asked the fellow Daoists, but his eyes were on Wan Lei.

Wan Lei smiled slightly, clasped his hands, and said:

"Wan Lei pays his respects to Senior Qiu. This item is just a small toy for you, Senior, but for this junior, it is a life-saving item that can increase my combat power.

This junior will be participating in the Myriad Pride Ranking soon, so I hope that Senior can let this junior have it, so that this junior can bring some honor to our Qishan Prefecture.

I bid… ten thousand spirit stones."

Wan Lei's words were neither arrogant nor humble, but reasonable and well-founded, and he even occupied the moral high ground, causing everyone to nod in agreement.

"Humph, what does the face of Qishan Prefecture have to do with this old man from Beifeng Prefecture? This old man has taken a fancy to this thing. If you, junior, continue to be ungrateful, don't blame this old man for being ruthless!

Twelve thousand spirit stones."

"Oh? This is an auction house, and the rules are that the highest bidder wins. Is Senior going to break the rules and attack this junior here? That's too disrespectful to Shengbaotang.

Fifteen thousand spirit stones!"

Although he knew that Wan Lei was borrowing power, the two Yuanying cultivators behind the high platform still released their aura at the same time.

After all, no one could challenge the authority of the auction house and break its rules.

"Humph, this old man will naturally give face to the friends of the auction house, but can you, little Wan Lei, escape from this old man's grasp after leaving this auction house?

Even if you hide for the rest of your life, can your Wan family run away? A mere family without even a Yuanying cultivator. Although this old man is only at the lower level of Yuanying, I can destroy it with a flip of my hand.

Twenty thousand spirit stones!"

As soon as these words came out, everyone present's expression sank.

The cultivation world was also a jianghu (martial world), and it also valued righteousness.

If two people had a feud, they could just fight. No one cared about life or death, they could only blame their skills were inferior to others.

But if one's family was harmed, if one wanted to destroy the entire clan because of a feud with someone, it would cause public outrage.

After all, everyone had a family, and no one wanted their family to suffer because they offended someone outside.

In the cultivation world, the destruction of families and the slaughter of clans happened from time to time, but such people were generally given the title of evil cultivators. Not to mention those self-proclaimed righteous sects would despise them, even the Tianqian Zhe (天谴者, Condemner of Heaven) organization would not let them go.

"Oh? Senior Qiu's words have frightened this junior, but this junior has taken a fancy to this item and must get it.

If Senior is unwilling, then after the auction, this junior will wait for Senior outside the south gate.

We will resolve our grievances ourselves, and not involve my clansmen!

Twenty-three thousand spirit stones!"

In some people's eyes, Wan Lei was a bit impulsive, but young people always had a spirit of not admitting defeat, which was normal.

But most people could see that Wan Lei was already in a dilemma. He had already offended Qiu Tianchi. If he didn't resolve it, he was afraid that it would really harm the Wan family.

That was why Wan Lei chose to sacrifice himself to protect the Wan family.

Most people looked at Wan Lei with admiration.

In fact, Wan Lei also wanted to test his combat power to see if he could go head-to-head with ordinary Yuanying cultivators at the lower level.

He had a premonition that his combat power would greatly increase after obtaining that formation pearl.

If he really couldn't win, he would just have Tiansuanzi and Sui Xiaohang quickly beg their grandfathers and grandmothers to call their masters over to help.

Anyway, there was a previous agreement that after the auction, Sui Xiaohang would go to the central region with Elder Xuandan.

If he took Sui Xiaohang to the south gate, then Elder Xuandan and Elder Mingji would definitely come looking for him.

Would those two be able to stand by and do nothing when they saw him being beaten?

"This kid saw through it."

On the second floor above the high platform of Shengbaotang, in a hidden corner, Mingji and Xuandan, who were being schemed against by Wan Lei, were sitting there.

"It's to be expected. I can feel that his comprehension of thunder and lightning is extremely deep, and he will definitely be able to discover the extraordinary nature of this pearl."

Mingji picked up his teacup, gulped it down, picked out a tea leaf that remained in his mouth, and chewed it gently.

"So, you used this method to give him the Heavenly Thunder Extinction Formation, which was personally refined by the old man of the Tianzhen Pavilion, Zhenxing?

You even changed the name with great interest, calling it the Wan Lei Extinction Pearl. Aren't you being too greedy?"

Xuandan snorted twice, feeling a little unconvinced in his heart.

It wasn't that he was unconvinced that the precious pearl personally refined by the Tianzhen Pavilion elder was being given away just like that, but that he was unconvinced that Mingji's way of giving things away was actually more brilliant than his.