Chapter 88: Men and Women Alike Refuse to Yield

Wang Lianchang, standing nearby, could no longer keep silent.

This was a chance!

Not only could he trample upon the man in the No. 109 seat, he could also curry favor with the Phoenix family. A single stroke for two gains.

"Four million!" Wang Lianchang raised his bidding placard high.

Chu Tianfeng frowned slightly. Truth be told, those few Silverlight Roots had been kept in extremely poor condition, their medicinal power badly diminished. He did not think much of them at all; he had only come to the auction with a playful attitude, and even three million had already exceeded his bottom line.

Besides, Silverlight Root was not like Earthheart Lotus. Earthheart Lotus was the sole primary herb for Foundation Establishment Pills.

Ordinary pills had many different formulas, and low-grade spiritual pills such as Essence-Nourishing Pills and Foundation Establishment Pills were even more so.

Different formulas naturally required different medicinal ingredients. Not only the supporting herbs, but sometimes even the primary herb itself would differ.

Back then, Chu Tianfeng had chosen the cheapest Essence-Nourishing Pill formula; as for the Foundation Establishment Pill formula, of course he also wanted to choose the less expensive one.

So he simply closed his eyes and began another round of circulating his internal energy.

Wang Lianchang was the one who suffered. He had never intended to win the Silverlight Root at all; he had merely wanted to needle Chu Tianfeng and dampen his arrogance.

And the result?

When Chen Jian announced him as the winner, he was instantly dumbstruck, cursing every woman in Chu Tianfeng’s family in his heart.

Next came lot thirty-two, another spiritual herb.

Jade Cuscuta, only two stalks, also a herb needed for Foundation Establishment Pills, with a starting price of five hundred thousand.

As before, Chu Tianfeng was the first to raise his placard, going straight to two million.

This time, Wang Lianchang did not fall for it. Learning from Long Fei, he became a little ostrich and kept his head down.

Seeing Wang Lianchang wave the white flag, Chu Tianfeng grew smug as well. "Come on, Wang Lianchang! Go on, hero!"

The great hall exploded at once, the martial artists all laughing so hard they bent over backward.

Wang Lianchang’s face turned bright red. He had wanted to strike back, but the elder beside him stopped him. Furious, he gritted his steel teeth and repeatedly raised his middle finger at Chu Tianfeng.

The Wang family’s standing in the martial world was known to nearly every martial artist in the land.

Chu Tianfeng teasing the Wang family presented an opportunity to many small sects and unaffiliated practitioners, such as bidder No. 250.

This was the perfect moment to curry favor with the Wang family!

So bidder No. 250 unhesitatingly called out, "Three million!"

Chu Tianfeng merely glanced at bidder No. 250 and then once again closed his eyes to cultivate the Five Elements Art.

Bidder No. 250 happily won the Jade Cuscuta and hurriedly sent it into Wang Lianchang’s hands, only then allowing Wang Lianchang to show a slight smile.

After that, more than ten auction items in a row were all spiritual herbs.

A wide variety of them, most needed for Foundation Establishment or post-Foundation Establishment cultivation, with only a few used for healing.

Chu Tianfeng made his move every time without exception. Unfortunately, that bidder No. 250 was even less short of money than he was, always opposing him and snatching the herbs away before presenting them one by one to other sects.

Each time he offered a gift, bidder No. 250 would bow and hand over a business card, claiming to be "Cao Yuangong, Young Sect Master of the Tomb-Robbing Sect."

More than an hour later, lot forty-three was brought up to the main platform.

"This item has a little story behind it," Chen Jian said, lightly turning a pill furnace in his hands. "I heard, only heard mind you, that this item originally belonged to Chu Tianfeng, but it was intercepted by someone. We specially had it examined, and this pill furnace is indeed a genuine pill furnace, a magical treasure."

Boom!

The crowd in the hall had been made drowsy by Chu Tianfeng and bidder No. 250, but the instant they heard the words magical treasure, everyone was instantly roused.

Chu Tianfeng rolled his eyes. He recognized it too; the furnace in Chen Jian’s hands was indeed the one once stolen by Tan Jiyuan of the Tomb-Robbing Sect.

"Starting bid: ten million, with each increase no less than one million." Seeing that he had stirred the atmosphere, Chen Jian immediately announced the start of bidding.

"Eleven million." Feng Piaopiao struck first.

Chen Jian frowned deeply. What he most feared was Feng Piaopiao pulling this very trick on him.

He could only cast a pleading look toward Chu Tianfeng, hoping that this student would once again prove that men were not inferior to women.

As expected, Chu Tianfeng did not disappoint him.

"Twenty million!" As always, his style was to jump straight to an even figure.

However, he underestimated how desperately the various sects wanted this pill furnace.

Lot forty-four

"Twenty-one million!" Duan Rui was the first to offer the greetings of all the men of Mount Yellow to every woman in Chu Tianfeng’s family.

"Thirty million!" Chu Tianfeng was equally unceremonious, answering immediately in kind.

This was the very furnace that had once been whisked away for ten thousand by someone, angering him to no end.

Now he had money to spare. He was not afraid of a bidding war.

"Thirty-one million!" Ge Huawen, on behalf of Mount Heng, also came forward to send his regards to every woman in Chu Tianfeng’s family.

Chu Tianfeng did not even lift his head. "Forty million!"

"Forty-one million!" Yuxianze, the half-immortal of the Celestial Master Sect, began calculating which ancestral grave of Chu Tianfeng’s lay where.

"Fifty million!" Chu Tianfeng countered without changing expression.

The hearts of the martial artists in the hall had risen to their throats.

Chen Jian, meanwhile, was beaming with delight, secretly cheering for Chu Tianfeng: Wonderful, absolutely wonderful! Keep going, do not stop!

"Fifty-one million!" Long Zonghan could not stand it any longer and wanted to represent all the martial artists in destroying Chu Tianfeng.

"Sixty million!" Chu Tianfeng’s bidding hand had never once come down.

"Sixty-one..." Qian Sifang could bear it no longer.

Yet Chu Tianfeng’s patience seemed even worse. Before he could finish, Chu Tianfeng had already thrown out, "Seventy million!"

"You..." Qian Sifang was beside himself with rage. Pointing at Chu Tianfeng, he shouted, "If you can walk out of Lijiajie tonight, I’ll write my name backward!"

"Fang Siqian, if you want to change your name, just say so. I’ll definitely oblige you!" Chu Tianfeng remained as calm as ever.

Pfft—

Feng Mingsnow could not help laughing first.

Feng Piaopiao’s brow, however, knitted tighter and tighter.

Ha ha! From the Long family’s side, Long Fei burst into wild laughter.

Long Yue also had amusement all over his eyes.

The martial artists in the hall erupted into thunderous laughter.

"Eighty million!" Wang Lianchang finally made his move.

"One hundred million!" Chu Tianfeng was still the same, as placid as drifting clouds and breeze.

"One hundred ten million!" Wang Lianchang followed closely.

"Two hundred million!" Chu Tianfeng could not be bothered to trade words with him.

Anyway, the young master lacked nothing but sense, not money!

After calling out the price, Chu Tianfeng even lifted a delicate orchid finger toward Wang Lianchang, his voice turning coquettish. "Come on, hero!"

Feng Mingsnow turned back to glance at Chu Tianfeng, her lovely brows furrowing slightly.

Ha ha!

Long Fei was laughing so hard on his cushion that he nearly cramped up.

Wang Lianchang’s eyes were nearly spitting fire, but he truly could not afford to continue.

Two hundred million for a pill furnace was genuinely not worth it.

Besides, there were still plenty of treasures to come. He could not possibly sacrifice an entire forest for the sake of one tree.

So Wang Lianchang once again chose to beat the retreat.

After receiving the pill furnace, Chu Tianfeng silently calculated in his heart.

The luminous pearl had totaled five hundred ten million. After deducting commission, he should receive about four hundred fifty-nine million. After subtracting the herbs and the furnace he had auctioned, he ought to have roughly one hundred seventy-eight million left.

What followed was lot forty-four.

Chu Tianfeng glanced at the item and once again closed his eyes to cultivate.

It was an ancient sword, merely an antique, not a magical treasure. Naturally, Chu Tianfeng had no interest in taking part.

The ancient sword ultimately sold for fifty million and was won by Wang Lianchang.

The more than ten lots after that were basically all weapons used by martial artists.

All the martial artists, Long Fei included, were busy as could be, bidding ten million against twenty million, each more excited than the last.

Chu Tianfeng, meanwhile, continued to put on airs.

Later, lot fifty-eight went up.

After the item was opened, Chu Tianfeng was once again taken aback.

Lot fifty-eight was actually Black-Profound Stone, a material used for setting up formations.

Its grade was not low either, and its purity was quite high, making it easy to refine into Black-Profound Metal.

On Earth, such a material was truly rare.

And so, a new round of vicious bidding began, and Chu Tianfeng joined in as well.

The starting price for Black-Profound Stone was ten million.

Chu Tianfeng was practically helping the auction house for free, immediately offering, "Fifty million!"

The moment he said it, he received countless furious glares.

If looks could kill, Chu Tianfeng would likely have had not a single bone left.

"Sixty million!" Wang Lianchang’s most hated person had once been Long Fei, but after tonight, the target had changed outright.

Chu Tianfeng seemed utterly unconcerned, once again driving the price up to the summit of Mount Everest: "One hundred million!"

Wang Lianchang could only stare blankly once more.

Chu Tianfeng then once again took it into his own hands, and while collecting it, even whistled.

He did not whistle especially softly, so anyone with an ear for such things could hear it plainly.

The tune was "Withering Chrysanthemum." No one knew which shameless fellow had composed the lyrics and set them to music.

The hall erupted in laughter once more.

Wang Lianchang could only pretend he had tinnitus and blurred vision, neither seeing nor hearing a thing.

Lot fifty-nine was still a material, though this time it was a refinement material.

Chen Jian thought highly of Chu Tianfeng. In his heart he kept cheering him on, hoping Chu Tianfeng would continue to carry forward this fearless, tireless spirit and battle the martial artists to the end.

Lot fifty-nine was Golden-Eyed Sand. Chen Jian did not waste a word in setting the starting bid at fifty million, then folded his arms and waited for Chu Tianfeng to bid.

What he got instead was Chu Tianfeng closing his eyes, along with the furtive snickering of the martial artists around the hall.

Chu Tianfeng did not know how to refine weapons, and Golden-Eyed Sand was useless in his hands. So Chen Jian was destined to end up with his own withered chrysanthemum as well.

Chen Jian was extremely frustrated and thus joined the ranks of those sending greetings to every woman in Chu Tianfeng’s family.

The next several auction items were all either refinement materials or formation materials.

During that stretch, Chu Tianfeng made four bids and succeeded twice, winning two formation materials.

Some of the refinement materials were quite good, but unfortunately their prices far exceeded what Chu Tianfeng could bear.

After winning those two formation materials, his remaining balance was less than ten million. Yet Chen Jian had set the starting bids for those materials quite high, leaving Chu Tianfeng only able to look on from below.

Later, lot seventy-two went up.

From this item onward, all auction items were martial arts techniques: internal energy methods, fist arts, palm arts, staff arts, sword arts, spear arts, and so on.

The atmosphere in the hall grew even hotter, and the martial artists all stared wide-eyed, sometimes raising several bidding placards at once.

Without exception, Long Fei and Wang Lianchang once again clashed head-on, neither giving way, while the Phoenix family from seat number six repeatedly made moves to quench the flames of conflict.

As always, Chu Tianfeng paid no mind, simply closing his eyes and putting on airs while devoting himself to cultivation.

It was not until an hour later, at midnight, that the auction finally came to an end.

Chu Tianfeng roughly calculated that he probably had only two or three million left. He simply did not care about that money, stood up directly, and left the hall.

The martial artists from Mount Yellow, Mount Heng, and the others were of course all watching him, but they did not dare make a move at the Heartless Academy. They only sent people to tail him from a distance.

When Chu Tianfeng stood up, that powerful divine sense also descended upon him at the same time. Chu Tianfeng pretended to know nothing, walked out of the hall, and headed toward the restroom.

Fortunately, that divine sense did not seem especially strong. Not long after Chu Tianfeng left the hall, it gradually weakened until it vanished completely.