Return of the Celestial King

Seeing Qin Tuo’s expression, everyone assumed he was speechless with guilt.

At that moment, Liu Zhenghai of the Liu Family shot to his feet, laughing mockingly.

”So you know you’re wrong now, you little punk! Who are you to speak in the presence of a Master?”

Everyone else chimed in with a chorus of jeers and explosive laughter.

”Yeah, who does this kid think he is? He actually has the nerve to question the Master’s treasure!”

”Heh, this young man really hasn’t seen the world. Does he have any idea how famous the Master is in Bay Port? How dare he doubt something authenticated by the Master!”

”Come on, everyone, stop. The young man looks like he wants to die of shame. If I were him, I’d be looking for a hole to crawl into.”

The crowd jeered, seizing the chance to brown-nose the Liu Family.

Hearing so many people making fun of Qin Tuo, the smirk on Liu Zhenghai’s face grew even more pronounced.

Amidst the waves of laughter, Zhu Guirong’s expression was incredibly awkward. He was speechless for a long moment.

After all, Qin Tuo was publicly known as the Zhu Family’s honored guest.

If Qin Tuo made a fool of himself, the Zhu Family would lose face right along with him, and Zhu Guirong’s own authority would suffer a major blow.

He desperately wanted to offer an explanation on Qin Tuo’s behalf, but with so many guests in the hall targeting Qin Tuo, Zhu Guirong knew that even if he stepped forward, he couldn’t possibly control the situation.

In fact, it would probably give Liu Zhenghai the perfect excuse to attack the Zhu Family!

Realizing this, Zhu Guirong could only lower his gaze and pretend he hadn’t heard a thing.

Seeing Zhu Guirong’s awkward and disadvantaged look, Liu Zhenghai roared with even more arrogant laughter.

”Haha, your Zhu Family must be blind! To think you’d invite a snot-nosed brat who knows absolutely nothing as a guest. It’s enough to make you die laughing!”

Liu Zhenghai mocked the entire Zhu Family to their faces, finally venting the foul anger he had long suppressed.

Although many families didn’t dare confront the Zhu Family directly, they seized the opportunity to laugh loudly, expressing their discontent.

The members of the Zhu Family were practically seeing red. Their family was one of the most powerful in the Capital City. When had they ever suffered such a huge loss of face?

Just then, Zhu Guirong suddenly leaned in and whispered:

”Mr. Qin, should I still bid on this Compass?”

He had to understand what Qin Tuo was thinking before he could decide whether to commit to bidding on the Compass.

But when Qin Tuo heard his question, he just shook his head and smiled without a word.

This threw Zhu Guirong into another bout of indecision.

He desperately wanted to win the Compass, but he was also afraid that it was just as Qin Tuo said—nothing more than a worthless block of wood. If that were true, the loss would be far greater than a few dollars.

But if he didn’t bid, he feared he might miss out on a true treasure.

He was completely torn. As he sat there, his face alternating between pale and flushed, he was utterly unable to make a decision.

At this moment, seeing the entire hall jeering at Qin Tuo, Qi Wuqi decided it was time to add fuel to the fire.

He stood on the stage and announced magnanimously to the crowd,

”I have decided that no matter who wins this Compass today, I will take it upon myself to place a Feng Shui Array within it, guaranteeing peace and prosperity for the owner’s domain.”

The moment he finished speaking, the entire crowd went into a frenzy.

After all, commissioning a master to create a Feng Shui Array would normally cost an astronomical sum.

But now, winning this Compass meant it would come with a Feng Shui Array—what an incredible deal!

Besides, this was a public promise from Qi Wuqi himself, made in front of everyone. How could it be false?

The mere thought of the prowess of Bay Port’s number one Magic Master sent a thrill of excitement through everyone.

Everyone’s gaze on the Compass became feverish!

At this point, no one believed a word Qin Tuo had said earlier. All they wanted was to win the Compass and take it home immediately.

Seeing the crazed, fanatical looks on everyone’s faces, Qin Tuo simply shook his head and sighed to himself.

He had made himself perfectly clear, yet these people were still eagerly diving in.

As the saying goes, ’Good advice is lost on a fool hell-bent on ruin.’ Qin Tuo wasn’t going to try and stop them anymore.

Seeing how worked up the scene had become, Wu Qihao called out again:

”Everyone! Although the Master will be adding a Feng Shui Array to the Compass, the starting price is unchanged! It’s still two hundred million! You may now begin bidding!”

As soon as Wu Qihao’s words fell, the entire venue nearly exploded.

Terrified of being left behind, everyone immediately started shouting out prices!

Over with the Liu Family, Liu Zhenghai made an incredibly domineering opening bid.

”The Liu Family bids two billion!”

With a single sentence, he had raised the starting bid ten times over.

A collective gasp swept through the auction hall!

Even Wu Qihao hadn’t expected Liu Zhenghai to be so extravagant, shouting out such a terrifying, astronomical price in one go.

Wu Qihao was inwardly ecstatic. ’I’m going to make a killing on this one!’ he thought.

However, even though Liu Zhenghai had called out such a terrifying price, it didn’t scare anyone off.

Once everyone recovered from the initial shock, they continued to call out bids.

Everyone was incredibly interested in this Dharma Artifact. After all, whichever great family possessed it would see their power ascend to the next level.

In a world like this, personal strength was the only thing that truly mattered; wealth was merely a worldly possession.

How could something so significant be measured in mere money?

The most powerful families, in particular, were desperate to possess such a Dharma Artifact to bolster their destiny.

To these families, money was just a number. A treasure like this, however, was the kind of thing you could only stumble upon by chance, not something you could actively seek out.

Soon, after several more rounds of bidding, the price of the Compass was raised to a terrifying three billion.

At this point, many people frowned and were automatically forced to back down.

Three billion was a major threshold; very few people could produce that much cash on hand.

Liu Zhenghai smugly scanned the entire venue, a domineering look in his eyes.

The three billion bid, without a doubt, had just been called by him.

And after he called out that number, no one else dared to continue bidding against him.

After all, if you bid a higher price but couldn’t produce the funds, you would be thrown out of the auction house.

Furthermore, their reputation in the Capital City would be completely ruined!

Very few people dared to risk such consequences!