Chapter 83

Chapter 83: Fighting Fire With Fire
At this moment, sitting in another part of the hall, Chen Tian Dong was just as confused as Wang Qian.

He had guessed before that Senior Yu might come from a great noble family or be a disciple of some sect. But now he realized he had still underestimated Senior Yu.

3,000 high-grade spirit stones was more than enough to buy the entire Chen clan.

The Chen clan must have had incredible luck for Senior Yu to choose their Chen family caravan.

Even after several decades passed, Chen Tian Dong still would not be able to forget the shock Yu Zhao gave him today.

Young Master Fan and the two guards were hiding in a corner, shivering.

By now, only a fool could not see that Yu Zhao’s status was far from ordinary.

And they had almost gotten into a conflict with her earlier. Just thinking about it made them break out in a cold sweat.

“3,000 high-grade spirit stones! Honored guest number one hundred and ninety-nine bids 3,000 high-grade spirit stones!”

Furong was so excited that her voice almost cracked.

She was absolutely sure that this would be the most glorious day of her auctioneer life.

As she repeated Yu Zhao’s bid, she secretly looked toward Wang Qian with expectant eyes.

By now, the only one in the auction hall who could still compete with Yu Zhao was him.

Wang Qian clenched his jaw. His heart swayed back and forth.

If you compared backgrounds carefully, Wang Qian’s was even better than Yu Zhao’s.

Both of his parents were Nascent Soul stage cultivators. He also had an ancestral patriarch who doted on him. His own talent was not bad either. Otherwise, he would not have become the most highly ranked disciple in Greenwood Sect’s Alchemy Hall.

Even so, 3,000 high-grade spirit stones was still not a small number for him.

But this fourth-grade pill recipe was extremely important to him. It was tied to whether he could stand out in the upcoming Alchemy Hall disciple assessment.

He did not want to hand over the chance to become the Young Sect Master of Greenwood Sect to someone else, especially not to Mu Ye, who had always been at odds with him.

After a fierce struggle in his mind, Wang Qian finally gritted his teeth and said slowly: “3,050.”

It was still a very high price, but for some reason, everyone felt a little disappointed.

Even though Wang Qian’s offer was higher, he had lost his momentum and was forced down by Yu Zhao.

Everyone turned their eyes back to Yu Zhao.

Would she keep bidding?

The answer was no.

Wang Qian’s bid was clearly close to his limit. If they went any higher, even if he wanted to keep fighting, he would not be able to.

From start to finish, Yu Zhao’s goal had only been to let Wang Qian taste what it felt like to have someone maliciously drive up the price against him.

So she smiled, and her lips moved lightly.

“I withdraw,” she said.

Yu Zhao backed off so cleanly that it was a sharp contrast to her firm, unyielding stance just moments before. Everyone was stunned.

Wang Qian stared blankly for a second, then suddenly understood that Yu Zhao had been raising the price against him on purpose. He shot to his feet and shouted: “Yu Zhao! You played me on purpose!”

Everyone’s eyes lit up.

So they knew each other.

It looked like there would be a good show to watch.

Yu Zhao and Wang Qian had not known each other at all before, yet he could call her name so accurately. That, by itself, was enough to prove that he had been maliciously raising the price against her earlier.

Yu Zhao’s expression turned a little cold: “I was only fighting fire with fire, Fellow Daoist. Why are you so angry?”

If anyone was in the wrong, it was Wang Qian for provoking Yu Zhao first. She had only paid him back in the same way, an eye for an eye.

“You… you are slandering me!”

Of course Wang Qian did not want to admit that he had tried to cheat her, only to be trapped by her instead. He could only grit his teeth and refuse to admit anything.

Yu Zhao shrugged, her tone lazy: “Then I can also say that I was just bidding normally just now. I never meant to play you.”

“You…!”

Wang Qian was speechless. His face was almost purple with anger.

Young Master Fan felt extremely satisfied watching this. He wished he could stand up and wave a flag for Yu Zhao.

The heads of the big family clans had already been unhappy with Wang Qian’s arrogant manner for a long time. Seeing him get smacked down in public by Yu Zhao so that he could not save face, they secretly rejoiced.

“Junior Brother Wang Qian, we are men. A lord should be generous. Why lower yourself to argue with her?” Tian Han said smoothly.

“That is right, Junior Brother Wang Qian. Some people are weak and can only use these shady little tricks behind people’s backs,” Guo Ming En added.

As Wang Qian’s flunkies, of course Tian Han and Guo Ming En had to speak up for him. But the moment they opened their mouths, they managed to offend every female cultivator present.

Even the smile on Furong’s face up on the auction stage faded a little.

Yu Zhao let out a soft “oh”: “So it was you two. No wonder. You really are great big men who can bend and stretch. Even when running away, you are faster than a young woman. You left your junior sister far, far behind you.”

“Nonsense!”

“You are spitting blood!”

Now Tian Han and Guo Ming En both jumped to their feet.

Their eyes were practically shooting flames at Yu Zhao. They looked like they wanted to rush up and cover her mouth.

Even though everyone tried hard to hide it, a flash of contempt still showed in many of their eyes.

Although they themselves might do the same thing as Tian Han and Guo Ming En if they faced a life-and-death crisis, that did not stop them from standing on the moral high ground right now and looking down on those two.

Even Wang Qian could not help knitting his brows.

The staff from the Blackwater City auction house saw the tension between the four of them growing thicker and thicker. They hurriedly sent people over to smooth things out. After talking and coaxing them for quite a while, they finally managed to calm Wang Qian and the other two down, and the auction gathering was able to end smoothly.

“Sister Yu, Sister Yu! You are so amazing. Even the three of them together are not your match! Hmph, that will teach them to look down on young women. They deserved it…”

Yu Zhao held two claim slips in her hand and was about to go collect her auction items. Meng Yue trailed behind her like a little tail, her mouth never stopping.

“Miss Yu, this way, please,” a staff member said respectfully.

Thanks to Wang Qian, there was now no one who had taken part in this auction gathering who did not know Yu Zhao’s name.

The Blackwater City auction house invited Yu Zhao with great respect into a private room.

Yu Zheng Mao was standing guard at the door of the room. When he saw Yu Zhao and Meng Yue, he greeted them with a warm smile: “Miss Yu, we meet again.”

Yu Zheng Mao was extremely glad that, in order to form a good connection back then, he had refused to take Yu Zhao’s spirit stones. Yu Zhao was his lucky star.

“Steward Yu,” Yu Zhao said with a gentle smile.

Yu Zheng Mao eagerly led the two of them into the private room. After they sat down, he chuckled and had people bring in the items Yu Zhao had won.

“Miss Yu, the purple pot artifact and the True Essence Water are all here. Please check them,” he said.

Yu Zhao swept over them with her divine sense. Once she was sure there was no problem with either item, she took spirit stones out of her storage ring at once.

The clear, sparkling spirit stones piled up on the table, giving off a tempting glow.

Meng Yue swallowed hard, then pinched her thigh so she would not lose her composure.

Yu Zheng Mao was startled and quickly waved his hands: “Miss Yu, you misunderstand. I did not come to ask you for spirit stones. Because of the influence you had on this auction gathering, the Blackwater City auction house has decided to give you these two auction items for free as a way to thank you.”

When she heard Yu Zheng Mao’s explanation, Meng Yue was so jealous she almost drooled.

A purple pot artifact plus a bottle of True Essence Water were worth nearly 200 high-grade spirit stones, and they were just giving them away.

Yu Zhao was also a little surprised. After a short pause, she shook her head: “I cannot accept a reward without earning it. I am afraid I must refuse.”

A high-seat ticket cost only ten mid-grade spirit stones. For an auction house, that was almost no cost, so she had not minded accepting it.

But these two auction items were different, both in terms of price and meaning. Yu Zhao also did not want to be too deeply entangled with the Blackwater City Auction House because of this.

Sometimes, the free things are actually the most expensive.