Chapter 201 - 198

The crowd frowned. It was true—having the money to buy it was one thing, but living long enough to keep it was another. Outside the auction house, countless experts from the three major factions had already formed a perimeter. With the leaders of those factions present as well, the ordinary cultivators had no hope of taking the prize away. The three major factions were clearly prepared to rob the winner blind.

"If I have the means to buy it, I naturally have the means to take it away," the elderly bidder from the second floor suddenly fired back.

The crowd was astonished. Just who was this old man in the second-floor VIP room? How dare he provoke the three major factions? Did he really think he could snatch it right out from under their noses?

Wu Zonghai scowled, his expression darkening as he said in a low voice, "It seems the Imperial Alliance has been quiet for too long. Any random nobody thinks they can jump out and talk back to us."

"Fifty-five drops," Black Dragon’s voice rang out.

This was undoubtedly a deliberate interruption, a slap to Wu Zonghai’s face. His expression turned even uglier.

"Sixty drops," the Cyan Cloud Mountain Sect Leader called out.

"Eighty drops!" Wu Zonghai roared in anger.

Gasps rippled through the crowd. Eighty drops were equivalent to eight hundred bottles of Qi of Chaos! The Imperial Alliance had jumped the bid all the way to eighty!

Mo Qianqian thought to himself, "They’re filthy rich!"

Once that price was announced, the entire second floor fell silent. This was not a sum any ordinary person could produce.

"Ninety drops!" Black Dragon called out again.

Mo Qianqian’s heart skipped a beat, and he couldn’t help but shoot Black Dragon a look. He blinked suggestively, silently begging Black Dragon to stop raising the bid. If Black Dragon actually won the auction, it would be a disaster.

"One hundred!" Wu Zonghai countered, pushing the price to a staggering height.

The reputation of the three major factions might have intimidated everyone else into dropping out, but it did absolutely nothing to deter the fierce competition among themselves.

"One hundred and ten drops." The Cyan Cloud Mountain Sect Leader’s grave voice echoed through the hall. This was already Cyan Cloud Mountain’s absolute limit. "This is an astronomical price. Winning the item is one thing, but taking it away safely is another entirely. You all should think this through carefully."

Hearing this, the crowd sneered inwardly. His underlying message was clear: the price was too high, the risk too great, and success uncertain. But then, why was he bidding in the first place? He was obviously out of money and just trying to scare the others off.

Still, they had to admit he had a point. With so many people guarding the perimeter, the three major factions were bound to clash. Even independent experts from across the Realm of Chaos would likely join the fray. Even if someone won the item at a sky-high price, they might not make it out alive. If they lost both the Liquid of Chaos and the Ninefold Coffin, they would be left with nothing but ruin.

"One hundred and fifteen drops," Black Dragon shouted again.

Mo Qianqian’s heart clenched tighter. One hundred and fifteen drops! Did Black Dragon really believe him when he said the coffin was a fake? Or was he just trying to scam the others by driving the price even higher?

On the stage, a wide grin spread across Mu Chen’s face. He was clearly very satisfied with this number.

The venue fell dead silent. At this price point, even those desperate to change their destiny couldn’t afford to bid. Only the three major factions possessed such vast wealth.

"One hundred and fifteen drops! Do I have any higher bids?" Zhu Biquan called out.

"One hundred and twenty drops!" Wu Zonghai said, his voice dark and menacing.

"You win," Black Dragon replied, his tone unreadable. No one could tell if he had been deliberately jacking up the price or if he had simply run out of funds.

"Are there any other bids?" Zhu Biquan shouted clearly. "One hundred and twenty drops going once!

"One hundred and twenty drops going twice!

"One hundred and twenty drops going three times... Sold!"

A pin-drop silence descended upon the auction hall.

"Toss the Liquid of Chaos over. Payment upon delivery," Mu Chen said.

SWISH!

Wu Zonghai flew straight out of the VIP room window at a moderate pace, tossing twelve bottles of Liquid of Chaos with a flick of his wrist. They were thumb-sized jade bottles, but they clearly contained more than a single drop each. By the looks of it, each bottle held exactly ten drops.

Mu Chen caught them and immediately tossed two bottles over to Zhu Biquan. This was the auction house’s commission. Originally set at ten percent, it should have been exactly twelve drops. However, since the Liquid of Chaos was packaged in bottles of ten and couldn’t be easily divided, Mu Chen generously handed over twenty drops instead. He knew that if he delayed any longer, he might not get a chance to escape.

SWISH!

In a flash, Mu Chen shot outward. His speed was terrifyingly fast, far beyond what any Tongyou Realm cultivator should be capable of.

Wu Zonghai ignored him, immediately lunging for the black coffin with both hands.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The sounds of battle erupted outside the auction house. Someone had clearly made a move against Mu Chen. Winning the coffin didn’t guarantee a safe exit, but as it turned out, walking away with the Liquid of Chaos was just as dangerous.

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

Many cultivators in the first-floor hall immediately bolted out of the building.

SWISH!

One old man even charged straight at Wu Zonghai. It was obvious that some people were making their move to snatch the black coffin.

"Stop! Who dares to fight inside the Eternal Commerce Association?!" Zhu Biquan roared after catching the two jade bottles. He blurred into motion, swatting the charging old man away with a single, resounding palm strike that sent him flying into the distance.

"That Ninefold Coffin is a fake!" Mo Qianqian suddenly shouted.

Regardless of whether Mu Chen had presented the real coffin or not, Mo Qianqian had to declare it a counterfeit. He needed all the firepower directed at Mu Chen, rather than giving anyone the chance to discover that the coffin he had given Mu Chen was fake to begin with.

CRACK!

Hearing Mo Qianqian’s words, Wu Zonghai applied a slight bit of pressure with his hands to inspect the item. The black coffin instantly shattered, reducing into a pile of splintered wood.

"Mu Chen!!!" Wu Zonghai roared in thunderous fury, his voice rolling like a shockwave. With a powerful leap, he blasted out of the auction house.

The crowd of people who had been preparing to ambush Wu Zonghai froze in their tracks. The coffin was obviously a fake! If it were a peerless treasure, how could it shatter at the slightest touch?

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

Black Dragon, the Cyan Cloud Mountain Sect Leader, and the rest of the Imperial Alliance in the VIP rooms exploded into action. Some smashed through the side windows, while others blasted straight through the roof.

CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!

Gaping holes were torn through the ceiling of the auction house.

Total chaos erupted, spiraling out of control so fast that even Zhu Biquan was powerless to stop it. Still, having secured twenty drops of Liquid of Chaos, the Eternal Commerce Association had already made a massive profit. Even if the building collapsed, it wouldn’t matter much. Under normal circumstances, the association would bear some responsibility for auctioning off a counterfeit item. However, the auction of the Ninefold Coffin was a special case, so the auction house largely wiped its hands clean of the mess.

"Let’s go!" yelled one of the Black Dragon Army generals who had stayed by Mo Qianqian’s side.

Mo Qianqian, Lao Liu, and the general shot up into the sky. Once airborne, Mo Qianqian noticed that Mu Chen was already long gone. Black Dragon, Wu Zonghai, and the others had chased him far into the horizon, vanishing from sight in the blink of an eye. Hordes of cultivators swarmed in that direction.

"Mo Qianqian, your time has come!" a booming voice suddenly thundered.

An old man in a brownish-yellow robe surged toward Mo Qianqian, a terrifying aura billowing from his body.