When the second round of the auction began, the middle-aged man opened the bidding at a lofty fifteen million.

As soon as this price was announced, the hearts of the powerful elites in attendance filled with murderous intent. More than half of them, their faces grim, fixed their furious gazes on him. There was no doubt that once the auction concluded and he stepped out of the Dragon Palace of the East Sea, he would become a thorn in the side of the Jinling elite. Being the target of their collective animosity was a foregone conclusion.

However, the middle-aged man couldn’t have cared less about the angry stares converging on him. On the contrary, an extremely mocking smile spread across his face.

"Bidder number thirty-three, sixteen million!"

"Bidder number fifty-eight, seventeen million!"

"Bidder number eighty-eight, nineteen million!"

"Bidder number one hundred and three, twenty million!"

No matter how fiercely the bidding war raged below, the middle-aged woman on the elevated stage maintained her serene smile, announcing each price as it appeared on the screen. Yet beneath the surface, she could hardly contain her wild excitement! Twenty million... an auction that was expected to peak at ten million had just hit twenty million. This hundred-percent premium meant her five-percent commission was skyrocketing!

"How boring. If you’re going to be so stingy, you shouldn’t bother with auctions! What’s the fun in adding one million at a time? Twenty-five million!" the middle-aged man declared, disdainfully raising his hand.

"Bidder number seventy-eight, twenty-six million!"

"Thirty million!" the middle-aged man shouted back immediately.

He then leisurely turned to look at the crowd before him, their eyes burning with murderous intent, and jeered, "Thirty million now. Does anyone want to go higher? Since you came to play, let’s play properly!"

His words were met with a deathly silence. Thirty million. This frantic bidding had already blown past their budgets and plans. Besides, thirty million might not even be enough to win. Would this madman who came out of nowhere really stop at this price? No one knew. But judging by his arrogant, dead-set expression, the chances were slim.

"Thirty million, going once!"

"Thirty million, going twice!"

"Thirty million, going three times... Sold!" the middle-aged woman announced, unable to hide the thrill in her voice amidst the silence.

"Next, the third round begins!" Without any superfluous banter after the second feast sold for thirty million, the woman pointed to the third human model and continued without pause.

"Thirty million!" the middle-aged man called out nonchalantly, raising his hand.

"Bidder number eighty-eight, forty million!" As the middle-aged woman called out this number, her eyes widened in shock. While a higher final price meant a bigger cut for her, a bid this outrageously high was genuinely starting to frighten her. This kind of price... could the Dragon Palace of the East Sea really collect the full amount? Her heart began to pound with uncertainty.

"Fifty million!" the middle-aged man countered, raising the bid again.

He was no longer adding five million at a time; was he now just casually throwing in another ten million without a second thought? Did he really think the sleeping beauty in the crystal case was some kind of national treasure? A single meal, an experience that could only be had once, for fifty million? If this guy wasn’t a lunatic, he was here to cause trouble. At this point, even the auctioneer couldn’t help but frown.

"Damn it! Is he insane? Throwing away fifty million just like that? Which high and mighty Immortal is this, who doesn’t care about money?" Chang Yuanyi muttered, his eyelids twitching. He could hardly believe what was happening before his very eyes. Likewise, he began to question the middle-aged man’s motives. Could he really fork over a hundred million to buy these human feasts? Unlikely! It looked like troublemakers had come to the Dragon Palace of the East Sea today!

"He’s not short on cash," Qin Fan stated just as Chang Yuanyi finished speaking.

"Master Qin, you know him? Which Immortal is he?" Chang Yuanyi asked, startled by Qin Fan’s playful tone.

"I don’t know him, but if I’m not mistaken, there’s probably some history between us," Qin Fan said thoughtfully, shaking his head with a smile. By this point, he was fairly certain of the man’s origins and understood why he was willing to spend such a colossal sum. For the people of that sect, money held little meaning beyond buying a woman’s virginity. Besides, one or two hundred million was probably nothing to them. After all, back at the Lingnan Fengshui Association, they had managed to get a sky-high price of tens of millions for a mere Thunder Drawing Qiankun Gua they passed off as genuine. If I hadn’t been there that day, those fools would have definitely squandered those tens of millions! With their ability to manipulate Yin and Yang to pass fakes off as real, would the Bai Clan ever be short on cash? No. What’s more, they possessed the skills of Tomb Raider Captains; a single trip underground to dig up some artifacts would net them an astronomical sum!

"History? What kind of history? What’s their background?" Chang Yuanyi pressed, refusing to give up.

"An irreconcilable enmity. As for their background, you don’t need to know. Sometimes, knowing too much isn’t a good thing. Interesting. I thought they’d all been wiped out, but it seems that wasn’t the case!" Qin Fan pursed his lips, a playful expression washing over his face.

Hearing this, Chang Yuanyi’s expression changed abruptly, but he stopped prying. Since Qin Fan had told him it was something he didn’t need to know, continuing to press the issue would show a serious lack of tact. That was a mistake Young Master Chang was not about to make.

While Chang Yuanyi was lost in thought with a frown on his face, the bidding for the third feast ended at fifty million. Clearly, no one else could stomach such a figure. After a few more minutes of back and forth, the middle-aged man had decisively secured all three feasts for a total of ninety-five million.

This development made the atmosphere in the venue tense. Many had come determined to win, but the way things were going, it seemed all hope was lost. As the middle-aged woman began the auction for the fourth feast, many were already preparing to leave.

However, the middle-aged man, who was about to bid again, froze as he glanced back casually. An irrepressible golden glint flashed in his eyes, like a hunter spotting its prey.

His gaze was fixed precisely on Ji Yi, who was just walking back after taking a phone call.

As cultivators of the Yin Yang Balance Technique, they possessed another ability: they could tell if a woman was a virgin with a single glance. They wouldn’t even deign to properly look at a woman who wasn’t, no matter how stunningly beautiful she might be. But Ji Yi, walking back from the rear of the hall, was not only a virgin but also possessed an incredibly potent yin aura. For their cultivation of the Yin Yang Balance Technique, this was without a doubt a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Feeling the intense yin aura in the air, an aura potent enough to drive him mad, the middle-aged man stood perfectly still, his eyes glued to Ji Yi, unable to look away.