Chapter 3956
Translator: Silavin & Jon
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
“An auction?” Yang Kai’s interest was piqued. In the past, he had entered many auction houses, but it was the first time he came across an auction in the Outer Universe. He wondered if there were any good treasures that were up for auction, which was why he was interested.
Anyway, an auction house was a place where rich people fought against one another with their wealth. Although he had 1 million with him, it was obviously not enough for him to get anything good. Furthermore, he had a task to carry out now.
“That’s the shopkeeper of Wind and Cloud Auction House, Yun Zhen Hua.” Bai Qi pointed at the elderly man who greeted his guests at the door. Since he was here to demand repayment, he certainly had met the shopkeeper before. That was why Bai Qi could recognise this man at first glance. The first two times Bai Qi came here, Yun Zhen Hua was still willing to meet him, but after that, he refused to show up again, which made Bai Qi feel exasperated.
“Let’s go talk to him,” Yang Kai said before he and Bai Qi shuffled towards Yun Zhen Hua.
Presently, Yun Zhen Hua was standing in front of the entrance with a smile on his face. He was from Wind and Cloud Paradise, and he was given the task to take charge of this auction house; however, their guests on this day were all important people in the city whose cultivation and status were on par with or even greater than his own. Therefore, he had to show up at the entrance to greet the guests to show that they were sincere.
While he was telling a shop hand to lead a certain guest into the venue, Yun Zhen Hua heard a firm voice coming from the side, “First Inn’s Yang Kai greets Manager Yun.”
Yun Zhen Hua frowned and turned his head. After he took a look at both Yang Kai and Bai Qi, a tinge of impatience flashed across his eyes, “Why are you here again?”
Bai Qi cupped his fists, “Manager Yun, please forgive me. I’m just here following orders. If you don’t pay up your debt, I won’t be able to complete my task.”
Yang Kai also cupped his fists, “Manager Yun, can we get in and have a talk?”
There was a grim expression on Yun Zhen Hua’s face. On any other day, he would have directly ignored these two brats; however, it was an important day for the auction house, so he couldn’t make a fuss at the entrance. In light of that, he nodded his head, “Go in and wait for me. This Old Master will meet with you soon.”
Then, he told a shop hand to lead Yang Kai and Bai Qi into the auction house.
After entering a side room, the shop hand left.
Bai Qi and Yang Kai were seated across from one another. Then, Bai Qi spoke to him via Divine Sense, “You see now? That shopkeeper doesn’t have the intention to pay up at all.”
With a frown, Yang Kai replied, “Have you clearly explained the incident to him?”
Bai Qi snorted, “What do you mean by that? I told him all the details on my first visit, but he paid no attention to me. What could I do?”
Yang Kai nodded his head as he could feel Bai Qi’s frustration. Judging from Yun Zhen Hua’s attitude, it was apparent that they would have a hard time getting the repayment from Wind and Cloud Auction House; however, since they were here, they had to give it a try.
Then, they went on to wait for an hour, but Yun Zhen Hua was still nowhere to be seen. More outrageously, they were not even given tea or water.
Yang Kai’s face fell as time passed. Although he and Bai Qi were weak and not famous in the city, they were here as representatives of First Inn after all. Obviously, Yun Zhen Hua had no regard for them or their background.
[Why is he so arrogant? Just what is his status and backing?] The first shop Yang Kai visited was Gathering Virtue Emporium, which was an industry of Nine Stars Paradise yet the shopkeeper, Gong Sun Hong, had repaid him in full a few days ago. On the other hand, Yun Zhen Hua was completely arrogant and aloof. If Yang Kang hadn’t already known it, he would have thought that the auction house was a business of a Cave-Heaven.
After another quarter hour, Yun Zhen Hua pushed the door open and entered. Seeing that, Yang Kai and Bai Qi hurriedly rose from the chairs.
Without giving them a chance to speak, Yun Zhen Hua said, “This Old Master has no idea what really happened regarding your inn’s destruction, nor do I know whether any top cultivators from my force have anything to do with it. You’ve found the wrong place if you’re here to demand compensation. There’s an important auction going on today, so this Old Master doesn’t have the time to hold a discussion with you. Leave!”
Then, he turned around and left without sparing them a glance.
Right after he finished speaking, two men in tight-fitting clothes pushed the door open and stared coldly at them.
These men exuded majestic auras as their World Force undulated. It was apparent that they were Open Heaven Realm Masters.
“Manager Yun! Manager Yun!” Bai Qi yelled and raced after him, but before he even reached the door, one of the men landed a palm on Bai Qi’s shoulder, which made it impossible for him to move again.
Under the man’s pressure, Bai Qi slowly lowered his figure, and it seemed that he was about to kneel.
Seeing that, Yang Kai narrowed his eyes and pushed out a fist. The other man charged forward and gently raised his hand to block Yang Kai’s fist. With a grin, he said, “How dare you make a move in Wind and Cloud Auction House? You’re courting death!”
Yang Kai said through clenched teeth, “I dare you to make a move on me then. We from First Inn are not so easily bullied!” He was just here to demand repayment, but he hadn’t expected that things would turn out this way, which was why he was furious.
At the mention of First Inn, both of the men finally became wary. The man, who was pressing his hand against Bai Qi, released him, which spared him the embarrassment of kneeling.
“Both of you, please,” One of the Open Heaven Realm Masters gestured with his hand.
Bai Qi rubbed his shoulder and glared at the man who almost made him kneel. With bloodshot eyes, he said through gritted teeth, “A Second-Order Open Heaven Realm Master? Very good! I’ll remember you. When I ascend to the Open Heaven Realm one day, I’ll make you kneel and beg for my mercy!”
“Shut your mouths and leave; otherwise, you shall stay here forever.” The man grinned, apparently unafraid. It wasn’t easy to ascend to the Open Heaven Realm. Even if one managed to fully condense the Power of Yin, Yang, and Five Elements, they would still have to take a huge risk to split Heaven and Earth apart within their body. If one wasn’t careful enough, they would explode into pieces. There were no second chances. Moreover, the higher the Order one attempted to initially reach, the greater the risk became; therefore, for a cultivator, it wasn’t like the higher the Order they were trying to achieve, the brighter their future would become. Instead, they had to assess their own capabilities and act accordingly. If one thought they could only become a Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, they were best off only refining Fourth-Order materials. If they forcefully tried to refine Fifth or Sixth-Order materials, it wouldn’t be beneficial to them.
Although Yang Kai and Bai Qi were incensed, they had to make a concession. That was because these two men were much stronger than them, and they were in someone else’s territory.
Under the escort of the two Open Heaven Realm cultivators, they were thrown out of the auction house through the back door.
Standing on a street that was crammed with people, Bai Qi yelled, “Let’s go back and look for the Proprietress!”
Yun Zhen Hua had made his stance clear, so shop hands like them were unable to settle the issue. The Proprietress would have to come over to deal with it.
After Bai Qi finished speaking, he turned around and headed in the direction First Inn was located. Soon though, he realised that Yang Kai wasn’t following him, so he turned his head and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Can you endure this insult?” Yang Kai shot him a glance.
“I can’t. That’s why I’m going to look for Proprietress.” Previously, he didn’t want to ask the Proprietress for help because that would make him look useless; however, he had no other choice now.
“We don’t necessarily have to look for her.” Yang Kai darted his gaze around before he stared at the enormous auction house and fell into his thoughts.
“Do you have an idea?” Bai Qi returned to him. It would be wonderful if Yang Kai was able to collect the debt without letting the Proprietress know what had happened.
With a grin, Yang Kai beckoned to him. Bai Qi approached him, whereupon Yang Kai whispered into his ear.
A moment later, Bai Qi gaped at him in disbelief, “That’s so wicked! If we really do that, the reputation of their auction house will be ruined.”
Yang Kai scoffed, “When did you become such a kind man? We were polite to them at first, but they treated us with disrespect in return. We have no choice but to use a dirty trick on them now.”
Still, Bai Qi was hesitant, “But we don’t have the money…” Before he finished his words, he suddenly realised something.
Yang Kai looked around and said, “Let’s not think about that for now. At the very least, we have to come up with a way to sneak into the auction house.”
They had just been thrown out of the place through the back door, so it was impossible for them to enter now. If they couldn’t even enter the auction house, there was no point thinking about using any tricks.
Things would have been easier if Yang Kai was on his own as over the past month, he had been refining Seven Faces every night. He had almost fully refined it, so he could start using it now. After summoning Seven Faces and transforming into someone else, Yang Kai could easily sneak into the venue; however, since Bai Qi was around, he was unable to do that.
Just when he was pondering on whether he should act on his own, Yang Kai’s gaze suddenly brightened. Then, he beckoned to Bai Qi, “Come with me.”
There was a group of people coming over from across the street and the one at the front was a burly man with hideous facial features. He was none other than the shopkeeper of Hundred Refining’s Hall, Pei Bu Wan.
Recently, life had been wonderful for Pei Bu Wan. With the help of Yang Kai, he had earned close to 30 million Open Heaven Pills. Not only was he able to pay off his debts, but he could also balance the accounts in the shop. Those from the headquarters were unable to find any problem in the books and instead, they complimented him by saying that he was adept at running a business, so he should work harder to make greater contributions.
While he was ambling forward, he was greeted by a familiar figure. With a huge grin on his face, he called out, “Yang Boy!”
“Shopkeeper Pei!” Yang Kai cupped his fists, “It has been a few days since we last met, and you’re still so energetic.” Although this thug had gone to First Inn to look for him and asked him to take part in more matches in Asura Arena, Yang Kai had decisively turned him down. After getting rejected several times, Pei Bu Wan stopped showing up. Yang Kai hadn’t expected that he’d bump into him on this day.
“Hahaha! It’s all thanks to you!” Pei Bu Wan patted his own belly and guffawed.
“Shopkeeper Pei, there’s something I need you to help me with. Will you…”
Before he finished speaking, Pei Bu Wan waved his hand and said, “Just tell me what you want. I’ll lend you a hand if I can do it.”
Yang Kai looked around and replied in a small voice, “Please come with me.”
There was a doubtful look on Pei Bu Wan’s face as it seemed that Yang Kai was up to no good. With his interest piqued though, he led his group of people to follow him.
After entering a back alley, Pei Bu Wan told his subordinates to guard the entrance before turning to look at Yang Kai, “Why are you acting so mysteriously? What’s wrong?”
With a grin, Yang Kai replied, “I just want to know whether you’re here to take part in the auction.” If that wasn’t the case, nothing else needed to be said. If Pei Bu Wan was indeed going to enter the auction house though, Yang Kai could ask for his help to allow him to sneak in.