549: Chapter 549 Thirty million for nothing!

Private Room Number Seven.

When the word "Sold" fell like a giant hammer, Lin Wan finally exhaled a breath of turbid air.

That breath was murky, carrying the scorched and bloody scent of her internal organs being burned by Divine Thunder.

But she smiled.

Beneath the black veil, on that half-charred face, a sweet dimple actually sank deep into the scorched flesh, tracing a strange and satisfied arc.

"It's done."

Her voice was barely audible, as if she were announcing victory to the departed souls in the underworld.

"Thirty million, cutting off all his paths."

"It was worth it."

Beside her, Han Rui's face was already ashen.

This great Cultivator at the Seventh Heaven of the True Immortal realm felt as if his stomach were churning, and his Divine Soul was twitching in severe pain because of that astronomical figure.

Thirty million high-grade immortal stones.

This amount of money could have allowed their team to live extravagantly for several decades.

Now, it had been thrown into a lump of ice.

"Lin Wan!"

His voice was tight, like two rusty iron plates rubbing against each other.

"That was thirty million!"

"I know," Lin Wan's voice remained soft, even tinged with a hint of morbid pleasure.

"Thirty million to buy an immortal body marrow core with a market value of less than three million!" Han Rui lowered his voice, nearly growling.

"I know that too."

"You know, yet you still—"

"Han Rui."

Lin Wan interrupted him and slowly raised her head.

In the darkness, her intact left eye lit up with a terrifying point of light, flickering with an inhuman fanaticism.

"You think it's expensive because you're calculating the cost of the immortal body marrow core."

"But the account I'm settling has never been about this lump of ice."

"I'm settling the account with Su Chen!"

Her voice suddenly became sharp, then dropped back into that scalp-numbing calm.

"He bid up to ten million, proving he was determined to get this thing! We forced him to thirty million before he retreated in despair, which means all his family assets and all his hopes were exhausted in this bidding war!"

"We spent thirty million to buy out his future! He will never have the chance to condense an immortal body! Outside the city, they are just a flock of lambs waiting to be slaughtered!"

She paused, her sweet dimple sinking even deeper, cloyingly sweet.

"Besides, this thirty million is only temporarily stored with us."

"Once he leaves the city, this money, along with all the secrets on him, will be... retrieved intact by us from his still-warm corpse."

Han Rui fell silent.

He had to admit that Lin Wan's logic was impeccable.

But he still couldn't help but look through the gap in the curtains toward Box Number One.

In his line of sight, that Youth in White Robes was picking up a teacup and taking a leisurely sip.

Then he leaned back into his lounge chair with satisfaction, even... comfortably crossing his legs.

That posture was like a wealthy man returning from an outing.

Not like a loser who had just lost his entire fortune.

Han Rui's brow twisted tightly into a knot, and an inexplicable chill emerged in wisps from the depths of his Dao Heart.

Something was very wrong.

How could someone who had just failed an auction and lost all hope not have a single trace of anger or resentment on his face?

That feeling... it was as if he had never intended to buy it at all!

This thought exploded in his mind like a thunderclap, and Han Rui instinctively wanted to grasp it.

But Lin Wan's cold and confident voice pulled him back to reality.

"Stop looking, it's just a facade of composure. When he leaves the city, he won't even be able to cry."

"We are the final winners."

Han Rui withdrew his gaze, forcibly suppressing that ridiculous thought into the depths of his Sea of Consciousness.

He didn't know that this was one of the most fatal mistakes he would make in his life.

...

Meanwhile, in the top-floor monitoring room.

Xie Jinghong was not smiling.

Inside the monitoring room, even the Spiritual Qi flowed sluggishly due to the invisible chill radiating from her body, and the light grew a few shades dimmer.

She sat quietly on the soft couch.

Shattered glass fragments were embedded deep in her palm, and warm immortal blood dripped down her long, fair fingers, blooming into striking red plum blossoms on the carpet.

She was completely unaware.

Her mind was fixed firmly on the sixteen screens of the Recording Formation.

Box Number One: Su Chen had his legs crossed, tasting new tea with a look of enjoyment.

Private Room Number Seven: The curtains were tightly closed, killing intent and ecstasy intertwined like a psychotic madman.

The main hall seats: Her gold-tier shill was slumped in his chair, drenched in sweat, gasping for breath as if he had just survived a disaster.

The three scenes formed a picture that was, for her, the height of irony.

Xie Jinghong spent a full ten breaths replaying the entire event in her mind.

Then, she reached a conclusion that caused cracks to appear in her Dao Heart.

In the auction, Su Chen had only truly bid twice.

Five million one hundred thousand.

Seven million five hundred thousand.

The ten million after that was a damn feint! It was used to light the fire!

The ones who truly raised the price from seven million five hundred thousand to thirty million were her shill and that bunch of idiots from Private Room Number Seven who appeared out of nowhere!

Both groups thought the other was Su Chen's secret agent and competed frantically!

And the instigator was just lounging in that damn chair, watching a free monkey show from beginning to end!

"Eldest Young Miss?" Qing Luan's voice carried an uncontrollable tremble.

There was no response.

Xie Jinghong's entire body was trembling slightly.

She, Xie Jinghong, the young mistress of the Lingbao Trading Firm, who had navigated the business world of the Immortal Realm for fifteen hundred years, had never failed!

Today, she had been played for a monkey by her Great Sage fiancé!

The trap she had carefully arranged didn't cost Su Chen a single copper coin; instead, it became his stepping stone, helping the enemy raise the price to the heavens for free!

Su Chen was reaping the benefits of others' toil?

No!

He couldn't even be considered the fisherman! A fisherman at least casts a net!

He did nothing!

He just sat there drinking tea and watching the show!

"Ding."

The last fragment of glass was tossed onto the floor, making a crisp sound.

"Private Room Number Seven!"

Xie Jinghong's voice returned to calm, a calm tempered with ice.

"Investigate them!"

"Investigate what?"

"Investigate their background! To be able to throw out thirty million without blinking and afford to hire a True Immortal as a thug—dig up eighteen generations of their ancestors for me!"

"Yes!" Qing Luan, as if granted a great reprieve, immediately took the order and left.

Xie Jinghong slowly leaned back onto the soft couch, her alluring fox-like eyes staring intently at Su Chen's face in the Recording Formation.

That face currently had its eyes closed, corners of the mouth slightly upturned, a punchable look of peaceful contentment.

Xie Jinghong's temples throbbed.

Before she could calm her emotions, she saw Su Chen in the image slowly pull out a... diary from his Storage Ring.

He opened it.

Picked up a pen.

And began to write.

Xie Jinghong didn't know what he was writing.

But her terrifying intuition was currently screaming at her—

Today, she might have to shatter a third glass cup.

But she had no more cups left by her side.