"Five!"

  "Six mid-grade stones!"

  The bids came fast. Huo Chen sat forward slightly, his attention locked on the jade slip in the attendant's hands.

  This was what he'd been looking for—an earth-element defensive technique that could actually hold up against opponents above his level.

  "Seven!"

  The competition was serious. Multiple voices calling out from different parts of the hall. Earth cultivators who understood exactly what a proper defensive technique could mean.

  "Eight!"

  "Nine!"

  Then a new voice entered from the left side of the hall, calm and measured.

  "Ten."

  The hall shifted instantly. Conversations stopped mid-sentence.

  Heads turned toward the speaker—a man in his late thirties sitting three rows ahead on the left. Ninth layer cultivation base. His robes were quality without being flashy. The whispers started immediately.

  "That's Zhou Kang."

  "He's bidding on this?"

  "Well, that's it then."

  The other competing voices went silent. No one else bid.

  Huo Chen raised his hand. "Eleven."

  The whispers exploded.

  "Who is that?"

  "Does he not know who Zhou Kang is?"

  "Is this kid new to the city?"

  "He's going to get himself killed."

  Zhou Kang didn't turn around. His voice came calm and unhurried.

  "Eleven mid-grade stones is already generous for a technique you may not live long enough to master. Twelve."

  The words landed like stones in still water. The hall went quieter.

  Huo Chen's face went cold. He raised his hand. "Thirteen."

  More whispers now, spreading fast.

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  Zhou Kang tilted his head slightly. "Interesting choice. Some treasures have a way of finding their rightful owners... eventually. Fourteen."

  Huo Chen's jaw tightened. His hand went up. "Fifteen."

  The crowd was fully engaged now. People leaning forward, murmuring to each other, eyes moving between Zhou Kang and Huo Chen.

  Zhou Kang was quiet for a moment. Then he laughed—quiet, just enough for people nearby to hear—and turned back to face the stage. He didn't bid again.

  The silence stretched. Elder Feng Shan scanned the room. "Fifteen mid-grade spirit stones. Going once."

  Zhou Kang remained completely still.

  Relaxed.

  "Going twice."

  Nothing.

  "Sold."

  Zhou Kang spoke then, his voice carrying easily across the hall without needing to raise it.

  "Well bid. But in my experience, what is meant for me rarely stays with others for long. Enjoy your brief possession."

  Huo Chen snorted.

  The hall fell silent for a heartbeat.

  "You don't have the ability."

  The hall exploded. Gasps. Laughter. Excited whispers turning into open commentary.

  Then, for the briefest fraction of a second, Zhou Kang's spiritual pressure flared. A sharp, suffocating weight pressed down on the nearest cultivators like an invisible mountain. Several people in the surrounding rows gasped, hands gripping their seats. One cultivator at the sixth layer went pale and grabbed the armrest, his breathing suddenly labored.

  Then it vanished.

  As if it had never happened. Zhou Kang's face had changed.

  The relaxed expression was gone. His eyes narrowed into slits, his features cold and hard. But his voice, when it came, was eerily calm. "You'll learn the consequences of your foolishness soon enough."

  The crowd's energy spiked immediately.

  "This boy is doomed now."

  "Zhou Kang's going to kill him."

  "Dead. He's absolutely dead."

  Some people laughed—not out of sympathy but entertainment. Watching someone walk straight into death and enjoying every second of it.

  "This is going to be good."

  "Should we follow them outside?"

  The attendant approached Huo Chen's seat . "Payment, please."

  Huo Chen reached into his storage bag and pulled out one of the Blood Flame Purifying Fruits, setting it on the tray.

  Then he added his remaining spirit stones—four mid-grade and fifty low-grade. The attendant's eyes widened slightly at the sight of the fruit. She quickly converted the low-grade stones to mid-grade equivalents, counting efficiently.

  Fifty low-grade became half a mid-grade stone. Combined with the four mid-grade, that was four and a half.

  "The fruit alone is worth at least ten mid-grade stones," she said quietly, more to herself than to him. She nodded and carried the tray away. More whispers spread through the crowd.

  "He paid with a Blood Flame Purifying Fruit?"

  "That's worth ten mid-grade on its own."

  "Where did he get that?"

  The attendant returned moments later with the jade slip. "Transaction complete. The technique is yours."

  Huo Chen took it, his face showing nothing, and stood. He turned and walked toward the exit without looking at anyone.

  The hall watched him go. Footsteps came from the left side almost immediately.

  Zhou Kang stood and began walking toward the same exit. His expression was cold and focused.

  The crowd's murmurs turned into open excitement.

  "He's following him right now."

  "That kid's not making it ten steps outside."

  "This is going to be brutal."

  Huo Chen pushed through the doors into the late afternoon light. The corridor outside was empty, stretching toward the pavilion's main entrance. Behind him, the doors opened again. Footsteps followed.

  Huo Chen kept walking until he reached the outer doors and stepped onto the street. Then he stopped and turned his head back.

  Zhou Kang stepped through the doors and into the open. Their eyes locked. For a moment, neither moved.

  Then Huo Chen turned and bolted. His earth Qi flooded through his legs and he shot forward, heading straight for the city gates.

  Zhou Kang moved immediately, closing the distance with frightening speed.