Just as the System's voice faded,
"Whoosh!" The cultivation manual on the display platform suddenly flew up and shot straight into Jiang Tianlin's body.
"This..." The crowd was stunned.
"Could it really have a spirit of its own and choose its master?!"
"Hiss!"
"That manual is definitely not Yellow-grade. It must have been dormant and was just awakened by this young man."
Sister Hong was dumbfounded.
She had been there during the appraisal and knew the manual possessed spiritual awareness, which made it nearly impossible to bond with an owner—hence its classification as a Yellow-grade technique. Yet right now, it had chosen a master.
To say she wasn't panicking would be a lie.
"It seems this secret realm isn't fake after all! Since this young man was able to make the manual voluntarily recognize him as master, what he said must be true," someone remarked.
"Indeed! The Bai Family is going way too far. Were they actually planning to send the young man's junior sister to the Pleasure Pavilion to be ruined? Let's see how this auction ends."
The onlookers wore expressions of gleeful schadenfreude.
Meanwhile, Jiang Tianlin was equally bewildered. He had been feeling so frustrated precisely because the lingering soul of the original owner inside him was fighting for control of his body.
Yet after just a brief moment of that struggle, how on earth had the manual suddenly bound itself to him?
"Ding. Host, here is the deal: the Nine Nether Xuanhuang Manual is one of the strongest cultivation techniques in existence. It possesses spiritual awareness and naturally selects its own master. Furthermore, it does not conflict with your Taixuan Nine Chapters. Both are supreme techniques and will coexist peacefully."
"Fine, whatever, what a mess!"
Xiao Muyu looked at Jiang Tianlin with astonishment.
"Sir, I am truly sorry, I..." Sister Hong stammered, her attitude softening.
"Sorry? What kind of nonsense is that? I don't accept it! We were the ones who interrupted your business, so if anyone was in the wrong, it was us. We hadn't even said anything yet, and we hadn't even brought up compensation, but you immediately wanted to cripple and maim my senior brother. Just what are you trying to do?"
Sensing Jiang Tianlin's internal struggle, Xiao Muyu spoke up first. She could only sigh inwardly; her senior brother possessed mere Awakening Realm strength, yet he had gone this far for her—he had already done enough, so she would handle the rest.
"Little girl, judging by your senior brother's cultivation and the way he's dressed, if I'm being honest, could he possibly afford compensation?" Sister Hong dropped the pretense and mocked them directly.
"As for you—hmpf, I've decided. Even though you're in the Dao-Entering Realm and might be a bit troublesome, your cultivation will be abolished first, and then you'll be sent to the Pleasure Pavilion." With a wave of her hand, she summoned several cultivators at the Third Layer of Dao-Entering Realm.
"Wait!" Xiao Muyu suddenly called out.
Her commanding presence startled the Third Layer of Dao-Entering Realm guards and even frightened Sister Hong.
"Are you saying that my senior brother's financial background and ability to compensate this auction house are determined solely by his cultivation level and the clothes he wears?"
"I didn't say that, but your senior brother is dressed in commoner's clothes."
"Good, very good. Whose property is this auction house, exactly?"
"Heh, I might as well tell you—this auction house belongs to the Bai Family of the Dali Dynasty."
"The Bai Family? Bai Chaotian?"
"That's right!"
"Is that so? Are the Bai Family always this arrogant and unreasonable? In that case, do you not recognize me?"
"You? Hahaha, who do you think you are that I should know you? The Bai Family is just that domineering!"
"..."
"So, you don't recognize him either?"
"Hahaha, this is hilarious! Why would I need to recognize either of you? If you're going to claim you're disciples of the Xuantian Sect—well, I'm sorry, but our Bai Family has plenty of disciples in the Xuantian Sect. Zhou Yong of the Azure Dragon Courtyard is my nephew, and I am his maternal aunt."
"I see. No wonder he's just as arrogant and domineering. And the Pleasure Pavilion, is it? Very well. I am going to make the Pleasure Pavilion vanish tonight."
"Hahaha, the Pleasure Pavilion belongs to the Shen Family. As if you have the power to touch them."
"The Shen Family? Shen Bin?"
"That's right. I'm surprised you know so much. I heard that not long ago, Shen Bin's daughter called off her engagement to that useless adopted son of the Lin Family."
Jiang Tianlin clenched his fists, remaining silent.
"You..." Xiao Muyu was burning with anger.
"So, kid, if you obediently accept my apology, fine. Otherwise, I'll have you beaten until you're crippled, carve you to pieces alive, abolish your junior sister's cultivation, sever her tendons, and sell her to the Pleasure Pavilion."
"Do you accept my terms or not?" Liu Hong demanded aggressively.
"I..." For three months, the lingering soul of the original owner inside Jiang Tianlin had refused to dissipate. It feared Zhou Yong and Zhou Kuang like tigers, almost becoming a mental demon. If this continued, it would pose a massive obstacle to his state of mind and future cultivation. It seemed he had to find a way to deal with Zhou Yong and Zhou Kuang once and for all.
Right at that moment, the System chimed in. Naturally, another multiple-choice prompt from the System arrived:
"Ding! A new quest is now available. Please make your choice:
Option One: Accept Sister Hong's apology. Reward: Godly Concealment Technique.
Option Two: Accept Sister Hong's apology, and make Sister Hong apologize to Xiao Muyu. Reward: Black Kirin Robe.
Option Three: Make Sister Hong apologize to Xiao Muyu, and have Sister Hong sent into the Pleasure Pavilion. If this option is chosen, the System will help the host temporarily raise his cultivation to the Seventh Layer of Dao-Entering Realm without damaging his foundation. Reward: Random.
Option Four: Ignore Sister Hong and walk away directly. Reward: Universe Moyuan Sword."
"Hm, System, another set of choices?"
"This time I choose..."
"Ah!" He clutched his head.
"Senior Brother, what's wrong? Don't scare me!"
Jiang Tianlin couldn't reply. He was struggling to keep the original owner's lingering soul under control; perhaps the shock of tonight had been too much for it.
"Who was it that said they were going to sell my young miss to the Pleasure Pavilion? Hrm? Was it you?" At that moment, an elderly man walked in. He was the First Elder of the Xiao Family, known as Xiao Da.
"Slap!"
"Ah!" A miserable scream rang out.
"Young Miss, I'm late. Are you alright?"
"Grandpa Xiao, I'm fine! Quickly, check on him!"
"Understood, Young Miss."
The surrounding crowd broke into a flurry of chatter and whispers.
"Is that the First Elder of the Xiao Family?" someone in the crowd asked, hardly daring to believe their eyes.
"Yes, that's him!"
"Things are getting interesting now!"
"Indeed!"
"From the Xiao Family?!" Liu Hong was completely dumbfounded, her mind buzzing with a deafening roar.