Chapter 69: A Fierce Bidding War with a Romantic Rival

  Qian Xiaodou stood proudly in the new store, directing a few decorators with an air of authority. Her small hands would occasionally touch the sacred house deed, and she couldn't help but exclaim: Ah, it feels so cool! From now on, I, Qian Xiaodou, am also a big boss!

  Wandering around, hmm ~ not bad, except for the front is a slightly larger store living room, behind there are three separate small rooms and kitchen, secret warehouse, a total of five rooms.

  Carefully decorating a beautiful pink princess room with small money, the one for himself is not bad either, and there is also a guest room. It just so happens that he wants to hire one or two people to maintain the store front, so let those two people live there, lest this rascal falls behind in his cultivation.

  Just as everything was renovated and even the opening ceremony was ready, an unexpected thing happened!

  Rumors spread in the city that the internal elixir of the legendary Nine-Clawed Inkfish, which had been missing for thousands of years, has reappeared. Qian Xiaodou was shocked when he heard this rumor from his neighbors, but after the shock wore off, he suddenly thought of why Tian Yaotian, the Heaven's Proud Son, would appear - it turned out to be for the same reason as him: for Bai Xiaofei!

  When Qian Xiaodou saw Bai Xiaofei's infatuated gaze at Meng Xuetian, he felt a pang in his heart. With the same pain, he vowed that this time he would not let Meng Xuetian get away with it and must obtain the inner elixir of the Millennium Nine-Clawed Ink Fish to make the Nine Heavens Discontinued Ointment and win Bai Xiaofei's true heart!

  So, Qian Xiaodou gathered all his spiritual stones and stopped the goods of refining materials he had originally planned to buy. He just wanted to be a man without regrets, pursuing the girl he loved most in his heart, even if he lost everything and ended up with nothing, he would never regret it!

  That's right, the first time, if you love, love it to the extreme, what's the worst that could happen? If I can't have a bite of immortal peach, there are still plenty of rotten apricots in the sky, let's go for it!

  A special and meaningful night, sitting in the grand trading conference hosted by Tiandao, a venue with thousands of senior practitioners, enthusiastically discussing this period's trading festival!

  The auction began, and all the magnificent words, precious materials, Qian Xiaodou completely ignored them, coldly watching the rare items, materials, magic tools, elixirs... none of which moved him!

  While not far from him, Meng Xiao Tian was auctioning off an item, and without exception, no one bid against him, no matter what it was, no one dared to provoke his displeasure!

  The patience had been rewarded, for it was now the turn of the fifth from last of the precious objects, when the auctioneer announced:

  "15,000-year-old Nine-Clawed Inkfish Inner Dan. This treasure doesn't need me to explain it, everyone knows the principle of 'rarity is precious'. Moreover, one of our auction house's great masters appraised it and said that once a member of this species is killed, others won't appear for a thousand years. So, fellow cultivator with injuries, seize this opportunity to bid! This is the only chance in a thousand years, if another one appears within a thousand years, our auction house will compensate three times the price! Starting price: 10,000 Spirit Stones, each bid must not be less than 1,000 Spirit Stones. Begin!"

  "I'll give you 11,000, 12,000, 14,000, 14,500, 15,000, 15,500... uh, 15,800! Haha, 16,000! Hum, 16,100! Ah, 16,200..."

  A few people clapped and shouted, finally reaching the top floor. Qian Xiaodou estimated that it was only around 16 or 17 thousand. Sure enough, at 17,300, everyone lost to an old man who had been bidding from a distance!

  "Just then, Meng Xiao Tian made his move. The old man's eyes flashed with venomous anger, but he sat down in a huff."

  This was exactly Mo Sheng's usual practice, he wouldn't take advantage of others' misfortunes to buy things cheaply, but instead waited until the highest point before making his move, completely aboveboard. However, just as he revealed his usual triumphant joy, a faint yet familiar voice sounded from behind him on the right side...

  "Twenty thousand!" The several thousand pairs of eyes in the entire arena stared at the youth with a speck of pure gold sand on his forehead - Qian Xiaodou!

  Meng Xiao Tian stood up with a embarrassed face and said: "Xiao Dou, if it were anything else, I would have given it to you, but this thing is not possible, 20,000 yuan!"

  Qian Xiaodou sat quietly and smiled: "Brothers will not change because of anything, this matter you and I just have different stances, 30,000!"

  "Alright then, let's have a free bidding for this item. However, our friendship won't change because of this matter." - Meng Xiao Tian nodded and said: "40,000!"

  "Five million, six million, seven million, eight million, nine million, ten million..." Everyone in the arena, regardless of whether they were in the Yuan Ying period or the Hua Shen period, the Du Jian period, or even a Tian Ren period great master, was called out by these two Jie Dan later-stage little puffs, and scared into a cold sweat!

  Heavens! What a treasure requires tens of thousands of spirit stones? One piece of spiritual treasure is enough!

  "1.3 million!" When Qian Xiaodou called out this price with a firm face, Meng Xuetian's face was defeated and he smiled bitterly:

  "It's really no wonder you're the biggest fool in the world, Xiao Dou. After buying that shop, I know you only have 130,000 spiritual stones left, don't bother bidding against me, you can't compete with me, 131,000!"

  The field fell silent for a moment, and then Xiao Dou's voice came out again:

  "1,330,200!"

  Meng Xiao Tian fell silent, he could see that Qian Xiao Dou was absolutely serious, his stance was absolutely firm. If he were to call out again, he estimated that in the future, they wouldn't even be considered brothers, but sworn enemies!

  And most importantly, if I really spend tens of thousands to buy this inner elixir just to make my girlfriend happy, I'd probably become the second biggest fool in the world. My strict father would never let me off easy, and my subordinates who have high expectations for me would also be disappointed. And people all over the world would mockingly say that I'm just a young master who bullies others relying on his family's power!

  Considering all the factors, it's really not worth it. After all, he doesn't have to be so good to Bai Xiaofei, and he has indeed made sacrifices. Bai Xiaofei will also be moved by him to some extent. With a deep understanding of the art of advance and retreat, he made a wise decision - to give up!

  The host of the auction on the scene, a master of the Immortal Realm, announced after a long time that Qian Xiaodou had successfully bid.

  Qian Xiaodou handed over the Ling Stone and received a black Nine-Clawed Inkfish inner pellet, but was held back by Meng Xiao Tian to chat.

  As they walked back and forth after finishing looking at the remaining auction items, Meng Xiao Tian asked with a face full of interest:

  "Soboro, you're really going all out against me, how many spirit stones are left?"

  Qian Xiaodou smiled nonchalantly and said: "Thanks to you, I still have 51 pieces of low-grade spirit stones left, wow ~ hahaha......"

  "Really the biggest fool under heaven, then what about your shop? Now that everything is gone, can't you open it anymore?"

  Qian Xiaodou waved his hand and smiled: "It's nothing, you think we're just ordinary bosses? Let me tell you, I'm a mid-tier artifact-level alchemist, and I'm awesome at it. My greatest skill is making money. You little thing, this time you let me off once, next time when you and I see something we like, I'll let you have it too!"

  Meng Xiao Tian burst out laughing and said: "Xiao Dou, you're so optimistic, I did expect that, but what I didn't expect is why are you so desperate to get this thing?"

  Qian Xiaodou let out a happy sigh and said: "Everyone has a soft spot in their heart, I'm doing it for her, even if it means being the biggest fool in the world, so what? Let others say whatever they want, I've done it, and I won't regret it!"

  Not many days later, Meng Xiao Tian left, and Qian Xiao Dou only then opened the shop with a lost expression. The shop only had some flame bombs, top-grade dao equipment, low to mid-grade ten-odd pieces of magical artifacts. Although each one was not bad, but compared to this large shop, it couldn't help but feel desolate!

  He knew that if Meng Xiao Tian were here, he would definitely help him without hesitation, but Qian Xiao Dou didn't want to owe anyone a favor, especially not Meng Xiao Tian's.

  However, even so, there are still a constant stream of customers in Qian Xiaodou's shop, all because of his one and only treasure - the Heaven-destroying Earth-shattering Thunderbolt!

  There are too many people who want to exchange this thing, but the things they offer in return are not satisfactory at all. These old guys think that just because they look young and innocent, they can easily cheat kids, it's really infuriating!

  Those who had once pursued him saw the Heaven-destroying Earth-shattering Thunder that could kill a Transcending Tribulation Grandmaster, and immediately rubbed their noses in dismay and ran away to find a secluded place to cultivate in secret.

  But towards Ting's help, he still foolishly refused. Alas, Qian Xiaodou's current life is a bit tough, eating is barely passable, and sometimes even the pastries that Qian Xiaodou likes to eat can't be bought. In desperation, his means of transportation - Tian Dou Fei Jian was sold off, all the unsellable items in the store were discounted and cleared out, and a small part of his property was disposed of, even if it meant the store would be empty!

  Isn't it embarrassing? He's already embarrassed enough, what else is he afraid of? What else can be embarrassing? On the other hand, he dares to gamble that he can succeed, he has this kind of energy, he believes in his own abilities!

  He specializes in making some mid-grade magic treasures that are in high demand among cultivators. However, after trying it out, his own Nine Yang Divine Fire is still not fierce enough. He can only successfully refine one-fifth of the mid-grade magic treasures and half of the low-grade ones. Although the success rate is average, he can still earn a lot of spirit stones from this.

  After several fellow Jiuhua Mountain cultivators came to him one after another to refine their equipment, when business was no longer sluggish, Qian Xiaodou simply put up a label on the defensive platform of Mie Tian Jue Di Lei - Not for Sale!

  Then he made money and collected materials to refine his equipment, preparing to start slowly. But what he didn't expect was that just as he was about to turn over a new leaf, Shuixian, Lán Xiǎo Xiǎo, and Líng Xiǎo Měi suddenly came knocking on his door...