The middle-aged man's words had barely left his mouth when a wave of uproar surged across the crowded plaza.
"Hiss... An eleven-year-old Dou Zhe, worthy of being Xiao Yan, the clan's top prodigy."
"Tsk tsk, began Qi Training at four, reached the ninth stage of Dou Qi at ten, and broke through the tenth stage at eleven to successfully condense his Dou Qi Whirlpool. Truly, the youngest Dou Zhe in the clan in a hundred years."
"An eleven-year-old Dou Zhe... His future is limitless. Becoming a Dou Wang, or even a Dou Huang, is entirely possible."
"The genius of Wu Tan City indeed."
The surrounding praise all drifted into the young boy's ears, making the smile on his face grow even wider.
"Brother Xiao Yan, you're amazing!"
A girl, around ten years old, wearing a red dress and exuding a mix of innocence and budding charm, rushed out from the crowd and grabbed onto the boy's arm, gently shaking it.
The crowd immediately began to whistle and cheer teasingly.
Xiao Mei had always been close to Xiao Yan since childhood, clinging to him tightly, so no one found it strange.
If not for Xiao Yan's existing engagement, even the elders would have tried to pair him with Xiao Mei.
"You're not bad either," Xiao Yan said, lightly ruffling Xiao Mei's hair. Even though it was childish admiration, Xiao Yan still enjoyed the attention immensely.
"Brother Xiao Yan, how about we go to the restaurant and have a big feast? To celebrate you becoming a Dou Zhe!" Xiao Mei said sweetly, her soft chest gently pressing against Xiao Yan's arm.
"Sounds good," Xiao Yan agreed readily.
"Next up, Xiao Xun'er!"
Just as Xiao Mei was about to pull Xiao Yan away, the middle-aged man's voice rang out again from the testing platform.
The moment this name was called, the crowd suddenly fell silent. All eyes shifted at once.
In the direction where everyone's gaze gathered, a young girl wearing a flowing purple dress stood calmly.
Despite her young age, the girl already possessed an extraordinary elegance and stunning beauty.
This girl, Xiao Xun'er, easily surpassed Xiao Mei in both looks and temperament.
Gracefully moving forward with light steps, Xiao Xun'er arrived in front of the Magic Stone Monument. She extended a delicate, snow-white arm and lightly touched the stone.
In an instant, a blinding light burst forth from the monument.
"Xiao Xun'er, Dou Qi Stage Seven! High Grade!"
The middle-aged man's voice resounded clearly, causing another wave of astonishment to ripple through the plaza.
She had already reached the seventh stage. Within the clan, only Xiao Yan surpassed her among the younger generation.
Many gazes, filled with admiration and burning fervor, were directed toward Xiao Xun'er.
Even Xiao Mei was no exception. A trace of jealousy and envy flickered in her charming eyes.
Xiao Xun'er paid no attention to the reactions around her. Her gaze swept across the crowd, and when she saw Xiao Mei clinging to Xiao Yan's arm, her beautiful brows furrowed slightly.
She calmly walked over. When she reached Xiao Yan, she stopped and offered a refined smile, her sweet voice calling out:
"Xun'er, perfect timing! I was just about to take Xiao Mei to the restaurant for a feast. Come with us," Xiao Yan invited warmly.
"Alright," Xiao Xun'er nodded slightly.
Xiao Mei pouted unhappily.
After the royal guardian Jia Xingtian fell, the imperial family had lost their only Dou Huang powerhouse. The Jia Ma Empire was thrown into turmoil.
Without a strong force to deter enemies, and with the Misty Cloud Sect's influence beginning to stretch toward the capital, chaos spread rapidly.
The neighboring Chu Yun Empire even began massing troops along the border.
Faced with threats both internal and external, the Jia Ma Empire spiraled into instability.
Shops without strong backing were looted by bandits and mercenaries who took advantage of the chaos. Worse still, after being ransacked, the authorities made no effort to arrest the culprits or restore order.
Crimes like theft, murder, and robbery became rampant—even in the capital, safety was a luxury few enjoyed.
Mittel Auction House Headquarters
Inside a spacious, lavishly decorated golden hall.
An elderly man dressed in a silver robe, sporting a white beard, examined a piece of dark-gold tiger hide on the table with something resembling a magnifying glass.
After a moment, he set the tool down. His face quickly wore a professional smile as he looked at the bulky figure draped in a black robe seated across from him.
"Sir, may I ask where you obtained this Dark-Golden Demon Tiger King hide?"
Chen Mo frowned slightly. He hadn't expected to run into Leo again during a simple transaction. Speaking in a deliberately hoarse voice, he replied:
"Since when does the Mittel Auction House inquire about the origins of items?"
"Forgive me, sir," Leo said with a flash of cunning in his eyes, still smiling. "The empire is in turmoil lately, and this Dark-Golden Demon Tiger King hide is quite valuable. It's only right for us to be cautious."
"I got lucky. Came across an old, dying Dark-Golden Demon Tiger King," Chen Mo said casually, not interested in wasting time.
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"I see," Leo nodded, the wariness in his eyes fading. Holding the hide, he smiled and said:
"It's a fine item. However, your skinning technique was far too rough, damaging the hide's integrity. I'm afraid it's only worth about ten thousand gold coins."
"Ten thousand? Are you trying to cheat me?"
Chen Mo's brows furrowed. He had roughly checked the value beforehand: even a complete hide from an ordinary Dark-Golden Demon Tiger was worth a fortune, let alone the hide of a sixth-rank Dark-Golden Demon Tiger King. It was easily worth two hundred thousand gold coins, and even then, it would be hard to find one on the market.
After all, the Dark-Golden Demon Tiger King, being of the Metal attribute, could be used to craft armor of exceptional defensive power.
"Sir, you can talk nonsense about your food, but not about business," Leo said, smiling as if unaffected. "The Mittel Auction House is always fair. The damage severely lowers the value."
"Then I won't sell it."
Chen Mo frowned deeper and reached out to reclaim the hide.
But Leo was faster. With a flick of his wrist, he stored the genuine tiger hide into his spatial ring and placed another hide onto the table—a much smaller, ordinary Dark-Golden Demon Tiger hide.
Not only was it only a third of the size, but from its color and magical patterns, it was clearly from a third-rank Dark-Golden Demon Tiger.
A blatant bait-and-switch right before Chen Mo's eyes.
"What is the meaning of this?" Chen Mo's gaze grew cold.
"Sir, this is a third-rank Dark-Golden Demon Tiger hide. It's worth what I offered," Leo said indifferently, as if what he just did was entirely routine. His mouth curled into a faint mocking smile.
His voice was old and raspy, but the hand he extended—long-fingered and pale—clearly belonged to someone much younger.
From the earlier probing, Leo was now confident he could take advantage of him.
"Are you trying to extort me?"
Seeing this, Chen Mo no longer bothered pretending. His true voice emerged from beneath the black robe as he lifted his hood, revealing a strikingly handsome face.
"You... it's you!" Leo's pupils contracted sharply. His body began trembling uncontrollably. He knew this face all too well.
"Long time no see, Elder Leo," Chen Mo said coldly, a smirk playing on his lips. "I came to do honest business with you, and you dare try to extort me?"
"W-what are you trying to do?! Guards, guards—!"
Without hesitation, Chen Mo easily snatched the spatial ring from Leo's finger.
"Perfect. I wasn't too keen on selling that tiger hide anyway. Elder Leo, I'll be taking your spatial ring as compensation," Chen Mo said with a sneer.
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