Qi Feng was so angry he was about to explode. He directly bid, "Two hundred million gold!"
Qi Yu lazily replied, "Double it!"
"Damn it, are you trying to mess with me? I'll triple it!" Qi Feng jumped up in anger, "I'm going to go all out with you today!"
"Quadruple it," Qi Yu said, holding up four fingers. He wore an expression of utter disdain.
Feng Siqian was completely stunned.
Li Yu and Yu Zhen looked at each other and fell silent.
They wondered if selling the Bei Yuan Sect would be worth this much money.
Qi Feng stomped his foot, "Ten times! Twenty times! Damn it, I'll make sure you can't afford it!"
"Oh heavens, so much money, I really can't afford it," Qi Yu clutched his chest, looking wronged. "Lord Qi Feng is truly amazing. Alright, I won't compete anymore."
Qi Feng was dumbfounded.
The emcee in front called out, "Twenty-one hundred million gold once, twenty-one hundred million gold twice, twenty-one hundred million gold thrice, sold! Congratulations, Lord Qi Feng, on acquiring the Frost Condensation Map."
"This, I, this..." Qi Feng swallowed hard, never expecting the price to reach this point.
Even if he sold everything he owned, he could only scrape together twenty billion gold. He couldn't afford this much.
Qi Yu fanned himself by the side, a half-smile on his face. "Lord Qi Feng, are you unable to pay? If you can't pay, you'll have to pay a breach of contract fee, at least ten billion gold."
If Qi Yu had said this in private, it would have been fine.
But saying it publicly like this, wasn't it a direct insult to Qi Feng?
How could Qi Feng possibly accept this?
Therefore, Qi Feng remained silent the entire time, merely glaring fiercely at Qi Yu. He then ordered his subordinates to bring out everything they could sell, completely emptying himself out, to scrape together twenty-one billion gold and secure the Frost Condensation Map.
Qi Yu fanned himself, his face beaming with a smile. He spun around, transforming into a dashing gentleman wearing a pure black coronet, pure black robes, and pure black boots.
The demons of the Myriad Scrolls Library immediately bowed to Qi Yu. "Greetings, Pavilion Master."
Qi Yu waved his hand and then looked at Qi Feng, who was holding the Frost Condensation Map with a dumbfounded expression. He smiled and said, "Thank you, Lord Qi Feng, for supporting my humble establishment."
Everyone was dumbfounded upon hearing this.
Yu Zhen and Li Yu wore expressions that were hard to describe.
Yue Zhiyin couldn't hold back and chuckled.
Qi Nian and Feng Siqian covered their foreheads.
Si Qing pinched his temples, barely suppressing a laugh.
Sui You, Chi Ming, Qi Yan, and Ming Lou looked as if they had something to say but couldn't.
Compared to the shock of Qi Yu revealing his true identity, their hearts were now filled with an overwhelming sense of speechlessness.
How to put it? Their feelings were incredibly complicated.
Qi Feng: "..."
He clutched the Frost Condensation Map, his expression visibly collapsing. His voice became hysterical. "You are the Pavilion Master of the Myriad Scrolls Library!? You did this on purpose! I don't want this Frost Condensation Map anymore, give me my money back."
"Oh dear, Lord Qi Feng, my establishment has always had a rule: all sold items are final and cannot be returned or exchanged. Otherwise, you would have to pay double, which would be over forty billion gold. You probably couldn't afford it even if you sold yourself." Qi Yu wore an expression of concern.
The shopkeeper and the emcee of the Myriad Scrolls Library stood to the side, both wiping sweat from their brows.
In truth, the auction methods of the Myriad Scrolls Library were originally learned from the human world.
However, the human world conducted auctions secretly to swindle money.
Their Pavilion Master, lacking in emotional intelligence, hadn't learned the essence of it. He only learned to openly swindle money and provoke people. If anyone didn't comply, he would beat them up.
Therefore, they usually didn't dare to let the Pavilion Master get involved in these matters...
They just couldn't keep an eye on him today.
Alas.
Qi Feng was so angered by Qi Yu's words that he almost spat blood. He took the Frost Condensation Map and turned to leave.
Qi Yu waved his hand, dismissing the crowd. He then led everyone to a private room upstairs in the Myriad Scrolls Library, where he served them good tea.
After the tea and snacks were served, Qi Yu raised his hand and conjured a mirror, placing it beside him. As he polished it, he said to everyone:
"Actually, before today, I, as the Pavilion Master of the Myriad Scrolls Library, always wore a mask. Today, since my identity has been revealed anyway, I'm not wearing a mask when I'm in my Pavilion Master persona."
"The fact that the library earned so much money today is all thanks to everyone's support and help. So, please order whatever you'd like to eat later. I'll have someone buy it for you. Don't be shy."
"Oh, right, Princess Feng San, this is for you." Qi Yu reached into the mirror in front of everyone and pulled out another Frost Condensation Map, handing it to Feng Siqian.
"The Frost Condensation Map is divided into two volumes. The upper volume can allow ten people to enter the All-Elements Forest, and the lower volume can allow twenty people to enter."
Qi Yu smiled. "That's why I said I had a way to handle it."
Feng Siqian was dumbfounded.
Qi Nian looked at Qi Yu, wanting to complain but finding herself utterly speechless.
Yue Zhiyin leaned towards Li Yu. "Master, at this point, I think you should revise the personality profile you assigned to Junior Brother Qi Yu. He's not genuinely naive and detached from worldly affairs; he's naturally cunning but unaware of it."
Qi Yu tilted his head in confusion.
Li Yu rubbed his forehead, feeling a pang of distress. "I was too hasty before. I thought this Qi Yu kid looked innocent and harmless, and that he had been hurt, so he must be a fragile little thing... Who knew..."
Yu Zhen sighed and nodded, silently adding in his mind, Who knew that Qi Yu wasn't a naive and fragile little thing? He was just too naive about human wickedness and lacked emotional intelligence.
However, this was not surprising.
Many innate spiritual artifacts were quite cunning when dealing with races other than humans, but they were not so effective against humans.
This was because any artifact that could become an innate spiritual artifact was born in a place with extremely abundant spiritual energy. They rarely experienced deceit or resource competition. They might even guard mountains and formations, possessing a special fondness for humans, who were favored by heaven. They were pure and benevolent spirits.
Some of them never even thought of achieving ascension, only wishing to protect their human masters.
"Aren't you happy?" Qi Yu asked, confused. "I thought this would make you happy."
"We are happy, but..." Qi Nian said with a wry smile, stroking Qi Yu's head. "Next time, don't openly prank people like Qi Feng. People like him are truly villains. If you're not careful, they'll stab you in the back, and you'll get hurt."
Qi Yu nodded. "I understand. But Senior Sister, this isn't a difficult matter. Since we've already offended him, let's offend him to the end. Let's just get rid of Qi Feng."
Otherwise, what if Qi Feng harmed the little demons of the Myriad Scrolls Library when she wasn't in the demon realm?
Li Yu opened his mouth as if to say something, but considering they were in the demon realm, he ultimately refrained from speaking his mind.
The rules of the human cultivation world were different from those of the demon realm and other races. In other races, survival of the fittest, taking and snatching, was the way of life. Some demon mothers would even choose to eat their weaker cubs.
One couldn't judge by human standards here.
Qi Nian pursed her lips. "We should indeed get rid of Qi Feng, but as contenders for the throne, we cannot make a move."
Otherwise, even if they inherited the throne of the Demon King in the future, it would not be legitimate.
"Ah, it's fine, I can take care of him myself," Qi Yu said, preparing to stand up.
Outside, a small spider demon from the Myriad Scrolls Library, spitting silk as it ran, knocked on the private room door.
Qi Yu opened the door.
The little spider demon said excitedly, "Pavilion Master, the King of the North Sea is here again."
Yue Zhiyin, in the private room, choked on his tea and involuntarily perked up an ear.
"What is that old man coming here for? Is something up?" Qi Yu glanced sideways at Yue Zhiyin, who was pretending to be calm behind him, as he asked. He put on his mask and then closed the private room door.
The little spider demon's eyes widened, and she said with joy, "He said he's here to request blessings talismans. I suspect the inter-realm conference is about to begin!"
Qi Yu froze, then immediately seemed to remember something. He covered the little spider demon's mouth and walked further away. Only after he thought they couldn't hear him in the private room did he let go.
The little spider demon, like a string of firecrackers, took out an account book and handed it to Qi Yu, chattering incessantly.
"Pavilion Master, should we, like last year, take advantage of the inter-realm conference to sell some nearly expired blessings talismans and wish-granting artifacts, and swindle a large sum from the patriarchs of various realms?"
"Last time, we used these items to swindle the Phoenix Clan's Phoenix Lord out of fifty thousand phoenix flowers, the Demon Realm's Demon Lord out of forty thousand silver, and the Divine Shaman Clan's patriarch out of thirty thousand demon bamboo shoots."
"As for the Winged Tiger Clan's patriarch, we also swindled him out of a three-hundred-year free land use contract last time!"
"The patriarch of the Netherworld Clan, and the Dragon Kings of the South, North, East, and West Seas, we tricked them out of a lot of their treasures with nearly expired talismans last time!"
"Alas, if we weren't stationed in the demon realm, I feel like we could have swindled the demon clan patriarchs too."
When the little spider demon got excited, she crawled and jumped everywhere. By the time Qi Yu, sweating profusely, caught her and covered her mouth, she had already said everything she shouldn't have and everything she should have.
After finishing, she still asked Qi Yu in a voice she thought was very quiet:
"Should we set the prices this time the same as before? Oh, and the War God's sacrificial pastries, should we sell them after a few days like before?"
"His followers are very wealthy. Sacrificial food sells extremely well! We can make a large profit every time!"
Qi Yu put one hand on the little spider demon's shoulder and the other on his chin. "Swindle them, all of them. We must earn the gold we deserve, after all, I have a large group of little demons like you to feed."
Because Si Qing and Qi Yu had not discussed his title in the Nine Heavens Palace when they recognized each other, only mentioning his honorific title, Qi Yu specifically instructed after speaking:
"Especially the War God's sacrifice, last year we only sold the sacrificial pastries. This year, let's not even spare the tables and chairs."
In the completely sound-permeable private room.
Yu Zhen (the Demon Lord himself) quietly drank tea, feeling a pang of distress.
Eldest Senior Brother Yue Zhiyin (Crown Prince of the North Sea Dragon) remained silent.
Second Senior Sister Qi Nian (Little Princess of the Demon Clan) covered her face and bowed her head, embarrassed for Qi Yu.
Third Senior Brother Sui You (Phoenix Lord of the Phoenix Clan) lightly, then heavily, placed down his teacup.
Fourth Senior Sister Chi Ming (Patriarch of the Netherworld Clan) had complex emotions.
Fifth Senior Brother Qi Yan (Patriarch of the Divine Shaman Clan) crushed his teacup, recalling the thirty thousand demon bamboo shoots he had been swindled out of.
Sixth Senior Brother Ming Lou (Patriarch of the Winged Tiger Clan) took a deep breath.
Si Qing (the War God himself) smiled.
Everyone except Li Yu had the same thought flash through their minds:
"It seems Junior Brother (Senior Brother) (Brother) Qi Yu needs a good thrashing of love..."
Li Yu, standing nearby, was oblivious to the strange atmosphere in the room.
Feng Mingqi and Feng Siqian quietly ate apples, heads bowed.
The siblings ate and thought, it seems the soundproofing in the private rooms of the Myriad Scrolls Library isn't very good...