Chapter 4855 — If You Can't Play, Don't Play

Even so, the sharp-eyed noticed that the corner of this guest-retainer titan's mouth gave an unnatural twitch. A hush fell over the hall—by now no one dared leap out to stir the pot. The Nurturing Essence Magic Gold Grass could only fall into one of two hands: Wei Zhao's or Lu Dachang's. Everyone else could only roll aside and watch from afar.

"Wonderful, wonderful—getting tangled up with an old bastard like Lu Dachang, that Lin fellow is dead for sure this time!" Bao Zuoliang nearly burst out laughing at the sight.

True, Lu Dachang belonged to the same camp as his father, yet the man showed the young city lord not the slightest respect. After a verbal clash with his son last time, the old bastard had even wanted to personally teach him a lesson—had Bao Fala not stepped in in time, there was no telling how badly he might have suffered.

Bao Zuoliang loathed Lu Dachang, but the man was, after all, an Opening-Mountain-stage titan—even his own father had to defer to him. However much he hated it, he had to swallow his temper. But now things were looking up: by scheming to set the old bastard against Wei Zhao, he would be delighted no matter which of them came off worse. It was a stroke of genius!

"If you're going to borrow a blade to kill, then naturally you borrow the sharpest one—and by any count, Morning Star City has no blade sharper than Lu Dachang!" Su Kesheng was smug at having pulled off his ploy. To deal with someone of Wei Zhao's background, an ordinary opponent would never do; even a Mystic Ascension stage cultivator was far from enough—at the very least it had to be an Opening-Mountain-stage titan.

But titans of the Opening-Mountain stage were not so easily used. Only a titan as hot-tempered as Lu Dachang could possibly be manipulated by him.

"By the way, how could you be sure the old bastard would take the bait?" Bao Zuoliang asked suddenly. The Nurturing Essence Magic Gold Grass was rare and useful, true—but what use was it to an Opening-Mountain-stage titan like Lu Dachang?

"Heh heh, young master Bao, have you forgotten Lu Xiaozhong, the one who quarreled with us last time? He's at the peak of the late Nascent Soul stage now, and he long ago declared he'd walk the Path of Titans. Once word of the Nurturing Essence Magic Gold Grass gets out, with the old bastard's tendency to shield his own, it'd be stranger still if he could hold back!" Su Kesheng chuckled. Lu Xiaozhong was none other than Lu Dachang's son.

"So that's it! No wonder you kept sidling up to Lu Xiaozhong these past couple of days—you were deliberately tipping him off. You're wicked, truly wicked—but I like it!" Bao Zuoliang laughed heartily.

"Young master Bao, I didn't just tip him off—I deliberately emphasized Wei Zhao's financial power. In short, one sentence: on his own, with those few spirit jades of his, he could never outbid Wei Zhao—unless he got his old man involved, and even then he couldn't play by the usual rules. Heh heh!" Su Kesheng reported his merits with a sly grin.

"Well done, well done! Let's just sit back and enjoy the show!" Bao Zuoliang was thoroughly pleased with his right-hand man. The reason they called Lu Dachang an old bastard was precisely that he never did anything by the book and stopped at nothing to get his way. The notion of getting him to bid like everyone else and admit defeat—any fool could tell that was impossible.

Even as the two spoke, Wei Zhao over there had already, exactly as they had anticipated, locked horns completely with the Opening-Mountain-stage titan Lu Dachang: "Seven million!"

"Seven million five hundred thousand!" Lu Dachang still refused to yield, but anyone could see he was beginning to buckle. Spiraling to such an absurd price for a single stalk of Nurturing Essence Magic Gold Grass—everyone else felt as if they were dreaming.

After all, even the Thunder Mystic Pill, the rarest of seventh-grade pills, generally topped out at around this price. A normal Nurturing Essence Pill sold for only slightly over five million, and this was merely one stalk of Nurturing Essence Magic Gold Grass. At that moment everyone shared a single thought: these two have lost their minds!

"Eight million!" Wei Zhao cared not whether his opponent was an Opening-Mountain-stage titan. This was an auction—whoever had the most spirit jades won, and however formidable one's strength, one could only choke it down.

Under all those watchful eyes, Lu Dachang could not help but be struck dumb. He was an Opening-Mountain-stage titan, true enough—but merely a guest retainer of the city lord's manor, not the city lord himself. Where would he get so many spirit jades to squander at will?

Yet anyone who knew him even slightly would never expect him to let it go. Sure enough, Lu Dachang's already ferocious aura burst forth in full, and he fixed Wei Zhao with a murderous glare, bellowing, "Mother of hell, who's the blind fool daring to cross Grandpa Lu? Looking for death? I'll say it here and now—I'm having this stalk of Nurturing Essence Magic Gold Grass, and whoever dares stand in my way had better not blame Grandpa Lu for turning on friend and foe alike!"

At those words Wei Zhao could not help but curse inwardly. Truth be told, competing against an Opening-Mountain-stage titan was pressure enough, and to think the man was such a shameless old bastard!

No wonder he'd had a very bad feeling from the very start—now it had fully come to pass. Even if his funds were greater, the other side wasn't playing by the rules and was simply forcing his hand. What could he do now?

Before absolute power, all schemes and intrigues are a joke; likewise, no amount of spirit jades amounts to anything.

"I've heard my master assess this man—said he's as crude as his name, notorious for his bullying and unreasonableness. And since he's merely a guest retainer of the city lord's manor, he's never cared about rules or propriety. Even if he violates them now and then, neither City Lord Bao nor Chancellor Ling can do anything about him. We'd better be careful," Wang Xinyan said in a low voice, tugging at Wei Zhao's sleeve in warning.

Wei Zhao nodded without a change in expression, though the sight of this crimson-haired Opening-Mountain-stage guest retainer gave him a headache. Had the man been an outsider of the Opening-Mountain stage, he might not have dared to run so rampant on Morning Star City's turf—but he was a guest retainer here, and there was no reasoning to be had.

Yet no matter what, Wei Zhao could not simply give up so easily. At once he shot back in a cool tone, "Wanting the Nurturing Essence Magic Gold Grass is understandable, but this is an auction, and it must follow the auction's rules. If you can't play, then don't play. Or do you truly mean to sabotage the fairness of the Grand Auction?"

The moment Wei Zhao spoke, an uproar swept the hall. Everyone knew his background was unfathomable, but no one had imagined the fellow possessed such nerve as to square off against an Opening-Mountain-stage titan in public!

Little did they know, Wei Zhao's nerve had been forged by pure experience. Back when he was only at the Gold Core stage, he had already retreated unscathed from beneath the Old Sect of the Western Hills. Now he was at the late Nascent Soul stage, protected by a whole halo of identities—he might not necessarily have to fear this Opening-Mountain-stage titan!

Lu Dachang was likewise taken aback at the words. He could not help sizing Wei Zhao up anew from head to toe. This was the first time he had ever encountered such a thing—a mere late Nascent Soul cultivator daring to defy him in public?