“Senior Mu, Miss Zhong.” Hou Sai Lei made a respectful gesture to greet both of them.

　　“So, this is the case. Now I understand…” Zhong Xiu was a quick-witted person. She looked at Shi Mu. Then, she looked at Hou Sai Lei and understood the entire process of development in an instant.

　　“It turns out that all these things were actually arranged by Big Brother Shi. I thought that it was my own efforts that made me triumph over the Jade Spirit Pavilion… fair and square.” Zhong Xiu said, and her facial expression got clouded with a hint of melancholy.

　　“Miss Xiu, this competition was unfair in the first place. Wang Rui Kun was siding with Elder Zhao in secret. We would have definitely lost this competition if we hadn’t made some preparations. Wouldn’t it have been too unfair?” Shi Mu said.

　　Zhong Xiu remained silent for a moment. Then, she let out a sigh. Simultaneously, the expression of disappointment gradually disappeared from her face.

　　“Big Brother Shi, you are right. I am too naive. But, Hou Sai Lei… you have purchased so many things at the auction. It means you must’ve spent at least one million spirit stones for them. Where did you get so many spirit stones from?” Zhong Xiu asked in a puzzled manner.

　　Hou Sai Lei smiled a bit, and began to recount the story.

　　Hou Sai Lei said that he had moved into action the same day Shi Mu and Zhong Xiu left the Hidden Wind Valley. The first thing he had done then was he had disguised himself as the Altar Lord of the Hidden Wind Valley. Then, he had focused his entire attention on the batch of remaining goods that Shi Mu and Zhong Xiu couldn’t carry away due to insufficient time. He used some means and swept away some of the valuable things that had been accumulated in the Hidden Wind Valley for years. He then sold them off separately in exchange for a large number of spirit stones. Afterwards, he finally arrived at the Rising Sun City, and got in touch with Shi Mu in secret. And, the today’s situation was already known to her.

　　“In addition, I also had some spirit stones that I had earned in the past two months by selling magic charms. So, I also bet all of them on a single throw by making Hou Sai Lei capture the Spirit Stabilizing Tower — the last product of the auction. In fact, a lot of things sold at the auction had been entrusted by me. And, they all got sold again at high prices. So, it was nothing but moving things from the left pocket to the right pocket. It can be said that there isn’t much big loss even if the Chamber of Commerce charges a high commission.” Shi Mu said with a smile.

　　“Big Brother Shi, why didn’t you tell me about this in advance? I might have also helped you.” Zhong Xiu asked.

　　“Miss Xiu, you were already quite occupied with various kinds of works these days. Besides, it was also a good thing that we didn’t get you involved in this matter from the beginning to the end. Now, you can deal with Wang Rui Kun or Zhao Elder confidently when they would ask you any question in this regard. By the way, Hou Sai Lei participated in the auction as Yi Rong. And, I think that they can’t find out any inside information since that mysterious man Yu Tian has long disappeared,” Shi Mu said.

　　Zhong Xiu looked into Shi Mu’s eyes and her eyes flickered a bit. She then said after a moment, “Big Brother Shi, it must have been very difficult for you. Not only did you take out myriads of things, but you also drew plenty of magic charms around the clock for this auction. Not to mention a large number of spirit stones you spent during this period…”

　　“None of them are important to me. Everything is worth it so long as I get the qualification to go to the Rising to the Heaven Mountain Peak. I remember you telling me once that the mysterious President would show up if someone makes a great contribution to the Chamber of Commerce. I think that we might get the chance to meet the President of the Chamber of Commerce this time if we can successfully complete the mission of the Demon race’s special envoy. At that time, I’ll try everything to annul the contract for you!” Shi Mu said in a resolute voice.

　　Shi Mu had said this thing before in the cave when he had barely met Zhong Xiu. However, it seemed that he had been swayed by his personal feelings at that time. But, he said the same thing today with full confidence.

　　Furthermore, Shi Mu had almost a million spirit stones in his possession after this auction. And, this number wasn’t considered a small sum of money even in the eyes of the Heavenly Wu Chamber of Commerce.

　　Zhong Xiu got emotionally moved by his words. She was about to say something in response when Manager Ge’s voice spread from the doorway, “Elder Zhong, Vice President Wang has convened a meeting in the black pavilion’s main hall.”

　　“Big Brother Shi, you just wait for my good news!” Zhong Xiu stood up while saying.

　　…

　　In the hall of the black pavilion… a few people were seated here and there at the moment.

　　The Vice president — Wang Rui Kun — sat upright on the main seat. He was chatting something with Zhong Xiu in an amiable manner. Zhong Xiu was seated to the right of the main seat. But, it appeared that Wang Rui Kun was talking, and she was listening to him most of the time.

　　Zhong Xiu was clad in a light-green suit of clothes at this moment. She was chatting with Wang Rui Kun with a smile on her face. But, some kind of doubts were swirling in her heart at the same time.

　　Wang Rui Kun appeared to be in a rather joyful mood today.

　　She knew that Elder Zhao had a close relationship with Wang Rui Kun. In addition, it was also obvious that she was the winner of this competition. Then, why was he still in such a good mood?

　　Many people of the Chamber of Commerce also came to the main hall one after another after some time. They occupied their respective seats and waited for a while. The beautiful woman — Elder Zhao also finally walked into the hall a bit late.

　　Elder Zhao’s facial expression didn’t look well at the moment. She sat down in the seat that was directly opposite Zhong Xiu as soon as she entered the hall. She then fixed her gaze at Zhong Xiu, but didn’t speak anything.

　　There had been an air of complacency around her when the auction was in full swing. But, she had never expected that the Welcoming the Immortals Pavilion would present the Star Stone – that everyone had thought to be their final product – as the second last product of the auction. And, it would use another spirit tool as their final product. On top of that, it would also auction it at an exorbitant price of 800,000 spirit stone in one fell swoop.

　　This news acted like a bolt from the blue for Elder Zhao… so much so that she almost flew into a rage on the spot because of it.

　　She was so infuriated to see Zhong Xiu’s calm and composed appearance at the moment that she couldn’t endure gritting her teeth in hatred. She still had a beautiful and radiant look on her face, but it was tinged with a layer of gloominess.

　　“I can see that everyone has gathered here now. So, this old man will announce the good news before you. The Rising Sun City’s large-scale auction was conducted by two big auction houses — the Welcoming the Immortals Pavilion and the Jade Spirit Pavilion this time. They have recorded a turnover of 8.01 million spirit stones at this auction. This figure can be said to be more than twice as many as the previous auctions’. The remarkable contributions of everyone present in the hall can’t be ignored. This old man hereby expresses his gratitude to everyone on behalf of the President.” Wang Rui Kun’s words were accompanied by a smile.

　　The members of the Chamber of Commerce revealed an exhilarated look in succession as they heard this news. The fact was they all were well aware of the old rules of the Chamber of Commerce. According to those rules… each participant of these auctions was eligible to get a reward for their work. And, this reward was calculated on the basis of the auction’s volume. The outcome of this year’s auction was already before them. So, they understood that their reward would be considerably high this time.

　　“Elder Zhong indeed gave a lot of thought and spent a great deal of money for the sake of this auction.” The beautiful woman said all at once.

　　“Where do these words come from, Elder Zhao?” Zhong Xiu asked.

　　“Humph, you are still pretending! The genuine values of all kinds of things that the Welcoming the Immortals Pavilion had are known to both of us. But, you were able to auction them at such an unbelievable price. Do you still dare to say that you didn’t rely on any tricky means to achieve this result?” the beautiful woman let out a cold snort as she said.

　　The atmosphere of the scene suddenly became heavy as this statement was made.

　　Everyone knew inwardly that the auction was actually a competition to achieve the title of the Demon race’s special envoy. The beautiful woman’s words were too obvious. But, they were directly pointed at Zhong Xiu… as if she had resorted to some unscrupulous tactics.

　　“Elder Zhao’s words are far from the truth. The auction advocates free bidding. Also, the price fluctuation of a product is entirely based on the buyer’s bidding. This is not necessary that the high price should be always in line with the market circulation price. Besides, I assume that Elder Zhao should be more aware of the rules of this auction than me. The Chamber of Commerce charges 10% commission as handling charges on the transaction of spirit stones at the scene. The steps involved in this procedure were carried out under the supervision of Steward Zhou. In addition, several other members of the chamber of commerce were also responsible for the operation. So, could there still be an opening to use foul means?” Zhong Xiu said at a moderate pace.

　　“As far as I know… nearly one-third of the products of the Welcoming the Immortals Pavilion was bought by the same person. Even the final product was purchased by him at an exorbitant price. Such coincidence… do you have any explanation to justify this?” the beautiful woman said.

　　“Zhong Xiu is herself very curious about this mysterious buyer. As for this person’s background… I presume that the Chamber of Commerce should have dispatched someone by now to carry out a thorough investigation. How can Zhong Xiu know about this person if the Chamber of Commerce fails to find out about him even after the investigation?” Zhong Xiu said with a smile.

　　The beautiful woman stagnated as she heard these words, and immediately shot a resentful look at Zhong Xiu in response. She was about to speak something again when she was interrupted by Wang Rui Kun, “The two of you, you don’t have to drag this conversation further. You should rather attach more importance to the interests of the chamber of commerce since both of you are the part of it. The auction has reaped huge profit this time. And, I must say that the two of you have made a remarkable contribution in this regard. Especially Elder Zhong since this was her first time organizing an auction. However, she still ended up making such a brilliant feat. This indeed made this old man admire her”

　　Wang Rui Kun cast a glance at the beautiful woman while maintaining the calm and collected look. Simultaneously, he cut off her words that she was about to speak a moment ago.

　　“Well, according to the previous agreement… this old man will now announce the name of the person who qualifies to leave for the three biggest demon tribes as the special envoy to the Demon race. And, that person is Elder Zhong. You will embark on this journey a month later,” Wang Rui Kun said after a little pause.

　　“Zhong Xiu is very grateful to Vice President Wang,” Zhong Xiu got up and made a respectful gesture as she heard these words.

　　“Oh, that’s right… Elder Zhong, I just felt that something is missing today. Why didn’t Friend Shi Mu show up here today?” Wang Rui Kun asked.

　　“He is not a member of the Chamber of Commerce. He is just a friend of mine. So, he isn’t suitable to show up in this kind of occasion.” Zhong Xiu said.

　　“Hehe, Friend Shi is indeed regarded as an outsider. By the way, I have a suggestion. Can I ask Elder Zhong to deliver a message to him on my behalf?” Wang Rui Kun asked.

　　“Vice President Wang, please speak.” Zhong Xiu said.

　　“I would like to invite Dear Friend Shi to join our Chamber of Commerce and serve as the guest Elder. Elder Zhong will set out on a mission to the Demon race soon. He can definitely lend you a helping hand during this mission.” Wang Rui Kun said while touching his beard.

　　“Well, Zhong Xiu will certainly inform him on behalf of you.” Zhong Xiu replied.

　　Wang Rui Kun then said a few words to encourage Zhong Xiu in the following proceedings. After that, he announced the end of the meeting. The crowd gradually dispersed afterwards. Zhong Xiu also bid him farewell and departed.

　　“Uncle?” the beautiful woman looked at Wang Rui Kun in a rather pleading way after Zhong Xiu’s departure.

　　“I had already given you too much convenience in this competition, but you still suffered a crushing defeat. So, you can’t blame me for that,” Wang Rui Kun said in a cold manner. Then, he walked away in a huff.

　　The beautiful woman kept standing to one side in a foolish manner.

　　“Zhong Xiu…” she gnashed her teeth in rage and said in a low voice. Her eyes were brimming with hatred at this moment.

　　…

　　Zhong Xiu left the black pavilion and walked straight towards a warehouse in high spirits. It was the same warehouse that Shi Mu had rented in the south of the city.

　　Shi Mu had moved to this warehouse right after the commencement of the auction. And, he had done so in order to avoid being noticed.

　　Zhong Xiu arrived in front of the warehouse’s door after half-an-hour. She then waved her hand and shot out a streak of white light. That light darted out and submerged into the warehouse door.

　　Then, a layer of green light burst forth on the warehouse’s door as a result. It stayed for a while and then dissipated. And, the door creaked open afterwards.

　　Zhong Xiu swept her gaze around a few times. Then, she walked in and the door got closed automatically.

　　In the warehouse… Shi Mu sat on the floor with his legs crossed. His eyes were also closed.

　　He was trying to figure out the cultivation art of the Art of Breeding Strong Evil Ape’s seventh layer. The fact was Shi Mu had also grabbed a bottle of an Earth-ranked demon ape’s blood essence at this auction through Hou Sai Lei. So, he was finally able to start the practice of this art once again.

　　Shi Mu stood up as he heard the sound.

　　“Big Brother Shi!”

　　Zhong Xiu’s face was radiating with an exhilarated look. She was about to tell Shi Mu about the good news that she had been assigned to the new mission to leave for the Rising to the Heaven Mountain Peak.

　　However, her complexion suddenly turned white, and a burst of dizziness spread before her eyes. Simultaneously, her snow-white face got suffused with a reddish color, and her body staggered a few steps… as if she was about tumble down.

　　Shi Mu’s complexion changed as he saw this scene. The next moment, his silhouette flashed and appeared beside her to support her body.