After all, the reputation of Xiao Qiming as a genius was quite resounding. Although Chu Nian didn't particularly like the man's pretentious demeanor, he still held his patience and listened to him speak.

"Brother Chu Nian, how about letting the Soul Devouring Beast go to the Kong brothers first, and if you fancy something else later, they won't compete with you. What do you think?"

This genius from the Xiao Family indeed had a knack for quick wits. His words caused a shadow to flash in Mei Qian's beautiful eyes on the auction stage, while others seemed thoughtful.

If Xiao Qiming's strategy could take shape, today's auction might have much less to watch, as the three families were the wealthiest, and the competition for good items often boiled down to their struggles.

However, this would not put the organizers, Spirit Fighting Commerce, in a good mood, as they had hoped the families would bid up the prices. But if the three reached an agreement and no longer competed, the items would likely only sell for standard prices.

Xiao Qiming couldn't care less about others' thoughts. By the time he finished talking, he had already turned his gaze towards the Kong brothers, as if seeking their opinion.

If these two did not agree, his strategy wouldn't work. In fact, his proposal wasn't just for Chu Nian's benefit but also for some things he desired for himself.

Xiao Qiming considered himself no less prestigious than Chu Nian. If the Kong brothers agreed, when he took a liking to something, the two families probably wouldn't compete with him deliberately.

"Alright, we'll go by Brother Xiao's words!"

Among the Kong brothers, Kong Sihai was always hot-tempered, so it was usually the elder brother Kong Qianshan who made decisions. After contemplating for a moment, he agreed.

This showed that the Kong brothers indeed desperately wanted the Soul Devouring Beast. If Chu Nian persisted, they might spend considerably more gold coins and might not even succeed.

"Humph!"

Having reached this point, Chu Nian didn't say much more. Since Xiao Qiming proposed it, if he didn't agree, the other two families might jointly target him. He wasn't foolish and could clearly see the situation.

"Hehe, Brother Chu Nian and the two Brother Kongs giving Qiming face is truly an honor, but if I fancy something later, I hope you will be lenient!"

At this moment, Xiao Qiming finally expressed his thoughts, with a tone of satisfaction. After all, for him, it was a great achievement to have made even the Kong brothers and Chu Nian agree.

"The low-level Eighth Rank Soul Devouring Beast, the Kong brothers bid six million gold coins, is there any higher bid?"

Seeing that an agreement had been reached, Mei Qian on the auction stage was out of options. Besides, few could match the high price of six million gold coins.

Moreover, those who could afford it wouldn't easily offend Sky Thunder Valley. Mei Qian thought that the low-level Eighth Rank Soul Devouring Beast might be sold for six million gold coins.

"Six million once, six million twice, six million thr..."

"Six million one hundred thousand!"

As Mei Qian symbolically called out three times and raised the small hammer to close the bid, a lazy voice suddenly sounded, causing several faces in the crowd to instantly darken.

"Who has the guts to compete with the Kong brothers at this point?"

Everyone wondered, thinking that the owner of that voice must have stirred a hornet's nest, offending not just the Kong brothers but possibly Xiao Qiming as well.

On the other hand, Chu Nian of the Chu Family wore a cold smile. In truth, he hadn't fully agreed with Xiao Qiming's proposal earlier, only surrendering to the trend, not wanting endless competition.

Now with someone else challenging the Kong brothers, Chu Nian was curious to see which figure dared to disregard even the Kong brothers and Xiao Qiming.

"Is it that kid?!"

Xiao Qiming's face was indeed gloomy at that moment. When he turned his head and saw that the speaker was a rough-clothed youth, he felt a faint sense of familiarity, recalling their encounter three days before.

At this moment, the bidder was none other than Yun Xiao. To others, it was just a common Soul Devouring Beast. Initially, even to him, it appeared ordinary until a certain presence within him spoke.

Even though Yun Xiao's previous life was from the Nine-layered Dragon Cloud, he now knows that compared to the Golden Snake Worm Xiao Wu, his own knowledge might just be like a Little Witch meeting a Great Witch. There are still many domains on the Nine Dragons Continent that he is not very familiar with.

Moreover, Yun Xiao knows that the Golden Snake Worm Xiao Wu always has a very high standard, having casually devoured many things in the past, and rarely showing interest in anything.

For instance, the Dragon Summoning Tree before, and the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix Egg he encountered in Yuyang City; only on these few occasions did Xiao Wu express interest.

So at the last moment, in order to prevent something that even Xiao Wu was interested in from falling into the hands of others, Yun Xiao didn't think much and directly bid, but he did not expect that this one bid would attract the attention of the entire audience.

Xiao Qiming naturally became angry. He had just used his eloquence and wit to persuade Chu Nian to give up bidding, which was a foreshadowing for a certain item he intended to bid on later.

But Yun Xiao's interruption rendered Xiao Qiming's previous efforts futile, and his original plan changed because of the former's bid.

Three days ago, Xiao Qiming had shown Yun Xiao goodwill because of certain things the latter displayed, but now, if given the chance, he might immediately turn hostile.

At that time, when Xiao Qiming proactively spoke to Yun Xiao, it wasn't because he valued the latter, but because he was deep and thought he might be able to use him sometime.

And just with a simple bid, Yun Xiao caused a hint of killing intent to arise in Xiao Qiming's heart. A young genius with extreme confidence and often prideful couldn't tolerate any slight mistake in his plan, and now it was undeniably disrupted by Yun Xiao.

But this is the auction hall of the Douling Commerce. No matter how arrogant Xiao Qiming is, he cannot stop people from participating in the auction. Just now, he reached an agreement with Kong family brothers and Chu Nian, but no such agreements exist with others. Something that is exposed would indeed be a provocation to Douling Commerce.

No matter how confident Xiao Qiming is, he wouldn't dare say the Xiao Family can contend with Douling Commerce. There is a significant gap between first-class forces and super forces.

"Kid, who are you?"

Xiao Qiming was not convenient to speak, but the hot-tempered Kong Sihai among the Kong Family brothers couldn't hold back. It was not easy for them to see the Soul Devouring Beast about to fall into their hands, and unexpectedly someone came to meddle.

If the rival were someone like Xiao Qiming or Chu Nian, descendants of big families, that would be fine. Yet, the plainly dressed boy appeared very ordinary, with an aura not overly strong, clearly a Lower Ranker who hadn't yet reached the Seeking Origin Realm, so he straightforwardly questioned him.

"Just an unknown junior, something the Second Young Master Kong might not have heard of!"

Yun Xiao responded casually, entirely ignoring the hint of threat in Kong Sihai's words. In fact, it's not that no one knows his name, but in such a situation, he doesn't want to truly expose his identity.

"Since you are just an unknown junior, you should know the consequences of offending us brothers!"

Kong Sihai suppressed the anger in his heart, but his words became much more threatening, making Mei Qian on the auction platform frown slightly, thinking that Kong Sihai really didn't hold Douling Commerce in high regard?

At one's own hosted auction, he actually threatened other bidders to make them give up bidding. To Mei Qian, this was unacceptable.

If it were like Xiao Qiming's earlier negotiation result with Chu Nian, even if Mei Qian wasn't happy about it, she wouldn't say much. But to blatantly threaten competitors was breaking the rules.

"Offend? Second Young Master Kong, are you saying my participation in bidding? Do you brothers from the Kong Family expect that whatever you fancy today, others can't bid on? If that's the case, what are we all doing here? We might as well all go home!"

In terms of eloquence, perhaps even Xiao Qiming over there may not be his match. This statement was powerful, not only pointing out the arrogance of the Kong family brothers but also stirring up the suppressed emotions of all others present, and implicitly reporting it to Mei Qian over there, truly killing three birds with one stone.

"You…"

Kong Sihai, who hadn't yet realized the power in these words, was naturally furious. At least, among the audience, aside from Xiao Qiming and Chu Nian, no one dared speak to them, the Kong brothers, like this.

"Second Young Master Kong, if you continue to behave wildly and disrupt this auction, then please leave!"

At this moment, Mei Qian could no longer bear it, her tone changing from the previous gentle manner to one filled with a hint of coldness, startling the Kong brothers.

"Apologies, my younger brother was out of line, and I ask Elder Mei Qian for forgiveness!"

Kong Qianshan, who hadn't spoken, seemed to sense the suppressed anger in Mei Qian's words. After rolling his eyes, he directly admitted the mistake, though after his words, his gaze shifted to the plainly dressed boy, his eyes gleaming with a mysterious light.