Led by a maid, Lu Yuan arrived at a private box backstage.

"Mr. Lu, tonight's auction has truly broadened my horizons!"

As soon as the door was opened, Duan Nanyi's cool and deep voice came through, with a hint of doubt and teasing in his tone.

Lu Yuan seemed oblivious, and walked straight to Duan Nanyi's side, finding a comfortable spot to sit down.

"Mr. Duan is exaggerating. It's just a small auction. The scene in the capital must be much bigger."

Duan Nanyi pursed his lips, unable to help but complain in his heart.

The scale and venue are larger than here, but the quality of the auction items is nowhere near as good!

Leaving aside cultivation techniques and spiritual weapons, even if the cubs with dust and devouring attributes were brought out, it would still cause a fierce battle to seize them!

Does this kid even understand what he's putting up for auction?!

Seeing Lu Yuan's calm and unchanging expression, as if he wouldn't budge even if knives rained down from the sky, Duan Nanyi grew increasingly angry, wishing he could go up and shake Lu Yuan a couple of times to get him to react differently!

Lu Yuan turned his head and was met with Duan Nanyi's inexplicable gaze, so he couldn't help but lean back into the sofa.

"Mr. Duan, what brings you here?"

"cough!"

Duan Nanyi snapped out of his daze, coughed lightly to cover his embarrassment, and regained his calm and composed demeanor.

"I wonder if Mr. Lu has any plans for the future?"

Lu Yuan raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean by that, Mr. Duan?"

Seeing this, Duan Nanyi stopped beating around the bush and said directly, "I would like to hire Mr. Lu as the chief training consultant for my Nantian Group."

If the previous custom-made Cloud Flying Deer incident only surprised Duan Nanyi with Lu Yuan's abilities, then what he saw and heard at tonight's auction completely overturned his conventional understanding!

Whether it's the means to increase the concentration of inherited bloodline or the special attributes that have mutated.

All of this was beyond the belief of Duan Nanyi, who prided himself on his extensive knowledge!

He even had a premonition.

If news of what happened at the auction reaches the capital, the entire situation on the Ling'an Continent will be changed!

With this in mind, Duan Nanyi finally understood why the capital had never heard of anything about the Divine Beast Pavilion or the Divine Beast Auction House.

Presumably, all the messages that were sent out were blocked by someone!

Moreover, this operation must have been carried out by more than one faction; otherwise, the news could not have been kept so well hidden.

As for why?

Duan Nanyi could guess a thing or two.

Aside from worrying about changes in the situation on the Ling'an Continent, their only motivation is to monopolize the items in the Divine Beast Auction House.

After all, although Yandu is a large city with abundant wealth, it is still somewhat inferior to the capital. Otherwise, he would not have been able to snatch two items from Xu Lanshan's hands without any preparation.

If the capital city learns about the divine beast auction, a large number of forces will definitely flock to Yandu to participate in the auction.

At that point, it won't just be a matter of him snatching away one or two items at the auction.

It is highly likely that the entire auction will be monopolized by forces from the capital, leaving those with slightly weaker financial resources with no hope of winning the bid.

Duan Nanyi had no intention of exposing their actions.

After all, the fewer people who know about him, the fewer competitors he will have.

He wouldn't be so overly compassionate as to do something that would only harm him.

Moreover, before more people find out, he needs to do everything he can to bring Lu Yuan into his camp.

To his surprise, Lu Yuan shook his head and refused his invitation without even thinking.

"Thank you for your kind offer, Mr. Duan, but I'm sorry to say I have to decline."

Duan Nanyi frowned slightly.

"Mr. Lu, it might sound like I'm boasting, but the truth is, Nantian Group is one of the top forces in the capital. Are you sure you want to refuse me?"

"I know!"

Lu Yuan nodded as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Although he was not in the capital, he still knew a thing or two about the power dynamics there.

As one of the top conglomerates, Nantian Group may not be as powerful as Shenwu Pavilion in terms of martial arts, but it is far more powerful in terms of financial resources.

It's no exaggeration to say that...

The Nantian Group alone has the financial resources to equal one-fifth of the entire Ling'an Continent!

"Since that's the case, then you..."

Before Duan Nanyi could finish his advice, Lu Yuan interrupted him with a smile.

“Mr. Duan, I have no complaints about Nantian Group, but I am used to working alone and have no intention of joining any faction, whether it is Nantian Group or any other faction.”

After hearing Lu Yuan's words, Duan Nanyi felt regretful, but at least he felt much more at ease.

“In that case, I won’t insist, Mr. Lu.” Duan Nanyi smiled at Lu Yuan, then his eyes lit up and he asked, “When will the next auction be held?”

"The Divine Beast Auction House holds an auction every Sunday. Before the auction begins, someone will deliver the invitation and the list of auction items to your residence. Mr. Duan, just wait patiently," Lu Yuan replied with a smile.

Duan Nanyi breathed a slight sigh of relief after hearing this.

He could tell from the information he received tonight that an invitation to the auction was extremely valuable. Despite his calm demeanor, he was actually worried that Lu Yuan might not give him an invitation.

But his worries were completely unnecessary.

As the general manager of Nantian Group, Duan Nanyi is a lucrative cash cow.

Lu Yuan couldn't possibly miss such a great opportunity to make money, so he would definitely be involved in every game.

...

The two continued their casual conversation.

Although Duan Nanyi did not extend another invitation to Lu Yuan, his words conveyed a message of friendly friendship.

Lu Yuan was happy to further strengthen his good relationship with the money tree.

The two sides had a very pleasant conversation.

After Lu Yuan finally saw Duan Nanyi off, the cleaning and finishing work of the entire auction house was completed, and even Mu Ruxing returned after seeing off the Zhu siblings.

"Has Zhao Kunpeng made any further moves?" Lu Yuan asked casually.

"No."

Mu Ruxing shook her head.

He had already learned quite a bit about what happened tonight from the snippets of conversation between Lu Yuan and the Zhu siblings, so he naturally knew who Lu Yuan was talking about.

"That bastard is probably scared of you, he shouldn't be jumping out again anytime soon."

"Um."

Lu Yuan nodded in satisfaction, then got into the car to return to the Divine Beast Pavilion to rest.

He hadn't had a good night's sleep for several days because of the preparations for the auction. Tonight, he wouldn't bury himself in cultivation first; he'd get a good night's sleep first!

Mu Ruxing was driving in the driver's seat, looking at Lu Yuan's slightly tired expression, and hesitated to say something.

In the end, Lu Yuan spoke first.

"Just say what's on your mind, don't be so hesitant!"

Hearing this, Mu Ruxing felt a little embarrassed, hesitated for a moment, and then spoke up.

"Young Master Lu, although Zhao Kunpeng is nothing special, the Zhao family has considerable influence. To avoid future trouble, should I secretly take care of him first?"