Devouring Soul Emperor

Chapter 339: Chapter 339: Obstructed

"Grandfather, that guy wants the Spiritual Longevity Pill so badly. Do you think he’ll try to tamper with it?"

Qin Ya asked worriedly.

"Don’t worry," Elder Qin said, smiling and shaking his head. "Between the time we get it from him and the actual auction, it will undergo two more inspections and appraisals. He can’t pull any tricks."

"Young Master Chu, take this tablet. Each time you win an item, someone will record your number. The proceeds from the elixirs you’re selling will be credited as well, and we can just settle the final balance at the end. I still have matters to attend to, so I’ll have Ya accompany you from here."

As he spoke, Elder Qin handed the tablet to Chu Qingyun and headed deeper into the auction house.

Qin Ya then led Chu Qingyun into the main auction hall.

Upon entering the auction hall, Chu Qingyun was taken aback.

He had expected it to be packed, crowded, and noisy.

But to his surprise, while the auction hall was spacious and had many seats, there were far fewer people than he’d expected. They were mostly seated in groups of two or three, with many empty seats in between.

It looked completely different from the auction he had attended in Qingshan City.

Qin Ya and Chu Qingyun walked toward the front together.

Along the way, Qin Ya explained a few things to Chu Qingyun.

Entry to the auction required the purchase of a ticket.

The tickets, however, were far more expensive than the ones in Qingshan City. They cost five drops of Primordial Spirit Liquid, which severely restricted the number of attendees.

It was safe to say that anyone who could get in had, to varying degrees, some real purchasing power.

And at the very front of the auction hall, there was a VIP area.

The VIP section was situated in what was clearly the best spot in the entire hall, distinctly separate from the regular seating behind it.

And Qin Ya was clearly leading Chu Qingyun toward that VIP area.

However, just as Qin Ya and Chu Qingyun were about to enter, a minor steward in charge of the VIP area stopped them. "Please wait a moment. You need an invitation to enter the VIP area."

A flash of displeasure crossed Qin Ya’s face. She took out a red invitation and tossed it to him.

"Chu Qingyun, a few days before the auction, invitations are sent to the County City’s Celestial Spirit Realm experts, along with the Elders and Patriarchs of the major families and merchant associations."

"Only those with an invitation can enter the VIP area. But don’t worry, my grandfather has one, so getting in will be no problem."

Qin Ya explained this to Chu Qingyun while the man examined the invitation.

However, after closing the invitation and handing it back to Qin Ya, the man said with a smile, "Miss Ya, you may certainly enter. This gentleman, however... may not."

As he spoke, he looked at Chu Qingyun, a hint of mockery in his eyes.

"What? Why can’t he come in? This invitation allows me to bring a guest," Qin Ya said, frowning at him.

Having just declared there would be no issue, only for Chu Qingyun to be stopped, made Qin Ya feel incredibly embarrassed.

"This invitation was issued by our auction house to Elder Qin. We are letting you in because you are his granddaughter, but that doesn’t extend to bringing a guest. Of course, if you can get Elder Qin to come over himself, then I will have nothing more to say."

The man said to Qin Ya, blocking the entrance.

Although the Lianshan County auction was hosted by the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower, many of the staff were from other merchant associations who followed the auctions wherever they were held.

This minor steward in charge of the VIP area was from a massive merchant association in the Imperial City, so he didn’t particularly care about Qin Ya, or by extension, the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower.

Hearing this, anger flared in Qin Ya’s eyes.

Her grandfather was one of the hosts; he surely had a mountain of tasks to handle and countless people to receive. How could he have time for such a trivial matter?

Besides, this so-called steward was obviously targeting them. There were already people in the VIP area, some of whom Qin Ya recognized. She was certain they weren’t using their own invitations, yet they had been allowed to bring guests inside!

Just as Qin Ya was about to argue with him, four people walked out from the VIP area.

"Busy, Huang? Well now, isn’t this Chu Qingyun? What’s the matter? Got stopped at the entrance?"

"Heh heh, Chu Qingyun, aren’t you supposed to be so powerful? You killed so many Small Spirit Realm experts from our Dong Family, so how come you’re getting blocked now? Did the auction house forget to send you an invitation?"

"Chu Qingyun, just be a good boy and scram to the back. The VIP area isn’t a place just anyone can enter."

After the four of them came over, they first greeted the minor steward of the VIP area, and then immediately began to mock Chu Qingyun with snide remarks.

"Han Libin, Dong Xin, Yang Qianren, Qu Ming! Is this your doing!?" Seeing the four of them, Qin Ya couldn’t help but demand coldly.

Chu Qingyun recognized three of the four. They were the descendants of the four Elder families of the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower, and he had severely injured three of them back at the Qin Mansion.

And now, it seemed they were back to cause more trouble.

Hearing Qin Ya’s accusation, Han Libin and his three companions grew even more smug and burst into loud laughter.

With Elder Qin not around, the four of them weren’t afraid of Qin Ya.

For the past few days, the four of them had been plotting together, planning to teach Chu Qingyun a harsh lesson at the auction and make him understand the consequences of offending them.

Over the past two days, they had even been wining and dining Steward Huang all over the County City, all for the sake of humiliating Chu Qingyun at this very moment.

They had long suspected that Qin Ya would definitely try to bring Chu Qingyun into the VIP area.

Moreover, there was still some time before the auction officially began. The true big shots and powerful experts wouldn’t show up this early just to wait around. The ones who had arrived now were all young masters like themselves, using their elders’ invitations to come and hang out.

Looking at the four gloating youths and Steward Huang, who had been smiling through the entire exchange, Chu Qingyun’s expression darkened.

If they had just stated the rule clearly from the beginning, he would have had no problem sitting in the regular section.

But to engineer the situation this way... they were leaving him no room to back down.

Beside him, Qin Ya was both helpless and furious. She didn’t know what to do either; it seemed there was no other option but to go find her grandfather and have him intervene.

Just then, a few more people arrived from behind them.

The one in the lead was none other than Ye Junhao of the Ye Family. Clearly, the people with him were all descendants of the Ye Family’s Celestial Spirit Realm Elders.

"Hm? Chu Qingyun!"

"What are you doing blocking the way?"

Upon seeing Chu Qingyun, Ye Junhao’s face instantly darkened. During the Four Races Martial Arts Competition, he had almost been killed by a single sword strike from Chu Qingyun. Now that the bitter rivals were meeting again, there was no way he would show a pleasant expression.