Shun Long smiled mockingly at the starting price that the 'Treasure Pavilion' had set for his wine.

''Master, I'm sure that they are intentionally trying to bring down the price of the wine so they can get it cheaper as well.''

With that mocking smile still on his face Shun Long replied

''Perhaps if I have put for auction both of the barrels, then this could work. But now ...? There is no chance for this cheap trick to cause any waves today. There is only one barrel, and whoever wants it will obtain it. If the 'Treasure Pavilion' thinks that this can do any harm today then they really are a bunch of fools.''

When the people in the outer seats heard that the wine would be sold for spirit stones, they were dazed as they had expected everything in a sect auction to be purchasable with sect points.

However, the Elders in the private rooms had been informed beforehand, so all of them had brought large amounts of spirit stones with them, as the bidding war then started

''1100 spirit stones!''

''1100? Hahaha, Lu Niu are you dreaming? 1500 spirit stones''

''1800''

''2000''

The price for the wine was climbing at an alarming rate, but Shun Long was still casually sipping his wine as he enjoyed the show. Little Black had almost finished his wine barrel by now, and looking at the relaxed Shun Long he asked

''Master, are you certain that you want to challenge that Fu Peizhi in 3 days from now? Why not just fight him after you get a little stronger? We still have 3 months until this 'Vermilion realm' opens, so even if you decide to fight him near the end of the 3 months, there will still be plenty of time.''

Shun Long however shook his head at little Black's question as he said

''I too would have preferred to go in seclusion after today's auction but... it may create problems in the future.''

Shun Long saw that little Black didn't understand what he meant so he continued explaining

''The real issue lies with the arena rules. Only those ranked 101-200 are allowed to challenge the top 100 people in the arena.

If I go into seclusion while I'm still ranked 93rd, there is no doubt that I will receive plenty of challenges and I will either have to accept all of them or lose my rank.''

Little Black nodded his head as he said

''But the worst that can happen is for master to fall below the top 100 ranks then right? Master will definitely be able to reclaim a spot in the top 100 after exiting seclusion.''

Shun Long smiled after he heard little Black's words and said

''The arena rules state that one can refuse a challenge if he has already fought for that day. Even if I'm strong enough to claim a spot in the top 100, if people abuse this rule near the last days of the selection and I end up being unable to successfully challenge someone in the top 100, then I will still be the one who loses out.''

Little Black seemed to have just realized that such a 'loophole' existed in the arena rules. However, this didn't answer all of his questions so he continued

''But still, how is it going to help if master challenges Fu Peizhi?''

''The bottom 20 of the 100 ranks are the 'easiest target' for people who aim to reach the top 100 and enter the 'Vermilion realm'. But the fight for the bottom spots of the top 100 will also be much more bloody because of this, whereas someone ranked in the top 20 won't receive nearly a fifth of the challenges that the bottom rankers will.''

Realization finally dawned on the black dragon's face as he asked

''So master wants to enter the top 20 to avoid most of the challenges while still securing your rank!''

Shun Long smiled as he nodded his head and said

''That, and to teach Fu Peizhi a lesson. Since he dared to challenge me just to teach me a lesson, it's about time I knock him off his high horse.''

While Shun Long and little Black were chatting, the auction hall had turned into a bidding battlefield as the price for Shun Long's wine had already reached 24.000 spirit stones.

''24.500''

Fu Lingtian's voice sounded from private room number 4 as he looked at Meng Shao inside private room number 6.

''25.000! Old crap Fu, stop fighting with me over this wine. You have been stuck at the 9th rank of the Heaven grade for 400 years, no matter how miraculous the wine is, it won't help you breakthrough to the Spirit realm!''

''26.000! You old ** Meng, talk to me again after you reach the peak of the Heaven grade! This wine is mine!''

''27.000''

The price for the wine had reached such a huge number, that only the old patriarchs of the Fu and the Meng families still dared to compete with each other for it.

The higher echelons of the 'Treasure Pavilion' who were watching the bidding war, felt a pain in their hearts as they saw the price of the wine rise non-stop. Even if they subtracted the 5% that their pavilion took as payment, the price was still much higher than their original estimations.

''30.000! Meng Shao, are you still going to fight with me over this?''

Gritting his teeth, Meng Shao called out

''31.000! Don't be crazy old fart! This is almost the price of 2 rank 4 medicinal herbs! Even you must feel the pain after losing so many spirit stones at once!''

''32.000!'' Fu Lingtian called out with a determined look in his eyes. Fatty Fu's knees were now trembling as he watched his grandfather.

Meng Shao exploded in rage after hearing Fu Lingtian's voice again. 32.000 spirit stones was a huge amount even for the old patriarch of the Meng family.

''You crazy old fart! Fine! Since one barrel of wine has already appeared, I don't believe that another one won't appear in the future again!''

With that, Meng Shao finally decided to stop bidding, allowing Fu Lingtian to finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Inside his private room, Shun Long's eyes were shining brightly as he thought of the more than 60.000 spirit stones that would be entering his pocket soon.

Barely 10 minutes had passed, when Ma Tengfei along with Yin Xing then arrived in the private room.