Yoriichi began to move.
He used the footwork he had been refining in the stream, combined with the principles of Sun Breathing.
"Shadowless Sun Tread."
He didn't vanish. He simply... wasn't there when the attacks landed. He flowed around the violence. He pivoted on one foot, letting a kick sail past his nose. He ducked under a haymaker, his red hair swaying softly.
Huo watched, feeling his legs getting weak. He saw the guards sweating, panting, their faces red with exertion, while Yoriichi hadn't even broken a sweat. It was like watching two bears trying to catch a butterfly.
More than a minute passed.
The guards were wheezing. Their Dou Qi Cloaks were flickering from exhaustion. They had thrown hundreds of punches and hit nothing but air.
Huo couldn't take it anymore. The humiliation was suffocating.
SLAM!
He slapped the table in frustration.
"USELESS!" Huo screamed at the top of his lungs, his voice cracking. "Head Guard! Remove this trash! He disrespected the Miteer Auction House! Crush him!"
From the inner corridor, a terrifying pressure suddenly erupted.
BOOM.
The air grew heavy, as if gravity had doubled.
An aura of a 5-Star Dou Shi flared up like a beacon.
"Out of the way!" a booming voice commanded.
A figure blurred from the corridor. It was the Head Guard, a middle-aged man with a scar across his face and muscles like iron cords.
Yoriichi sensed the threat instantly.
"Dou Shi. Fast."
He abandoned his passive evasion. He leaped backward, executing a graceful backflip that carried him out of the lobby and onto the wide stone steps outside the auction house.
The Head Guard pursued, landing heavily on the pavement in front of him.
Yoriichi frowned. The situation was escalating too quickly. He could fight—he had the techniques—but fighting a Dou Shi in public would expose his true strength and cause a diplomatic disaster for the Xiao Clan.
He turned his silent, dead eyes to the Head Guard.
The Head Guard paused. He looked at the boy. He felt the same inexplicable chill that Huo had felt.
"What is this?" the Head Guard thought, narrowing his eyes. "This kid is a 9-Star Disciple. Why does his presence feel so... sharp?"
He coughed, shaking off the feeling. He had a job to do.
"Kid," the Head Guard said loudly, his voice projecting to the gathering crowd. "Don't make things difficult for this old man. We give face to the Xiao Clan, but you are causing a scene. Leave now, or the situation won't be good."
He released his full aura.
The pressure crashed down on Yoriichi. It felt like a physical mountain pressing on his shoulders.
Creak.
Yoriichi's knees bent slightly. The difference in cultivation ranks was absolute. A Dou Shi's pressure could force a Disciple to kneel instantly.
But Yoriichi did not kneel.
He gritted his teeth.
"Breath of the Sun."
He chanted the rhythm internally. His heart hammered against his ribs. The solar energy coursing through his blood flared up, acting as an internal engine to push back against the external pressure.
He straightened his legs.
He stood tall, his red robes fluttering in the invisible wind of the Dou Shi's aura. He gazed silently at the man, unyielding.
The Head Guard's eyes widened in genuine shock. "He... he is resisting? A Dou Zhi Qi kid is resisting my pressure?"
By now, a crowd had gathered on the street.
Among them was a girl in a violet dress, holding a scroll.
Xiao Xun'er.
She had been on her way to the city library when the commotion stopped her. She stood on the edge of the crowd, her golden eyes narrowing as she took in the scene.
"Xiao Ning?" she thought, frowning. "He is in danger. A Dou Shi is suppressing him. Why is he fighting the Miteer guards? Is he stupid?"
She watched him resist the pressure. Her frown deepened into curiosity.
"He isn't collapsing. His foundation... it is terrifyingly solid. But he needs to back off. If the Dou Shi strikes, he will be crippled."
High above, on the balcony of the VIP floor, two figures watched.
Ya Fei leaned against the railing, her expression unreadable. Beside her, the black-robed "Alchemist" (Xiao Yan) watched with satisfaction.
"Xiao Ning," Xiao Yan thought, a smirk hidden beneath his hood. "Now what will you do? Go disgrace yourself as usual? Or will you be injured again? This is the price of arrogance."
Yoriichi, standing under the crushing weight, finally opened his mouth.
He didn't scream for mercy. He didn't beg.
He raised his hand and pointed a bandaged finger directly at Huo, who was cowering behind the guards in the doorway.
"Everyone in the perimeter can hear clearly!" Yoriichi announced, his voice steady and amplified by his Dou Qi.
"Mr. Appraiser! I have given the items including Tier 1 pills, weapons, herbs, and artifacts! The sale price was confirmed! Yet, after the auction, you are giving me only half of the price I should be given!"
The crowd murmured.
"Half?"
"That's stealing!"
"Is the Miteer Auction House cheating customers?"
"Why commit such daylight robbery?" Yoriichi continued, his gaze piercing. "I hope you don't break the trust of the patrons who sell you goods and buy from you also. Is this the reputation of the Miteer Family?"
It was a critical hit. He wasn't attacking their strength; he was attacking their business.
The Head Guard frowned. This was bad. Rumors killed profits faster than swords.
Huo, realizing he was now the center of public scrutiny, panicked. His face turned purple with embarrassment and rage.
"You trash!" Huo screamed, stepping out. "I gave you the right amount! You agreed to the fees! You just want to make problems for this prestigious house because you are greedy! How disgraceful!"
Yoriichi sighed. He felt his Dou Qi vanishing rapidly under the strain of resisting the Dou Shi.
"It couldn't be worse than this," he thought. "I have made my point. But I cannot fight my way out. I need to back off now."
He prepared to use Shadowless Sun Tread to escape into the crowd.
But then—
The oppressive mountain of the Dou Shi's aura vanished. Instantly.
It was replaced by a different pressure. A hotter, heavier, metallic pressure that smelled of iron and fire.
"Shuan!"
A voice roared like a thunderclap, shaking the glass in the windows.
"You have so much nerve to pick on a kid!"
The crowd parted as a massive figure stomped up the stairs.
"Did the Miteer Auction House become so arrogant and overlord that they can trample on anyone? Including a young man who forged the weapons you just sold?!"
It was a man with a chest like a barrel and skin like bronze.
Master Tie Shan.
He stood beside Yoriichi, glaring at the Head Guard and the terrifyingly pale appraiser. In his hand, he held a massive smithing hammer.
"Tie Shan?" the Head Guard whispered, stepping back in fear.
Yoriichi looked up at the blacksmith. Tie Shan looked down and winked.
"I came to sell my spear," Tie Shan grunted. "Didn't expect to find my student being robbed."
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