No matter how one were to look at it, I made my best to prevent anyone else from bidding even higher on this beast. Not only I would be able to profit greatly from this unexpected encounter, but I could also even make use of this situation to get this obvious spy away from the remaining part of the auction!

"Dear sir, while this beast is on the verge of breaking through to a higher realm, it's also true that it's still rather aggressive. As such, I will have to ask you to pay up and then leave with it."

Putting up my kindest smile I could come up with, I threw the unconscious beast at the old man. As for collecting the money, it was a duty of the attendants. If I were to go down and pester the clients every time any items was sold, this auction would take ages and would not be nearly as entertaining to watch as it was now!

"What do you mean by that? Isn't this beast fully tamed?"

Finally understanding that he wants a bit too far too fast, it was obvious to everyone that this old man was trying to go back at his bid. But there was no way I would allow such a thing to happen! 

"I wanted to tell this while introducing this beast at the auction, but sadly, you decided to bid before I had the chance to, forcing me to sell it without any proper explanation. The attendants will collect the money and see you to the exit. I hope you will be happy with your purchase!"

With my smile fueled by now just a joy of how the situation unveiled itself I promptly ignored the man and turned my attention back to everyone else.

"Just like promised, the next item that we will auction will be another sword of a similar quality as the one from before! While the materials that were used to craft it are a bit diffrent, after prolonged consideration and various tests we came to a conclusion that its prowess is on par with the weapon we previously auctioned. As such, the starting bid will be five hundred arena coins!"

"I protest!"

Just as I finished my bit, the old man with the beast already in his hands stood up and shouted. Just from a single look at his face, it was clear that only now did he fully understood how he played himself.

"You tricked me! This beast is not…"

"Dear sir, you clearly do not want to imply that we forced you to bid on it?"

Cutting right in the middle of his sentence, I looked at him with an annoyed look on my face.

"You should understand that this auction is backed by heavenly sword sect and as such, all accusations means putting the blame on them! Unless you can prove that we really attempted to cheat you, it's better to just accept the loss of overpaying and be smarter the next time. Additionally, I recall asking you to leave. Should I call the guards instead of attendants?"

If I gave him any ground of retaliation right now, this mess would only stall the auction and cause dissatisfaction in the crowd and my important guests. The only choice I had right now was to hide behind Venna's backing and hope this old p.r.i.c.k would get scared of the heavenly sect.

Even if getting rid of him wouldn't pose much trouble to me, not to speak about combined might of Eve, Venna and me, resolving to violence on the very first auction would bring troubles to this business later on. As long as I could avoid such a bad fame from sticking with us, I was willing to go to great lengths!

With that said, there wasn't even a slightest chance that I would let this man get away scot-free. Not only did he dare to force me with his bid, he even attempted to go back on it! Now he had to swallow this sour pill, cough up the coins and leave. I wouldn't settle with any other outcome.

"Boy, don't you know who you are dealing with?!"

Oh, so we came at the phase of threatening each other? That's great! If he was the first to utter such dumb words, a world of possibilities opened in front of me!

"While I can guess, I don't have enough concrete information to judge your affiliation. But to be honest, I don't really care about it. Every important figure from the city that expressed their willingness to join the auction is accommodated in the VIP lodges, while I don't need to fear any feud of unaffiliated cultivators with the protection of not only heavenly sect but the city mayor's as well. What's even more important, I won't let anyone tilt my neutrality during this auction. Only by deciding to break the rules of this house will you be subjected to a diffrent kind of treatment, but I can a.s.sure you, it won't end up with any additional privileges!"

Sending a long rant to the side of this old man, I couldn't help but smile as the last words left my mouth. G.o.d, d.a.m.n it! It felt good to let all my anger and annoyance on somebody! Since I already had a feud with Katenaris and Dracons, there was no point keeping the pretence of sympathy at all!

"I admit, it's my loss now. But don't think this will be forgiven or forgotten! You will pay for your insolence!"

While I wouldn't mind letting this man have the last word if he at least pretended to act with due respect, but seeing how he just turned around and attempted to leave, I gestured at the guards. In a moment, they appeared in front of him, blocking the old man's path. Even if their cultivation was far below than his, I could already see a shadow of Eve and Venna lurking around the place.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think my attendant received due payment for the beast you bought. Seeing how you lack any respect towards the authorities and rules here, I will have to insist on receiving the money right now!"

Forcing the servant of one of the main powers in the city to cough up such a huge sum of the money on the spot was the best thing I could do. While I didn't have any doubts that no matter what, they would pay this amount, that didn't mean that this man had this type of money on himself! 

Looking at a blush on the old face of his, my guess was on the point!

That's what you get for trying to spy or make troubles for me!