Battle Through the Heavens: Emperor Yan, please restrain yourself; your elder brother is truly hones

But Zhang Yuan didn't care about any of that and said directly, "I do have a request. I want to buy two fourth-tier wind-type magic cores from your auction house."

Ya Fei's smile faltered again, and then she said, "Brother, this is an auction house, not a shop. Those two fourth-tier wind-type magic cores are the highlight of this auction and cannot be sold in advance."

As expected of a businessman, he started raising prices right away.

But Zhang Yuan came prepared and asked directly, "Sister Yafei, do you know where I've been these past two years?"

Ya Fei stared at Zhang Yuan with her beautiful eyes and smiled, "Does little brother want to have a heart-to-heart talk with his older sister?"

Zhang Yuan's expression remained unchanged as he calmly said, "Sister Yafei, you don't want Mu Zhan to know you're here, do you?"

Ya Fei's smile froze instantly.

Xiao Yan blinked.

For some reason, Zhang Yuan's question gave him a strange sense of familiarity.

Neon flavor?

Chapter 12 Sister Yafei, you didn't want this either, did you?

"."

Ya Fei's smile vanished, replaced by a pallor on her already fair face. Her gaze toward Zhang Yuan was filled with humiliation and anger.

She did indeed have a deep memory of Zhang Yuan, because this young man not only had an outstanding appearance and temperament that she had never seen before, but also possessed the cultivation talent that she envied most.

When they first met, the boy was fourteen years old and already possessed the strength of a six-star Dou Zhe, while she had only just entered the Dou Zhe realm.

Two years have passed, and the young man has probably become a Dou Shi (Battle Master), while she is still a low-level Dou Zhe (Battle Person).

Now, she hated this boy so much that she wanted to bite him hard if she were strong enough, to vent her anger.

They actually used the person she hates most to threaten her!

"Do you know Mu Zhan?" Ya Fei straightened her posture, her tone becoming very serious.

“We’re very familiar with each other.” Zhang Yuan picked up his teacup and nodded. “Two years ago, I went out to train. After honing my skills in the Monster Mountain Range for half a year, I went to the three major fortresses in the south of the empire to enlist in the army and successfully joined the Black Armor Guard.”

"During the selection of Black Armor Guards, my rival for the squad leader position was Mu Zhan. At the time, he was a peak fighter and was said to be a direct descendant of the Mu family of the Empire."

At this point, Zhang Yuan paused and looked at Ya Fei. Seeing that her expression was still unpleasant, he continued, "We can be said to have become friends after our fight. He lost to me, but we became friends, and now we are both captains of the Black Armor Guard."

"He was a generous man. During his time off, he would often treat me to drinks and meals. Whenever he got drunk, he would boast to me about his sweetheart, Miss Yafei from the Mittel family."

Ya Fei pursed her lips, her face lacking the composure she had when she arrived.

Xiao Yan and the others all wore expressions of watching the drama unfold.

"This Mu Zhan is probably the clingy type. He must have pushed this little girl to the edge to run away to Wutan City," Yao Lao's voice rang in Xiao Yan's ears.

The latter was already used to it, and quickly turned his attention to Zhang Yuan, saying, "Cousin, you'll be returning to the army in a few days. You can tell that Miss Ya Fei is training in our Wutan City."

Ya Fei's heart skipped a beat, and she immediately said, "No, please don't!"

"Why?" Xiao Yan asked.

Ya Fei pursed her lips and remained silent.

Zhang Yuan, being such an understanding person, helped explain: "My brother Mu Zhan is in unrequited love. He's lawless in the empire. Whenever a man shows interest in Sister Ya Fei, he'll bring people to cause trouble, which has brought a lot of criticism to the Mu family."

"The head of the Mu family arranged for him to be trained in the border military camp in order to punish him. I think Sister Yafei came to Wutan City to avoid these troubles."

“That’s right.” Ya Fei said with a bitter expression, “My talent for cultivation is average. The elders in the clan all tend to marry me off to Mu Zhan, but I don’t want to accept such a fate, so I asked to come to Wutan City to run an auction house.”

"As long as I achieve results and prove that I can bring greater benefits to the family, I can be spared the fate of an arranged marriage."

As she spoke, Yafei picked up a handkerchief to wipe away the tears from the corners of her eyes.

His pitiful appearance was truly heartbreaking.

Xiao Yan glanced at Zhang Yuan, then awkwardly touched his nose; he was still too thin-skinned.

Zhang Yuan remained unmoved by this scene, and said calmly, "It is precisely because I understand the difficulties you are facing, Sister Ya Fei, that I am giving you a choice: can you trade a fourth-grade wind-elemental magic core?"

Ya Fei's expression froze, and she looked at Zhang Yuan with shock in her eyes.

She looked so pitiful, didn't this man have a heart?!

"My cousin is really awesome." Xiao Yan gave Zhang Yuan a thumbs up in his heart.

That's why he was able to win over Xun'er and that tigress Xiao Yu.

Xun'er, however, had a slight smile in her eyes, quite satisfied with Zhang Yuan's straight-man behavior.

“I can sell you one at market price.” Ya Fei gritted her teeth.

This was the first time she had been humiliated since coming to the Mittel Auction House in Utan City.

“Sister Yafei, this is an auction house, not a shop.” Zhang Yuan placed his auction house gold card on the table and said calmly, “As a VIP, I can get a 20% discount.”

Ya Fei took a deep breath.

If she could, she would want to break Zhang Yuan's bones.

"Fine." Ya Fei swallowed this bitter pill.

“I want both,” Zhang Yuan said again.

“Impossible.” Ya Fei said with a slightly cold expression, “Of the two fourth-order wind-type magic cores, one belongs to my Mittel family, which I can decide, but the other was entrusted to me by a passing Dou Ling for auction. I cannot overstep my bounds and there is only one.”

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yuan shook his head and said, "Sister Yafei, Mu Zhan is my dearest friend, my comrade-in-arms who would entrust me with his life, and my brother who fought alongside me."

"Stop!" Ya Fei interrupted, her face ashen. "I can arrange a meeting for you with that Lord Dou Ling. You can talk to him privately."

If I try to negotiate on my own, won't they try to rip me off?

The Xiao family cannot afford to offend Dou Ling for the time being.

“Sister Yafei, actually, if I told Mu Zhan you were here, he would be happy to sell me a fourth-tier wind-type magic core at a low price.” Zhang Yuan had a “I’ve got you figured out” look on his face.

Ya Fei wanted nothing more than to punch his handsome face, but she forced herself to say, "At most, I will buy this magic core from this gentleman as the person in charge of the Mittel Auction House, and you can buy it at my purchase price."

"Deal!" Zhang Yuan put down his teacup.

Everyone: "."

Ya Fei left, her face full of anger, no longer bothering to pretend to be polite.

But Zhang Yuan only needed to use the two words "wooden battle" to defeat him, showing no fear whatsoever.

Xiao Yan gave Zhang Yuan a thumbs up and exclaimed, "Cousin, you're really amazing! You can manipulate Ya Fei just by casually getting to know someone. Speaking of which, you must know all the direct descendants of the Nalan, Mu, and Mittel families now, right?"

“I also know you, a direct descendant of the Xiao family,” Zhang Yuan said with a smile. “You were one of the four great families of the former Jia Ma Empire.”

Upon hearing this, a hint of longing and guilt flashed in Xiao Zhan's eyes.

Seeing this, Zhang Yuan smiled and said, "Uncle, our Xiao family will surpass them in the future."

Xiao Zhan clenched his fists and smiled, "With you and Yan'er here, your uncle believes in you."

At this moment, Xun'er suddenly asked, "Brother Yuan, you and Na Muzhan aren't friends, are you?"

Zhang Yuan turned to look at her and said, "Xun'er is indeed very intelligent. I am not friends with Mu Zhan, and we even dislike each other. To be precise, he is a bit of a sore loser."

"As expected." Xun'er smiled brightly. "Given your personality, Brother Yuan, if you were truly friends with Mu Zhan, you wouldn't have used this to manipulate Ya Fei, even if you didn't tell him about Ya Fei's presence here."

Xun'er believed she knew Zhang Yuan well; this cousin was a true gentleman.

Xiao Zhan and Xiao Yan nodded in realization. They had said they had a strange feeling, and now they knew it was because of this.

Zhang Yuan: "."

I'm not in the entertainment industry, so why would anyone create a persona for me?

It doesn't matter, as long as you're happy.

About a quarter of an hour later.

Ya Fei returned, but not alone. She was accompanied by an elderly man in blue robes with white hair. His clothes looked ordinary, but there was a faint light flowing on them, probably because they were protected by some kind of magic crystal. He had an ordinary appearance but an undisguised arrogance, which was something every alchemist had.

What's most striking about the old man is the badge on his chest that resembles a medicine furnace, with two dazzling silver ripples, signifying that he is a second-grade alchemist.

"Master Gu Ni." Xiao Zhan stood up and clasped his hands in greeting to the old man.

The old man was not only a second-grade alchemist backed by the Mittel family, but also a three-star Grand Master, and the pillar of this auction house.

"Clan Chief Xiao." Master Gu Ni nodded casually to Xiao Zhan, then his gaze fell on Zhang Yuan.

Ya Fei walked gracefully to Zhang Yuan, her expression returning to normal. She placed a jade box on the table and said with a seductive smile, "Brother Zhang Yuan, here is a fourth-tier wind-type magic core, worth 200,000 gold coins on the market. You only need to give me 160,000."

There was only one, which means that the powerful cultivator in the Douling realm hadn't managed to get it.

Bringing Gu Ni back with him, is it an attempt to use both soft and hard tactics?

She's definitely a woman with some tricks up her sleeve.

Zhang Yuan didn't rush to accept the demon core, but instead asked, "Is that Dou Ling expert unwilling to sell it?"

“I’m willing to sell, but the price won’t be low.” Ya Fei puffed out her cleavage, which could make most men’s mouths dry, and sighed with one hand on her hip. “If you had come a few days earlier, this matter would have been easier to resolve, because that lord urgently needs gold coins, but today is the auction day, so he naturally wants to wait a little longer.”

“If I were to acquire it ahead of time, and he only accepts a barter deal or a purchase at market price, my Mittel family would owe him a favor, which I cannot make.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Gu Ni said, "I am qualified to accept this favor from this auction house, but boy, do you think your threat to Ya Fei is enough to make me speak up?"

Chapter 13, Gu Ni's version: You're really good at judging people.

"And you're quite bold for your age, daring to threaten members of my Mittel family. Do you think that becoming a Black Armor Guard and climbing the social ladder through the Mu family gives you the right to be arrogant and disrespectful?"

Gu Ni stared at Zhang Yuan with a cold and arrogant gaze, making Xiao Zhan's palms sweat.

It's true that the strong are respected in the Dou Qi Continent, but there's also a set of systems and unwritten rules. It's rare for forces to commit acts like annihilating a clan or destroying a sect, especially when a strong force is dealing with a weak one.

Today you can rely on your strength to destroy your opponent (harvest resources), but tomorrow someone else can easily destroy you just because they are stronger than you. Will there still be peace in this world?

There is only one place on the Dou Qi Continent where such things can be done without restraint: the Black Corner Region.

Therefore, neither the Yunlan Sect, the Nalan family, nor the Mittel family could easily take drastic measures against the Xiao family. Otherwise, they would be labeled as heretical and unorthodox, and then attacked by all sides, which would be a loss for them.

However, given the size of the Mittel family, they don't need to take action against the Xiao family themselves. They have a hundred or a thousand ways to deal with them, such as providing support to the Jia Lie family and the Oba family in terms of business intelligence.

Therefore, Xiao Zhan was afraid that Zhang Yuan would offend Gu Ni too much.

“Gu Ni Da”