I am the Arcane Archer, and all my skills are self-created.

Jianzhi Qiangwei herself attended the event, dressed in a fiery red robe that made her look radiant and attracted the attention of most of the men in the room.

Iron Blood Battle Flag also arrived, sitting there with a swagger, looking around with disdain and provocation in his eyes.

Feng Yun Jiutian, accompanied by several trusted confidants, sat in a corner, his face gloomy, seemingly lost in thought.

As soon as Li Wu and his group entered through the side door, all eyes turned to them.

"It's like viewing flowers through the fog and searching for fog among flowers!"

"So young..."

"What kind of equipment is that soldier behind him wearing? It looks so cool! He seems even more formidable than the Iron-Blooded Banner soldier!"

Is "Seeing Flowers Through the Mist" truly the owner of the Thousand Gold Pavilion?

Whispers filled the hall.

Ignoring everyone's gaze, Li Wu led the group straight up the stairs to the third floor.

The third floor houses their core office area and observation deck.

From here, you can overlook the entire auction hall on the first floor.

"Boss, there are more people than I expected," Steel Shield said nervously, looking at the dense crowd below.

"That's normal," Li Wu said calmly. "It shows that Lin Hai's publicity efforts were very effective."

Just then, Lin Hai went up to the third floor.

He straightened his collar, took a deep breath, and said to Li Wu, "Boss, it's almost time, I should go up."

"Go ahead." Li Wu nodded. "This is your stage."

"Don't worry, boss!" Lin Hai's eyes gleamed. "Today, I'll make the name Thousand Gold Pavilion resound throughout Ironforge!"

After saying that, he turned around, head held high, and walked towards the auction stage on the first floor.

When he appeared on the auction stage, the noisy hall instantly fell silent.

All eyes were on him.

Lin Hai cleared his throat and slammed the auction gavel on the table.

"when!"

A crisp sound echoed through the hall.

Good evening, distinguished guests and friends!

"I am Lin Hai, the CEO of Qianjin Pavilion!"

"I hereby announce that the inaugural Qianjin Pavilion counter rental auction is now...officially commenced!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the entire audience erupted in applause.

Standing on the auction stage, facing hundreds of eyes below, Lin Hai felt no nervousness, but rather a long-lost excitement.

This feeling of being in complete control and making strategic decisions brought him back to his peak when he was in charge of Wanbaolou in District 9.

No, he's even more excited now than he was back then.

Because everything he's doing now isn't doing the work for someone else, but rather building his own business empire!

He looked around the room and said in a loud voice:

"First of all, on behalf of Qianjinge and our founder, Mr. Wulikanhua, I welcome everyone!"

The moment the phrase "seeing flowers through the fog" was uttered, a commotion immediately arose from the audience.

Although it had been suspected for some time, the confirmation of the name still caused a huge stir.

"It really was him!"

"My goodness, this Thousand Gold Pavilion is truly the work of a master strategist!"

"It's unbelievable that a solo player can own such a large business in the main city!"

Lin Hai looked at the audience's reaction with satisfaction; this was exactly the effect he wanted.

His first step was to bind Qianjin Pavilion and the legendary ID "Looking at Flowers in the Mist" together tightly!

"I know that everyone is here today for the shops on the first floor of Qianjin Pavilion."

"In the heart of Ironforge, in a prime location, a three-story building, with a daily foot traffic exceeding 100,000! I believe everyone here understands better than I what owning a counter here means!"

"It means wealth, it means opportunity, it means your goods will be seen by players throughout Ironforge and even the entire District 21!"

Lin Hai's words were very persuasive, and many small and medium-sized business owners and casual gamers in the audience showed enthusiastic expressions.

"Enough with the small talk, let's get straight to the point!"

"Today, we will be publicly auctioning the usage rights for twenty standard counters in the lobby on the first floor, as well as three prime gold counters located near the entrance! One year's usage rights!"

"The first items to be auctioned are standard counters numbered one through twenty! These twenty counters will be auctioned as a package! The starting price is fifty gold coins! Each bid must be at least ten gold coins higher!"

As soon as Lin Hai finished speaking, the entire room erupted in uproar!

"What? A package auction?"

"Twenty counters, starting bid fifty gold coins? This...this is way too expensive!"

"A standard counter has a starting bid equivalent to 2.5 gold coins. Who can afford that?!"

Many casual players and small business owners who were originally eager to try their luck were immediately deterred by this hurdle, and their faces showed disappointment.

On the third-floor observation deck, a friend of the beasts asked, somewhat puzzled, "Boss, what's Lin Hai doing? Setting such a high starting price and selling it as a package deal, isn't that driving most people away?"

"He's screening clients," Li Wu said.

"Customer screening?"

"That's right," Hua Zitong explained. "Qianjin Pavilion is positioned in the high-end market, and we don't need those scattered small vendors."

"Lin Hai did this to filter out those who lack strength and only want to take advantage of others from the very beginning. Those who remain are guilds or merchant groups with certain capital and strength, which makes management easier and ensures the overall style of Qianjin Pavilion."

The friend of the beast nodded, seemingly understanding.

Sure enough, the commotion in the audience quickly subsided.

The eliminated players, though disappointed, didn't leave but chose to stay and watch the spectacle. They wanted to know who had the audacity to buy up all twenty counters in one go.

"Fifty gold coins! Anyone bidding?" Lin Hai's voice rang out again.

A brief silence fell over the room.

Fifty gold coins is not a small amount for any guild at this stage.

Just when everyone thought the auction was going to fail, a goblin NPC merchant sitting in the middle row raised his paddle.

"Sixty gold coins!" he shouted in a shrill voice.

"It's Soros, the president of the Iron Abacus Merchant Guild! He actually came too!" Someone in the audience recognized the NPC.

"Seventy gold coins!" From another direction, the leader of a craftsman alliance composed of more than a dozen crafting players gritted his teeth and raised his sign.

"Eighty gold coins!"

"Ninety gold coins!"

The bidding has started!

Although there were not many participants, each one came prepared.

Prices have been steadily rising among several small and medium-sized guilds and NPC merchant guilds.

Finally, when the price was raised to 120 gold coins, the situation once again reached a stalemate.

This price is already close to the limit that most small and medium-sized guilds can afford.

"One hundred and twenty gold coins per attempt!"

"One hundred and twenty gold coins twice!"

Lin Hai raised the auction gavel, his gaze sweeping across the entire room.

Just as he was about to bring down the gavel, the Iron Blood Banner in the front row suddenly raised its sign.

"One hundred and fifty gold coins!" he shouted gruffly.

The entire audience erupted in uproar once again!

"It's the Iron Blood Alliance! They've made their move!"

"One hundred and fifty gold coins! What a generous gift!"

The factions that were bidding earlier had no choice but to put down their tokens when they saw the Iron Blood Alliance take the lead.

They knew they had no chance left.

There's no chance of winning against such a super guild.

"The Iron Blood Alliance has offered 150 gold coins! Is there anyone offering a higher bid?" Lin Hai's face revealed a subtle smile.

These are the big fish he's been waiting for.

"One hundred and sixty gold coins."

A cool, clear female voice came from another direction.

It's like a sword pointing at a rose.

She didn't even raise her paddle; she simply announced a price, but all eyes in the room were instantly drawn to her.

Iron Blood Banner's face instantly darkened.

"Pointing your sword at the rose, what do you mean? Are you determined to oppose me?" he questioned bluntly.

"The auction is on a highest bidder. Is there a problem?" Sword Pointing Rose didn't even glance at him, picked up the red tea on the table, and took a small sip.

"You!" Iron Blood Banner was speechless, then let out a heavy snort and raised the sign again.

"One hundred and eighty gold coins!"

He immediately added twenty gold coins, clearly trying to scare the other party off with the price.

However, Jian Zhiwei still maintained that nonchalant expression.

"Two hundred gold coins."

hiss--!

A collective gasp filled the room.

Everyone was stunned by the audacity of pointing the sword at the rose.

Two hundred gold coins!

I'll bid 200 gold coins for 20 standard counters!

This isn't just buying counter space; this is clearly burning money!

Iron Blood Banner's face had turned a deep liver color.

Two hundred gold coins were far beyond his budget. He hadn't expected that woman, Sword Pointing at Rose, would be so crazy!

"Fine! You win!" Iron Blood Banner finally gave up, gritting its teeth as it put down the sign in its hand.

"Two hundred gold coins! The Sword and Rose Guild has offered two hundred gold coins! Is there anyone offering a higher bid?" Lin Hai's voice was filled with excitement.

This price has far exceeded his expectations.

The audience was silent.

No one dared to compete with this woman anymore.

"Two hundred gold coins per try!"

"Two hundred gold coins twice!"

"Two hundred gold coins... three times!"

"when!"

The auction gavel slammed down!

"Sold! Congratulations to the [Sword and Rose] Guild for successfully winning the one-year usage rights to standard counters number one through twenty at Qianjin Pavilion!"

Lin Hai's voice announced the end of the first round of bidding.

The audience erupted in enthusiastic applause.

Everyone cast a look of awe at the sword pointing at the rose.

Sword Pointing at Rose didn't glance at anyone from beginning to end. She simply put down her teacup, her gaze passing through the crowd towards the third floor, a slight smile playing on her lips.