Genshin Impact: I, the Winter Prince, reign supreme.

Looking back on Liyue, which he now governs, he recalls how it nearly faced annihilation several times in history, only to be saved by his timely intervention.

"Mr. Su Yu, they have never suffered from foreign invasion?"

Su Yu answered fluently: "No matter how ferocious the invaders were, they were eventually driven away. Thousands of years of cultural heritage have enabled that nation to unite unprecedentedly whenever it faced the most dangerous moment. Their secret to victory lies not in the individual, but in the strength of the entire collective."

"The power of the collective!"

Zhongli fell silent again, then suddenly he seemed to understand something, and his eyes flashed.

"Liyue has been protected by the power of the Geo Archon for over a thousand years. We should consciously cultivate and develop this collective strength. Only when the Geo Archon and the Grandmaster disappear one day can Liyue truly prosper forever. This is the direction for Liyue's future development..."

Zhongli muttered to himself, and the proprietress Ji Fang, who was used to it, explained to Su Yu, "Mr. Zhongli is concerned about the country and its people. The issues he considers often concern the future of Liyue. We are all used to it."

"Understandable."

When these high and mighty gods like Morax began to reflect on their governing philosophies, it undoubtedly indicated that they were starting to consider the erosion of divine justice.

Like a film set in a secluded paradise, it avoids wear and tear by isolating itself from the outside world.

Like Barbatos, the wind god of Mondstadt, he reduced wear and tear by evading the responsibilities of the Seven Constables.

Like the Ice Queen of the Winter Kingdom, she defies the laws of nature to combat wear and tear.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Morax will fake his death during the Summoning Ceremony, handing over full control of Liyue to the "Liyue Seven Stars".

This was something Su Yu hadn't expected, and his words only strengthened Morax's resolve to delegate power to the people.

"Mr. Zhongli, Mr. Su Yu, the auction at Wanwen Collection House is about to begin. Would you like to participate?"

In the afternoon, Ji Fang suddenly came over to ask questions.

Zhong Li, who had been lost in thought by the window for almost the entire morning, turned around and said, "Please prepare a VIP seat for Mr. Su Yu and me."

"I'll make the arrangements now."

Ji Fang left the room, while Zhong Li remained deep in thought.

"I'm just telling a story, you don't have to take it seriously."

Su Yu walked to Zhong Li's side and said.

Zhongli, with his broad perspective, didn't believe it was just a simple story, and said, "Your identity must be extraordinary. But I won't pry. Everyone has secrets, and I'm no exception. Mr. Su Yu, the ethnic group you mentioned is called Huaxia. Does it have any special meaning?"

"It is called Xia because of its great etiquette; it is called Hua because of its beautiful clothing."

Zhongli sighed, "Indeed, it has a profound cultural heritage. Liyue is no match for it."

Su Yu smiled calmly, then looked in the direction Ji Fang had left.

Why would Wanwenji House hold an auction?

"Most of them are antiques and calligraphy, and there are also quite a few rare treasures. Boss Ji said that there are also some ancient items this time, and Mr. Su Yu is also a person of refined taste, so he will definitely be interested."

Chapter 57 Wanwen Collection House (Part 2)

The side hall of Wanwenji She is an auction house.

Su Yu learned from Zhong Li that the auction business was a new business launched by Wanwen Jishe in recent years.

Compared to traditional consignment sales with fixed prices, auctions not only allow sellers of valuable items to earn huge profits, but also attract a large number of customers to the bookstores themselves.

After explaining all this, Zhongli added, "This is my suggestion."

Although Su Yu knew this wasn't Zhongli showing off, but rather stating his role in the matter, he still understood the underlying meaning—

I want to hear Su Yu's opinion on this matter.

After the lecture, it was clear that Zhongli valued his views and opinions highly, or rather, he wanted to gain Su Yu's approval.

Well then, so be it.

"I think it's a good idea; diversified operations can mitigate risks."

"Thank you."

Having received the answer he wanted, Zhongli expressed his gratitude.

This was the first time he, as a deity, had concretely intervened in human production and business activities.

In the past, he would only announce the development plan and guidelines for the coming year at the annual Ascension Ceremony, while the specific operations were carried out by the "Liyue Septackeys". He was like a behind-the-scenes manager who did nothing.

Recently, he wanted to further integrate into the lives of ordinary people, experience the various aspects of life, and learn the life skills of ordinary people in advance, especially their attitudes, so that he could adapt to life after losing his divine status.

Su Yu wasn't particularly interested in this kind of auction; with his current strength, external help to him was negligible.

However, Zhongli's invitation was too much to refuse, so he agreed to go to the auction with her.

The auction had just begun when they arrived.

To Su Yu's surprise, there were heavy guards from the Thousand Rock Army outside the venue. It wasn't until he entered the venue that Su Yu understood what was going on.

Looking around, I spotted quite a few familiar faces.

The president of the Inazuma World Merchant Guild, Jiu Lixu, the second young master of the Flying Cloud Merchant Guild, Xingqiu, and his friend Chongyun were all present. Sitting in the front row alongside them were the managers of various Liyue merchant guilds, each of them fat and wealthy.

Besides them, many wealthy young men, noble ladies, and second-generation officials from Liyue also came, as could be judged from their luxurious clothes.

Today's auction was clearly prepared long ago, and those present were all wealthy merchants and people of high status in Liyue.

Judging from this, the auction must be of a very high standard. With this in mind, Su Yu forced himself to cheer up.

I picked up a cup of hot tea brought by the waiter and savored it slowly.

"Welcome, esteemed customers. As usual, the bidding will proceed as follows: bidders will call their own bids, and the highest bidder wins. Let's begin the first auction!"

The person in charge of organizing the auction was none other than the proprietress, Ji Fang.

"The first item up for auction is the Relic Serpent, which has relatively good performance. This relic machine, which looks like a giant serpent, is the culmination of the engineering technology of the ancient kingdom of Kanria and can greatly improve the efficiency of mining underground minerals."

"The giant serpent is taller than the eaves of the exhibition hall, so the actual item is stored in the suburbs. Buyers can pick up the item immediately after bidding, and Wanwen Jishe provides a guarantee in the process."

The audience's eyes lit up immediately.

Today, most of the artifacts from the ancient kingdom of Kanria are in ruins, while those in good condition are extremely rare and have very high collection and research value, making each piece quite valuable.

"However, we must remind everyone to be careful beforehand, as the giant serpent of the ruins is extremely ferocious. When the seller found it, it was still digging a cave in a mine, and it was only brought under control after injuring many people."

"Mr. Ji, enough with the nonsense. Just tell us the starting price!"

A big boss in the audience shouted impatiently.

Ji Fang said with a smile, "Starting bid: ten million Mora!"

At first glance, it sounds like an astronomical figure, but for the Giant Serpent of the Ruins, this starting price is only considered average.

"Eleven million Mora!"

"Fifteen million Mora!"

"Seventeen million Mora!"

The people who came to the auction today were all wealthy and powerful, and one after another, they made bids, with each bid increasing by millions.

However, everything has a value ceiling, and when the auction price rose to twenty million, there were very few bidders left.

"Twenty-five million Mora. Everyone, please don't argue with me. This stuff can only reach its full value if it's in my hands."

Someone offered a high price.

Zhongli introduced Su Yu, saying, "This man is a famous wealthy merchant from Fontaine, with close ties to the Fontaine court. In recent years, the Fontaine Royal Academy has been studying the ruins of the ancient kingdom of Kanria. He spent a fortune to buy the giant serpent from the ruins, presumably to hand it over to the Royal Academy for research."

"I'm also somewhat interested in this. Fifty million Mora!"

Su Yu made a direct bid, joining the auction at twice the price offered by the Fontainebleau merchant.

The teacup that Zhongli had just brought to his lips froze in mid-air.

"If you're interested in these self-governing organizations, I know of Ruin Guardians in some of Liyue's secret realms. While not as massive as the Ruin Serpent, they're quite cost-effective for leisure or entertainment. Buying something like this for 50 million Mora isn't a wise move unless you have a specific use for it. Perhaps Mr. Su Yu has a grudge against that wealthy Fontaine merchant?"

"Among the seven kingdoms, there are very few who can be my enemies."

Su Yu said calmly, "The Relic Serpent is a digging tool, and its uses go far beyond mining. In the frigid regions of the Winter Kingdom, there exists a magnificent ancient ice cave. The cave is constantly affected by the earth's veins, which slows down exploration. This Relic Serpent, however, is dozens of times more efficient than manual digging and is almost unaffected by the earth's veins."

In fact, this isn't the only place. Beneath the eternally frozen earth of the Winter Kingdom lie numerous ancient cultural relics. Many of these are ancient civilizations destroyed during the Demon God War more than two thousand years ago, and some even date back to prehistoric times.

However, the eternal ice beneath the Winter Kingdom is harder than rock, making it extremely difficult to mine manually. Buying this giant serpent of relics and excavating those ancient ruins would yield treasures far exceeding fifty million Mora.

Upon hearing this, Zhongli only said four words: "It's excellent value for money."

He also confirmed Su Yu's nationality, stating that he came from Zhidong.

On the other side, the famous tycoon from Fontaine originally wanted to compete for it. He could afford to pay 100 million Mora, let alone 50 million Mora. However, his opponent's bidding method was too ruthless, doubling the price directly. This showed that the opponent was determined to get the giant serpent of the ruins, so there was no need to compete anymore.

With his withdrawal from the auction, the Giant Relic Serpent was successfully acquired by Su Yu for 50 million Mora.

He glanced venomously in Su Yu's direction, and when he realized the other person was a strange young man, he whispered to his beautiful assistant beside him, "These young people nowadays, they really don't know their place. I've been in the business world for decades, and with the backing of the Fontaine Palace, people will give me face wherever I go. It seems that I haven't made a move in a long time, and they've all forgotten how I started my business."

The beautiful assistant shivered.

She knew perfectly well how her boss had built his empire – through ruthlessness and unscrupulous means. That handsome young man was likely to suffer after the auction.

The person most surprised was the proprietress, Ji Fang.

When he realized that the person who made the bid was Su Yu, only one thought came to his mind:

Even if Lady Ningguang personally tries to persuade him to stay, this friend of Mr. Zhongli will not remain in Liyue.

Not only is he exceptionally talented, but he is also incredibly wealthy. He can rattle off 50 million Mora without batting an eye. This kind of person must be the offspring of some important figure from one of the other six kingdoms.

"The second item up for auction comes from a secret realm in Mondstadt called Stormterror's Lair!"

Chapter 58 The Auction (Part 1)

"Older generations of explorers discovered fragments of the Lone King of the Tower in the Wind Dragon Ruins. These fragments contain the power of the Gale Demon God, Dekalapian. More than 2600 years have passed, and the power of the Gale Demon God has not completely dissipated."

Ji Fang began the auction for the second treasure.

"Fragments of the Lone King in the Tower can be used to forge weapons, enhancing their strength and power. If you're lucky, you can even obtain fragments with a high concentration of demonic energy and comprehend the demonic power within them."

"At its peak, the Tower King was so powerful that even Andrius, the great wolf of the North Wind, could not harm it in the slightest. Later, Barbatos, the god of wind, united all his forces in the name of 'freedom' to defeat this tyrant."

"Since there are tens of thousands of fragments, the starting bid is 500 million Mora!"

Su Yu had just visited the Wind Dragon Ruins in Mondstadt. The ruins there had been almost completely excavated by outsiders, leaving very little. The fact that the auction house could bring out so many items at once meant that they were probably stock from many years ago.