Arrogance

Li Zhu felt his blood heating up, and he suddenly began hearing whispers, "The egg. The egg! GET THE EGG! " The voices quickly grew in volume and tone, becoming very forceful.

As he heard the voices, the egg began glowing, blue light radiating in the room.

"What do you think is happening, Hua Shu?" asked Li Zhu, hoping she may know an answer. Although overall he had more knowledge than her, Li Zhu was not naive enough to discard other people's opinion.

"What do you mean?" Hua Shu replied to the question with another question, clearly confused about what he meant.

"Well... the light that the egg is emitting, isn't it strange? Plus all the voices about getting the egg, I wonder who they are referring to. "

Hua Shu responded with a dumbfounded look. "What exactly are you talking about Li Zhu? The egg is old and dusty and the only voices in this place are the ones of the disciples around us."

Then, though, she switched to a look of somebody who had realized something. "Oh… ok... you are just trying to pull one on me! "

Li Zhu stared at her for just a moment before understanding what was happening. 'I am the only one that is seeing the light and hearing the voices!'

After that realization, he switched expression and started smiling at Hua Shu. "Oh well, you know... I am getting bored in this place. Just thought I could liven up the situation, but I guess I am not good at keeping a straight face."

Li Zhu looked around to the people that were next to him just to receive confirmation and it certainly was happening. He was the only one seeing the egg lit up and the voices were definitely directed at him.

What special connection did he have with the egg? Where did it come from? And most of all... what did it contain? These were the questions swirling through his mind.

Although this whole encounter was clouded in mystery, Li Zhu now knew that he needed to get his hands on the egg, even if it was simply to get to the bottom of it all.

"1000 spirit stones" he yelled, the first to bid on this egg.

The announcer looked relieved that someone had chosen to buy what he saw as a piece of junk, as he immediately started, "1000, going once..." with a hopeful expression, thinking maybe some other fool would also think this was a great treasure.

"1000 going twice..." The announcer knew that no one would buy this egg except people on the first floor, since they were less experienced. That said, those people generally did not have enough money to even bid, which made "useless" ancient items such as this egg go for the initial price quite often.

"1050" just as the announcer was ready to sell the egg to Li Zhu, a voice rang out from the third floor, which, due to a formation, was masked behind a layer of fog.

'Someone up there took interest to this egg?' thought the announcer, who had not expected someone of high enough status to sit on the third floor to want such an item.

That said, he quickly recomposed himself, realizing it was probably some elder which was fond of collecting mysterious items.

"1050 going on..."

"1100!"not even letting the announcer finish, Li Zhu instantly added another fifty spirit stones to the bid, determined to buy the egg.

"1150!" rang out from the third floor, followed by an imposing voice, "Kid, I am an elder of the sect. I wish to buy this egg, and hope you will give me face and allow me to buy it. Do not worry, I will not seek any retribution for having contested me until now, since you did not know your actions."

'Who does this guy think he is? Even daring to act as though he is kind to not get revenge on me, simply for bidding against him!' hearing the arrogant words, Li Zhu frowned, realizing not everyone in the sect was just, after all.

"1200" acting as though he had not even heard the elder, Li Zhu yelled the bid, defying this powerful man.

Although an elder had a lot of power here in the sect, Li Zhu had once been the crown prince of the Heavenly Dragon Empire, and he could not tolerate such arrogance, especially from someone who was probably weaker then what he had been at his peak.

That said, Li Zhu knew he had made a powerful enemy today, and he would have to be careful in the future, realizing that an elder with such a personality would without a doubt seek vengeance, regardless of right or wrong.

"You dare bid against me, even knowing my identity!?" this time, the angry words were followed by an invisible pressure, pressing Li Zhu to the ground, spitting blood.

"Elder, stay your hand! Do not think you can act as you please in my Flaming Saber Auction!" before Li Zhu could be injured, though, another booming voice rang out, the location of the speaker unknown.

Hearing the voice, the aggressive elder showed a fearful expression, before releasing the pressure on Li Zhu, who was now crouched down, panting.

Fury rose up from his chest, as he glared at the third floor before saying, "Elder, there are always consequences to your actions. I hope you know this..."

Li Zhu did not speak anymore, for fear of the sect accusing him of threatening an elder, which could get him killed. Although he was furious, he knew that with his current strength, he needed to lay low, and wait until he had enough influence to matter in the sect.

"Humph" was the only reply, before the elder began bidding normally again, for fear of offending the master of the auction, one of the most powerful figures in the sect.

The bidding went on for a while, until the elder finally bid the amount that Li Zhu had dreaded, "5000!"

Li Zhu's budget only consisted of 5000 spirit stones, since the plants had been sold at double that, and he needed to split the profit with Hua Shu.

That said, it would be a great shame to lose the egg, which he had reacted so strangely to. Understanding this, Li Zhu turned towards Hua Shu, with an awkward expression.

"Ok, fine, but you will pay me back." seeing the pitiful Li Zhu, about to lose the bidding war, Hua Shu gave in, allowing Li Zhu to use the full 10000, as long as he repaid her.

Although she was the heir of the Hua Clan, these spirit stones felt different, since she had earned them herself. Because of this, she was somewhat unwilling to part with them. That said, she was also unwilling to see the arrogant elder win over Li Zhu, since she was not a fan of such people.

With that, the bidding war continued, until the elder finally gave up, at 9000 spirit stones. He had only wanted the egg for the sake of it being of an unknown origin, and although it pained him to lose to Li Zhu, he was not willing to spend any more than 9000 on a useless item. In fact, if it hadn't been for Li Zhu ignoring him, the elder had not planned on spending any more than 2000.

"Kid, I will remember this... let's see how easy your life will be in the sect... humph, fool!" with those final words, the elder stopped bidding, and Li Zhu bought the egg, for 9050 spirit stones.

'Although the price has ended up being much higher than I expected, I have finally bought the egg, and I can now investigate the source of the phenomenon that happened earlier' thought Li Zhu, overjoyed over his purchase.

After this surprising rivalry between someone on the third and first floor, the auction was quite uneventful, with only a few rare items being displayed, none of them catching Li Zhu's attention. He was ow looking forward to investigating into the origin of the egg, and simple treasures would not interest him, especially since he now owed Hua Shu a few thousand spirit stones.

After the auction finished, Li Zhu and Hua Shu headed over to the selling booth, where the same steward as before paid them 950 spirit stones, and handed over the blue egg, with a disappointing expression.

He had initially thought that Hua SHu and Li Zhu were great talents, to have so many spirit plants even before entering the core consolidating realm. After this useless purchase, though, he had changed his impression of them greatly, and he now did not even put them in his eyes.

"You better be careful about that elder, Li Zhu! Here in the sect, if he accuses you of doing something wrong, there is no way you can avoid punishment, even if the evidence is clearly with you" kindly reminded Hua Shu, who was quite worried for her newly found friend.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of myself" replied Li Zhu, moved by the care that Hua Shu was showing.

During his time as crown prince, he had no parental love to lean on, and his harsh master was the only one who cared for him, albeit in an unusual way.

Because of this, Li Zhu now felt extremely grateful towards Hua Shu, who was his first friend since the assassination attempt he had barely escaped from.

Walking back to the outer sect housing, Li Zhu could not help but think of the egg in his hands, 'I will investigate my way out of this mystery, and discover what creature lies within you, regardless of the difficulty!'

That was not his only thought, though, as he also stayed alert, 'From now on, I am not safe in the sect... I need to become strong again! Once I have enough power, a puny Flaming Saber sect elder won't dare treat me with such arrogance!"