Warren Wu strode up the stairs, moving quickly and with a spring in his step.
If someone had been standing behind Warren Wu at that moment, they'd have noticed that he climbed the stairs without the slightest pause in his stride.
Even though his movements looked a bit stiff, it couldn't hide the overall smoothness and flow.
He made his way up to the third floor, stopped in front of a door, coughed lightly to steady himself, then stepped forward and pushed open the wooden door.
Inside were two sofas, a wooden table between them with some fruit and a pot of tea on top, and at the very center, a pot of sandalwood incense burning.
Blue smoke curled upward, filling the room. When Warren Wu caught the scent of sandalwood, his expression clearly shifted.
Besides that, there were two other people in the room.
One was a man in his thirties, not particularly muscular or imposing. At first glance, he looked somewhat sickly, but his calm and indifferent demeanor gave him an air of hidden depth.
Next to him stood a fat man with a sullen face, two kitchen knives tucked at his waist, their blades gleaming coldly.
When the door opened, the fat man didn't speak; he simply turned his gaze toward Warren Wu.
The man sitting on the sofa, cradling a bowl of tea, didn't even look up. He simply blew on the tea to cool it, took a small sip, and finally spoke in a calm voice: "Since you're here, have a seat."
"Ah, yes, of course."
Warren Wu nodded repeatedly, plastering a smile on his face and not daring to show the slightest arrogance—not even a trace of his usual immortal-doctor airs.
He glanced at the man beside him, uncertainty flickering in his eyes.
"I saw what happened downstairs. Are you hurt?" the man asked softly. His clothes were completely ordinary, and he had no air of authority at all—nothing about him suggested he belonged in a third-floor VIP suite.
"No, that guy hits hard, but I'm not someone who gets bullied easily," Warren Wu replied.
As he spoke, Warren Wu shook his head and puffed out his chest, looking rather pleased with himself.
"What do you think of his skills? What level has he reached?"
The man put down his teacup, ignoring Wu's self-praise, and suddenly asked.
Warren Wu paused for a moment, then mused, "I'd say he's already close to the peak of external strength for ordinary people."
"Peak of external strength for ordinary people, huh." The middle-aged man nodded slightly, his gaze deep as he looked over at Evan Lin, lost in thought.
"That's right. Even though he fought Drake Huang just now and didn't lose, part of it was because Drake is still recovering from injuries and could only use about sixty percent of his strength. The other part is that Drake underestimated him at first, which is why he got caught off guard."
"And judging by his age—he can't be more than seventeen—yet his strength already rivals the peak of external strength for ordinary people. He must have some serious backing. Plus..." Warren Wu's tone suddenly grew unusually serious.
He remembered the scene in Brightsea City where he met Evan Lin, including how Haiyang Sheng was later rescued by Evan at the hospital.
"Speak."
The middle-aged man uttered a single word.
"There's someone behind him who's a master of medicine. I don't know exactly how skilled that person is, but I'm sure they're no pushover." Warren Wu let out a heavy breath as he finished speaking.
"Rare, isn't it? For the legendary Doctor Wu to personally praise another healer?" The middle-aged man shook his head with a soft laugh. "Isn't it said that everyone from Medicine King Valley is impossibly proud?"
"I'm just a loser expelled from Medicine King Valley. How could I represent them?" Warren Wu shook his head again. "Besides, why did you ask me here?"
"I want you to take a look at something for me. You can probably tell my condition already—whether I can extend my life depends on tonight."
The middle-aged man let out a quiet chuckle, then picked up his cup and, from a distance, raised it in a toast toward another third-floor room.
...
"Damn, Summer Bro, why does that guy keep looking over here? Does he know you or something? He even toasted us!"
Keaton Wang trailed after Evan Lin and Summer Mu into the third-floor VIP suite that Victor Qian had specially arranged for them, just in time to catch the middle-aged man across the way raising his cup in their direction.
Summer Mu glanced over but didn't recognize the man, who had already turned his gaze away.
"Are you alright? Did Drake Huang hit you too hard just now?" Summer Mu turned to Evan, looking worried.
With other people around earlier, Summer Mu had been too embarrassed to ask.
Now that all the waitresses had left, he finally brought it up.
"It's nothing, really." Evan Lin shook his head. Drake Huang was the toughest opponent he'd faced so far, but in his current state, Evan could still go another round.
The third layer of Qi Refining is the Qi Sea Realm; only at the fourth layer can one step into the Divine Sea Realm.
The gap between the third and fourth layer is huge—it's practically a whole new realm. Evan Lin was still a step away from reaching the fourth layer of Qi Refining.
If Evan Lin had already reached the fourth layer and turned his Qi Sea into a Divine Sea, he would have been able to settle the fight with Drake Huang by the third move—maybe even sooner.
"Summer Bro, your friend is seriously awesome! Drake Huang is a famous master in River City, and he actually managed to go toe-to-toe with him!"
"Man, if the punks in our class saw this, they'd be completely won over by your friend. I've got plenty to brag about when I get back!" Keaton Wang was visibly excited. At his age, what he admired most wasn't business tycoons, but heroes who could take on a crowd by themselves.
There's nothing a punch can't solve—and if there is, just throw another punch, until your opponent is rolling on the floor and can't fight back!
That's the most straightforward rule in Keaton Wang's circle.
"Enough already. Focus on your studies and stop thinking about all this nonsense. I heard you've been getting beaten up at school?" Summer Mu frowned.
"That's just them ganging up on me. If it was one-on-one, I'd send them all packing!" Keaton Wang waved his fist, looking indignant.
Evan Lin found a seat, poured himself a cup of tea, took a sip, and calmly scanned the room.
There were twenty-four VIP suites on the third floor. The first and second floors just had regular seats. A quick glance around showed there were about three hundred people at the auction in total.
"Let's hope something good turns up tonight."