Chapter 78

As Isabel muttered, the bidding began.

"Little brother, I'll offer 22 million."

Xu Jianxing was elated at the first bid, which was 7 million more than he had estimated.

The second and third bids followed quickly.

"I'll offer 23 million."

"I'll offer 23.5 million."

As the bids kept climbing, fewer and fewer people participated. In the end, a middle-aged man with a fair complexion won the bid at 29 million, almost double what Xu Jianxing had imagined.

However, Xu Jianxing was not too surprised. According to the information he had found online, the starting prices for the Myanmar jade auctions this year were about 50% higher than in previous years, and the final prices far exceeded most people's expectations.

One piece of jade, which experts had valued at around 50 million, sold for over 100 million. The price of the stone king was as high as 300 million. While market conditions played a role, the recent instability in Myanmar, which led to the closure of many jade mines, was also a significant factor.

Although Xu Jianxing knew the fair-faced middle-aged man would not make much profit from this price, he would not lose money after processing, just end up with a lot of work for nothing.

By now, it was getting late. The middle-aged man did not intend to continue the inspection and had someone watch the jade while he went to the bank with Xu Jianxing to complete the transfer.

After parting ways with the middle-aged man, Xu Jianxing said to Isabel with a serious tone, "Miss Isabel, it's getting late. Shouldn't you go back?"

"You..." Isabel, who had been in a good mood, was now furious. She thought that although Xu Jianxing had seemed stingy, he should at least have politely invited her to dinner. After all, their relationship seemed to be going well. But instead, he said such a thing. Even the most patient person would be angry.

In fact, Xu Jianxing was not stingy or lacking in manners. He still had some good feelings for Isabel, who was a beautiful woman. However, he needed to go back and pick up the jade he had bought. If Isabel followed him, she might overhear some of the lies he had told the bosses. The most important point was his claim that his father was a jewelry store owner. If Isabel didn't figure it out now, she would definitely notice something was wrong if she came to his home. She might even connect it to his intentions in coming to the jade street. So Xu Jianxing had to drive her away.

Seeing Isabel's expression, Xu Jianxing felt a bit awkward but still teased her, "You don't want me to invite you to dinner, do you?"

"You, you bastard." Isabel's pride was thoroughly provoked. She pushed Xu Jianxing's shoulder and walked away.

The five bodyguards, including Aina, all glared at Xu Jianxing and followed Isabel. By now, they had a good idea that Xu Jianxing was likely the one who had saved the young lady. However, they still did not have a good impression of him.

It's worth noting that Isabel's four black male bodyguards, after years of training, could communicate in Chinese as well as ordinary people.

The five bodyguards quickly caught up with Isabel. Aina whispered in French, "Miss, is that guy the expert who saved you?"

"Yes." Isabel did not hide it, knowing that some things could not be concealed. She trusted that these bodyguards, who had been with her for years, would not reveal any information without her permission. She believed that even her grandfather would be able to imagine what had happened.

"But, but he looks so weak. Is he really that powerful?" Aina asked, unable to suppress her doubts.

"Yeah, Miss, I feel like I could crush him with one hand," said Osah, a 1.95-meter-tall, muscular black bodyguard, in a deep voice.

"I think he could crush you with one hand, no, one finger," Isabel rolled her eyes.

"Miss, are you exaggerating?" Osah was full of disbelief.

"Try it and see," Isabel shrugged. "I'm telling you, Mr. Xu is as powerful as any of the psychics you know."

Psychics, the top-tier power in the Western world, were on par with the ancient martial artists of China, both being renowned in the underground world. While China also had psychics, their numbers were much fewer than in the Western world, where people seemed more prone to developing such abilities.

As a direct descendant of a top family, Isabel was no stranger to psychics. Her family even had a psychic in their service, who, though not extremely powerful, was far beyond the understanding of ordinary people. With the use of firearms, they were almost invincible in the ordinary world.

Isabel's interest in psychics was even greater than in the mystical martial arts of the East. The only drawback was that psychics relied on a natural talent, which could not be learned later in life.

As a normal person, Isabel naturally yearned for such power. She had even studied the martial arts manuals collected by her family, but could not make any progress.

It was as if there was a curse on Westerners, making it impossible for them to learn the mystical internal arts of the East. Not only her, but countless others had the same experience. She had even tried to visit ancient martial arts families in China through her family connections, but to no avail.

She had also spent money to find martial artists from the East, but they were either frauds or just strong men, which disappointed her. Now that she had met Xu Jianxing, she was not about to let him go easily.

Osah was shocked, "Miss, are you serious?"

"Otherwise, why would I say he could crush you with one finger?" Isabel replied, still feeling depressed and listless.

Seeing Isabel's unhappy expression, Aina carefully said, "Miss, maybe Mr. Xu was trying to drive you away? You know, those powerful Chinese experts are wary of foreigners."

"Right!" Isabel suddenly realized, a smile appearing on her face. "It won't be that easy to drive me away."

If Xu Jianxing knew her thoughts, he wouldn't know whether to cry or laugh.

An hour later.

Xu Jianxing had unpacked all the jade he had bought. His mood was generally good, as his income far exceeded his expectations. As for the jade he had unpacked, he did not want to sacrifice it immediately. He had more important things to do.

The important thing for Xu Jianxing was to study the martial arts of various schools, whether from reality, novels, or TV shows, and then adapt them for his own use. He did not want to waste the ring's ability to create martial arts from imagination.

While he had been hesitant to do this before, now that he had broken through to the innate level, he had fewer concerns. After all, the top characters in TV shows and martial arts novels were roughly at the innate level.

However, it was not possible to learn everything in a short time, so he would choose some that were useful to him.

Xu Jianxing took out his computer and began searching online, starting with the 72 skills of Shaolin.

After a few moments, he became interested in the Golden Bell Cover, but then gave up on it, as the "Life Enhancement" skill he had learned in the game was far more advanced.

After carefully comparing the 72 skills, he found that only the Wall-Climbing Technique was useful to him. The others were not very practical.

This made Xu Jianxing a bit disappointed, but he still searched online for the characteristics and practice methods of the Wall-Climbing Technique. After a few moments, he remembered something and his eyes lit up. "Magic? Psychic powers?"

In his mind, while "Star God Fantasy" did not explicitly mention magic or psychic powers, the large-scale techniques had some similarities.

Regardless, Xu Jianxing decided to experiment. His desire to possess psychic powers or magic was no less than his desire for internal arts, and in some ways, the characteristics of psychic powers or magic were even stronger.

Of course, the stronger aspects he was referring to were the restorative or supportive magical abilities.

With excitement, Xu Jianxing silently thought, "Based on mental energy, I call upon the boundless fire spirits. Let me borrow their power to form a fiery fireball and attack a target at a certain distance."

As Xu Jianxing finished his thought, a large amount of information and dozens of shadows appeared in his mind. These shadows were standing in various settings—some in snow, some on a mountain top in a raging storm, and some in a beautiful grassland. They were performing different actions and chanting, "Fiery spirits, lend me your power! Fire elements, under the command of the Star God, transform into an invincible fireball!"

As they finished chanting, the space around them began to ripple, and countless red light points quickly gathered in their hands. A faint "pop" sound was heard, and a small flame ignited in their hands, growing larger and larger until it formed a soccer-sized fireball.

As the shadows threw the fireballs, they drew beautiful arcs in the air and attacked their targets, finally making a "pop" sound.

However, this was not the end. The shadows continued to practice, their techniques changing with each repetition.