How could a venue that frequently sells goods for practitioners rely solely on ordinary security? Besides having cultivators stationed there, the Imperial Court Club had also hired high-salaried special ability users.

A single one might not stand a chance against Herr, but two or three working together were more than enough to keep him suppressed.

However, Herr held a special status, and his visit to China this time was conducted under the banner of a friendly bilateral exchange. They could not easily lay a hand on him. If they went too easy on him, they would just take a beating, but if they went too hard, it would be difficult to explain to the higher-ups. Thus, they could only ask the management bureau to send someone over to handle it.

By the time Jiang Lin arrived with Lin Xiaoyang, a fight had already broken out. It was likely that they started negotiating inside a private room, but things quickly went south, leading directly to a physical altercation.

The commotion was entirely contained within the room, so it did not significantly impact the operations outside. Still, if an ability user who was prominent even back in the United States really lost his head in a fight, the entire Imperial Court would not be enough for him to tear down.

The moment Jiang Lin pushed the door open, a lightning arc slashed right toward him. Without even lifting his eyes, he waved his hand and somehow drew a yellow talisman paper between his two fingers, tossing it straight along the path of the lightning. The yellow talisman flew into midair, and in the next second, lightning arcs far more powerful than Herr’s lightning ability burst outward in all directions, using the talisman as the epicenter.

Herr was a lightning ability user himself, so the power of electricity would not cause him too much harm, but having a force superior to his own violently strike down still felt unpleasant. He stopped his hand almost instinctively and leaned sideways to dodge.

The other ability users and the club’s cultivators were left numb from the electrical shock, but the jolt successfully shocked them back to their senses.

Only then did everyone in the room look at the man who had ended the chaotic battle the instant he stepped onto the scene.

One of the young men, wearing a casual suit and carrying a somewhat playboy aura, gave a light cough and pushed aside the few bodyguards standing in front of him, saying, “Good evening, Mr. Jiang. I am truly sorry to bother you so late at night, but for today’s matter, we could only trouble your grand presence to help us sort out the rights and wrongs.”

Following behind Jiang Lin, Lin Xiaoyang saw his Boss Jiang end the chaos with a single strike, and he straightened his back with immense pride. Choosing the right boss meant making an appearance was just that cool!

Jiang Lin walked into the room, and Lin Xiaoyang followed behind, thoughtfully closing the door.

The owner of the club, the young man with the playboy vibe named Qin Zhao, had someone bring in a new mobile display monitor. The previous monitor in the room had already been blasted through by lightning during their fight.

As soon as the new one arrived, the assistant standing next to Qin Zhao opened a very clear video recording.

Qin Zhao said, “This is the video showing our clean transaction with Mr. Herr after he successfully bid on the painting of the ladies watching the moon. The video makes it very clear that the item was carefully inspected by Mr. Herr’s people and then sealed into the box. After that, the item never changed hands until Mr. Herr left the club.”

As Qin Zhao spoke, he looked over at Herr and his men, adding, “Regarding this process, I believe Mr. Herr should have no objections. You were also present the entire time, and the whole process should be completely identical to what is shown in the video.”

Without waiting for Herr to speak, Jiang Lin asked, “And then?”

Qin Zhao froze the footage on the scene of Herr’s black car leaving the club, continuing, “Then two hours later, Mr. Herr returned, claiming we had tampered with the painting. He said that after they left the club and opened it, the painting spontaneously combusted, and now only the scroll rollers and the wooden box are left.”

Qin Zhao’s expression carried a trace of helplessness as he added, “We have no idea what Mr. Herr did to the painting after he took it away. He insists we tampered with it, causing its destruction. However, before he left the club, this painting was perfectly intact. A transaction where the money and goods were completely settled and confirmed to be correct cannot suddenly become our responsibility just because he returns two hours after leaving. No matter where you go, that simply defies common sense.”

Herr said angrily, “If you didn’t tamper with it, how could this painting spontaneously combust? Did I spend eighty million just to buy a pile of black ash!”

Jiang Lin took the remote control and carefully reviewed the video. Indeed, the painting was complete at the time of the transaction, and after the box was sealed, it was held by Herr’s man, with the club staff never touching it again.

Jiang Lin looked at Herr and asked, “Regarding whether the painting was intact before leaving the club, is there anything you would like to say, Mr. Herr?”

Herr replied, “It was fine at the time. Who knew it would catch fire as soon as it left? If it wasn’t them tampering with it, could it be that I burned the painting myself?”

Jiang Lin said, “You inspected the painting before taking it away, so returning later to say there is a problem makes no sense whatsoever. A club as large as the Imperial Court doesn’t rely solely on your single deal, Mr. Herr. Although this painting was bid for at eighty million, it was actually acquired for only about a million. Such a small amount of money is hardly worth the club tampering with it. I think it would be better for Mr. Herr to thoroughly look into your own actions. Was there anything unusual when you opened the painting outside?”

Herr glared at Jiang Lin and asked, “You think I’m extorting them?”

Jiang Lin’s expression remained calm as he replied, “I am merely analyzing the issue with you.”

Qin Zhao also spoke up at the right moment, saying, “The turnover of every single auction at my Imperial Court Club reaches hundreds of millions. The final Mist Crystal Tea in today’s auction even went for one hundred and thirty million. No matter how you look at it, this painting is not worth us doing any tampering. It makes no sense and would harm our reputation.”

Herr’s gaze swept across the people present, finally pausing for a moment on the few individuals following him.

They did not know what Herr was thinking as he looked at them, but they keenly sensed the danger and could not help but take a half step back.

In the end, Herr looked straight at Jiang Lin. He knew in his own heart that coming back like this defied common sense, but he still wanted to test whether the Imperial Court side knew something. Yet he felt that if they did know something, they probably would not have put the painting up for auction, so he used the excuse of making a scene to test the waters.

Now that Jiang Lin had arrived and he could not win a fight anyway, continuing to test them was meaningless, so he let out a cold snort, turned around, and left.

His men quickly followed behind him to walk out. As for the damage in the private room, Qin Zhao did not mention any compensation. As long as he could send this troublesome figure away, he would cover this small bit of damage out of his own pocket.

Only after the people had left did Qin Zhao breathe a sigh of relief, saying, “Fortunately, Mr. Jiang arrived in time. This group of ability users is truly hard to deal with.”

The practitioners worldwide shared a common treaty stating they could not casually make a move against ordinary people or cause trouble in the secular world on a whim. However, very few actually followed the treaty, especially the United States and its puppet states, who had used their power to bully others more than just once or twice.

Although his Qin family did not fear ability users, it was naturally best to avoid making enemies if possible.

Jiang Lin said, “Regarding the painting of the ladies, I wonder if Owner Qin could compile a copy of the information you know for me.”

Herr had gone through the trouble of disguising himself and spending a massive sum of money to bid on the painting. If he had just taken it away like that, they would have let it go, but the fact that the painting was destroyed right after leaving the club convinced Jiang Lin that the Imperial Court Club definitely did not tamper with it. The greatest possibility was that a problem arose among Herr’s own people.

Herr wanted the painting, but someone else did not want him to obtain it, meaning this painting was definitely out of the ordinary.

Qin Zhao agreed immediately, saying, “No problem, I will have someone compile it as soon as possible. Thank you very much for today’s matter, Mr. Jiang.”

Having finished discussing the main business, Qin Zhao recalled the phone call he received from Jiang Lin this afternoon and said, “Regarding today’s spiritual fruit…”

Jiang Lin said apologetically, “The kid at home is sensible but inexperienced, causing trouble for you.”

After receiving Lin Xiaoyang’s message this afternoon, Jiang Lin had contacted the owner here directly upon arriving at the club, which allowed him to get Bai Zhizhi’s spiritual fruit back. Otherwise, once the appraisal was finalized and the item went up for bidding, it would have been somewhat unreasonable for him to demand it back.

Hearing this, Qin Zhao also smiled lightly and said, “It’s no big deal. It’s just a bit of a pity that I didn’t get to see with my own eyes what a spiritual fruit overflowing with spiritual energy looks like. Next time Mr. Jiang wants to sell any good items, make sure to keep our Imperial Court in mind.”

Jiang Lin nodded and replied, “Certainly.”

On the other side, back in the small courtyard, Bai Zhizhi waited for quite a while after Lin Xiaoyang left before turning off the lights and going to bed. Thinking about the item he had snatched back during the day, he quietly set up a layer of restriction barrier. Once he was certain no one was around, he finally took the light sphere out of his storage tool.

The moment the light sphere came out of the storage tool, it dispersed, and two jade pendants fell out from inside with a click.

The jade pendants were clearly a pair, capable of piecing together into a complete circle. Bai Zhizhi recognized at a single glance that these were the jade pendants worn on the waist of the lady watching the moon in the painting.

The white jade pendants were completely flawless throughout. There was spiritual energy inside, but it was extremely faint, seemingly wrapped up by something on the outer layer.

Bai Zhizhi held up the jade pendants against the moonlight to examine them. He could not see anything special from the appearance, but since they were hidden inside the painting, they probably were no ordinary items.

As he kept looking, he could not help but let out a yawn. Bai Zhizhi casually tossed the jade pendants back into his storage tool, rolled over, and buried himself in the blanket. Whatever it was, he would just sleep first and worry about it later.

By the time he noticed that the environment seemed to have changed, he opened his eyes to see the familiar large tree residence, the familiar coiled tree roots, and the familiar spiritual energy of Qingqiu.

Still wearing his modern pajamas, Bai Zhizhi sprang up into a sitting position. Who on earth had stolen him back to Qingqiu again while he was asleep!