Returning to the Academy (Seeking Recommendations, Seeking Follow-ups)

The auction had already ended. In one of the rooms of the Black Seal Auction House, Xu Haoyu and Hu Qian were completing the final handover with the auction house manager.

The manager brought over the High-Level Storage Stone Xu Haoyu had bought, the Extraterrestrial Meteorite, and a Storage Ring filled with Gold Coins.

Facing the young Xu Haoyu, the manager was exceedingly respectful. After all, he was a Fourth-Rank Alchemist, someone who would be respected anywhere. At last, the manager said with a smile, "Sir, the pills you provided sold for a total of 3.5 million Gold Coins. After deducting the 350,000 Gold Coin handling fee, you should receive 3.15 million Gold Coins. You bought the High-Level Storage Stone and the Extraterrestrial Meteorite for a total of 2.6 million, so you are left with 550,000 Gold Coins. Here are the two items you purchased, and this Storage Ring contains the 550,000 Gold Coins."

Xu Haoyu inspected the High-Level Storage Stone and the Extraterrestrial Meteorite. He had no time to study them carefully at the moment, so after roughly confirming that there was nothing wrong with them, he stored both stones in his own Storage Ring and casually accepted the Storage Ring containing the Gold Coins from the manager.

He did not even bother counting them. The 550,000 Gold Coins were what he cared about least. With the Eight Gates Sect backing it, the Black Seal Auction House had grown to such a scale; it would not cheat people over such a small sum. Otherwise, Black Seal City could never have become so prosperous.

After finishing everything, Xu Haoyu smiled and took his leave. "There's no need to count them. I trust the reputation of the Black Seal Auction House. Now that payment and goods have been settled, we'll be leaving. Perhaps we'll return when the next auction begins."

Of course, he would return. If nothing unexpected happened, in a few years the Black Seal Auction House would auction the Earth-Class movement Dou Technique, Three Thousand Lightning Movements, as well as a fragment of a map related to the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame. There was no reason for him to let such treasures slip away.

Just as Xu Haoyu and Hu Qian were about to turn and leave, the manager spoke again.

"Gentlemen, please wait. Our Eight Gates Sect Master has a message for you. We hope to establish a long-term partnership with you, and preferably, we hope you can join our Eight Gates Sect. Sir, our Eight Gates Sect can provide medicinal ingredients and sales channels. You would only need to refine pills. The profits would be split seventy-thirty. What do you think?"

Xu Haoyu raised a brow, a peculiar glint in his eyes as he asked, "I get seventy percent?"

The manager hurriedly shook his head. "No, sir, you get thirty percent. Our Eight Gates Sect has costs to bear in providing medicinal ingredients and sales channels, so it is only natural that we take seventy percent. You only need to refine some pills, yet you can take thirty percent of the profits. There is no easier arrangement in the world."

Xu Haoyu burst out laughing. "Wouldn't that make me a beggar on my knees? I'm a Fourth-Rank Alchemist, yet I can only take thirty percent of the profits? There's no need to persuade me further. I won't agree."

After saying that, Xu Haoyu gave Hu Qian a slight nod. Then the two truly turned and left.

The manager's expression changed. The Sect Master had already instructed him that if Xu Haoyu knew what was good for him, they could protect him from Fan Ling of the Blood Sect. Now, however, it seemed Xu Haoyu was far too ignorant of his place, believing that no one would dare lay a hand on him just because he was a Fourth-Rank Alchemist.

"Hmph!"

With a cold snort, the manager's gaze turned vicious as he threatened in a low voice, "If you change your mind and return alive to the territory of our Eight Gates Sect, perhaps our Sect Master can still save your life. But by then, it will no longer be a seventy-thirty split. It will be ninety-ten."

Xu Haoyu casually waved a hand, completely unconcerned by the man's threat. So this was what these people had been waiting for. But with Hu Qian, a Nine Star Dou Huang, at his side, who could stop them from returning to Jia Nan Academy?

After Xu Haoyu and Hu Qian left the Black Seal Auction House, the manager went to complain to Yuan Yi, the Sect Master of the Eight Gates Sect.

He recounted the course of events, emphasizing Xu Haoyu's attitude as he said indignantly, "Sect Master, protecting him would have required us to take a certain risk as well. Yet he does not know what is good for him. It seems he deserves to die."

Yuan Yi's expression remained calm. Though he found it somewhat regrettable, a Fourth-Rank Alchemist who would not fully submit to him was not worth opposing the Blood Sect over. The people of the Blood Sect were all madmen, and it was best not to make enemies of them. He said coldly, "Then leave it alone. Perhaps before long, we will see the corpses of those two. It is only a pity that the Rank 4 Pills refined by that Fourth-Rank Alchemist were all of exceptionally high quality."

Meanwhile, Xu Haoyu and Hu Qian left the Black Seal Auction House and headed straight out of the city.

A calm smile rested on Hu Qian's lips as he asked, "We're being followed. Someone does not want us to leave alive. If nothing unexpected happens, it should be Fan Ling of the Blood Sect. Haoyu, if you have no other business in the Black-Corner Region, I'll take you away directly and avoid running into them if possible. Fan Ling is nothing to worry about, but his father, Fan Lao, is a ruthless man. For the sake of Jia Nan Academy's students being safer when they go out to train in the future, we'll spare his son this time. What do you think?"

As a Fourth-Rank Alchemist, Xu Haoyu naturally possessed extremely sharp soul perception, and he had likewise noticed that they were being followed.

After hearing Hu Qian's words, he had no objections. Hu Qian was the Vice-Dean of Jia Nan Academy, not truly Xu Haoyu's personal guard. It was already quite good of him to personally accompany Xu Haoyu on this trip to the Black-Corner Region. Naturally, he had to place Jia Nan Academy's interests first.

As for the father and son, Fan Ling and Fan Lao, neither had been good people in the original story. If he had the chance next time, he would personally send the pair on their way. He then nodded and said, "I'll trouble you, Vice-Dean. We can return to the academy."

Hu Qian readily agreed. With a thought, Wood Attribute Dou Qi gathered behind his back into a pair of green Dou Qi Wings. He then grabbed Xu Haoyu by the shoulder and rose into the air, shooting into the sky as his figure swiftly vanished overhead.

The people monitoring them were left dumbfounded. That inconspicuous old servant in gray was actually a powerhouse at the Dou Wang level or above. When word reached Fan Ling, he cursed furiously, declaring that the next time he saw the two, he would have his father act and tear them to pieces.

But by then, Xu Haoyu and Hu Qian were already close to returning to Jia Nan Academy. Once they returned, the two went their separate ways.

Hu Qian reminded Xu Haoyu not to forget the Inner Courtyard Selection Competition. Xu Haoyu nodded in agreement, then returned to his residence and began studying the High-Level Storage Stone.

He took out the fist-sized High-Level Storage Stone, black with faint points of starlight glimmering within it. Xu Haoyu's gaze sharpened as his soul perception surged forth, making contact with and pouring into the High-Level Storage Stone.

After a brief spell of dizziness, his consciousness arrived in a space. The place was gray and hazy everywhere, yet its area was boundless, with no end in sight.

This was naturally the interior of the Storage Stone. As the raw material used to forge Storage Rings, a Storage Stone contained its own independent space.

Xu Haoyu spread out his soul perception, searching inch by inch and overlooking no corner. After an unknown length of time, deep within that space, he saw a wisp of gray light—formless, intangible, and somewhat ethereal...

"Haha, Spirit Receptacle, I finally obtained it!"

Xu Haoyu was overjoyed.