Xiao Xun'er (Popping Her Head Out): We Meet Again! Begging for Ferns!

Under Master Guni's somewhat excited gaze, Mr. Yao informed the Miteer Trading Association of the carriage holding the remaining nine Yellow-grade low-tier Battle Weapons. Then, carrying four black cards and five purple cards, he left the Mite'er Auction House.

With a bit of money on hand, Mr. Yao took Jiang Lin around Wutan City's market again, intending to see whether there were any herbs, Magic Cores, or materials worth buying.

Mr. Yao stopped at a stall. He picked up a bloodstained Magic Core from a pile of rusty iron scraps and began haggling with the vendor. At that moment, Jiang Lin merely glanced curiously at one particular iron piece on the stall. Without a second thought, Mr. Yao said to the vendor, "Five hundred and fifty it is for this first-tier Magic Core, but you'll have to throw in some materials as compensation."

The vendor smiled. "Tell me what you want first."

Mr. Yao looked over the vendor's shabby antiques and pointed at several of the more expensive ones. The vendor immediately shook his head.

Seeing that Mr. Yao was becoming impatient, the vendor said with a helpless smile, "Judging by your clothes, you come from a wealthy family. Why make things difficult for an old man like me? You've got too sharp an eye. You've set your sights on the few treasures I have here—how could that work? Please, have mercy. How about taking some of these smaller items instead?"

With an impatient look, Mr. Yao grabbed two or three rusty iron pieces and was just about to ask what they were. "Are you trying to fob me off with this junk?"

The vendor forced a smile. "Boss, these are antiques. Antiques, understand? What if their price suddenly goes up one day?"

If it had been some other brat, the vendor would have gotten angry by now. He was a Three-star Dou Master, after all. But facing Mr. Yao, he still felt a chill in his heart. His instincts, honed by years of wandering the world, told him that the man before him was far stronger than he was.

Mr. Yao gave the vendor a bland look, then picked up several more iron pieces. "Then tell me, when will these antiques appreciate in value?"

"Mr. Yao, it's almost time for the auction," Jiang Lin reminded him at the right moment.

Mr. Yao looked at the iron pieces in his hand, picked up a few more, and tossed the vendor a bag of gold coins. Amid the slight twitching of the vendor's face, he turned and left.

"I can't be bothered arguing with you."

After Mr. Yao and Jiang Lin left, the vendor's expression returned to normal. From the cloth bundle behind him, he pulled out another handful of iron pieces and placed them where the original ones had been.

Meanwhile, as they headed toward the Mite'er Auction House, Mr. Yao examined a rusty iron piece in his hand before handing it to Jiang Lin. "Can't tell what's different about it?"

Jiang Lin felt rather embarrassed. "Mr. Yao, you trust my instincts that much? You believe in me even more than I do."

He had only vaguely felt that the iron piece's "color" was a little different, nothing more. Yet Mr. Yao had immediately taken it.

"I have nothing I can teach you, but I hope you learn to trust your instincts." Mr. Yao shook his head, his tone distant.

"We'll talk about everything else after we return to Qingshan Town." Although Mr. Yao's Spiritual Sense was not as strong as Jiang Lin's, he had plenty of experience.

"Alright." Jiang Lin looked over the iron piece in his hand but could not make anything of it, so he gave up.

Hearing Mr. Yao say that, Jiang Lin could not help thinking of his mother from his memories.

For Mr. Yao to trust Jiang Lin's instincts even more than Jiang Lin himself did could only mean that Mr. Yao had seen something like this before.

Or perhaps extraordinary Spiritual Sense was the gift of people like Jiang Lin?

With such thoughts weighing on his mind, Jiang Lin followed Mr. Yao to the Mite'er Auction House's formal auction, held once every half month and packed with people.

The auction house had specially prepared masks and black cloaks for every attendee.

"For safety reasons, we provide masks and cloaks for lone travelers. If you two have concerns about your identities, the auction house does not object to you concealing your appearances," the staff member explained.

Mr. Yao and Jiang Lin looked at each other. Jiang Lin shrugged helplessly. "Do we really need to worry about being targeted?"

Mr. Yao smiled. They truly had no such concerns, so they declined the staff member's kind offer and entered the vast, semicircular auction hall.

Some people in the auction house hid their faces, but even more arrived openly and confidently.

Mr. Yao led Jiang Lin to a sparsely populated set of seats near the middle, where they sat down and quietly waited for the auction to begin.

The Mite'er Auction House also had private rooms, but only those with sufficient strength could use them. Mr. Yao could have requested one, but they were not afraid of being seen. Besides, Mr. Yao's main purpose was to bring Jiang Lin out to broaden his horizons. What would be the point of hiding in a little room?

It was like planning a long trip, only to spend several days playing games in the hotel. What kind of vacation would that be?

After a little over ten minutes, there was a bang. The auction hall suddenly went dark, then several beams of light appeared, illuminating the elevated platform before the audience. At some point, a beautiful woman with a graceful figure, dressed in a qipao, had appeared at the center of the platform.

"Welcome, everyone, to the Miteer Clan's auction house. I am Ya Fei, the host of this auction." Still somewhat inexperienced, Ya Fei stood on the platform, receiving all manner of inexplicable looks from the crowd. Suppressing the nervousness in her heart, she spoke with poised elegance.

"Today, we received a last-minute notice that this auction may hold a surprise none of you expected~" Ya Fei's voice was like a tiny kitten lightly scratching at one's heart, making people's hearts itch.

"Now, for the first auction item: the Magic Core of a third-tier Wind Element magical beast, the Azure Wind Eagle."

As an auction held once every half month, the quality of its auction items was naturally much higher.

"Interested?" Mr. Yao asked.

Jiang Lin shook his head. "No need."

The two then quietly watched the others bid.

"The second auction item: a Wood Element Yellow-grade intermediate cultivation technique, the Eternal Spring Art!"

"Seven thousand!"

"Eight thousand!"

"..."

At the sight of this cultivation technique, Jiang Lin's gaze could not help growing unfocused. Logically speaking, one could not cultivate Dou Qi techniques before becoming a Dou Zhe, yet he could cultivate the Forging Fire Art. No—rather, the Forging Fire Art could be cultivated during the Dou Qi stage, laying a foundation for a person!

If that was the case, then the Yellow-grade intermediate Forging Fire Art did not seem as simple as Mr. Yao had said. Its grade was not high, but what if that grade was precisely suited for beginners of Dou Qi to temper and build their foundations?

I'll ask about this when we get back. Just how much did Mother leave behind for Mr. Yao? Just as Jiang Lin was lost in thought, a voice suddenly interrupted him, pulling his thoughts back to reality.

"Brother Xiao Yan, over here! Look, there are empty seats!"

"Thank goodness! We almost came late. It's only the second item? Thank goodness, thank goodness!"

Jiang Lin turned around and found himself staring wide-eyed at Xiao Yan, who had sat down beside him.

Xiao Xun'er poked her head out from behind Xiao Yan and smiled adorably. "Oh? We meet again!"