The Storm Was Brewing

Deep in his consciousness, the illusory pointer made of runes still locked onto some place in the city, giving off a faint yet stubborn glow.

Su Chen leaned against the soft bed and forcibly pulled his mind out of the Void Space.

Every breath brought a searing pain.

It wasn't physical exhaustion, but the embers left behind by two extreme emotions tearing at each other deep within his soul.

Fear and greed.

The abyss of death and the staircase leading to the divine throne.

In the end, he chose the latter.

But that didn't mean he would act recklessly.

A meal had to be eaten one bite at a time, and the road had to be traveled one step at a time. Without absolute certainty, any rash move against Xiao Yan would be no different from inviting his own destruction.

For now, the most important thing was the small auction three days from now.

It was the cornerstone of his survival, his chance to acquire his first capital, and the first blast of a war horn announcing his worth to all of Wutan City.

He couldn't afford to fail.

Su Chen stood and walked to the corner of the room.

There sat a fine wooden chest, specially prepared for him by Ya Fei.

Inside, besides the eight bottles of unprocessed Fire Rock Lizard Beast Flame, were more than a dozen small green jade bottles of far higher quality than the previous ones, along with a set of delicate tools for processing materials.

He sat cross-legged and placed a jade bottle containing raw Beast Flame in front of him.

He closed his eyes and let his consciousness sink within once more.

This time, he paid no attention to the pointer aimed at the Heavenly Flames. Instead, he focused all his thoughts on the mottled, violent, dark-red flame before him.

"Purify."

A silent command.

In the space of his consciousness, the archaic Stone Platform lit up. A vast grinding disc of light appeared once more, beginning to crush and strip away every impurity from the Beast Flame.

Hiss, hiss...

Foul-smelling black mist was squeezed out, and fragments of its frenzied will were forcibly ground away.

Su Chen had repeated this process more than a dozen times already and had long since mastered it.

Like the strictest of craftsmen, he worked with single-minded focus, repeating the steps of purification and duplication again and again.

His spiritual power rapidly drained, and his face grew pale.

Yet this controlled expenditure of his own strength brought him a sense of security unlike anything he had felt before.

It was like an anchor, pinning his restless, wild heart—stirred by his glimpse of the Heavenly Flames—firmly back to reality.

When the ninth perfect Rock Fire Seed had been duplicated, Su Chen's spiritual power was once again on the verge of running dry.

He withdrew from the space of his consciousness, drenched in cold sweat as waves of intense dizziness washed over him.

He didn't rest. Instead, he carefully put away the nine newly made bottles of Rock Fire Seed. Together with the nine bottles he had left from before, he arranged all eighteen neatly inside the wooden chest.

Only after finishing all this did he finally relax. He collapsed onto the soft bed and fell into a deep sleep.

Su Chen remained shut away inside the Miteer Auction House, but the spark he had personally kindled had already spread through the Mittel Family's formidable publicity machine, stirring up a modest commotion across Wutan City.

In the West District, at Old Blacksmith Wang's forge.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

A bare-chested, burly man swung a heavy hammer, striking a red-hot billet with all his might as sparks flew everywhere.

"More fire! It's not hot enough! Turn it up!"

The apprentice working the bellows beside him moved even faster at the order, but the flames in the furnace only rolled about in vain, spewing clouds of black smoke. The billet's color still lacked that last bit of heat.

"Useless!"

The burly man roared and threw his hammer to the ground.

"Damn Beast Flame! It's either too fierce or too weak. My piece of Mystic Pattern Steel is ruined again!"

The young apprentice shrank at the scolding and didn't dare make a sound.

Just then, a well-informed mercenary happened to pass by the forge. He poked his head inside and said with a grin,

"Master Li, still having trouble with your fire? I heard the Miteer Auction House is selling a treasure in three days. It's called 'Rock Fire Seed.' They say its temper is as steady as water and it's so pure it doesn't have a trace of impurity. It's made especially for masters like you."

At that, Blacksmith Li froze for a moment, then spat disdainfully.

"Bull! Those people at Miteer are experts at exaggerating! I've been forging iron my whole life, and I've never seen Beast Flame with a tame temper!"

Despite his words, the mercenary didn't miss the flicker of interest in his eyes.

The Alchemist Guild.

"Failed again..."

A young man dressed in a first-tier alchemist's robe stared blankly at the black mass of dregs in his cauldron, his face ashen.

"This is the third time this month. If I can't refine Blood Coagulation Powder, I won't be able to answer to the people at the marketplace."

An older alchemist standing beside him sighed and patted him on the shoulder.

"Don't lose heart, Liu Xi. First-tier Beast Flame is difficult to control, so failure is common. I did get a flyer from Miteer, though. Take a look."

He handed over an exquisitely printed flyer.

The flyer described an unprecedented kind of flame in the most lavish language.

"High-quality standardized Beast Flame?"

Liu Xi's eyes were fixed on those words.

"Hmph, just a gimmick." He snorted and tossed the flyer aside. "If such a marvelous thing really existed, why would it only appear now? My Jialie Clan..."

He stopped halfway, as if remembering something. His face turned rather unpleasant, and he said no more.

The Jialie Clan estate, study.

"Smash!"

An expensive teacup was hurled to the floor and shattered into pieces.

Jialie Bi's face was dark enough to drip water.

"The Miteer Auction House! That bitch Ya Fei!"

He growled in a low voice, his eyes full of barely restrained rage and murderous intent.

The men he had sent out had lost their trail.

The mysterious young man had vanished as if he'd evaporated into thin air.

Then, the very next day, the Miteer Auction House had grandly announced that it would auction off a marvel called the "Rock Fire Seed."

Every detail matched what he had heard from his informants!

He could have figured out what had happened with his toes.

That brat had thrown in his lot with Miteer!

The woman Ya Fei had snatched the fat his Jialie Clan had its eye on right out from under their noses!

It was no different from a loud slap, delivered squarely across his face.

"Clan leader, what... what should we do?"

Liu Xi asked with a tremor in his voice.

Jialie Bi paced back and forth around the study. The fury in his chest gradually gave way to a cold, ravenous greed.

The monk might escape, but the temple couldn't.

If that brat was hiding inside Miteer's shell, then they'd go after his "merchandise."

"What should we do?"

Jialie Bi stopped. A chilling glint flashed in his eyes.

"Send word. Gather every bit of capital the clan can mobilize!"

"At the auction in three days, spare no expense!"

"I'll not only get my hands on that 'Rock Fire Seed,' I'll make sure that woman Ya Fei understands that in Wutan City, no one can stop my Jialie Clan from taking what it wants!"

The day before the auction.

A private chamber on the top floor of the Miteer Auction House.

Ya Fei was still dressed in a fiery-red cheongsam, but today she made no effort to display her charm. Instead, she carried the crisp, sharp air of a businesswoman.

"It seems our partnership has gotten off to a very good start."

She slid a compiled report across the table to Su Chen.

"These are the reactions from the various factions in the city over the past two days. Your 'Rock Fire Seed' has proved even more popular than I expected."

Su Chen took the report and quickly looked it over.

"Nearly every first-tier alchemist in the city—the ones who usually look down their noses at everyone—has sent someone to inquire. The blacksmiths in the West District are even more eager."

Ya Fei lifted her teacup and parted her red lips.

"Of course, the strongest response has come from our old rivals."

"Both the Jialie Clan and the Aoba Clan are scrambling to raise funds. From the looks of it, they're determined to get their hands on your treasure."

She lifted her eyes, her peach-blossom eyes resting on Su Chen as if hoping to catch even the slightest hint of tension or unease on his face.

But once again, she was disappointed.

The young man before her merely looked over the report, his youthful face as still as an ancient well.

The open and covert struggles described in the report, enough to keep an ordinary person awake at night, seemed to have nothing to do with him.

"Good."

Su Chen set down the report and said just two words.

This was exactly the result he wanted.

Ya Fei watched him, then suddenly smiled.

There was a touch of genuine admiration in her smile.

"Aren't you afraid they'll figure something out by studying your flame after they buy it?"

Su Chen smiled too.

"If the Jialie Clan had that kind of ability, they wouldn't have let a single first-tier alchemist hold their entire clan's supply of pills hostage."

His words struck directly at the Jialie Clan's greatest weakness.

Ya Fei's peach-blossom eyes brightened.

This young man had not only a maturity far beyond his years, but also a venomous serpent's keen insight.

Working with someone like him was truly... both effortless and dangerous.

"Tomorrow, just sit in the private room I've prepared for you and enjoy the show I've arranged in your honor."

Ya Fei rose to her feet, her graceful figure casting a faint shadow over Su Chen.

"I hope the final price doesn't disappoint our partner."

The next day, night fell.

The Miteer Auction House blazed with lights, packed with a roaring crowd.

An auction originally meant for the city's wealthy merchants had been forcibly raised by a full tier in prestige thanks to the appearance of the "Rock Fire Seed."

On the third floor, in the most secluded Purple Gold Private Room.

Su Chen sat alone on a wide sofa.

Through the one-way window made of special crystal, he could clearly survey the entire auction hall, while those below couldn't see him at all.

Every seat below was now taken.

He saw Jialie Bi, brimming with confidence that he would win; the grim-faced Aoba clan leader, Aoba Pa; and several alchemists and blacksmiths of considerable renown in Wutan City.

Anticipation and solemnity were written on every face.

They were all predators drawn in after his tiny butterfly had flapped its wings.

There wasn't a trace of nervousness in Su Chen's heart.

Everything was ready.

All he had to do was sit back as an observer and watch the game he had laid out with his own hands draw these people in, one step at a time.

Clang—!

A crisp chime rang through the hall.

The noisy crowd fell silent in an instant.

A bright beam of light fell on the center of the auction stage.

A woman in a tasteful gown, wearing a professional smile and holding a small hammer, walked onto the platform.

"Good evening, everyone!"

"Welcome to the Miteer Auction House. Our first lot tonight is..."

Su Chen leaned back on the sofa and picked up the fruit wine at his side, swirling it gently.

The crimson liquid rippled in the crystal glass, shimmering with an alluring glow.

The show had begun.