Ya Fei: Looks Like I Won the Bet

After coming down from the auction house's top floor, they found the sunlight outside just right, spilling across all of Wutan City.

Wutan City was not quiet during the day. The markets in the distance were still bustling with people, their clamor faintly carrying over.

Ya Fei and Lu Heng took an internal passageway off to the side, which led straight to the rear courtyard.

The sunlight stretched their shadows long.

Lu Heng tightly gripped the rolls of parchment in his hand, while his mind raced.

There was an ironclad rule on the Dou Qi Continent:

During the three foundational stages of Dou Qi, Dou Zhe, and Dou Master, one primarily tempered the body and expanded the meridians. One must never casually consume pills that increased one's strength.

The meridians of low-level cultivators were far too fragile to withstand the violent impact of a pill's medicinal energy. Taking one could result in damaged meridians at best and a ruined foundation at worst, making further progress nearly impossible.

Therefore, most first- and second-grade pills on the market were supplementary medicines for healing injuries, restoring qi, detoxifying, and the like.

Pills that enhanced strength, meanwhile, usually came with severe side effects.

This only made Lu Heng more eager to refine the pills recorded in the Pharmacopoeia of Ten Thousand Worlds that could increase the strength of Dou Qi cultivators, Dou Zhe, and Dou Masters without side effects.

"Why aren't you saying anything? Still thinking about those pill formulas?"

Ya Fei's voice interrupted Lu Heng's thoughts.

She turned her head slightly, the sunlight falling across her profile and making Ya Fei's already alluring face seem even more so.

Lu Heng looked up and met those smiling peach-blossom eyes.

"Sister Ya Fei, I was wondering why there aren't any pills on the market that can directly raise a Dou Zhe's cultivation?"

Lu Heng asked casually.

Ya Fei raised a brow, seemingly not expecting him to ask such a basic question.

"Silly little brother, do you even need to ask?"

Ya Fei raised a finger and lightly flicked Lu Heng's forehead.

"A Dou Zhe's qi vortex has only just formed, and their meridians are as thin as strands of hair.

The energy in a pill is like a raging flood. Making a strand of hair hold back a flood—isn't that courting death?

Trying to make seedlings grow by pulling them up will only destroy them in the end."

"But what if..."

Lu Heng paused, lowering his voice.

"What if there were a pill whose medicinal energy was as gentle as water, one that could seep silently into the qi vortex without harming the meridians?"

Ya Fei abruptly stopped walking.

She turned around and looked at Lu Heng with a serious expression.

"Lu Heng, you'd better rein in those strange ideas of yours.

Uncle Gu Ni said it himself just now: alchemy demands that you avoid aiming too high.

No one has created something that defies common cultivation knowledge like this in thousands of years. You're only a Dou Zhe, so stop dwelling on nonsense. Be careful not to suffer qi deviation."

Lu Heng did not argue. He simply nodded obediently.

"Sister Ya Fei, I was only asking."

Before long, Ya Fei stopped before a red-lacquered wooden door. It led to Lu Heng's small courtyard, while Ya Fei's own courtyard was just beyond the wall.

"We're here."

She pushed open the door. The stone table in the courtyard still held the tea set left over from yesterday.

"Get some proper rest. Don't push yourself too hard."

Ya Fei stood at the entrance without any intention of going inside. She merely reached out and straightened Lu Heng's slightly messy collar.

"What do you want to eat today? I'll have someone bring it over."

"Meat buns," Lu Heng blurted out. "Lots of meat in them."

Ya Fei burst out laughing, and the severity from earlier instantly vanished.

"Fine. Eat as many as you want."

She leaned closer, and that pleasant, subtle fragrance of hers enveloped Lu Heng once more.

Ya Fei hesitated for a moment, then bent down slightly and lightly pecked Lu Heng on the cheek.

Like a dragonfly touching water, it was over in an instant.

"Little brother, don't tire yourself out."

With that, Ya Fei turned and left. Her red skirt traced a graceful arc in the sunlight, and even her steps seemed lighter.

Lu Heng touched his slightly damp cheek and stood frozen in the doorway for several seconds.

Living off a woman was becoming more and more satisfying.

After watching Ya Fei disappear around the bend in the corridor, the childishness and shyness on Lu Heng's face vanished in an instant.

He shut the courtyard gate, slid the bolt into place, and hurried into the room.

The connecting corridor behind the Miteer Auction House was dimmer than the front hall, and the air carried a faint fragrance.

Ya Fei walked ahead, her high heels tapping crisply and rhythmically against the marble floor.

Normally, the sound carried a sharp, decisive urgency that made the auction house attendants instinctively straighten their backs whenever they heard it, afraid of offending the chief auctioneer with some mistake.

But today, her footsteps were so light that they seemed ready to dance.

Several passing maids hurried by with armfuls of account books. When they ran into Ya Fei, they quickly lowered their heads in greeting.

"Miss Ya Fei."

"Mhm, go on with your work."

Ya Fei answered offhandedly. The usual aloofness in her voice had vanished completely, replaced by a sweet softness.

The fragrant breeze she stirred as she passed made several young male attendants secretly glance up. Then, as if scalded, they hurriedly lowered their heads again, their ears turning red.

Miss Ya Fei was simply too different today.

Her pretty face, usually adorned with a professional false smile, now overflowed with undisguised radiance.

When Ya Fei passed a bronze mirror at a corner, she even stopped to tidy the loose strands by her temple, then winked at her reflection.

"That little rascal Lu Heng..."

Ya Fei's red lips parted as she murmured softly, then she could not help but let out a chuckle.

The charm of that moment seemed to dim even the oil paintings hanging along the corridor walls.

Whenever Ya Fei thought of Uncle Gu Ni's shocked expression earlier, the delight in her heart surged uncontrollably.

It had been so many years.

Ever since the old fogies of her family had "exiled" her to this remote Wutan City, she had appeared glamorous on the surface and held great authority over the auction house. Yet behind the scenes, there were always people waiting to laugh at her, waiting for her to return to the Imperial Capital so they could marry Ya Fei off in an alliance.

Ya Fei had always been gambling.

She had gambled on her own ability, betting that even without Dou Qi talent, she could still gain a foothold in this chaotic world.

And Lu Heng, whom she had picked up on a snowy day three years ago, was her greatest gamble—and her most irrational act of willfulness.

For this, Ya Fei had endured no shortage of scolding from her clan. Even Gu Ni, who had always supported her, had privately urged her more than once to make plans early and not raise a burden.

But now?

Nine years old, a one-star Dou Zhe.

Nine years old, a first-grade alchemist.

How was he a burden?

This was clearly a miracle Heaven had sent down specially because it pitied Ya Fei!

Humming an unknown tune, Ya Fei pushed open the door to the appraisal room.

Inside, Gu Ni sat before a long table piled with clutter, holding a magnifying glass as he repeatedly examined a pill.

Hearing the door open, Gu Ni suddenly looked up. "Did that boy go back to rest?"

He set down the magnifying glass. His first question was not about business, but about Lu Heng.

"I sent him back to his room to sleep."

Ya Fei walked to the table, poured herself a cup of tea, and drained it in one gulp.

"He just broke through to the Dou Zhe stage and already pushed himself this hard. How could that little body of his endure it?"