The King of Freebies

There had been nothing particularly noteworthy about the auction. The Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid had already been the biggest highlight.

In the end, the five bottles of Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid sold for 140,000 gold coins. After deducting the two percent commission, Xiao Yan netted 137,200 gold coins.

Besides that, Xiao Yan also received a Mite'er Family VIP card. Without this card, the commission would have been a full five percent, meaning he would have lost another 4,200 gold coins. That was quite a nice deal.

"I need a batch of medicinal ingredients, as well as a better-quality medicine cauldron. Deduct the gold directly from the card."

As the aged voice rang out, Xiao Yan handed a list to the staff member.

Although he had gathered a batch of medicinal ingredients from the Jia Lie Clan, they were still far from the quantity Old Yao required. Thus, Xiao Yan could only place his hopes on the Miter Auction House.

Before long, the list of medicinal ingredients reached Guni's hands.

After reading through it, he was stunned.

"There are even ingredients used in Third-Grade and Fourth-Grade pills? Could this person actually be a pill-refining master around the Fourth-Grade?"

Then, Guni became somewhat puzzled.

"But what is the meaning of this huge batch of low-grade ingredients? A Fourth-Grade alchemist would not need to refine such a massive quantity of First-Grade pills, would he? If he wanted to make money, he might as well refine Second-Grade or Third-Grade pills directly. That would be much more efficient!"

Still, puzzled or not, the matter had to be handled properly.

Thus, after waiting ten minutes, Guni personally brought the Storage Ring containing the medicinal ingredients, along with the crystal card after payment had been deducted, to Xiao Yan.

"Senior, some of the medicinal ingredients you requested are unavailable in Wutan City and must be transferred from the warehouses of other branches. Since you require such a large quantity, we will give you a twenty percent discount this time, as a gesture of friendship. If you have any pills to sell in the future, please give the Miter Auction House priority."

Xiao Yan fell silent for a moment before nodding slightly. Old Yao's voice then sounded.

"Fine. This old man will not let you suffer a loss either. Prepare the ingredients for three batches of Qi Gathering Powder, and this old man will refine one pill for you free of charge."

Guni's eyes immediately lit up at those words.

Qi Gathering Powder? That was a pill only a Fourth-Grade alchemist could refine!

In other words, this person before him was undoubtedly a genuine Fourth-Grade alchemist!

"Yes, Senior. I'll fetch them at once!"

Guni's face was full of delight, and his steps became much lighter as he immediately hurried out.

A short while later, he returned to the room, placed the ingredients into the Storage Ring that had previously held the medicinal ingredients, and handed it to Xiao Yan.

"I will return in three days."

With that, Xiao Yan stored the medicine cauldron and ingredients in the Storage Ring, then turned and calmly departed beneath Guni's admiring gaze.

"You brat, you really have a huge appetite! Three batches of Qi Gathering Powder cost more than 160,000 gold coins!"

Old Yao did not know whether to laugh or cry at Xiao Yan's conduct.

This disciple of his was truly a little too clever.

So clever that it was almost wicked.

In truth, the rule when an alchemist refined pills for someone was that the person requesting the pill had to provide three portions of ingredients. There was nothing wrong with that.

But with Old Yao's pill-refining skill, three batches of Qi Gathering Powder ingredients naturally guaranteed a one hundred percent success rate.

Xiao Yan had calculated things perfectly.

One pill would be given to Guni as promised. He would say that he had gotten lucky and produced two pills from three batches of ingredients, then sell the second to the Miter Auction House at cost.

As for the remaining pill—

Of course, it was for Xun Er!

Xun Er had reached the ninth stage of Dou Qi some time ago. With her talent, she could naturally advance to Dou Zhe through normal cultivation.

But Xiao Yan had been busy cultivating lately and had somewhat neglected Xun Er. At times like this, he had to promptly show her some affection.

Qi Gathering Powder was an excellent gift.

Old Yao was also rather helpless about Xiao Yan using pills refined by his teacher to court girls. Kids these days really did mature early.

That very night.

Xiao Yan sneaked out of the house and arrived at a cave halfway up the Back Mountain.

This was Xiao Yan's first time observing Old Yao refine a Fourth-Grade pill, and it would greatly benefit his study of pill refinement.

With a flip of his palm, Old Yao summoned the Bone Chilling Flame. However, Xiao Yan possessed a Heavenly Flame himself and had not seen one for the first time, so he was not overly envious. He merely carefully sensed the Bone Chilling Flame's peculiar nature, where extreme cold and extreme heat intertwined.

"Watch carefully. I'm starting."

Old Yao smiled faintly. The pale white flame in his palm surged continuously as stalk after stalk of medicinal ingredients flew from the Storage Ring, floating around him under the control of his soul power.

Old Yao reached out and picked up an Ink Leaf Lotus, then gently tossed it into the flame.

The moment the Ink Leaf Lotus touched the Bone Chilling Flame, it was instantly refined into a mass of pitch-black liquid. The liquid slowly rolled within the flame, reflecting a dim sheen.

Old Yao focused completely on controlling the temperature of the flame in his palm. Given the Bone Chilling Flame's power, if the temperature rose even the slightest bit higher, that mass of pitch-black liquid would be burned into nothing but empty air.

After the flame's temperature was maintained at a delicate threshold, tiny yellow impurities suddenly appeared within the pitch-black liquid. With a flick of his finger, Old Yao expelled a small clump of pitch-black liquid containing those yellow impurities from the main mass.

The impurities refined out afterward were likewise removed one by one. Under the continuous burning of the pale white flame, the pitch-black liquid, which had originally been half the size of a fist, shrank until it was only the size of a thumb.

Old Yao then tossed the other four Ink Leaf Lotuses into the flame as well, refining them all into four pure droplets like black pearls.

After being burned by the Bone Chilling Flame for a long time, the five small droplets gradually fused together. After fusing, their volume swelled considerably, but this phenomenon lasted only briefly before they shrank back to their original size.

They rolled within the flame for a long time. Even within that pitch-black liquid, it seemed as though a cluster of white flames could be seen dancing.

Seeing this, Old Yao swiftly grabbed the Snake Saliva Fruit from the table and threw it into the flame.

The moment the Snake Saliva Fruit entered the flame, it transformed into a jade-green liquid emitting faint wisps of cold air. After rapidly removing the impurities from the jade-green liquid, Old Yao slowly covered the pitch-black liquid blazing all over with it.

"Sizzle, sizzle..."

As the two liquids with differing properties came into contact, strange sounds immediately rang out, while faint white vapor churned up from the flames.

The white vapor gradually weakened, and a rough-surfaced pill embryo quietly took shape within the flame.

Calmly watching the pill that had already taken form, Old Yao nodded slightly and once more tossed in the Spirit Gathering Grass and the water-attributed Level Two Magical Core.

Refining them into liquid, removing impurities, merging them together... Old Yao completed several complicated and meticulous steps almost in one breath, without the slightest pause.

Seeing Old Yao's deft movements, even Xiao Yan, a complete outsider who still knew nothing about pill refinement, could not help silently praising him.

After using the Spirit Gathering Grass to neutralize the violent energy within the Magical Core, a stream of pure light-blue energy slowly poured into the pill embryo.

When the final drop of blue energy entered the pill, the somewhat pitted pill embryo was immediately restored until it became smooth and round. A faint blue sheen emerged on its surface, rendering it exquisitely beautiful.

After completing these steps, Old Yao did not stop immediately. Instead, he continued warming the pill in the flame for more than ten minutes before the white flame in his palm slowly extinguished.

The moment the flame vanished, Old Yao's left hand suddenly drew a jade bottle from the table, then swiftly placed the pill, which was faintly green with a hint of pale blue, into it.

"Phew..." After letting out a long breath, Old Yao casually tossed the jade bottle to Xiao Yan and said flatly, "Take a look."

Xiao Yan carefully caught the jade bottle. Slightly excited, he held it beneath his nose and gently sniffed. A familiar, unusual fragrance wafted out, instantly refreshing his mind.

So this was a Fourth-Grade pill? It really was utterly refreshing!