"Uncle! (Father!)"
Zhang Yuan and Xiao Yan took the initiative to greet him.
Xiao Zhan looked at the two standing together and nodded approvingly.
He took out a ring and handed it to Zhang Yuan. "These are medicinal ingredients I've transferred from the clan treasury first. They're enough to refine twenty portions of Foundation Building Spirit Liquid. We'll slowly acquire more in secret afterward."
As he spoke, he took two jade boxes from his Storage Ring and handed them to Zhang Yuan. "The boxes contain two portions each of Earth Demon Root and Soul-Piercing Leaf. We're still short two Fourth-tier Wind Elemental Cores. Once we have them, we can refine the Three-pattern Green Spirit Pill twice."
A Fourth-tier Magical Beast was comparable to a human Dou Ling expert. Fourth-tier Wind Elemental Cores had to be obtained from Fourth-tier wind-attributed Magical Beasts. With the Xiao Clan's wealth, they could naturally afford them, but they did not normally keep such items in stock.
Zhang Yuan was not disappointed. He had only been trying his luck in the first place.
"Uncle, once you find the Fourth-tier Wind Elemental Cores, just give them directly to Little Yan. He'll pass them on to that esteemed Alchemist. Once the pills are refined, write to inform me." Zhang Yuan handed the Storage Ring and jade boxes over to Xiao Yan.
Once they had the cores, Old Yao could first refine the One-pattern Green Spirit Pill.
After Zhang Yuan returned, they could refine the Two-pattern Green Spirit Pill together.
Xiao Zhan frowned and asked, "Yuan'er, you're leaving again just after returning?"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Yuan carefully repeated what he had just told Xun Er.
"At most, you can only stay for five days?" Xiao Zhan pondered. "In that case, we'll have to bleed tonight at the Mittel Auction House auction."
The Mittel Auction House?
An image surfaced in Zhang Yuan's mind: a stunning woman in black stockings, with an incomparably seductive temperament and a bewitchingly voluptuous figure.
When he had left Wutan City two years ago, she had only just arrived in this "backwater" place. They had met a few times.
Two years had passed. That elder sister had likely become even more alluring through her experiences.
Keeping his expression unchanged, Zhang Yuan asked, "Uncle, will there be Fourth-tier Wind Elemental Cores at tonight's Mittel Auction House auction?"
"Yes." Xiao Zhan nodded. "The invitation for tonight's Mittel Auction House auction was delivered long ago. The attached list of auction items stated that there will be five Fourth-tier Magical Cores, two of which are wind-attributed. They'll be auctioned separately."
The Mittel Family, the Nalan family, the Mu family, and the former Xiao Clan were known as the Jia Ma Empire's four great families. They had always had several Dou Wang experts overseeing them, and occasionally even Dou Emperor experts. They shared the empire's prosperity and decline.
With the Mittel Family's foundations, a Dou Wang would occasionally lead a Dou Ling team into the Magical Beast Mountain Range to "stock up." Fourth-tier and even Fifth-tier Magical Cores were standard items at every auction, and often went unsold.
Aside from the City Lord's Manor, which represented the empire's officials, the strongest local forces in Wutan City were the Xiao Clan, Jia Lie family, and Ao Ba Family. The strongest outside force was the Mittel Auction House, a neutral faction.
Among Wutan City's three great families, most members of the Xiao Clan had fire-attributed Dou Qi, the Jia Lie Family mostly had wind-attributed Dou Qi, and the Ao Ba Family mostly had earth-attributed Dou Qi.
The Jia Lie Family and Ao Ba Family had once been attached to the Xiao Clan, but now the three were in a relationship of both cooperation and competition.
For items at the Mittel Auction House, Magical Cores included, it was generally understood that fire-attributed ones went to the Xiao Clan, wind-attributed ones to the Jia Lie Family, and earth-attributed ones to the Ao Ba Family. This reduced the costs of bidding against one another.
Xiao Zhan's remark about bleeding money made it clear that he was prepared to compete with the Jia Lie Family.
"Uncle, there's actually no need to go through so much trouble." Zhang Yuan's eyes flashed as he smiled. "We can secure those two Fourth-tier Wind Elemental Cores before the auction begins."
Auction items did not necessarily have to go up for auction. They could also be purchased in advance, provided the auction house or seller was willing.
However, to achieve that, one either needed broad connections, high status, and great strength; the seller urgently needed resources or money; or one had to offer more money simply to avoid showing one's face and competing with others.
The auction was beginning tonight, and the wind-attributed cores belonged to the Mittel Auction House itself. The chances of them agreeing were very low.
"This will be difficult." Xiao Zhan shook his head. "If it had been two years ago, I could still have swallowed my pride and asked. But now, the person in charge of the Mittel Auction House is Ya Fei, a young woman with considerable skill and intelligence. She won't be easy to persuade."
"If we reveal our intentions too early, she may even seize on them and make us pay a greater price."
The future Golden Empress—a woman whose business acumen was as outstanding as her cultivation talent was poor—truly lived up to her reputation.
Zhang Yuan revealed a confident smile. "Precisely because Ya Fei is in charge, this matter will be easier to discuss."
Xiao Zhan, Xiao Yan, and Old Yao: ?
More than an hour later, after finishing dinner, Xiao Zhan, Xiao Yan, Zhang Yuan, and Xun Er arrived at the Mittel Auction House together.
Zhang Yuan had taken a bath, removed his heavy armor, and changed into a special black Magical Beast silk robe trimmed in gold. His entire person looked like a flawless jade figure forged from precious jade. His bearing had also changed from that of a young general to that of a nobleman, dignified and refined.
Along the way, he drew the gazes of countless women, who secretly cast flirtatious looks his way.
Yet Zhang Yuan kept his eyes straight ahead the entire time and spoke only with Xun Er.
He did not want Xun Er to suddenly ask, "How do these women compare to Xiao Yi Xian?"
That would leave him feeling as though he were sitting on pins and needles, with thorns in his back and a bone stuck in his throat.
"Inform Miss Ya Fei that I have an important matter to discuss with her."
The moment the group entered the auction house, they were received by dedicated staff. Xiao Zhan directly requested to see Ya Fei.
As the Xiao Clan's patriarch and a Da Dou Shi, he naturally had the qualifications to do so.
A maid led them to a private room, where someone served pastries and tea.
Zhang Yuan took some pastries for Xun Er. The pastries here truly had their own distinctive charm.
Before long, the private room door opened. A woman wearing a black qipao, black stockings, and high heels sashayed in, her features exquisite and her eyes seductive.
Xun Er subconsciously frowned, but once she noticed the clarity in Zhang Yuan's eyes, she revealed a satisfied smile.
"Gulp!"
The sound of someone swallowing suddenly rang out.
It was Xiao Yan. He was at the age when a young man's blood ran hot, and upon suddenly seeing such a stunning beauty, he could not hold himself back for a moment.
However, he quickly straightened his posture and kept his eyes forward.
It was not that he was pretending to be proper. He simply was not sure about Ya Fei's relationship with Zhang Yuan.
Based on his "understanding" of Zhang Yuan, such a beauty could very well become his "future sister-in-law."
Xiao Yan's reaction surprised Ya Fei slightly, but her gaze lingered longest on Zhang Yuan. Then she gracefully took a seat at the head of the room and said, "There's still an hour before the auction begins. Clan Head Xiao, you came quite early."
She did not directly ask why Xiao Zhan had requested to see her in advance. In short, she was trying to take control.
Xiao Zhan said nothing and instead looked toward Zhang Yuan.
The latter set down his teacup and smiled. "Miss Ya Fei, it has been two years. I trust you've been well."
A gleam flashed through Ya Fei's beautiful eyes as she chuckled. "I was wondering who had given birth to such a handsome and outstanding young man. So it's little brother Zhang Yuan. Come to think of it, you haven't come to see your sister in two years. You truly are a heartless man."
Pfft—little brother Zhang Yuan?
Xiao Yan turned his head away, barely holding back his laughter.
That form of address was truly interesting. He had soaked in hot springs with his cousin before, completely bare before each other. After that, his only thought had been to never soak in hot springs with him again.
He considered himself exceptionally gifted too, yet he had still been defeated by Zhang Yuan.
Ya Fei definitely had not seen it before, or how would she dare say such a thing?
But what he really wanted to laugh about was that Zhang Yuan had brought cousin Xun Er along. Was he not afraid of getting chopped up?
Xun Er set down her teacup and looked at Zhang Yuan with a faint smile playing on her lips.
Zhang Yuan met her gaze calmly and said with a hint of apology, "I never expected that our few meetings two years ago would make you fall for me, Sister Ya Fei, and suffer from lovesickness. I apologize."
"The next time I come to visit, I'll definitely wear a mask in advance, so you won't be left with the regret of desiring something you cannot have."
Ya Fei's smile stiffened.
Is that what I meant?
She had originally wanted to tease him and dig a small pit for him, yet she had ended up burying herself.
Still, losing a verbal exchange meant nothing to her.
Her smile grew even brighter as she rested her cheek on one hand. "There's no need to go through such trouble. Seeing your face is like seeing beautiful flowers—it lifts the spirit. When you have time, you should come chat with your sister more often."
"Certainly, certainly." Zhang Yuan agreed without the slightest sincerity.
Whether he actually wanted to come or not, only he himself knew.
Ya Fei smiled sweetly and asked, "So, little brother, what do you need from your sister? Don't tell me you came to see me after all these years only because you wanted something?"
If it had been any ordinary thin-skinned young man, that remark would have put him on the spot.
But Zhang Yuan did not care about such things. He said directly, "There is indeed one matter I wish to ask of you. I want to purchase the two Fourth-tier Wind Elemental Cores in your auction house's possession."
Ya Fei's smile froze again. Then she said, "Little brother, this is an auction house, not a shop. Those two Fourth-tier Wind Elemental Cores are the finale items of this auction and cannot be sold in advance."
As expected of a merchant. She was already raising the price.
But Zhang Yuan had come prepared. He said directly, "Sister Ya Fei, do you know where I went during these past two years?"
Ya Fei stared at Zhang Yuan with her beautiful eyes and smiled. "Are you planning to have a heart-to-heart talk with your sister?"
Zhang Yuan's expression remained unchanged as he said lightly, "Sister Ya Fei, you wouldn't want Mu Zhan to know you're here, would you?"
Ya Fei's smile instantly froze.
Xiao Yan blinked.
For some reason, Zhang Yuan's question gave him a strange sense of familiarity.
A Neon flavor?
(End of Chapter)
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