In Ya Fei's eyes, he had just handed the last of the medicinal ingredients over to Yao Chen at the auction house.
They had only been apart for a short while, and he was already back. Could he have failed to refine the pill?
Ya Fei sighed. The thing she had feared most had still happened.
That was only natural. Even if this lord was a fifth-grade Alchemist, no one could guarantee that he would succeed on his first attempt.
And with her abilities, it had already been difficult enough to gather one set of fifth-grade ingredients.
Gathering more...
Given her current standing within the family, there was simply nothing she could do.
The pill refining had failed.
Ya Fei could already imagine the pressure she would face from the family next.
They would surely blame her for acting rashly and trusting someone blindly. What fifth-grade Alchemist? The very idea was absurd!
How could a tiny place like Wutan City, no bigger than a speck, possibly have an Alchemist capable of refining a fifth-grade pill?
And for this, she had wasted one of the family's extremely precious Fifth-grade Monster Cores.
Doubts like these would surely come pouring in.
Ya Fei could already picture it.
Even so, Ya Fei took a slow, deep breath and looked at Yao Chen.
"Mr. Yao, even though the fifth-grade pill refining failed, it's all right. Failure is perfectly normal when refining pills."
"Even so, this won't change how much our Miteer Auction House values you. You don't need to worry about that."
Yao Chen watched Ya Fei's expression.
Hearing what she had just said, Yao Chen didn't explain anything.
He took the successfully refined Fifth-grade Pill, the Heavenly Nourishing Gold Pill, out of his Storage Ring.
Then he handed it to Ya Fei and introduced it.
"This pill is a Fifth-grade Pill: the Heavenly Nourishing Gold Pill."
"What!" Ya Fei's expression turned shocked at once. She thought she must have seen it wrong.
"Mr. Yao really succeeded on his first try? Is this truly a Fifth-grade Pill?"
Ya Fei was utterly astonished and cried out in amazement.
Yao Chen paid no mind to her shocked expression or gaze. His voice remained calm as he explained.
"Let me briefly explain what this pill does."
"This pill is called the Heavenly Nourishing Gold Pill. It can help someone whose strength was sealed or restricted in some way recover their power."
"Originally, I wanted to refine the fifth-grade Spirit Recovery Purple Pill."
"But its ingredients are rare and difficult to find."
"So in the end, I chose this Heavenly Nourishing Gold Pill instead. Its ingredients are somewhat easier to find, but it's still a fifth-grade pill."
"Take this pill. You can handle the auction from here, right? I don't need to concern myself with the rest?" Yao Chen said.
After hearing his explanation,
Ya Fei grew excited at once. She held the pill in her hands with the utmost care, afraid she might drop it on the ground.
"Don't worry, Mr. Yao. I'll make sure this pill is auctioned off properly and maximize your profits!"
An hour later,
Ya Fei and Guni discussed the matter at length and considered it carefully.
In the end, they decided to quickly send word back to the Miteer Family in the Imperial City that their Miteer Auction House in Wutan City had obtained a Fifth-grade Pill.
First, they would have the family send over some experts!
This was a Fifth-grade Pill. They had to protect it well,
lest some covetous person try to snatch it.
It would also let the family know that Ya Fei had made the right choice and hadn't trusted the wrong person.
Mr. Yao had truly refined a Fifth-grade Pill!
Then they would publicize it properly, ideally drawing the families and forces of the Jia Ma Empire's Imperial City
to attend the auction of this Heavenly Nourishing Gold Pill.
When the time came, they would surely be able to drive up the pill's price, and Ya Fei herself would earn the family's respect!
Ya Fei had no strength to speak of and was just a woman who couldn't hurt a fly.
She had made it this far through her sharp mind and her deft handling of people.
Guni nodded. "Ya Fei, I think your suggestion is very sensible. I don't see a problem with it. Let's do it!"
So they immediately sent someone to carry the news to the Imperial City.
Within a day or two, in the Imperial City of the Jia Ma Empire,
Miteer Tengshan had already learned about it.
"What? Are you saying that the Miteer Auction House run by Ya Fei and Guni has received a Fifth-grade Pill that's about to go up for auction?"
"Some time ago, Ya Fei asked the family for a Fifth-grade Monster Core."
"She said she wanted to help an Alchemist in Wutan City gather the ingredients for a fifth-grade pill."
"Could that Alchemist in Wutan City really have refined it? How could a tiny place like Wutan City be hiding an Alchemy master like that?"
"He can actually refine a Fifth-grade Pill?"
Miteer Tengshan immediately took the matter seriously and set off for Wutan City in the Jia Ma Empire.
He was a Dou Wang. He had never imagined he would deign to visit a place like Wutan City.
And according to what Ya Fei had written in her letter,
that Alchemist who could refine a fifth-grade pill could restore the strength of someone whose power had been sealed.
It couldn't restore them completely, but it could bring back half their strength.
He thought of someone: Ice Emperor Hai Bodong!
Long ago, Hai Bodong had fought Queen Medusa of the Snake People Tribe and had his strength sealed.
If he learned that there was a pill that could restore his strength
in a tiny place like Wutan City—and at his own family's Miteer Auction House, no less—
who knew how he would react?
Miteer Tengshan spread his Dou Qi into wings and flew straight into the sky, heading toward the desert.
He planned to find Hai Bodong and tell him about it.
As for the other members of the Miteer Family, they all headed toward Wutan City.
In the desert, the owner of a small shop looked thoroughly unremarkable.
But he was none other than Hai Bodong, once one of the Jia Ma Empire's ten great powerhouses, known by the title Ice Emperor!
After Queen Medusa sealed his strength, however, he was now only a Dou Ling.
If he had an Obstacle Breaking Pill, he could restore his strength to Dou Emperor.
The fifth-grade Heavenly Nourishing Gold Pill wasn't as effective as the Obstacle Breaking Pill, but it could still restore a great deal of his strength.
Even if it couldn't bring him back to Dou Emperor, restoring him to Dou Wang wouldn't be a problem.
Although the Heavenly Nourishing Gold Pill's effects were limited, it was essentially a lower-grade version of the Obstacle Breaking Pill.
Hai Bodong was somewhat surprised to see Miteer Tengshan arrive in the desert.
Still, the man had probably come to ask him to return to the family. Hai Bodong intended to refuse as usual.
Until he had gathered the ingredients for the Obstacle Breaking Pill—Sand Mandala—and restored his strength to Dou Emperor, he had no intention of leaving the desert.
What Hai Bodong didn't expect was this:
Miteer Tengshan told him something.
He pointed in a certain direction and said,
"In that direction, there's a place called Wutan City. Our Miteer Family has an auction house there too, a branch run by Ya Fei and Guni."
"Recently, Ya Fei obtained a fifth-grade pill called the Heavenly Nourishing Gold Pill. It can restore some of the strength of people whose Dou Qi cultivation has been sealed."
Hai Bodong looked utterly shocked. He couldn't believe that a tiny place like Wutan City actually had a fifth-grade Alchemist.