A Butterfly Beats Its Wings, and a Thought Changes Heaven

"Starfall Pavilion... Venerable Yao?" Zhu Jin's golden eyes widened at the news, because he knew what it meant.

"Fuck, I arrived too early." Zhu Jin truly wanted to slap the heavens hard. He had originally planned to cling to a powerful backer if he found one, and he had been ready to head straight for Zi Yan.

Yet who would have thought that it was actually Venerable Yao's era? Xiao Yan was probably still just a sperm cell!

"Oh, right. The original work said that Starfall Pavilion was located in the southern region of the Central Plains, while the Beast Domain lay in the southern region of the Dou Qi Continent. Geographically speaking, Starfall Pavilion happened to border the north side of the Beast Domain." Zhu Jin could not help recalling the details from the book. Though he knew the original work by heart, it had only ever briefly mentioned Starfall Pavilion's location, and he had never realized that Starfall Pavilion was actually quite close to the "beginner village."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jin fell silent in thought. If the timeline did not match up, it would have a huge impact on his plans. Whether Zi Yan had even been born at this point was still a question.

The original work had never clearly stated when Zi Yan hatched. It only said that after emerging from her egg, Zi Yan had remained lost in the great forest, chased down by magical beasts and nearly killed within the woods. It never said how long she had been fleeing.

But judging from the original work, if Zi Yan had been a Dou Wang from the moment she was born, it would have been impossible for magical beasts to chase her around for so long in that forest near the academy.

"If Zi Yan is still an egg at this point, wouldn't that turn into 'raising my wife from an egg'?" Hiss! Zhu Jin sucked in a breath of Black-Yellow Breath. That was a little too perverse!

After calming down, Zhu Jin looked at Wolf Flame and asked, "Did Venerable Yao come in person?"

Wolf Flame shook his head. "No. I heard that Venerable Yao refined some pills and entrusted the Nine Nether Commerce Association to auction them off. All the money earned will be used for charity."

"A... charity auction." Zhu Jin was stunned. He had seen plenty of charity auctions in television dramas, but he had never expected pill auctions for charity to exist in the Dou Qi Continent as well.

"Venerable Yao is a good man," Xie Dong could not help sighing. There were actually alchemists who cared about those at the bottom. He had assumed alchemists were all profit-driven people.

Zhu Jin nodded inwardly, recalling the book's description of that old man. He deeply agreed. "He really is a good man."

"Let's go. Since there's an auction house, there's no need to rush. Seeing Venerable Yao's pills will make this trip worthwhile."

Zhu Jin had not originally planned to consign his goods for auction. He had intended to sell them directly to the commerce association. Just like the Mittel Commerce Association, one could hand items over to the association for auction, with the association taking a handling fee; one could also negotiate directly with the association and sell the items to them.

The medicine cauldrons Zhu Jin had forged were worth some money. After all, there were four-mouthed medicine cauldrons, as well as remains he had obtained from that group of magical beasts. They were valuable enough, but compared to pills, they were still far inferior. Thus, Zhu Jin had initially felt there was no need to haggle over that bit of money.

Having received the order, Old Turtle did not enter through the crowded front entrance. Instead, he flew toward the rear entrance for auction consignments. The Ancient Dragon Turtle passed over the massive building from the air and arrived at the heavily guarded consignment area.

When Old Turtle landed, several enormous black pythons at the entrance of the consignment area swept their hawk-sharp gazes across the stream of beasts coming and going. Judging from the faint aura seeping from within them, they were all fifth-tier magical beasts. The guards alone possessed the strength of Dou Wangs. The Nine Nether Commerce Association truly could not be underestimated.

"A sixth-tier magical beast, a Dou Emperor?!"

Old Turtle did not conceal his aura, and the might of a Dou Emperor swept outward. Even within the Nine Nether Commerce Association, someone with the strength of a Dou Emperor was considered a distinguished guest.

Not long after Old Turtle entered the commerce association, a pink little snake with a graceful figure, red jewels adorning her body, and a swaying waist slithered out through a side door. Zhu Jin had been single for so long that even a snake looked delicate and pretty to him.

A soft, coquettish voice tinged with seduction came from the pink little snake's mouth. "Two distinguished guests, are you here to have treasures appraised? Or to have their value assessed for auction?"

"The latter."

"Please follow me." The pink little snake narrowed her eyes and gave a seductive smile before turning around. Her truly snake-like waist swayed in an extraordinarily alluring curve. A dragon with firm resolve like Zhu Jin naturally would not be tempted, but Xie Dong and Wolf Flame were another matter. Their eyes began to burn with lust.

Old Turtle transmitted through his soul, "Master, this little snake is unconsciously releasing a bloodline Dou Skill that affects the mind."

Zhu Jin nodded inwardly and silently put on the storage ring Old Turtle had given him. A barrier of soul power spread out, blocking the little snake's seductive Dou Skill.

It seemed the Nine Nether Commerce Association had some clever methods as well. They specifically used magical beasts with special Dou Skills as attendants, allowing themselves to gain greater profits without anyone noticing.

Old Turtle followed behind the pink little snake for nearly several dozen meters before entering a small private room. She bowed respectfully toward Zhu Jin and said with a smile, "Two distinguished guests, simply hand over the items you wish to auction for the master to assess and review. Based on the value of the auctioned items, you will receive seats of different grades at the auction."

Zhu Jin nodded slightly and saw a white-haired old man enter through a side door. He was actually a human! But on second thought, that was normal. Humans truly excelled at treasure appraisal, so it was not strange for a magical beast commerce association to employ human appraisers.

"Please sit." The old man spoke indifferently. "Take out the items you wish to auction. I will give you a specific appraisal price."

Zhu Jin did not use the Ancient Void Dragon's spatial arts. Instead, he had placed the items in his storage ring long ago. With a flick of his finger, three medicine cauldrons appeared atop the massive table.

"Medicine cauldrons?!" The old man was slightly startled, a trace of surprise flashing through his eyes. After all, there were many types of forgers, and among them, medicine-cauldron forgers were the most difficult and valuable.

Cauldrons could not only be used to refine pills; they could even serve as weapons. Legend had it that some powerful medicine cauldrons could be used for sealing, or even seize the power of heaven and earth. Their might was extraordinarily formidable.

Seeing the three medicine cauldrons Zhu Jin had brought out, and recognizing at once that they had been newly forged rather than excavated, the pink little snake standing behind him narrowed her eyes and carefully studied Zhu Jin, who sat atop a sixth-tier magical beast.

The old man took something resembling a monocle from his robes and held it before his eye, carefully examining the cauldrons. This inspection lasted nearly half an hour. Zhu Jin was beginning to lose patience, his tail intermittently striking the floor as he forcibly restrained himself from urging the man on and interrupting the appraisal.

"This old man has appraised treasures for the commerce association for thirty years. If I have not handled a hundred medicine cauldrons, then I have handled eighty. Two-mouthed medicine cauldrons are ordinary, and three-mouthed medicine cauldrons are not rare either. But four-mouthed medicine cauldrons such as these are something this old man has not seen in a very long time." A trace of pride flashed through the appraiser's eyes as he said directly, "Young friend, these medicine cauldrons were forged using Heavenly Flames, weren't they?"