Auctioning the Foundation-Building Elixir

(An extra chapter, thanks to all the readers for your support and recommendation votes.)

Footsteps echoed down the corridor, drawing nearer.

Xiao Yan withdrew his hand and turned toward the door. Xiao Xun'er quietly stepped aside, resuming her cool, lotus-like demeanor.

The door was pushed open, and a middle-aged man walked in.

Behind him followed an elderly man in green robes with graying hair. He was Gu Ni, the Second-Rank Alchemist Xiao Yan had seen earlier.

As Gu Ni entered the room, his gaze naturally settled on Xiao Yan.

His eyes swept over Xiao Yan's face before pausing on those golden-red eyes. A trace of barely perceptible surprise flashed through his own.

This youth was no simple person.

That was his first impression.

"Sir, Master Gu Ni has arrived."

The middle-aged man stepped aside, his professional smile returning. His tone was attentive without being overbearing. "Could you take out the item you wish to have appraised?"

Xiao Yan nodded.

With a casual wave of his hand, four white jade bottles appeared neatly atop the table.

The jade bottles were pristine white and delicately textured, their surfaces gleaming warmly under the light. Their mouths were sealed with red silk, tied with fine cords. Every detail spoke of refinement and care.

The instant Gu Ni saw the four white jade bottles, his eyes lit up.

He immediately understood why the youth before him had specifically requested his presence—pills.

Only pills required a Second-Rank Alchemist like him to personally inspect them.

For ordinary items, the middle-aged man's judgment was more than sufficient.

He stepped up to the table and solemnly picked up one of the jade bottles. His fingertips brushed over its surface, feeling the smooth, warm jade, and he nodded slightly. Judging from the container alone, whatever was inside could not be poor.

He pulled out the stopper.

A crisp medicinal fragrance drifted from the bottle, spreading throughout the Appraisal Room.

The scent was neither too strong nor too faint, just right. It was like fresh grass after rain, like mist drifting through mountain woods at dawn. Breathing it in left one refreshed, as though one's very spirit had been roused.

Gu Ni's aged eyes narrowed slightly, and a flicker passed through his pupils.

He tipped the bottle slightly, and a small drop of green liquid slowly rolled out, hovering above his palm.

The liquid was crystal clear, emerald-green like jade. Under the light, it glowed softly, like a drop of spring frozen in time.

Staring intently at that drop of green liquid, Gu Ni's expression gradually shifted from calm to grave.

With a pinch of two fingers, a slender silver needle appeared between them. Faint Dou Zhi Qi fluctuations rippled along it, clearly marking it as no ordinary item.

He inserted the needle into the green liquid and gently stirred it.

The needle slowly revolved within the liquid. With every rotation, the liquid's color changed ever so slightly.

Gu Ni's expression grew increasingly solemn, and his brows furrowed tighter and tighter.

He withdrew the silver needle, brought it to his nose and sniffed it, then examined the color of the residue on its tip. After a moment of silence, he returned the drop of green liquid to the jade bottle and sealed it once more.

When he raised his head to look at Xiao Yan again, there was already far more shock in his eyes.

"This gentleman looks remarkably young. May I ask your name?"

His tone was much more respectful than before. The innate arrogance of an Alchemist had faded, replaced by the courtesy one afforded an equal. "Did you refine this medicine, sir?"

"My surname is Xiao, given name Yan." Xiao Yan met Gu Ni's gaze, his tone calm and direct. "As for who refined this medicine, I cannot say."

He paused, his gaze passing over the four jade bottles on the table.

"Is there anything false about this medicine?"

Gu Ni shook his head, speaking with certainty. "Nothing false. This elixir is of exceptional quality, and the refining technique is pure. It has reached the level of a second-rank medicinal pill."

He paused, but ultimately could not suppress his curiosity.

"May I ask what this medicine is called? And what effects does it have?"

"Foundation-Building Elixir." Xiao Yan spoke unhurriedly. "It can increase the cultivation speed of Dou Zhi Qi. However, it is effective only for those below the Dou Practitioner level. For anyone above that, using it would be a waste."

The moment those words fell, Gu Ni's aged eyes widened sharply.

"Increase the cultivation speed of Dou Zhi Qi?"

There was unmistakable astonishment in his voice, along with a trace of doubt.

He could not be blamed. Dou Zhi Qi could only be cultivated steadily and conventionally; that was the most basic common knowledge in the cultivation world.

The meridians of cultivators at this stage were exceedingly fragile, like rivers thawing in early spring, unable to withstand any violent impact.

If the medicinal potency was too fierce or the energy too violent, the mild result would be damaged meridians; the severe result would be ruptured channels and death. This was a consensus purchased with the bloody lessons of countless cultivators over the years.

Medicinal pills or spiritual elixirs that could increase the cultivation speed of Dou Zhi Qi were not unheard of.

But such things were either incredibly rare, controlled by major powers and never released to the public.

Or they came with immense side effects, and their users often had to pay a painful price.

In a small place like Wutan City, one had not merely never seen them—one had never even heard of them.

"My elixir has no side effects. Its medicinal potency is exceptionally mild and will not cause any damage to the meridians." Seeing Gu Ni's doubts, Xiao Yan calmly added, "You may rest assured."

Gu Ni fell silent.

He looked at the jade bottles on the table, then at the youth before him, his thoughts racing.

Xiao Yan.

Of course he had heard that name. Not only had he heard it, he knew it extremely well.

Three years ago, Xiao Zhan had personally come to see him and invited him to the Xiao Clan to diagnose his son's condition.

He had gone and seen that eleven-year-old youth—the former genius, now reduced to trash.

He had examined him for half a day and exhausted every method at his disposal, yet still failed to find the cause of Xiao Yan's declining Dou Qi.

His conclusion at the time had been, "The cause is unknown. There is nothing I can do."

Back then, Xiao Yan had been quiet and reserved. Though he had shown no signs of despair, one could not see the slightest hope of recovery in him.

Yet the Xiao Yan standing before him now was utterly different from that youth of three years ago.

Confident, sharp-edged, his eyes blazing bright.

The aura around him was not something he deliberately put on. It naturally flowed from his bones—an air that only the truly strong possessed.

Gu Ni recalled the news that had reached the Miter Auction House yesterday.

Xiao Yan had recovered his strength, become a Four-Star Dou Practitioner, and defeated Nalan Yanran, the personal disciple of the Misty Cloud Sect's Sect Master.

He had not believed it then.

How could a youth who had been crippled for three years suddenly recover to the level of a Four-Star Dou Practitioner overnight? And even defeat Nalan Yanran?

It was too absurd, so absurd that no rational person would believe it.

But now, looking at the youth before him and the four bottles of second-rank spiritual elixir on the table, the disbelief in his heart began to loosen, crumble, and collapse.

Perhaps the news was true.

Perhaps this youth had truly returned.

Gu Ni took a deep breath, suppressing the surging emotions in his heart, and turned to the middle-aged man beside him.

The middle-aged man immediately understood. A fervent smile appeared on his face as he stepped forward.

"Young Master Xiao Yan, are you planning to auction these elixirs?" His voice was far more attentive than before. Even his form of address had changed from "sir" to "Young Master Xiao Yan."

"Yes." Xiao Yan nodded. "Can you arrange the earliest possible auction time for me?"

"Hehe, naturally. That will not be a problem."

Beaming, the middle-aged man took a pitch-black iron token from a drawer and offered it to Xiao Yan with both hands. "Please take this iron token to Auction Room One. An auction is currently underway there. Your elixir can be put up for auction shortly."

Xiao Yan casually accepted the iron token. His fingertips brushed across the uneven patterns on its surface, feeling the metal's distinctive chill.

He said nothing more, slipped the token into his sleeve, then turned and took Xiao Xun'er's hand.

"Let's go."

Under Gu Ni and the middle-aged man's watchful gazes, the two left the Appraisal Room side by side.

The door softly closed behind them.

Gu Ni remained where he stood, gazing at the closed door for a long while without moving.

"Master Gu Ni?"

The middle-aged man called out cautiously.

Gu Ni came back to himself. His gaze fell upon the four white jade bottles on the table. After a brief silence, he slowly said, "Go. Report everything that happened here to Ya Fei, without leaving out a single detail."

"Yes."

After answering, the middle-aged man immediately headed for the inner section of the auction house.