The Mittel Auction House in the Imperial Capital was much larger than the one in Wutan City, and the interior decoration was also extremely luxurious.
Fully armed and powerful guards could be seen everywhere.
The welcoming maidens were also all young and pretty.
The first floor of the auction house was a huge commercial area, displaying countless crystal counters inside which various rare items were placed.
For instance, storage rings, moonstones, magic core equipment, medicine cauldrons, and so on. Every single item was quite valuable and not something ordinary people could afford.
"The things sold here are merely low-tier items and have no qualifications whatsoever to enter the auction floor.
The Mittel Auction House is divided into four grades: Heaven, Earth, Mystic, and Yellow. The Heaven-grade auction floor is rarely opened, but once it is opened, it means the Mittel Auction House is going to auction off very important items, and by that time, powerhouses from half of the Jia Ma Empire will swarm in..."
Hai Bodong caught up with Xiao Yan, the two of them walking side by side. As a host, he introduced the various information about the Mittel Auction House to Xiao Yan, opening Xiao Yan's eyes to a whole new world.
Xiao Yan looked with considerable interest at the luxurious decorations inside the hall, as well as those pretty... maidens.
Suddenly, a familiar figure appeared within his view.
Following the appearance of this pretty figure, a commotion stirred within the hall, attracting the gazes of more than half the men.
It was precisely Ya Fei, from whom he had been separated for over two years.
She was dressed in a vibrant red tight-fitting brocade robe, setting off her curvaceous and seductive figure to be dynamic and fiery. Beneath the split of the brocade robe, her snow-white, dazzling, and straight long legs were exposed.
With her hands placed over her lower abdomen, she walked with lotus steps, a faint, charming smile maintained on her alluring face.
That pair of slender peach-blossom eyes swept casually across the hall, causing every man who saw her to think the woman had feelings for him, and unconsciously reveal a infatuated smile.
Afterward, they willingly emptied their wallets, generously purchasing some high-priced items just to win a smile from the beauty.
Suddenly, a brilliant and captivating smile bloomed on the beauty's face. Under the envious gazes of the crowd, she quickened her pace and walked up to a young man dressed in black.
"Little Brother Xiao Yan, I haven't seen you in over two years, and you've become all the more steady and handsome."
The beauty smiled brightly as she looked at the much more matured youth. Reminiscing about the time in Wutan City when the other party would put on a pretense of being steady, yet fled in panic every time after being teased by her a few times, she laughed with considerable delight.
"Sister Ya Fei is also getting prettier by the day. Look at the gazes of those guys around us; they look like they're about to kill me."
Xiao Yan curled his lip, glanced at the surrounding people's gazes, and spoke teasingly.
Regarding the youth's praise, Ya Fei's peach-blossom eyes contained smiles like autumn water. Her jade hand gently gathered a few strands of falling dark hair and tucked them behind her fair, rounded ear, the corners of her lips curving slightly upward.
"Little Brother Xiao Yan, we haven't seen each other for so long, and your little mouth is still this sweet. However, compared to your past self, you aren't quite as shy now."
Ya Fei covered her mouth and chuckled softly.
Xiao Yan rubbed his nose with slight awkwardness.
When he had first transmigrated to the Battle Qi Continent, he was at a hot-blooded age, had been a virgin through four lifetimes, and had just awakened the "Vajra Saint Body". Facing the sexy Ya Fei, his supreme bone hardened like steel every single time, and in the end he could only flee in panic.
The current Xiao Yan was long no longer that pure and innocent youth, but rather a man seasoned by countless battles.
Every mature man should master the technique of recoil control, and even if a succubus were before his eyes, he could handle it with ease.
"Sister Ya Fei's return to the Imperial Capital means she must have gained the family's importance. Do you now control this auction house?"
Xiao Yan shifted the topic, speaking in a low voice.
"Although because of you, I did achieve some results in Wutan City and managed to get transferred back to the Imperial Capital..."
Hearing this, Ya Fei let out a soft sigh and smiled bitterly, "The auction house here in the Imperial Capital is the Mittel Family's largest auction house after all, and its power is held in the hands of those old fellows. How could they possibly hand it over to me? I am merely an acting inspection elder here."
Her beautiful eyes gazed at Xiao Yan as Ya Fei smiled and said, "Although I am only an acting inspection elder, I still possess some authority. If you need anything, just name it."
"Let's find a quieter place."
Looking at the envious gazes of the men all around, Xiao Yan said with some helplessness.
"Of course we can."
Ya Fei smiled faintly, turned around, and walked gracefully toward a staircase in one part of the hall. Her high heels stepped on the smooth jade-stone floor, producing crisp ticking sounds. That elegant pace was immensely mesmerizing.
Xiao Yan followed slowly behind, appreciating Ya Fei's charming back. His tall figure blocked the gazes of the other men, causing them to frown continuously, their eyes revealing expressions of disgust toward Xiao Yan.
Passing through the spiral staircase, Ya Fei led Xiao Yan and Hai Bodong to an office of hers on the second floor.
The three of them sat down at the reception table, and a pretty maiden soon came forward, bringing hot water to brew tea.
Xiao Yan took a small sip of the tea, put down the cup, and smiled lightly:
"Sister Ya Fei, as an alchemy master, I have a habit of seeking out and purchasing medicinal herbs whenever I arrive in a city."
"Therefore, I'd like to see what high-tier medicinal herbs the Mittel Auction House in the Imperial Capital has. Money is no object."
Ya Fei beckoned with her hand, and a pretty maiden immediately walked over. After whispering a few words to the maiden, she smiled and said:
"It doesn't matter if the money isn't enough; when the time comes, Little Brother Xiao Yan, you can just have your mysterious teacher refine a few medicinal pills for us to make up the difference."
Hai Bodong's expression shifted slightly. He hadn't expected Xiao Yan to also possess a mysterious teacher, and his internal regard for Xiao Yan elevated once again.
The maiden fetched a thick, antiquated book. Ya Fei took the book and handed it to Xiao Yan.
"This is the original inventory record of high-tier medicinal herbs in the Mittel Auction House, and there are also many duplicate copies. If any medicinal herb is sold, as long as it is marked as sold on the duplicate, the master copy will retain a corresponding record. It's very convenient."
Xiao Yan flipped through the thick book. The pages were made of a special material, each page like a thin iron sheet—thick and hard, and actually entwined with faint spiritual force.
Flipping through the pages, the names of medicinal herbs appeared one by one in Xiao Yan's eyes, alongside brief descriptions of their functions. Xiao Yan clearly understood the majority of the medicinal herbs.
Xiao Yan called out the names of the medicinal herbs one by one, while the pretty maiden beside him recorded them down one by one.
"Just these will do."
Half an hour later, Xiao Yan closed the book, returned it to Ya Fei, and asked:
"Calculate how much these medicinal herbs cost?"
Without waiting for Ya Fei's instruction, the maiden beside them began calculating rapidly in a ledger at the side.
In less than three full minutes, the pretty maiden whispered into Ya Fei's ear.
Ya Fei nodded, smiled at Xiao Yan, and said, "The medicinal herbs you want are worth 1.8 million gold coins, but since we're so familiar, I can give you a ten percent discount."
"Little Brother Xiao Yan, if you don't have enough money, you can refine medicinal pills to offset it."
She gently bit her red lip, her peach-blossom eyes brimming with smiles.
Although the Mittel Auction House in the Imperial Capital had quite a few cooperative alchemy masters, precious medicinal pills were always in short supply, and no matter how many pills there were, it was never enough.
Xiao Yan turned his head and smiled at Hai Bodong, "Mr. Hai, my gold coins are not enough. Please help me pay the advance."
Pay in advance? Will you actually pay me back?
I'm here to be your muscle, and not asking you for a monthly stipend is already good enough. You buy things and still want me to pay?
Hai Bodong furrowed his brows, and an expression of dissatisfaction appeared on his face.
"Although Mr. Hai, you have lifted your seal, your strength has not recovered to its peak moment. I can refine a Purple Restoration Pill for you, which can help you quickly recover two to three stars of strength."
At this moment, Xiao Yan said indifferently.
Hearing this, Hai Bodong's eyes lit up. He stared intently at Xiao Yan and said, "Little Friend Xiao, is this true?"
"Hehe, I have no reason to trick you."
Xiao Yan said with a soft smile.
Hai Bodong took out an extremely exquisite purple-gold card from his storage ring, tossed it to Ya Fei, and said:
"Little Friend Xiao's medicinal herb money can just be deducted from this card."
Subsequently, Hai Bodong revealed an ingratiating smile toward Xiao Yan and said:
"Little Friend Xiao, look at which medicinal herbs are needed for that Purple Restoration Pill. See if this auction house has them."
Xiao Yan retrieved a list of medicinal herbs from his storage ring, casually tossed it to Hai Bodong, and said with playful amusement:
"I looked just now, and the majority of the required medicinal herbs are not available in the Mittel Auction House."
The rule of an alchemy master refining pills for others has always been for the requesting party to provide the medicinal herbs.
Whether the medicinal herbs could be gathered or not, that would be something for Hai Bodong to headache over.
This Purple Restoration Pill was a tier 6 medicinal pill, requiring over a dozen kinds of medicinal herbs, the majority of which were rare, high-tier herbs.
The Mittel Auction House only had five of those ordinary high-tier herbs.
Hai Bodong looked at the medicinal herbs listed on the herb list, let out a bitter laugh, handed the list to Ya Fei, and asked her to pay attention to acquiring them in the future.
During the interval of waiting for the maiden to fetch the medicinal herbs, Ya Fei and Xiao Yan discussed some recent major events in the Imperial Capital.
The most prestigious one was naturally the upcoming Alchemy Master Tournament. Hearing this, Xiao Yan had no intention of participating.
As for another major event, it unexpectedly turned out to concern the Nalan Clan.
Nalan Yanran's bizarre disappearance had also spread across the Imperial Capital over the past year.
The disappearance of his precious granddaughter dealt a tremendous blow to Elder Nalan Jie, leaving him dispirited and causing the brand poison he had contracted in his early years to flare up, reaching a terminal stage.
The Nalan Clan had invited numerous alchemy masters to come and expel the poison, but all of them were helpless.
Even Pill King Gu He of the Misty Cloud Sect had come, yet he too failed to successfully expel the poison.
However, he left behind a method to expel the poison, which was that it required an alchemy master possessing a Heavenly Flame to control the Heavenly Flame and enter the body to expel the poison.
"Little Brother Xiao Yan, you are also an alchemy master. Do you want to go to the Nalan Clan and give it a try? I heard that whoever manages to cure Elder Nalan, the Nalan Clan will produce a stalk of Seven-Colored Spirit Saliva as a reward. This is a heavenly rare treasure capable of recovering and enhancing spiritual power."
At this moment, Ya Fei said with a smile.
Hearing this, Xiao Yan's heart stirred; he happened to be planning to make a trip to the Nalan Clan.
As for the Seven-Colored Spirit Saliva, which could recover and enhance spiritual power, he wanted to obtain it and hand it over to Medicine Elder.
"Since that's the case, I can indeed give it a try. However, I don't want to expose my identity."
Xiao Yan said with a frown.
"Oh, why is that?" Ya Fei asked with curiosity.
Because Nalan Yanran had been imprisoned by Xiao Yan into his portable space before she could annul the engagement, the engagement between the Xiao Household and the Nalan Clan had not yet become known to the public.
Xiao Yan said softly, "That missing granddaughter of Elder Nalan is actually my fiancée. I simply don't want Elder Nalan to see me and be stirred to grieve over the past."
He casually found an excuse.
Before you continue