Selling a Map

Qian Duoduo opened the pill bottle and poured a golden, plump pill into his palm. He gently sniffed it, and the fresh medicinal fragrance made him reveal an intoxicated expression.

Sure enough, just as he had expected, anyone wrapped up this tightly had to be carrying good goods.

Qian Duoduo looked excited. He was not far from breaking through to the Marrow Cleansing Stage and needed to gather breakthrough resources as soon as possible. These Spirit-Gathering Pills had arrived at exactly the right time.

He poured out all the pills and counted them carefully. There were ten in total, and he could not help but be slightly moved.

Spirit-Gathering Pills were no ordinary pills. If they had been any other kind of pill, even a hundred would not have surprised him.

But Spirit-Gathering Pills were different. Among pills of the same category, they were the most difficult to refine—so difficult that mass production was simply impossible.

Normally, seeing even one would be considered fortunate. Yet there were ten all at once. This was not the work of an ordinary alchemist.

Qian Duoduo's expression turned somewhat solemn. "How many Spirit-Gathering Pills do you intend to auction?"

Long Xuan had never intended to keep a low profile. He answered directly, "Not many. Four bottles, ten in each bottle!"

Qian Duoduo was startled, his face filled with shock. Forty Spirit-Gathering Pills, and he called that not many? Then what counted as many?

This revealed an astonishing piece of information: any alchemist capable of producing so many Spirit-Gathering Pills must have an extremely high pill completion rate.

If he could achieve such a high completion rate even when refining Spirit-Gathering Pills, then his grade could not possibly be low.

A conservative estimate would place him at Third-Grade Alchemist, and he might even be a Fourth-Grade Alchemist.

Qian Duoduo's pupils contracted. Shock surged through him. That was a Fourth-Grade Alchemist! There was not even a Third-Grade Alchemist in the entire Far Western Lands. One could imagine how exalted the status of a Fourth-Grade Alchemist was. Such a person was absolutely not someone he could afford to offend.

By now, he had already imagined that this person must have a high-grade alchemy master behind him, forcing him to treat Long Xuan with caution.

"So you are the esteemed disciple of a Fourth-Grade Alchemist. My apologies for failing to recognize you. Rest assured, for the Spirit-Gathering Pills produced by his esteemed elder, this junior will certainly sell them at the highest possible price."

Qian Duoduo's tone carried a trace of respect, though he still made a probing remark.

He could not determine what sort of extraordinary person Long Xuan's master was, nor did he know whether he was a Third-Grade Alchemist or a Fourth-Grade Alchemist, so he tried to bluff him.

If he had guessed wrong, Long Xuan would probably refute him, or at least show some change in expression.

However, when Qian Duoduo looked toward Long Xuan's face, he discovered that it was wrapped up tightly. What expression could he possibly see?

Naturally, Long Xuan would not refute him. He wished Qian Duoduo would misunderstand even more. The more wildly he imagined things, the better.

"Whatever price is appropriate will do. There is no need to force it. His esteemed elder does not think much of such petty money."

Long Xuan's words were exceptionally skillful. The price of Spirit-Gathering Pills was already astonishing. If even that counted as petty money, it only further proved that his master was no ordinary man.

"Actually, I did not come today to sell Spirit-Gathering Pills. I have a map marking an ownerless Fossil Ore Vein. I came today to auction this map. This map of mine should be enough to serve as the finale of this auction, shouldn't it?"

Long Xuan spoke arrogantly, pretending to raise his voice casually so that everyone in the hall could hear him.

The more people who heard, the better. The more people who spread the news, the more he could sell it for.

Besides, the more people who knew, the less likely the auction house would dare detain him in broad daylight before so many eyes.

Though he trusted the binding power of the Integrity Gu, it was better to be safe than sorry. There was no downside to handling everything cautiously.

Sure enough, the moment he said this, everyone in the hall turned to look in his direction. The entire hall fell silent in an instant, so quiet that one could hear a needle drop.

After hearing the news, no one could remain calm. They all pricked up their ears and focused their attention here.

That was a Fossil Ore Vein. If it happened to be an ultra-large vein, it might generate wealth worth a hundred billion Spirit Stones, enough to be mined for more than a century.

Yet one could acquire it at a cost far below a hundred billion Spirit Stones. No matter how many Spirit Stones were spent, it would be a guaranteed profit in the long run—a profit soaked in blood.

If any Lineage controlled a Fossil Ore Vein, the wealth it generated would be enough for that Lineage to flourish for a thousand years, perhaps even allowing it to rise from the ranks of weak clans into those of powerful clans.

Before such temptation, who would not be envious? Who would not be stirred?

After hearing this news, everyone in the hall revealed fiery gazes, their expressions brimming with greed. Then, by every possible means, they quickly informed the Lineages behind them.

After the hall's brief silence, chaos soon erupted again. From time to time, people rushed outside and sprinted into the distance.

Qian Duoduo's breathing also grew rapid, and a flush appeared on his round face. Seeing forty Spirit-Gathering Pills had already shocked him enough, but he had not expected something even more shocking to come afterward.

Someone had actually drawn the location of a Fossil Ore Vein onto a map and brought it to an auction for sale. This was the first time he had ever seen someone sell the coordinates of an ore vein at an auction. It was sheer madness. This enormous transaction had struck him senseless.

How could it merely serve as the finale? Even if the value of every auction item in the entire auction were added together, it would not compare to a fraction of the value of a Fossil Ore Vein.

The value of an ownerless Fossil Ore Vein was simply unimaginable. He dealt in such things, so he understood better than anyone how immense the profits they could create were. It was something worth obtaining at any cost.

If he had not been named Qian, and if not for the restraints of the Integrity Gu, he would have seized the map without a second thought.

At that moment, the excited voice of the young mistress, Qian Jinjin, sounded in his mind.

Qian Jinjin transmitted through her soul, "Don't get any crooked ideas. Arrange the auction immediately—the faster, the better. We absolutely cannot give those great clans time to sell off their ancestral assets!"

Qian Duoduo instantly understood what she meant.

It would naturally violate the rules, as well as the Integrity Gu, for the auction house to intercept the auction item and keep it for itself.

But if they openly bought it at the auction, there would be no problem whatsoever.

After all, no rule said that an auction house could only sell items and could not participate in bidding.

What mattered most now was speed. They absolutely could not give those great clans time to prepare funds. Before the temptation of a Fossil Ore Vein, those Lineages truly would sell their clan assets.

By then, no one knew how high the auction price would soar. They had to strike while the iron was hot and seize the map before those great clans could react.

Thinking this, Qian Duoduo did not dare delay any longer. He immediately said, "What a coincidence. An auction is about to be held shortly, and it just happens to be missing a finale item. This auction item is more than qualified to serve as the finale. You have truly solved my urgent problem."

"However, this is the first time our auction house has auctioned the location of an ownerless ore vein. There is no precedent to draw upon, so it is truly difficult to determine whether it is genuine."

"Although going directly to the ore vein's location would make it easy to verify authenticity, the value of information lies in its exclusivity. Once we know the location of the ore vein, we could occupy it directly, and this map would no longer be valuable. I presume this is also your concern, so you would never hand over the complete map to us."

"How about this? You do not need to give the map to us. When the buyer is determined, you can hand the map directly to them."

"But to win the buyer's trust, we will publicly use the Integrity Gu's ability on the spot. What do you think?" Qian Duoduo said with a beaming smile.

At any other auction house, this transaction could not proceed at all. The seller could never tell them the location of the ore vein, while without knowing that location, they could not verify whether the map was real. It was a dead loop with no solution.

But at the Qian Clan Merchant Association, it was easily resolved. The Integrity Gu of the Qian Clan Merchant Association possessed the ability to detect lies.

There was no need to travel all the way to the ore vein to determine whether it was real. Besides, they did not have that kind of time. Speed was paramount; if this matter delayed them for ten days or half a month, the trouble would be enormous.