Let the Bullets Fly for a While!

Mittel Auction House.

On the high platform, Ya Fei, dressed in a red gown, presided over the auction with a bright smile.

Below the stage, Xiao Chen sat in a corner, leisurely sipping tea.

"Elder, people from the Jia Lie Clan are here too. They're sitting across from us. I'm afraid they mean trouble."

"I know."

"I'd be surprised if they didn't come."

"Then should we... be on guard?"

"Guard against what?"

Xiao Chen gave a soft laugh.

"Next up is a batch of second-grade Healing Pills listed by the Xiao Clan. The starting bid is fifteen hundred gold coins!"

As soon as Ya Fei finished speaking, a stir swept through the audience.

Everyone knew that this batch of pills from the Xiao Clan far surpassed similar products on the market. They had become the hottest commodity in Wutan City lately.

"Two thousand!"

"Twenty-two hundred!"

"Twenty-five hundred!"

Just as the bids rose one after another, a strange, mocking voice suddenly rang out.

"Three thousand!"

As the words fell, a middle-aged man in brocade robes, his face full of arrogance, slowly rose to his feet. He cupped his hands toward the crowd and said with a smile, "Everyone, the Jia Lie Clan is determined to obtain this batch of pills today. I hope you'll do us the favor of stepping aside."

This man was Jia Lie Ang, a steward of the Jia Lie Clan.

The moment he spoke, the surroundings immediately fell silent.

The Jia Lie Clan had deep roots in Wutan City and connections with the City Lord's Mansion. Ordinary families did not dare offend them lightly.

"Jia Lie Ang, doesn't your Jia Lie Family have its own pharmacy? Why are you here snatching the Xiao Clan's goods?"

Someone could not help speaking up.

"Heh, what my Jia Lie Family buys is none of anyone else's business."

Jia Lie Ang sneered. "What, is there something wrong with my Jia Lie Family buying the Xiao Clan's goods?"

"That's right. My Jia Lie Family can buy whatever we want. Who are you to interfere?"

A follower behind him chimed in, his face brimming with smugness.

Though the people around them were dissatisfied, they dared not voice their anger.

The Jia Lie Clan had already been seething after the Xiao Clan stole away their business these past days. Now they had come to disrupt the auction, clearly intending to humiliate the Xiao Clan!

Ya Fei frowned slightly and was about to speak when she suddenly caught the look Xiao Chen gave her from below the stage.

A faint smile rested on Xiao Chen's lips as he subtly shook his head at her.

Ya Fei's heart stirred, and she immediately changed her words with a sweet smile.

"Steward Jia Lie is right. At an auction, the highest bidder naturally wins. Three thousand gold coins, going once. Three thousand gold coins, going twice..."

"Three thousand gold coins, going three times! Sold!"

Jia Lie Ang smugly put away the pills and shot a provocative look toward Xiao Chen.

The Jia Lie Family can take the Xiao Clan's goods whenever we please.

Below the stage, a Xiao Clan follower was livid with anger.

"Elder, they're clearly raising the price on purpose to ruin our business! Are we just going to let this go?!"

"What's the rush?"

"Let the bullets fly for a while."

Xiao Chen leisurely took a sip of tea.

"But... but are we really going to swallow this insult?" The follower was still unwilling to accept it.

"Swallow it?"

Xiao Chen chuckled, gazing at Jia Lie Ang's smug retreating figure from afar. "We own shares in the pills sold by the Mittel Auction House. The more the Jia Lie Family buys, the more we earn!"

Of course, Xiao Chen had not been idle.

He quietly sent someone to deliver a message to Ya Fei.

"Spread a rumor: the Xiao Clan has other hidden treasures, waiting only for those fated to find them."

When Ya Fei received the message, her eyes shifted slightly, and she instantly understood Xiao Chen's intentions.

She immediately arranged for people to discreetly spread the news through the major taverns and tea houses of Wutan City.

"Have you heard? The Xiao Clan actually has several genuine treasures hidden away. They just don't put them up for sale easily."

"Really? Then wouldn't today's auction items just be ordinary goods?"

"Exactly! That Xiao Clan elder is hiding his true depths. He has plenty of good things in his hands!"

Once the news spread, Jia Lie Ang took the bait as expected.

When he heard that the Xiao Clan had other hidden treasures, he immediately concluded they were priceless valuables. He gathered a large quantity of Spirit Stones overnight, eager to seize the Xiao Clan's treasures at the next auction in one fell swoop!

"Hmph, Xiao Clan, Xiao Clan. Did you think hiding them away would keep them from my eyes, Jia Lie Ang?"

Jia Lie Ang sneered repeatedly.

"At the next auction, I'll take every last one of your treasures!"

"But..."

He paused, then turned to the accountant beside him and asked hesitantly.

"These past few days, we've already spent a considerable number of Spirit Stones buying up that batch of pills. If we compete for the Xiao Clan's treasures at the next auction too, will we still have enough money?"

The accountant answered with a bitter expression.

"Steward, we've already mobilized more than half the Spirit Stones in the accounts... If this keeps up, we may have to squeeze out even the funds for purchasing stock."

"What are you afraid of!"

Jia Lie Ang waved his hand grandly, full of lofty confidence.

"As long as we get the Xiao Clan's treasures, we can resell them for several times the price! What does this little bit of capital matter?!"

What he did not know was—

Every decision he made at that moment lay within Xiao Chen's calculations.

The greedier he became, the deeper he sank.

Meanwhile, Xiao Chen had already discussed everything with Ya Fei.

"At the next auction, we can put out that Purple Heart Grass."

"Purple Heart Grass?"

"That's one of our most treasured possessions. Are we really putting it up for auction?"

"Don't worry. The Jia Lie Family won't be able to take it, and others may not even be able to afford the price."

Bang!

Another failure.

The pills in the furnace exploded, scattering medicinal dregs everywhere.

"The heat was off by a fraction..."

He tried again and again, adjusting again and again.

Gradually, his technique became increasingly refined, and his pill success rate visibly rose.

From one successful furnace out of ten at the beginning, to three out of ten later, then five...

Outside the alchemy room, several Drug Hall apprentices passed by. Smelling the rich medicinal fragrance drifting out, they could not help whispering among themselves.

"Has Elder Xiao Chen gone mad? It's been several nights in a row. The light in his alchemy room has never gone out."

"Exactly! But it's strange—his pills keep getting better and better... Yesterday, I saw him casually refine a batch of mid-grade third-grade pills. That technique, tsk tsk!"

"Hidden depths indeed..."

"It's done!"

That night, Xiao Chen finally successfully refined a batch of third-grade pills, and they were remarkably rare high-grade quality!

Looking at the round, plump pill in his palm, a smile slowly rose on his lips.

A few months ago, he would not even have dared dream of such a pill. Yet now, it was the result of his own refinement!

He flipped Hundred Solutions to Alchemy to a certain page and followed its records, attempting to improve a Warm Nourishing Pill formula. This time, he failed seventeen full batches before finally finding the optimal heat—when the eighteenth batch emerged perfectly, Xiao Chen let out a long breath, and a rare trace of pride appeared in his eyes.

"The path of alchemy is such that once one method is understood, all methods follow... I chose the right road."

"The effects of the Perception Pill truly are extraordinary..."

Xiao Chen swallowed the Perception Pill and closed his eyes, sensing the flow of its medicinal power through his body. He could clearly feel that a new door had opened in his perception of medicinal power—changes in heat that had once been vague, conflicts between medicinal properties, all became distinctly clear!

"Good!"

Xiao Chen opened his eyes, excitement flashing through them.

"With the Perception Pill as my foundation, coupled with the techniques in Hundred Solutions to Alchemy, my alchemy skills will soon rise to another level!"

He put away the flame seed and stood before the window with his hands behind his back, watching the sky outside gradually brighten with the pale glow of dawn. The light in his eyes grew ever brighter.

Day was about to break, and the Drug Hall apprentices gradually arrived for work. When they passed Xiao Chen's private alchemy room and saw more than a dozen bottles of newly refined pills neatly arranged on the table, every one of them widened their eyes and sucked in a sharp breath.

"Th-these... were all refined by the elder last night?!"

"High-grade third-grade pills, Warm Nourishing Pills, and even improved Healing Pills... all in just one night!"

"Elder Xiao Chen truly is a god among men!"

The Drug Hall elder hurried over upon hearing the news. Looking at those pills, he stroked his beard and sighed. "In terms of alchemy, Elder Xiao Chen may surpass even this old man in a few years..."