A private room on the second floor.
Xie Tinglan watched through the Crystal Window as a maid carefully carried away the Heart-Questioning Pill below. Turning, she tugged Han Ji's sleeve, her voice noticeably softer than usual. "Brother Han, congratulations! Two hundred and forty-five spirit crystals."
She leaned closer to Han Ji, a coaxing note in her voice. "The Heavenly Heart Sect truly deserves its place as Qing Province's foremost sect. Even a pill you casually take out can fetch such a high price. Our Bamboo Creek Gate wouldn't dare dream of that."
Holding his teacup, Han Ji did not dispute the claim of "Qing Province's foremost sect."
He sipped his tea, a restrained smile at his lips. To outsiders, Xie Tinglan was the Bamboo Creek Gate's cold, aloof elder, notoriously difficult to get along with. Everyone treated her with a measure of deference.
Yet even after all these years, she still showed him this girlish side. When she wheedled, she was no different from when they first met. More than a hundred years old himself, he still enjoyed seeing a lofty, icy immortal in others' eyes sit meekly before him.
Han Ji set down his teacup and said breezily, "Heart-Questioning Pills aren't particularly rare within our Heavenly Heart Sect. Pill Refining Peak, one of our sect's seven peaks, produces quite a few every year. As an elder of the sect, I naturally have no shortage of such trifles."
He paused, then turned to glance at Xie Tinglan, his voice carrying a hint of arrogance. "As for you, haven't you been going on about wanting a True Essence Lotus Heart Seed? When we get to the later highlight lots, I'll secure something for you if there's a suitable one."
At the man's promise, Xie Tinglan's eyes lit up. She tightened her