Wutan City, Jia Lie Residence.
At that moment, in a bedroom in the western courtyard, a young man sat cross-legged, cultivating with his eyes closed.
A palm-sized snow lotus seed floated before him. With each breath he took, milky-white energy streamed from the seed and flowed into his body.
Inside him, streams of energy were constantly converted and passed through his dantian. The vortex there resembled a gigantic ferocious beast opening its maw, drawing in energy with a whale-swallowing suction and steadily increasing his Dou Qi.
"Whew..."
At one point, Ling Feng exhaled deeply and opened his eyes. Sensing the increased power within him, he smiled. "A three-star Dou Shi."
Three days had passed since Ling Feng returned to Wutan City after parting with Xiao Yi Xian and Feng Baobao in Qingshan Town. With the high-grade medicinal ingredients from the Demonic Flame Remnant Map's cave, his force-feeding approach to cultivation had become much faster.
Although he had only gained two stars, the energy a Dou Shi needed far exceeded that required by a Dou Zhe.
Gaining nearly one star a day-there was probably no one else on the entire Dou Qi Continent who could match that speed.
"As my strength grows, the amount of Dou Qi energy I need increases too. Even if I can force-feed my cultivation, I still need time to refine it and grow stronger."
The power within him, several times greater than before, gave Ling Feng a clearer idea of his situation.
"Still, the refining ability of my Taotie bloodline grows stronger along with my strength, so there's no need to worry too much. Although higher realms require more energy and take relatively longer to advance through, compared to other people, it's still the difference between traveling one mile a day and a thousand."
With that thought, Ling Feng ended his cultivation session. But when he looked at the snow lotus seed that had fallen onto the bed, now reduced to less than a fifth of its original size, he began muttering to himself again.
"This snow lotus seed was at least five hundred years old. Just one raised my strength by a star and a half. Not bad at all. The White Spirit Ginseng Fruit and the other medicinal ingredients were good too. I need to create a few more to prepare for advancing to Da Dou Shi."
What Ling Feng needed most now was to raise his cultivation realm. As for Dou Techniques and cultivation methods, he could dispense with practicing them entirely.
With the Creation God Pen and the Spirit-Gifting Pearl, he could fight opponents two major ranks above him and had an infinite mana buff. Most importantly, he could also acquire the Dou Techniques and martial arts of the characters he imbued with spirits.
Ling Feng no longer needed to waste time practicing Dou Techniques or cultivation methods. The only thing he needed to raise was his cultivation realm.
To increase his strength as quickly as possible, he had to keep devouring and refining high-grade medicinal ingredients, magic cores, or pills. High-grade medicinal ingredients were especially useful, as their energy was purer.
Through his cultivation over this period, Ling Feng had already grasped much of his Taotie bloodline's potential.
That included abilities such as self-healing and devouring power.
Moreover, Ling Feng discovered that actively refining what he devoured greatly reduced the time required. If he left it alone and relied entirely on his bloodline to digest it automatically, the refining process took much longer.
"Young Master Ling, Miss Ya Fei requests your presence."
Shadow Seven's voice came from outside the door. All the characters Ling Feng created regarded him as their master, but he disliked men calling him "Master," so they all addressed him as Young Master Ling instead.
"Ya Fei wants to see me?"
Ling Feng's mind immediately wandered into lewd fantasies. Could she be unbearably lonely after not seeing me for a few days?
A wicked grin spread across his face. Moments later, Ling Feng rushed out the door and headed toward the Mittel Auction House.
Meanwhile, in the chief auctioneer's office at the Mittel Auction House.
"Miss, the Xiao Clan is now selling third-rank pills and cooperating with other auction houses, but they've singled out our Mittel Auction House and refused to work with us. Many of our customers have been drawn away, and the Xiao Clan has reclaimed most of the market. We must respond as soon as possible, or this will have a serious impact on our Mittel Auction House."
Gu Ni looked gravely at Ya Fei, who sat at her desk.
"I understand, Uncle Gu Ni. I'll find a way to resolve this." Seemingly aware of how troublesome the situation was, Ya Fei wore a solemn expression too.
Gu Ni hesitated, but still spoke. "Miss, is that Ling Feng really reliable? Although he supplies us with Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid, the Xiao Clan clearly has an alchemist capable of refining third-rank pills. Can he really handle them?"
Ya Fei fell silent. Gu Ni pressed his lips together before continuing, "Neither the Xiao Clan nor Ling Feng is easy to deal with. If we get involved in their struggle, I'm afraid we'll lose more than we gain. I hope you'll consider this carefully, Miss."
"I understand, Uncle Gu Ni."
After a moment of silence, Ya Fei finally parted her red lips and answered him. Just then, a knock came at the door.
"Come in."
As Ya Fei's voice fell, the door opened. A maid entered and bowed respectfully to the two of them before reporting, "Miss Ya Fei, someone is here to see you."
"Who is it?"
"He said you invited him."
Upon hearing the maid's reply, Ya Fei immediately stood up and instructed her, "I understand. Take him to the VIP Room first."
"Yes."
The maid withdrew. Gu Ni looked at Ya Fei and asked, "Miss, has he arrived?"
"Yes."
"Then have a good talk with him, Miss, and see what countermeasures he has."
With that, Gu Ni left first. Ya Fei tidied herself up a little, then left her office and headed to the VIP Room.
Meanwhile, Ling Feng was enjoying the service of a maid beside him in the VIP Room. Of course, this was not the sort of "full service" he had known in his previous life, but perfectly proper service: serving tea, water, pastries, and the like.
Only after quite a while did Ling Feng, seated beside the round table, finally see the person he had been waiting for.
"Tap, tap..."
Elegant, rhythmic footsteps sounded outside the room, and then a lovely figure entered Ling Feng's view.
Her beautiful eyes swept the room. When Ya Fei noticed the young man beside the round table, his face still bearing traces of youthful immaturity, she lightly bit her red lip. Then she approached him with graceful steps and waved the maid beside him away. After refilling his nearly empty teacup, she finally sat down beside him.
Ling Feng turned to look at her and teased with a smile, "Ya Ya, did you call me over because you missed me?"
As he spoke, Ling Feng deliberately leaned closer until their faces were nearly touching. Ya Fei immediately flushed and hastily drew back.
"You!"
Ya Fei glared at Ling Feng in embarrassed annoyance, then snapped, "Miss you, my foot! I told you not to call me Ya Ya. I'm older than you. You should call me Sister Ya Fei."
Ling Feng raised his brows, his eyes darting about. Anyone familiar with him would have known he was up to no good again.
"Bigger than me?"
"Where?"
Ling Feng deliberately let his mischievous gaze wander over Ya Fei's full bosom and smiled meaningfully. "Oh... you mean you're bigger there. Well, you certainly are big."
Noticing his wandering, unruly eyes, Ya Fei realized what he meant and hurriedly turned sideways. Yet she could not conceal those full, snow-white curves.
"Pah! Lecher!"
Blushing, Ya Fei turned her head and shot Ling Feng a coquettish look, scolding, "So young, and already misbehaving. You haven't even grown up yet, and you've learned so many improper things."
Her words sounded like a complaint, but even more like a coy rebuke. Although she appeared embarrassed and annoyed, she was not truly angry. Even with Ling Feng behaving so wantonly, for some reason, Ya Fei felt no disgust toward him.
Perhaps spending so much time with Ling Feng had made Ya Fei immune. Perhaps there was another reason. No one could say for certain.