After leaving Qingshan Town, Little Blue spread his wings and mustered every ounce of strength, racing toward Wutan City at full speed.
Meanwhile, at the Mittel Auction House.
In Ya Fei's private room on the third floor, she leaned against a carved window, a faint veil of worry hanging over her brow. She gazed blankly outside, her heart dwelling on a certain young man far away in the Magical Beast Mountain Range.
Such a forlorn, distracted expression rarely appeared on the normally shrewd and decisive Ya Fei. Had the noble young men and scions of prominent families in Wutan City who admired her seen it, their jaws would likely have dropped in shock.
Indeed, Ya Fei was never the sort to wallow in sentiment, mourn the passing of spring and autumn, or grow melancholy merely because she missed someone. Her unease over the past few days was entirely due to someone she loathed yet could do nothing about-Lei Le Mittel. After learning that she had spiritual medicines that could not only rapidly improve Dou Qi cultivation but also enhance aptitude, he had come all the way from the bustling Jia Ma Imperial Capital to remote Wutan City.
Lei Le had only just broken through to Dou Shi. Before Ya Fei, who was now a two-star Dou Shi with formidable combat prowess and enough actual strength to rival a five- or six-star Dou Shi, he was hardly worth mentioning.
Yet Ya Fei could do nothing about his relentless pestering.
That was simply because Ya Fei had no powerful backing within the Mittel Family, while Lei Le was the grandson of Lei Ou Mittel, a Dou Ling expert who held a seat among the family elders. On this visit to Wutan City, he had also brought a four-star Da Dou Shi as his personal bodyguard.
Although this Da Dou Shi was only a guest retainer of the Mittel Family and dared not lay a hand on Ya Fei, he could thwart every scheme she devised against Lei Le.
When Ya Fei first arrived in Wutan City, the strongest person under her command was merely Gu Ni, a Second-Rank Alchemist with Dou Shi cultivation. After years of painstaking effort, she had secured most of the authority in the Mittel Wutan Branch. But Lei Le represented a considerable force within the Mittel Family, and his sudden arrival inevitably caused quite a few people in the branch to waver.
Unable to forcibly bring Lei Le and his entourage completely to heel, Ya Fei had her entire plan to auction the special spiritual plants in batches thrown into disarray.
Ya Fei knew perfectly well that Lei Le coveted not only her, intent on forcing her to marry him, but also the priceless batch of spiritual plants in her possession, so precious and rare that hers was the only supply in the Jia Ma Empire. Under that pressure, she no longer dared casually put the spiritual plants up for auction.
Whenever Lei Le left her agitated and upset, the image of that young man would rise unbidden in Ya Fei's mind. Xia Kong, whose ears often reddened at a few teasing words from her, yet who always brought her reassurance and countless surprises.
In just two to four hours, Little Blue covered a distance that would have taken an ordinary Dou Zhe four or five days of traveling at full speed. At last, the outline of Wutan City's walls, far taller than those of Qingshan Town, appeared at the edge of their vision.
At Xia Kong's reminder, Little Blue gradually descended and slowed down. The moment they reached the air above the city gates, the passing mercenaries and guards erupted into an uproar, cries of surprise rising one after another.
Fortunately, Xia Kong had already brought Xiao Yi Xian to stand openly atop the Blue Eagle's head, where they were most conspicuous. Only then did the city guards realize that this Blue Eagle was not a wild magical beast but a domesticated mount, and thus refrained from immediately firing their heavy crossbows at the Tier 2 Magical Beast.
Little Blue hovered steadily above the city gates. A commander clad in heavy armor, whose cultivation was that of a three-star Dou Shi, suppressed his shock and stepped forward with his hands clasped, nervously asking who the two were and why they had come.
Xia Kong offered no lengthy explanation. He simply raised his hand and produced an identity token reserved for direct-line members of the Mittel Family.
The commander carefully verified the token, inwardly marveling at the Mittel Family's deep foundations. They could actually use a Tier 2 Magical Beast as transportation and nurture people of such exceptional bearing as Xia Kong, Xiao Yi Xian, and Ya Fei from the auction house. More than anything, however, he heaved a great sigh of relief. The Mittel Family was a major family with immense influence in the Jia Ma Empire. Since these were their own people, and so respectful of rules and courtesy at that, there was no need to worry that this Tier 2 Magical Beast would cause serious trouble within the city.
The Dou Shi commander immediately raised his hand, signaling his soldiers to stand down and allow Xia Kong, Xiao Yi Xian, and the Blue Eagle into the city.
Only after the figures of the person and eagle had disappeared into the distance did the watching townspeople and mercenaries begin murmuring among themselves. The commander also promptly recorded the incident and dispatched a trusted subordinate on a swift horse to report to the city lord's residence.
As Xia Kong was about to return to Mittel, quite a spectacle was unfolding inside the Mittel Auction House.
"Miss, Lei Le is coming to inspect all of today's auction items again. And among them is the Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid consigned by that elderly gentleman-the one you specifically told us to pay special attention to and receive with the utmost courtesy!"
Xiao Qin, the maid who was now a Two-Star Dou Zhe, stood outside Ya Fei's door and knocked softly, anxiously delivering her report.
Before she guided Xia Kong into the auction house for the first time, her cultivation had been only at the fifth stage of Dou Qi, and she had made no progress for a long time.
Whenever she thought of how she had not only risen from an ordinary maid to someone close to Ya Fei, but also gained aptitude and cultivation beyond anything she had possessed before, her gratitude toward Ya Fei and Xia Kong grew deeper. Thus, she had been worrying about Ya Fei all along, praying that Xia Kong would return soon and deal with that detestable Lei Le for her.
Inside the room, after hearing Xiao Qin's report, how could Ya Fei fail to understand what Lei Le was plotting?
During the first few days after Lei Le's arrival, she had managed to sell several portions of second-tier spiritual plant fruits in secret through careful maneuvering and excuses. After that setback, however, Lei Le learned his lesson and personally inspected every auction item each day. Whenever he found any of the special spiritual plants Ya Fei had brought out, he simply confiscated them on his own authority.
Here in the Wutan branch, Lei Le could practically settle anything with a word by throwing his weight around as an elder's grandson. No one beneath him dared step forward to stop him. After suffering that loss once, Ya Fei no longer dared put the spiritual plants on the auction block.
Furious, Lei Le came several times to confront Ya Fei, but she refused to see him each time. Thus, he could only use inspecting auction items as a pretext to withhold things at will. While abusing his authority for personal gain, he obstructed Ya Fei at every turn, deliberately ruining her performance and reputation in Wutan City to force her to show herself.
If an item consigned by an ordinary mercenary was withheld, Ya Fei could simply settle the matter with gold coins. It was not her private money anyway. But this bottle of Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid was different.
The elderly gentleman who had consigned it was very likely a fourth-grade or even fifth-grade alchemist. He had once consigned a fourth-grade Qi Gathering Powder through Ya Fei, and Master Gu Ni had judged its quality superior to the Qi Gathering Powder refined by Fa Ma, the Peak Fifth-Grade Alchemist who served as president of the Alchemist Association.
Ya Fei had exhausted every means before finally establishing a friendly, long-term partnership with him. If Lei Le recklessly ruined it, losing that partnership would be the least of their worries. Should this high-grade alchemist become displeased and vent his anger on the Mittel Family, the consequences would be unimaginable.
In a remote city like Wutan City, no one dared underestimate the influence a fourth-grade or even fifth-grade alchemist could wield.
Ya Fei also knew that even if she intervened personally, she would have difficulty stopping him. Though she loathed Lei Le with every fiber of her being, she had to make her position clear no matter what. She could not simply stand by and let the elderly gentleman develop ill feelings toward Mittel as a whole.
Ya Fei briefly straightened her clothes, stepped out of her private room, and headed toward the bustling auction hall on the first floor.
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