"Sect Master!"
At the sight of the middle-aged man whose hair and beard had begun to gray, Steward Hu hurriedly said respectfully, "We can't tell yet, but since this man could produce so many high-grade pills, there's a good chance he's an Alchemist himself, and probably not a low-ranking one. However, our investigation has confirmed that this is his first visit to the Black-Corner Region!"
"His first visit to the Black-Corner Region?"
His brows knitted slightly. The middle-aged man gave a quiet grunt, his indifferent voice carrying a chilling murderous intent he could not conceal. "Send men to keep following him and find out his background. Such a young, high-ranking Alchemist is nothing short of a genius... use every possible means to make him serve our Eight Gates... if that proves impossible, eliminate him, but only when you can guarantee nothing will go wrong. If he cannot be of use to me, then naturally, we cannot let someone else benefit from him. Otherwise, he'll become a scourge sooner or later."
"Yes!"
Steward Hu hurriedly acknowledged the order.
"Good, go handle it. Find people skilled at concealing themselves. I still have to personally arrange the handover of the Yin-Yang Profound Dragon Pill to the Heavenly Snake Mansion. That thing is far too valuable. If the seller weren't so powerful... heh, why would I ever let something auctioned here leave my hands?"
Rising to his feet, the middle-aged man curled his lip and headed toward the back of the hall, giving a cold chuckle tinged with reluctance.
After leaving the auction house, Xiao Yan first visited the Thousand Herb Workshop and purchased many of the medicinal ingredients required by his pill recipes.
"Little Yanzi, someone's following you. I suspect they're from the Eight Gates."
Just as Xiao Yan rounded a street