The auction ended

"A third-tier pill?!"

"It can speed up a Da Dou Shi's cultivation?!"

Ya Fei's introduction sent a wave of astonishment through the auction house.

Third-tier pills were a rare sight in Wutan City. Cultivators who wanted to buy one there had only two options. The first was to pay a hefty sum at the Mittel Auction House, but the Wutan City branch of Mittel kept no permanent stock. The pills had to be shipped from headquarters, or buyers had to wait for an auction.

The second was to travel to a larger city themselves, a journey that drained both their strength and their purses.

Pills that accelerated cultivation were even harder to come by. After all, most alchemists kept such pills for their own use. Who would put them up for sale?

Commissioning an alchemist to refine them involved far more than simply paying money.

They had to provide the pill formula, prepare several sets of medicinal ingredients, and pay a sufficient refining fee. Even then, whether the alchemist would give them the time of day was another matter entirely.

Their surprise was hardly strange.

What concerned them now was the price of the Spirit Ascension Pills. Every one of them wanted to pocket one.

Naturally, Ya Fei knew what they were thinking, and she had thoroughly whetted their appetites.

Once she judged the moment right, Ya Fei slowly spoke. "There are four Spirit Ascension Pills in total, to be auctioned individually in four rounds. The starting price is fifty thousand gold coins, with a minimum bid increment of one thousand!"

At that price, the entire hall fell silent. It was not because the pills were too expensive, but because most people were waiting for someone else to make the first bid.

Ya Fei was in no hurry. Having spent so long in Wutan City, she knew perfectly well how enticing third-tier pills were to these people. This brief silence was merely the calm before the storm.

That was also why she had suggested auctioning the pills to the mysterious alchemist. She, Ya Fei, was confident she could sell them for more than their actual worth.

"Fifty thousand!"

Just then, the patriarch of a small family gritted his teeth and shouted from the auction seats.

Fifty thousand was no small sum for his family. It amounted to several years of their income.

Even so, plenty of people nearby cast scornful looks his way.

"Fifty thousand? Are you tossing scraps to a beggar? This is a third-tier pill, and you can't even bear to add another thousand gold coins."

"Exactly, exactly."

"And he calls himself a patriarch. Just a penniless wretch."

Those who enjoyed wagging their tongues began sneering at him.

The patriarch could only smile bitterly. It was not that he did not want to raise his bid; he simply had no more money. He wanted that Spirit Ascension Pill more than anyone.

That single Spirit Ascension Pill was not to be underestimated. Just one would be enough for him to break through to Da Dou Shi within the coming year. Then his family's standing in Wutan City would rise with the tide.

One Spirit Ascension Pill could give a small family a greater voice in Wutan City. Its value could hardly be measured by a mere fifty thousand gold coins.

That was precisely the allure of an alchemist.

With the small family's patriarch having opened the bidding, the others began calling out bids in turn.

"Fifty-one thousand!"

"Seventy-two thousand!"

"Eighty-three thousand!"

Each wave of bids rose higher than the last, sending the price soaring.

Yet the three great families that dominated Wutan City remained silent. They knew that hoping to secure a Spirit Ascension Pill for seventy or eighty thousand was nothing but a fool's dream.

Finally, once the price reached ninety thousand, no one outside the three great families spoke.

Ninety thousand gold coins was already the final limit for those small families. They simply could not scrape together any more.

"Ninety-five thousand!"

At that moment, an old man seated in the same tier as Xiao Zhan spoke up.

The old man was Jia Lie Bi, patriarch of the Jia Lie Family.

"Oh, how lavish of you, Patriarch Jia Lie. Five thousand gold coins in a single raise."

A middle-aged man not far away began speaking in a mocking tone.

"Heh, Oba Pa, if you want it, you're welcome to bid. Surely the illustrious Ao Ba Family won't be stingy," Jia Lie Bi sneered, clearly at odds with the middle-aged man.

Naturally, Oba Pa would not be stingy. Who would complain about having too much of something this good? He promptly called out:

"Ninety-six thousand."

He was no fool, either. This was an auction; he could raise the bid little by little. Money did not blow in on the wind. If he pushed the price too high, he would be the one taking the loss.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk."

Jia Lie Bi answered with mockery of his own. Whatever else happened, getting under Oba Pa's skin was worthwhile. The two families were hardly on good terms, after all.

Xiao Zhan remained silent, quietly watching their performance.

"Ninety-seven thousand!"

"Ninety-eight thousand!"

"Ninety-nine thousand!"

"One hundred thousand!"

Their competition grew fiercer, and the price broke past one hundred thousand.

Ya Fei watched Jia Lie Bi and Oba Pa go head-to-head with a radiant smile.

Seeing that the time was about right, Xiao Zhan called out, "One hundred and five thousand gold coins!"

His bid snapped the two feuding men back to their senses.

Both shot Xiao Zhan a vicious glare, then fell silent without raising the bid again.

One hundred and five thousand gold coins was, honestly, steep. Though still reasonable, there were three more Spirit Ascension Pills to come, so they were in no hurry to secure this one.

Besides, the main attraction was still ahead-a high-grade Xuan-tier cultivation technique.

Wasting gold coins now would be unwise.

Seeing that no one else was bidding, Ya Fei smiled. "Patriarch Xiao Zhan has offered one hundred and five thousand gold coins. Does anyone wish to bid higher?"

"Since there are no further bids, this Spirit Ascension Pill belongs to Patriarch Xiao Zhan."

With no one raising the price, Ya Fei smilingly announced the first Spirit Ascension Pill's new owner. She tapped her small hammer against the table, bringing the round to a close.

At that, Oba Pa twisted his broad mouth and unleashed his signature talent for mockery. "How generous of you, Patriarch Xiao. I wonder whether you'll have any gold left for the rest of the auction. Tsk, tsk, tsk."

Xiao Zhan knew perfectly well what he meant and ignored him. Oba Pa's mouth had no latch; all he knew was how to disgust people. Arguing with someone like that would only waste saliva and diminish his dignity.

When Xiao Zhan ignored him, a flicker of anger crossed Oba Pa's eyes. He then stopped speaking and quietly waited for the next round.

Jia Lie Bi naturally noticed their exchange. Seeing Oba Pa rebuffed filled him with secret delight. The man truly was loathsome. Even Jia Lie Bi, who disliked Xiao Zhan, had to applaud him for that.

"Next, we will begin the second round. The item is another Spirit Ascension Pill, and the starting price remains fifty thousand."

Another round began. The first had done nothing to dampen the crowd's enthusiasm, and bids continued rising from every corner of the seating area.

Half an hour later, all eleven pills had been auctioned off.

The Xiao Clan secured one Spirit Ascension Pill for one hundred and five thousand gold coins. The Jia Lie Family took two, each for one hundred and ten thousand, with Oba Pa doing his share to drive up those prices.

Oba Pa suffered the worst, paying one hundred and twenty thousand for the final Spirit Ascension Pill. After all, courtesy demanded returning the favor. Jia Lie Bi was not one to swallow a loss; one villain would always find another to grind him down.

The Qi-Replenishing Pills and Spring-Rejuvenating Pills fetched much less. Each Qi-Replenishing Pill sold for sixty thousand, which was reasonable. After all, it could only restore a Da Dou Shi's depleted Dou Qi in an extremely short time. Compared with the Spirit Ascension Pill, it was indeed far less valuable.

The Spring-Rejuvenating Pills sold for seventy thousand each, though Xiao Zhan secured one for sixty thousand. Given the Xiao Clan's standing in Wutan City, the other small families did not dare compete with him.

Xiao Yu's eleven pills brought him more than eight hundred thousand in income. Compared with his costs of one hundred and twenty thousand, that was several times his investment.

"Tsk, tsk. Alchemists really do rake in money."

Once again, Xiao Yu marveled at an alchemist's ability to draw in wealth.

As for the subsequent contest over the Wind Scroll Technique, Xiao Yu paid it no mind. He had no need for it, so whoever won it made no difference to him.

He leaned back in his chair and began pondering Lightning-Fire Pill Refining. After all, there were still many aspects of the Lightning-Fire Pill Refining Method he needed to perfect. With nothing else to do now, he might as well consider how to take his pill-refining skills a step further.