On the auction stage, the beautiful auctioneer Xing Xuan was asking the distinguished guests for the third time whether anyone was interested in the stone.
Just as she thought the stone ball would go unsold yet again, she saw a bid of ten thousand gold coins from private room six, securing the stone ball.
Wasn't that Master Lin's room? Hadn't he been uninterested in this stone before? Why had he suddenly bought it today?
Xing Xuan shook her head gently. How could she possibly fathom the thoughts of that mysterious Potion Master?
"Jialu, you can't do that!" Long Haochen said, dumbfounded. "That's ten thousand gold coins!"
"Just remember to pay it back," Yue Shen said, patting Long Haochen on the shoulder while retrieving his Magic Crystal Card.
Long Haochen: "..."
"You don't need to pay it back." Lin Jialu immediately shook her head. "I'm paying this money on Yue Shen's behalf."
Yue Shen: "???"
Fortunately, Lin Jialu explained herself quickly, clearing up Yue Shen's confusion.
"He saved my life. What's wrong with me paying ten thousand gold coins for him?" Lin Jialu shot Yue Shen an irritated look. "Are you saying my life isn't even worth ten thousand gold coins?"
Yue Shen said nothing.
"Of course, Haochen, you still have to repay him. You'll just be repaying Yue Shen," Lin Jialu said. "Now you owe him your life."
Long Haochen nodded with a wry smile. He could barely remember how many times he already owed Yue Shen his life.
When an auction attendant delivered the item to their private room, Lin Jialu paid with her own Magic Crystal Card.
Yue Shen finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Although things had taken a few twists and turns, they were back on track at last.
Long Haochen did not rush to give the stone ball to Haoyue. Instead, he put it into the Forget-Me-Not Ring on his hand and soothed the somewhat restless Haoyue.
After all, Lin Xin, an outsider, was still present. Whether or not the stone ball had any miraculous properties, the auction house was clearly not a suitable place to reveal them.
Yue Shen turned to glance at Lin Xin and found his expression shifting uncertainly, as though he were pondering something.
Now that they had obtained the stone ball, and Yue Shen and the others had nothing else they needed to buy, they discussed it briefly and decided to say goodbye to Lin Xin and leave early.
After all, they still had to travel tomorrow.
Just as everyone was about to rise and leave, Lin Xin suddenly slapped his thigh. "To hell with hesitating! I'll take the gamble!"
"Wait a moment, everyone!" Lin Xin suddenly said, then got up and hurried over to them.
"Brother Long, would you be willing to take a gamble with me?" Lin Xin asked abruptly.
Long Haochen froze at his words and answered instinctively, "Brother Lin, I don't gamble."
Lin Xin shook his head. Red light flashed in his hand, and three crystal bottles containing pills appeared.
Each crystal bottle held ten pills, but their colors differed from bottle to bottle.
"I'm not asking you to gamble with me. I'm taking a gamble myself. I have three bottles of pills here. You can have them if you agree to one condition. Each bottle contains a slip of paper explaining how to use them. These are definitely things you urgently need right now," Lin Xin explained.
"Tell me your condition first." Long Haochen did not immediately accept the crystal bottles from Lin Xin, instead looking at him in bewilderment.
"That's right," Li Xin added from beside him. "Tell us your condition first. Those pills of yours don't look cheap."
"Actually, just like you, I'm a contestant in this year's Demon Hunt Squad Selection Tournament," Lin Xin said. "So my condition is that if Brother Long places in the top three in the finals of the Demon Hunt Squad Selection Tournament, he'll use his teammate selection slot on me."
Lin Xin said bluntly, "As long as you agree to that condition, all three bottles of pills are yours."
"You should know that these are all creations I'm particularly proud of.
"They're definitely much more effective than the Emerald Protective Pill, and I've never sold them to anyone," Lin Xin added. "You can test their effects right now." Long Haochen wore an odd expression. "Are you really that certain I can place in the top three in the finals of the Demon Hunt Squad Selection Tournament?"
"I'm not," Lin Xin answered honestly. "Actually, if I could, I'd rather invest in Brother Yue."
Before any of them could ask, Lin Xin began explaining on his own.
"I won't hide it from you anymore. I actually have ways to determine your cultivation levels."
At this point, Lin Xin could not help glancing at Yue Shen.
A trace of regret flashed in his eyes.
"But because Brother Yue's cultivation is much higher than mine, I couldn't determine his exact level. Still, his strength is definitely above mine. He's at the fifth tier."
Yue Shen frowned slightly but said nothing.
Lin Xin then raised the three crystal bottles. "Although these pills are good, they don't hold much appeal for someone like him who's already broken through to the fifth tier."
"And if it were Brother Yue, I wouldn't even need to gamble," Lin Xin said with a smile. "Because I doubt anyone can snatch the championship of this year's Demon Hunt Squad Selection Tournament from him."
"Besides, since he's already at the fifth tier at this stage, I suspect he's an extremely important figure in your Knight Temple. He probably wouldn't be able to agree to my condition either."
At this point, Lin Xin shook his head. "So, Brother Long, what do you think of my condition?"
After hearing him out, Long Haochen merely shook his head gently. "You've only explained why you didn't choose Brother Yue. You still haven't told me why you chose me."
"The world is so big. I want to go out and see it," Lin Xin answered without hesitation. "Because my magic is actually rather weak, I need to start investing now in capable people with potential who can become my future teammates.
"But I do have some talent for making potions, and I'm also skilled in certain support spells."
"As for your strength, I can make out at least some of it," Lin Xin said frankly. "But with your current cultivation, making it into the top three in the finals would be a little uncertain."
"With my pills, though, things would be different. You might just have a chance. Brother Long, let's give each other a chance. What do you say?"
Before Long Haochen could answer, Haoyue crawled over from beside him to Lin Xin, leaned close to the crystal bottles in his hand, and sniffed them. Then Haoyue nodded at Long Haochen in a remarkably human fashion.
Haoyue's series of actions left everyone present completely dumbfounded.
But this only strengthened Lin Xin's resolve to choose Long Haochen.
"Take them," Yue Shen said from the side. "And don't forget that I'll be your opponent then, too."
After hearing Yue Shen say that, Long Haochen no longer hesitated.
"All right. I agree."
Long Haochen accepted the three crystal bottles of pills from Lin Xin as he spoke with utmost solemnity.
Yue Shen shook his head slightly. In truth, he rather wanted those pills himself.
Although they would not do much for him, having them was better than not, wasn't it?
He also knew very well that Lin Xin probably valued more than just Long Haochen's potential and talent. What he valued even more was the Holy Guidance Spirit Furnace within Long Haochen.
Incredible as it seemed, that Insight Technique of his could even detect spirit furnaces inside people whose cultivation was lower than his.
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