"What did you say?!"
Lü Wu and Lü Wen were both enraged by Zhou Fuling's arrogant words and immediately glared at her fiercely. They were considered prominent figures among the younger generation in Fengyang Prefecture, but how dare this strange girl be so arrogant?
" Lü Wu, Lü Wen, you two better behave yourselves. This noble lady is not someone you can afford to offend." At this moment, Huo Qing spoke up, his words carrying a warning.
Upon hearing this, Lü Wu and his companion were immediately taken aback. They could sense the seriousness and reminder in Huo Qing's words. For this young master of Fengyang Prefecture to be so polite, it seemed that the girl who had spoken so arrogantly must indeed have a powerful background.
The two men's furious expressions gradually subsided, and they snorted coldly, ceasing their threats and provocations against Lu Ming.
"Hehe, Miss Fuling, I didn't expect to meet you here." Huo Qing stepped forward to smooth things over, laughing.
Zhou Fuling's icy expression softened slightly. She nodded to Huo Qing and said, "We came here mainly to find a high-grade spiritual medicine that is a hundred years old. According to Pavilion Master Jiang, the last high-grade spiritual medicine here that is a hundred years old has been ordered by Brother Huo?"
"I wonder if it's possible to part with it?"
Huo Qing was somewhat surprised and said, "Miss Fuling also needs a high-grade spiritual herb that's a hundred years old?"
He glanced at Lu Ming beside him and smiled, "It should be Brother Lu Ming who needs it, right?"
Judging from his appearance, he seemed to know about the competition among the Dao of Alchemy masters in Fengyang Prefecture for the " Netherwater Flame ".
Zhou Fuling neither confirmed nor denied it.
Huo Qing sighed and said, "Miss Fuling, I was entrusted by Brother Song to make this high-grade, century-old spiritual medicine. Now that he has arrived, his teacher is a renowned Dao of Alchemy master from Fengyang Prefecture. He is highly respected, and even my father once asked him for a pill, so I owe him a favor."
"Brother Song also greatly needs this century-old high-grade spiritual medicine."
As Huo Qing finished speaking, the young man with disheveled hair smiled faintly and said, "Young lady, my name is Song Ren. You're buying this century-old high-grade spiritual herb, presumably also for the ' Netherwater Flame,' right? In that case, we're competitors."
"Although I would very much like to help you, this involves the ' Netherwater Flame,' so it's difficult for me to give up this century-old high-grade spiritual medicine."
Zhou Fuling looked at Huo Qing with a slightly cold gaze and said, "What if I insist on competing?"
Her words already carried a hint of domineering arrogance. To be honest, this was the first time Lu Ming had seen Zhou Fuling display such a strong and domineering demeanor as a noble lady from a prominent family. But for some reason, he didn't feel disgusted at all; on the contrary, he found it rather charming.
It just goes to show that everyone has double standards.
Upon hearing this, Huo Qing hesitated for a moment, knowing that Zhou Fuling was asking him whether he would give her the honor. After a few moments of hesitation, he said, "Since you both need it, let the highest bidder win. I think their Spirit Herb Pavilion would be happy to do so."
He still yielded a step, giving Zhou Fuling some face.
The young man named Song Ren was slightly displeased, but he didn't say anything and just nodded.
When Pavilion Master Jiang saw this scene, he was overjoyed. He naturally loved this kind of scene the most. So he clapped his hands, and a waiter carefully brought out a jade box. When the jade box was opened, there was a lifelike blue lotus inside, which emitted a fragrance. On the lotus petals, there were circles of fine light patterns.
Clearly, this is the only remaining century-old high-grade spiritual medicine in the Spirit Herb Pavilion.
"This century-old green lotus is worth 80,000 Heavenly Gold Sand on the market. If you two are interested, please feel free to make your offer," said Pavilion Master Jiang.
"One hundred thousand," Zhou Fuling said first.
"130,000." Song Ren was clearly wealthy and had considerable resources, so he immediately followed suit.
"160,000." Zhou Fuling was not about to admit defeat; she was going to use her pocket money to crush these bumpkins today.
"Two hundred thousand." Song Ren paused slightly, then continued to raise the price.
Zhou Fuling sneered; she could already sense the other party's pain and immediately wanted to raise the price again.
But before she could even announce the price, Lu Ming, who was standing to the side, couldn't stand it anymore. A hundred-year-old spiritual herb that normally costs around 50,000 Heavenly Gold Sand was being forcibly inflated to 200,000. This was simply ripping people off.
Lu Ming, who was used to a hard life at the Thunderfire Hall, simply couldn't accept this kind of thing.
He would rather not have that Spirit Fire than be taken advantage of.
So Lu Ming grabbed Zhou Fuling's hand, then led Lu Mengmeng downstairs, saying to Song Ren, "You won, it's yours for 200,000."
Zhou Fuling froze as Lu Ming grabbed her slender hand, her body stiffening. For a moment, she did not resist and let Lu Ming drag her along.
Song Ren stared blankly at their decisive departure, his expression shifting. Damn it, he had already realized that Zhou Fuling was extremely wealthy. If he pushed her hard, this noble lady would definitely follow suit.
But who knew that kid would suddenly interfere?
Wouldn't this put him in a difficult position?
Two hundred thousand for a hundred-year-old spiritual herb? Even if you refine it into a high-grade pill, you probably won't break even!
This is a huge loss!
"Brother Huo, this..." Song Ren looked at Huo Qing, somewhat speechless.
Huo Qing ignored him, his gaze also fixed on the departing figures of Lu Ming and Zhou Fuling. The image of Lu Ming holding Zhou Fuling's delicate hand kept flashing through his mind, which made him somewhat agitated.
Meanwhile, after Lu Ming pulled Zhou Fuling out of the Spirit Herb Pavilion, she suddenly snapped out of her daze under the sunlight. She immediately pulled away from Lu Ming's hand as if electrocuted, her pretty face flushed red, and loudly questioned him to hide the turmoil in her heart, "What are you doing?"
Lu Ming said helplessly, "That price is outrageous. There's really no need to keep arguing. He's deliberately putting you in a difficult position."
"I don't care about that little bit of money!" Zhou Fuling said, dissatisfied.
"Even if you fight it out like this, I won't take this elixir," Lu Ming said, frowning.
Upon hearing this, Zhou Fuling felt wronged and stubbornly said, "Fine, don't take it. I didn't say I'd give it to you. Can't I just throw it away?"
Her eyes were slightly red. She had done all this to help Lu Ming find spiritual herbs to compete for the Spirit Fire, but he still criticized her!
She had never been treated like this before, and was about to angrily turn away, but Lu Mengmeng held her hand tightly.
Lu Ming sighed and said, "Senior Sister, I know you don't care about the money, but I can't bear to see someone as intelligent as you being made a fool of. If you have to use this method to help me compete for spiritual herbs, I'd rather not even have the Spirit Fire."
Zhou Fuling finally stopped, her chest heaving slightly as she calmed herself. She coldly snorted, "Then why were you yelling at me?"
"I was a bit harsh. I'll treat you to candied hawthorns. Please calm down, Senior Sister," Lu Ming said apologetically with a smile.
"I'm not Mengmeng," Zhou Fuling said irritably, but she had clearly calmed down. After regaining her composure, she realized that spending 200,000 yuan to win that century-old elixir would indeed be a huge waste.
It's not that I feel sorry for them, but rather that I feel like my intelligence has been insulted.
"Then what about your century-old elixir? Without it, you don't even qualify to compete for ' Netherwater Flame.' Alas, we learned of this news a little too late, and these alchemists from the prefectural city beat us to it." She asked with some concern.
"If it really doesn't work out, then we just won't do it," Lu Ming said nonchalantly.
But in my heart, I was thinking of that last resort.
"When we get back, we'll see if we can find the century-old elixir at Grandpa's place. If we really can't buy it..."
"Then we'll have to try the Flame of Life."
"But can this century-old spiritual herb really be cultivated using the Flame of Life? This isn't a low-grade spiritual herb like the Moon Spirit Grass."
But since we've come this far, we have to try anything, even if it seems hopeless.