Chapter 172: A Large-Scale Internal-Combat Scene

The next several pills were also rare treasures, and many of the buyers present were wealthy big-shots, even quite a few old-generation Alchemists who had lived in seclusion for years pursuing mastery of Alchemy, naturally possessing abundant collections.

So the competition was especially fierce, and one or two Auction Items even sold for prices beyond Xiao Yan's imagination.

"My goodness, is that really necessary! Isn't it just a Four Grade Bloodline high-rank Pill? The Angelica Earth Spirit Root is the main Medicinal Material for the Six Rank Pill, the Soul-Returning Paste! Who is that old man? I've never heard of him."

"Look at his right hand—isn't he missing a finger? He's the Nine-Fingered Alchemist Lin Zhen, who took second place at that Alchemist Convention of Dantian Alchemist Gu He's generation, losing narrowly to Gu He. In his final match against Gu He, the Pill he refined ultimately lost in Fire Control Power to Gu He, and in the end his cauldron exploded and blew off his thumb."

"To remember that humiliation, Lin Zhen has never restored his severed finger. Moreover, the Fire-Control Heart Pill Lin Zhen is auctioning is no simple matter—it can help Lin Zhen enhance his fire-control ability, and most importantly it was refined using the Mystic Flame Cultivation Technique, which greatly improves control over flames; this is essentially a direct boost to Pill Alchemy."

Many old-generation Alchemists stepped forward one after another, and the bidding was so intense that sometimes Xiao Yan himself found it hard to choose. Many of the Medicinal Materials were extremely precious, and Xiao Yan wished he could bring out a few more Pills to auction.

Xiao Yan did not bring out all his Pills for auction, because with the Mystic Flame and the Burning Art, Xiao Yan could often achieve multiple Pills from one cauldron, so he only put up half of his reserves, keeping a portion for himself.

"Tsk tsk tsk, after today, you kid are probably the richest person in Jia Ma Sheng Cheng. Even the Imperial Family's treasury likely doesn't hold as many Medicinal Materials as you do." Hai Bodong watched the lively bidding in Pai Mai Chang and wished he himself were an Alchemist.

The profession of Alchemist was truly terrifying, especially for a powerful Alchemist like Xiao Yan—it was a guaranteed profit many times over.

During the auction, the most extravagant spender, the one who bid and won the most, turned out to be the Mu Clan, with whom Xiao Yan had a bit of a grudge!

Whenever Mu Chen opened his mouth to call a price, it was always considerably higher than others—completely putting on an air of "our Mu Clan is not short on money."

So whenever the Mu Clan placed a bid, many people were unwilling to compete with them; even if they tried, they probably couldn't outbid them.

Actually, this was simple enough—because among the Three Great Families, only the Mu Clan, which had no ties with Xiao Yan, still had some foundation left and hadn't been ruined.

The Nan Lan Clan had practically given Xiao Yan everything down to their last pair of underpants, and the Miter Clan was even worse off—not only had they handed over half a trade association to Xiao Yan, even Ya Fei was nearly given away as part of the deal.

Apart from the Mu Clan's extravagant spending, the next wealthiest were the Jia Ma Imperial Family and the group of veteran Alchemists from the Alchemist Guild—once they set their eyes on a Pill, they basically always won the bid.

Finally, after every last Pill had been auctioned off, the Pill that everyone had been watching so closely finally made its long-awaited appearance.

A gong sounded, and Ya Fei, who had been silent with a smile for quite a while, caused the previously bustling Pai Mai Chang to fall quiet along with her silence.

Ya Fei wasn't trying to calm people down—on the contrary, this atmosphere of total silence made hearts pound faster and adrenaline surge.

"That girl Ya Fei really has skill. The main event is next, and a brief moment of silence and suppression makes people even more nervous—once the atmosphere is ignited, it will be terrifying." Hai Bodong said slowly.

Xiao Yan, backstage, also nodded. The fact that his Pills sold so well at this auction was partly, of course, due to his reputation and the excellent quality of the Pills, but Ya Fei's promotion the day before and her control over the auction today were equally crucial.

Ya Fei understood very well how to modulate emotions.

In this hushed environment, five beautiful maidservants, each carrying an exquisite wooden box in her hands, walked out from backstage onto the stage.

At the sight of the five wooden boxes, many bidders couldn't help but breathe faster—everyone knew what was inside those boxes.

They were Xiao Yan's current masterworks!

"I believe everyone has heard more or less about the upcoming auction items—they are also the final items of this auction." Ya Fei spoke at a leisurely pace.

The moment her words fell, the five beautiful maidservants opened the wooden boxes simultaneously.

Instantly, a wave of heat surged out from the boxes, and along with the impact of the heat, waves of colored Pill Fragrance rushed toward them.

Especially the wooden box in the middle containing the Four-Pattern White Spirit Pill—the Medicinal Mist emanating from it occupied half the space, giving people an indescribable, ineffable feeling.

The instant the wooden boxes opened, the buyers present could no longer sit still. A wave of uproar broke out, and pairs of eyes gleamed sharply, fixed on those boxes.

Whether Alchemists or family powerholders, all revealed greed, all wishing they could rush up and snatch them.

But everyone was desperately suppressing the demon within their hearts—no one in the Jia Ma Empire would be so foolish as to offend this Alchemist, Xiao Yan.

"According to Master Xiao Yan's appraisal, even if one fails when taking the Three-Pattern Green Spirit Pill refined using the Mystic Flame Cultivation Technique, one's Cultivation Realm will only drop by one star, or might not drop at all."

"Moreover, the lower the user's Cultivation Realm, the higher the success rate. If one is only a one-star Great Battle Master, there is over a ninety percent chance of success. For every star higher the user's Cultivation Realm, the success rate drops by ten percent."

"For Great Battle Masters above seven stars, Ya Fei recommends they bid on the Four-Pattern White Spirit Pill."

Hearing Ya Fei's words, no one would question whether Xiao Yan was exaggerating when appraising his own Pills. Because many people here had personally watched Xiao Yan refine the Four-Pattern White Spirit Pill, knew how miraculous Xiao Yan's technique was, and knew what kind of Supreme Treasure the Mystic Flame was.

"The Three-Pattern Green Spirit Pills will be auctioned all four together. Everyone place your bids, and Master Xiao Yan will select four of the bids to complete the Transaction. Only after that will the Four-Pattern White Spirit Pill be auctioned." Ya Fei said slowly.

"One stalk of Dou King Grass!" Before Ya Fei even called for the start, someone couldn't wait and shouted a bid.

"Dou King Grass? Get lost—our Mu Clan bids one full set of all Medicinal Materials needed to refine a Dou King Pill!" Mu Chen said loudly.

Dou King Grass was only one of the main Medicinal Materials for the Dou King Pill; besides Dou King Grass, many other supplementary Medicinal Materials were needed, and these supplementary Medicinal Materials included many Four Grade Bloodline Medicinal Materials, so their combined value was naturally considerable.

If Xiao Yan could refine the Dou King Pill himself, that would be equivalent to exchanging one Four Grade Bloodline Three-Pattern Green Spirit Pill for one Five-Grade high-rank Dou King Pill!

The labor cost was simply outrageously expensive!

Originally, this was something Mu Chen had planned to ask Gu He to refine the Dou King Pill for, but in the end, between choosing to raise his own cultivation by one star or giving Mu Zhan a better chance to break through to Dou King, he chose to give Mu Zhan a better chance to break through to Dou King.

Don't think that this is just a simple matter of raising three stars—the time saved is the key. Mu Zhan had decent talent; if he could rapidly increase his strength in his prime years, the younger he was when breaking through to Dou King, the better his chances.

Hearing the Mu Clan's bid, all the bidders understood in their hearts at that moment—one of the four Three-Pattern Green Spirit Pills was already gone!

"Auctioning all four Three-Pattern Green Spirit Pills at once is truly brilliant—it lets them calculate in their own minds where the price of the fourth one lies, constantly driving the price higher." Xiao Yan also praised Ya Fei's skill; this was simply a large-scale internal-combat scene!

(End of this chapter)