Chapter 873: 873. Chapter 871: Steady Profit, No Loss

873. Chapter 871: Steady Profit, No Loss

The eight-whiskered old man heard the words, a hint of a cold smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, and he muttered to himself.

"Lu Wenbo, Lu Wenbo, this time this prince wants to see what you have to resist the royal family's suppression!"

"Hahaha, Prince, since the deal is settled, this shopkeeper will take his leave!"

Manager Dong laughed heartily, then prepared to turn and leave.

"Manager Dong, this prince has heard that the Lu family's firm recently purchased a batch of elixirs; I don't know if it's true or false," the eight-whiskered old man suddenly said.

"This..." Upon hearing the eight-whiskered old man's words, Manager Dong's face suddenly changed, showing an unsightly expression.

He had thought that Lu Yuan's side had not leaked the news, but who would have expected that it just so happened to be known by this prince.

"Manager Dong, how could it be that the Lu family's firm is deliberately concealing this prince's information, wanting to monopolize this batch of elixirs!" the eight-whiskered old man narrowed his eyes and shouted sternly.

"Subordinate dares not!" Manager Dong trembled all over from fright and immediately knelt on the ground.

"Hmph! You don't dare? That old thing Lu Wenbo, if he dares to hoard privately, this prince will certainly not spare him!"

The eight-whiskered old man gave a cold snort.

"Subordinate will certainly report this matter to the elder brother!" Manager Dong replied anxiously.

"Get lost!" The eight-whiskered old man waved his hand and then said impatiently.

Manager Dong felt relieved and quickly ran out of the room.

"Prince, I will immediately send people to investigate Lu Wenbo's movements; as soon as there is news, I will notify you at once."

After Manager Dong left, a guard said to the eight-whiskered old man.

"Go, try to obtain as many elixirs as possible; as for the price, this prince permits you a discount!" the eight-whiskered old man said.

"Yes!" The guard received the order and quickly left the study.

After the guard left, the eight-whiskered old man curled the corner of his mouth into a sinister cold smile and muttered to himself: "Lu Wenbo, this time this prince will thoroughly crush you!"

………

On the other side, after Lin Hao entered the room, he saw the familiar figure—Lu Yuan.

"Brother Lu Yuan, are you alright?" Lin Hao asked with concern.

"I'm fine, just a little tired." Lu Yuan shook his head and said calmly.

Although Lu Yuan appeared calm on the surface, he was indeed very troubled inside.

I had thought that with this opportunity I could bring glory to the Lu family's firm, but who would have thought we would end up in this situation! And the ones chiefly responsible for this outcome are his father and his younger brother Lu Mingfei and Lin Xue! "Lin Hao, you don't need to worry about this matter; I can handle it."

A moment later, Lu Yuan sighed, his face full of fatigue as he spoke.

"Brother Lu Yuan, don't think too much; we will always be brothers!" Lin Hao said.

"Hehe."

Lu Yuan gave a bitter smile and said: "Do you still remember the scene when little Xue was just born?"

Upon hearing Lu Yuan mention the scene of Lin Xue's birth, Lin Hao's mind instantly conjured the image of Lin Xue as an infant.

"The day little Xue was born, she cried and fussed for two days; when I held her, I found her body very weak." Lu Yuan continued.

"I have remembered all of these in my heart!" Lin Hao said.

"I also have them in my heart!" Lu Yuan's voice said, slightly hoarse.

……

A moment later, Lin Hao opened his mouth and said: "Brother Lu Yuan, let's talk about something else."

"Good." Lu Yuan nodded and said.

"Brother Lu Yuan, how do you rate your current alchemy level?" Lin Hao said with a cheerful laugh.

"Not bad!" Lu Yuan said lightly, then seemed to recall something and continued.

"By the way, your alchemy fire quality is not bad; you can practice more in the future, striving to upgrade your alchemy fire as soon as possible."

"Oh..." Lin Hao gave a light chuckle and said: "Brother Lu Yuan, do you know the condition of my dantian now?"

After Lin Hao finished saying that, his gaze burned as he looked at Lu Yuan.

"Your dantian is shattered; you can no longer cultivate martial arts—how could I not know?" Lu Yuan said. "Brother Lu Yuan, please feel it more carefully." Lin Hao laughed.

"Huh?"

Lu Yuan's expression slightly tightened, his gaze fixed on Lin Hao.

After a few seconds, Lu Yuan exclaimed in surprise: "Your alchemy fire...?"

"That's right, my alchemy fire has already advanced to four-star alchemy fire, and it's not far from five-star alchemy fire!" Lin Hao said.

After a moment's thought, Lu Yuan asked: "Lin Hao, what's the situation with your alchemy fire quality? Could it be that you encountered an expert who gave you guidance?"

Although Lu Yuan is merely an alchemist, he has lived for decades, with rich experience and extraordinary insight; based solely on Lin Hao's alchemy fire strength and grade, he judged that Lin Hao's alchemy fire quality had undergone an abnormal change.

"My alchemy fire is something I cultivated myself!" Lin Hao explained.

"You cultivated it yourself?" Lu Yuan exclaimed in astonishment.

"Lin Hao, now that your alchemy fire grade has risen to the four-star level, refining three-pattern elixirs should be more than enough!"

"Just barely enough!" Lin Hao said.

All along, he has obtained various spiritual herbs only with the system's help; relying solely on his own efforts, he could never achieve this.

Not long ago, with the system's help, Lin Hao restored his dantian to its original state, which enabled his alchemy fire grade to rise to the four-star level.

"Then that's good; after this auction ends, I will take you to find a sect to study under, and from then on your growth will absolutely surpass mine." Lu Yuan said with relief.

He believed that with the sect's cultivation, Lin Hao's future would surely be a smooth path.

Just as Lu Yuan's words fell, a knocking sound came from the door.

"Come in!"

Lu Yuan shouted, and immediately a guard pushed the door open.

"Your Highness, this is the matter you ordered me to handle—it's already been cleared up!"

"The guard stood respectfully beside the desk, holding up a paper slip with both hands."

"Lu Yuan gestured, and the paper slip slowly floated onto his palm."

"\"Lin Hao, step back first. \" Lu Yuan glanced at Lin Hao and said."

"\"Yes, Brother Lu Yuan! \" Lin Hao nodded in agreement."

"After Lin Hao left the room, Lu Yuan then unfolded the paper slip in his palm."

"\"Lu Yuan, I, the Prince, know you urgently need money; these banknotes are enough to tide you over for a while! \"

"After a brief glance at the paper slip's content, Lu Yuan's brows furrowed, then relaxed."

"\"Heh, so that's how it is. \""

"Lu Yuan gave a cold smile, a chill flashing in his eyes."

"\"Lu Mingfei, Lin Xue, I seriously underestimated you—you're practically eager to put me in a deadly situation! \"

"\"If that's the case, then I, the Prince, will let you down! \"

"Lu Yuan snorted coldly, then placed the paper slip on the candle stand and burned it."

"………"

"The next morning."

"Lin Hao woke from his sleep."

"\"Thump thump thump… thump thump thump…\""

"Just as Lin Hao was about to wash up, a knocking sound suddenly reached his ears."

"\"Who's there? \" Lin Hao yawned and shouted toward the door."

"\"Bang! \""

"\"Squeak! \""

"As Lin Hao's words fell, the door was pushed open, and immediately a strong, pungent smell of alcohol rushed into the room. (End of chapter)"