“Senior, you can wait in the VIP room. There are still a few items left to auction. If you’re interested, you can join in,” Yun Ya said, giving a subtle nod to the person beside her.
“Master Alchemist, please follow me!” The person immediately led Ling Xiao to the VIP room in the auction hall.
“Sister, are you going to host the auction yourself?” asked a maid helping with Yun Ya’s attire as she prepared at the dressing table after Ling Xiao left.
“Of course. That masked man is no ordinary figure. To craft such perfect-grade pills, his alchemy skills likely surpass even Sun Shang’s. Someone like that needs to be courted carefully,” Yun Ya said with a smile.
“But you don’t even know who he is. How will you court him?” the maid asked.
“No matter. He’s auctioning these pills, isn’t he? All we need is to fetch a high price,” Yun Ya replied. She was taking charge personally because she didn’t fully trust other auctioneers with these hundred pills.
When Ling Xiao arrived at the VIP room, the auction was still ongoing. But as he sat, it suddenly paused. The original auctioneer stepped down, and Princess Yun Ya herself appeared on the central platform.
Yun Ya was dressed provocatively, revealing just enough to captivate, while hinting at what remained hidden, tantalising yet out of reach. Her voice was sultry, melting the resolve of the men in the audience.
Ling Xiao couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. The phrase “beauty that topples kingdoms” was apt. Her allure could enchant countless men. No wonder Tianlong Auction House, after collapsing in the Holy City, had risen again in the Divine Phoenix Empire. Even the empire’s royalty likely couldn’t resist her charm.
Shifting his gaze from Yun Ya, Ling Xiao examined the items being auctioned and smirked. Most of the items, whether already sold, in hand, or still up for bidding, were junk in his eyes. He wouldn’t take them even for free, yet the crowd treated them like treasures.
Partly, this was due to Yun Ya’s influence, clouding the judgment of men thinking with their lower halves. Also, many items were pills, subpar but scarce in the Divine Phoenix Continent.
The Divine Phoenix Continent, inhabited by evolved half-human, half-demon descendants of the demon race, lacked proficiency in human skills like alchemy and array crafting. Thus, someone like Sun Shang, a skilled alchemist, became a prized guest at Divine Phoenix Academy, hailed as the continent’s top alchemist. It was remarkable.
Ling Xiao’s gaze moved from the junk to the VIP room, where notable figures sat, including Divine Phoenix Academy’s Vice Dean Fengming Wanzhong, Master Alchemist Sun Shang, Demon Flame Heavenly Lord, Fengming Yu, Fengming Junzhong, Fengming Bo, and Feng Qingyan and Feng Yanran, who had helped him before.
This auction, worthy of the capital’s top auction house, drew such prominent figures. Yet they hadn’t bid, suggesting something big was saved for the finale.
If so, it might be worth competing for.
Yun Ya’s appearance to host the auction sparked excitement in the hall. Some men howled like wildcats in heat. Her seductive voice and choice of words drove the crowd wild.
The prices of subsequent items soared, at least fifty percent higher than under the previous auctioneer, by Ling Xiao’s estimate.
He shook his head, impressed. Back in the Holy City, Yun Ya had similarly driven his pills to sky-high prices. With her in charge, he could sit back and rake in spirit stones.
After a few more junk items, only two items remained under red cloths. Ling Xiao knew one was his low-grade Tianling Divine Pill. The other was unknown but likely what both Divine Phoenix and Qingxu Academies coveted.
“Ladies and gentlemen, these last two items are the highlights of this auction. Pay close attention, I’m sure you’ll be interested,” Yun Ya said, unveiling one cloth to reveal a red gourd.
It was, as expected, Ling Xiao’s low-grade Tianling Divine Pill. Yun Ya poured out a pill and said in her enchanting voice, “This is a spirit pill between mid-grade and high-grade yellow quality!”
The hall fell silent. Even the leering men shifted their focus to the pill.
Low-grade yellow pills were already treasures in the Divine Phoenix Continent, let alone mid-grade ones. This pill, nearly high-grade, was extraordinary.
Seeing their reaction, Yun Ya smiled. “This is a low-grade Tianling Divine Pill, twice as effective as a standard Tianling Pill, usable by all Tianren realm warriors without restrictions. Tianling Pills boost cultivation speed and Tianyuan power condensation, but this pill is even better.”
Her lips parted slightly as she continued seductively, “Tianren realm warriors are the backbone of our continent. Many aim to break through to the Dongtian realm. The value of this pill speaks for itself, doesn’t it?”
“The better the effect, the worse the side effects. Please, Boss Yun Ya, tell us how bad they are,” Sun Shang, the expert, asked pointedly.
Yun Ya laughed alluringly. “Master Sun, as an alchemist, you’ve surely heard of perfect-grade pills, haven’t you?”
Sun Shang had spent his life studying alchemy but never crafted a perfect-grade pill. In the Holy City, he’d bought a few at great cost to study, only for them to be destroyed in the war. Now, he was facing one again.
