The middle-aged man once more looked at the Thousand Hand Soul Condensing Pill and sighed.
“This pill has the Thousand Hand Bodhi Seed as its main ingredient. Based on the fluctuations, it has the effect of concentrating the soul. However, I am unable to state its complete name. May I ask for guidance?”
For a master appraiser to be unable to recognize a medicinal pill was an embarrassment. But he would rather be embarrassed than make up a random name. That would be even more embarrassing.
“You have good vision. This pill is called the Thousand Hand Soul Condensing Pill. I obtained it in a trial, and if I hadn’t been told its name at that time, there’s no way I could have recognized it. Your Pill Dao is admirable,” said Long Chen.
In truth, this middle-aged man was quite skilled. This pill had three main ingredients, but the Thousand Hand Bodhi Seed was its core. The names of pills were often decided based on the main ingredient’s name as well as the pill’s effect. Even though the middle-aged man had not known its name, he would have been able to guess. But he didn’t dare to randomly guess for fear of being laughed at.
To not know its name but still be able to deduce the main ingredient and effect meant that his skills were not fake. It also showed his humility.
“Are you really planning on selling this tribulation pill?” asked the middle-aged man.
“I’m not quite sure I understand?”
“I mean, are you bringing this pill out because you actually want it to sell, or just to increase your influence? Let me put it this way: if you really want to sell it, we’ll give you a general price range. But if you simply wish to show off this Thousand Hand Soul Condensing Pill, then you can simply request an excessive starting price for it,” said the middle-aged man.
“Are you telling me to follow in the footsteps of that idiot Zhao Wuji?” laughed Long Chen.
A pill that had survived tribulation was extremely rare and precious. In fact, its own value far surpassed its medicinal effect. That was why the middle-aged man guessed that Long Chen wanted fame from this pill.
Rather than putting it in an auction, he could promote this pill, telling the world that he had a Thousand Hand Soul Condensing Pill that had survived tribulation, and then when countless people came wanting to buy it, he could sell it off at the highest price. But if he put it in an auction, as soon as there was one bid, it had to be sold.
Long Chen said, “Of course I want to sell it. I have two tribulation pills, so why not sell one? Furthermore, although I failed my refinement this time, I’ve gained valuable experience. As long as I have enough ingredients and time, I’m confident in being able to refine a similar pill in the future.”
Hearing that, the middle-aged man scoffed inside. Even a high grade or a middle grade eleventh tier pill couldn’t be refined as easily as Long Chen seemed to be treating it.
Even the Dongfang family could not rashly waste money on refining top grade eleventh tier medicinal pills. That was a bottomless pit that would never fill no matter how much money they threw into it.
Even he, their master alchemist, was only allocated one complete set of ingredients each year to research the refinement of eleventh tier medicinal pills.
That was entirely for research. The Dongfang family didn’t really dare to go all-out having him try to refine such a pill, because they couldn’t accept the cost.
So he had an urge to laugh when Long Chen said that he could do such a thing as long as he had enough ingredients. What the alchemy world lacked the most was precious medicinal ingredients like those used for eleventh tier medicinal pills. Just how could he get enough?
Although this man hid his thoughts well, Long Chen still read them easily. This line of thinking was precisely what Long Chen wanted the others to have. “I have the Nine Lotus Soul Condensing Pill, so this Thousand Hand Soul Condensing Pill isn’t too useful to me. I would rather sell it to buy things that I actually need, so there’s no need to doubt my sincerity.”
The middle-aged man nodded, feeling much more at ease. “Then that’s easy to handle. This Thousand Hand Soul Condensing Pill will definitely be sold for a good price. Then let me give you an estimate for the price. A normal top grade eleventh tier pill is too rare to buy with money. But based on energy conversions, a top grade eleventh tier pill would be between thirty to thirty-five underworld spirit beads.”
Long Chen only listened without speaking. He didn’t really know the value of the underworld spirit beads, nor did he know the average price of a top grade eleventh tier pill when there were no such pills in circulation on the continent. Hence, he was acting reserved.
The middle-aged man continued, “However, pills that have survived tribulation are different. Their price is normally ten times greater or more. Of course, the rarer something is, the more valuable it is, and other than its actual value, there is also its value as an ancient relic. So its actual value is very difficult to estimate. Our Dongfang family will give you a base price of five hundred underworld spirit beads.”
Long Chen nodded. “This price is very appropriate.”
In reality, he had no idea if this price was appropriate or not. He had no idea how the values were calculated. But as long as it was worth money, it was fine.
The middle-aged man smiled slightly. “Five hundred underworld spirit beads is the base price, so you can take out five hundred underworld spirit beads right now to bid for other treasures. Then when the Thousand Hand Soul Condensing Pill is auctioned off, we’ll give you all the underworld spirit beads minus those five hundred. Of course, if it doesn’t sell, you can consider giving us the Thousand Hand Soul Condensing Pill, or trade back your five hundred underworld spirit beads for it. That’s entirely up to you. Based on my estimates, this pill would be fought over by quite a few people and should go for a very good price.”
“Then I’m at ease.” Long Chen merely nodded. He didn’t know the pill’s actual value, but from the shocked look in the disciple’s eyes, he guessed that the price was good. This middle-aged man represented the Dongfang family and shouldn’t be conning him.
The middle-aged man carefully put away the Thousand Hand Soul Condensing Pill. He had someone bring over an elaborate bag. This was called a cosmos bag and was simply another storage tool similar to a spatial ring. However, the cosmos bag could store certain special items in special spaces supported by formations that didn’t allow those items to lose spirituality over time. Good cosmos bags could even nourish those items.
There were five hundred black and white beads within this cosmos bag. Life and death energy flowed within them, supporting and contradicting each other. They both attacked and nourished each other.
Every one of those beads contained vast life and death energy. These were underworld spirit beads, treasures for the ancient era’s Netherpassage experts. By the current era, they were almost all gone. These days, Netherpassage experts could only rely on slowly accumulating energy for their next advancement. Compared to the ancient era’s experts, they were poor.
After obtaining the five hundred underworld spirit beads, Long Chen felt like a beggar who had suddenly become rich. His back became much straighter.
The middle-aged man also gave Long Chen a receipt not much different from the secular world.
After handling that, he asked, “Mister Long Chen, are there any precious alchemy materials you need? The Dongfang family has quite a few precious ingredients in its storage house. Perhaps we could help if you need anything.”
How crafty. As soon as Long Chen obtained money, they wanted him to spend some of it with them. Long Chen smiled. “Alchemy requires careful consideration. I was too impatient before, resulting in continuous failures. Hence, I need to rest a bit more before my next try. Other than that, now that so many ancient powers have come out, I want to see their abilities. Good steel should be used on the edge of the blade, don’t you think?”
The middle-aged man blushed. His thoughts had clearly been read. Long Chen had no experience with the ancient era’s powers, so if the Dongfang family declared that this rare ingredient that only they possessed was worth an extravagant amount of money, how could Long Chen tell if they told the truth?
So Long Chen wasn’t planning on spending these underworld spirit beads easily. After all, this was a strong currency valuable anywhere.
“Haha, that’s a good idea too. No wonder you’ve dominated your generation at such a young age. This kind of steadiness is admirable. Well then, I have to do more behind-the-scenes work for the auction, so I won’t accompany you any longer. The second day’s auction is starting soon, so you can prepare yourself for that if you’re interested,” said the middle-aged man.
Long Chen nodded and the disciple led him away. There were six hours until the second day’s auction, so the disciple asked if Long Chen wished for a private room to rest in. Long Chen hesitated for a moment before nodding.
After entering his room and closing the stone door, Long Chen burst into laughter. “Success! I’ve finally regained the feeling of being rich!”
Long Chen finally had a chance to unleash his emotions. In the future, he would refine even more top grade pills, and they would all go through tribulations. If the outside world knew this, they would definitely go crazy.
“Haha, low-key, I have to be low-key!”
After laughing to his heart’s content, he took a deep breath. He had to keep this secret. If anyone knew of this, the entire continent would be staring at him. Envy and greed could drive people crazy, so he had to be careful.
He activated the room’s formation, once more recovering his Spiritual Strength rapidly. After a few hours of recovery, golden runes began to blink on the wall.
Long Chen opened his eyes. The second day’s auction was starting. It was time to see if there was anything good.
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