Chapter Ninety-Nine: Once Again, the Chili Pepper Flower

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Yan Qingye carefully examined the private room. "Little Master, how much does this room cost? Is it expensive?"

"Um..." You Xiyue recalled that the waiter had enthusiastically introduced the price last time, but she hadn’t really paid attention. "I don’t remember. Probably not expensive."

The two maids behind You Xiyue had a deep impression of her. Such a small amount of spirit stones was naturally not expensive to them, but they kindly explained to Yan Qingye, "Our private rooms cost one Heaven-grade spirit stone each."

"Heaven-grade?!" Yan Qingye’s tone instantly shot up, then quickly dropped. "Spirit stone... that’s... not expensive."

After all, he had worked in the spirit stone mines before and was no longer as naive as he once was.

Yan Qingye patted his bulging space pouch and chuckled twice, looking like a foolish son of a wealthy landlord.

"Little Master, it’s my treat."

You Xiyue cast him a faint glance. "Oh."

Yan Qingye continued to grin foolishly, rummaging through his space pouch to take out the small silver teapot Jun Yang had given him. He filled You Xiyue’s teacup and poured some for himself as well.

He had seen Jun Yang do this more than once.

So he imitated him.

You Xiyue took a few sips of tea. Shortly after, a waiter knocked on the door.

"Your dishes are ready. Pardon the interruption; I will serve you now."

"Come in."

Yan Qingye put away the silver teapot and called out.

Xue Yu, however, looked a bit displeased and hooked its paw on Yan Qingye’s clothes.

Yan Qingye immediately understood and fetched a tea bowl, pouring some spirit spring water for Xue Yu.

While pouring, he reminded, "You’re a little demon; drink less."

But Xue Yu ignored the warning and drank eagerly.

One dish after another was brought in. It took a full half hour to serve everything.

A whole table was laden with food, filling up every inch, and only then did the waiter smile and retreat.

"Please enjoy your meal."

Yan Qingye was stunned at the amount. "Little Master, isn’t this too much? Did you and Senior Jun Yang eat this much last time?"

"Mm," You Xiyue nodded nonchalantly. Jun Yang was known for his appetite. Though it was a full table last time, not much was left over.

Although Yan Qingye was now wealthy, this feast still felt wasteful. He rubbed his belly, feeling stuffed to the point he might not be able to finish it.

Just as Yan Qingye was assessing his capacity, Xue Yu unceremoniously started eating from the nearest plate.

"…"

Xue Yu’s rapid consumption left Yan Qingye dumbfounded, but at least it eased his feeling of wastefulness.

Unfortunately, Yan Qingye’s expectations for Xue Yu were a bit too high; after clearing two plates, it stopped eating.

It jumped into You Xiyue’s arms and fell asleep.

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Yan Qingye sighed helplessly, picked up some food for You Xiyue, then began eating heartily himself.

After about fifteen minutes, the auction at the Immortal Treasure Pavilion finally began.

Yan Qingye took a moment to catch his breath, focusing his attention on the auctioneer.

This time, only five or six alchemy furnaces were up for auction—clearly not enough to blow up all he needed. He planned to buy them all first, then look elsewhere for more.

He hoped at least one of these furnaces would be suitable.

The auctioneer, dressed in eye-catching clothes and beaming with delight, stood on the central platform on the first floor.

"Welcome once again to our monthly auction here at Immortal Treasure Pavilion! Today’s items are abundant and varied; we guarantee you won’t be disappointed. Especially with the alchemist examinations coming soon, we’ve prepared some excellent alchemy furnaces."

"Having said so much, let’s officially begin today’s auction. Can anyone guess what our first item will be?"

To heat up the atmosphere, the auctioneer kept the item a secret.

Yan Qingye pricked up his ears, hand already on the bidding paddle.

There was a fair amount of guessing from the crowd.

"Alchemy furnace."

"Dao-grade magical artifact."

"Immortal-grade magical artifact."

Various guesses flew, but the auctioneer kept shaking his head.

He truly whetted everyone’s appetite.

When the atmosphere was ripe, the auctioneer shouted loudly:

"Unfortunately, no one guessed correctly. Our first item is the recently popular Heavenly Chili Flower!!"

As the auctioneer’s words fell, the crowd briefly fell silent.

Then hushed discussions began again.

"When did Heavenly Chili Flower become so popular?"

"I have no idea!"

"Hasn’t it been a long time since Heavenly Chili Flower was last auctioned? How did it become a recent hot item?"

"…"

The auctioneer ignored the whispers below, took the tray holding ten Heavenly Chili Flowers, and excitedly continued:

"Our starting price for these ten Heavenly Chili Flowers is two thousand Immortal-grade spirit stones. Let the bidding begin."

"Two thousand Immortal-grade spirit stones??"

"Isn’t that two Divine-grade spirit stones?"

"Yeah, why is it twice as expensive as before??"

Many lost interest in the flowers upon hearing this price.

The auctioneer eagerly watched for any movement from You Xiyue’s room.

He kept glancing toward Table Seven.

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Yan Qingye touched the bidding paddle and asked You Xiyue, "Little Master, shall we bid?"

"Bid," You Xiyue said, sipping from her spirit spring water, her expression calm and unreadable.

"How much?"

"Thirty Divine-grade spirit stones."

Such a price would have been unthinkable to the old Yan Qingye, but the current one remained composed. He raised paddle Seven and shouted, "Thirty Divine-grade spirit stones!"

"!!!"

The auctioneer was stunned. He hadn’t expected You Xiyue to raise the bid so much at once.

"Thirty Divine-grade spirit stones! Any higher bids?"

The auctioneer asked twice, shooting a look in one direction.

There sat a middle-aged, corpulent man who looked wealthy and arrogant.

Though he received the auctioneer’s cue, he hesitated to bid higher. Thirty Divine-grade spirit stones was already generous.

Yet the auctioneer kept winking.

The crowd below began to suspect the auctioneer’s eyes were faulty.

The corpulent man, out of options, reluctantly raised his paddle.

"Number 338, thirty-one Divine-grade spirit stones."

After bidding, he sat down sheepishly.

The auctioneer asked again, "Thirty-one Divine-grade spirit stones! Any higher bids?"

He glanced eagerly toward Table Seven.

Yan Qingye frowned, holding down his paddle, and asked You Xiyue again, "Little Master, how much shall we raise?"

You Xiyue continued drinking her spirit spring water, and said softly, "No more."

"…"

The sudden change caught Yan Qingye off guard. "No… no more?"

"Mm," You Xiyue remained emotionless. "Jun Yang isn’t here; we don’t use many Heavenly Chili Flowers."

"…"

Yan Qingye nodded; that was a reasonable excuse, though he suspected there was another reason.

The auctioneer stretched his voice, "One Divine-grade spirit stone… third and final call… any more bids?"

The corpulent man was even more anxious than the auctioneer, sweating profusely, as if a torrential downpour.

When the hammer finally fell without another bid from You Xiyue, the auctioneer clenched his teeth and weakly said, "Congratulations to bidder number 338 for winning ten Heavenly Chili Flowers."

The corpulent man frantically wiped away sweat with a handkerchief, trying to endure the surrounding congratulations, feeling like he was sitting on pins and needles.