Beside them, Gu Ni watched the two of them argue until they were red in the face, his mouth twitching.
When others discussed business, they usually complained about getting too little, but these two were something else—one insisted on giving money away, while the other adamantly refused.
If this were to get out, the three great families of Wutan City would probably cough up blood in frustration.
“Enough, enough.”
In the end, Ya Fei admitted defeat.
Looking at the determination in Lu Heng’s eyes, her heart softened completely.
This younger brother was truly worth all her care.
“Let’s both take a step back.”
Ya Fei sighed helplessly and held up a slender finger.
“The Auction House will take forty percent.
Those are the rules, and we can’t let the Family gossip.
Of the remaining sixty percent, you take fifty, and I’ll take ten.
This ten percent will be the management fee for your sister working for you, alright?”
Lu Heng frowned, wanting to argue further: “Sister Ya Fei…”
“Shut up.”
Ya Fei glared at him with her beautiful eyes, asserting her authority as an older sister.
“If you say another word, I won’t even take that ten percent.”
Lu Heng shrank his neck and chuckled.
“Fine, I’ll listen to Sister Ya Fei.
Anyway, my money is for you to spend in the future.”
“You little brat, who wants to spend your money?” Ya Fei chided, though the corners of her mouth couldn’t help but curl upward.
“Then it’s settled.”
Gu Ni seized the opportunity to finalize the matter, afraid these two ancestors might change their minds again.
“I’ll arrange for people to acquire ironwood roots and Monster Cores immediately.
Additionally, I will personally select several reliable Alchemist apprentices from the Family, have them sign Death contracts, pass down this Pill Formula, and begin secret mass production.”
“However…”
Gu Ni paused, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.
“The debut of the beast power pill will surely cause a sensation.
We need to choose an auspicious day to build up some hype for it.”
Hearing this, Ya Fei regained her persona as a shrewd and capable powerful woman.
She gently tapped her finger on the table, her lips curving into a confident yet dangerous arc.
“Three days from now.”
Ya Fei looked out the window, her gaze seemingly piercing through the walls of the Auction House toward the Xiao Family, Jia Lie Family, and Ao Ba Family.
“Three days from now is the Mite’er Auction House’s routine monthly auction.
At that time, I will let all of Wutan City know that the market for first-grade pills is about to change.”
Lu Heng looked at the spirited Ya Fei and nodded inwardly.
This was more like it.
This was the Mite’er Family’s Queen of Gold—
Ya Fei!
Once the business was concluded, Great Master Gu Ni made an excuse about needing to check the medicinal herb warehouse and slipped away.
Gu Ni had lived a long life and was incredibly shrewd; how could he not see that the current atmosphere between the two of them left no room for a third person?
Ya Fei didn’t try to make him stay.
She turned around and ordered the kitchen to prepare a table of fine dishes.
Braised Red Flame Pig Trotters, Steamed Bluefin Fish, and several tonic soups made with low-level medicinal herbs.
Lu Heng was indeed starving.
Over the past five days, he had slogged away at those few beast power pills and had barely eaten a proper meal, kept going only by a surge of excitement.
Now that the adrenaline had worn off, his stomach felt like it was being clawed by a hand.
Lu Heng didn’t stand on ceremony with Ya Fei, grabbing a pig trotter and gnawing on it.
His eating manner completely lacked the composure of the ‘little adult’ he usually pretended to be, his mouth covered in oil.
Ya Fei sat across from him, resting her chin on one hand while the other held a porcelain spoon, slowly stirring the White Fungus and Lotus Seed Soup in her bowl.
She didn’t eat much; her shimmering eyes were fixed on Lu Heng as he wolfed down the food.
“Eat slowly, no one is going to take it from you.”
Ya Fei chuckled softly, set down her spoon, took out a silk handkerchief, and naturally reached out to wipe the grease from the corner of Lu Heng’s mouth.
Like a mature older sister taking care of her younger brother, the action was as natural as if she had done it a thousand times.
Lu Heng chewed on the soft pig skin and said indistinctly:
“Mainly because Sister Ya Fei is here; everything tastes delicious.”
“Smooth talker.”
Ya Fei chided him, but she still placed a piece of deboned fish into his bowl.
“Eat more fish; it’s good for your brain.”
Lu Heng swallowed his food and grinned.
“I’ll be fine.
My body is very healthy, as Sister Ya Fei already knows.”
“Tch.”
Ya Fei rolled her eyes at him, but the smile in her gaze wouldn’t fade.
She looked at the youth before her, and the thought in her heart became increasingly clear.
This was her trump card for a comeback in the Mite’er Family, and also her only Family within it.
The meal was finished in a flash.
Once he was full, Lu Heng leaned back against his chair, not wanting to move.
“Alright, now that you’ve eaten and drunk your fill, go back and rest.”
Ya Fei stood up and smoothed her skirt.
“Leave the rest to me and Uncle Gu Ni.
When it comes to building hype, I’m an expert.
You just need to get enough rest so you don’t end up looking so disheveled next time.”
Lu Heng nodded and didn’t push himself.
Five consecutive days of intense mental focus had indeed left his brain throbbing.
“Then I’ll be waiting for Sister Ya Fei’s good news.”
…Returning to his small courtyard, Lu Heng slept like the dead.
He didn’t wake up until the sun was high in the sky the next day.
After his spirit had fully recovered, Lu Heng didn’t stay idle.
The beast power pill was just a stepping stone; if he wanted to truly establish himself, he had to look ahead.
He sat cross-legged on the bed, his consciousness sinking into the myriad realms pharmacopoeia in his mind.
“Gathering Yuan Pill, a second-grade elixir.
Its medicinal power is mild and can directly increase the Rank of a One-star Dou Zhe.”
“essence nurturing powder, a first-grade powder.
It doesn’t need to be refined into a pill, just mixed into a liquid, and it assists in nourishing the Meridians during the Dou Zhi Qi Stage…”
These two formulas were carefully selected by Lu Heng.
If he could refine them, whether for his own use or to sell, they would be even more explosive than the beast power pill.
After all, increasing one’s cultivation was the main theme of the Dou Qi Continent.
However, while the ideal was grand, reality gave Lu Heng a slap in the face.
When he confidently opened the furnace again to try and refine the Gathering Yuan Pill, he realized he had been overoptimistic.
The requirements for flame control and Dou Qi input for this thing were more than a level higher than those for the beast power pill.
After exploding two Medicine Cauldrons and wasting over a dozen medicinal herbs, Lu Heng was forced to stop.
He looked at the flickering red fire Dou Qi in his palm and sighed.
“Still too weak.”
The amount of Dou Qi inside a One-star Dou Zhe was like a small puddle.
Refining such a delicate first-grade pill required a continuous river.
This was like trying to fit a Ferrari engine into a tractor based on blueprints; the hardware simply couldn’t keep up.
“If my cultivation is insufficient, then I’ll increase my cultivation.”
Lu Heng was a decisive person.
Since the path of alchemy was temporarily blocked by his cultivation, he turned his attention to increasing his combat power.
After all, no matter how noble an Alchemist was, they were still fragile if someone got close.
Over the next two days, muffled booms frequently echoed from Lu Heng’s courtyard.
Azure Wood Seal.
This Low-level Profound Rank Dou Technique focused on using wood attribute Dou Qi to stimulate vitality, then instantly reversing that vitality into destructive power.
“Condense!”