Rise of the Alchemy God

Discover hidden tales at M-V-L

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As soon as she examined the Dream Mist Flower and sensed how many years it might have had, she almost dropped it in shock.

Before she could utter a single word, someone else in the room, caught in a frenzy over the flower's value, exclaimed,

"Young Friend, how can you give something like that away so casually? If you have anything else to discard, throw it in this old man's lap instead!"

This sudden statement came from Bai Huo Shan, who had noticed the Dream Mist Flower in his granddaughter's hands and was now glaring at Ethan.

He wasn't the only one to notice the flower.

He was not the only one to notice the flower, and even less was he the only one to know its value,

but knowing that a figure like him was present in the room, everyone tried to contain their surprise, and chattered in amazement in low voices.

"Hey, did you see that?

That boy just pulled out a Dream Mist Flower out of nowhere and gave it to the Grandmaster Alchemist Bai's granddaughter,"

"Yeah, and not just any flower. If I'm not mistaken, that flower is far older than the one that was just auctioned off."

"What? Are you serious? To give something like that away as a gift... Could it be that he's interested in the Grandmaster's granddaughter?"

This simple gesture from Ethan quickly spiraled into a much larger commotion than the earlier bidding war over the auctioned flower, which Hu Xingyan had successfully acquired.

Even she, who had been happy with her purchase, felt a pang in her heart upon seeing this flower.

Both she and Xiang Hua were sitting close to Ethan's table, got a better view of the flower and were able to assess its age.

The two young women, realizing he had just gifted such a rare material, immediately fell into a state of delirium.

Just like Bai Huo Shan, many others wanted to say the same thing to Ethan, who didn't care much and simply said:

"Oh, this? It was just gathering dust in my ring, so I thought, why not give it to someone who could use it?"

Bai Huo Shan: "..."

The two young women: "..."

The rest of the crowd: "..."

Bai Yu: "Hmm? Who's causing all this commotion?" she asked mentally, having woken up in her beast form wrapped around Ethan's wrist.

Bai Huo Shan nearly spat blood at Ethan's reply.

Even he, a respected Grandmaster Alchemist, couldn't claim to own such an item.

And yet, here was someone casually handing it over to his granddaughter as if it were nothing.

He felt more and more tempted to swoop in on Ethan and see what else he was hiding.

Meanwhile, Ethan, having successfully poured fuel on the fire, turned his attention back to the auction, unaware of the numerous misunderstandings he had sown in everyone's minds, especially in those of the young women.

'You're enjoying this, aren't you?' Bai Yu remarked, now fully awake.

'Who, me? Nah,'

'The smirk on your face says otherwise,' she said, shaking her head.

Ethan had honestly wanted to gift a less rare flower, something around 20 or 30 years old.

But unfortunately for him, every herb in his garden was at least 100 years old.

So, he had picked the youngest one available and handed it to Bai Yù Xīn.

What he hadn't expected was that even the experts in the nearby VIP rooms would notice the herb's presence.

The two Grandmaster Alchemists identified its aura and almost rushed to the source.

For a moment, they thought the herb sold moments ago might have been much older than initially estimated.

But then they realized there were two distinct auras, meaning the new herb wasn't the one from the auction.

If not for the fact that a colleague of theirs was present, they would have likely barged into the VIP room themselves.

Instead, they decided to wait until the auction ended to directly question Bai Huo Shan about the herb.

Unintentionally, Ethan had caused quite the headache for Bai Huo Shan, who quickly realized it.

The Grandmaster could only glance at Ethan with a look of regret as the young man ignored him.

'You bastard, at least give me one too!'

Despite the uproar, the auction proceeded without interruption.

More items and refining materials, as well as pills, were displayed.

After some time, even Ethan's mid-grade Level 3 pill was put on display.

There was no need to say that this pill was one of the most anticipated items of the day. As such, it sparked a bidding war that reached staggering amounts.

For a pill of this level, the current figures were already astronomical.

But given the situation, the auctioneer knew the bids wouldn't end anytime soon.

And so, the bidding war continued for another 20 minutes before someone announced an overwhelming offer and won the pill.

Even Ethan raised an eyebrow when he saw the final price.

Although the sum wasn't directly his, seeing one of his pills sell for such a price made him reconsider some of his previous sales strategies.

He thought that if he had done something like this before his isolation, it would have had an even better impact on his pill sales.

But he quickly shook the idea out of his mind.

Even so, the effect these pills would have today wouldn't be minor, especially since he had marked the two most precious ones with his Alchemist's Seal.

Zhang Meiling, who had been invited to the annual auction after the tournament, was sitting in one of the VIP rooms.

Watching the pill fall into a rival's hands only soured her mood further.

As she observed the pill being carried away, she noticed it bore the alchemist's seal.

She already knew who had created the pill.

After all, how could she not?

She had attended the tournament, as such, was familiar with Nuyu.

If it had been up to her, she would have done everything to recruit such a young and capable alchemist.

But by the time the semifinals arrived, she realized he was beyond their reach, especially after witnessing his performance in the finals.

"Let's at least remember his seal. It might be useful in the future."

Like many others in the field, she wanted to keep track of his future achievements and, therefore, wanted to memorize his alchemist's mark.

Unfortunately for her, the moment she saw the mark on the pill, her world fell apart.

"N-no way..."

It didn't take long for her to recall the mark. In fact, it was almost instantaneous. How could it not be?

The mark in question was that of a brand that had haunted her and many others in the city's alchemical sector over the past few months.

There was no way she wouldn't recognize that mark.

"We're screwed."