Chapter 2505 — I Don't Believe It!

"I don't believe it! There's no way anyone could provide pills of better quality than the ones we sent. You should know, every pill in this batch came from the Mysterious Pill Sect. Are you suggesting someone out there can produce pills superior even to the Mysterious Pill Sect's?" The young man finally could not hold back and rose to his feet to ask.

At auctions past, the representative of the Hidden Right Family had always drawn looks of admiration and reverence from the other cultivators. This time, however, that same treatment did not fall upon the young man. He had pestered his grandfather endlessly for the privilege of attending this auction, and to bask in those admiring gazes he had spent several days rehearsing his airs and postures, all set to toss off a few remarks while everyone scrambled for the pills. Now, all at once, he had no stage on which to perform, and fury surged up in him on the spot.

"Right Pan Gao, if you do not believe it, you are welcome to come up and appraise them yourself." Lu Xiansheng glanced at the young man and said flatly, "Please, do not stand on ceremony!"

"This..." The young man hesitated. His grandfather was a guest elder of the Right family, and because of the old man's Heaven Rank strength, he had been permitted to study pill refinement under the Right family and had even been granted a name in the "Pan" generation. He now counted as a first-grade pill refiner. His skill at the craft left much to be desired, but he could still tell a pill's quality at a glance. So when Lu Xiansheng made the offer, he genuinely wanted to step up and test the truth of it. He truly could not believe that anyone's pill refinement could reach such a level, and he knew the origin of this batch of Right family pills perfectly well: they came from the Mysterious Pill Sect. So even if someone's skill surpassed the Hidden Right Family, surely they could not surpass the Mysterious Pill Sect as well?

"Heh, if you will not come up to appraise them, then our auction must proceed," Lu Xiansheng said with a faint smile. He had no wish to offend the Hidden Right Family, after all. Pills of such fine quality from Wei Zhao might not be available again in the future, so the Cultivators' Merchant Guild still needed to keep its business with the Hidden Right Family going. What he had said earlier was only to drive these pills to a good price—first, to curry favor with Wei Zhao and see whether a long-term partnership might be possible; second, to earn a larger commission for himself.

"Very well. Since Mr. Lu extends such an earnest invitation, I shall serve as appraiser for everyone here!" Right Pan Gao made up his mind in an instant, rose, and walked slowly up to the stage.

No one objected to Right Pan Gao's move. After all, up to now it had only been Mr. Lu singing his own praises; once the auction ended, there would be no way to settle accounts after the fact, for the notion of pill quality was far too vague—whatever anyone claimed could be made to sound reasonable.

Of course, Right Pan Gao dared to go up on stage because his grandfather, the dwarfish bandit, was not present. The dwarfish bandit had really come here only to hold the fort, escorting those pills safely to this place; the rest of the time he cultivated in his room and left all matters to his grandson.

Had the dwarfish bandit been here, Right Pan Gao could never have gone on stage so casually; he would certainly have put on a more proper and well-behaved appearance.

"Here we are. Mr. Right Pan Gao, if you would appraise them for us." Lu Xiansheng pushed a pile of small bottles toward Right Pan Gao, indicating that he might draw out a few from among them to examine.

Right Pan Gao did not stand on ceremony. He picked up a small bottle at random and opened it. Inside was a Minor Qi Gathering Pill. Though he could not refine one himself, he knew it intimately. The instant he laid eyes on it, Right Pan Gao's expression changed!

This Minor Qi Gathering Pill was perfectly round, its color even and full, with two faintly visible striations upon it—proof of second-grade quality! These were the hallmarks of a top-grade pill. Right Pan Gao recognized them at once!

As for the pills he had brought, only a scant few reached that quality; the rest either had uneven color, or were oval rather than perfectly round, or bore no striations at all. True, such flaws only affected a pill's ultimate potency and did not render it ineffective—in other words, it merely performed somewhat worse.

It must be luck! Right Pan Gao thought. He had groped at random and happened to pick the best one; the others were surely not so fine. So Right Pan Gao hurriedly picked up another small bottle, opened it, and looked—only for his expression to change once more!

This was another Minor Qi Gathering Pill, of a quality essentially identical to the last—both top-grade. Right Pan Gao drew a deep breath, set down the bottle in his hand, and opened another some distance away. This time it held a Minor Restoration Pill—but it too was top-grade!

Impossible. It simply could not be. Right Pan Gao's movements grew faster and faster, until he had opened nearly half the small bottles before him—and every one was top-grade! Unwilling to accept it, he gasped for breath, his eyes wide and brimming with shock and disbelief.

"Well then, Mr. Right Pan Gao? May we have your appraisal results now?" Lu Xiansheng said with a smile.

"This..." Right Pan Gao hesitated, but in a setting like this he dared not speak carelessly. He could only stiffen his neck and say, "They are indeed... all top-grade pills..."

In truth, everyone had already guessed the result from Right Pan Gao's expression; it was only that his saying it aloud confirmed their certainty. These cultivators cared nothing for the Hidden Right Family's face—they wanted only to buy the finest goods, the ones most useful to themselves. So one and all were raring to join the bidding.

"Heh, Mr. Right Pan Gao, thank you for your appraisal. You may return to your seat." Lu Xiansheng gestured invitingly, then addressed the crowd: "Very well—let the auction begin!"

Right Pan Gao walked back to his seat in utter dejection, and the auction formally got under way!

Sure enough, the pills Wei Zhao had sent fetched an average price of around fifteen million each, while the Hidden Right Family's pills held at their former price of about ten million—no more, no less.

Yet though the price did not fall, Right Pan Gao's face was a mask of ugly jealousy. Someone had stolen the Hidden Right Family's business. At auctions past, the Hidden Right Family's pills had been eagerly sought and in short supply; this time, by the end of the auction, no one was bidding at all—plainly, everyone who wanted pills had already bought them. Seeing how matters stood, Lu Xiansheng had no choice but to withdraw the remaining pills as unsold.

Wei Zhao's purpose in coming here was the pure yellow jade alone; nothing else was of much use to him. So while the others bid, he sat with his eyes closed, resting, and would rouse his attention only when the pure yellow jade came up for auction. RQ

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