"Greetings, Young Master Long." Si Ji Huang entered the room with a respectful bow, his eyes settling on Bai Xifeng.
"Mmhmm... Let's get straight to business." Bai Xifeng replied, her tone professional and concise.
Si Ji Huang took his seat across from her. "Please, proceed."
Bai Xifeng reached into her sleeves and produced the elixirs and pills she had crafted, placing them firmly on the table in front of Si Ji Huang. A sharp flash of intrigue sparked in Si Ji Huang's eyes the moment he laid eyes on the containers.
"These are...?" Si Ji Huang trailed off, leaning in to examine the details.
"These are Scarlet Gathering Qi pills. They can accelerate your cultivation speed by a factor of ten." Bai Xifeng explained calmly. "Next is the Bone Clearing Path Elixir. It is designed to purge impurities from the marrow while simultaneously boosting cultivation progress. Finally, these are Qi Cleansing elixirs. They purify the Qi you absorb, stripping away any lingering instabilities. For the best results, one should take the Cleansing elixir in conjunction with the Scarlet Gathering Qi pills."
Si Ji Huang sat frozen, completely dumbfounded by the sheer utility of the items described.
"Sir Si?" Bai Xifeng prompted, noticing his sudden lapse into silence.
Si Ji Huang snapped back to reality, coughing several times awkwardly to mask his stunned expression. "My apologies. Do you mind if I summon our head appraisers?"
'Appraiser?' Bai Xifeng whispered mentally to Baishe.
'An appraiser is a specialist who evaluates the grade, purity, and market value of pills and elixirs.' Baishe clarified.
'Oh, I see.' Understanding the necessity, Bai Xifeng nodded to her host. "Certainly. I have no objections."
"Please, wait but a moment." Si Ji Huang stood up and hastily exited the room.
After a short interval, he returned, accompanied by two elderly men who carried an air of profound experience. "Young Master Long, allow me to introduce Elder Tianji and Elder Yuan. They are the premier appraisers for our Shanghai House."
"My greetings to Elder Tianji and Elder Yuan." Bai Xifeng stood and offered a formal, polite salute to the two seniors.
"Hmm... let us not dally, shall we?" Elder Tianji remarked, his gaze already wandering toward the table.
"Of course. Elder Tianji, if you would be so kind as to appraise these three items." Si Ji Huang said, gesturing toward the spread.
As the two elders peered at the pills and elixirs, their faces mirrored the exact same look of shock that Si Ji Huang had displayed moments prior. Bai Xifeng felt a flicker of confusion. Had she made a mistake in the refinement process?
"Elders?" Bai Xifeng ventured.
The two men snapped out of their trance, clearing their throats in unison to hide their sheer embarrassment.
"Did you refine all of these yourself?" Elder Yuan asked, his voice trembling slightly.
"I did." Bai Xifeng confirmed with a simple nod.
Elder Tianji picked up a bottle of the Scarlet Gathering Qi pills. It was heavy, containing ten pills in total. "How do you have such a massive quantity? And how long did it take you to produce them?"
Even though a Scarlet Gathering Qi pill was technically a one-star grade, producing them in bulk was a feat few alchemists could manage without a high failure rate.
Bai Xifeng paused to calculate. "Hmm... on a good day, I produce ten pills in a single batch. Sometimes twenty. For this specific stock, it probably took four or five batches, I suppose."
'Ten to twenty pills in one go? Is this child joking?' The thought screamed through the minds of both Elder Tianji and Elder Yuan.
"Who is your master?" Elder Tianji pressed, his curiosity getting the better of him.
"I apologise, Elder. My master has strictly prohibited me from revealing his name to anyone," Bai Xifeng lied smoothly.
Elder Tianji exchanged a meaningful look with Elder Yuan. No words were spoken, but their eyes communicated a wealth of suspicion and awe. They were both thinking of the same legendary figure, the only person they knew of whose technique allowed for such massive yields in a single refinement.
Elder Yuan opened a bottle and tipped a pill into his palm. As he examined the surface, his eyes widened until they were like saucers.
"Tianji, look at this." Elder Yuan hissed, beckoning his colleague over.
"What is it now?" Elder Tianji frowned, leaning in.
When the pill changed hands, Elder Tianji's breath hitched. "One hundred per cent efficiency? There are absolutely no impurities at all!"
"You see it too!" Elder Yuan's professional composure vanished, replaced by the excitement of a scholar.
They immediately began rifling through the other items Bai Xifeng had brought, debating and whispering with a fervour that ignored everyone else in the room. Though they were appraisers for Shanghai House, they were alchemists at heart, and these specimens were masterpieces.
"Excuse me... may I know if you intend to accept my goods?" Bai Xifeng interrupted their heated discussion.
"Of course! Naturally, we will take everything!" Elder Yuan nodded vigorously.
"Then, can we discuss the final price?" Bai Xifeng asked. Ultimately, the gold was what she was truly after.
The two elders took a deep breath, regained their seats, and looked at Bai Xifeng with newfound respect.
"These are all peak-quality products," Elder Tianji began, stroking his long beard thoughtfully. "A standard Scarlet Gathering Qi pill usually fetches ten thousand yuan. However, yours are far from standard. With one hundred per cent efficiency and zero impurities, we cannot possibly offer you the market rate for common trash."
"I am quite new to this trade." Bai Xifeng stated humbly. "I am hoping that both elders can guide me toward a fair arrangement."
Her modest attitude endeared her to the old men even further.
"We will offer fourteen thousand yuan for each Scarlet Gathering Qi pill and twenty-five thousand yuan for each Bone Clearing Path Elixir," Elder Tianji declared. "As for the Qi Cleansing elixir... this is a long-lost recipe. We cannot put a simple price on it. We must put those up for auction."
'A long-lost recipe? Baishe didn't mention anything about that.' A mental question mark popped up in Bai Xifeng's mind. She truly had no idea the recipe was rare, but in the end, it did not matter so long as the price was right.
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