Mila hadn't even introduced the rest of the pills when the entire hall nearly exploded with the roar of the crowd. Even Robin, in his wildest dreams, hadn't imagined this level of reaction.
Every person here was an elite of society; most were far above level 11, and yet the mention of such a pill shook them deeply. Perhaps it wasn't just the pill itself, but the terrifying realization that the entire pill industry might have just taken its first great leap forward.
"Please calm down!" Lina raised her voice, motioning to the crowd to settle. Then she turned to Mila, eyes gleaming with excitement. "Lady Mila, I never imagined you'd bring such a treasure. Do you have a starting price in mind?"
"I haven't even finished," Mila snapped. She held up the three pills again. "The one marked with '1' works for cultivators below the 11th level. The pill with '2' has the same effect for knights between the 11th and 20th levels."
"What?!" Several attendees shot to their feet, unable to contain themselves. Another wave of shouts threatened to erupt.
"Silence!" Mila's aura flared just enough to press them down. "And finally—the pill marked with '3' has the same efficacy for saints between levels 21 and 30. That's it. Now you may shout."
But the uproar never came. Instead, silence fell heavier than stone.
The crowd stared at her with wide eyes, mouths open as if struck by lightning. A saint finally forced himself to speak: "A pill… that grants a saint several more days of wakefulness and clarity? Is that… truly possible?"
"I swear it is," Mila declared firmly. "I took the level-three pill myself."
The silence shattered.
"Then what are we waiting for? Auction the Number Three pill immediately!" someone bellowed from a private room.
"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" another voice roared from a different room. "Give me half an hour—I didn't bring enough gold!"
"I request a timeout as well!"
"I must summon my master!"
The hall descended into chaos once more. Lina quickly realized today had gone far beyond a normal auction. She raised her voice over the din: "Very well! Given these circumstances, the auction will pause for one hour. When we resume, we will begin with the Number Three pill."
At her announcement, half the hall stampeded out—some to fetch more funds, others to borrow, and still others to bring their lords and masters.
Mila turned sharply to Robin, glaring. "Are you satisfied now?"
"Ahem… this is a bit more than I expected," Robin admitted, though the smirk tugging his lips betrayed his amusement.
"More than expected?! You're literally selling a treasure that could alter the fate of saints. Breaking through after level twenty is agony—decades of waiting, praying for an opportunity. Did you think their reaction would be mild?"
Robin just chuckled, then leaned forward to watch the frantic discussions in the hall below.
By the time the hour passed, the auction house was packed tighter than ever. Even those who had ignored the event initially had been summoned, and now every seat, every corner, overflowed with nobles, merchants, and saints.
Lina strode back to the center of the stage, visibly thrilled. "Ladies and gentlemen, today will be remembered in history. For the first time, we present three pills never before seen in this world. Normally, I would begin with the weakest, but I suspect half of you would try to kill me if I did, so…" She laughed lightly. "We begin directly with the Number Three pill. There is no minimum bid—the price is yours to decide. Begin!"
"Ten thousand gold coins!"
Robin almost fell from his chair. That's just the opening?!
"Thirteen thousand!"
"Fourteen thousand!"
The bidding war raged like wildfire, numbers leaping higher and higher until—
"Fifty-five thousand gold coins!"
The hall went still.
"Damn it, I can't go higher!"
"I couldn't gather enough in just an hour!"
Then a hesitant but steady voice from a private room: "Sixty… thousand."
Gasps spread through the hall.
"Sixty thousand gold coins from Room Thirty-Seven!" Lina's voice rang clear, her joy barely contained. "Do we have a higher bid?"
But no one answered. Heads shook, shoulders slumped.
"Second call… third call… sold! To the master of Room Thirty-Seven!"
Cheers erupted as the gavel fell.
"Hahaha! I've been stuck at level twenty-nine for decades. At last, the heavens show me mercy!" A booming laugh came from Room Thirty-Seven. Then the voice grew sharp: "Lady Mila Bradley, I spent nearly all my savings on this pill. Since you vouched for it personally, may I ask—where did it come from?"
All eyes turned upward to Mila.
She glanced sideways at Robin. He shook his head.
Mila exhaled and spoke firmly: "Forgive me. The creator does not wish to be revealed yet. I can only say I know him personally—and that this will not be the last time his pills appear."
A roar of approval thundered from the hall. That promise alone was worth gold.
"Heh. Then I shall await more from this hidden genius," the saint in Room Thirty-Seven said, before promptly paying and leaving with his prize.
The frenzy didn't end there. Though not as earth-shattering as the saint-level pill, the other two still drew fierce competition. Many nobles wanted them as keepsakes—the very first batch of a revolution in alchemy.
The level-two pill finally sold for 11,000 gold coins. The level-one pill, to everyone's amazement, still climbed past a thousand before settling at 1,050.
Robin leaned back, dazed. Even with all his cunning, he hadn't foreseen this storm.