As she spoke, the woman bowed to Ye Xuan.
Her expression and attitude didn’t seem faked. She probably wasn’t apologizing because she got caught in a lie; she had genuinely remembered incorrectly.
Ye Xuan’s face twitched. He was beginning to understand why no one visited Room 9. The grade of an Elixir was normally very easy to distinguish. Yet this woman had mistaken it. Mistaking it was one thing, but she had been so absolutely certain before! She was either supremely overconfident or missing a few screws in her head. How could someone like this be a consignment manager? Did she get her job through connections?
"Alright, stop bowing to me. You’re exposing yourself," Ye Xuan said calmly. As he spoke, his eyes remained fixed on her chest.
Her neckline wasn’t very high. Bent at a ninety-degree angle, all the magnificent scenery was in plain view. Fair and plump, with a deep, plunging cleavage. A natural, dreamlike fragrance drifted from her. This was top-tier quality.
Ye Xuan considered himself a gentleman; when a sight was freely offered, he didn’t shy away. He looked openly and honestly.
"Ah!"
Only then did the woman realize what was happening. She hurriedly stood up straight, her face flushing red. However, she quickly recovered from her embarrassment. Clearing her throat, she spoke.
"Sir, how many of these Demon Spirit Pills do you have? If it’s only one or two, they might be difficult to auction. We require a minimum of ten pills to put them up for bidding. Even then, they have to be bundled with Demon Spirit Pills consigned by others, and the proceeds are divided proportionally based on the number of Elixirs each person provided."
"The starting minimum is ten?"
"Yes, sir. Do you not even have ten?" She sighed faintly. She figured he had just gotten blindly lucky and stumbled upon a few Demon Spirit Pills somewhere, but since his cultivation was so weak, he couldn’t use them and had come to consign them instead.
Ye Xuan knew she was underestimating him. He shook his head slightly. "I don’t have that many Demon Spirit Pills either, only about three—"
"Three pills?" The woman frowned. That was even fewer than she had expected. But three was better than nothing. It was better than making zero sales today!
Just as she was about to speak, Ye Xuan’s voice continued.
"Hundred."
"Hundred? What hundred... Ah, you mean... three hundred pills!" Her eyes widened as realization finally hit her.
Ye Xuan asked calmly, "What? Is that not enough?"
"Sir, that’s more than enough. But you’re not lying to me, are you?"
Ye Xuan didn’t answer. With a mere thought, a large bottle appeared in his hand.
"They’re all in here, three hundred of them. Count them yourself."
Taking the medicine bottle, she popped off the cap and did a rough visual check. Her smile grew increasingly radiant.
"Are these... are these all mid-grade Demon Spirit Pills?"
"Yes. Every single one."
"You’re not fooling me? I’ll be inspecting them one by one."
"You’re so smart, who could possibly fool you?"
"That’s true!" She capped the bottle and shook Ye Xuan’s hand. "Allow me to formally introduce myself. I am Xia Zihan, an intern consignment manager at the World Auction House."
An intern consignment manager? Ye Xuan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. So she was just an intern after all.
"Sir, how should I address you?"
"Ye Xuan."
"Ye Xuan, are you absolutely sure you want to consign these three hundred Demon Spirit Pills?"
"Obviously. Otherwise, what am I doing here?" As he spoke, Ye Xuan scrutinized Xia Zihan for a moment. The girl was pretty, and she was exceptionally well-endowed—a textbook case of a youthful face with a massive bust. Unfortunately, she also seemed to be a textbook case of being all brawn and no brains.
Feeling slightly self-conscious again under his gaze, Xia Zihan immediately pulled out a contract. "Here is the consignment agreement. Take a look."
Ye Xuan nodded and looked over the document.
As he read, Xia Zihan explained, "Demon Spirit Pills are highly valuable. The market price for a low-grade Demon Spirit Pill is five hundred Demon Soul Crystals. A mid-grade one goes for fifteen hundred Demon Soul Crystals. Furthermore, they are so heavily demanded that they are practically priceless! In our auction house, the starting bid for a mid-grade Demon Spirit Pill is five hundred Demon Soul Crystals, but rest assured, the final hammer price will definitely exceed the market value."
Ye Xuan remained silent, but he had one word for that price: exorbitant!
A single Demon Spirit Pill could be exchanged for all the Demon Soul Crystals a Demon Spirit Realm Cultivator would need to progress from the 1st to the 9th Layer. This was the true value of Elixirs. In this world, the most expensive treasures were always those that could directly enhance one’s cultivation.
To major families, Soul Crystals weren’t actually all that precious. Accumulated over years and years, their hoards of Soul Crystals were piled as high as mountains.
"By my estimates, these three hundred Demon Spirit Pills will bring you a minimum revenue of five hundred thousand Demon Soul Crystals," Xia Zihan said. "And I mean a minimum. It’s even possible to break the one million mark! That’s because your Demon Spirit Pills are mid-grade! The Elixir Poison in mid-grade Elixirs is ten times less than in low-grade ones. You have a very real chance of becoming a millionaire!" She stuck her tongue out at Ye Xuan playfully. It was a rather cute look.
Ye Xuan’s eyes were indifferent as he replied, "Money is just fleeting clouds to me."
"Is that so? Hehe. By the way, our auction house will take a commission from your auction proceeds. We charge fifteen percent of the final sale price. It’s written very clearly in the contract. Do you have any objections to that?"
"If I did have objections, could you lower it?" Ye Xuan shot back.
"No."
"Then why even ask? Let’s just sign it. Additionally, I’d like to know if your current auction will feature any spirit-tier Spirit Medicines that enhance cultivation, like Starry Night Grass or Qishan Evergreen Ivy."
"That’s a secret! You’ll find out once the auction begins."
"Still keeping secrets, I see. Then let me ask you this: have you auctioned this grade of Spirit Medicine before? What was the final transaction price back then?"
"We have auctioned Starry Night Grass before. A single stalk usually sells for around one hundred thousand Super Soul Crystals. If you want to buy Starry Night Grass, it will only cost you one thousand Demon Soul Crystals. It’s incredibly cheap!"
High-grade Soul Crystals could be exchanged for low-grade ones. The exchange rate was one to one hundred. One Demon Soul Crystal could be swapped for one hundred Super Soul Crystals. However, low-grade Soul Crystals could never be traded up for high-grade ones. Resources could be exchanged downward, but never upward.
This was the reason why small families would forever remain small families. If they didn’t stumble upon fortuitous encounters to acquire high-grade Soul Crystals, even if they had Spirit Medicines and the ability to raise their cultivation, they would struggle to find the access points for the Hidden Veins of the next realm! This was why so many people found their cultivation indefinitely bottlenecked at the 9th Layer, unable to advance any further.
"That is very cheap." Ye Xuan nodded in satisfaction. If that was the case, the money he’d make from selling the Demon Spirit Pills would be more than enough to purchase all the resources he needed for the Super Spirit Realm. Excellent.
"Ye Xuan, do you have anything else to consign besides the Demon Spirit Pills?" Xia Zihan asked again.
Ye Xuan immediately shook his head. "No."
"Alright then. I’ll get you registered. After the auction ends, just take this consignment slip to the window outside to claim your funds."
"Okay."
Ye Xuan nodded and stood up to leave.
Xia Zihan thoughtfully opened the door for him herself. "Take care, sir! Remember to look for me if you have any other good items to auction in the future!"
"There won’t be a future," Ye Xuan replied coldly.
He would probably only visit the Three-Star Main Town this one time. And even if he did return to the auction house, there was no way he’d seek out Xia Zihan again. This intern manager’s professional competence was simply too abysmal. Unless one knew their own items inside and out, they were better off staying far away from her.
"Did that kid actually consign something? I wonder what it is. Think that girl scammed him?"
The people outside were murmuring amongst themselves.
Xia Zihan’s reputation was, indeed, terrible.