Battle Through the Heaven: Purple Heaven

Moments later, the reception room's door swung open.

The maid returned, leading two assistants carrying three large sacks and several wooden boxes. Her smile was even warmer than before as she said, "Young masters, here are the herbs you requested, all packed and ready! Additionally, our mistress has instructed us to waive the extra charges. The total is only twenty thousand gold coins."

Xiao Bai's eyes flickered with thought.

Xiao Yan, curious, asked, "Why's your mistress doing this?"

The maid smiled. "No need to overthink it, sirs. Our mistress simply wishes to build a good relationship with you both."

Xiao Bai said nothing. His soul force swept over the sacks and boxes, confirming the quantity and quality of the herbs. Satisfied, he stored them in his storage ring.

He then retrieved twenty-three thousand eight hundred gold coins and handed them to the maid. "Please tell your mistress we appreciate her kindness, but we don't accept unearned favors. We'll pay the full price."

With that, he and Xiao Yan left the Miteer Auction House.

___

At the top floor of the Miteer Auction House, the decor was lavish—ornate beams, gilded walls, exuding opulence. From the window, the view of the auction house's entrance stretched out below.

Two figures stood there: a young woman and a white-haired elder, silently watching Xiao Bai and Xiao Yan's departing figures.

"Master Gu Ni, are you certain they purchased ingredients for refining Blood Coagulation Powder?" the woman asked the elder, her voice soft and enchanting.

Her peach-blossom eyes curved upward, shimmering with allure, her lips soft and rosy, her face radiant as a blooming flower. Her wine-red hair was neatly pinned into a bun, giving her a sharp, professional air. A form-fitting red qipao hugged her mature, graceful figure, every gesture captivating.

The sprightly elder beside her seemed unaffected by her charm. He nodded. "Indeed, those are the three ingredients for refining the first-tier pill, Blood Coagulation Powder."

The woman fanned herself lightly with a silk fan, pondering. She called over her shoulder, "Summon Little Sixteen, A-Da, and A-San. I have questions for them."

A maid behind her murmured assent and left, soon returning with the three who had just delivered the herbs to Xiao Bai's group.

"Little Sixteen (A-Da, A-San) greets the mistress!" they said in unison, bowing to the enchanting woman by the window.

"No need for formalities," she said softly to Little Sixteen, the maid who had served Xiao Bai. "You've lived in Wu Tan City since childhood. Do you know those two?"

Little Sixteen replied, "I don't, mistress, but A-Da might."

"Oh?" The woman's gaze shifted to A-Da, one of the assistants.

A-Da, who handled deliveries and knew Wu Tan City's gossip inside out, felt his breath quicken as the mistress's mesmerizing eyes landed on him. Her beauty had haunted his dreams since he first saw her, her charm overwhelming.

"A-Da? A-Da!" Little Sixteen nudged him when he froze, staring blankly.

Snapping out of it, A-Da blushed under everyone's gazes, stammering, "M-mistress, those two… they're likely from the Xiao Clan!"

"The Xiao Clan?" The woman's fingers brushed her enticing lips, murmuring thoughtfully. A-Da's reaction didn't faze her. Over the years, she'd seen countless men look at her with the same desire, their crude thoughts transparent. At first, it had angered her, but she'd learned to ignore it. Caring about every leering glance would make life unlivable.

"Do you know who they are in the Xiao Clan?"

"M-mistress, I don't know the younger one, but the one with gray-white hair… he's probably called Xiao Bai."

He'd overheard Xiao Clan members discussing Xiao Bai at the market a few days ago. That distinctive gray-white hair and youthful face stood out in Wu Tan City.

"Xiao Bai, hmm?" The woman mused, as if the name rang a bell.

Back in the imperial capital, Nalan Yanran had mentioned the Xiao Clan producing two geniuses—and two failures. The other was likely Xiao Yan, Nalan Yanran's former fiancé.

Disappointment crept in. Her trip to Wu Tan City was a hard-won opportunity, secured by pleading with her family's elders. It was both a trial and a wager.

Her family planned to marry her off to the Mu Clan, one of the empire's three great families. Unwilling to accept her fate, she'd begged to be sent to this border city. She'd even signed a contract with her family: double the Wu Tan City branch's profits within two years, or she'd have to comply with the marriage.

It was no easy task. The branch's annual net profit was three hundred thousand gold coins, six hundred thousand over two years. She needed to push it to one million two hundred thousand.

To succeed, she'd pulled strings to bring Gu Ni, a second-tier alchemist, to assist her. But it still wasn't enough.

Wu Tan City seemed prosperous, but its wealth was thin. Most visitors were mercenaries, who brought little profit. In the capital, she'd heard the city lacked an Alchemist Guild and alchemists, assuming bringing one would guarantee success.

But reality was harsher. The absence of alchemists had a reason: physicians dominated here. Unlike alchemists, physicians didn't need stringent qualifications—knowledge of herbs and their properties sufficed. They crafted remedies, pills, or decoctions that mimicked the effects of first- or second-tier pills.

These remedies weren't as pure as true pills, laden with impurities and less effective, but they had one unbeatable advantage: they were cheap.

Wu Tan City's main consumers were mercenaries hunting in the Magical Beast Mountain Range. They valued one thing—affordable, effective solutions. This suppressed the market for first-tier pills. They sold, thanks to their superior effects, but priced too high, no one bought. Profit margins were razor-thin.

Even selling cheaply for volume wouldn't help. With only one alchemist, Gu Ni could only refine so much, even working around the clock.

When she heard someone had bought a large quantity of first-tier pill ingredients, she'd hoped it was an alchemist she could recruit. But now, it seemed unlikely.

The enchanting woman shook her head, a bitter smile tugging at her lips.