One spiritual medicine after another was auctioned off. Bidding for the first few bottles of "Spring Flower Autumn Dream" was fiercely competitive, but as time wore on, the final sale prices began a steady decline.

By the time the tenth bottle was reached, the closing price had dropped to one hundred fifty, and the Inner City disciples participating in the bidding had significantly thinned out.

This was only natural; the Inner City simply couldn't compare to the wealth of the outside Spiritual Control City. If this were taking place at the Red Chamber, not a single bottle would sell for less than six million, simply because there were far too many affluent individuals there. But here in the Inner City, even after borrowing from every corner, the number of Spirit Fusion Masters capable of scraping together one hundred fifty points or more was small. Furthermore, some Inner City disciples, seeing the sale price consistently fall, started doing their own calculations, momentarily extinguishing their intent to bid higher.

Nie Kong had presented ten medicine bottles this time, yielding thirty pills at three per bottle. He figured that by the time the twentieth bottle came up, hardly anyone would be bidding; perhaps then he could effortlessly secure the spiritual medicine for a mere one hundred twenty points, making those who paid high prices regret their haste!

"Everyone!"

Just as the Inner City disciples waited for the price to drop further, Nie Kong suddenly made a move that confused them. He placed a bottle of "Spring Flower Autumn Dream" back into his sleeve and smiled, "The spiritual medicine auction ends here. The remaining 'Spring Flower Autumn Dream' will be sold at the new apothecary opened by myself and a few friends. The price is two hundred points per pill, available anytime at Building Thirty-Three in the North City—we will never be out of stock."

"..."

"What does that mean? No more auctioning?"

"Nie Kong, that bastard! Worried the price would keep dropping, he stopped the auction! Even if he stops, raising the price to two hundred points!"

"Exactly! Damn it, two hundred points? That’s even higher than the first one at one hundred ninety! Are you trying to rob us?!"

"..."

Curses erupted one after another within the Hall of Ascending Sovereignty.

Those Inner City disciples who had adopted a wait-and-see approach, hoping for a lower price, never expected Nie Kong to halt the auction after just the tenth bottle, with nineteen "Spring Flower Autumn Dream" still in hand, and then immediately spike the price to two hundred. This was sheer trickery!

Nie Kong paid no heed to the torrent of abuse. After collecting the medicine bottles from the platform, he gracefully stepped down from the high stage, offered a beaming nod to Miao Ge and the others, and headed straight for the hall exit with them.

"..."

"Don't go, don't go, Junior Brother Nie Kong! Continue the auction! My next bid definitely won't be lower than one hundred fifty; I promise you'll profit."

"Yes, yes, what’s the meaning of leaving now?"

"Junior Brother Nie Kong, even if you aren't auctioning anymore, you can’t set the price so high! How about one hundred sixty points? That's all this brother has left."

"..."

Seeing Nie Kong’s departure, the mood in the hall completely flipped; the curses morphed into pitiful pleas. The Inner City disciples, especially those with over one hundred fifty points, were filled with crushing regret; if they hadn't been so greedy to save a few points, the last bottle of spiritual medicine might have been theirs.

Those Inner City disciples who had paid one hundred seventy, eighty, or even one hundred ninety points for the medicine had been deeply unbalanced seeing the sale price plummet, their eyes burning with envy for the peers who bought later. But now... they were all smiles, secretly counting their blessings.

"That Nie Kong... he's ruthless," Shan Xiong blinked a few times, watching the dejected expressions of some Inner City disciples. He had also planned to wait for a lower price to procure a "Spring Flower Autumn Dream" to send to a friend in the Outer City, never expecting Nie Kong to pull this stunt at the end.

"This is a lesson: greed for small gains comes at a cost," Wei Zhao chuckled lightly, then turned to Liu Hemming with a radiant smile, "Among your clansmen, there must be quite a few at the fifth or sixth stage of Spirit Fusion, right? Why not step in and buy all of Nie Kong’s 'Spring Flower Autumn Dream'? Among us, you are by far the wealthiest."

Liu Hemming smiled leisurely. "If I bought them all, Lord Gu Changgong, the Hall Master of the Medicine Heart Hall, would likely come looking for a 'chat' with me later."

"Oh?"

Wei Zhao, Jing Lan, Shan Xiong, and Lan Shang exchanged glances, nodding thoughtfully. At this moment, the mood in the Hall of Ascending Sovereignty shifted again. Seeing Nie Kong's resolute action and no sign of turning back, various venomous curses echoed through the hall once more. If they hadn't been restricted to the Inner City, the surrounding disciples would likely have swarmed forward long ago to strip Nie Kong of every last "Spring Flower Autumn Dream" on his person...

Even a hundred meters outside the Hall of Ascending Sovereignty, the shouts of abuse could still be heard from behind them.

Miao Ge glanced back, brushing a lock of hair from her ear, and laughed softly, "Nie Kong, your method is truly cunning; it’s sure to earn you a lot of resentment."

Nie Kong chuckled dismissively. "That's intentional. With these guys spreading the word, the entire Inner City will know about our apothecary within half a day. As for their resentment, let them resent. Truthfully, their hatred can’t scratch a single hair on my head."

"..."

Miao Ge and Tai Ji exchanged smiles. The reality was that when selling medicine in the Inner City, whether the Inner City disciples liked them or resented them made no difference. As long as the medicine was good, they would eventually have to obediently come to their new apothecary to purchase it. Just like the "Spring Flower Autumn Dream" Nie Kong refined—even an Inner City disciple at the eighth stage of Spirit Fusion would advance to the ninth stage after consuming it. They might be able to force themselves not to buy it, but those below the seventh stage absolutely couldn't resist. While cultivation speed in the "Spiritual Cultivation Illusion Realm" was extremely fast, advancing two full ranks was no simple feat. But with "Spring Flower Autumn Dream," it was different; compared to the time spent cultivating, half an hour was practically the blink of an eye. Who could resist such temptation?

Thinking of the scene of rolling in later, Miao Ge, Tai Ji, Ru Jie, and Ye Xinlian all beamed happily. Upon returning to the cluster of pavilions in the North City, Nie Kong handed all six bottles filled with "Spring Flower Autumn Dream" to Miao Ge and the others, keeping only the last pill for himself.

Inhaling the faint, lingering fragrance drifting from the bottles, Tai Ji's beautiful eyes shimmered as she smiled. "Nie Kong, you truly are a monster. Not a single one of these spiritual medicines has a medicinal power fusion rate below ninety-five percent. Furthermore, after refining 'Spring Flower Autumn Dream' so many times, you haven't had a single failure. It seems I need to stay closer to you in the future; perhaps my success rate and medicine fusion rate will also improve significantly."

"You are more than welcome!"

Nie Kong laughed heartily. "If you think your current proximity is still too far, you can completely move in with me. We can have 'zero-distance in-depth communication' every night. If we are perfectly compatible, our fusion rate won't just be ninety-five percent; ten-tenths is possible."

"Get out of here!"

Nie Kong's jest immediately earned him four delicate glares. A faint blush rose on Tai Ji's snowy complexion. She used to find it amusing when Nie Kong teased Miao Ge with ambiguous words, but now it was her turn.

Amidst the playful scoldings of the four women, Nie Kong left with the two little lolis in tow.

Nie Kong was quite excited about the anticipated effect of this spiritual medicine auction. Ten days ago, after the little ones identified the components of the "Heavenly Dust Pill" through "smelling the fragrance to know the medicine," Nie Kong began continuous research and experimentation until just the day before yesterday when he finally succeeded in refining the current "Spring Flower Autumn Dream." Although both raised cultivation by two ranks, "Spring Flower Autumn Dream" differed completely from "Heavenly Dust Pill" in both color and shape. Moreover, during the process of consuming "Spring Flower Autumn Dream," there were almost no negative side effects—this was entirely due to the vitality Nie Kong imbued into the spiritual medicine. This way, even if the original refiner of the "Heavenly Dust Pill" came in person, they would never discover that "Spring Flower Autumn Dream" evolved from the "Heavenly Dust Pill."

The cost of experimenting and refining thirty "Spring Flower Autumn Dream" pills had not only wiped out Nie Kong’s seven hundred-plus points but had also reduced the points held by Miao Ge, Tai Ji, Ru Jie, and Ye Xinlian down to single digits. However, these expenses were entirely worthwhile.

Just now, Nie Kong earned one thousand seven hundred points by auctioning ten "Spring Flower Autumn Dream" bottles, plus the twenty points from Tang E, totaling one thousand seven hundred and twenty. If he could sell four more bottles before noon today, Miao Ge and Tai Ji could each receive two hundred points and fully immerse themselves in cultivation in the "Spiritual Cultivation Illusion Realm" that afternoon.

What pleased Nie Kong even more was that when he was auctioning the tenth spiritual medicine, he happened to catch a glimpse of the Hall Master of the Medicine Heart Hall, Gu Changgong. Coupled with the fact that the medicine’s closing price was dropping too fast, he decisively ended the auction, planning to wait at his own pavilion for the right opportunity. If luck favored him, perhaps in the next couple of days he could acquire the eighty thousand points needed to exchange for the "Phoenix Feather Illusion Immortal Flower"! Thinking of this, Nie Kong's steps grew noticeably lighter.

Suddenly, Long Ting’s sweet and crisp voice rang out beside him: "Master, do you really want to achieve a ten-tenths fusion rate with Sister Tai Ji?"

"Uh?"

Nie Kong paused, stopped walking, and turned to see Long Yan and Long Ting staring at him with wide eyes, faint dejection clouding their rosy cheeks. Seeing Nie Kong's gaze fall upon them, Long Yan blushed, casting a shy glance at Nie Kong, her voice barely a whisper. "Master, if you wish, our fusion rate can reach ten-tenths at any time."

Long Ting wrinkled her small nose, also blushing slightly, and nodded. "Yes, yes, Master. It's been so long, and our fusion rate is still zero."

"Then... what are you talking about..."

Nie Kong felt a wave of awkwardness. He hadn't realized a joke would make the two little lolis obsess over it. He coughed dryly, pinching Long Yan and Long Ting’s cheeks, and chided, "Little children shouldn't overthink things. What I said to your Sister Tai Ji was about the fusion rate of medicinal power during refinement, not that kind of fusion rate. Understand?"

"Oh."

Seeing the two little girls nod obediently, Nie Kong continued walking. But then he heard Long Ting muttering behind him, "Master is lying again. If he didn't mean that, how would he know that was the fusion rate we were talking about? Hmph hmph. Sister, do you think if the fusion rate reaches ten-tenths, we can have little babies?"

"Probably... maybe... possibly... I guess... yes... Maybe next time we go out, we should ask Sister Xue Chan?"

"Mm-hmm..."

Hearing Long Yan and Long Ting's voices, Nie Kong nearly stumbled and fell. Who said these two little girls were silly and knew nothing? They understood everything. Nie Kong could no longer maintain a stern face to lecture them. With a touch of embarrassment, he returned to his pavilion residence only to see a burly figure standing with his hands clasped behind his back right outside the door...