Chương 21: I Trust Miss Tang!

The corridors of the Tang Auction House were a marvel of architectural wealth. The floors were paved with seamless slabs of dark, polished jade, and the walls were lined with luminous pearls that cast a soft, warm glow over the intricate rosewood carvings. Following the butler through the sprawling complex, Xiao Xuan kept his hands casually tucked into his sleeves, taking in the sights. However, the closer they got to the inner appraisal halls, the louder the echoing sounds of a heated argument became.

Xiao Xuan raised an eyebrow.

"Who exactly is this Young Master Zu?" he inquired, his voice calm over the distant shouting. The butler let out a long, weary sigh, slowing his pace slightly.

"Young Master Zu An is the first son of the leader of the Zu Clan. They are a prominent family, but his lineage isn't what makes him so difficult. It is his status as one of Divine Alchemist Tan Gengxin's direct disciples that makes him so important."

"Oh?" Xiao Xuan nodded slowly.

"He had come to sell some of his concoctions today," the butler continued, his tone carefully measured.

"While that is our usual business with him, his concoctions lately… aren't exactly up to par. Yet, he still insists they are of the highest quality and demands premium prices. Madam Zefei cannot simply refuse him, as she must maintain a good relationship with the Divine Alchemist."

"Right," Xiao Xuan muttered.

"Alchemists are widely known to be prideful, and we are used to accommodating their egos," the butler explained, a hint of frustration leaking into his voice.

"But the clients who bought his recent batches of medicines have been returning to us with severe complaints, demanding full refunds. Madam Zefei decided to stop tolerating the damage to our reputation. Today, she enforced a strict rule to thoroughly appraise his concoctions with our own in-house pill master before offering a price."

"Let me guess," Xiao Xuan filled in, a faint smirk playing on his lips.

"Young Master Zu is not satisfied with the appraisal value and is currently causing a ruckus?"

"Yes. That is exactly correct, Young Master Xiao," the butler nodded grimly. As they turned the final corner, the heavy double doors of the primary appraisal hall came into view. They were wide open, and the tension spilling out of the room was thick enough to choke on. Xiao Xuan stepped into the room. The appraisal hall was vast and luxurious, designed to make wealthy clients feel secure. Long counters of polished spirit-wood dominated the center of the room.

Sitting in a lavish, high-backed chair at the far end of the room was Tang Zefei. She was currently resting her elbow on the armrest, her elegant fingers firmly massaging her temples as if trying to physically push a migraine out of her skull. Standing rigidly beside the appraisal counter was the Tang House's in-house alchemist. He was an elderly man with long, flowing white hair and a hanging white beard. He wore pristine white robes bordered with heavy gold embroidery.

His squinted eyes were narrowed to mere slits, and his expression was grim as he stared at the vials on his desk. In the center of the room, Elder Hua, the same elder who had mistakenly assumed Xiao Xuan was Tang Zefei's husband days ago, stood with a stern look. He was in the middle of a heated argument with a young man. The young man, Zu An, stood with the quintessential posture of an arrogant scion. He wore flowing, immaculate white robes, his long hair elegantly let down to cascade over his shoulders.

He was leisurely fanning himself with a beautifully painted folding fan, though his handsome face was currently twisted into an ugly sneer. Behind him stood a small entourage of equally arrogant lackeys, all dressed in similar white robes, shouting and pointing fingers at Elder Hua. Inside the vast room, dozens of other clients sat in silence. They were clearly of lower standing, terrified of interfering in a clash between the Tang Auction House and the Divine Alchemist's disciples.

The maids and junior appraisers stood frozen against the walls, silently observing the drama, unable to act without explicit orders.

"This is an absolute insult!" Zu An hissed, snapping his fan shut with a sharp clack.

"My pills were refined using the exact sacred formula passed down by my master! To offer a mere two thousand silver coins for a batch of premium Tier 3 healing pills is daylight robbery!"

"Young Master Zu, with all due respect," Elder Hua replied, his voice strained but firm, "Our chief appraiser has thoroughly examined the medicinal essence. The binding is volatile, and the impurities are far too high. They cannot be classified as Tier 3. They are, at best, mid-level Tier 2 pills. Two thousand silver coins is a generous offer meant to preserve our friendship."

"Mid-level Tier 2?!" one of Zu An's lackeys shrieked, stepping forward.

"Are you blind, old man? Or is your esteemed Tang House simply running out of funds and trying to scam a genius alchemist?!" Bang! This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. The Tang House alchemist with the squinted eyes slammed his palm against the wooden desk.

"I have been appraising pills for a hundred and forty years! A flawed pill is a flawed pill! We will not sell garbage to our clients and ruin our thousand-year reputation!" Zu An's eyes darkened dangerously. He stepped forward, his aura flaring slightly, though the aura was relatively weak compared to that of a true martial artist.

"Fine," Zu An spat, pointing his fan directly at Elder Hua's chest.

"If the Tang House wishes to spit on my master's legacy, then so be it. We are done here. I will take my pills, and I will personally inform my master, the Divine Alchemist Tan Gengxin, of the humiliation I have suffered in your establishment today!" A collective gasp echoed from the observing clients. Threatening to pull the Divine Alchemist's business away was an economic suicide. From her seat, Tang Zefei finally opened her eyes. She looked utterly exhausted.

Before she could speak, her sharp gaze drifted toward the entrance and locked onto Xiao Xuan. A flicker of surprise washed over her beautiful features. She shot a sharp, questioning glance at the butler standing beside Xiao Xuan. The poor butler flinched under his Madam's intense gaze and quickly offered a subtle, frantic hand signal, indicating that it was Xiao Xuan's strict request to be brought directly here. Tang Zefei let out a soft sigh.

Dismissing the butler with a wave of her hand, she gracefully stood up from her chair. Ignoring the fuming Young Master Zu, she walked straight past the argument and approached Xiao Xuan.

"Why did you come here, Xuan?" she asked.

"Well," Xiao Xuan offered a disarming smile, unfazed by the tension in the room.

"My reason for coming here today was to sell some medicines. And when I learned that you were stuck dealing with a headache, I decided to head here and see for myself."

"Oh?" Tang Zefei's eyes widened slightly in surprise.

"But what exactly is happening here?" Xiao Xuan asked, gesturing casually toward the fuming young man.

"He is the Young Master Zu I've heard about, right?"

"Yes," Tang Zefei said with a sigh, dropping her usual business facade for a brief moment.

"He came today to sell his healing pills, which he fiercely claims are Tier 3. But according to our chief alchemist's appraisal, they are just mid-level Tier 2 ones. And now he is loudly blaming our alchemist, claiming he is not skilled enough to recognize their brilliance." She rubbed her temples again.

"Normally, if anyone else caused such a scene, we would have thrown him out of the front gates long ago. But we have to save the Divine Alchemist some face."

"I see," Xiao Xuan chuckled softly.

"But his tantrum is over now," Tang Zefei said, forcibly shifting her attention away from the headache and focusing on Xiao Xuan.

"So, tell me. What sort of pills did you intend to sell to us today?" Across the room, Zu An, seeing that the Madam had ignored his grand ultimatum to go chat with a random, uncultivated mortal, had retreated slightly to a set of luxurious waiting chairs with his underlings. Their expressions were stern as they glared daggers at Xiao Xuan's back.

"Well, they are some healing elixirs," Xiao Xuan said, keeping his voice modest. He reached his hand out, pulsing a tiny, invisible thread of his Qi into his silver storage ring. With a faint shimmer of spatial light, three small, pristine glass vials appeared in his palm. Inside the vials, a smooth, slightly viscous liquid shimmered with a mesmerizing, translucent crimson glow.

"I'm not quite sure about the exact tier, you see," Xiao Xuan added humbly, handing the vials over to her.

"I was hoping your experts could take a look." Tang Zefei carefully took the vials. The moment the glass touched her skin, she felt a strange warmth radiating from the crimson liquid.

"Hmm. I will get them appraised right away, then," Zefei said, her tone turning remarkably serious. Before she could walk over to the chief appraiser, Elder Hua came rushing over. His forehead was slick with nervous sweat.

"Madam!" Elder Hua whispered frantically, bowing deeply.

"Master Zu just sent one of his lackeys to request the Divine Alchemist's personal intervention to settle this dispute! What do we do?" Tang Zefei's elegant brows furrowed deeply. She looked at the vials in her hand, then back at the gloating Zu An across the room.

"Then there is nothing else we can do now," Tang Zefei sighed, her posture straightening as she prepared for a diplomatic war.

"The Divine Alchemist won't let his disciple lose face in public, though I am sure he will still reprimand him severely in private once they leave. Even if we have to put up with him today, that should ease our burden in the future." Elder Hua let out an exhausted sigh. She turned back to Xiao Xuan, offering a tight but apologetic smile.

"Please, have a seat, Xuan, while I get your elixirs appraised. This might take some time."

"I'm in no rush," Xiao Xuan replied easily. He walked over to a polished wooden chair near the center of the room and sat down, resting his ankle over his knee in a highly relaxed posture. Sitting just a few feet away, Zu An had been closely observing the interaction between Tang Zefei and this unknown youth. Seeing how respectfully the icy Madam Tang treated a boy with zero cultivation, a spike of jealousy pierced his pride.

When Xiao Xuan sat down, Zu An snapped his fan shut and leaned forward, a mockingly polite smile plastered across his face.

"Brother," Zu An called out, his voice loud enough for the hall to hear.

"I see you came to get your elixirs appraised as well. But as you have just witnessed, the current chief appraiser of this establishment is severely lacking in skill and vision. I highly suggest you wait until the appraiser is properly replaced before handing over anything of value." Zu An lazily clasped his hands together in a gesture of false brotherhood. Xiao Xuan didn't even blink. He looked at the arrogant young master.

"Thanks for looking out for me, Young Master," Xiao Xuan replied politely, raising his hands to return the clasp with flawless, unbothered etiquette.

"But I trust Miss Tang and the highly capable auction house staff under her care. So please, don't mind me." Zu An's mocking smile instantly shattered. His face darkened into a scowl. To be dismissed so casually by a mortal with no Qi was a slap to the face.

"Do you know who you are talking back to?!" one of the lackeys immediately rebutted, stepping forward and pointing a finger at Xiao Xuan.

"He is Young Master Zu An!" another lackey barked, puffing his chest out like a proud rooster.

"The direct disciple of the Divine Alchemist Tan Gengxin! When he gives you advice, you get on your knees and thank him for his grace!"

"You will pay the price for ignoring Young Master Zu's kindness!" a third lackey threatened, his hand dropping to the hilt of a ceremonial sword at his waist. Sitting comfortably in his chair, Xiao Xuan wanted to laugh. He simply smiled, resting his chin on his knuckles as he looked at the furious entourage, unfazed by their empty barking.