For Lin Hao, being able to auction a piece of mid-grade spirit stone was already beyond his expectations.
However, haggling was inevitable; everyone hoped to gain more benefits for themselves.
Lin Hao's outright refusal surprised Luo Feng and the woman, as the price of a mid-grade spirit stone was already quite high.
"Little Brother Lin Hao, to be honest, a mid-grade spirit stone is the maximum our auction house can offer. We cannot go any higher," the woman shook her head.
"If this is the limit, then there's nothing to be done. I'll wait for the next opportunity to cooperate," Lin Hao shook his head and turned to leave.
"Lin Hao, wait!" Seeing this, Luo Feng called out to Lin Hao, "Here's the deal: in a month, our auction house will hold its annual bidding fair... Little Brother Lin Hao, if you come to the auction house in a month to bid on an item, no matter how much it costs, our house will cover the expenses for you."
In the end, Luo Feng set a bottom line.
"Deal." Lin Hao knew when to stop; the *Wind and Thunder Palm* manual had already secured him enough profit. If he continued to demand more, it would inevitably make him unpopular, and that wasn't Lin Hao's style.
Subsequently, Lin Hao signed a contract with the auction house. If either party violated the terms of the contract, the 'Heavenly Domain' Martial Arts Alliance would hold them accountable.
Lin Hao signed and sealed the contract, then took a mid-grade spirit stone and an upper-class token from the woman.
With this upper-class token, Lin Hao could freely enter and exit the auction house and bid on a treasure for free.
...
Leaving the auction house, Lin Hao headed straight for the largest medicinal shop in Liuyun City.
The medicinal shop sold many precious medicinal pills, but the prices were exorbitant.
Even the most ordinary medicinal materials required at least several hundred silver taels, and if they were better quality, the prices could reach tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of silver taels.
As soon as he entered the medicinal shop, the array of medicinal pills dazzled Lin Hao.
There were numerous types of medicinal pills, and rare treasures were not lacking, but the only drawback was that the alchemy skills were too crude, failing to meet Lin Hao's minimum standards.
Naturally, Lin Hao had extremely high standards, especially in alchemy, where few in the world could match him.
The manager was a man in his forties, slightly overweight, with a face full of good fortune.
Seeing Lin Hao, the manager stood up, quickly appraising him, and then smiled, "Little Brother, what do you need?"
Lin Hao nodded, "I need some medicinal materials. I wonder if your shop has any in stock."
"Medicinal materials?" The manager's expression became somewhat strange.
People usually came to the medicinal shop to buy finished products, and very few bought materials.
Refining medicinal materials was complicated, and most noble families lacked the means to refine them. More importantly, materials were generally more expensive than medicinal pills!
"Little Brother, we don't sell ordinary materials here," the manager said.
"Are Linggu and Xueqing available?" Lin Hao asked directly.
"Linggu and Xueqing?" The manager sat back down, staring at Lin Hao, "Little Brother, from your attire, you seem to be an outer disciple of the Lin family, right?"
"Exactly," Lin Hao did not deny it.
"From what I know, the inner disciples of the four major noble families receive only a dozen silver taels per month, and outer disciples receive at most ten... Do you know how much Linggu and Xueqing cost?" the manager asked.
Before Lin Hao could respond, the manager continued, "These two materials are considered premium in our shop. You would need at least ten thousand silver taels!"
"Ten thousand silver taels, that's so expensive?" Lin Hao was slightly stunned. He had thought these materials would cost around five hundred silver taels, but the price was unexpectedly exorbitant.
Seeing Lin Hao's expression, the manager smiled, knowing that this outer disciple of the Lin family likely couldn't afford it. Unless he was an elite outer disciple with the ability to hunt fierce beasts in the mountains and sell them for a large sum of money.
However, he knew all the elite outer disciples, and Lin Hao was unfamiliar to him. Even the elite disciples of the four major noble families would feel financially strained when visiting the medicinal shop.
...
"Alright, give me three taels of Linggu and two taels of Xueqing," Lin Hao said.
No matter what, he had to obtain these materials. Even if it cost ten thousand silver taels, or even a hundred thousand, he had to get them.
"What did you say?" The manager was stunned, thinking he had misheard.
"Three taels of Linggu and two taels of Xueqing," Lin Hao repeated.
"Little Brother... That will cost you ten thousand silver taels," the manager reminded Lin Hao.
"I know the price, but I don't have that much silver on me. Can I use something as collateral?" Lin Hao could only use a mid-grade spirit stone as collateral.
"You still don't have the silver," the manager shook his head, knowing this would be the result.
"But I have this," Lin Hao stepped forward and reached into his chest.
*Clap!*
A clear sound, and a mid-grade spirit stone was placed on the counter.
"This is... a spirit stone?!" The manager was shocked at the sight of the spirit stone on the counter.
"A mid-grade spirit stone is worth a hundred low-grade spirit stones... Would you consider it as collateral?" Lin Hao said calmly.
"Mid-grade spirit stone?... Little Brother, please wait a moment, I need to consult the shop owner!"
Spirit stones were not comparable to silver; they were even rarer than gold!
The manager quickly stood up, called a woman to temporarily manage the shop, and ran off.
Lin Hao, with nothing to do, wandered around the medicinal shop, examining the quality of the medicinal pills.
After a moment, Lin Hao shook his head. Although there were some rare materials, the alchemy skills were not refined enough, resulting in a low success rate.
The woman in simple clothing inside the counter stared at Lin Hao strangely.
This young man, though young, kept shaking his head at the rare treasures in the medicinal shop, which made her somewhat angry.
"Hey, why are you shaking your head!" The woman pointed at Lin Hao, her face displeased.
Lin Hao turned around, seeing the woman's unhappy expression, and did not respond.
"What do you mean by that? Are you looking down on us?" The woman was somewhat angry at Lin Hao's attitude and stepped out of the counter, coldly saying, "Our medicinal shop, whether in materials or finished medicinal pills, is top-notch in Liuyun City."
Lin Hao nodded, "If limited to Liuyun City, it is indeed top-notch."
"Only in Liuyun City?! What gives you the right to say that? You don't know anything and yet you talk big here!" The woman argued.
Talk big?
Lin Hao was helpless. He hadn't said much and had even acknowledged that the medicinal shop's materials and pills were top-notch in Liuyun City, yet he still provoked her ridicule.
"Are you the alchemist here?" Lin Hao looked at the woman, able to smell a faint herbal scent from her.
"You have some knowledge, but I am an alchemy apprentice. My master is the alchemist... In a few years, many of the finished medicinal pills in the shop will be refined by me," the woman said with a hint of pride.
"How do you know I am related to alchemy...?" The woman then realized and asked, somewhat puzzled.
"Somewhat knowledgeable in alchemy, so I am sensitive to the smell of refining medicinal pills. You happen to have this smell," Lin Hao did not hide it.
"You? Somewhat knowledgeable in alchemy?!" The woman was first stunned, then laughed coldly, "I started learning alchemy at six and have been doing it for over a decade, only then can I say I am somewhat knowledgeable."
She saw that Lin Hao was only thirteen or fourteen years old and wondered if he had started studying medicinal pills in the womb.
Seeing the woman's disdainful gaze, Lin Hao did not explain.
Not long after, the middle-aged manager returned with a woman in white gauze.
"Sir, this is our shop owner, Bai Qiu," the manager introduced.
Lin Hao looked at Bai Qiu and smiled.
Lin Hao had heard of Bai Qiu's name before; she was a direct descendant of the Bai family.
The Bai family was a first-tier power, and the auction house was also under their control, far surpassing the four major noble families of Liuyun City in both strength and influence.
...
"Because of a mid-grade spirit stone, Miss Bai Qiu personally appeared, quite responsible," Lin Hao thought.
"Sir, the mid-grade spirit stone you handed over, if I am not mistaken, should come from our Bai family's auction house..." Bai Qiu stared at Lin Hao, wanting to know the truth.
She was only the shop owner and did not know about the auction house, but when the manager brought a mid-grade spirit stone, it had a special mark of the Bai family's auction house, so she asked.
"Indeed, I wondered why Miss Bai Qiu would personally appear for a mid-grade spirit stone. Please, Miss Bai Qiu, let's talk in private," Lin Hao feared that there were too many people around and had promised the auction house not to reveal the information. Since Bai Qiu was a direct descendant of the Bai family, he was willing to tell the truth.
The two entered the inner hall, and Lin Hao did not hide, recounting the entire story of selling the *Wind and Thunder Palm* manual to the auction house.
...
"Wind and Thunder Palm original..." Bai Qiu frowned after hearing Lin Hao's story.
Seeing that Bai Qiu did not believe him, Lin Hao reached into his chest and took out the upper-class token from the auction house, "Miss Bai Qiu, you should recognize this token. If not, you can ask the auction house."
When Bai Qiu saw Lin Hao take out the upper-class token from the auction house, she believed him and couldn't help but re-evaluate him.
This young man, though young, possessed the original *Wind and Thunder Palm* manual, which was truly astonishing.
If someone obtained a martial arts secret manual, they would surely treasure it and wouldn't be foolish enough to auction it. Although selling the original for a mid-grade spirit stone wasn't a bad deal, the significance of the original was different.
"Mr. Lin... How about I offer you two mid-grade spirit stones, and you take back the *Wind and Thunder Palm* original and sell it to me?" Bai Qiu pondered for a moment and then said.
Hearing this, Lin Hao was slightly stunned. His first thought was that he had taken a big loss, missing out on a mid-grade spirit stone.
However, for Lin Hao to go back on his word and renege at the auction house, his face wasn't thick enough for that.
Moreover, both parties had signed and sealed the contract, and there was no reason to renege.
"Sorry, I can't do that," Lin Hao shrugged, feeling a bit regretful but helpless.
"Then it's settled... I apologize for my inappropriate request..." A hint of worry flashed in Bai Qiu's eyes.
The auction house was managed by her sister. Obtaining the *Wind and Thunder Palm* original would allow her to gain credit in the Bai family, potentially advancing her position.
The original secret manual was a treasure that martial arts noble families dreamed of. Although the higher-ups might not need it, the noble family disciples could cultivate it.
Being able to create countless mental imprints, every noble family disciple could cultivate, which would undoubtedly strengthen the noble family.
Lin Hao naturally knew this but didn't care.
As for the internal struggles within the Bai family, it had nothing to do with him.
"The mid-grade spirit stone will be held here as collateral. Mr. Lin, if you can gather ten thousand silver taels within seven days, you can come to retrieve it," Bai Qiu and Lin Hao walked out of the inner hall, and she handed him the required medicinal materials.
"Thank you, I will definitely come to retrieve it within seven days," Lin Hao nodded and thanked her, but then stepped back just as he reached the door.
The Lin family did not have an alchemy venue, and even if he obtained the materials, it would be difficult to refine them. It would be better to try in the medicinal shop.