Chapter 151: Unexpected Windfall

The supervisor's daily work involved evaluating various treasures. She had seen no fewer than eight or nine thousand treasures, if not ten thousand. As for mid-grade Foundation Establishment Pills, she had handled over a hundred. She could accurately judge the quality, whether high or low, with just a glance.

The mid-grade Foundation Establishment Pill before her had a rich fragrance, vibrant color, and a fine, lustrous texture. It was clearly of excellent quality at first glance.

Jiang Fan shrugged, "I'm not interested anyway. Whoever wants it can have it."

At that moment, a one-eyed martial artist, who also had his eye on the item, urged, "Miss, are you buying this bottle of Foundation Establishment Pills or not?" Wen Shengnan let go, and the man decisively took it.

He then paid one hundred spirit stones, completing the transaction on the spot. "Haha! It's mine!" he exclaimed. "With such excellent quality, I can resell it for two hundred spirit stones! I'm rich!"

He admired the jade bottle, beaming with self-satisfaction. Wen Shengnan remarked, not without a hint of disdain, "Aunt, do you see? I wanted to help him, but he wouldn't take the opportunity even when it was handed to him."

Wen Hongyao interjected on Jiang Fan's behalf, saying, "He's not a Soul Master; how would he know the intricacies of pills? Besides, couldn't you have just bought it for him earlier? Why did you let go and let someone else have it?"

Wen Shengnan, who had unexpectedly received another lecture, had a look of utter speechlessness on her face. She said discontentedly, "He's so conceited, what could I do?"

At this moment, the one-eyed martial artist said with a smile, "Everyone, I'm selling this pill right here. Who wants it?" Many martial artists cast envious glances. Every special offer event always had a few lucky people like him. This Foundation Establishment Pill was considered one of the most profitable items at this event.

"One hundred and fifty spirit stones, and it's a deal."

A martial artist who needed a mid-grade Foundation Establishment Pill was tempted. "One hundred and fifty... alright, one hundred and fifty it is," the one-eyed martial artist said after some consideration. After all, this pill was a special offer item, so it surely had some flaws, making it hard to sell for the full two hundred spirit stones. Although one hundred and fifty was a bit lower, as the saying goes, a secured profit is better. The fifty spirit stones he earned were truly his; if he continued to hold onto the pill, there was a risk of it being stolen or lost, a risk he couldn't afford. He therefore agreed.

"Examine the pill first," the other party requested.

The one-eyed martial artist chuckled. "Don't worry," he said. "Even though I, Liu He, only have one eye, I see things more accurately than people with two." He immediately opened the jade bottle and poured the mid-grade Foundation Establishment Pill into his palm.

Before he could examine it closely, the moment the pill landed in his hand, it unexpectedly split into two halves without any warning. All the martial artists present froze in shock.

"The pill cracked? Th-this is a failed product!" someone exclaimed. "During the pill's condensation, the heat was too strong, making it overly dry and brittle." "This kind of failed product has lost most of its efficacy; nobody would even want to buy it for ten spirit stones!" "That fool bought it for a hundred spirit stones; the Myriad Treasure Pavilion must be laughing all the way to the bank."

The one-eyed martial artist was dumbfounded on the spot. Immediately, his chest heaved violently with anger, and his body swayed precariously, looking as if he was about to faint.

Wen Shengnan's face stiffened. She had actually misjudged! Just as Jiang Fan had said, this pill was of poor quality; even buying it at a 70% discount would have been a massive loss.

"We occasionally make mistakes; this doesn't prove anything," Wen Shengnan defended herself, her face flushing.

Jiang Fan merely smiled.

By this point, more than half of the items on the tray had been bought. Only things nobody wanted were left. Seeing that most items were gone, a few burly men prepared to carry the tray back.

Suddenly, Jiang Fan noticed a shriveled spiritual ginseng root on the tray. Its roots were broken in several places. Spiritual ginseng was more often given as a gift than used for practical purposes. Therefore, its integrity was highly valued; otherwise, it wouldn't be presentable as a gift. This spiritual ginseng remained untouched for precisely this reason.

"How much is this spiritual ginseng?" Jiang Fan asked, picking up the shriveled root. The burly man in charge of pricing looked at Jiang Fan, who was very young but dressed in Qingyun Sect attire. His eyes flickered, and he said, "One hundred spirit stones."

A few old-timers who often attended the special offers immediately grimaced. "Those scoundrels at Myriad Treasure Pavilion are utterly greedy," someone muttered. "This incomplete spiritual ginseng has been part of over a dozen special offers; normally, nobody would buy it even for ten spirit stones. They see this young master is young and easy to fool, and as a Qingyun Sect disciple, he's not short on money, so they want to really fleece him."

A kind old martial artist reminded him, "Young man, for one hundred spirit stones, you could buy a spiritual ginseng of the same size but perfect and of excellent quality. There's no need to pick out a defective item here. You should quickly..." He was about to continue, but he was cut short by a fierce glare from the burly man, which scared him into silence.

Then, rubbing his hands, the burly man said with a smile, "Young master, you truly have an eye. Although this spiritual ginseng doesn't look good, it's very old. For one hundred spirit stones, you're making a huge profit!" Jiang Fan nodded in agreement. "It is indeed a good item."

"Alright, one hundred spirit stones, I'll take it!"

Wen Shengnan quickly stopped him, looking at him as if he were an idiot. "Are you deaf? Everyone is kindly telling you this item is worthless. Why are you doing the opposite?"

Jiang Fan waved his hand. "Don't worry about it!" he said, then handed the man one hundred spirit stones and completed the transaction.

Enraged, Wen Shengnan furiously complained, "Aunt, look at this kid! Is this what you meant by 'capable'? He's clearly just a little idiot."

Jiang Fan, who was tucking the spiritual ginseng into his clothes, immediately became displeased. He had originally intended to wait until no one was around to take out the spiritual ginseng and examine its uniqueness, as it's best not to flaunt one's wealth. But with Wen Shengnan saying that, who could tolerate it?

"And you're the supervisor of an auction house?" he retorted. "You couldn't even see the peculiarity of this spiritual ginseng root?"

Wen Shengnan had just been put in an awkward position. If she were to be humiliated again, she would truly have no face to continue as supervisor. "Then please, you who are so capable, enlighten me," Wen Shengnan said defiantly.

Wen Hongyao said displeasedly, "Shengnan, don't be ridiculous! It's Young Jiang's freedom to buy whatever he wants; why are you interfering?" She had to step forward. She hadn't interfered with the Foundation Establishment Pill earlier because she wasn't a Soul Master and had no say in spiritual pills. But spiritual ginseng was a medicinal herb. As the peak master of the Medicine Peak, was there anyone who understood spiritual ginseng better than her? The root before them was indeed a low-grade spiritual ginseng, utterly worthless. If Wen Shengnan exposed him in public, Jiang Fan would be humiliated.

"Aunt! A jade cannot be carved without polishing; this kid needs a good lesson," Wen Shengnan insisted, ignoring her aunt. "Alright, hurry up and let me see the extraordinary qualities of this spiritual ginseng."

The burly man from Myriad Treasure Pavilion who had sold the spiritual ginseng was happily counting his spirit stones. Hearing this, he also grinned. Selling something that had sat unwanted for over half a year at such a high price meant he would get at least thirty spirit stones as commission. It was practically a massive windfall!

Jiang Fan wasted no more words. He placed the spiritual ginseng on the table, pulled out the black sword from his back, and used its blade to scrape the surface of the spiritual ginseng, peeling off a layer of dry outer skin. This revealed the withered yellow flesh of the spiritual ginseng. Wen Shengnan stood on tiptoes to look, raising an eyebrow, and said, "Are you trying to say this spiritual ginseng's flesh is unique?"

At this moment, Jiang Fan casually tossed the spiritual ginseng flesh away. He tossed it away as if it were trash. Wen Shengnan froze, looking at Jiang Fan as if he were an idiot. She muttered softly, "Aunt, is there something wrong with Jiang Fan's head? He threw away the spiritual ginseng; what else is he going to show?" Wen Hongyao was also bewildered. She didn't understand what Jiang Fan was doing.

It wasn't until Jiang Fan's gaze settled on the spiritual ginseng peel scattered across the table. A smile appeared in his eyes as he said: "It seems I've made quite a profit."