Chapter 4837 — Deliberately Erased
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
"Since you don't trust the guild's alchemists, then let me do it." A strange-looking middle-aged man suddenly spoke up, and the crowd at once parted to make way for him of their own accord. This man had blue hair and a blue beard—he was Qing Xuanzi, Morning Star Academy's chief seventh-grade alchemist.
"Master Qing Xuanzi?" Chai Laoshi was taken aback. Though a vague sense of foreboding stirred in his heart, the man was, after all, Morning Star Academy's chief alchemist and thus had absolute authority in this matter. He could only nod. "Since you will inspect the pills in person, I of course have no objection."
"Good. Then bring out all the pills first," Qing Xuanzi ordered at once. Since the bidding had only just concluded, the pills had not yet been handed over to their buyers; soon enough, staff members gathered them all together and carried them out.
Looking at that tray of pills arranged so neatly, everyone present could not help swallowing hard again. No matter how these pills had come to be here, nothing could change the essential fact that every single one was a rare pill. Any one of them, brought out alone, would make a person's mouth water—and now here was a whole tray of them, worth over ninety million spirit jade in total!
It was only because a top-tier expert like Ling Yuanqing was here holding the fort that nothing worse happened. Otherwise, with the supreme temptation of ninety million spirit jade, it was hard to say what these people present might have done—a bloody free-for-all was not out of the question.
"For any high-grade pill—especially at the sixth or seventh grade—the alchemist will imprint a unique divine-sense mark during refinement, as proof that it was refined by their own hand. So barring any surprises, every pill here must bear a divine-sense mark. All we need do is check whether these marks all come from the same alchemist," Qing Xuanzi said, sweeping his gaze over the crowd.
Everyone nodded in agreement, and even Chai Laoshi nodded along. This way was simple and clear; after all, checking divine-sense marks alone was something any capable expert could do. It did not require an alchemist—so there was no need to worry that the other side might deliberately favor Steward Hao and his people.
After all, this Master Qing Xuanzi, chief alchemist of the academy, was rumored in the streets to have already chosen to cooperate with the great clans and guilds—and this very Morning Star Auction had ultimately been made possible only because of his endorsement. Which side his backside was planted on was plain for all to see.
Having said his piece, Qing Xuanzi immediately began checking the divine-sense marks one by one. Yet after he had gone through every last pill, he froze and said nothing.
"Well?" Steward Hao and the others asked impatiently, waiting for Qing Xuanzi to hand down his verdict against the Hong Clan Merchant Guild—and to void the auction results on the spot.
Qing Xuanzi frowned and for a long while said nothing. Beside him, Ling Yuanqing glanced at him, then personally extended his divine sense over the pills as well. An expression of surprise followed. "These pills carry no divine-sense marks. Not a single one."
The crowd erupted in an uproar, every face wearing an expression of disbelief. How could such high-grade pills bear no divine-sense marks?
But since even Ling Yuanqing said so, then it must truly be so!
"According to what Master Qing Xuanzi said, since high-grade pills all carry their own unique marks, then the absence of divine-sense marks here should itself count as a kind of special mark—surely that is enough to prove they came from the same hand," Chai Laoshi said with a cold laugh.
Wan Zhongjie, Steward Hao, and their whole group were struck dumb, looking at one another and not knowing what to say. They could only turn to Qing Xuanzi.