Fu Xuan was just about to open her mouth in reply when the door to the private room on the second level was suddenly opened.
They saw a lavishly dressed and good looking young man, the corners of his mouth lifted in a faint smile, standing at the door. Even his eyes were tinged with that same smile and though it wasn’t too obvious, that made him seem rather approachable.
“The Grand Adviser doesn’t like people discussing about his looks you know? Qu Ling Yue, if your words fall into the ears of the Grand Adviser, he isn’t going to be too happy about it.” The good looking young man walked into the room with a smile, his twinkling eyes slowly falling on the figure of Fu Xuan a fleeting moment, before they turned away.
“Your Highness!” When the youth in the room saw the young man, he immediately came forward to offer his greeting with a knee on the ground.
The man who had just appeared in the room was the Crown Prince of the Yan Country, Lei Chen!
Qu Ling Yue’ face showed sudden surprise, but there wasn’t a tinge of panic as she glared at Lei Chen to say: “I’m sure Your Highness will not repeat a single word I said earlier to the Grand Adviser right?”
Lei Chen grinned and nodded.
“Naturally. I wouldn’t want the Grand Adviser to know that my little junior fellow disciple was using his looks to compare with another man, or he would surely blame me for not having taught my juniors well.”
Qu Ling Yue grinned mischievously at him.
Everyone in the Yan Country knew, that the Crown Prince Lei Chen had previously been schooling at the War Banner Academy for a time and the three youths in the private room were actually members from the team representing the War Banner Academy for this year’s Spirit Battle Tournament. The Crown Prince had completed his studies and returned a few years ago and although he was no longer a part of the War Banner Academy, he would still make a trip to the academy to pay respects to his previous Masters every year, and that was how he got so well acquainted with Qu Ling Yue and the others from the War Banner Academy.
As Lei Chen had never put on any princely airs when he went back to the academy, he was immensely popular among his junior fellow disciples.
And Lei Chen’s actions reflected good manners and his respect for his teachers, which won him the support of a large part of the public in the Yan Country.
Volume 8
Chapter 762: “Flame Spirit Auction House (5)”
“But since Ling Yue is curious whether the Grand Adviser or that man is more outstanding, maybe it might be good if Little Xuan can help clear her doubts and I’ll pretend I did not hear anything and not speak to the Grand Adviser about it.” Lei Chen said with mirth in his eyes as he looked at Fu Xuan sitting at the side, his tone of familiarity shown with his extra endearing form of address.
Fu Xuan immediately blushed as her eyes flashed with joy a very brief moment before she replied: “I can’t really tell who is more good looking, as outward appearances are finally just empty shells. What’s more important is what’s inside, and if we are to judge just based on a face, we might very well just end up with a beautiful but useless idiot anyway.”
Fu Xuan might have put it across nonchalantly, but she might very well just have branded both Jun Wu Yao and the Grand Adviser as idiots from her insinuation in her statement.
Qu Ling Yue’s pure and uncomplicated mind did not capture the veiled innuendoes but Lei Chen fully caught the entire picture. He just smiled and did not comment further on it.
Fu Xuan noticed Lei Chen’s reaction and the corners of her mouth lifted in a smile.
“That man looks to be a perfect gentleman as well. When they came in, he was very protective and he was shielding his companion all that time. It makes me wonder if his small companion is his little brother or something, he was being so sweet.” Qu Ling Yue completely missed the point Fu Xuan was making and she just plopped by the window to stare at the handsome man, her eyes filled with adoration.
Lei Chen laughed and said: “Oh? What kind of a man could make Ling Yue’s heart flutter so? Have you fallen in love with him?”
Qu Ling Yue’s face flushed red and she shook her head in a hurry, saying: “I just find him good looking, and that’s all!” And she didn’t even dare look into Lei Chen’s eyes when she said that.
Lei Chen’s eyes narrowed but they quickly recovered to normal. He made a show of nonchalance and said: “I think I will need to see for myself just how good looking he is that he has got you so mesmerized and starry eyed.”
Qu Ling Yue flushed a deeper shade of red.
Lei Chen followed Qu Ling Yue’s line of sight and turned his gaze in the same direction. As expected, in an inconspicuous corner, he saw the man with his unparalleled good looks. But the mirth very quickly faded out from his eyes and he turned to Qu Ling Yue and said: “Do you know who that man is?”
Qu Ling Yue shook her head.
Lei Chen replied: “He is from the Zephyr Academy.”
“What?” Qu Ling Yue was stunned.
She was from the War Banner Academy and only two others, the Dragon Slayers Academy and the Zephyr Academy were able to stand on equal footing with them. Since a long time ago, these three academies had always been fiercely competing to suppress their opponents a notch and this inclination had directly rubbed off onto the disciples of the individual academies. When the disciples of these three academies encounter each other, a sliver of their competitive nature would involuntary surface.
“He is from the Zephyr Academy? How does Your Highness know?” Qu Ling Yue asked quickly.
Lei Chen told her: “They had just entered the city a little while ago. When they came in, their portraits were drawn up and handed to me. You already know that the Emperor, my father, has allowed me to be fully in charge of this year’s Spirit Battle Tournament and so I am rather familiar with the key members of the respective academies. Although I have yet to be able to get in touch with the people of the Zephyr Academy, but I am still able to remember their faces.”
Qu Ling Yue’s face creased up in a frown, as she looked at Lei Chen and then turned to look at the man on the first floor.
“But judging his age, he doesn’t look like he is here to take part in the Spirit Battle Tournament.”
“Even if he is not a disciple, he could be here as a teacher or something. The Zephyr Academy only sent a total of ten people this year, including the current Headmaster Fan Jin. Fan Jin had just earlier handed in the namelist of their participants for this year’s Spirit Battle Tournament and this year, the Zephyr Academy has only six people taking part in the tournament.” Lei Chen revealed.
Volume 8
Chapter 763: “Flame Spirit Auction House (6)”
“Six people?” Qu Ling Yue asked, her eyes wide, thinking that was a number that was just unbelievable.
No matter which academy it was, they all wanted to fill as many candidates as they could to take part in the Spirit Battle Tournament. Never had they ever heard that an academy had shown up with less than ten participants for the event. The situation with the Zephyr Academy was completely unheard of, not in the history of the tournament!
Lei Chen nodded. “The incident at the Zephyr Academy at the end of last year was too big, and it had caused a huge outflow of disciples and teachers. I saw the namelist submitted by the Zephyr Academy for the Spirit Battle Tournament. All six of them were unfamiliar to me and I have never heard of them before. I only person I know from that namelist will only be Fan Jin’s brother, Fan Zhuo.”
“That can’t be….. That chronically sick invalid is actually taking part in this year’s competition?” They youth who had remained quiet at the side all this while interjected in shock when he heard Fan Zhuo’s name being mentioned, looking like he had just seen a ghost.
Lei Chen replied with a laugh: “That’s right. Everyone knows that Fan Zhuo had always been frail and sickly. But whatever the case is, it seems that even he had been forced to come this year. It goes to see that the Zephyr Acad
emy had thrown in everything they had just to take part in this year’s Spirit Battle Tournament, and I’m afraid these six candidates are the best they could scrape together after pushing themselves to their limits.”
The youth clicked his tongue and said: “I don’t think the Zephyr Academy are intending to fight for any ranks this year. No….. To put it more accurately, they do not possess the capabilities to fight at all. I am thinking that it will not be much longer before the Zephyr Academy would be struck off from being one of the top three elite academies.” As he spoke, the youth was observing Qu Ling Yue’s expression and he deliberately said: “The good teachers who were previously in the Zephyr Academy would have all left and those that remain will only be those who do not possess much capabilities. Looking at him, I do not think that that man is that much older than us, so how talented can he be? I think Senior Fu is right, no matter how good looking one can be, it is still just the outer shell. Without capabilities, he will only be an idiot.”
Qu Ling Yue glared at the youth and then pouted before turning away, refusing to speak to him.
Seeing that Qu Ling Yue was ignoring him, the youth had no choice but to sit down to sulk in a corner.
It was Fu Xuan who noticed it and she shot a look at the smiling Lei Chen out of the corner of her eyes before saying smilingly: “Ling Yue, you shouldn’t get so uptight because of a nerd from the Zephyr Academy you know? Don’t tell me you have really been hooked? You must realise that even if you really like him, with the man’s identity, your father wouldn’t allow both of you to be together anyway.”
“Senior Fu! What are you saying! ? I was only….. I was only thinking that he is very good looking and was just admiring those good looks and that’s all! I don’t want to talk about it anymore! I….. I need to go back already!” Qu Ling Yue’s face turned red as a beetroot and she ran off in a hurry.
Fu Xuan glanced at the youth staring blankly on the other side of the room and she said: “Leaving Ling Yue to go back on her own might be a little dangerous. You should go accompany her.”
The youth nodded immediately and left.
In the private room, only Lei Chen and Fu Xuan were left.
“An idiot? I am thinking that the man’s looks would really suit my Junior Fu’s taste, wouldn’t it?” Lei Chen suddenly walked over to come sit down beside Fu Xuan, the smile on his face just as affable. But his hands, however, disrespectfully slipped onto Fu Xuan’s shoulders and pulled her into an intimate embrace.
Fu Xuan resisted halfheartedly as she fell into Lei Chen’s arms and she cast him a coy glance before raising a finger and poking it onto Lei Chen’s chest.
“Does his looks really suit my taste, or is it you who wishes for his looks to suit my palate? Why? You saw Ling Yue having some thoughts towards the man and you are jealous?”
Lei Chen smiled and said: “Little Xuan knows me best, I think you should know what to do then.”
Fu Xuan glanced up at Lei Chen and she laughed coquettishly before laying her head on his chest.
Volume 8
Chapter 764: “Flame Spirit Auction House (7)”
The Flame Spirit Auction House really lived up to its name as the Yan Country’s biggest auction house. Rare and precious treasures were brought out for auction one after another, and the various bidders fought and competed furiously, the entire hall boisterous and loud.
Jun Wu Xie showed a lack of interest towards all those items till finally, after a long and dull wait, she finally saw something she needed.
A stem of Blood Lotus had been brought up onto the stage. Its scarlet red petals looked as if the entire bloom had been dipped in blood. And that was how the flower got its name, its colour exactly like fresh red blood. Blood Lotuses had blood enriching and spirit calming effects and it was a herb that was very rarely seen. Blood Lotuses were so precious that Jun Wu Xie had only seen corresponding descriptions of them in medical books and had never seen one with her eyes.
The Blood Lotus was one type of herb that was absolutely necessary for elixir that Yan Bu Gui needed. After waiting for half a day, she finally found something that was worth the wait.
Due to its high rarity, the price for a Blood Lotus was exorbitant with its starting bid already at a hundred thousand taels. Moreover, the Yan Country’s Imperial Capital was completely different from Chan Lin Town. The number of rich and prosperous tycoons here was not what the tiny Chan Lin Town could hope to compare with!
The bidding for the Blood Lotus had just been opened to the floor when in a quick blink, a fierce bidding war quickly broke out. In just a few short minutes, the initial starting price of one hundred thousand taels for the Blood Lotus had rocketed to eight hundred thousand, and the heat was still increasing, not showing any signs of abating in the slightest!
The Blood Lotus regardless whether it was double boiled on its own to be taken directly, or used to cultivate into an elixir, would yield extremely good effects. With the Yan Country being the most prosperous country, its local citizens were so ridiculously rich they made others gasp in amazement. When presented with such a rare and nourishing treasure before their eyes, the abundantly wealthy among the crowd suddenly could not stay in their seats, refusing to give in to one another, throwing out their money like mud, pushing the price of the Blood Lotus from one pinnacle into another!
Jun Wu Xie still had not moved. She knew that even if she were to place a bid now, she would just be quickly overridden. She decided to wait till bidding war calmed down before she would place her own bid.
However, as the price of the Blood Lotus continued to shoot up, Jun Wu Xie’s brow started to crease up.
All the money on her, were earned back at the Chan Lin Auction House previously. Although it wasn’t a small sum, it wouldn’t be able to hold out under such frenzied bidding. When the Blood Lotus’ price reached three million taels, Jun Wu Xie gave up on her intention of making any bids.
Three million taels, it had already gone beyond anything she was able to take on. All the banknotes she had on her only totalled three million taels and the price was still continuing to rise although the rate it was increasing at has slowed down quite a bit. But even if it only increased by a million taels, it would still be way beyond what Jun Wu Xie could afford.
In the Chan Lin Auction House before, the items auctioned off had mostly closed at below a million taels. Jun Wu Xie had never possessed a good grasp of the concept of money in the first place and the only time she had had a chance to deal with money had been in Chan Lin Town and the prices at the Flame Spirit Auction House was not something the Chan Lin Auction House could come close to.
Caught completely off guard at the Flame Spirit Auction House, Jun Wu Xie could only look on helplessly as the Blood Lotus’ ownership was put under fierce contest and there wasn’t a thing she could do.
The Blood Lotus was extremely important to Yan Bu Gui. If it had been Jun Wu Xie herself who needed it, she wouldn’t be feeling so depressed about it, but if she missed out on this stem of Blood Lotus this time, she didn’t know how long she would have to wait before finding another one.
It must be known that in the close to one year since she had been reborn, taking into account all that had happened, she had never seen the slightest sign of a Blood Lotus anywhere. And seeing the price of the Blood Lotus still climbing incessantly, it only further proved just how rare and precious it really was.
Jun Wu Xie bit on her lip, her eyes showing a rare moment of frustration.
Volume 8
Chapter 765: “Flame Spirit Auction House (8)”
Jun Wu Xie’s reaction was barely noticeable and her emotions only showed in her eyes a tinge. But that tiny change that came over her, had not been missed in the slightest by Jun Wu Yao at her side.
Seeing the clear cold eyes clouded by a tinge of helplessness, Jun Wu Yao’s brows lifted slightly.
In those clear eyes of his little darling, he had never once seen this emotion that should only show on “normal people”
.
“What is it?” Jun Wu Yao asked softly, turning slightly towards her and lowering his head to gently speak.
His warm breath brushed past her ear and Jun Wu Xie felt a tickle in her neck from the warm rush of air. She lifted her head and looked right into Jun Wu Yao’s half narrowed eyes looking questioningly at her.
The close proximity allowed Jun Wu Xie to see herself clearly reflected in Jun Wu Yao’s jet black eyes.
“Nothing.” Jun Wu Xie shook her head, but in her mind, she was contemplating just what she needed to do before she would be able to get the Blood Lotus. If she did not have enough money….. She wondered if she would be able to use elixirs to trade for it.
Jun Wu Xie was still rather confident with the quality of the elixirs she had with her and she had everything all planned out. As the final price of the Blood Lotus would be more than all the money she had on her, she would remember the person who won the Blood Lotus at the end of the auction, and go deal with the person privately after.
People here only knew the same few uses for Blood Lotuses, if it wasn’t for the fact that the elixir for Yan Bu Gui specifically needed the Blood Lotus, she had many types of elixirs that would be able to replace it, and the effects they brought were far better than what the Blood Lotus alone would give.
Jun Wu Yao saw that something obviously was not right and Jun Wu Xie was adamantly claiming otherwise. His gaze shifted slightly and swept across the bright scarlet Blood Lotus on the stage.
“Little Xie wants that?”
Jun Wu Xie was focused on calculating how she would be able to take out to trade with the winning bidder when she heard Jun Wu Yao’s question and she nodded distractedly.
Jun Wu Yao smiled slightly and he straightened himself up in his seat.
Genius Doctor: Black Belly Miss Volume 8 Page 17
