Chapter 319: Friend

After Tao Wu bought the first one-colored Rainbow Pill, the bidding for the second pill begun.

This time no one was rushing to make the first bid. Instead, they waited patiently to see if Tao Wu was going to continue bidding. No one wished to be considered as someone who was going against him.

However, unlike their expectations, Tao Wu did not continue his bidding. Instead, he had leaned back in the chair and smirked as he considered how he could work with Xue Wei at a later time.

After ensuring that Tao Wu was not willing to continue bidding a few brave people began raising their numbers and slowly made their bids.

As time went by, more and more found their courage, and they all began bidding in a frenzy.

The price rose from the one hundred thousand low-grade essence stones to five-hundred thousand low-grade essence stones in a short while, and it was still rising.

It was a few bandit and pirate groups that held power in the Sea of the Enchanted, that were bidding against the families which held power in the Thousand Treasure Pavilion.

In total there were around twenty factions interested in the one-colored Rainbow Pill. In fact, many more were interested; however, only twenty factions had the background, the strength, and the finances to purchase these pills.

With this many factions willing to bid for the pills, they could all realize that not every faction could get a pill. As a result, even more of the audiences were becoming frenzied as they made their bids.

Xue Wei was smiling slightly when he heard the bidding reach seven hundred thousand low-grade essence stones. This was a very high price. Before he had already been satisfied with the five hundred thousand that Tao Wu had offered. It seemed that he was still too naive when it came to understanding the value an alchemist held in the Sea of the Enchanted.

When the price hit eight hundred thousand low-grade essence stones, it slowly stagnated. Eventually, the price ended at eight hundred and eleven thousand low-grade essence stones. This was a fortune for the commoners. Even these factions could feel the sting when it came to such a large amount of wealth.

The third pill was released into the bidding war, and although it was fierce, it was not as bad as before. The final price was ending up at seven hundred and sixty-seven thousand low-grade essence stones.

The fourth pill went back up to just around the eight hundred thousand; it ended at seven hundred and ninety-three thousand low-grade essence stones.

The fifth pill was snagged by Tao Wu again; this time, he offered a full nine hundred thousand low-grade essence stones. He was not willing to make low offers, he wanted to leave a positive impression on Xue Wei, and since it was impossible for him actually to bid like the others as no one wanted to bid against him, he had no other option than to call out high bids.

Like this, all the pills were sold on auction with around a price of eight hundred thousand low-grade essence stones. The price was slowly climbing — the sixth pill sold for eight hundred and twenty-four low-grade essence stones. The seventh sold for eight hundred and thirty-one low-grade essence stones. The eighth sold for eight hundred and thirty-six low-grade essence stones. The ninth sold for eight hundred and fifty-nine low-grade essence stones.

Finally, the tenth pill was sold at the unbelievable price of nine hundred and four low-grade essence stones.

"Thank you, everyone, who came to our auction," the auctioneer's voice cut through the auction hall, causing the many people who previously had been starting to chat to quieten down.

"We would like to say a special thank you to the two-colored Rainbow Alchemist who showed up at our humble business and thank him for choosing our auction house as the place to work with.

"Before we all exit the auction house, I would like to call out to the higher-ranked forces within Thousand Treasure Pavilion to not make things difficult for this esteemed alchemist.

"If you wish to have an audience with his lordship, please wait until he has given his permission for us to proceed.

"What I am trying to say is, please do not cause problems, please do not irritate his lordship or we might not be able to handle the recuperation."

Xue Wei was surprised when he heard the words spoken by the auctioneer and raised an eyebrow.

He had not expected that she would stand up for him after revealing him earlier in the auction, but he was quite pleased. He was not in the mood to meet a lot of people, nor was he willing to socialize with people he would never have anything to do with anyway.

"Let's go," Xue Wei had not purchased anything, but he needed to contact the auctioneer to be paid the essence stones that others had bid on his items.

When he opened the door, he saw, to his surprise, that the hallway was already filled with people who were looking at him with curiosity. In fact, he felt like a virgin thrown into a room filled with lecherous men; their eyes were so greedy as they looked at him; some were even rubbing their hands together. It was a very uncomfortable feeling.

When his eyes roamed across the people, they landed on the purple-skinned Tao Wu, and he felt that he was the only one who looked at him with curiosity instead of greed, and as if he had found his savior, Xue Wei walked to Tao Wu's side.

Xue Wei was not stupid. He had seen how everyone treated Tao Wu, and if they could get his protection, then they would be safe.

Tao Wu seemed to have guessed his thoughts and a smile flitted across his lips as he greeted him, "Xue Wei, I never would have guessed you hid yourself so deeply,"

"Same to you," Xue Wei smiled when he looked at Tao Wu. Although he had known that his strength was not to be belittled, he had not known that Tao Wu was treated like a god by the others in the Sea of the Enchanted.

Tao Wu smiled knowingly as he was aware of what Xue Wei was hinting at.

"Why not return to your chambers and discuss a collaboration?" Tao Wu asked, and Xue Wei did not need to even consider for a moment before nodding his head, "please."

Seeing that Tao Wu and Xue Wei knew each other, and hearing their strange conversation without heads or tails, everyone was looking puzzled.

But they understood that now was not the time to try to contact Xue Wei. Even if the rainbow pills that he could create were attractive, the truth was that they had to be alive to enjoy them.

Challenging Tao Wu was not a brilliant idea, and as he had already said that he would talk with Xue Wei, the rest of them would have to line up after him - in case there were any crumbs to catch.

Tao Wu knew exactly what all of them were thinking about, but he did not mind it. He was the undisputed king of the high seas, he was the most influential expert who roamed the oceans, and he was also the only person who they dared not offend.

As for what happened when he had gotten what he wanted, he did not care. Although he felt that he owed Xue Wei something for bringing him and Jiang Yingyue together again, he was not willing to care about his matters too much.

Tao Wu was a demon. He was self-centered and would never go out of his way to assist others. Xue Wei was not an exception.

The only person he would help was Jiang Yingyue. She was the only person whom he cared about, and also the only person he would suffer for.

Xue Wei was aware of this, but he did not feel indignant. He was just happy that Jiang Yingyue had found someone who cared about her to that extent. If Tao Wu were not willing to suffer for her sake, then Xue Wei would not feel that they were suited for one another. If one truly loved someone, they would not let anything stand in their way of bringing that person happiness, even if it was something that required enormous efforts.

Xue Wei felt that way towards Wang Xiaoyun. Just thinking about her would make his heartache when he thought about their last meeting, and he was filled with longing as he was thinking of her.

He had initially not planned to get involved in the war between humans and beasts in Chang'an, but after realizing that he was partly a beast, then he knew that Wang Xiaoyun would never approve of him unless he proved that he was not like the ice harpy, Chu Huiyin.

Sighing, Xue Wei shook his head, once again forgetting the sadness and longing that he felt whenever he thought about Wang Xiaoyun.

Tao Wu could sense the melancholy washing over Xue Wei, but it was gone so fast that he was unaware of whether or not he had been mistaken.

Together, Xue Wei, Tao Wu, and their companions exited the auction house and headed back to the residence which had been prepared for Xue Wei and his friends.

None of them spoke on the way; they were not willing to discuss in the middle of the road.

Many followed behind them at a respectful distance, curious as to see where they were going. If they were able to see where they resided, it would be easier to make 'accidental' encounters later.

What they feared was that they would head towards the mansion owned by Tao Wu and his pirates. If they were going to be discussing their matters there, then they would have problems.

Fortunately, they did not head towards the residence of Tao Wu but into the housing owned by the Thousand Treasure Pavilion. They were guests of the Thousand Treasure Pavilion.

Knowing where they resided, the people following them turned around to announce their findings to their family leaders.

Xue Wei completely ignored them, and so did Tao Wu. When they reached the home that currently belonged to Xue Wei, they went to the living room.

"Is it true that you can refine two-colored Rainbow Pills?" Tao Wu was not skeptical, but it was indeed too unexpected that this unremarkable young man was a two-colored Rainbow Alchemist.

"I only became one recently," Xue Wei admitted readily, but he was not so full of himself as to not warn him. "My success rate is still only around half."

Tao Wu was very excited when he heard this. He could instantly guess that he had learned the formula that the Thousand Treasure Pavilion had owned, and to already have a success rate of around fifty percent was quite remarkable.

"What do you want in return for concocting a few two-colored rainbow pills for me, alongside a batch of one-colored rainbow pills," Tao Wu asked while leaning against the wall of the room.

He looked decadent and lazy. Unruly and domineering. Xue Wei looked at him, and the corner of his lips twitched slightly. What a poser!

"Well," Xue Wei controlled the laughter before it managed to escape his lips, and he sat down on a chair.

"You are a friend of Jiang Yingyue, so you can be considered my friend as well. I am always interested in getting more friends, so as long as you consider me a friend of yours, I will make them for you for free, as long as you provide me with the materials."

Tao Wu's eyes widened in surprise. He had never expected this to be the request that Xue Wei had.

Tao Wu was a demon, and thus, he did not have any real friends. He did not know much about how one socialized with others, and although he was the leader of a bandit group, he never felt friendship with the pirates, he just saw them as subordinates.

Could he really have a friend? He frowned as he thought about it.