When he saw the porcelain vial Murong Xiangming took out, he recognized it as the one he had used to store the Foundation Strengthening Pills.

For a moment, he was stunned.

After a moment’s thought, he seemed to finally understand something.

He looked deeply at Murong Xiangming.

"Miss Murong, it seems the Treasure Elephant Pavilion is in the business of robbing its own house."

"I was wondering what mysterious faction had bought them. It turns out you bought them yourselves."

After a brief moment of thought, he understood what had happened.

The Treasure Elephant Pavilion had bought the Foundation Strengthening Pills for itself.

Ordinarily, the Treasure Elephant Pavilion was only responsible for auctions, so for them to buy an item themselves was a bit strange.

However, while Jiang Chen was surprised, he didn’t think there was anything wrong with it.

After all, he hadn’t been short-changed.

Murong Xiangming smiled, a pair of faint dimples appearing on her cheeks.

"Jiang Chen, your choice of words is a bit unkind, isn’t it?"

"What do you mean, ’robbing our own house’? The Treasure Elephant Pavilion also participated in a fair auction. The highest bidder wins."

"After all, even though we won them, we paid for them with cold, hard cash at the auction."

She rolled her eyes at Jiang Chen to show her displeasure.

The phrase "robbing its own house" implied they had obtained the pills through dishonorable means. In reality, they had participated in the bidding and even driven the price of the Foundation Strengthening Pills up quite a bit.

Seeing Murong Xiangming roll her eyes, Jiang Chen found her all the more adorable.

He laughed heartily.

"I was just joking. It doesn’t matter who ended up with them; I still received my fair share."

He was indeed very satisfied. By his estimation, it would have been good if his Foundation Strengthening Pills had sold for a little over ten million.

He never expected the final price to reach thirty million.

With his current net worth, he was now on par with the entire Jiang Family.

When he thought about it, he actually had the Treasure Elephant Pavilion to thank.

Murong Xiangming said, "Although the Treasure Elephant Pavilion participated in the bidding, we absolutely did not break our own rules."

"Of course, if you are not satisfied with the price, Jiang Chen, we can still compensate you. You need only name a reasonable price."

Jiang Chen waved his hand. "No, I’m already very satisfied."

"It exceeded all my expectations."

With that said, Jiang Chen asked in return, "Why did the Treasure Elephant Pavilion want to buy the Foundation Strengthening Pills?"

This was what he was curious about. The Treasure Elephant Pavilion shouldn’t be short on treasures.

Besides, if the Treasure Elephant Pavilion had wanted to buy them from him directly instead of through the auction, Jiang Chen would have been willing to sell.

But now, the Treasure Elephant Pavilion had gone through the whole auction process.

The Treasure Elephant Pavilion did this to increase its own popularity and reputation.

In the end, even though the Treasure Elephant Pavilion bought the pills, it seemed to be a win-win situation for both them and Jiang Chen.

Murong Xiangming explained, "This is what I meant when I said I should be thanking you, Jiang Chen."

"With my current Cultivation, I need these Foundation Strengthening Pills. If I take them, my Cultivation will break through to the Martial King Realm in a short time."

"You are the one who brought me these high-quality Elixirs for breaking through."

She wasn’t hiding anything from Jiang Chen, not even her own Cultivation level.

Jiang Chen came to a sudden realization. He looked at Murong Xiangming’s Cultivation; she was at the Sixth Level of Martial Master.

If she took the Foundation Strengthening Pills, she would only need four to smoothly break through to the Martial King Realm.

"I see. In that case, let me congratulate you in advance, Miss Murong, on an early breakthrough to the Martial King Realm and becoming a true expert."

An expert at the Martial King Realm could fly through the air, and there was a vast gap between them and experts below the Martial King Realm.

Murong Xiangming gave a dazzling smile. Her gratitude toward Jiang Chen was sincere. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

From the moment Jiang Chen had produced the Foundation Strengthening Pills, she had made up her mind to obtain them, no matter the cost.

With the Treasure Elephant Pavilion’s financial power in Hanwu City, forget the City Lord’s Mansion; even the three great families and the City Lord’s Mansion combined couldn’t compare to them.

Therefore, to the people of the Treasure Elephant Pavilion, the price of thirty million was nothing at all.

As they spoke, Jiang Chen sized up Murong Xiangming again.

He had a feeling that the Treasure Elephant Pavilion spending thirty million to buy the Foundation Strengthening Pills for Murong Xiangming meant one thing.

’This woman holds a very important position in the Treasure Elephant Pavilion. Her status is anything but simple.’

This was his deduction. Although he wasn’t certain, he was sure he was right nine times out of ten.

If Murong Xiangming were just an ordinary member of the Treasure Elephant Pavilion, they would never have spent a huge sum of thirty million to buy the Foundation Strengthening Pills for her.

After that, Murong Xiangming put the Foundation Strengthening Pills away.

"The Treasure Elephant Pavilion hopes to establish a long-term partnership with you, Jiang Chen."

"From now on, if you have any treasures you need to sell, feel free to come find me at the Treasure Elephant Pavilion. I will personally receive you."

The two chatted for quite a while. In the end, Murong Xiangming once again made her position clear to Jiang Chen.

She hoped for continued cooperation with him.

Jiang Chen smiled and nodded.

"I will definitely be looking for you, Miss Murong."

With no intention of staying any longer, Jiang Chen stood up to leave.

"Young Miss, how did it go? Did you learn anything?"

After seeing Jiang Chen off, Murong Xiangming summoned Master Tian Mu and the others.

Master Tian Mu immediately began to inquire.

Murong Xiangming shook her head.

"Jiang Chen is tight-lipped; he never reveals a thing."

"Forget it. From now on, stop trying to probe into Jiang Chen’s secrets. I will handle contact with him personally."

"After all, who doesn’t have a secret or two?"

Everyone nodded. No one would refute the Young Miss’s words, so they completely gave up on the matter of investigating Jiang Chen’s secrets.

Just then, someone from the Treasure Elephant Pavilion suddenly arrived with a message.

"Pavilion Master, Young Miss, the President of the Alchemy Master Guild, Master Qin, is here to visit."

Master Tian Mu and Murong Xiangming were both taken aback.

The President of the Alchemy Master Guild was an extraordinary figure.

In all of Hanwu City, the only people the Treasure Elephant Pavilion was wary of were those from the Alchemy Master Guild.

And the visitor was none other than the President of the Alchemy Master Guild himself.

Master Tian Mu and Murong Xiangming exchanged a glance.

Murong Xiangming nodded.

Only then did Master Tian Mu say to the person who brought the news, "Show him to the reception hall. We will be there shortly."

A short while later, Master Tian Mu, Murong Xiangming, and the others arrived at the reception hall.

There, they saw a middle-aged man with slightly thinning hair.

He was dressed in a white robe.

Embroidered on his chest was the unique symbol of the Alchemy Master Guild.

What was particularly eye-catching was the insignia that marked his status as a Second-Grade Alchemist.

Upon seeing the man, Master Tian Mu hurried forward.

"Master Qin, what brings you to our Treasure Elephant Pavilion?"

Master Qin was none other than the President of the Alchemy Master Guild.

He was an individual at the Fifty-ninth Level of Cultivation and also a Second-Grade Alchemist.

In all of Hanwu City, the only person who could be considered Master Qin’s equal was Master Tian Mu.

As for the City Lord of Hanwu City, despite his title, he was not held in high regard by people of their stature.

Master Qin laughed heartily and spoke bluntly.

"I watched the recent auction. Those Purple Gold Quality Foundation Strengthening Pills were truly astonishing."

"I know that the Treasure Elephant Pavilion can contact the master behind the Foundation Strengthening Pills. I wish to meet him, so I’ve come to ask the Treasure Elephant Pavilion for a favor."

"I will be sure to reward you generously."