Archfiend

Swish… Ansas stood up.

Swish… Swish… The white-haired man stood up, and Savidean VII stood up. The man who had always been silent also stood up.

No one dared to believe their eyes.

With three capsules, three people assailed the Marquis rank!

The one who didn’t dare to believe his eyes the most was Donaldo, however.

The trio in front of him started to assail Marquis! Furthermore, he could feel that their essence was very pure… no! There was no threshold!

“What about the threshold?” Stunned, he looked at the three people. In an instant, he rushed over in disbelief, his hand wanting to touch them. “I don’t believe it… What about the threshold? The doorstep to Marquis?”

“How could the Marquis threshold disappear?!”

But in the instant he stretched his hand, two majestic spiritual energies suddenly rocketed in the hall. They were practically equal.

“Mr. Donaldo,” Blood Moon said calmly. “I’m sorry, but it’s too hard to find an advancement to Marquis. Please understand.”

Huuummm… One white and one black, two streaks of essence quickly covered the people from the Corvinus and the Dracul who were advancing. The Corvinus had two, and the Dracul had one. At this moment, though, Xu Yangyi’s voice calmly echoed again.

“You might as well.”

“Since my holy medicine has started taking effect, their advancement to Marquis is certain. They’re pretty lucky to hit a 30% roulette. Congratulations.”

What?

No threshold?

No protection was required?

All the Counts below watched with rapt attention!

Even if Donald’s holy medicine could reach a fifteen percent rate, protection was still needed. But now, Mr. X was claiming that no protection was actually needed?

“A-Am I seeing this right?” a Count said in shock, “No protection needed… and 30% odds… This, did I-I j-just doubt him?”

Facts triumphed over all rhetoric!

As facts were stated, all flowery verbal remarks could only lie down.

“God…” The faces of all the Counts were red. They saw three streaks of spiritual light drop from the sky and cover the participants. This rising essence, that which they yearned for in their dreams, was the symbol of advancing to Marquis! An advancement that they searched for everywhere but were unable to earn!

“Huff…” Pale Dragon gripped his armrests. He dared to guarantee that this was the most exciting Marquis advancement that he’d ever seen.

No one spoke. It was so silent that a falling needle could be heard.

Huuummm… After no less than an hour, the spiritual energies dispersed. Afterwards, three people weakly walked out. Nonetheless, at the same time… three very small essences, essences that were substantially different from that of a Count, loudly exploded!

Marquis!

Three cultivators, still just Counts over an hour ago, had advanced to Marquis in front of everyone!

They still hadn’t found their footing, but six figures already were dashing onto the stage. Six quasi Grand Dukes, without any apprehension, grabbed their wrists and used their other hand to examine them from head to toe.

They understood all too clearly what this represented. Especially for a family.

“Marquis… Genuine Marquises…” Ansas’s hand was trembling by a slight hair. In shock, he let go of the participant from his family, his eyes containing strong disbelief.

30%... three people had advanced, no threshold… This was too damn fantastical!

He mused to himself and then bit into the wrist of the Dracul’s participant unhesitatingly.

“Hiss…” A squeal rang out. Before the newly advanced Marquis had time to become excited, sharp pain spread through him. However, he didn’t dare to move.

After a full three minutes passed, Ansas’s face was already starting to turn into a bat’s, his ears also growing larger. He flung away the participant aside. His mouth filled with blood, he looked at Xu Yangyi’s secret room, and his mouth opened a few times. He didn’t say anything, only giving a heavy nod.

Meanwhile, the white-haired old man also drew his hand back. His gaze and Ansas’s slightly met and then separated. Afterwards, he breathed in deeply and said in a heavy tone, “Marquis.”

“A true Marquis.”

“Not false on all accounts. A one hundred percent genuine Marquis!”

“Huh!!!!!!” The entire hall loudly exploded with voices!

In this auction hall, there were a great deal of Counts.

Was there anything more heart-stirring than the synchronized advancements to Marquis than from the three people in front of them?

Count against Marquis. Not to speak of longevity, who didn’t think of breaking away from having to plant a knee on the ground during a meeting?

Xu Yangyi gently sighed. He understood the mindset of Qi Condensation cultivators extremely well.

“God… God!!!” A favored cultivator from the Dracul lowered his voice as much as he could. In reality though, he was already screeching very loudly. “I-I just can’t believe this! Three people… Three people became Marquises in front of me!”

“And the Dracul and the Corvinus are judged them together to be real Marquises!!!” Another woman covered her mouth. Her eyes were red, faintly rising and falling with tears. “I-I… Fuck! This is Marquis! How many cultivators never reach this boundary their entire lives?!”

“How many Marquises are there in America?! R-Right now I actually got to see three Marquises advance at the same time!”

“God… I seriously can’t believe this, is this a dream?”

“I can hardly believe this… This is too hard to believe! Today’s the day I’ve dreamed of most!”

Clamor rose and fell. Still, there were many more people who rode the coattails of remorse!

In the hall… there hadn’t only been these three quasi Marquises.

However… Donaldo’s divine finger hadn’t pointed at them.

“Ah… why didn’t His Highness Donaldo pick me just now?! Dang! I should’ve recommended myself!”

“Fuck, now that you say it… I just realized that I missed the best chance to advance to Marquis!”

“Did you all see? Two Throneless Grand Dukes actually just protected them!”

“God… kill me, I seriously missed a chance like this!”

They were astonished and grieved. In either case though, they were more who were shocked.

The other three master spirit-technicians all stood up.

If it was said that there was someone who didn’t dare to believe their eyes the most—besides Donaldo—there was no one else but them.

As master spirit-technicians, they possessed incredibly vast knowledge. They couldn’t think of any medicinal effect pairing that could achieve this level. They were just like Donaldo, who absolutely didn’t believe Xu Yangyi, but had absolute confidence in himself. In fact, however, they were mercilessly slapped.

Three people had taken capsules, and three people had advanced.

Even an idiot knew that this wasn’t a statistics problem!

If it was, then the odds were terribly enormous! To say a third was perhaps lacking.

“My god…” The lips of the woman who had spoken before were slightly trembling as she looked at the master stage. After ages, she looked up and sighed, “He’s… a true master spirit-technician.”

“Perhaps we were all wrong about his guess.”

“It’s hard to believe that out of three people, all three of them actually advanced. Not to speak of myself, but not even Mr. Donaldo can achieve this.”

“Strong pharmacology, and even stronger fusion techniques. I can even imagine how splendid his technique was when he created these capsules.”

Donaldo didn’t utter a word. Face pale, he stood where he was.

He had lost face?

Yes, certainly. Absolutely. Each and every sigh of sorrow and voiced regret in the auction hall pounded his heart like a beating drum.

However, someone who he couldn’t further accept had appeared, someone whose pharmacology knowledge and refinement techniques were above his!

In feats that he couldn’t do, things that he didn’t believe, someone else had truly succeeded!

“Silence…” he hoarsely said, but the audience was in a feverish mood. He took a deep breath and erupted with a roar, “SILENCE!!!”

Swoosh… His cloak flew up intensely, and everyone finally quieted down. Even the two Throneless Grand Dukes didn’t criticize him.

He didn’t speak with anyone. Instead, he leveled his gaze on Xu Yangyi’s room and eventually said, “How long did it take you to refine this capsule?”

“Ten years.” Xu Yangyi smiled. “This is Chinese pharmacology, so you don’t need to overthink it, sir.”

“Ten years…” Donaldo laughed bitterly and then schooled his features. “Are there any side effects?”

“We are in the West. If there are side effects, you can come and take my head at any time,” Xu Yangyi made a joke.

Donaldo’s next question came faster than his last. “Sir, how many formulas do you have?”

“I’m sure I have dozens. No need to think about going to China to find them. Not even China has my formulas,” Xu Yangyi laughed.

“Good.” As soon as Xu Yangyi’s voice fell, Donaldo deeply bowed his head to the floor. “I, Master Spirit-Technician Andreas Donaldo, sincerely apologize to Mr. X.”

“Please excuse my impulsiveness. Chinese pharmacology is very much different than western study. The time it takes for your medicine to take effect is slow, but there isn’t the slightest qualm in its result to call it a holy medicine. It is my wrong. I shouldn’t doubt another master. Here, in front of all those of the upper echelon of the West and the Holy White Cross Association, I sincerely apologize to you.”

Xu Yangyi was slightly moved. He didn’t expect that Donald would really apologize.

From Donaldo’s angry shout, and since the two Throneless Grand Dukes hadn’t spoken up and even smiled, Xu Yangyi realized that status of a master spirit-technician in the West was certainly beyond all men. And yet, Donaldo had understood his wrongs and immediately apologized to him. Not even a bit of his prior anger was present now.

“It’s no matter. No need to be like this, Mr. Donaldo.”

“Thank you.” Donaldo straightened out and then looked at everyone. He then looked at the three other master spirit-technicians. All four of them nodded imperceptibly.

“I, the vice president of the Holy White Cross Association, hereby declare.” His voice was loud, reverberating throughout the great hall. “Mr. X has been determined to be a master spirit-technician, without a doubt.”

“Any who provoke his authority likewise provokes the Holy White Cross Association. And the thirteen other master spirit-technicians of the association.” He gazed to the three other masters. “Does anyone object?”

“No.” The woman who had spoken out first before was the first to step out this time. She smiled towards Xu Yangyi. “Mr. X is indeed an actual master spirit-technician. In three people, there were three advancements. This isn’t a question of probability.”

“This deep comprehension of pharmacology and peerlessly exquisite techniques when refining can be said to be art.” Another master sighed wistfully, “I never thought that I would really be able to see 30% odds and the grand occasion of three people advancing to Marquis at the same time.”

“I have no objections.”

“I will immediately submit Mr. X’s data to the Holy White Cross Association, no objections.”

“Mhm, I second the motion.”

“Good.” Only now did Donaldo feel that the burning sensation on his face was slowly alleviated. He mumbled to himself for a few seconds and then looked to Xu Yangyi’s room. “Your Highness X, after the Holy War, I hope you can seriously consider joining the Holy White Cross Association. I believe that your unique pharmacology and western pharmacology can collide to give birth to a beautiful spark.”