"…"
With his legs crossed, and arms folded, Long Hua can't help but look towards the auction stage with an expression of boredom.
None of the items that have been shown so far are of any interest to him.
Although not all the items that are put into this auction are from the recently excavated ruins, long-time collectors have also thrown some of their wares into the mix to spice up the variety.
With how many influential people of wealth there are in this restaurant currently, it's hard to believe that there isn't a single magic treasure, or raw material of some kind present in the auction's catalog.
As for viewing the catalog itself—with how some of the items' photos are edited through the use of computer software, it's impossible to tell if they're of any real value without seeing them in person.
"Ai…"
Heaving a sigh, Long Hua relaxes his seating posture, and picks up his cup for a sip.
"Long-xiong, I think you're going to have a really difficult time trying to find raw materials and magic treasures in this world."
Although Zhen Qing Huai knows how rare these two categories of items are in this world, she is nevertheless surprised to see their scarcity in person.
Setting his cup down, and rotating the Tranquil Heart Incantation, Long Hua replies—
"The moment I get out of this stupid world, our business contract will have to be voided. If Zhen-laoban wants anything from me, you're buying them at full price. Unless you also happen to have an auction house of your own."
"I'm sure we'll be able to work something out then. Xiao Rong."
"Ah, I forgot. Long-shao, catch."
As Zhen Rong tosses a storage pouch over, Long Hua snatches it out of the air.
"Everything you ordered, along with books on curse studies; you can keep the pouch as well."
"Thanks."
Peeking into the storage pouch, Long Hua smiles with satisfaction.
Other than spirit stones, and some raw materials, there are also a vast number of spirit herbs.
In fact, most of the things contained in this pouch are spirit herbs, and their quality—
(This quality is surprisingly high.)
Storing the pouch away, and raising his head, Long Hua turns to Zhen Qing Huai, and asks—
"Zhen-laoban, does your place specialize in raising spirit herbs?"
"Oh?"
Raising an eye, Zhen Qing Huai looks back at Long Hua with a hint of surprise, and answers—
"Indeed. I could even say, my bloodline branch raises the best herbs in the entire family."
Unable to hold back her curiosity, Zhen Qing Huai goes on to ask—
"Long-xiong, what exactly do you do with those herbs?"
As an awkward expression appears on his face, Long Hua answers—
"…Roll them into cigars, and smoke them."
Hearing this, Zhen Qing Huai and Zhen Rong blinked their eyes with a dumbfound look on their faces, whereas Bai Wen—
"Pff!"
Spewing out his tea, Bai Wen is utterly astonished by what Long Hua had just said, as he says—
"Damn, Lao Long, if you say that to any alchemist, they'll gut you alive."
"Where I come from, it's common practice, so don't judge until you try it."
"Roll one for me right now then."
Saying this, Bai Wen waves his hand to get rid of the mess that he had made.
Raising a sigh, Long Hua takes out some of the herbs, and in less than five minutes, he rolls out a cigar, and tosses it to Bai Wen.
"For real?"
Catching the cigar, and looking at it with an expression of doubt, Bai Wen ignites it, and presses it to his lips.
Sucking in the fume, and exhaling—
"Ah this…?"
Repeating the process a few more times, Bai Wen's right eye gradually begins to give off a bright shine.
As Bai Wen savored the cigar, Long Hua begins to roll a few more, and turning to Zhen Qing Huai, he asks—
"You want one?"
"…Hmm."
Taking the cigar, Zhen Qing Huai examines it in detail, but instead of smoking it, she stores it away into her storage pouch, prior to tossing a few herbs over.
The herbs that are tossed over are the exact herbs, which Long Hua had used to roll the cigar with.
"You planning to sell it or something?"
"I'll have an elder of my bloodline branch try it out, and see how it goes. If he approves, I might consider it. Can anyone make this?"
"There're a few techniques required, but it's fairly easy to learn."
Hearing this, Zhen Qing Huai tosses a jade slip at Long Hua.
Inscribing the techniques needed, Long Hua tosses the jade slip back, and says—
"If you're really selling these things, I want a portion of the profit."
"Deal."
Waking up from his trance, Bai Wen remarks—
"Lao Long, this is refreshingly satisfying. Roll me a few more."
"Do it yourself."
"Ai…"
Catching a jade slip from Bai Wen, Long Hua inscribes the same techniques onto it, prior to tossing it back.
Looking through the jade slip's contents, Bai Wen asks—
"Do you have like an ideal recipe?"
"Lao Bai, I'm not a professional spirit herb cigar maker. You'll have to do some trials and errors yourself. There's a universal concept that you should keep in mind, the older the herbs, and the higher their quality, the better the resulting cigar."
"This is going to one expensive craft…"
"From where I came from, these things are basically our version of pills."
"For real?"
"For real."
Off to the side, Zhen Rong asks—
"Brother, you plan to give it to Elder Xīng Yuè?"
"I'll have someone deliver it to him. That expression on Lao Bai's face is quite promising."