"You!"

Cheng Yin and Song Jianjun were quite enraged; they hadn’t expected Wang Hao to challenge their authority in front of so many people.

But, recalling Wang Hao’s fierce gaze at the time, neither of them dared to utter the rest of the curses they had in mind.

"Good one, Wang Hao, you just wait. I can’t be bothered with you today, but after this auction is over, we’ll see how I’ll deal with you!"

Cheng Yin swore to himself in his heart.

After his return, Wang Hao also felt uneasy.

Although Wang Hao had spoken with great firmness just now, this auction was truly important for him.

The auction had drawn herbal medicine buyers from all over the country, as well as some prominent figures in the field of traditional Chinese medicine.

For a newcomer to the herbal medicine market like Wang Hao, the most straightforward way to gain trust was to make a remarkable impact at this auction; otherwise, it would be impossible to rise quickly.

With his huge production, if Wang Hao failed to catch the attention of herbal medicine buyers nationwide, his more than a thousand acres of herbs might face the risk of unsold inventory.

"Could it be that my luck has run out?"

Wang Hao suddenly thought of the strange old man he had met earlier speaking about fortune and couldn’t help but smile bitterly.

Thinking back on how everything had always gone smoothly for him, and yet at this most crucial auction, he faced nothing but obstacles, Wang Hao felt extremely frustrated.

Preoccupied with thoughts, Wang Hao left the house without knowing where to go, wandering aimlessly. Suddenly, he realized it was noisy around him, looked up, and was shocked by the sight.

The scene before him was truly crowded; people were huddled together, but he had no idea what they were doing.

"Come one come all, take a look! This is a top-quality Blood Ginseng, extremely precious, starting at one hundred fifty thousand. Come and buy!"

Wang Hao heard someone shouting loudly in the crowd and couldn’t help but be drawn over.

Squeezing through the mass of people, he saw a long table laid out in front, covered with many fine items.

Behind this table, a platform had been hastily constructed. On the platform stood a middle-aged man holding a stick, shouting out loud to the crowd.

Wang Hao had only ever heard of Blood Ginseng and had never seen it, so out of curiosity, he looked at the table and, sure enough, there was something resembling ginseng, blood red all over.

Why say resembling ginseng? Because it looked just like a dried red carrot.

Of course, Wang Hao wasn’t the only one who thought so.

"Hey, Liu Dazhuang, don’t tell me you’re trying to trick us with a dried carrot. Blood Ginseng doesn’t even grow in our region of Xiangbei."

"Exactly, and to me, that Blood Ginseng is far too large; there’s no such thing as ginseng that thick. One look and I can tell it’s a carrot."

"Everyone better take a closer look, don’t be cheated!"

The surrounding crowd was discussing animatedly, with not a single person believing it was genuine Blood Ginseng.

Liu Dazhuang was the man on the platform with the stick, a disheveled, honest-looking fellow, hardly resembling a swindler.

But appearances can be deceiving, and Wang Hao decided to watch and see how things unfolded, figuring he might as well enjoy the spectacle since he had nothing else to do.

"Look at what you’re all saying. I, Dazhuang, haven’t just started selling here today. Has anyone ever bought fake goods from me? Step forward if you have!"

Liu Dazhuang was not pleased to hear these accusations, standing tall on his platform, pointing his stick at the rumor-mongering crowd below.

However, no one actually stepped forward, implying that these people recognized that they had not previously discovered any fake goods from Liu Dazhuang.

Yet the people continued to purse their lips, looking skeptical and hesitant to trust.

"But I still can’t trust this Blood Ginseng of yours!"

Although the crowd thought highly of Liu Dazhuang as a person, they still lacked confidence in the Blood Ginseng he was offering.

"Quit bossing me around here, if you’ve got the guts, go inside and boss around at the auction itself!"

Liu Dazhuang pointed with the stick in his hand toward the auction hall across the street.

That was when Wang Hao noticed that this small market, resembling an auction, was right opposite the traditional Chinese medicine auction’s banquet hall.

"Same old rules!"

Liu Dazhuang banged on the gong behind him with his stick to draw everyone’s attention before speaking.

"Everyone can look and touch first, then we’ll talk price, and the highest bidder wins! If anyone’s interested, hurry over and take a look!"

But hearing Liu Dazhuang’s words, everyone shook their heads—who would be interested in a dried radish? If it were just ten or twenty thousand, perhaps everyone would consider giving it a try.

However, Liu Dazhuang’s starting bids were a whopping one hundred and fifty thousand, so no one dared to take the risk. They were more interested in other items instead.

"Hey, even if you’re not buying, you could still take a look! I really didn’t lie to you all, this is genuinely good stuff!"

Liu Dazhuang was persistent.

But still, nobody wanted to give it another glance.

"Ah, I always say you folks can’t recognize a good thing. This Blood Ginseng might look a bit robust, but that’s because it isn’t fully dried yet! If it really were a radish, wouldn’t the surface have wrinkles from being underdried? You don’t even understand that."

Liu Dazhuang had hoped to sell this Blood Ginseng for a high price today, but no one seemed to recognize its value, leaving him somewhat embarrassed.

Curious from listening to Liu Dazhuang’s convincing description, Wang Hao couldn’t help but step forward and pick up the "red radish."

Star Lord of Earth!

The moment Wang Hao touched the "red radish," a term flashed through his mind, startling him greatly.

The Star Lord of Earth is a legendary spiritual medicine, not widely known. If it hadn’t been mentioned in "Shennong Herbal Medicine," Wang Hao wouldn’t have even known such a medicine existed in the world.

But what really surprised Wang Hao was that one of the ingredients required for the Marrow Changing Pill was a type of herbal medicine named Star Lord of the Earth King, obviously the crème de la crème of the Star Lord of Earth.

"Boss, where... where did you get this Blood Ginseng from?"

Wang Hao asked, holding the Star Lord of Earth curiously.

"What’s it to you? If you want it, just name your price. You think you can get information about this precious herb without buying it from me? That doesn’t seem right!"

Seeing that Wang Hao looked somewhat unfamiliar, Liu Dazhuang naturally became a bit wary of him.

"If you tell me where you got this Blood Ginseng from, I’ll agree to buy it for three hundred thousand."

Wang Hao stated firmly.

"Are you for real? Are you really willing to pay three hundred thousand for it?"

Liu Dazhuang, noting Wang Hao’s ordinary dress that made him look like an average farmer, couldn’t believe he could afford such an amount.

"Six hundred thousand!"

Seeing no reaction from Liu Dazhuang, Wang Hao immediately raised his offer.

"Do you want cash, or should I transfer it? Either way works!"

"What? Six hundred thousand? This guy must be out of his mind! We don’t even produce Blood Ginseng around here; this one is definitely a fake."

"Even if it’s real, given its hefty size, it probably isn’t of good quality and can’t be worth that much money!"

"This young fellow must be a scam artist, right? He looks so young, and he’s just throwing away hard-earned money like this!" 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

As soon as the crowd heard Wang Hao was willing to spend six hundred thousand on this "red radish," their gazes all turned to him. No one believed the Blood Ginseng was real, let alone worth that much.

In their eyes, Wang Hao must be someone who hadn’t seen much of the world or someone who was simply out of his mind.