Over the next couple of weeks, Su Yan lived like a remarkably productive NEET.
With the exception of one brief errand, he did not take a single step beyond the estate walls. Thanks to Gatekeeper, he did not need to.
The horses, however, still required care he neither understood nor wanted to attempt himself. He visited the estate agency and, acting on their recommendation, hired a young stablehand to feed, groom and exercise them. The boy arrived through the service gate each morning and worked strictly within the stable yard, a limitation 2B had made very clear.
Each morning began with him preparing breakfast and cleaning up afterward. He would then make his way to the scarred training ground for some physical exercise before settling down to cultivate for several hours.
Once he finished, he would join Pod in studying the cultivation manuals they had taken from the Ruan estate. Creating an entirely new cultivation method remained beyond them, but they continued comparing the different circulation routes, searching for anything that could safely improve the method Teacher Lin had taught him.
Lunch came next, followed by Su Yan draining most of his remaining Spirit Power attempting to manifest more Rapture parts for Nihilister.
That particular task had developed a growing problem.
Nihilister had once consumed Husk-class parts readily enough, even if she frequently complained about their quality. Once Servant-class pieces became available, however, she barely touched the Husk-class stock.
The problem had worsened after Su Yan accidentally manifested a fragment from a Master-class Rapture.
From that point onward, the Husk-class parts went completely untouched.
It was not a serious problem yet, but whenever Su Yan looked inside the storage soul tool, he found the pile had grown a little larger. If it continued accumulating at its current rate, he would eventually need to find some use for it.
For now, however, he was content to let the matter rest.
Once he had exhausted his Spirit Power, Su Yan would settle down to cultivate again, replenishing what he had spent while slowly advancing his cultivation.
He had recognised these changes soon after absorbing the Soul Bone, but it was during these repeated cultivation sessions that Su Yan began to appreciate just how much difference they made.
It had not granted him a miraculous cultivation method, nor had it suddenly made him comparable to someone like Tang San. His meridians were simply wider, stronger and more resilient than before, allowing his Spirit Power to circulate through them with noticeably less resistance.
The difference was not dramatic, but it was unmistakable. Each circulation was smoother, the Spirit Power he recovered felt slightly more refined, and his foundations settled a little more firmly with every session.
As the days passed, those small improvements accumulated until his cultivation finally crossed the threshold into Rank 24.
Dinner became an opportunity for a different kind of experimentation.
Su Yan began trying to recreate dishes and flavours from his previous life, particularly food that was uncommon or completely unknown in this world. As much as he enjoyed the local cuisine, after twelve years of eating it, he occasionally needed something different.
That led him to put his own spin on familiar dishes such as stews while attempting others he had never encountered in this world at all: pizzas, burgers, fries and as many of his favourite desserts as he could remember well enough to reproduce.
Unfortunately, several of the desserts he missed most remained beyond his reach. Until he acquired a proper icebox and arranged a reliable supply of ice, fresh cream cakes, tiramisu, mango pudding and anything else that needed time to chill or set would have to wait.
At least Gatekeeper occasionally allowed him to cheat when its manifestations happened to produce one.
On one such occasion, however, a chocolate mousse cake arrived alongside the telltale flash of a small-scale D-WAVE event. Su Yan could only offer a silent apology to whatever poor soul might have just lost their dessert and console himself with the knowledge that it had been thoroughly enjoyed.
Neither 2B nor Nihilister matched his enthusiasm for desserts.
Nihilister was almost entirely carnivorous in her tastes, preferring meat and savoury dishes above everything else. She would still eat whatever desserts he placed before her, but that seemed to come more from an unwillingness to let food go to waste than any genuine enjoyment.
She was also by far the most vocal whenever she found a flaw in his cooking. Her criticism was invariably harsh, but much to Su Yan's annoyance, it was also remarkably precise.
His cooking quickly became far more "palatable," as she put it. As her complaints gradually became less frequent, Su Yan's injured pride was soothed by the undeniable improvement in the food.
2B, on the other hand, offered feedback that was distinctly less helpful.
Whenever he asked what she thought of something, her answers ranged from "good" to "decent," with precious little explanation of what separated the two.
It took Su Yan some time to decipher her preferences through observation instead. Like Nihilister, she generally favoured savoury food, although she was nowhere near as devoted to meat. When it came to desserts, she seemed to prefer lighter dishes with subtler sweetness, which she would eat with quiet enjoyment even if her spoken assessment remained stubbornly limited to "good."
At least someone shared some of his fondness for desserts, even if she did not enjoy all of them.
Pod, on the other hand, could not eat at all, yet Su Yan still set a place for it at every meal.
The food never went to waste. Su Yan, 2B or Nihilister would eventually finish it, while Pod continued to arrive at the table on time despite never partaking.
It felt nice, like a small world of their own, isolated from everything beyond the estate walls.
Their quiet routine was eventually interrupted by progress on one of their lingering tasks. Nearly two weeks after they moved in, Pod finally reported that its analysis of the recovered books and unidentified medicines was complete.
That evening, Su Yan, 2B and Nihilister gathered in the living room beneath the dragon-and-phoenix mural formed across the ceiling by light and shadow.
Pod hovered before them and began delivering its final assessment of the information and remaining loot.
Su Yan once again emptied the relevant contents of the storage soul tool, spreading the medicinal bottles, preserved herbs, jewellery and cultivation manuals across the tables before them. At Pod's direction, he began separating everything it had successfully identified from the items whose nature or purpose remained unknown.
Once the sorting was complete, Su Yan stepped back and examined the results. The herbs had fared reasonably well, but most of the porcelain pill bottles remained in the unidentified pile. Only several clearly marked boxes had been moved across.
"Pod, when you said your analysis was complete, I expected a little more than this."
"Clarification: completion of analysis does not guarantee successful identification. Most of the bottles possess no labels, identifying marks or other distinguishing characteristics. Their physical composition alone is insufficient to determine their precise medicinal effects."
Su Yan gestured towards the boxes Pod had identified.
"Then what makes those different?"
"Report: the boxes were marked as medicinal supplies prepared specifically for the Ruan clan's young master. Their contents also correspond with several recipes described within the recovered medical texts."
Su Yan's expression twisted at the reminder.
"Right. And what do they do?"
Pod hovered over one of the smaller boxes.
"Report: this box contains pills intended to accelerate cultivation. The medical text used to identify them includes a specific warning that no more than one pill should be consumed every seven days. This interval allows the body to fully absorb and refine the medicinal power while expelling any remaining impurities. Taking them more frequently may cause those impurities and unrefined medicinal energy to accumulate, potentially damaging the user's meridians and destabilising their cultivation foundation."
"How much do they accelerate cultivation?"
"Unknown. The text does not quantify the increase, and the results are likely to vary according to the user's rank, physiology and cultivation method. Determining their efficacy would require controlled testing."
Pod turned towards the pile of preserved herbs.
"Additional information: the recovered stock contains the ingredients required to refine another batch. Successful production would first require replicating the process described within the medical text."
Su Yan picked up one of the bottles and removed its stopper. Three pills rested inside.
He glanced between it and the remaining bottles packed into the box. Even at one pill each week, there was enough to last him for quite some time if he decided to use them.
"What about the other boxes?"
Pod moved towards the next one.
"This box was also prepared for the Ruan clan's young master and contains—"
"Pod, you don't have to keep mentioning him."
Pod paused for a moment.
"Acknowledged. This unit will cease mentioning the Ruan clan's young master."
Su Yan sighed.
"Please just continue."
"Report: these pills are intended to soothe strained meridians and promote the recovery of minor damage caused by overexertion or improper Spirit Power circulation. They cannot restore severely damaged meridians or repair an already destabilised cultivation foundation."
"I assume it would be better not to cultivate to the point where they become necessary?"
"Affirmative. This medicine is comparatively rare and appears to have been retained as a contingency in case the cultivation-accelerating pills caused complications."
Su Yan nodded before indicating the third box.
"What is in the last one?"
Pod turned towards the final box.
"The last box contains an assortment of general healing pills and detoxification pills. The detoxification pills possess a two-stage construction. Their outer layer dissolves rapidly, releasing medicine intended to suppress and partially neutralise common ingested poisons. The inner core dissolves shortly afterwards and induces violent, largely uncontrollable vomiting to expel whatever poison remains within the stomach. Their effectiveness will diminish considerably once the poison has been fully absorbed. They will also be ineffective against venom introduced directly into the body or unusually potent and complex toxins."
Su Yan sat back down and began tapping one finger against the table as he considered everything.
The first box would be useful for his cultivation, while the second and third were both worth retaining for emergencies. He would keep all three.
That still left the question of what to do with everything else.
Then the answer came to him.
The auction house.
He needed to visit it anyway. None of the medicines Pod had identified were sufficiently rare or specialised to deliberately draw Dugu Bo's attention, but that did not mean the old poison master could not appear there of his own accord. However small the possibility, attending an auction gave Su Yan a chance of encountering him. He might even find an overlooked treasure being sold cheaply.
More importantly, an auction house of that size would employ professional appraisers. Even if they could not identify everything Pod had been unable to, they should at least be able to examine the remaining herbs, jewellery and medicinal bottles. Anything useful could be retained, while the rest could be placed directly into the auction.
First, however, they needed to finish sorting the remaining loot.
"Pod, please take me through the identified herbs."
"Acknowledged."
Pod spent the next several minutes summarising its findings. Most of the identified plants were relatively ordinary medicinal ingredients, although several possessed mild healing or detoxifying properties. A smaller number were considerably rarer and valuable enough to be worth selling, while anything Pod could not confidently identify was returned to the storage soul tool rather than risk mishandling it. The ingredients required to reproduce the cultivation-accelerating pills were set aside, while several rarer herbs with no immediate use were added to the goods intended for sale.
The jewellery was added to the goods intended for appraisal, where its craftsmanship could be properly valued.
By the time Pod finished, the recovered goods had been divided into three distinct groups: those they would retain, those they could safely sell and those whose purpose remained unknown.
Su Yan's attention then moved to the cultivation manuals.
"What did you find in the cultivation manuals? Any useful discoveries?"
"Report: no superior cultivation method has been developed. However, several useful circulation patterns have been identified. Some appear compatible with the method taught to you by Teacher Lin and may improve the stability and refinement of your Spirit Power without reducing your current cultivation speed. Any improvement is expected to be gradual."
"What about creating an entirely new method using everything you have learned?"
"Several rudimentary methods could theoretically be assembled. However, current projections indicate that they would be no more effective than the method you already possess. Confirming this would require live testing, and the associated risk is considered unwarranted."
Su Yan frowned.
"Is that everything you could recover from the manuals?"
"Affirmative. Every cultivation manual has been scanned and its contents collated. The physical volumes are no longer required."
Pod drifted slightly closer to Su Yan.
"For further research, please acquire additional tomes for my perusal."
Su Yan stared at it for a moment before smiling faintly.
"I'll keep an eye out."
With their contents safely recorded, the cultivation manuals joined the pile of goods intended for sale.
With the loot sorted and a plan in place, they retired for the evening.
The next morning, after a light breakfast, they made their way towards the carriage. Su Yan greeted the young stablehand as he finished tending to the horses, only to run headfirst into an uncomfortable reality.
The boy knew how to care for the horses, but he was no coachman. Su Yan looked at the carriage, remembered the attendant guiding it through Heaven Dou's crowded streets, and sighed.
Walking it was.
After some time, they finally arrived at the Heaven Dou Auction House. Streams of people were already passing through its doors, many dressed in extravagant clothes.
The building occupied an entire corner of the street. Its broad façade was constructed from pale stone, imposing without being ostentatious, while unpainted reliefs ran beneath its upper windows in patterns too subtle for Su Yan to make out from the road. A wide entrance stood open at its centre, attended by four uniformly dressed young women who greeted each arriving guest with practiced composure.
When one of the receptionists asked whether they possessed bidding qualifications, Su Yan explained that he wished to consign several items for appraisal. She politely led them inside.
Stepping into the main hall, Su Yan had to squint against the sudden brightness. White marble covered the floor, catching the daylight and reflecting it throughout the room. The walls were lined with elegant reliefs, while display cases held soul tools, weapons, porcelain and other curiosities.
In all honesty, Su Yan felt rather out of place.
Nihilister clearly did not share the feeling. She had already wandered over to inspect the nearest display case.
Su Yan joined her, but the second he saw the price, he balked. The Soul Tool alone cost several hundred thousand gold soul coins. The suit of armour beside it, forged from the remains of a powerful Spirit Beast and clearly meant as a showpiece, carried a price tag in the millions.
Unfortunately, that was the one Nihilister was eyeing.
"Nihilister, you do know we cannot afford that even if we wanted to, right?"
"I know."
She continued studying the armour.
"But we are here for an auction. I have never attended one before, and I do not intend to walk into it blind."
Su Yan looked at her in confusion.
Nihilister sighed and finally glanced back at him.
"I am planning to take part in the auction as well." A small grin tugged at her lips. "It seems like fun."
"Just do not bid against me for a laugh and we will be fine."
The glimmer of amusement in her eyes did nothing to reassure Su Yan.
"Technically, it is my money. But the less I have left, the less any of us have to spend later. That includes you."
The grin disappeared as she considered the point.
"We'll see how it goes."
Su Yan left Nihilister to her inspection and headed for the appraisal counter.
It was not long before he and 2B were shown into a private room. Su Yan emptied the unknown medicines, herbs, jewellery and cultivation manuals from his storage soul tool, arranging them across the otherwise empty tables.
When the appraisal master arrived, he gave the assortment a brief, incredulous look. He said nothing, however, and immediately began his work.
By the time he finished, every remaining item had been assessed.
As Pod had suspected, the jewellery was entirely mundane. Several pieces, however, belonged to the same artisan collection. According to the appraisal master, the right buyer would pay a respectable price to complete it.
The unidentified pills were all cultivation-related, but none were suitable for Su Yan. Many accelerated cultivation by drawing excessively on a Spirit Master's potential, forcing the user's future progress into the present at the cost of a weaker foundation and a lower eventual ceiling.
The remaining pills had only middling effects, but were popular enough that any batch placed on the market was quickly bought.
Su Yan decided to sell them.
The appraisal master showed no surprise at the decision. Such pills remained popular with Spirit Masters of limited talent, he explained. Many knew they would never reach the highest ranks through conventional cultivation and chose immediate strength—and the greater ability to earn money or protect themselves—over a future they believed they would never reach.
Several of the herbs proved rare enough to command high prices, either because demand for them remained consistently high or because they were notoriously difficult to cultivate and preserve. In Su Yan's case, they had remained remarkably well-preserved within the storage soul tool.
The appraiser's gaze lingered on it for a moment, calculating rather than openly covetous, before he returned to his work.
The cultivation manuals were of middling quality. A few of the better examples could sustain a minor clan, but none were exceptional enough to attract the interest of a major power.
In total, the appraisal master estimated that the goods could fetch between forty-five and sixty thousand gold soul coins.
That estimate depended on patience. He recommended spreading the pills and manuals across several auctions rather than releasing them at once, giving the auction house time to advertise the rarer lots and draw in interested buyers. The same applied to the rare herbs, while the jewellery could be discreetly brought to the attention of several noble and merchant families known to collect that particular artisan's work.
Selling his goods through the auction house would, of course, incur a ten percent commission on their final sale price, but Su Yan had expected as much.
The appraisal master also offered an alternative. The auction house could purchase the goods directly, paying Su Yan a fixed amount immediately and handling their eventual resale itself.
The offer would be lower than what the items might fetch through a properly advertised auction, but it came without the wait, the commission or the risk that interest in a particular lot might prove lower than expected. In exchange, the auction house would assume that risk itself.
Su Yan declined the offer. He already intended to return to the auction house several times, so waiting through a few auctions for the better return made little difference.
They were not short on money, and he could afford to be patient.
He was informed that the first lots, including the more valuable items, would go to auction in two days. That would give the auction house enough time to advertise them properly, while the remaining goods would be sold gradually at later auctions.
When Su Yan and 2B finally left the appraisal room, his storage soul tool felt significantly lighter. They were met by the sight of Nihilister surrounded by several young men.
Su Yan acted quickly. Pushing his way through the crowd, he grabbed Nihilister and hurried away, with 2B following close behind.
"You should have let me get at least one hit in after I had to listen to their incessant prattling," she growled.
"But then you would likely have been banned from the auction outright."
"Tch."
She started walking away.
"Where are you going?"
"For a walk."
She suddenly stopped and glanced back at him.
"I'm going for a walk through that district. If some idiots mistake me for a soft target, I'll deal with them." Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"You don't have a problem with that, do you?"
Su Yan's palm met his face with a loud slap.
He should have seen this coming. He really should have.
"Just make sure you come back in time for lunch."
Nihilister began to laugh as she walked off again, waving one hand behind her.