The Golden Phoenix Auction House was a monument to excess.
Gold-leafed pillars rose fifty feet into the air, supporting balconies draped in silks from the Southern Isles. Guards clad in enchanted jade armor stood like statues at the main gates, checking the invitations of the city's elite.
Aris, wearing the Mask of the Faceless, watched from a shadowed rooftop across the street. His black robes billowed in the night wind, making him look like a phantom.
"Front door is for customers," Aris murmured, his voice now a deep baritone. "Side door is for business."
He activated the Abyssal Eye. The building became a wireframe blueprint. He ignored the reinforced vaults and the VIP suites. He was looking for a weakness in the personnel.
[Target Identified: Manager Feng]
[Level: 28 (Qi Foundation Stage)]
[Status: Desperate / Greed-Driven]
[Hidden Fact: Feng has embezzled 5,000 Gold to pay off gambling debts. The auditors arrive in three days.]
"Perfect," Aris whispered. A man with a deadline was a man without options.
The Negotiation
Manager Feng was a sweating, balding man who looked like he hadn't slept in a week. He paced his private office, chewing on a fingernail as he stared at a ledger book that no amount of accounting magic could fix.
Creak.
The heavy oak door opened without a knock.
Feng jumped, his Qi flaring weakly. "Who is—? I said no disturbances!"
"I am not a disturbance," Aris said, stepping into the room and closing the door behind him. "I am a solution."
Feng froze. He looked at the tall figure in black robes, at the featureless porcelain mask that seemed to absorb the candlelight. "I don't know who you are. Leave, or I'll call the guards!"
"Call them," Aris challenged calmly. "Will they arrive before the auditors do? Three days isn't a lot of time to find five thousand gold, Manager."
Feng's face drained of color. "How... how do you know that?"
Aris didn't answer. He simply tossed a single black pill onto the mahogany desk. It rolled with a heavy, metallic sound, leaving a faint trail of violet frost on the wood.
"The Abyssal Foundation Pill," Aris stated. "It cleanses 20% of impurities instantly. In an empire obsessed with talent, a pill that 'fixes' a mediocre son is worth its weight in spirit stones. I have three."
Feng scoffed, his fear momentarily overridden by his professional skepticism. "Impossible. Only Saint-grade Alchemists can cleanse 20% at once. You're a fraud."
"Test it," Aris said, leaning against the doorframe. "On yourself. Your own meridians are clogged from cheap wine and stress. One breath of the medicinal fragrance will tell you the truth."
Feng hesitated. He looked at the pill. It pulsed with a strange, hypnotic rhythm.
He leaned in and took a deep sniff.
[Effect Triggered: Abyssal Allure.]
Feng's eyes widened. The moment the scent hit his lungs, his sluggish Qi accelerated. The dull ache in his chest vanished. For a split second, he felt... powerful.
"This... this is..." Feng stammered, reaching for the pill with trembling hands.
"Stop." Aris's voice was like a whip.
Feng froze.
Aris walked over and leaned across the desk, the blank mask inches from Feng's face.
"I am offering you a lifeline. Put these in tonight's 'High-Tier' slot. You take the official commission. I take 70% of the profit. But—and here is the part you'll like—I'll help you cook the books. We'll leave enough 'ghost gold' in the records to cover your debt. The auditors will find nothing."
Feng swallowed hard. "Why me?"
"Because a man with a noose around his neck is the most loyal partner in the world," Aris said. "Do we have a deal?"
Feng gulped and nodded frantically. "Yes. Yes! I'll list it as an 'Anonymous Contribution' from a Hidden Sect Master. No one will dare question the source."
The Frenzy
Aris sat in a private, shadowed corner of the auction hall's upper balcony. Nox was curled in his shadow, invisible to the naked eye.
Below, the elite of the Great Qin Empire bid on jade swords, beast cores, and slaves. It was boring.
Then, Manager Feng stepped onto the stage. He held a crystal case containing three black pills.
"Distinguished guests," Feng announced, his voice trembling with genuine excitement (and fear). "We have a surprise entry. A pill that defies the laws of the Heavens."
"The Abyssal Foundation Pill."
A murmur went through the crowd.
"It cleanses 20% of impurities," Feng declared. "Verified by our own appraisers."
Silence. Then, chaos.
[Abyssal Eye Analysis]
Duke Yan (Level 48): "My son needs this!" Lord Meng (Level 50): "If the Thorne family gets this, they will be unstoppable. I must buy it to destroy it."
"2,000 Gold!" Duke Yan shouted.
"4,000 Gold!" Lord Meng countered immediately.
The price skyrocketed. The "Shadow-Addiction" property of the pill's aura was subtle; it wasn't mind control, but it made the bidders feel a deep, primal need to possess it. It whispered to their greed.
"8,500 Gold!" Lord Meng screamed, his face red. "Going once! Going twice! Sold!"
The gavel banged.
[Quest Update: The Hidden Monopoly]
[Goal: Earn 500 Gold.]
[Result: 8,500 Gold.]
[Status: CRITICAL SUCCESS.]
[Rewards Claimed:]
300 AP. Feature Unlocked: Abyssal Forging. Bonus Reward: Manual - 'Thousand-Face Illusion' (Rank: Earth).
The Shadow in the Alley
An hour later.
Aris walked out of the side entrance, a heavy pouch of Spirit Notes in his spatial ring.
[Abyssal Nexus Status]
AP Balance: 495 AP. Wealth: 5,950 Gold (Aris's share). Reputation: The "Pale Alchemist" is now a rumor in the Underworld.
The night air was cool. Aris walked toward the Thorne Estate, taking a shortcut through the abandoned Merchant's Alley.
Suddenly, the hair on the back of his neck stood up.
[Warning: Hostile Entity Detected.]
[Target: Shadow Guard of the Meng Family.]
[Level: 32 (Qi Foundation Rank 9).]
Lord Meng, Aris thought. He bought the pills, but he wants to know who sold them. Or maybe he just wants his money back.
Aris stopped in the middle of the dark alley. The moonlight didn't reach down here.
"You're loud," Aris said to the empty air.
A figure dropped from the roof, landing silently behind him. It was a man in grey leathers, holding a serrated dagger coated in green poison.
"Hand over the gold, Alchemist," the assassin hissed. "And maybe I'll make it quick."
Aris turned around. The white porcelain mask dissolved into mist, revealing the face of a five-year-old boy with eyes like deep, violet pits.
The assassin blinked. "A... kid?"
"A Level 32 hunter for a Level 7 player?" Aris whispered. He didn't look afraid. He looked hungry.
He glanced down at his own shadow.
"Nox... I think it's time for your first real meal."