The men that had just walked past Alex had a cultivation base around the Saint Core realm. There was even one amongst the group that seemed to be in the Saint Soul realm as well.
They all wore a black robes with purple outlines and almost looked like they were all from great families going by their attitudes.
However, it was neither their cultivation base nor their attitude that caught Alex's attention.
It was the robe. In fact, more accurately speaking, it was the insignia on their robe that had caught Alex's attention.
On their left checst and either side of their shoulders, there was a circular insignia drawn in purple with a Sword in the center with a serpentine creature wrapped around it.
If it were any other place, Alex would've likely judged it to be some sort of coincidence, but in the Eastwatch city where people from the other continents were likely to come, he felt that this was no coincidence.
Because of this, he knew that the serpentine creature was no normal serpent but rather a dragon. It was the Azure dragon that was represented in the insignia, and thus the insignia and thereby the men that had just walked past him belonged to the rulers of the Eastern Continent, the Dragon Imperium.
"What are these people doing here?" Alex wondered. The thought lasted for a few minutes before he stopped thinking about it.
The only reason he was curious about them was because of the sword that was back in the beast realm. That was the sword responsible for killing Pearl's mother.
That sword had the same insignia as the one on these people's shoulders.
Alex had wondered if they were royalties, but given they looked more soldierly than anything, they probably were not.
He focused back on selling the pill and waited for another person to come by.
A curious boy, one that was at the peak of the True King realm stopped in front of Alex when he saw the notice.
"Is this a scam?" the young man asked.
"It is no scam," Alex said calmly. "I have a single pill and that is all I am selling today."
The young man wanted a pill soon enough and was planning to buy one in the near future. However, seeing such a pill available right at the moment, his urge to buy it reached an all-time high.
"How much?" the young man asked.
"I have no specific price for the pill. Anyone that can give me enough so that I'm satisfied with it will be enough," he said. Alex hadn't planned to put a price on such a pill since he had never seen such a pill being sold before.
Was 500 True spirit stones low or high? How did one compare the Harmony between a pill that wasn't even in the 70s and a pill that was 96%? Since it was difficult to put a price on the pill, he decided to let the customer do so for him instead.
"How about 250 True Spirit stones? That's enough right?" the young man asked hopefully.
Alex simply shook his head. "It's a 96% pill, not a 56% one. You will have to pay a lot more than just 250," he said.
"What about 300 then? Is that alright?" the young man asked.
However, Alex just continued shaking his head in refusal. The price was still too low.
"350?" the young man asked. That was already way more than what he usually bought pills with, so he wasn't sure if he should keep going or not.
Alex however wasn't budging at all and kept on refusing.
"Young mna, don't be duped. I bet that guy doesn't even have a pill to sell," one of the vendor owners from the side said.
"Even if he does have one, you need to make sure it's what he claims to be," another one said.
A few people turned to look at what brought on such responses from the people they were buying from. When they saw the piece of paper and the words written on it, they were immediately curious to learn even more.
So, they walked up and gathered around Alex as well.
Before the young man could even try to ask anything else, the new people started asking questions of their own.
Alex answered the question as best as he could.
He told them that he had made the pill 2 days ago, confirming that he was the alchemist behind the pill.
When asked why he wasn't selling this in an auction, Alex said that he needed money and couldn't wait until the auction. After receiving his money, he would make some more pills to sell in the auction.
"Hey, can I see the pill? I need to be sure if it is true or not," one of the people in the group said.
Alex nodded and brought out a small ceramic bottle where he had kept the pill. "This is the pill," he said while popping open the lid.
The few people checked inside and saw the pill.
"How do we tell that is it a 96% pill thought? We need to see it being tested," one of them said.
Alex frowned a little. He didn't have any pill testers on him, so he couldn't prove himself.
"Regarding pill testers, I—"
"No, we can't trust your pill tester. We need somebody else's," one of the people said before Alex could even finish speaking.
Alex shrugged. "That works for me," he said.
"HEY! DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY PILL TESTER WE CAN BORROW?"
The few people that were gathered started shouting out loud to various people, bringing the attention of many more towards them.
A larger crowd gathered while a few of the newcomers brought their own pill testers.
"We should check on all of them just in case he paid a few to go with his scam," a few people suggested. The other people agreed.
"You're free to check however many times you like," Alex said and let the people do whatever they wanted. He wasn't worried about the pill at all since it wasn't a very important pill at all.
If it was damaged in any way, he could simply make the people that damaged it pay for it.
Without waiting for his approval, the people started testing the pill with the pill testers that were given to them by the crowd.
A man in a brown robe took up the initiative to be the one to test it all. He placed the pill in the tester that looked not that different from the pill tester in the Northern Continent.
These were the ones that gave the instant result, and as such the moment the tester was activated, the crowd saw a 96% written on the tester.
"Woah!"
"No way!"
"Check it again."
The crowd spoke excitedly, making even more people gather around Alex's location. Soon, even the saints were curious about what was causing such a commotion.
The man in the brown robe tested a few more times using different testers, but each time the result was the same.
"Holy shit! It's true. It really is a 96% pill," someone said.
"That's as close to perfection as we will ever get."
"How can someone make such good pills when there are talented people struggling to make pills with 70% harmony?"
The crowd was justifiably shocked. After all, finding pills with such great harmony was pretty much impossible anywhere.
Not only was there a lack of recipes to make good pills, but there was also a lack of knowledge to make those recipes. As such, it would always depend on someone's luck to create a recipe that could create high-quality pills.
"Brother, how much are you selling this for?" the man in the brown robe asked.
Alex took back the pill and placed it inside the bottle again. "I have no set price. I will go with whoever pays the most."
The moment Alex answered that the crowd instantly started shouting out their amount.
The young man who had come at the start was bewildered by the amount quickly reaching 600 and above, something he would've never paid for.
Thinking that this was an opportunity he couldn't miss, he decided to jump in to.
N0 v el Next. CoM
Alas, as a rogue cultivator, he could never have the same amount of money as someone from a sect or a clan.
Alex watched as the numbers quickly reached over 800 and was surprised at just how much the people were willing to pay for a 96% pill. Maybe he truly had underestimated his own pill.
"Everyone, move!" a voice came from behind the crowd, loud enough that the crowd was forced to disperse a little.
"Is this where that pill is being sold?" a young voice came from a slightly chubby young man that was at the peak of the True King realm.
"Brother Huang, this is the place," another young man said. "Look, that's the kid that is selling the pill."
"Kid, how much is this pill for?" the young man asked.
"I'm selling to the highest bidder," Alex said.
"Oh, what's the bid now? 860? Was that what I heard earlier?" the young man asked.
A few people nodded with a bit of hesitation. "Haha, great! I will pay 860 spirit stones then. Anyone else want to pay more?" the young man asked.
"I can pay 870," a man that didn't know about the newly arrived young man's reputation quickly said.
Suddenly, a wave of cultivation bases landed on the man, suffocating him from all sides. "Did you say you will pay more?" the young man asked.
"I… I…" the old man couldn't speak from the pressure.
Alex's eyes narrowed and a frown appeared on his face. He did not like what he was seeing.