The gap between them was a touch too absurd! Still, there was nothing to be done about it—who was to blame but himself for his earlier misjudgment? He had assumed that when the first Life-Extending Detox Pill was auctioned, it was Liu Tianyi and that fatty Lai driving the price up in reckless competition, and that the second would surely go cheaper!

It was not that Divine Physician Kang was letting his fancy run wild; that was simply how auctions usually went. Even the deluxe edition of their own Golden Wound Medicine followed the same rule—at first it fetched five hundred thousand, and later only three or four hundred thousand.

Who could have guessed that the second Life-Extending Detox Pill would be bought by the Yu family, and for the very same price of two hundred and eighty million? Only then did Divine Physician Kang begin to fret, for he knew the pill was indeed worth that much. Yet he dared not compete with the Yu family—whether his own family could be recognized and elevated to a great clan depended decisively on the Yu family!

So Divine Physician Kang could only wait for the third Life-Extending Detox Pill. But the tragedy was that Fatty Lai had set his sights on the third as well, and bid more than four hundred million! Kang felt an urge to cough up blood, yet there was nothing at all he could do.

In the end, weighing the value of each Life-Extending Detox Pill and the long-term benefits it might bring his family, Divine Physician Kang could only grit his teeth and pay the exorbitant sum of four hundred and thirty million for the last Life-Extending Detox Pill. If he could truly analyze its ingredients, it would bring his family incalculable advantage!

Four hundred and thirty million—nearly all of the Kang family's liquid capital. The Kang family's liquid assets amounted to only about five hundred million, and in a single stroke more than eighty percent of it was gone.

Fortunately, there was an item up for auction tomorrow that, if won, would bring the Kang family an unexpected profit! At the thought, Divine Physician Kang took a measure of comfort.

Suddenly he heard a knock at the door. Divine Physician Kang frowned and asked, "Who is it?"

"Grandfather, it's me, Zhaolong!" Kang Zhaolong had hurried back to the hotel; he meant to tell his grandfather about befriending the Wu family today.

"Come in. The door isn't locked." Hearing that it was Kang Zhaolong, Divine Physician Kang let him in.

Kang Zhaolong stepped inside, then casually shut the door behind him and bolted it.

"Why are you locking the door?" Divine Physician Kang asked, baffled.

"Grandfather, I have something momentous to tell you!" Kang Zhaolong lowered his voice, strode quickly to Divine Physician Kang's side, and sat down on the sofa beside him.

"Momentous? What is it?" Divine Physician Kang asked in return.

"Today I succeeded in establishing a connection with Wu Chengtian of the Iron Hand Wu family!" And with that, Kang Zhaolong recounted the day's events to his grandfather in full detail, omitting nothing—including running into Wei Zhao and Feng Xiaoxiao, and helping Wu Chengtian take photographs.

Hearing this, Divine Physician Kang fell into thought. After a long while he nodded and said, "Zhaolong, you did well! That fifteen million was well spent. Given Wu Chengtian's ostentatious, shallow nature, you can use this affair to build a fine relationship with him!"

"Yes, Grandfather. With the Wu family's support, can we start looking into being elevated to a great clan?" Kang Zhaolong asked cautiously.

"Elevated to a great clan..." Divine Physician Kang drew a deep breath and looked at his grandson with some surprise. He had not expected the boy's ambition to exceed his own—no sooner had he befriended a member of the Wu family than he was already scheming to be made a great clan.

"The Wu family holds a very special place among these great clans. If Wu Gonggao speaks in our support, I doubt anyone would object—even the Yu family would have to weigh the value of a Mystic Rank expert!" Kang Zhaolong went on. "As for my relationship with Wu Chengtian, frankly, it is a relationship of interest. I settled his bill and saved his face, and right now he is grateful and willing to do a few things for me. But I fear that with time he will forget. Better to strike while the iron is hot and set this affair in motion!"

"There is sense in what you say." Divine Physician Kang nodded. "Had I not read through tomorrow's auction catalogue tonight, I would still be weighing your proposal carefully. But as things stand, we really can give it a try!"

"Oh? The auction catalogue? Is there something in it that favors our Kang family?" Kang Zhaolong was startled.

"Yes—and greatly so!" Divine Physician Kang nodded. "Our family's Golden Wound Medicine actually possesses more properties than it now displays. It can also remove old scars from the skin, leaving it fresh and new!"

"I know that. But isn't there one ingredient so scarce that we had to leave it out?" Kang Zhaolong, who was in charge of the Kang family's laboratory, knew a thing or two about the Golden Wound Medicine's formula.

"Exactly! And that very ingredient is among tomorrow's auction items!" Divine Physician Kang tapped the catalogue in his hand.

"Oh?" Kang Zhaolong was briefly stunned. He quickly took the catalogue from his grandfather, glanced at the open page, and gave a start. "A thousand-year snow lotus? Does such a thing really exist?"

"Of course it does! An ingredient like this must have been appraised before it could be auctioned here. Otherwise, if a counterfeit slipped through, it would cost the Yu family face as well!" Divine Physician Kang said. "That thousand-year snow lotus—we must have it."

"But Grandfather, even if we compound this Golden Wound Medicine, what does that have to do with contending for the status of a great clan?" Kang Zhaolong was puzzled; he could not see the necessary link between the two matters.

"A medicine that removes scars can hardly be compared with a Life-Extending Detox Pill, but it is still a wondrous medicine!" Divine Physician Kang laughed. "Used well, it will benefit our family enormously!"

"Oh? You mean use this Golden Wound Medicine for public relations?" Kang Zhaolong understood his grandfather well enough; he simply could not see what decisive role this special Golden Wound Medicine could play.

"Heh, Zhaolong, you are still young. You have no wife, no daughter, so naturally you do not grasp the subtlety of it!" Divine Physician Kang waved a hand and explained with a smile. "Think about it—which great clan has no women? Women all love beauty by nature. This special Golden Wound Medicine of ours may not be of much practical use, but to such women it is a miracle drug!"

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