Female Protagonist Assistance System

Startled by Gu Xun’er’s unusual firmness, Jia Lie’s face instantly darkened. However, he dared not lay a hand on Gu Xun’er. Firstly, he still harbored desires for this lotus-like young lady and wished to pursue her. Secondly, he was well aware that she was now a six-star Dou Practitioner, while he was merely a one-star Dou Practitioner. The men he brought with him were of similar caliber, certainly not enough to challenge her.

In the end, Jia Lie could only slink away with his men, thoroughly chastened.

Gu Xun’er relaxed her stern demeanor, reverting to her previous girlish appearance, and smiled at Xiao Han, saying, “Senior Sister, shall we go look over there?”

Xiao Han nodded without a word.

The two continued browsing until dusk before leisurely making their way back towards the Xiao Family compound.

“Senior Sister, I heard from Master that you’re also an alchemist?” Gu Xun’er walked with her hands behind her back, suddenly turning her head to give Xiao Han a sweet smile. “If Xun’er has any questions about alchemy in the future, Senior Sister must help me, alright?”

Confronted with Gu Xun’er’s eyes that seemed to hold the entire starry sky, Xiao Han’s steps faltered momentarily. She quickly recovered, continuing forward as if nothing had happened.

“Mm.”

⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱

In the days that followed, nothing occurred that was beyond Xiao Han’s expectations. After touring the market district with Xiao Han, Gu Xun’er settled down and began earnestly studying the Flame Mantra. It must be said that Gu Xun’er, befitting her status as one of this world’s female leads, possessed extraordinary comprehension and talent. It was believed that before long, she would be ready to begin learning alchemy.

Xiao Yan, too, eagerly began his medicinal bath training with the assistance of the Medicine Elder. He hadn’t shown his face much these past few days, and on the rare occasions he did emerge, he wore an expression of utter contentment.

Xiao Han toyed with the white porcelain bottle in her hand. Inside were ten third-grade Spirit Refining Pills she had just successfully refined. The Spirit Refining Pill was considered one of the most sought-after third-grade pills. When consumed by a Dou Practitioner on the verge of advancing to Dou Shi, it guaranteed a one hundred percent success rate for breaking through.

[Host, are you planning to go to the Miteer Auction House?]

Seeing Xiao Han idly playing with the porcelain bottle, the system couldn’t help but ask.

Xiao Han softly responded with an “Mm,” then continued, “Given Gu Xun’er’s talent and comprehension, breaking through the first layer of the Flame Mantra will only take two or three days. After that, I can begin teaching her alchemy.”

The system realized: [Host wants to prepare a medicinal cauldron and practice materials for the female lead?]

“Mm.” And also to meet an old friend and sell her these pills, helping boost her performance.

The Miteer Auction House was the largest auction venue in Wutan City, and it belonged to the wealthiest family in the Jia Ma Empire—the Miteer Family.

In the Jia Ma Empire, when it came to wealth, the Miteer Family was undoubtedly at the forefront.

The Miteer Family had a long-standing history, having developed in the Jia Ma Empire for several hundred years. Their relationships were intricate and complex. According to some rumors, this incredibly wealthy family seemed to have some connections with the imperial family of the Jia Ma Empire.

Within the empire, the Miteer Family, along with the Nalan Family and the Intir Family, were known as the Three Giants of Jia Ma. These three families had a foothold in various sectors of the empire, including business and military, wielding considerable influence.

Therefore, with the strong backing of the Miteer Family, even if the profits from the auction house were tempting, no one dared to harbor any ill intentions towards them.

Several fully armed guards stood at the main entrance of the auction house, vigilantly observing everyone who passed by.

“Is Yafei here?”

At that moment, a somewhat familiar elderly voice came from the side. The guards turned their heads to find a mysterious figure in a black robe had appeared beside them at some point, and before they spoke, no one had noticed “his” presence.

However, these guards were only stunned for a moment before quickly regaining their composure. Suppressing their excitement, they bowed respectfully to the black-robed figure: “Sir, Miss Yafei is inside the auction house.”

The black-robed figure nodded slightly and stepped inside.

After the figure entered, the guards raised their heads and exchanged excited glances.

“That important person has come again, surely to sell pills to our auction house.”

“Excellent! Although we don’t know who this person is, I once heard Master Gu Ni mention that this person is an alchemist of no low rank.”

“And I’ve heard that all the pills from this person are of premium quality.”

“Great! Once these pills are auctioned, we might get another pay raise.”

Hearing the guards’ conversation behind her clearly, Xiao Han tugged at her hood with slight exasperation. No wonder these people were always so excited every time she came; it turns out it was for a pay raise…

Backed by the Miteer Family, the Miteer Auction House was incredibly wealthy. The employees’ salaries were very high, and the benefits were excellent. Moreover, whenever good items were auctioned and the auction house made money, the employees’ benefits would also improve.

After Xiao Han entered the auction house, an attendant familiar with her quickly came forward to guide her: “Sir, Miss Yafei has gone to preside over an auction and may need some time before she’s available.”

Xiao Han nodded: “No rush.”

The attendant relaxed slightly and quickly led her to a VIP lounge. After instructing someone to brew fine tea for Xiao Han, he respectfully withdrew.

Xiao Han took out the bottle of Spirit Refining Pills and placed it openly on the table. Then she picked up the apparently expensive teacup in front of her and took a sip of the brownish tea.

The initial taste was slightly bitter, but upon careful savoring, one could detect a hidden fragrance and sweetness.

[It’s actually Dragon Fruit Tea! This is imperial tribute tea, the Miteer Auction House is truly extravagant.] The system scanned and quickly obtained detailed information about this tea, causing it to exclaim in surprise.

Although Xiao Han’s face remained impassive, she was also somewhat surprised. It seemed that the rumor about the Miteer Family having some connection with the imperial family wasn’t just hearsay.

In the past, Yafei had always been available when she came, and she would leave immediately after completing the transaction, so she hadn’t had the chance to taste the tea here. She didn’t expect that this wait would allow her to drink imperial tribute tea.

Xiao Han didn’t have to wait long. Soon, the attendant who had shown her to the lounge led a beautiful woman dressed in a red gown into the room.

The newcomer was Yafei, the chief auctioneer of the Miteer Auction House and a renowned beauty in Wutan City. Her mature and alluring charm had captivated many men.

After the attendant withdrew, Yafei slowly sat down opposite Xiao Han: “Long time no see, Little Xiao Han.”

Xiao Han lifted her hood, revealing her expressionless young face: “Long time no see.”

Yafei’s gaze moved to the porcelain bottle on the table, and she asked with a smile: “What pills has the old master refined this time?”

Xiao Han replied without changing her expression: “Master has refined third-grade pills this time, Spirit Refining Pills.”

Upon hearing this, the playfulness on Yafei’s face faded, replaced by surprise: “Third-grade Spirit Refining Pills?”

Xiao Han nodded: “Master said to follow the old rules, we only want 30%.”

Yafei’s expression became somewhat excited: “I really don’t know how to thank the old master…”

Looking at Xiao Han’s expressionless young face, Yafei’s mind wandered, as if returning to three years ago when this girl had impassively asked her: Do you want to return to the main branch of the Miteer Family? Do you want to control your own destiny?

How about making a deal?

Few people knew that Yafei’s full name was Yafei Miteer, the daughter of the Miteer Family’s patriarch. However, her cultivation talent was extremely poor, almost non-existent. She knew that in a large family, the fate of a beautiful woman without talent would be to be arranged in a political marriage to consolidate family interests.

Due to Yafei’s beauty from a young age, many men, taking advantage of her lack of strength and family status, made no effort to hide their blatant desire for her. If it weren’t for the consideration that she was the daughter of the Miteer Family’s patriarch and that the family would need her for a future political marriage, those disgusting men would have already laid their hands on her. This also led to Yafei’s strong aversion to men from a young age and her disgust towards men who had designs on her.

Not wanting to follow the family’s arrangements, she insisted on coming to the relatively remote Wutan City to become an auctioneer at the Miteer Auction House branch. It must be said that although Yafei lacked talent in cultivation, she was a born businesswoman. In just one year, she became the chief auctioneer, bringing enormous profits to the auction house.

But Yafei knew this wasn’t enough. Merely this wouldn’t allow her to escape the family’s arrangements. If she wanted to avoid an arranged marriage, she had to prove to the family that she could bring huge benefits to the Miteer Family without a political marriage.

The Miteer Family was a typical merchant family. In this family, whether one could bring benefits to the family was the only standard for measuring if a family member was qualified.

Although Yafei was a competent businesswoman, her lack of strength meant she had no status in the family and couldn’t operate freely. This resulted in her being unable to return to the capital of the Jia Ma Empire and enter the core of the Miteer Family, no matter how hard she tried.

The Miteer Family’s businesses spread across the continent, and the profits from just the Wutan City auction house were far from enough for her to prove herself.

Moreover, her talent in business was too dazzling, and those family competitors were relentlessly suppressing her, preventing her from stepping out of the small world of Wutan City.

It was at this time that Xiao Han appeared.

The fourth young miss of the Xiao Family, with average cultivation talent, had little presence in the Xiao Family and was almost ignored by everyone. Yafei knew and understood her somewhat, based on that slight sense of shared misfortune.

But she never imagined that this almost transparent fourth young miss of the Xiao Family was actually quite extraordinary. Not to mention her level of cultivation that even the second-grade alchemist Gu Ni couldn’t see through, just her elusive alchemist master of unknown rank was enough to shock people.

So, when the other party impassively asked those few questions, Yafei, who had always prioritized immediate benefits and scorned vague promises, for the first time felt the urge to take a gamble.

So she agreed.

And facts proved that she hadn’t gambled wrong.

In these three years, Xiao Han’s master had provided her with countless pills, mostly third and fourth grade. After all, Wutan City wasn’t a very wealthy big city, and third and fourth-grade pills were already sufficient. Any higher grade might not sell. Moreover, these pills weren’t provided for the Miteer Auction House, but for her, Yafei.

The auction house was the property of the Miteer Family, and Yafei was just the chief auctioneer of the Miteer Auction House. Providing pills for the auction house and providing pills for Yafei herself were completely different in nature.

Soon, the news that Yafei had the backing of a mysterious alchemist reached the ears of the Miteer Family’s upper echelons, and those who had been suppressing Yafei no longer dared to make any moves.

Offending an alchemist who was at least fourth-grade had a hundred harms and no benefits.

However, Yafei had never met Xiao Han’s master. Every transaction was conducted through Xiao Han. Probably to prevent her secret from being exposed, Xiao Han always used her master’s identity when coming to the auction house. So, it would be more accurate to say that Yafei was making deals with Xiao Han rather than with Xiao Han’s master—that mysterious old sir. After all, it was Xiao Han who proposed the deal, not her master.

But to be honest, Yafei didn’t know at first why Xiao Han wanted to help her like this. If she wanted to gain the support of the Miteer Family, she could have directly approached the patriarch of the Miteer Family, who was Yafei’s father. Why waste energy on her?

It wasn’t until later, during a conversation when Yafei accidentally let something slip, that Xiao Han, after a moment of silence, gave this reply:

Because you’re not resigned to your fate, because you have the ability.

You have both the mentality and the ability; you’re just missing one condition.

Since that’s the case, why shouldn’t I give you a push?