Chapter 1216 599: [Shark Bone] and [Flame Scale Hybrid]

"This Windkind Octopus Horn is of very good quality."

In a small identification room located underground in the adventurer association, a professional appraiser in association uniform spoke to Xia Nan, who was sitting across the table.

In his forties or fifties, with graying temples, wearing a pair of round copper-framed glasses, he appeared very professional.

He didn't even directly touch the long horn on the table in front of him.

He merely used his right hand, wearing mysterious black gloves, to hold a tool resembling an iron spoon and tapped lightly on the surface of the horn.

The magic particles in the entire room suddenly fluctuated chaotically, converging towards the horn like a vortex, and a faint sound resembling a storm whistling could be heard.

Then it gradually calmed down as if ripples on water were fading.

The Windkind Octopus was born in storms, spending its life chasing the wind and thunder, and reproducing in heavy rain, making it a rare magical creature.

As the core of its strength, the long horn growing from the top of its head also became the most valuable material on its enormous body.

For an appraiser with merely ordinary capabilities, if not for the seller's introduction, they might not even be able to recognize its origin, let alone judge the quality of the material.

The elegant man employed by the adventurer association was evidently not of the "ordinary" category concerning his business abilities.

Sitting on the other side of the table, Xia Nan wasn't sure how the appraiser reached the conclusion that the "horn quality was good," but his keen perception ability allowed him to notice the appraiser's gaze carefully sweeping over the texture at the tip of the horn and the slight frown formed by the appraisal's concentration when the storm sound echoed in the room.

"Although the source Windkind Octopus should have been dead for some time, this horn's condition is very good, and its magic power core hasn't been damaged."

The middle-aged man adjusted the bridge of his glasses, solemnly and seriously introducing to Xia Nan the condition of the Windkind Octopus Horn he intended to sell.

"It falls within the range that the association can recycle."

Upon hearing this, Xia Nan nodded slightly in understanding, pondering internally.

As for handling this Windkind Octopus Horn, currently, there are two options.

The first is, as Xia Nan previously did, to sell it to the grocery store merchant in town.

The second is to let the adventurer association handle its recycling.

The convenience of the former is the extensive range of recycled goods.

Simply put, even if it's just some worthless scrap metal from a goblin nest that can't even be called second-hand equipment, and is beyond repairing,

sending it to a low-level grocery store in town could still fetch a few copper coins.

As for those high-quality materials, whether they can be sold at the appropriate price in the end depends on the adventurer's discernment and the merchant's integrity.

The industry has numerous cases of newbie adventurers being deceived, having their rare items, accidentally acquired during missions, taken by passing wandering merchants at prices not even reaching a tenth of their value.

These stories can be heard nearly every night in the taverns.

Of course, if you have excellent negotiation skills and the material naturally warrants a premium for various reasons, selling at an exorbitant price isn't impossible.

As for the latter.

On one hand, the adventurer association is not short of money and doesn't need to rely on worthless scrap to maintain upgrades.

So it only offers gold coin recycling services for certain high-quality loot materials.

On the other hand, being a legitimate large-scale institution, every branch, even the most remote, is equipped with appraisers whose skills far exceed the civilian average.

It's unlikely to find unreasonable lowball offers there.

At the same time, due to the association's legitimacy, the recovery price it offers is often around the market average.

It might not profit, but it certainly won't lose either.

Just returned from a mission, even now, Xia Nan has a lot to deal with; just repairing and customizing two pieces of equipment takes up most of his energy.

Daily, he needs to seize every opportunity to train, become familiar with his upgraded body, and master newly acquired specialty abilities.

Even with some spare time, he focuses on seeking clues about the secret realm.

Under such premises, the exceptionally busy Xia Nan simply doesn't have the time or energy to compare the recycling conditions of numerous grocery stores in Suo Yu Bay, comparison shopping for the most suitable price.

The gold coins deposited in the bank are already more than enough for forging equipment, so he decided not to waste time inquiring about prices at grocery stores, and instead planned to directly sell this Windkind Octopus Horn to the adventurer association.

"How much can the association offer?" Xia Nan cut straight to the chase.

In the limelight, the elegantly mannered appraiser undoubtedly had heard of the black-haired young man named "Haiya" across from him, and even learned about his personality and background from several colleagues, so he wasn't surprised by Xia Nan's straightforwardness.

After carefully assessing the Windkind Octopus Horn, he cautiously gave his quote:

"530 gold coins."

"Deal."

Although Xia Nan sometimes haggles during transactions, he has never been the type to haggle over a few coins to the point of making the atmosphere tense.

He knows the adventurer association's offer won't have much deviation and rarely negotiates with traders, and the price offered by the appraiser felt within his expected range.