Chapter 46: Ten Fold Offer

Stall Owner No. 129 glanced at Ryan from time to time, then looked at the goods displayed before his stall.

His eyes flickered as he silently weighed the gains and losses.

After a moment of consideration, he finally nodded.

"Alright. I agree." The lowest price his brother was willing to accept for the three beast eggs was actually thirteen Lower-Grade Origin Stones.

As for the pile of broken discarded treasures, they weren’t worth much.

They were merely items that his brother’s small mercenary group had phased out long ago. He had been displaying them at this stall for several days, yet no one had shown the slightest interest in buying them.

Now, someone finally needed them.

More importantly, the three beast eggs and the pile of discarded treasures together amounted to exactly fifteen Lower-Grade Origin Stones.

That did not fall below his expected price.

Furthermore, most of the other goods on his stall had already been sold.

If he could clear out all the remaining items in one transaction, he could close the stall and rest for the day.

Why wouldn’t he agree?

It would save him from having to sit here and continue watching over the stall.

After weighing everything carefully, Stall Owner No. 129 finally made his decision.

The transaction was a good deal for him.

At this moment, seeing that both parties had reached an agreement, the burly Bloodline Fighter who had been watching from nearby sneered inwardly.

Heh, where did this sucker come from?

For three dying beast eggs, he only haggled over two Lower-Grade Origin Stones, yet he actually wanted a pile of junk thrown in as well.

That’s not how you spend money. Be careful you don’t lose everything.

He felt especially uncomfortable seeing the beast eggs he had been so interested in being purchased at such a high price.

Jealousy filled his heart.

The surrounding onlookers had also witnessed the entire negotiation.

At this moment, they looked at Ryan as though he were an idiot.

Some shook their heads. Others sneered inwardly.

What a fool. An easy mark.

Ryan, however, was completely unaware of their thoughts.

"Alright. Thank you."

He calmly took out fifteen Lower-Grade Origin Stones from his spatial ring and handed them to Stall Owner No. 129.

"Here are fifteen Lower-Grade Origin Stones. Please count them."

Although his heart was already filled with barely contained excitement, his expression remained perfectly calm.

The black beast hide was about to fall into his hands.

How could he not be excited?

But he absolutely could not allow that excitement to show.

He also couldn’t directly mention the black beast hide.

If he did, anyone with even a little intelligence would immediately suspect that something was wrong.

And if a powerful warrior nearby noticed the hide and managed to discern even the slightest clue about it, Ryan would be in serious trouble.

Therefore, the safest approach was to act as though he cared only about the other goods.

He would calmly purchase everything, then naturally take the black beast hide along with the discarded treasures.

That way, no one would suspect anything.

If the surrounding crowd knew that all three types of items on this stall were actually valuable to Ryan, they would probably no longer mock him so casually.

After all, even the three dying beast eggs could potentially be revived through the Creation Furnace’s ability to transform waste into treasure.

Of course, Ryan had never tried putting a living creature—or an object containing life—into the Creation Furnace before.

He didn’t know whether it would work. But these eggs were already on the verge of death.

It was certainly worth trying.

If they had been ordinary, healthy first-tier beast eggs, the three of them could easily have sold for more than nine hundred Lower-Grade Origin Stones in total.

Ryan might never have had the opportunity to obtain them.

Viewed from that perspective, fifteen Lower-Grade Origin Stones was practically nothing.

Compared with the value of three perfectly intact beast eggs, it was merely a drop in the ocean.

"Good."

Stall Owner No. 129 accepted the Origin Stones.

He carefully counted them to confirm that the number was correct before his face immediately broke into a smile.

With a flick of his wrist, he stored all fifteen Origin Stones into his spatial ring.

Then, with his left hand, he quickly picked up the beast pouch and handed it to Ryan.

"Here. This is the beast pouch."

"Alright." Ryan accepted it.

He had no intention of examining it further and simply hung the beast pouch from his waist.

"Here, this pile of junk isn’t worth much either."

Stall Owner No. 129 pointed casually toward the discarded treasures.

"Just put them into your spatial ring yourself."

He was too lazy to hand the items over one by one.

As far as he was concerned, he had already personally handed over the three most valuable items—the beast eggs.

His service to the customer was already excellent.

If his brother were here, he wouldn’t have any complaints.

As for the remaining junk, Ryan could simply collect it himself with a wave of his hand.

There was no need for him to waste time passing the items over one by one.

"Alright." Ryan nodded.n"But there are quite a few of these junk items, and some of them are already broken. I’m afraid it will be difficult to find everything later."

He glanced casually at the pile.

"And if they scatter inside my spatial ring, they might get mixed in with my other belongings and make a mess."

Ryan spoke casually as he began gathering the discarded treasures.

However, his palms were already sweating beneath his sleeves.

"How about I wrap them in this beast hide and put everything into my spatial ring together?"

He pointed naturally toward the black beast hide beneath the pile.

"Would that be alright?"

This was the best excuse he could think of.

He tried his best to make his tone sound casual.

But in his heart, he was already extremely nervous.

The black beast hide is finally within reach.

The closer he came to obtaining it, the more difficult it became for him to remain calm.

Fine beads of sweat slowly formed on his palms.

"Ah!" Stall Owner No. 129 waved his hand dismissively. "What’s the big deal? It’s just a rotten beast hide, isn’t it? Take it."

He readily agreed without giving the hide a second glance.

In his opinion, this customer was simply too easy to deal with.

He hadn’t haggled much, had willingly purchased all the remaining goods, and had even helped him clear out the pile of useless discarded treasures.

As for that tattered beast hide?

It wasn’t even worth his attention.

"Alright." Ryan nodded naturally.

He pretended to gather the broken items into the center of the hide.

Then, under the cover of his movements, he carefully folded the four corners of the black beast hide inward and tied everything into a bundle.

Finally—

With a casual wave of his right hand, he immediately stored the entire bundle into his spatial ring.

The instant the black beast hide disappeared into his spatial ring, Ryan secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

He had obtained it!

Yet his expression remained completely natural.

"Thank you, Stall Owner. See you later."

"See you later."

Stall Owner No. 129 smiled and nodded.

Ryan immediately turned around and strode away.

He didn’t want to stay here for even another moment.

But—

"Wait."

A slightly hoarse voice suddenly came from ahead.

Ryan’s footsteps abruptly stopped. His heart instantly pounded. His vigilance rose to its highest level.

He slowly raised his head and looked toward the source of the voice, his expression calm despite the alarm bells ringing in his mind.

"You are..."

Ryan paused. "May I ask what you want?"

The black beast hide was already in his hands.

He had been preparing to leave as quickly as possible, unwilling to create any complications.

He never expected someone to suddenly intercept him.

For a moment, his heart tightened.

Only then did Ryan clearly see the person standing roughly 3 meters ahead.

It was an old man dressed in a black robe.

Yet strangely, despite his old age, he possessed an unusually youthful face.

His long hair was completely white. His complexion was ruddy, and his tall body was exceptionally thin.

His pale hair and two wisps of long white beard fluttered gently in the wind.

If not for his naturally drooping, withered hands and the inch-long black fingernails extending from each finger, coupled with the sinister black robe he wore, he might genuinely have resembled an otherworldly immortal.

The contrast was deeply unsettling.

"My name is Mortimer Sable." The old man with the youthful face and white hair stared at Ryan with a faint, strange smile. "I am also a recently initiated artifact forging master."

His gaze swept over Ryan. "I arrived a little late and only caught a brief glimpse of the discarded treasures you just purchased."

A strange light flashed through his eyes. "But I happen to be very interested in them."

He smiled faintly. "I’m willing to pay ten times what you paid for them."

"Would you be willing to part with them?"

The moment these words fell, the surrounding Bloodline Fighters were stunned.

Even Stall Owner No. 129’s expression changed.

Ten times the acquisition price?

Is he crazy?

Why would anyone fight over a pile of worthless discarded treasures?

And not only fight over them—

He was actually willing to pay ten times their purchase price!

What exactly was going on?

Could there be some hidden treasure among those broken artifacts?

No one could understand why this old man was so determined to acquire the discarded treasures.

On the market, the entire pile was worth at most one or two Lower-Grade Origin Stones.

If Mortimer Sable was truly willing to pay nearly twenty Lower-Grade Origin Stones for them, he could easily find another pile of broken artifacts elsewhere.

There was simply no reason to pay such an outrageous price.

Yet they could never have imagined the truth.

Ryan and Mortimer Sable weren’t fighting over the discarded treasures at all.

They were fighting over the inconspicuous black beast hide hidden among them.

At this moment, the person who felt the most uncomfortable was Stall Owner No. 129.

His expression gradually became complicated.

For some reason, he suddenly wondered whether he had overlooked something.

Had he unknowingly sold a valuable treasure for far fewer Origin Stones than it was actually worth?

But the transaction had already been completed.

Even if he wanted to go back on his word now, it was already too late.