Xie Zhaolin's eyes flickered slightly when she heard the number.
Forty-three thousand high-grade spirit stones…
That price made even her heart ripple a little.
She knew the market value of this batch of materials very well. Although the quantity was large and the quality was excellent, she had already extracted all the monster cores from those Golden Core beasts. Without them, the true value had dropped significantly.
But that was exactly her intention.
When she'd hunted down that peak Golden Core beast she'd run into by accident, her plan had been to let Zi Ying devour the entire corpse.
However, after consuming so much beast flesh and essence, Zi Ying had reached a sort of saturation point. The little vine had said it no longer needed to devour full corpses, that absorbing the monster cores alone was enough for purification.
So Xie Zhaolin had taken only the cores for Zi Ying to refine, leaving the rest of the materials behind.
The things she took out now, including that relatively complete corpse, were all carefully selected—pieces she either couldn't use or found inconvenient to carry.
If she had brought out all her spoils from the past few months, Lao Ge would probably be so shocked he wouldn't even know what to say.
This deal, for her, had two purposes: to get rid of these space-consuming leftovers and to exchange them for urgently needed resources and information.
As for the auction...
Sure, an auction might fetch a higher price, but it'd also attract attention. The moment she publicly sold the corpse of a peak Golden Core beast, all kinds of people would start investigating who she was.
And the last thing she needed right now was attention.
By contrast, selling directly to the auction house kept the deal quiet. The payment was clean, and whatever happened afterward had nothing to do with her. Safe and simple.
Besides, Lao Ge's offer was already nearly twenty percent higher than market price.
Her thoughts spun quickly, and Xie Zhaolin made up her mind.
"No need for an auction," she said without hesitation. "Let's trade directly."
Lao Ge didn't look surprised. His smile only grew more sincere. "Very well. You're straightforward, honored guest! Then we'll settle it at forty-three thousand high-grade spirit stones. I'll have someone check the goods and prepare your payment right away."
"Also," Xie Zhaolin continued, placing a jade slip on the table, "would your auction house happen to have the materials listed here?"
Lao Ge accepted the slip and swept it with his divine sense. Inside were dozens of rare ores, spirit herbs, and auxiliary materials.
"No problem!" he nodded immediately. "We have most of these in storage. The cost can be deducted directly from your payment."
"Appreciate it," Xie Zhaolin replied softly, then asked the most important question, "One more thing... does your auction house have any treasures that can repair or strengthen the Primordial Soul?"
At the mention of soul repair, Lao Ge's expression turned serious. He paused to think before answering slowly.
"To be honest, such treasures are extremely rare. However... among the finale items for the auction three days from now, there's a Soul-Nurturing Wood sapling. It's only a young sprout, but if cultivated properly, the soul energy it emits has incredible restorative effects. It's a true treasure—one that can't be found just anywhere."
He paused, then added, "If you're interested, I can reserve a private box for you."
Xie Zhaolin's gaze flickered.
Soul-Nurturing Wood... that was indeed a top-tier spiritual item for nourishing the Primordial Soul. Even a sapling would be worth a fortune.
Perfect for nurturing those five beast souls.
"All right," she said with a nod. "I'll return in three days."
With the deal sealed, Lao Ge immediately called in an attendant to handle the arrangements. Before long, the attendant returned with a storage pouch filled with all the items Xie Zhaolin had requested.
Once the transaction was done, she didn't linger. She stood, gave a polite nod, and left the appraisal room.
Lao Ge watched her figure disappear down the corridor. His expression shifted, complicated emotions rippling through his heart.
When her silhouette finally vanished from sight, his polite smile faded. What replaced it was a rare gravity. He turned sharply, hurried into the deepest part of the chamber, and activated a hidden passage.
Inside the secret room, a young woman sat leisurely behind a jade table, absentmindedly toying with a jade pendant.
Lao Ge stepped forward and respectfully presented a jade slip containing the full record of the earlier transaction. "Young Master, she came."
The young woman accepted it and scanned it with her divine sense. A faint smile spread across her lips.
"So she finally came out," she said casually, as if discussing something utterly trivial. "Seems I won't need the people I stationed deep in the Beast Plains anymore. Have them withdraw."
"Yes, Young Master," Lao Ge answered. But after a moment, a frown crept onto his face.
"Young Master... this woman, her cultivation... this old servant truly couldn't see through it. Judging by the materials she took out, I'd say she's at least mid-stage Golden Core, maybe even higher."
At that, the young woman's smile faltered slightly.
She slowly lifted her gaze, and for the first time, those always-smiling eyes opened fully.
If Xie Zhaolin were here, she would've recognized her instantly—those eyes belonged to Jiu Jiu, the one who had seemed harmless back in the endless Beast Plains, yet had cunningly turned the tables on her in the end.
"Mid-stage Golden Core... or higher?" Jiu Jiu murmured, tapping the jade table lightly with a rhythmic thud.
A moment later, her lips curved again.
"Lao Ge, tell me... that Ninefold Purple Heaven Divine Thunder that shook the entire Cultivation Realm months ago in the depths of the Beast Plains—who do you think it was targeting?"
Lao Ge's body trembled slightly. His expression shifted as understanding dawned, and he bowed deeply.
"Reporting to Young Master, this old servant's guess aligns with yours. Judging from her strength, the materials she brought, and the list she requested... I'd boldly say she's likely inherited the legacy of You Ji Shàngrén."
After all, You Ji Shàngrén had been a peerless cultivator whose puppet arts defied the heavens, so much so that she'd drawn the wrath of the world and perished under the catastrophic thunder.
If Xie Zhaolin truly obtained You Ji Shàngrén's inheritance and had already mastered it, then for her to summon and survive that Ninefold Purple Heaven Divine Thunder was no surprise to either of them.
"Still..." Lao Ge muttered, disbelief creeping into his tone, "I never imagined she'd actually survive it! Not only that, but her cultivation's skyrocketed in such a short time!"
Jiu Jiu's grin only widened, her eyes glowing with a feverish excitement.
"So it was true..." she whispered with a delighted laugh, her voice tinged with the thrill of discovery. "I knew it. From the start, I just knew this benefactor of mine would bring me far more joy than a measly hundred thousand spirit stones ever could."
She recalled those days in the Beast Plains, when she and Xie Zhaolin had traveled together, both scheming and using each other.
Even back then, she'd sensed that the woman hid an intoxicating potential.
And now, it was all confirmed.
A woman who could call down and endure a world-destroying thunder tribulation, who carried a forbidden inheritance, whose cultivation surged like madness—
She was the perfect toy Jiu Jiu had been dreaming of.