Elder Ge's eyes flashed with surprise for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure.
After all, this guest had already made quite an impression a year ago. Now that she'd returned with so many storage pouches, it was obvious her harvest had been remarkable.
Still, the outer and middle regions of the Endless Beast Plains were mostly filled with Foundation Establishment beasts. Judging by the number of pouches, most of the materials should be parts from those creatures. The quantity might be huge, but the overall value probably wouldn't be that shocking.
"Please wait a moment, honored guest. Allow this old man to check them one by one," Elder Ge said with a professional smile as he casually picked up the pouch at the top and sent his divine sense inside.
Sure enough.
Inside were dozens of sets of neatly processed hides, claws, and bones. The auras were mixed, but most were around early to mid Foundation Establishment strength.
There were plenty of them, though the quality was only average.
He nodded slightly, just as he expected.
Setting that one down, he reached for the second pouch.
The materials in this one were clearly better. Most came from late-stage or even peak Foundation Establishment beasts, and the processing was much more meticulous.
A hint of approval flickered in his eyes. "Not bad. These are handled with real care. They'll fetch a good price."
He continued with the third and fourth pouches.
The contents were still mostly from peak Foundation Establishment beasts, though there were occasional traces of a faint Golden Core aura among them.
Elder Ge made a quick mental calculation. It seemed the woman had made quite a haul this past year in the Beast Plains, even managing to slay a few early-stage Golden Core beasts.
That level of strength already placed her among the top tier of Foundation Establishment cultivators.
But when he picked up the fifth storage pouch, his expression finally changed.
This pouch wasn't packed to the brim like the others, yet it still held several dozen items inside. And every single one of them carried the aura of a Golden Core beast.
From early-stage to mid-stage!
There were pelts, bones, claws, venom sacs—so many different kinds. Every piece had been handled with expert precision, perfectly preserving its essence. This kind of refinement wasn't something ordinary Golden Core cultivators could manage.
This wasn't a coincidence. These weren't random kills from chance encounters. This was a deliberate, sustained hunt for Golden Core beasts.
He drew in a slow breath, trying to suppress the wave rising in his chest, then reached with trembling fingers for the sixth pouch.
This one held fewer items, maybe a little over twenty, but each piece radiated an even more terrifying aura.
Fragments of a Black-Armored Earth Dragon's backplate. The vertical eye of a Three-Eyed Demon Ape. The intact tendons of a Crimson Flame Jiao Python.
The more he looked, the more shocked he became.
These materials weren't just varied, they were all taken from high-ranking Golden Core beasts. Even as a late-stage Golden Core cultivator himself, Elder Ge couldn't guarantee he could hunt so many in one go.
More importantly, the processing was flawless—every material retained its peak essence. No ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator could've done this. Even a newly advanced Golden Core cultivator would've struggled.
He couldn't help but stare at the woman across from him in disbelief.
This... how was this possible?
A year ago, she'd still been at the late Foundation Establishment stage. How could she have hunted this many mid to late Golden Core beasts in just a year?
And judging by how cleanly everything was handled, she wasn't just barely surviving these fights—she was completely in control.
What kind of terrifying strength would that require?
Unless...
He forced that outrageous thought back down and cleared his throat, voice slightly dry. "Honored guest, these materials…"
Before he could finish, his divine sense brushed across the final pouch—the one whose aura was the most intimidating of all.
The space inside felt far more stable and expansive than the others.
It wasn't filled with scattered materials, but instead contained a nearly intact corpse of an enormous beast. Even in death, it exuded a suffocating pressure that made the air feel heavy. The most striking feature was the gaping hole between its brows, clean and round, as if pierced straight through by an impossibly sharp force in an instant.
The aura it radiated was unmistakable—peak Golden Core.
And not just any peak, but the kind that stood half a step into the Nascent Soul stage.
Elder Ge's pupils shrank slightly.
A complete corpse of a peak Golden Core beast!
Even as a veteran appraiser of Tianxing Auction House, who'd seen more treasures than he could count, he'd rarely come across something this intact and pristine.
But what unsettled him even more was the cause of death. That clean, single strike between the brows, no hesitation, no second blow. That required terrifying strength and precision.
And considering she'd also brought back so many other Golden Core beast corpses, Elder Ge could only come to one conclusion—this woman's current strength had already far surpassed his imagination. He drew a deep breath, forcing himself to stay calm, though his voice carried a clear hint of respect now.
"It seems this old man lost his composure," he said, bowing slightly. "These materials, especially this peak Golden Core beast's corpse... they're truly astounding."
Xie Zhaolin looked at him calmly. "It's fine. Can you estimate the value?"
He hesitated for a moment, calculating rapidly. Even with his experience, this collection was far beyond ordinary trade. At market rate, the total value would be astronomical. However, as he examined the large beast's corpse again, his brow furrowed slightly.
The beast's core was missing.
Most of a beast's essence was concentrated in its core. Without it, the overall value would drop by at least thirty or forty percent.
After all, no matter how precious the hide or bones were, none compared to a core that contained the creature's entire cultivation. The other Golden Core beast corpses were the same—their cores had been deliberately removed.
Elder Ge sighed inwardly at the loss but kept his expression polite.
"Honored guest," he began carefully, "this batch is vast and of excellent quality. Even without the cores, the hides, bones, and claws alone are top-tier materials for refining artifacts or puppets.
Altogether, I'd estimate their total value to be around forty-three thousand high-grade spirit stones."
He paused for a beat, then added, "However, some of these, especially the peak Golden Core beast's corpse and the rarer parts from the mid-to-late Golden Core beasts, are extremely sought after. If you're not in a hurry, you could consign the best ones to the auction we're holding in three days.
With multiple bidders competing, the final price could easily exceed my estimate, perhaps even reaching over fifty thousand."
Elder Ge spoke sincerely, laying out the pros and cons. "Of course, auctions take time, and we'll take a ten percent commission. If you need the spirit stones right away, direct trade with the auction house is faster and safer, though the price will be slightly lower."
He left the decision in her hands.