The clerk's eyes shone in excitement as Austin slammed a three-level beast core on the counter.
Evident on his face was pure ecstasy as he glanced at Austin and back to the organ of the beast.
With his field experience and expertise, he recognized that it was a genuine three-level beast core.
The rough and ragged looking man who threw the beast core was just like any other typical man he
would encounter on the streets--someone he would not waste time on. But because he was here as a
client, he would definitely lose his job if he would not treat him as one--with full special service. He
hastily took a quick breath and flashed a rather wide and creepy smile at Austin.
"Nice to meet you, son! You're so lucky to get such a treasure! Where did you get it? I wish I am as
lucky as you are! You're going to make a fortune! You must have no idea how much this three-level
beast core is worth! Let me tell you! This costs a whopping one thousand vital energy crystals! Hard to
believe, right!" the clerk exaggeratedly waffled.
He had concluded with his own imagination that Austin must find it somewhere. It was common for low-
grade fighters to find the core of higher level diabolic beasts, which were killed by accident or died a
natural death and of sickness.
'The sun must have been shining so bright to this man!' The clerk thought.
Austin looked just like any other normal man. There was nothing that screamed so special about him.
This was why the clerk thought from the beginning that he was not capable of killing a three-level
beast.
He couldn't help but glance at Austin again with an admiring look for the windfall he got--selling a
beast's core without exerting the slightest effort.
One thousand vital energy crystals were a large fortune for him, while he had to work hard for almost
half a year to obtain it.
Meanwhile, Austin had realized by now what the clerk was probably thinking, and he didn't bother to
argue with him. It would be better to show him how skilled he really was. The next moment, he drew
out his space ring and poured a heap of beast cores on the counter.
"This is all I have. Please take a look and let me know how much I can take with me." Austin said in a
light voice as if he was greeting an old friend.
He pretended not to notice what registered on the clerk's face.
His eyes and mouth dropped wide open, unable to utter a word at the sight of the beast organs before
him.
Not ready to accept this setback, he rubbed his eyes and stared at the pile of beast cores in front of
him.
Seconds passed and the clerk had done nothing but rub his eyes and examine the beast cores, not
daring to look into Austin's eyes. "Wow, w-wait a moment! I..." the clerk was still unable to complete his
sentence.
"45 three-level beast cores and 3 four-level beast cores, altogether," Austin said and pushed them a
little forward.
The clerk choked as if the beast cores had taken away the power of speech from him.
Austin was surprised with his surprised reaction and touched his own nose, wondering why.
"What's the matter? If these are not what you people are asking for, I'll trade it to the store next door,"
he asked in no hurry.
"No, no, please don't go! These are precisely what we need. Please forgive my rudeness!"
The clerk finally came to his sense at Austin's warning. He wanted to slap himself out of
embarrassment. He couldn't believe he almost let a big customer slip.
If Austin began to grow impatient, the shop owner would fire him without any hesitation.
What was more, if this negotiation went on well, he could earn a commission that would amount to one
thousand vital energy crystals.
The mere thought of the incentives he would get, the clerk turned jolly. A big smile grew on his face.
And he hurriedly came out from the counter as if being chased, brought a wooden armchair and wiped
it with his sleeve before Austin sat down. Then without any delay, he went in the room behind the
counter and took a cup of tea for Austin.
"Please make yourself comfortable, sir. And this is a cup of first-class green tea and served only for
very important customers such as you. It can clear away the exhaustion and is good for fighters.
Please enjoy it!"
Austin chuckled at the clerk who now turned obsequious upon learning his true capability.
"Please wait a moment, sir. You got too many beast cores here, and I can't tell exactly how much I
should pay you. Look at the four-level beast cores! They're so beautiful! I'll go and ask our appraiser to
come here, and you can discuss it with him later. And uh, if you may sir, I would like to request a favor.
Please tell the appraiser that you're my customer and put in some good words for me! Thank you very
much!" the clerk said, bowing submissively.
Austin paid no attention to him and instead thought of what he would do after he was done here.
"I'll be waiting," he said without expressing a definite reply to the clerk's favor.
A moment later, an old man with grey hair arrived, and after negotiating, he gave Austin a total of 80,
000 vital energy crystals for all the beast cores he had.
The forty-five three-level beast cores were worth half of the total price while the three four-level cores
were much more precious and were worth much more.
It was just as he had expected. Even a fighter at Earth Realm would not usually slaughter a four-level
diabolic beast if they ran into it.
No wonder merchants were very willing to pay a higher price. It was something that could only be
obtained by sheer strength, and by those who were truly powerful.
Besides, the price given here was just a bid price and not its actual value. As any merchant's purpose
was to make tons of profits, the shop owner would definitely make a lot out of this deal.
But for Austin, he wasn't a merchant, and he didn't care about how much the real worth of the beast
core was. The price offered was more than enough for him.
He then nodded his head for approval. The store got all the beast cores while Austin got his 80, 000
vital energy crystals--a clear win-win on both sides.
Austin now had a total of 400, 000 vital energy crystals in his pocket. It was a considerable amount for
him.
"Oh, by the way, I want to know if there is any store or auction house selling books on martial arts
here," Austin asked.
This wasn't the first time he came here, but he paid no attention in familiarizing himself around the town
as his pocket was empty then and he couldn't afford any elixirs or books.
And now that things were clearly different, Austin found himself feeling excited in prodigally spending
money on things he was interested in.
Thus, he decided to stroll around and take a look.
"Sir, you would like to buy some books on martial arts? If you intend to buy some books on low-grade
or medium-grade martial arts skills, there are several stores available in town, but if you would like to
find some higher grade martial arts books, I suggest that you pay a visit to Ganges Auction House.
You're lucky, sir. They have an auction today, and you'd better hurry up. or all the good stuff will run out!
It is actually the largest auction house in Violet Orchid Empire. Their branches are all over the empire,
and this one in our town has something good from time to time. It depends on how lucky you're!"
The old appraiser was still caught in the excitement of striking a satisfactory deal. He was surely chatty
and would say all the things he knew--even if they were unsolicited. What a garrulous man!
After Austin bid his farewell to the appraiser and the clerk, he went on his way to Ganges Auction
house. As the only legitimate auction house in town, it was enormous, more than Austin could have
imagined. The structure was absolutely majestic and ethereal.
Its walls were full of ornaments--carved beams and painted rafters. The design was at par with the
imperial palace of ancient Chinese emperors. An intense feeling came over Austin, as he stepped into
the great hall of the Auction house.
It had several floors, and the hall before his eyes was grand and impressive, with a series of solid wood
counters standing erect.
Behind the counters stood the receptionists of the auction house, most of them busy in attending
customers. They all looked well-dressed and cultivated.
Across the counters, many fighters were patiently talking with the receptionists about the goods they
were interested in.
Although the hall was swamped with all kinds of customers and most of them were talking, there was
an elegant and tranquil atmosphere. Everyone was holding down their voices as possible as if they
were afraid to disrupt the serene ambiance.
Austin took his time strolling along the hall, stopping and going as he liked, but no one voluntarily
attended to him.
Getting tired after walking around, he saw a fighter walking away from a counter after completing the
process of purchasing his good.
Austin hurriedly stepped forward and stopped before the newly vacated counter.
He heaved a sigh of relief and found a young woman standing behind it, with delicate make-up and a
soft womanly figure. She seemed to be someone married.
"Hey, would you like to put something up for auction or bid for something, young man?" she asked
casually.
Like the clerk back at the store, she seemed to also judge people solely by their appearance and was
reluctant to receive a young fighter like Austin.
By putting something up for auction, she meant that lots of fighters came there with stuff they wanted to
sell. By doing so, the auction house would sell it for them.
While by bidding, it meant that fighters came there to purchase the things they were interested in, like
Austin's purpose of coming there.
"Well…"
Austin paused a moment, clearly thinking of what he could say.
Then he continued.
"Madame, I'm looking for some books on sword skills. Can you help me?"
"Hmm, Let me see. You're planning to purchase some books on sword skills, right?"
The woman nodded her head formally before replying to his question.
"Hmm, as a matter of fact, there are all kinds of fighters who come here every day with their books on
martial arts, and the ones on sword skills are quite commonly auctioned here. I'm sure you would find
some here. But before anything, I have one condition. That is, you must be able to afford it!"
Austin's face lit up with her words and eagerly replied, "Of course! Show me what you got!"
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