The Magical Pendant

Scorpio's expression quickly turned ugly. He rushed to the cage, grabbed the iron bars, and bent them apart. Then, he reached inside and grabbed Chen Cheng's messy, long hair.

After confirming it was indeed Chen Cheng's face, Scorpio began a full-body bone assessment. He wanted to verify if Chen Cheng's potential was truly as worthless as it seemed.

However, after feeling over all of Chen Cheng's bones, the ashen gray on his face deepened even further.

In his hands, Chen Cheng's bone structure was stronger than that of an average person his age, but his fundamental bone quality was extremely poor. It was as if Chen Cheng's skeletal development had already reached its peak for his entire life.

This kind of bone structure was the absolute worst among the worst. In a few years, as his age increased, his physical functions would decline exponentially.

Little did he know, Samlet, a legendary powerhouse of the entire continent, had long prepared for this. When Chen Cheng was three years old, he had sealed Chen Cheng's fundamental bone quality, making it impossible for anyone to discern Chen Cheng's martial arts talent through bone assessment. As for magic, he was equally powerless.

Of course, Samlet's original intention was to reduce Chen Cheng's visibility to outsiders. After all, without even needing to assess his bones, anyone could tell he was a genius on the path of a top-tier warrior.

He never would have imagined that Chen Cheng would be captured by slave traders.

Beside them, the priest Famal let out a disdainful snort. Scorpio's actions were an insult to him, a devout follower of the God of Light.

Scorpio was startled into a cold sweat by this snort. What had gotten into him? Had his mind been clouded? How dare he doubt the priest's assessment in front of him.

These priests were not like ordinary mages who would recognize anyone for a bit of money. They grew up receiving education from the church and held positions within it.

In this world where divine authority reigned supreme, questioning a clergyman was far more damning than questioning a noble lord.

Scorpio immediately bowed and apologized to Famal, "I'm sorry, Priest Famal. I was just too hasty. Please forgive a devout follower of the God of Light who was deceived."

Upon hearing him mention the God of Light, Famal's initially annoyed expression immediately showed piety. He muttered a few classic phrases he had learned since childhood, and then he forgave Scorpio for his impolite behavior.

At this point, it was Baron Kekebor's turn to discuss the price of the transaction with Scorpio. Previously, Baron Kekebor had feared that Chen Cheng's talent might be too monstrous, requiring a large amount of gold.

Now, with Chen Cheng's potential assessed as the absolute worst among the worst, the price naturally plummeted. Not to mention that he was currently suffering from a severe illness and was on the verge of death, making him even less valuable.

Although he wasn't very valuable, and his fundamental bone quality and talent were considered the worst of the worst, it was only because his beloved daughter fancied him.

Seeing Baron Kekebor's smile, Scorpio knew he had misjudged the situation. He should have inspected Chen Cheng immediately after capturing him and, if he was useless, executed him directly to avenge his subordinates.

Honestly, Scorpio really wanted to back out of the sale and drag Chen Cheng out to skin and dismember him to vent his hatred.

But he thought of how Chen Cheng had already caught the eye of Baron Kekebor's most beloved daughter. Moreover, he hadn't directly refused earlier and had hoped the priest's assessment would deter the Baron. Now, whether he wanted to sell or not, he had to.

In the end, Scorpio had no choice but to compromise.

He also knew that he had suffered a major setback this time. His hard-earned slave-catching team would likely have to disband in the future.

Subsequently, the two began to negotiate his price in front of Chen Cheng. Finally, after Scorpio's persistent pleading, Baron Kekebor bought him for the "sky-high price" of two gold coins.

Keep in mind that someone with his low aptitude and illness would be worth at most fifty silver coins. Baron Kekebor giving him two gold coins was equivalent to two hundred silver coins.

This price was more than four times the market value, and it could be said that it was given in consideration of the many subordinates he had lost.

Of course, as a Baron, Baron Kekebor didn't hold slave traders in high regard. If he truly valued them, considering how many people they had lost, the price offered would have been higher.

During the handover of Chen Cheng, his belongings were searched by Scorpio and his men. The only item found to have any real value was the iron rod that had killed many of his subordinates. Everything else, such as the worn leather armor, the blackened broken stones, and the inferior iron sword, were considered absolute junk.

After the slave contract was finalized, Chen Cheng's neck was fitted with a slave collar by Baron Kekebor's butler.

This slave collar was previously used to tame wild beasts for nobles. It was engraved with magic array patterns, and its owner could use the magic key in their hand to control the magic array patterns to inflict magical electric shocks or other punishments on the wearer.

Then, Famal, to give Baron Kekebor face, used an Exorcism Spell to treat Chen Cheng.

As Famal chanted, a magic pattern outlined by white light appeared before Chen Cheng, and a holy white Exorcism Holy Light fell upon him. The cold germs on his body were mostly eliminated by this holy light.

Although his severe cold was mostly cured, his body's weakness persisted. Famal, having already cast two spells, felt some fatigue, so Chen Cheng's weak body still required him to recuperate on his own.

Baron Kekebor bought Chen Cheng for his little Fini, so the magic key for Chen Cheng's slave collar was handed over to Fini.

Upon receiving the magic key, Fini showed a happy smile and jumped up to kiss Baron Kekebor on the cheek.

Then, she ordered Chen Cheng to follow her. However, Chen Cheng was too weak at the moment and collapsed before he could even stand up.

When Chen Cheng opened his eyes again, he saw the stone wall above him. Then, he heard some muffled sounds. As he became more conscious, the sounds around him became clearer.

"Hey, Sophia, don't you think our Miss Fini is truly kind? She hasn't given up on that wild monkey inside even though he's in such a state. She even assigned the two of us to take care of him."

"Jenny, speak a little softer. But honestly, that wild monkey inside, although his potential is a bit trashy, his physique is really great. Especially that part of him... I couldn't help but touch it a couple of times when I was cleaning his body..."

"Oh, you're so shameless, but you're not wrong..."

As the two maids outside chatted, their conversation started to stray. Chen Cheng, seeing the burlap clothes by the bed, immediately picked them up and started to put them on.

At this moment, the voices of the two maids approached him. Before Chen Cheng could speak, they pushed the door open and walked in.

Upon seeing Chen Cheng putting on clothes, the two maids let out a light laugh because the clothes Chen Cheng was wearing looked as if they were tied on with rope.

The reason for this was that Chen Cheng had never worn this style of one-piece clothing before. Sophia and the other two maids assumed Chen Cheng was just a wild monkey, which was why he didn't understand.

The two maids, chattering and laughing, came to Chen Cheng's side and began to undress him. Disregarding the shame of gender separation, they directly demonstrated how to wear the clothes on him.

"You wild monkey are truly lucky. Not only did the young lady have us take care of you, but she also prepared new clothes for you. Now you have to learn from me how to wear these clothes. Once you're dressed properly, you won't be a wild man of the forest anymore."

The two maids chattered as they demonstrated, and finally, with Chen Cheng's face flushed with embarrassment, they helped him put on his clothes.

"Hmm, Jenny, look. I was right, wasn't I? This wild monkey really looks like a strong and handsome young man after being dressed up like this."

"Oh, Sophia, don't get all lovey-dovey. The young lady said she wants us to notify her as soon as he wakes up."

"Oh, I know."

"Little monkey, don't run around. Stay put right here. Your mistress, our young lady, will be here to see you soon."

Without waiting to see if Chen Cheng understood, the two young maids finished their instructions, then giggled and playfully chased each other as they locked the door and went to find Fini.

Chen Cheng listened to the maids' footsteps fade away. He looked down at the coarse linen clothes he was wearing and the collar around his neck. Finally, he lay down on the bed and let out a long sigh.

"Chen Cheng, Chen Cheng, you never would have imagined you'd become a slave right after leaving the mountains, would you? Damn it, this is truly fucked up."

Chen Cheng had no intention of escaping right now. The magic patterns on the collar around his neck clearly indicated it was not something to be trifled with.

Thinking of magic patterns, Chen Cheng's mind went to his sword.

He remembered that before he passed out, Scorpio and the others had only taken his homemade shotgun. Everything else had been given to Fini and the others.

Then, he got up and surveyed the small stone room. Finally, in a corner, he saw his belongings.

The crystal pendant, the animal skin clothes, and the iron sword he had hidden were all neatly placed in the corner.

Chen Cheng got up and walked to the corner, picking up the crystal pendant his mother had given him. He then put it back on around his neck.

When Chen Cheng was young, this crystal pendant used to be purple and lustrous. However, as he grew older, the pendant's luster gradually faded, until it became this dull, black thing with no gem-like quality.

But perhaps it was this change that made Scorpio and his group not realize it was a gem. Otherwise, his mother's only memento left to him would have been taken by Scorpio and his gang.

Just as he was about to bend down to pick up the iron sword, there was a sudden clink. The slave collar on his neck was suddenly unlocked and fell to the ground.

Seeing the collar fall unexpectedly, Chen Cheng initially thought Fini had done it. But after looking around and finding no one, he knew it wasn't Fini.

After a moment of thought, Chen Cheng's gaze shifted to the crystal pendant he had just put on his neck.

Chen Cheng picked up the collar from the ground and put it back on. Then, he touched the collar with the pendant around his neck. Immediately, he saw the locking magic patterns on the collar suddenly cease, and the collar was then unlocked.

Before Chen Cheng could even get excited, he heard the chatter of women's voices outside. He knew Fini had arrived, so he quickly pressed the collar back into place.