"How was it?"
Meng Chao feigned calm.
But the bulging veins on the back of his hand betrayed his nervousness.
"It is indeed good stuff."
Senior Harvester pushed the Dragon Egg back into Meng Chao's hands and said, shaking his head, "This is a 'Dragon Egg,' an exceptionally rare and precious material. If its quality is decent, it could take center stage as the finale at the most prestigious auctions!"
"What about mine?"
Meng Chao pressed anxiously.
"Yours..."
Senior Harvester dragged out the last word and said regretfully, "Friend, after obtaining this Dragon Egg, did you fail to keep it soaked in a mithril stabilizer for extended periods? And even when you did soak it occasionally, did you fail to replace the mithril stabilizer every three days?"
Meng Chao instinctively clenched his fists. "Nonsense. I've spent all year fighting in the wilderness. Where would I get that much mithril stabilizer?"
Senior Harvester continued, "Even without mithril stabilizer, you didn't take care to preserve this Dragon Egg in a stable environment with constant temperature and humidity.
"Sometimes, you even carried it around with you, exposing it to repeated violent jolts?"
Meng Chao shook his head. "How would I know anything about constant temperature and humidity? As for violent jolts, I don't remember. Scrambling and brawling through the wilderness, impacts and shocks are commonplace!"
"No wonder. What a pity!"
Senior Harvester wore an expression as though he had a toothache. "This Dragon Egg was originally in fairly good condition, but improper long-term storage has inevitably left it with some flaws. Its effectiveness and value have both been greatly discounted!"
Meng Chao clearly did not believe him.
"If I wanted to deceive you, I wouldn't have told you it was a 'Dragon Egg.'"
Senior Harvester pushed over the electronic viewing lens as well,