An Axe Priced at 10 Billion Universe Coins

The man at the next stall was none other than the burly man with a fierce face who had been in front of Gu Ding at the front desk. He recognized Gu Ding instantly.

Gu Ding looked down at his stall, where the axe he had previously taken to the front desk and had the Treasure Appraisal Robot determine that it was "worthless".

"Does this guy really think this axe is valuable?" Gu Ding was a little confused. He had always thought that this big man was deliberately causing trouble at the front desk, but now he had set up his stall inside the tower, where stall fees were collected every day.

"Hey kid, don't go!" Gu Ding paused in front of his stall for a moment, then turned to walk toward the next stall, but was stopped by the big man.

"Is there something wrong?" Gu Ding turned around with some confusion.

"I just want to ask you, were the items you later had appraised also found to be worthless?"

"My appraisal results are correct." Gu Ding shook his head. He really wanted to tell the other party that it wasn't the Treasure Appraisal Robot's fault, but the axe's fault, but he held back in the end.

"How is that possible?" The man looked down at his axe in disbelief. "It's clearly a family heirloom, how could it have no value?"

"Sea Emperor, the Treasure Appraisal Robot shouldn't make any mistakes, right? Have you seen that axe?" Gu Ding couldn't help but ask.

"I scanned his axe briefly and didn't find anything special about it. The material composition of each part is clearly visible, and the arrangement and structure of each component can be clearly seen. To be honest, the workmanship of this axe is very average." The Sea Emperor's evaluation was obviously not very high. "This guy was probably deceived by his elders since he was a child and is still kept in the dark about the truth."

"Grandpa clearly said before he passed away that an ancestor in the family had used this axe to slay a dragon..." The Sea Emperor clearly heard what the man was muttering.

Gu Ding was about to leave when the Sea Emperor called out to him, "Gu Ding, wait, pick up that axe and let me scan it carefully."

Although Gu Ding was somewhat puzzled, he turned around and said to the man, "Can I take a look?"

"You want to buy it?" The man stopped muttering and looked at Gu Ding with some surprise, since Gu Ding had clearly not been interested just now.

"I'll just take a look." Gu Ding figured that if the Sea Emperor scanned it again, the result would be the same. However, he still picked up the axe as the Sea Emperor had instructed. It was quite heavy, but Gu Ding didn't feel anything else.

He also carefully examined the axe in his hand. The handle was made of black metal, and the axe body was covered with rust. The patches of rust made Gu Ding frown slightly.

Noticing Gu Ding's expression, the man quickly explained, "These rust stains are impossible to remove. I've tried many different cleaning agents, but none of them have worked."

A moment later, Gu Ding heard the Sea Emperor's somewhat anxious voice, "Gu Ding, buy it! I misjudged it before, this is definitely a good thing!"

Gu Ding casually ran his hand over the rust spots; no rust came off. "What price do you want for this axe?"

"One hundred billion Universe Coin!" When the man announced this price, Gu Ding was completely speechless.

When he heard "10 billion," he thought the other party was going to ask for an exorbitant price of 10 billion Star Coin, but he didn't expect them to ask for 10 billion Universe Coin. However, judging from the other party's appearance, they didn't seem to be joking at all. What Gu Ding found strange was that the Sea Emperor remained silent after hearing this price.

"You're offering this price because you don't really want to sell, do you?" Gu Ding glanced at the other party sideways.

"It's not that I wanted to quote this price, but before my grandfather died, he said that if one day I squandered all the family fortune and couldn't survive without selling this axe, then it had to be sold for at least 10 billion Universe Coin. Because of this, he also made me sign a curse-like mental contract: if the selling price is less than 10 billion Universe Coin, I will be cursed and suffer 100 years of bad luck..."

Upon hearing this, Gu Ding chose to remain silent, waiting for the Sea Emperor's reply.

"This item is more valuable than the Witch Clan Staff you have. Buying it for 10 billion Universe Coin is considered cheap." The Sea Emperor's reply after a long silence surprised Gu Ding greatly. "The curse he mentioned should also be true. I just scanned his body, and there are indeed traces of a curse. Such special curses that bring bad luck do exist."

"At this price, I don't think you have a very good chance of selling it." Gu Ding's words were actually meant for the Sea Emperor as well. "After the Auction House, there should be far fewer buyers here. If it still hasn't sold by then, you can come to me."

After Gu Ding finished speaking, he turned and walked away. He was no longer in the mood to continue exploring and left the tower.

Once outside the tower, Gu Ding finally asked, "What exactly is that axe?"

"The owner of that axe must have been a deity. Unlike the staffs of the witch clan, this axe is a melee weapon, stained with the blood of dragons. The axe itself was sealed, and the residual dragon blood covered it, concealing the aura of the seal, which is why I didn't notice anything unusual about it before. Those rust spots you see are traces of the dragon blood." The Sea Emperor's explanation shocked Gu Ding.

"Dragons, did they really exist? I always thought they were just legendary creatures," Gu Ding couldn't help but ask.

"Dragons are among the earliest intelligent races to appear in the Universe Sea. They possess intelligence comparable to humans and are born with immense strength. True dragons, once they reach maturity, naturally possess power comparable to gods. They were most active in Ancient Era, practically ruling an entire era; the entire Universe Sea was their domain. But ultimately, they could not escape the great catastrophe of the changing times; the entire race was almost wiped out, leaving only a few survivors..."

Hearing the Sea Emperor's story, Gu Ding was slightly distracted. He found it hard to believe that such a powerful race could still be wiped out.

"The main reason I asked you to buy that axe wasn't because of the axe itself, but because of the dragon blood. Through the remaining bloodstains, I should be able to study the characteristics of the dragon's Gene Chain, which will be helpful for your future evolutionary direction. If I obtain enough genetic information, I might even be able to clone the dragon race. Of course, this is definitely not something that can be achieved in the short term."

"And that axe, once you are strong enough, you can erase the original owner's remaining fighting spirit and reforge it, making it far more valuable than that Witch Clan Staff." The Sea Emperor had planned everything perfectly.

Gu Ding, however, thought of a practical problem, "I think if that guy's curse is true, he's unlikely to lower the price, so the biggest problem now is that we don't have enough money."

Upon hearing Gu Ding raise this question, the Sea Emperor remained silent for a moment before offering his own idea, "How about we sell that Witch Clan Staff this time? We have no use for it anyway."

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(Thanks to [A Pair of Middle Fingers Pointing to the Sky], [rebuliyas], [Eurasia Plate], [Book Friend 110525004646106], and my old friend [Fallen... Seraphim] for their generous donations~~ A special thank you to all the brothers and sisters who, like [Fallen... Seraphim], have remained loyal to me for years. Thank you all.)

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