A Huge Surprise, Generous Gifts!

After Xu Kun finished speaking, without waiting for Qian Manlou to agree, he dumped all the miscellaneous items from his backpack onto the table in one go!

Qian Manlou's eyelids twitched wildly at the sight!

If nothing unexpected had happened, all this junk must have been obtained by the person before him during the novice trial stage, right?

Heavens, I'm the grand master of the Myriad Treasures Pavilion. What did he take me for?

And how much could this junk possibly sell for? He'd just received 2.4 billion—was that still not enough?

Xu Kun, however, failed to notice Qian Manlou's twitching expression. Compared to the exorbitant profits of high-grade Spirit Stones, he preferred the materials dropped by monsters he had personally cut down with sword and blade!

Right before Qian Manlou, Xu Kun diligently sorted all the materials into categories and introduced them as though listing treasures from his own home. "Brother Qian, these are E-tier Snow Rabbit pelts..."

Qian Manlou, who had been utterly unconcerned and wearing a headache-inducing expression, instantly raised his head upon hearing Xu Kun's words.

He moved so quickly that Xu Kun jumped in fright.

"Brother Qian... what's wrong?"

"What did you just say?"

"Snow Rabbit pelts..." Xu Kun answered timidly.

Qian Manlou narrowed his eyes and hurriedly brushed aside Xu Kun's hand, looking at the pieces of snow-white fur pinned beneath it.

"They really are E-tier Snow Rabbit materials..."

"Is there something wrong with them?" Xu Kun asked uneasily.

Qian Manlou smiled. "No, of course not. These are quite good and very popular. Winter is almost here, isn't it? The fur designers at our Myriad Treasures Pavilion happen to need a large quantity of Snow Rabbit pelts!"

Realizing that was all it was, Xu Kun smiled. "Then it couldn't be better if Brother Qian's Myriad Treasures Pavilion needs them. I have 120 in total, but..."

"But what?" Qian Manlou perked up his ears, though he was already calculating inwardly.

Did this kid's drop rate really run that high? These Snow Rabbit pelts all looked exceptionally intact. He'd gotten 120 pieces from two hundred minor monsters. It seemed extraordinary people truly possessed extraordinary abilities!

Xu Kun scratched his head sheepishly. "But I want to keep a set for my mother and my second mother. Brother Qian, does the Myriad Treasures Pavilion have finished fur coats? If so, could I exchange these Snow Rabbit pelts for them?"

"Haha, I thought it was something serious. That's a trivial matter. It's rare to see such filial devotion from you. I'll take these pelts. As for the fur coats you want, how about this? It's our first meeting, and as your brother, I haven't given you any gift yet. I'll get you two D-tier Fire Cloud Fox fur coats!"

"How could I possibly accept that..." Xu Kun said awkwardly.

Qian Manlou waved it off without concern. "We call each other brothers, so why fuss over such things?"

Qian Manlou was a man of action. Having agreed to Xu Kun's request, he quickly retrieved two sets of fiery red fur coats from the inventory through a mechanism nearby!

Whether in appearance or warmth, fox fur coats made from D-tier Fire Cloud Fox pelts far surpassed fur coats made from E-tier Snow Rabbit pelts!

More importantly, Fire Cloud Foxes were small in size. A single fox fur coat required at least dozens of pelts to make. Even Xu Kun's 120 Snow Rabbit pelts likely would not have been enough to exchange for these two coats.

Xu Kun did not stand on ceremony. After thanking him, he put away the two coats and secretly made up his mind: I'll give Brother Qian a little extra later. That'll count as returning the favor!

Qian Manlou had given away two valuable fox fur coats, but to someone of his standing, they were merely an insignificant fraction of his wealth, not worth mentioning!

Business was business. Qian Manlou flipped through all the Snow Rabbit pelts on the table, and as expected, every one of them was exceptionally intact.

He immediately said, "The market purchase price for Snow Rabbit pelts is 1,000 Human Race Currency each. You have 120 of them, making a total of 12,000. With the 20% premium from the gold card I gave you, that comes to 144,000. But it's rare to see so many intact Snow Rabbit pelts. How about this? I'll make the call and round it up to 150,000!"

"Then I'll trouble you, Brother Qian!"

Qian Manlou nodded. Such a small transaction required no lengthy process. He inserted Xu Kun's gold card into the machine, and the money was immediately transferred. With a wave of his hand, he also stored away the Snow Rabbit pelts.

"What else do you have? Take it all out, and I'll settle everything for you!" Qian Manlou was curious whether the other materials Xu Kun had brought out would be like those Snow Rabbit pelts just now!

"Alright!"

Xu Kun grinned and pointed at another pile of stones.

Before Xu Kun could introduce them, Qian Manlou recognized them at a glance. "E-tier Spirit Stone Shards. You've got quite a few of these!"

"Hehe, twenty!"

Qian Manlou narrowed his eyes. Twenty E-tier Spirit Stone Shards—just how many bosses had this kid encountered?

"The market price for E-tier Spirit Stone Shards is 80,000. I'll take all of yours at 90,000 each, for a total of 1.8 million. I've transferred it to your card!"

Another 1.8 million had arrived in his account, and Xu Kun felt as refreshed as if he had downed an ice-cold cola on a sweltering June day!

"Brother Qian, take a look. How much can this hide sell for?"

With the limited table space, the Snow Rabbit pelts alone had filled it to the brim. Now that Qian Manlou had cleared it away, Xu Kun simply pulled out an entire cowhide.

The moment Qian Manlou saw it, his eyes widened. "D-tier Mountain-Cleaving Buffalo Hide?"

"Hehe, Brother Qian really knows his stuff. Brother Qian, is this worth much?"

Qian Manlou's brow furrowed into a deep crease.

He was beginning to doubt whether Xu Kun was truly the person he had been looking for. Could he have mistaken the wrong person?

How could there be D-tier materials in a novice trial?

But when he recalled that Xu Kun had just produced two S-tier Spirit Stones, Qian Manlou immediately dismissed his doubts.

"This is the person the boss ordered us to find. At a time like this, no fool would enter the Myriad Races Trading Ground. It has to be him!"

No matter how Qian Manlou thought about it, he could not understand how a D-tier material had appeared during the novice trial stage!

"Perhaps this was why the boss had sent me to receive him personally!"

"Such an intact piece of Mountain-Cleaving Buffalo Hide—not bad. It's enough to make several D-rank pieces of armor. How about I take it for 1.2 million?"

"Of course! In this field, Brother Qian, you're the authority!" Xu Kun casually laid on a neither-too-heavy-nor-too-light bit of flattery.

Once the deal was complete, Xu Kun tossed out another two horns under Qian Manlou's numb gaze.

"Hehe, these go with that buffalo hide from earlier!"

Qian Manlou twitched. "Mountain-Cleaving Buffalo Horns, one hundred thousand each!"

"Sounds good!"

"Is there any more? Just take everything out at once!" Qian Manlou pressed his temples and urged him.

"Brother Qian, don't rush. I'm afraid you won't have room for everything if there's too much. Let's do it one item at a time?"

Qian Manlou paused. Just how much stuff had this kid picked up?

As he spoke, Xu Kun gave him the answer. With a shake of his hand, the previously empty table was instantly piled high with materials.

Thirty pieces of Scaled Buffalo Meat and twenty pieces of Scaled Buffalo Hide—all E-rank materials!

Qian Manlou stroked a piece of bloodstained beef and fell into deep thought.

During the novice trial stage, there would never be groups of two similar races!

And the Mountain-Cleaving Buffalo Hide and Mountain-Cleaving Buffalo Horns this brat had brought out only had one set!

Were the D-rank materials dropped from the boss he had killed?

And were these Scaled Buffalo materials in front of him dropped by the regular monsters he had killed?

It had to be said that Qian Manlou immediately grasped the key point!

Keeping his expression neutral, he said, "Not bad materials. I'll take the whole lot for six hundred thousand!"

Naturally, Xu Kun had no objections!

Qian Manlou thought, That should be the end of it now, right?

But Xu Kun clearly had no intention of indulging him!

This time, Xu Kun did not dump everything out in a rush. He was sorting through his backpack!

During the novice trial stage, the level 1 Cavern Giant Rats, level 3 Bladehorn Sheep, and level 8 Wind Wolves had all died beneath the special effect of Wrath of the Fire Dragon, and their materials had been severely damaged. At first, Xu Kun had kept a few broken bladehorns, but later, because his backpack had become too cluttered, he threw all that junk away!

As for the drops from the remaining level 2 Gentle Rabbits, he planned to keep the rabbit meat, while the fur had already been dealt with!

He had used some of the Viper Snake Glands dropped by the level 4 Mandala Snake group, and Xu Kun did not plan to sell the rest. After all, this stuff was especially useful for races with low-level talents, so he would keep it for emergencies!

Most of the level 5 Barbarian Bull Race had died under the dragon breath of Wrath of the Fire Dragon. Xu Kun planned to keep the large chunk of beef dropped by the boss for himself, to stew into soup with that huge bone. He sold everything else that could be sold!

The material collected from the level 6 Blue Silver Grass was Blue Silver Parasites. In order to avoid getting beaten to death, Xu Kun decided not to take them out!

The pork and lard from the level 7 Earth-Splitting Pigs were good stuff—rare items that could not normally be bought even if one wanted to. Naturally, he would take them home and share them with his own family and Hao Jian's family!

That left the 200 Azure Flame Sparrow Tail Feathers dropped by the level 9 Flamingo Bird flock, the Blood Devouring Ant Mandibles dropped by the level 10 Corrosive Poison Termite swarm, and the materials from the Corrosive Poison Termite Emperor!

The moment the fiery-red Azure Flame Sparrow Tail Feathers appeared, they immediately caught Qian Manlou's attention.

"Whoa, you even have these little things?"

Xu Kun handed them over. Qian Manlou examined them and nodded. "For low-level fire-element ranged classes, robes made from Azure Flame Sparrow Tail Feathers are top-quality. However many you have, I'll take them all!"

"Not many, just two hundred!"

As soon as Xu Kun said that, Qian Manlou, who had just lifted his teacup for a sip, nearly sprayed tea everywhere.

"How... how many?"

"Two hundred!" As he spoke, Xu Kun poured out all the tail feathers. They formed a brilliant red spread that was quite a sight!

What shocked Qian Manlou was naturally not an ordinary low-level E-rank material like Azure Flame Sparrow Tail Feathers, but the fact that Xu Kun had said he possessed two hundred of them!

Didn't that mean a one hundred percent drop rate?

There had only been two hundred birds, and he had picked up every single one?

"Twenty thousand each. I'll take them all!"

Another four million entered his account. Xu Kun had never imagined that making money could be so easy!

"Anything else?" This time, it was Qian Manlou urging him.

"Yes, yes, but there isn't much left!" Xu Kun grinned from ear to ear.

With a clatter, the sound of stones falling rang out. Qian Manlou looked closely and froze for a moment.

Spirit stones again?

Xu Kun counted them and, after confirming the number was correct, smiled. "Eleven D-rank spirit stones. Brother Qian, just offer whatever you think is fair!"

D-rank spirit stones had actually dropped!

And there were as many as eleven!

Something was off about Qian Manlou's gaze.

"Brother Qian? What's wrong?" Xu Kun asked curiously.

"Nothing..." Qian Manlou let out a long breath. "At market price, one D-tier spirit stone is five million. You have eleven here, for a total of fifty-five million. As per the rules I set, there's a 20% premium, making it sixty-six million altogether!"

Xu Kun had originally intended to sell these eleven spirit stones cheaply as a favor, but after hearing Qian Manlou say that and glancing at his backpack, he ultimately nodded.

"Brother Qian... I still have some other things here!"

Qian Manlou was already used to this. "Take them out. As long as they can fetch a price, I'll buy them all!"

Who would have thought that Xu Kun shook his head? "I'm not selling this thing..."

Qian Manlou's brows shot up. "Don't tell me you're trying to mess with me again?"

Yet Qian Manlou's eyes grew even hotter. Could this brat really be taking out an SS-tier spirit stone?

If he really did, what price should I offer him? Or rather, what could I trade him for it?

Xu Kun shook his head seriously. Rather than taking it out immediately, he asked, "Brother Qian, have you heard of Heart-Devouring Blood Ants?"

Qian Manlou froze, then his face went pale. "Why are you bringing up that disgusting race!"

Xu Kun had not expected such a strong reaction from Qian Manlou and hurriedly explained, "I have some Heart-Devouring Blood Ant materials here. Brother Qian, take a look..."

As he spoke, Xu Kun took out one hundred Blood Devouring Ant Mandibles.

Looking at the table full of disgusting things, Qian Manlou showed not the slightest bit of revulsion. He examined this one, then that one, muttering, "Such intact Heart-Devouring Blood Ant mandibles!"

"Brother Qian, these things..."

"I'll take them! I'll buy them at a high price!"

"No, Brother Qian, listen to me!"

"Don't say anything. You don't understand how important these are. They may only be E-tier materials, but even ordinary D-tier materials aren't as important as these. You have no idea—the race's research teams need precisely these materials for their studies..."

"No..."

"Shut up!"

Qian Manlou barked, and Xu Kun sat down, looking utterly aggrieved.

After carefully inspecting every mandible, Qian Manlou delightedly discovered that every single one was exceptionally intact. Just as he was about to name a price, he heard Xu Kun mutter, "What the hell? I can't even donate these?"

"Kid, what did you just say?" Qian Manlou asked in surprise.

"I said, since the race can use these, I'll count it as a contribution. I don't want any money for them!"

Qian Manlou carefully looked Xu Kun over from head to toe. "You're not joking?"

"Do I look like I'm joking?" Xu Kun said righteously.

Qian Manlou could not help viewing Xu Kun in a higher light. "Do you know how much these things are bought for? Think it through carefully. Business is business—you don't need to stand on ceremony with me!"

To his surprise, Xu Kun directly shook his head. "It doesn't matter. Money is money, no matter how much it is. In the end, it's just E-tier material. It's useless sitting with me, so Brother Qian, there's no need to quote me a price. Just consider it my modest contribution!"

"Then I'm really taking them?" Qian Manlou asked tentatively.

Xu Kun's gaze was clear as he nodded.

Even after Qian Manlou had put away all one hundred mandibles, he did not see the slightest trace of reluctance on Xu Kun's face.

This kid... it seemed I had underestimated him before!

"Hehe, Brother Qian, I have one more thing here. You already gave me a meeting gift, so let this be my meeting gift to you!"

Qian Manlou sat back down, poured Xu Kun a cup of tea, and smiled. "Your Brother Qian has seen plenty of treasures. Are you sure you want to give me a gift?"

"Hehe, it's the thought that counts. Naturally, my thing can't compare to the treasures Brother Qian has seen, but it's still pretty rare!"

Qian Manlou straightened up. "Take it out and let me see!"

Xu Kun nodded, then reached into his backpack and placed something on the table.

Qian Manlou froze mid-motion. His teacup fell onto him, and scalding tea splashed all over his crotch. It was even seeping deeper in, yet he did not notice at all.

He slowly said, "This is... a Heart-Devouring Blood Ant Emperor Reproductive Gland, and it even contains a living specimen?"

Xu Kun gave him a thumbs-up. "My Brother Qian really knows his stuff!"

"Kid, where did you get this?"

"Found it." Xu Kun spread his hands and answered casually.

"Gulp..." Qian Manlou swallowed with difficulty. "You can find something like this?"

"I got lucky. So, Brother Qian, does my gift suit your taste?"

"It suits my taste perfectly, little brother! Do you know how rare this thing is?" Qian Manlou exclaimed, gesturing wildly.

Xu Kun did not understand and asked, "Is it really that serious? No matter what, it's only the reproductive gland of a boss born from an E-tier race. Wouldn't the human race have plenty of them if they wanted one?"

Qian Manlou shook his head, gazing fervently at the item as he explained, "Little brother, you can't judge everything by rank alone!"

"Do you know what a Heart-Devouring Blood Ant Emperor represents?"

Heh, that question happened to fall right within Xu Kun's area of expertise.

"What could it represent? It represented a mobile ant army. The Heart-Devouring Blood Ant Emperor itself had little combat power, but on the battlefield, it was like a banner and a mobile fortress!"

Qian Manlou paused. "You know about that too?"

"Is it that complicated?"

"But..."

"But what?"

Qian Manlou fell silent, once again growing suspicious of Xu Kun's identity. That shouldn't be possible. How could a high school student know so much about the boss spawned by an E-tier race?

"Since you know the traits of the Heart-Devouring Blood Ant Emperor, then you should also know that the Heart-Devouring Blood Ant race is practically a natural disaster to ordinary civilians, right?"

Xu Kun nodded. "This is something every Chinese citizen should know. Once Heart-Devouring Blood Ants are discovered, they must be reported to the highest local commander. One slip-up could lead to a city-wide massacre!"

"I couldn't tell, little brother. You're quite knowledgeable!"

Xu Kun waved his hand sheepishly. "Not really, I only know a little!"

"So, although the Heart-Devouring Blood Ant race is merely an E-tier race, the importance humanity places on researching it is no less than that of a Tier-B Race. Some Tier-A Races aren't even as important as the Heart-Devouring Blood Ant race!"

That exaggerated?

"The abilities of ordinary Heart-Devouring Blood Ants can be converted into lifesteal effects on equipment, while the Heart-Devouring Blood Ant Emperor's abilities encompass everything from space to status effects!"

"But importance aside, it's far too difficult to capture living members of this race for experiments. Heart-Devouring Blood Ants are very fragile. Once they sense mortal danger, they hide Inside the body of the Heart-Devouring Blood Ant Emperor. If they don't make it in time, they self-destruct. They rarely leave behind intact corpses!"

"Likewise, the Heart-Devouring Blood Ant Emperor is difficult to kill. When it encounters an opponent it cannot defeat, it either self-destructs or escapes... Even experts far above the Heart-Devouring Blood Ant Emperor's level would find it difficult to capture one alive!"

Really...? Xu Kun thought of the Heart-Devouring Blood Ant Emperor he had summoned to soak up damage. It was such a coward—how was it anywhere near as troublesome as Qian Manlou described?

Still, there seemed to be a difference between summons and living creatures!

In this regard, Qian Manlou was the professional. Xu Kun was still an outsider!

"So, this thing has tremendous research value. And if this reproductive gland is put to good use, it may even be possible to cultivate a Heart-Devouring Blood Ant Emperor. If that happens, perhaps we can overcome the technological barrier and make it impossible for the Heart-Devouring Blood Ant race to wreak havoc on humanity again!"

"So if you sell it, this thing could fetch at least a hundred million. Are you sure you want to give it to me as a gift?"

Qian Manlou's probing words failed to stir Xu Kun in the slightest. He waved dismissively. "As long as Brother Qian likes it. As for how you deal with it, that's your business, Brother Qian. Once I give something away, it has nothing to do with me anymore!"

"Good lad. Then I'll accept this gift. If you need anything in the future, just call on me!"

"Hehe, then I hope Brother Qian won't find me troublesome in the future!" This was exactly what Xu Kun had been waiting to hear.

Qian Manlou understood what Xu Kun meant, but merely smiled and did not take it to heart.

"Have you finished dealing with everything?"

"Mm, more or less..."

Xu Kun rummaged through his backpack and found that there was nothing else to sell. He had already dumped out everything he didn't need.

By chance, he spotted three inconspicuous little items he had shoved aside earlier because they were a hassle when he was taking out the materials.

"Oh, there are also these three things. Brother Qian, just deal with them as you see fit!"

Qian Manlou had not paid them any attention at first. After talking for so long, he was thirsty, so he took a sip of tea and looked over at Xu Kun's words. When he saw the streaks of light spinning around the items in Xu Kun's hand, his eyes widened, and he let out several muffled noises.

Pwah!

He sprayed the entire mouthful of tea all over Xu Kun's face.

"What are you doing?"