The undertaking was not half completed before it was abruptly halted.

He closed the depressing "All Players Unlimited Grand Auction" column.

Meng Yi's assessment of the atmosphere in "Evolution Paradise" kept changing, and kept dropping.

According to what "Old Xu" said, the rank advancement in the Paradise was extremely brutal.

The "Magical Loli," who was about to take the 6th Order Assessment, had no scruples or bottom line, which proved this point.

High-level players who had shed their "Gu Worm Identity" stirred up trouble every day, while the top-tier 15th Order Players did nothing to stop them, making the vibe in "Evolution Paradise" increasingly "simple folk customs, talents emerging in droves."

"To be fair, if I were the 'Chess Player,' I'd let it slide too."

"The harsher the extreme environment, the better it is for cultivating unconventional 'talents.'"

"No matter how many 'Newbie Village Newbies' there are, their value can't compare to a single high-level player."

To be honest, Meng Yi was interested in what that 'Beast' was selling, but it wasn't the time yet.

Everything that exists has a reason. If he couldn't do it now, it was because his realm was too low and his knowledge accumulation was insufficient.

Once he escaped the 'Newbie Village' and competed on the same stage as the 'High-Level Beasts,' buying the bait to analyze the principles and truths it contained, turning it into nourishment for his own rapid transformation—that would be the time.

Calming his restless thoughts, Meng Yi started searching the auction house for "Knowledge-based" items.

A Tier 5 player didn't need to run around everywhere; the rank filter included Tier 1 through Tier 5.

He clicked the rank filter in the top-left corner, locked it to "Tier 5," then opened the category filter on the left side and locked it to "Knowledge-based."

The result was obvious—it was completely empty.

When he searched "Knowledge-based" under "Tier 1 to Tier 4," a window popped up saying "Not Open."

"So Tier 5 players are the first real threshold for 'Newbies,' and the bottom line set by 'Evolution Paradise' and the 15th Order Players is Tier 5?"

Meng Yi stopped holding onto any illusions of 'finding a bargain.'

No one who made it to Tier 5 in "Evolution Paradise" was an idiot, and the higher-order players were even less so.

The Paradise didn't forbid the spread of knowledge, but it did forbid stale, cookie-cutter repetition.

For the sake of his own life, Meng Yi steadied his mindset and casually browsed the Tier 1 to Tier 5 items in the "Auction House."

Equipment, bloodlines, skill scrolls, basic materials... you could say they had everything.

There were plenty of good items worth a second look, and the average quality of the goods was a cut above the street stalls in the "Commercial Street."

"Sigh, I can only hate that my resources are limited."

Meng Yi shook his head with a wry smile and closed the "Auction House" light screen. After a few hours of browsing, he chalked it up to just feeding his eyes and broadening his horizons.

Back in the Selection Dungeon phase, he had already planned to use the "World Origin Crystals" he obtained for himself, so why would he slow down his own growth by buying some external objects that would eventually be phased out?

He came with excitement, and left with nothing.

He had checked out both the "Commercial Street" and the "Auction House" in the "Free Trade Zone," and only the "Pawn Shop" was left.

With the mindset of 'since I'm already here,' Meng Yi decided to take a look at the "Pawn Shop."

What?

Hadn't he said 'he'd rather die than go there' not long ago?

Sure enough, no one can escape the 'law of true fragrance.'

The architectural style of the "Pawn Shop" was similar to the "Auction House." There were still no staff inside, with everything handled by "Evolution Paradise's" well-established system.

In the private meeting room, the familiar light screen appeared again, and next to it, Meng Yi's Personal Information Panel also showed up.

Meng Yi tried dragging the "S-Rank Title · Nirvana Foundation" onto the light screen, and "Evolution Paradise's" cold, indifferent voice echoed deep in his thoughts.

[Prompt: Do you wish to pawn the "S-Rank Title · Nirvana Foundation" in exchange for 2 S-Rank World Origin Crystals + 150,000 Paradise Coins?]

"No!"

No matter how many life-saving measures he had, it was never enough. Only an idiot would sell a high-value 'revive coin.'

Meng Yi had no use for S-Rank World Origin Crystals at this stage anyway. He planned to try grafting the effect of the "S-Rank Title · Nirvana Foundation" onto himself, turning a one-time effect into a permanent passive ability, thereby deepening his "Cellular-Level Immortality · Blood Rebirth."

He tried a few other items.

The C+-rank "Psionic Power" he developed from the Mind System and Biochemical System was valued at 7 C-Rank World Origin Crystals + 34,000 Paradise Coins.

The self-developed "Longevity Type 3 · Gene-sire" was valued at 3 C-Rank World Origin Crystals + 16,000 Paradise Coins.

Merging knowledge from his previous life—chemistry, biology, medicine, genetics—with his current life's scavenging and robbing in the Warhammer Hive City, and the Umbrella Corporation and JanusTech from the Selection Dungeon, he had created the "Proficient-Level White Studies," valued at 2 C-Rank World Origin Crystals + 14,000 Paradise Coins.

Expert-Level Explosives, Expert-Level Unrestricted Combat, Beginner-Level Cold Weapons, Beginner-Level Firearms, and the branches derived from his "Psionic Power" development were worth much less.

The second most valuable 'commodity' on Meng Yi was "Psionic Power · Microscopic Domain Interference (Cellular Level)," with a pawn price as high as 11 C-Rank World Origin Crystals + 79,000 Paradise Coins.

"Oh, so I'm not a broke loser after all."

If he sold everything he had learned, he could go to "Player: I'm a Magical Girl" and buy a B+-rank world-ending curse scroll wholesale.

That hot-tempered loli who once ignored him and even mocked him—if she learned the good news that fortune had fallen from the sky, she'd at least kneel and kowtow a few hundred times, shouting loudly, 'Boss, you're generous!'

"No! Not selling!"

Closing the "Pawn Shop" light screen, Meng Yi would have to be an idiot to sell himself as a "commodity."

The bold, red, pinned line of large text in the "Pawn Shop" was crystal clear.

Once sold, "Knowledge-based, System-type goods" were non-refundable. The player would "fundamentally" lose everything they had, unable to replicate it by rote to exploit a bug and farm "coins."

Behind every rule, there was bound to be at least one painful, heavy story.

"I get the high-level player's money-making mindset now."

Meng Yi rubbed his chin in thought. After browsing the three major category sections of the "Free Trade Zone," he had his own idea.

What about crafting a neutered, single-function Enhancement Potion and selling it to Second, Third, and Fourth Order players?

"Feasible! Very feasible!"

The "Potion: Blood Rebirth (Limited 1h)" would likely be in high demand among the Third to Fourth Order player zones.

As for whether the leeks being harvested were chasing external shortcuts, stunting their own growth due to External Objects, and ending up dead in brutal ascension dungeons—that had nothing to do with Meng Yi, who was raking it in.

"Wait, if I can think of such a self-serving, scummy trick, then those Fifth Order and higher bastards must have even worse ones!"

"Damn Shit Pit Paradise—before the shortcut to cash even starts, it's already packed with those fucking bastards!"

"Rigged! Totally rigged! This crappy paradise is full of traps."

"Anyone who survives to Fifth Order is a bastard who's crawled through the pits. The Fifth Order watershed lives up to its name!"

He saw it clearly now: First to Fourth Order "true newbies" cursed Fifth to Tenth Order players as black-hearted bastards.

Fifth to Tenth Order "fake newbies" cursed Eleventh to Fourteenth Order high-level players as bottomless pits of scum.

Eleventh to Fourteenth Order wage slaves cursed Fifteenth Order Top-Level Players as ultimate bastards and supreme scum.