Zhongli Didn't Haggle—He Wanted It All!

Paimon's voice wasn't loud, but it brought Zhongli back to his senses.

Was there something special about these stones?

To be honest, there was nothing special about them. They were merely ordinary jade.

To Zhongli, this jade wasn't even worth collecting, so naturally, he had no interest in buying such "junk."

However, one of them did have a bit of a story behind it, and that was what had caught Zhongli's eye.

Rocks had memories, and Zhongli happened to be able to read them. This stone was not as simple as it appeared on the surface.

Being mixed in with a batch of ordinary Raw Jade Ore was, in a sense, an insult to it.

Zhongli did not answer Paimon's question. Instead, he pointed to the stone with a story and said, "Shopkeeper, I'll take this one. How much is it?"

A business existed to make money. If something was merchandise, it had a price. If Zhongli found the price acceptable, he would not hesitate to buy it.

Of course, in most cases, since he had little concept of money, if he truly liked something, he would buy it even at a premium.

If the price was lower than what Zhongli believed it to be worth, then in Liyue terms, it counted as finding a bargain. He likewise would not hesitate to buy it.

Buying it meant profiting!

The shopkeeper was a middle-aged man in his forties. He had long heard of Zhongli's great reputation.

Even though he had never met him, he could still recognize an unidentified flying object.

Zhongli visiting his little shop truly left him flattered.

"Your Excellency Zhongli, if you like this stone, one hundred Gold Soul Coins will do."

The shopkeeper spoke respectfully. After examining the piece of "Raw Jade Ore" Zhongli had pointed at, he directly gave him the lowest price.

Most people who bought Raw Jade Ore were "gamblers." They gambled that the jade inside the ore would be worth more than the ore itself.

This was also known as Jade Gambling.

Jade Gambling came with losses and profits. Naturally, most customers lost money. Otherwise, his shop would probably be unable to stay open.

This Raw Jade Ore had all been appraised by Jade Masters, who had determined that it held little value.

That was why it had been put out for sale. If they could swindle even one...

Pah!

Even masters could make mistakes. Buying it meant making a profit!

At those words, Paimon's eyes widened.

She had thought that after saying so much, the shopkeeper would not charge them. She had not expected him to still ask for one hundred Gold Soul Coins.

One hundred Gold Soul Coins for a stone—honestly, the shopkeeper was not making a profit. It was practically the cost price.

These stones were not iron ore, but jade ore. Their value naturally could not be compared to iron ore.

Besides, iron products were not particularly valuable on the Douluo Continent. Blacksmiths generally held little status.

They were considered lowly tradesmen.

"One hundred Gold Soul Coins? That's so expensive!"

Paimon was no longer the Paimon who had just arrived on the Douluo Continent. The purchasing power of Gold Soul Coins was not the same as Mora.

A single Gold Soul Coin was enough for an ordinary family of three to live happily for several months.

Hearing this, the shopkeeper helplessly spread his hands and said, "Little Paimon, you don't understand. This is already the lowest price I can offer."

"Originally, each piece of this Raw Jade Ore cost one hundred and ten Gold Soul Coins."

Although this Raw Jade Ore no longer held much value for the shop, purchasing it had still cost quite a bit.

Selling one piece meant recovering some of that cost.

After hearing the shopkeeper's explanation, Paimon nodded thoughtfully. "A full ten Gold Soul Coins... That really does seem like quite a big discount."

"Yes, it is indeed quite a substantial discount."

Whether it merely sounded that way or not, the discount the shopkeeper offered was fairly generous.

In Zhongli's estimation, the stone with a story behind it was worth between one hundred thousand and five hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins.

To someone who needed it, let alone five hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins, even one million or five million would not make them so much as frown.

Without further hesitation, Zhongli casually waved his hand, and one hundred Gold Soul Coins appeared on the shopkeeper's table.

At the sight of the Gold Soul Coins, the shopkeeper beamed. He hurriedly counted them, and after confirming there were neither too many nor too few, he said to Zhongli, "Your Excellency Zhongli, would you like to cut the stone open here, or take it back and open it later?"

In Jade Gambling, the stone had to be opened sooner or later. That was why the shopkeeper asked.

"I'll take it with me."

The stone was not very large. It was round, with a diameter of roughly thirty centimeters.

Since payment and goods had been exchanged, this stone now belonged to Zhongli.

Zhongli directly put the stone away, then left the jade shop with Paimon.

After leaving the jade shop, Paimon asked Zhongli curiously, "Zhongli, this stone isn't simple, is it?"

She knew Zhongli's eye for such things. Especially when it came to stones, he would never misjudge one.

Zhongli did not haggle—he wanted it all...

But there would never be any problem with his judgment.

Even without haggling, the items he bought were generally not worth less than what he paid.

"Yes, this stone is indeed not simple."

"It differs from ordinary stones. It was once a living creature, a creature with life, that took on the form of a stone after death."

"???"

Paimon's head was filled with question marks. If anyone other than Zhongli had said that, she would never have believed such nonsense.

"A stone?"

"Life?"

Zhongli stroked his chin and said, "Yes. In the terms of the Douluo Continent, it was an extremely rare Gem-type Soul Beast."

"Not only are such Soul Beasts rare, but the difficulty of hunting them increases exponentially. Their natural camouflage is simply too realistic."

"Ah..."

Paimon scratched her head. The Douluo Continent truly was quite magical. Even stones could give birth to life—it could rival Teyvat.

"Wait, Zhongli. Even if it was a Soul Beast before it died, it's still just a stone now. Can it be worth one hundred Gold Soul Coins?"

Paimon's eyes lit up. She had spotted the key issue.

A stone gaining sentience would still be a stone after it died, right?

Without the Soul Beast buff, it was worthless!

"From the perspective of life, it is priceless."

"The shell it left behind after death has no value to humans either."

"However, because of the rules of Douluo, it left behind a Soul Bone after dying."

Paimon: "!!!"

Good heavens, truly good heavens!

Paimon had initially thought Zhongli bought this... no, this Soul Beast's corpse because it had once been a sentient stone.

He had bought it for sentimental reasons.

After all, Zhongli was the King of the Rocks.

She had never expected Zhongli to be after the Soul Bone!

"No one else discovered its Soul Bone because its body structure was too sealed, completely concealing the Soul Bone's aura."

"If it were not for that, I would not have found such a bargain."

"Though useless, it is still a fine collectible."