The Terrifying Bronze Fragment

Looking at the pile of Spirit Stones on the counter, shimmering with an alluring luster under the lamplight, the goat-bearded shopkeeper's eyes went wide!

The laziness and disdain on his face vanished in an instant, replaced by a near-sycophantic enthusiasm.

"Enough! Of course, it's enough!"

He scrambled to sweep the Spirit Stones into the counter, his smile blooming like a chrysanthemum in full sun.

"This junior brother, please wait a moment, I will fetch your goods immediately!"

The shopkeeper's attitude had undergone a complete one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn.

He was as clear as a mirror in his heart; the handyman disciple before him was definitely not as simple as he appeared on the surface!

A mere handyman could not possibly possess such financial resources.

The only explanation was that he was running errands for some distinguished inner-sect senior brother, or perhaps even a true-disciple!

Such a person was absolutely not to be offended!

The shopkeeper made a quick calculation in his mind and nimbly retrieved a wooden box from the shelves behind him.

He carefully counted out twenty plump, high-quality First-rank Demon Cores and placed them inside.

At the last moment, as if remembering something, he gritted his teeth, grabbed two more from another box, and tossed them in as well.

"Junior brother, since this is your first time at my humble shop, these are a personal gift from me. Do come back often!"

He handed the wooden box to Zhou Xuan with the utmost respect, his smile as sincere as it could possibly be.

Zhou Xuan was overjoyed, yet he nodded calmly and tucked the wooden box into his Universe Bag.

"You are too kind."

He replied indifferently, then added, "Also, give me one hundred sheets of blank First-rank talisman paper, one bottle each of high-quality cinnabar and beast blood, and a few wolf-hair brushes."

"Coming right up, please wait a moment!"

The shopkeeper responded faster than anyone, turning around to prepare the items.

In his view, since Zhou Xuan was spending so lavishly, he must be purchasing materials for some master's disciple, and he had to serve him well.

The items Zhou Xuan requested were all of the lowest grade, dirt cheap.

One hundred sheets of talisman paper, plus the cinnabar, beast blood, and brushes, added up to a total that the shopkeeper only symbolically charged him two Low-grade Spirit Stones for.

While the shopkeeper was busy packing the items, Zhou Xuan did not remain idle.

He walked with his hands behind his back, feigning boredom as he strolled around the shop.

Meanwhile, his consciousness had already sunk into his mind, communicating frantically with the system.

"System, scan! List out the Gold Touch Value for everything here that can be converted!"

[Ding! Command received.]

In the next second, the entire world changed before Zhou Xuan's eyes.

The unremarkable ores, spiritual herbs, and beast bones on the shelves all transformed into lines of shimmering golden numbers in his vision.

[Low-rank Fire Copper Ore, can be converted into 2 Gold Touch Value.]

[Withered Blood Coagulation Grass, can be converted into 1 Gold Touch Value.]

[Broken Wolf Demon Skull, can be converted into 3 Gold Touch Value.]

Zhou Xuan's breathing instantly became ragged.

His heart hammered against his ribs, and an irrepressible greed burned wildly from the depths of his soul like a wildfire!

He was rich!

This wasn't a grocery store at all!

This was clearly an unmined gold mine!

He looked at the dazzling array of goods on the shelves, his mouth nearly watering.

He even felt an urge to rush forward, press his hands against the shelves, and shout for it all to be absorbed!

However, this crazy thought lasted only a second before he forcibly suppressed it.

He took a deep breath, his eyes regaining their clarity.

No!

If he really dared to do that, he would likely be beaten into a pulp by the market's enforcement team before the system even finished absorbing everything.

A gentleman loves wealth, but he acquires it through proper means.

Bah, he wasn't a gentleman, but he certainly valued his life!

Forcibly restraining the urge to convert that was practically bursting out of him, Zhou Xuan muttered in his heart.

"System, switch to Enlightenment Mode."

The scene before his eyes changed once again.

The golden conversion values vanished, replaced by new lines of numbers representing the cost required for repairs or upgrades.

[Low-rank Fire Copper Ore, refining quality requires 5 Gold Touch Value.]

[Withered Blood Coagulation Grass, restoring medicinal properties requires 3 Gold Touch Value.]

Different items and different qualities required varying amounts of Gold Touch Value for the transformation.

Zhou Xuan's gaze swept across the shelves one by one, his mind rapidly calculating the cost-effectiveness.

However, just as his eyes brushed over an inconspicuous corner in the deepest part of the shop, his body suddenly stiffened!

Because, in that corner piled high with various broken scraps—a section the shopkeeper treated as a junk appraisal area—

On a green copper fragment only the size of a fingernail, covered in rust and looking as if it had been picked out of a pile of scrap metal, There was a terrifying number floating above it that made his scalp tingle and his soul tremble!

[??? (Fragment), transformation and repair requires Gold Touch Value: 1000!]

One thousand points!

Zhou Xuan's brain buzzed, and his mind went completely blank for a moment!

He thought he had misread it, so he blinked hard and looked again.

It was correct!

It was exactly one thousand points!

Repairing that Black Iron Shield had only cost him fifty points!

Repairing that Universe Bag had only cost him one hundred!

Yet this broken piece of copper, no bigger than a fingernail, required a full one thousand Gold Touch Value to transform and repair!

What the hell kind of concept was this?

Calculating based on one Low-grade Spirit Stone being worth three Gold Touch Value, one thousand points was over three hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones!

That amount of money—let alone for a servant like him—would make even an ordinary inner sect disciple wince in pain!

What shocked him even more was that the information for this item was entirely composed of question marks!

[Name: ???]

[Grade: ???]

[Origin: ???]

The system couldn't even identify it!

Zhou Xuan's heart felt as if it were about to leap out of his throat!

An unprecedented, intense premonition was branded deep into the depths of his soul.

He had to have it!

At any cost, he had to get his hands on this thing!

This item was absolutely his greatest opportunity yet!

Zhou Xuan's body trembled slightly from extreme excitement.

But the expression on his face returned to a state of calm, like an ancient well, in a mere split second.

He forcibly suppressed the raging waves in his heart, feigned a casual appearance, and slowly walked toward that corner.

His steps were slow, and his gaze was aimless, as if he were just an ordinary customer curious about these pieces of junk.

"Junior brother, your items are all packed!"

From behind, the shopkeeper's enthusiastic greeting rang out.

Zhou Xuan didn't even turn his head, merely waving his hand dismissively as his gaze landed on the appraisal area piled with damaged magical artifacts and unknown materials.

He crouched down, picked up a broken magical sword to examine it, then picked up a pitch-black stone to weigh it, his face showing just the right amount of disdain.

Finally, he stood up, brushed the dust off his hands, turned to look at the grinning shopkeeper, and asked in a lazy, puzzled tone:

"Shopkeeper, what kind of junk is in this corner of yours?"

"Why is everything so broken and tattered? You're actually trying to sell this trash?"