The Thorne of Destiny

Adrian paused for a moment before responding in the same monotone voice.

"How much are you willing to pay?"

The woman, who was a bit caught off guard by Adrian's response let out a light chuckle before replying.

"There's no need for all this haggling. Goods like that have fixed rates that they go for. The early stage rank 3 granite crocodile would typically go between 100, 000 and 120, 000 low-grade qi stones. I am willing to offer you 100, 000 Qi stones. What do you think?

Adrian's eyebrow furrowed. He could tell that she wasn't lying to him since he had done his investigations. However, the price she was offering still disappointed him a bit.

"You just said they could go for 120,000 qi stones. Why would I sell it for less than that?

He asked.

The woman didn't mind his accusatory tone and explained gently.

" You will only get that price if you bring back a live granite crocodile or if there are no injuries to the body. Are your goods in such pristine condition?" She asked with a smile on her face.

Even though her tone was still pleasant, the words she spoke weren't. Killing a beast without any injuries to its body could only be done by directly attacking its soul. However, soul skills are very rare and could only be found among those large sects and families.

Of course, she couldn't have imagined that a member of one such family was sitting right in front of her. Anyway, her words made Adrian realize his naivety. He was still too inexperienced.

He let out a deep breath before responding to her words. " We have a deal."

A broad smile was plastered across the woman's face as she spoke up.

"Wonderful. Please follow me to the storage room where you can unload your goods and receive your payment."

She stood up and led him towards the back where a large, empty warehouse was located.

With a wave of his hand, the huge carcass appeared in the warehouse. The woman's eyes shone when she inspected the crocodile. Even though this purchase wasn't that significant in the grand scheme of things, it was still a great deal for them.

She nodded her head silently before also waving her hand and released a pile of qi stones on the ground.

Adrian only glanced at it briefly before sucking everything inside his storage ring.

"Aren't you going to count it?" The woman asked with a bemused expression.

"I don't think such a small deal will warrant any foul play from someone of your caliber."

Adrian responded simply.

As he was about to leave, he suddenly stopped in his tracks before turning his head and asking.

"I would like to buy some ingredients. Are there any shops that you would recommend in this part of the city?" He wasn't expecting anything much but since she was someone who was already established in the city, perhaps she could give him some good tips.

"Oh, well you're in luck. We have a few stores that sell different goods. What are you looking to buy?" She asked.

"I have a surplus of some pills I would like to sell. I would also like to purchase some herbs. Are those included in one of your businesses?" He questioned.

Now the woman's smile vanished as she stared deeply at Adrian as if she was trying to peer into his soul. It was one thing to sell beasts but now he was selling pills as well.

Was he a warrior or an alchemist? Or perhaps he was tasked by one to sell his goods. These questions raced through her mind before Adrian's voice suddenly interrupted her train of thought.

"It's just some rank 1 pills that have accumulated inside my storage ring. They're useless to me anyway so I was planning on getting rid of them." Adrian explained when he saw that she was not responding.

The woman regained her composure before giving him a faint smile while responding.

"Yes, we have a shop on this street that deals in both herbs and pills. I'm sure you'll be satisfied there. Here, with this, you'll be guaranteed a great deal, especially if you tell them that Julia sent you there."

She said while taking out a wooden token from her storage ring and tossing it to him. He caught it and examined it. It was a simple wooden token with the logo of the inn on it.

He was a bit surprised since this was an item that was only given to their VIP customers, but here Julia was tossing it to him so nonchalantly.

"Then I give you my thanks, Miss Julia," Adrian said as he left the warehouse.

Julia didn't follow as she watched his back and muttered to herself.

"What a strange individual."

Adrian left the inn and soon found himself in the store selling pills. After explaining his purpose and showing them the token, he was given a fair price for his goods. The storekeepers were even excited when they saw the purity of the pills. They bought all his goods which came out to be about fifty bottles filled with high-quality pills with each pill bottle containing about five pills.

Due to constant practice, his skills had improved drastically over the months. Now, every batch of pills would come out as high-quality pills. He was also able to maximize the quantity with each batch producing four to five pills. Each batch produced a varying amount of pill veins which of course, he kept for himself and the kids.

The storekeeper was surprised and delighted. Even though they were only rank 1 pills, getting a large batch of such high-quality pills was uncommon. They even wanted to place orders with Adrian but were disappointed when he told them that he couldn't help them. He wasn't going to admit that he was the alchemist, so he directly turned them down. He also purchased a large quantity of various rank 2 herbs. Now that rank 1 pills were no longer a challenge for him, he wanted to increase his alchemist rank. Of course, that was not all. After planting the rainbow rose inside the blood star, he had the idea to start cultivating his own herb garden. The herbs planted in the rich environment that the rainbow rose provides would grow faster and contain more nutrients.

After he had completed his shopping spree, he left the shop with his wallet a bit lighter than he had expected, but with a contented smile on his face.