After entering, Li Tan still spoke in that hoarse voice and made no attempt to conceal any part of his body. To him, maintaining the current situation was sufficient; there was no need to do anything extra. Meng Tianhua, knowing that Li Tan was a young man disguised as an elder, naturally assumed he was a disciple from a powerful family or sect undergoing trials. Therefore, although Li Tan’s initial intent—to intimidate—was achieved, it wasn’t fully effective; it did not reach the level necessary to prompt them to attempt to recruit him.
“But what?” Li Tan asked.
Meng Tianhua was mentally calculating how best to overcharge him while smoothly continuing aloud, “However, the conditions for utilizing the Frostfeather Eagle’s inner core are exceptionally stringent. Whether employed in forging or alchemy, it demands a master-level proficiency from the practitioner, and its applications are highly restricted. If we were to auction it, we might not even secure a bidder, and selling it as a commodity would only lead to a total loss. Therefore, we can offer you ten purple gold coins.”
Li Tan’s lips twitched slightly as he inwardly cursed, “Damn, you’re ruthless! You’ve slashed the price by more than half—you really think I’m a naive rookie to be taken advantage of!” Outwardly, however, his voice remained completely emotionless: “Sir, I believe you’re not being entirely truthful. Only incompetent alchemists or blacksmiths would lack the qualifications to use such an item. Those with discerning eyes would gladly pay up to a hundred purple gold coins to obtain it.”
This time, it was Meng Tianhua’s turn to have his lips twitch. “This brat is greedier than me! That price is several times higher than the market rate!”
Naturally, his tone remained calm: “What you say makes sense, but we are merchants and cannot afford to take the risk of whether or not such discerning individuals will appear. Therefore, fifteen purple gold coins.”
Since the first round of negotiation had succeeded, Li Tan naturally wanted to press his advantage. Soon, the price had risen to thirty purple gold coins, shocking Meng Tianhua and altering his perception of Li Tan from that of a naive, sheltered youth to someone more serious. He began considering other possibilities.
For instance, Li Tan was definitely no ordinary figure within his family or sect and might be worth recruiting.
Thus, he said, “Thirty-five purple gold coins—this is a gesture of goodwill for our first transaction. I can’t go any higher than that, since the auction house’s finances aren’t entirely under my control.”
Li Tan was fairly satisfied with this price and had no intention of pressing further and risking bad feelings. However, just at that moment, something suddenly stirred in his chest.
A “gu-gu-gu” bird call rang out.
“Stay quiet, you!”
Li Tan nearly revealed his true voice in alarm.
However, the young eagle in his arms had no intention of being obedient—it cried even louder, then fell to the ground with a thud.
Meng Tianhua and Qi Haodang stared in shock at the bird.
Qi Haodang asked, “Old sir, you also have a hobby of raising ferocious beasts? Be careful in the future—these creatures don’t understand gratitude.”
Li Tan bent down, grabbed the young eagle, and shoved it straight into his robe, replying casually, “Not really a hobby—just something I picked up in the Fallen Immortal Realm.”
“Oh, I see.”
Qi Haodang now had a basic estimate of Li Tan’s cultivation level.
At that moment, Meng Tianhua suddenly looked tense, his voice slightly trembling as he asked, “Sir, is this the chick of the Mystic Frost Eagle?”
“The chick of a Xuan Shuang Eagle!”
Qi Haodang was genuinely startled this time.
What did a demonic beast’s chick imply?
If purchased, it would cost a whole basket of purple gold coins, and even then, it would be priceless.
What did one purple gold coin represent?
It could allow a family to live worry-free for several years.
Why were they so valuable?
There were two reasons. Firstly, once a beast had a chick, it would hide it in a very secluded place. To find it would require deep exploration, and one might become someone else’s prey before even locating it. Secondly, even if one did find it, capturing it would be extremely difficult.
Even innate-stage cultivators would find it extremely difficult to handle such beasts, and that only applied to ordinary ones. As for the Mystic Frost Eagle, cultivators at the early or middle innate stages would essentially be marching to their deaths. Only those at the late or peak innate stages might stand a chance, and even then, defeating such a creature would inevitably cause a massive disturbance. Demonic beasts possess intelligence, and in such scenarios, reinforcements from other beasts could arrive, making the situation exceedingly complex.
But such efforts would bring corresponding rewards. Successfully raising the chick to maturity would essentially double one’s combat power. For this reason, the value of a beast’s chick was incomparable to that of an inner core.
Considering the earlier mention of the Frostfeather Eagle’s inner core, how could one not speculate about the potential?
Could it be that Li Tan had killed the Frostfeather Eagle and then stolen its chick?
Meng Tianhua couldn’t bring himself to believe such a possibility, yet after careful consideration, he couldn’t come up with any alternative explanation. After all, the Norland Auction House itself was a vast intelligence network. If there were indeed a business involving the bundled sale of a Frostfeather Eagle’s core and its chick, there would certainly be some rumors circulating about it.
Realizing this, his estimation of Li Tan’s strength and identity rose another level, leading him to consider terrifying possibilities, making him extremely nervous.
Qi Haodang was even worse. Thinking about his foolish actions downstairs, he wished he could slap himself to death.
I almost offended such a major benefactor! But he was also somewhat relieved—he had managed to retain Li Tan in time, which could be considered redeeming himself.
Li Tan, observing the change in their attitudes, felt somewhat speechless.
This was the very effect he had previously aimed to achieve—to create an image of someone formidable. Unexpectedly, while his deliberate efforts had failed, an accidental event—the young eagle’s antics—had achieved the desired result.
In reality, Li Tan had not anticipated that the young eagle would have such an effect; he had completely underestimated the value of a demonic beast’s chick.
“Cough, cough.”
Li Tan cleared his throat twice, drawing their thoughts back to reality. Slowly, he said, “Indeed, it is the Xuan Shuang Eagle’s chick. As I mentioned before, I found it together with the inner core.”
Li Tan was telling the truth—it really was something he had found. However, upon hearing this, a thousand curses ran through Meng Tianhua’s mind. Found it?
You’re joking, right? If it really was found, I’ll jump off the balcony right now! Meng Tianhua swallowed hard, straightened his posture, and tidied his appearance slightly.
“Pardon me, perhaps the value of the Xuan Shuang Eagle’s inner core should be reassessed.”
“Li Tan is definitely no ordinary person. Spending some gold coins to gain his favor is absolutely worth it.”
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