The stone Alice chose was the very raw crystal ore that the old man had been observing repeatedly for a long time.
The old man couldn’t quite believe her claim,
To see through the stones from the ancient abyssal veins?
That would at least require the power of an Absolute Deity!
“This esteemed lady, this stone is priced at twelve thousand energy crystals,” Leander Thornwood also did not want to offend these two mysterious individuals.
But he couldn’t sell the ores for less just because the lady before him was powerful.
“Twelve thousand energy crystals?” Alice didn’t mind. She could see through the contents of the raw crystal ore, and though she didn’t know its exact value, she wasn’t foolish. The other party knew there was an artifact inside the stone, so they certainly wouldn’t bargain on the price.
“What about that stone?” Alice pointed to a corner where a dull, unsmooth stone lay.
“That one?” Leander followed Alice’s direction and raised an eyebrow, “That one, five hundred energy crystals…”
As he said this, Leander felt a bit uneasy. 𝑖𝘦.𝑐𝘰𝘮
Alice had just used the power of the divine aura. Would any stone she showed interest in lack value?
William glanced at the stone and knew that the typical protagonist of online novels had arrived!
What was bound to happen, happened!
People chosen by destiny like Alice usually pick things others overlook, only to face mockery from bystanders.
And then what they unveil blinds all the skeptical onlookers and villains alike.
The shocked expressions go without saying!
The classic online novel cliché!
William had spent his days on Earth reading plenty of those novels.
These clichés never fade and are indeed a rite of passage for the chosen ones like Alice. 𝑖𝘦.𝘤𝑜𝘮
At this moment, William felt that something was off with the atmosphere!
Yes, the atmosphere was off!
No one was mocking, no one whispering or pointing, the absence of people to set the scene made it seem less interesting.
William pointed to the two old men who had been scared into silence and said, “You two, feel free to speak your minds, say whatever you want.”
Uh!!
The two old men were even more at a loss now!
What were they supposed to say?
“This goddess has a great eye! To be honest, I found this stone to be quite unique, there must be a rare treasure inside!”
“Exactly, exactly! I’ve been looking at this black stone for a long time, just couldn’t make up my mind to cut it open. This esteemed goddess truly has the courage!”
The attitude of the two old men was extremely humble. If it weren’t for William and Alice both looking like young and attractive individuals, they might have even shamelessly called them masters.
Mockery?!
Dare they?
William glanced at the two old fellows, thinking, what’s this all about?
This was getting more and more off-track.
Weren’t these two supposed to start mocking?
To be shocked after the stone was cut open, with the artifact inside dazzling their eyes.
But now, the two were outright flattering, which didn’t match the atmosphere he was expecting at all.
Leander, standing nearby, also twitched at the corners of his mouth when he heard what the two old men said.
Damn, that was a quick change of face!
The black stone was only the size of a fist, with a rough and uneven surface. To those in the know, this worthless stone couldn’t possibly contain anything valuable.
If it hadn’t been excavated from the ancient abyssal veins, it wouldn’t even qualify to be placed in this courtyard.
Many people had looked at this stone before, giving it a glance and then turning away with a cold sneer.
They all thought this stone was a trick by the Sacred Gem Exchange to deceive those who didn’t know any better.
Five hundred energy crystals wasn’t a lot. If the two old men really thought there was a valuable treasure inside this stone, wouldn’t they have just bought it casually?
That’s how many people reasoned.
I have energy crystals, I’ll buy something worth ten thousand energy crystals. If I lose out, then so be it!
But there might also be a chance of finding something valuable.
A loss would be an affordable loss.
But this stone, valued at five hundred energy crystals, clearly seemed like it wouldn’t yield anything.
Buying it would just be foolish, right?
No real expert would purchase such a worthless stone!
The notion of finding a hidden gem in some obscure corner is merely a legend, a concoction of bizarre tales, also a tactic by the Sacred Gem Exchange to lure novices into buying these worthless stones.
Alice, upon hearing the old men speak, wasn’t surprised because she indeed saw something golden inside, and with the power of the divine aura, she determined that this thing was alive.
Five hundred energy crystals, it wouldn’t be a loss no matter how you look at it!
Even if it was a loss, it didn’t matter; consider it a consumable for power enhancement!
Mainly, there was something alive inside the stone, akin to the mysterious pets found in games, right?
Most likely, it was some remarkable little thing.
Alice made up her mind, choosing that stone, and placed five hundred energy crystals on the ground, saying to Leander, “This one, please open it for me! Be careful, there’s something alive inside.”
Upon hearing this, Leander couldn’t help but swallow hard, his eyes bulging, something alive?
This was a stone excavated from the ancient abyssal veins.
The ancient abyss is considered a forbidden area in the Divine Realm, with few venturing in except for Absolute Deities, and their mining was always done on the outskirts.
If there really was something alive inside this ore, it must be extraordinary!
The last time a living creature appeared, it was a wild boar that, upon being awakened, became ferocious and caused havoc in the Sacred Gem Exchange of the fourth district.
It was eventually Erimenthus who drove and trapped the wild boar, capturing it alive and bringing it back.
That wild boar, possessing powerful divine force from birth, had strength surpassing a Destroyer Deity.
After thousands of years of increasing its power, it even reached the level of a Creator Deity, becoming a legend in the Divine Realm.
…
And now, with another living creature inside the ore, Leander felt a bit panicked upon hearing this.
Creatures from the ancient abyss possess incredibly strong divine power, and now he was asked to cut open the stone.
To be honest, he was quite anxious!
Because back then, in the fourth district, a Destroyer Deity who was cutting a stone was killed when pierced by the tusks of that wild boar, soul and all.
Was this situation going to repeat itself?
“Wait! I’ll do it,” William spoke up at this moment.
He also knew the creature inside was no ordinary being. If he wasn’t here and the stone was cut open, unless there was a deity of at least Absolute Deity level strength to suppress it, it would surely lead to a bloodbath.
Hearing William offer, Leander immediately breathed a sigh of relief and said to William, “Master, we are in your hands!”
Although he couldn’t discern the level of strength of the person before him.
From William’s demeanor, at the very least, he possessed the strength of a Creator Deity level.
At the very least!!
It might even be the strength of an Absolute Deity level.
Knowing there was a living creature inside, letting him cut the stone was naturally the safest option.
William approached the stone, casually picked it up, and then said to the two old men, “You two said there was treasure inside, do you dare to bet with me on it?”
Since it was about cutting stones, without a bet, William felt the atmosphere was off!
Yes, he was setting the scene, and Alice was the protagonist now!
“How shall we bet?” The old man named Osric Brown, who had thrown the chess piece at William, didn’t dare to refuse William and merely wanted to know the terms of the bet.
William smiled and said, “Simple, if there really is a treasure inside, then you win, and the treasure is yours. But if there’s no treasure inside, then you give my wife 1500 energy crystals.”
“What do the two of you think?”
William looked harmlessly at the two old men, “You two Destroyer Deities can’t possibly not have that much money, right?”
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