Bizarre Survival: I Can Devour Thousands of Talents

Chapter 22: The Power of Pay-to-Win

The capital verification was passed without any doubt.

Just kidding, even if Ling Xiao "only" has five hundred copper coins left, that's still a huge sum of money that others can hardly imagine!

Setting up a verification process for valuable items serves two purposes: firstly, it saves shop owners a lot of unnecessary talking, and secondly, it provides both parties with an opportunity to negotiate prices privately.

All goods can be verified, but materials like gray ironstone obviously don't need that feature.

Ling Xiao pinned the iron spear to the top for fifty copper coins. As long as no one opens the relevant private chat to trade, the sign will remain up.

After he sent a private message request after verifying his funds, the seller responded immediately.

A traitor... oh no, a nouveau riche is coming to the door!

How can we not maximize the emotional value?!

[Grandpa Niu, the top breakthrough expert of the Tumbler Garden: "Dear! You've come at the perfect time! This [Soul Drain Pierce] is top-tier! Don't underestimate it just because it's a limiting skill; if used properly, it's absolutely..."]

[Xiao: "Stop, stop! Are there any other requirements after the verification?"]

Grandpa Niu: "Of course not! My shop is known for its fixed prices! And of course, no bargaining! Small businesses can't afford to haggle..."

[Owl: "Okay."]

Grandpa Niu's face stiffened. He subconsciously tried to organize his words to retain this hard-won customer, but instead received a transaction request for one hundred copper coins.

Ah? ? ?

Seriously? What time is it? Why are people still willing to pay more than they're willing to pay for toilet paper?!

Puzzled as I may be, I can't afford to be slow when it comes to collecting money.

It's important to understand that private chat transactions differ from store sales, where the other party can withdraw at any time before the money and goods are exchanged.

After all, there's no contract here, and no matter how well the negotiations go, it's not as good as receiving the copper coins.

Grandpa Niu wasn't stupid; he knew very well the value of the Soul-Draining Piercing Technique.

In fact, even with limitations, this kind of soul-attacking skill could fetch a much higher price.

If you want a future, you have to get through the present first.

Everyone has their own difficulties...

Upon receiving the new item, Ling Xiao tore open the skill scroll that gleamed with a warm white light, and its contents were immediately imprinted into his mind.

His eyes flashed like lightning, and he instantly grasped the meaning.

I placed a piece of wood and tried to activate it several times, but it had no effect.

"Tsk... truly amazing!"

Ling Xiao's brief curiosity about this power acting on illusions wasn't too surprising.

With the Flame Fist as an example, his threshold for magical things has become much higher.

"One skill definitely isn't enough. That guy's level 5. I need to level up at least another level, or get more skills and equipment that target souls, before I'm confident I can take him down!"

After searching desperately, Ling Xiao suddenly discovered something new.

It turns out that the number of products and shops in the trading zone has reached a certain level, and the functions such as category and search are now open to all explorers.

"Okay!"

"With this level of technical skill, this level of optimization, and this clean interface, won't it crush those lousy platforms that automatically redirect when you shake your phone?"

Enter a few keywords, and the search results will appear immediately.

The correlation gradually decreases from high to low.

However, the first few had already firmly attracted Ling Xiao's attention.

【Burning Spirit Blood Blade】

[Quality: Average]

[Conditions: Strength and Spirit reach 4, Constitution and Spirit reach 5; After activation, it burns spiritual power at a rate of 5% per second; No cooldown]

[Special Effect: Applies terrifying blood flames to the weapon that can burn the soul (Note: If it remains burning for more than 10 seconds, it will set the user on fire and affect their own soul!)]

[Evaluation: Wherever the blood flames pass, the soul has nowhere to hide!]

Fortunately, Ling Xiao emphasizes balanced development and has no specialization, so all his attributes meet the requirements of this skill.

Although it has negative effects.

However, judging from the consumption and description, the damage that Blood Flame can cause should exceed that of Soul Drain Pierce.

That's enough!

Ling Xiao is petty and narrow-minded.

I was almost killed by a trap for no reason. I must avenge this!

Moreover, the place where the Illusionary Demon appears is not far from the safe zone.

If they had been chasing me all the way here, they might be hiding in the gray fog outside now!

Both emotionally and rationally, we must be prepared to kill it!

The price of this permanent skill was the highest Ling Xiao had ever seen.

It has doubled from the previous amount, reaching an astonishing two hundred ominous copper coins!

Say something.

It's actually not expensive at all; it's quite affordable.

But as I said before: sometimes it's not the problem, it's your problem.

As one of the few, and possibly the only, "tycoons" who could afford this amount of money, Ling Xiao readily sent a private message request.

Wow, it's someone I know!

The seller was none other than Ye Zhanqing, who was always chasing after Ling Xiao.

Ye Zhanqing: "Two hundred, no bargaining. Pay if you agree. Wait, wait a minute!"

Ling Xiao quickly transferred the money, but the transaction was rejected.

Just as I was filled with questions, I saw the second half of the other person's sentence.

Ye Zhanqing: "Xiao? As for you, uh..."

???

What do you mean, "what do you mean"? What did I do wrong?

Completely bewildered, Ling Xiao had a bad thought.

The latest novel is first published here!

This person probably recognized me as the second oldest in line and didn't want to sell me the goods, right?

So they're already starting to be wary of competitors?

Are you so afraid that I'll widen the gap?

Just when he thought the deal was definitely off, the other party sent him a message.

Ye Zhanqing: "If that's the case, we can talk about something else."

Between strangers, it's all about fame and profit.

Ling Xiao's eyes were calm as he prepared to see what tricks the other side was up to.

[Owl: "I'm just here to buy a skill, what do you want?"]

Ye Zhanqing: "Don't misunderstand, I mean no harm. I just want something other than copper coins. For example, your iron spear."

[Owl: "Barter?"]

Ye Zhanqing: "Um... how about this? One hundred copper coins plus three iron spears, and this [Burning Spirit Blood Blade] is yours."

Without further ado.

The iron spear, which costs thirty copper coins, is incredibly cheap in the hands of Lingxiao, the manufacturer.

On paper, he received a discount of ten copper coins, but in reality, the cost was less than what he actually got from obtaining the Soul-Draining Piercing Technique!

Ling Xiao picked up three iron spears from the continuously rolling iron spear outlet, then paused, noticing something unusual.

There were a few iron spears, which seemed... somewhat different.

Find it and give it a thorough examination.

really!

Normal level!

All things considered, including this batch, I have successfully forged over a hundred iron spears!

Once you've mastered the blueprints, the proportion of ordinary quality iron spears will gradually increase.

This was even with the forging furnace still being of poor quality.

If both the blueprints and the furnace are of the "common" type, I'm probably able to mass-produce higher quality iron spears!

After thinking it over, Ling Xiao decided to forge another good relationship.

Enemies are inevitable, but it's best to have fewer of them.

Even casual acquaintances are always welcome!

He bundled an ordinary iron spear with a low-quality iron spear, along with the hundred copper coins, and initiated a transaction request.

Ye Zhanqing: "This!? You can already create [ordinary] weapons!?"

Ye Zhanqing: "It seems I'll mostly be stuck below you..."

Ling Xiao smiled knowingly and didn't explain further. He simply put away the skill and added, "It's only fair to reciprocate, let's make friends! This skill is pretty good, it'll help you lose less!"

Hey everyone, if you think it's passable, please consider adding it to your favorites!

Please, everyone, please, please read this!

I'm testing the waters with 50,000 words. There are already few readers clicking in, so if you all keep reading, I'll be in real trouble!

Please, everyone, nurture this seedling! I have a lot of drafts saved up, but they only become popular after they're published. Please, everyone, give me a chance to follow and help me advance my level!

(End of this chapter)