Chapter 65: A Pleasant Surprise

When dealing with an exploration team, regardless of their reputation, there was one issue Su Hao couldn't ignore: Could they become a stable, long-term buyer? After all, the number of beast veins he could acquire wouldn't be small.

As for the Xiao family's Red Rock Merchant Association, though they had deep pockets, they likely had a significant collection of beast veins already. This would reduce the value of some of the veins he had, making it harder to fetch a good price.

However, with the Qilian Merchant Association, there were no such concerns. With numerous small exploration teams, there would be a large number of elite warriors, and the market demand was there. He wouldn't have to worry about his veins not selling.

The only downside was that he might not fetch the highest price.

But that didn't matter. Su Hao's strategy had always been about quantity over price. While the market price for a beast vein was typically above 20 gold crowns, he was willing to sell his veins for just 15 gold crowns, which would still be a windfall.

Fifteen gold crowns was no small sum.

Selling just one would make him wealthy.

Su Hao wasn't planning on hoarding the beast veins. Apart from ‹Perception› and the two beast veins he obtained from Jin Damo, he planned to sell the remaining five.

What was the point of keeping them? Knowledge only gains value when it circulates.

As for whether he'd attract attention, Su Hao's initial assessment was that he wouldn't. Lingyun Town's market was vast, with countless daily transactions. The market, both above board and underground, followed its own set of rules.

While five beast patterns were valuable, in the grand scheme of the market, they were nothing more than a ripple on the surface of a lake, blending in with countless other waves—hardly noticeable.

And even if someone did take an interest in him, would Su Hao be afraid?

Having made up his mind, Su Hao didn't hesitate any longer.

First, he used the last of his money to purchase five rough, blank scrolls. Then, he mixed up some rune liquid and began inscribing the beast veins.

Usually, official beast vein scrolls had to be drawn using a special liquid, which was said to help in verifying the completeness of the vein. As for how this worked, Su Hao wasn't entirely sure.

This process didn't require the use of Blood Qi, making it very easy. Su Hao finished inscribing the veins in no time.

The next morning, he applied a more sophisticated disguise to his face and added height-boosting insoles to his shoes. Now standing at nearly 1.6 meters, he no longer looked like a child.

Soon, he arrived at the Qilian Merchant Association's headquarters for selling and purchasing items.

A shop assistant immediately greeted him, "Hey there, young man! Come on in! How can I assist you today?"

Su Hao responded, "Do you purchase goods?"

The assistant nodded enthusiastically, "Of course! As long as it's valuable, we'll buy it."

Leaning in closer, Su Hao whispered, "Do you buy beast veins?"

The assistant froze for a moment, looking confused. "Beast veins?"

Su Hao felt a wave of frustration. Clearly, this assistant had no idea what he was talking about.

As Su Hao was contemplating whether to find someone else to ask, the assistant suddenly sucked in a sharp breath, lowering his voice even further. "You mean those incredibly expensive beast veins? The ones that warriors fight to the death over?"

Su Hao nodded.

The assistant gasped again, whispering, "I can't make that call. Wait here. I'll get the manager."

The assistant dashed off and returned shortly, bringing an old man with him. He gestured toward Su Hao.

The old man approached and said, "This way, young friend."

What happened next surprised Su Hao with how straightforward it was—there were none of the complications he had anticipated.

There wasn't much discussion. The old man simply explained the transaction rules: any beast vein that wasn't already in their records would be purchased for 18 gold crown per vein. If the vein was already recorded in there Archives, they wouldn't buy it.

He then asked Su Hao how many he wanted to sell.

Su Hao responded directly, "Five."

The old man's eyes twitched slightly, though his expression remained neutral. Stroking his gray-white beard, he said calmly, "We'll need to verify the completeness of the veins."

The old man stood up with a smile and said, "This way, please."

The old man led Su Hao to a heavy black metal box that resembled lead. Inside the box was a shiny, bluish-black stone.

The old man laid one of Su Hao's beast vein scrolls on the stone. After a moment, the lines of the beast vein began to glow faintly green.

The old man removed the scroll and said, "It's a complete vein. Since this one isn't in our archives, we'll buy it for 18 gold crowns."

Su Hao nodded and, curious, asked, "What's that stone?"

The old man shook his head, clearly reluctant to answer.

"You can buy the vein for a gold crown less if you tell me," Su Hao offered.

The old man chuckled. "This is a Skyward Stone. It's used to verify the completeness of beast veins. When you place a complete beast vein on it, the vein lines glow. But you can't be exposed to the stone for too long—it needs to be kept in a soft-stone box, or it'll weaken you over time and eventually you die."

Su Hao's scalp tingled as he quickly stepped back, screaming internally, 'Holy crap! This is radioactive material! And they're handling with it every day?'

The old man, assuming Su Hao was merely startled, laughed. "No need to worry. Brief contact is harmless, and Skyward Stones are extremely rare. Fewer than ten exist in Lingyun Town."

Suppressing his unease, Su Hao said calmly, "I just remembered I have something to take care of. Let's finish the transaction quickly."

The old man nodded in agreement, and not long after, Su Hao walked out of the shop with a heavy pouch of gold crowns. He immediately took off, eager to put distance between himself and the dangerous stone.

This place is too dangerous to stick around.

Su Hao now had a general understanding of how this world verified the completeness of beast veins.

The Skyward Stone emitted a small amount of radiation, which was absorbed by the rune liquid. If the beast vein had a complete circuit, it would produce a certain effect (glow). If the vein was incomplete, there would be no reaction.

"Brilliant! Truly amazing!" Su Hao couldn't help but admire their ingenuity. Using a radioactive elements this way? Brilliant.

Holding the pouch of gold crowns, Su Hao felt an immense sense of joy.

Although two of his veins were already in there archives, he'd sold three at a high price. After deducting the one gold crown the old man had shaved off, Su Hao walked away with a hefty profit of fifty-three crowns.

With money in hand, the next step was to make some purchases.

With heavy pockets, everything in the shops seemed delightful.

A custom-fitted armor set for 5 gold crowns? Buy it!

A set of high-quality knives and tools for 3 gold crowns? Buy two sets!

A finely-crafted short dagger for 1 gold crown? Buy two!

A backpack made from Tyrant Beast leather for 1 gold crown? Buy it! ...

....

When Su Hao left Lingyun Town again, he was decked out in brand-new gear, armed to the teeth.

Su Hao quickly activated his [Minimap] and made his way deep into the wilderness, avoiding all exploration teams. In just four days, he returned to his cave.

Unexpectedly, after being gone for only half a month, the cave had been taken over by a Scythe Mantis.

Without a word, Su Hao swiftly decapitated the creature gutted it, recorded its beast shard, and discarded the carcass.

Insect-type fierce beasts corpses were worthless to Su Hao. After recording their beast veins, he would immediately discard their bodies.

He disliked conducting experiments on these creatures' corpses. Their putrid blue-green fluids were particularly sticky and nauseating. Even a small amount on his hands would take days to wash off.

....

Two months passed.

Su Hao dragged the corpse of a Needle Lizard into the cave and began his routine dissection.

After successfully obtaining another beast shard, he plucked the spikes from the lizard's back and began experimenting with various vein structures on the bare corpse.

The structers he experimented with were not complete beast veins, but rather small structural fragments. These fragments were the common structures Su Hao had identified through comparing multiple beast veins.

He believed the key to understanding beast veins lay in these repeating structures.

After countless sleepless nights of trial and error, Su Hao finally made a breakthrough—thanks, in part, to his core beast vein, ‹Perception›.

He realized that when he fully activated ‹Perception› and focused intensely, he could detect the smallest changes in Blood Qi.

Thus, during his structural experiments, Su Hao kept ‹Perception› active, observing how different fragments responded under various conditions.

After another month of research...

Su Hao finally made an significant breakthrough.

"An unexpected surprise!" Su Hao's eyes gleamed with excitement.