C7 The First Bucket of Gold the Skyhigh Divine Insect!

On the Gloomrock City professionals' forum:

"Hey, have you guys heard? An Eight-circle and Nine-circle master was spotted near our city! Sounds like they're a master of poisons, too!"

"The forum's blowing up, what do you expect? But the real question is, is this master a pharmacist or a poison-wielding combatant?"

"Who can say?"

"It'd be amazing if they were a pharmacist. It'd give us working stiffs some hope for the future!"

"Forget it, they're probably a combatant. And didn't Instructor Qian mention it's likely a very dangerous poison bug?"

"Yeah, yeah, mythical-level stuff. Even Instructor Qian's mount, the Wind Riding Golden Eagle, is just at the Lord Dark Gold level!"

"Why don't I ever meet these big shots? If I did, would I still be in this situation?"

"What situation?"

"Never mind, the boss is calling me to tend to the sow!"

The forum's activity soared.

Faang Chen took a quick look and logged off.

"All this fuss over a little poison I released."

Faang Chen didn't care to get involved. His priority was to finish his job-changing quest.

But moments later, as he approached the job-changing hall, he found it had already closed for the day.

"Government workers sure clock out on time."

With no other choice, Faang Chen headed to the auction house; the job-changing quest would have to wait until tomorrow morning.

In the meantime, he planned to sell his day's loot for some cash.

His family's finances were dire.

Even with the system's aid, advancing as a Beastmaster required money. Luckily, making money with the system wasn't a problem.

Walking along, several figures suddenly streaked across the sky, stirring up commotion.

Faang Chen looked up to see them clad in uniform, unmistakably from the Heaven Howling Wolf Union.

The Heaven Howling Wolf Union was Gloomrock City's premier guild, led by the Heaven Howling Wolf himself, a Four-circle Level 140 Mad Warrior, just shy of qualifying for the Five-circle quest.

"Could these people also be drawn in by the poison fog?"

Faang Chen felt a twinge of embarrassment. He had indeed unleashed a toxin, and now it seemed all the city's elite had flocked to see it.

Luckily, he went unnoticed. Without lingering, Faang Chen made a beeline for the auction house.

Su's Auction House, Gloomrock Branch

As Faang Chen presented the two items, the appraiser's face visibly shifted.

"Esteemed customer, the items you wish to auction are of considerable value. Shortly, a dedicated appraiser will assist you. Please follow me."

Led by the staff member, Faang Chen was swiftly escorted to a private booth.

Soon after, an elderly gentleman with glasses entered.

"Hello, I'm Su Mo, the senior appraiser. It's a pleasure to serve you!"

Faang Chen nodded, producing the two items.

Su Mo examined them closely, then offered a warm smile.

"The items you're looking to auction are quite valuable. Our auction house offers two transaction options. One is a direct purchase from us, allowing for immediate payment."

"The other involves placing your items in an auction. After they sell, we take a 5% commission and deposit the remainder into your account."

"Which transaction method do you prefer?"

After a brief consideration, Faang Chen replied,

"Let's go with the direct purchase."

The loot from the Werewolf King was indeed pricey, but being from the novice area, he doubted auctioning them would yield much more.

Besides, he was in dire need of cash now. Should he come across more valuable gear or materials in the future, he could always opt for the auction route.

"And I'd like to sell this as well," Faang Chen added, producing over three hundred pieces of Werewolf fur. The fur was of no use to him; cash would be far more beneficial.

"Very well! Just a moment, please."

Su Mo tallied the items, then announced,

"The Werewolf fur will be bought at 100 per piece, totaling 30,000 Eceosian currency."

"The Werewolf King's Thorn, being a rare skill-bearing item, will fetch a recycle price of 30 million Eceosian currency."

"And the Werewolf King's Card, as it's exclusive to summoners, has a recycle price of 50 million Eceosian currency."

"Absolutely!" Faang Chen nodded, having already researched the prices prior to his arrival.

Wolf fur was a common material, and the asking price of 100 Eceosian currency was spot-on. The Wolf King's Thorn at the auction house, devoid of any skills, was going for just over 10 million Eceosian currency. His own, skill-inclusive set was reasonably priced at 30 million Eceosian currency.

As for the Wolf King card, the low drop rate for Summoner's cards meant it fetching 50 million Eceosian currency was within his expectations.

"Very well, sir. Your total sales amount to 80,030,000 Eceosian currency, qualifying you for our auction house's gold membership level," the attendant informed him.

"We'll issue you a gold membership card, and the funds will be directly deposited into it. Just a moment, please."

Su Mo left to make the arrangements, while Faang Chen reclined in his chair, quite pleased with himself. On his first day, he was nearing the hundred-million mark. It was clear why Fighters were in demand; they fueled their growth through combat, a rate of progression secondary professions couldn't match.

To pass the time, Faang Chen browsed the auction house listings.

"Tomorrow, I'll complete my job transition. Then, I'll gain the Divine Insect evolution skill as a One-circle Beastmaster," he mused.

"The Divine Insect's evolution requires insects of the same tier but different species."

"The mini noxious insect is of mythical status and can't evolve, but I'll certainly need to expand my collection of other insects."

"Maybe the auction house has something of interest."

With that thought, Faang Chen began to search through the listings, quickly coming across several intriguing items.

Tianjia Insect Larva

Level: LV.0

Rating: Common

Source: Cultivation

Price: 1,000 Eceosian currency each

Quantity: 30,000

...

Firefly Larva

Level: LV.0

Rating: Elite

Source: Wild Harvest

Price: 10 million Eceosian currency each

Quantity: 2

...

The pricing continued, with some items reaching as high as 100 million Eceosian currency each.

Faang Chen felt a sense of numbness as he perused the scant three pieces of information.

"The price difference between the ones I breed and those caught in the wild is just staggering."

"And the quantities are worlds apart, too."

With a resigned shake of his head, Faang Chen acknowledged the tough reality for Beastmasters.

For other professions, a full set of gear might cost a few hundred million, with the more impressive sets reaching into the tens of billions.

But for Beastmasters looking to evolve their Divine Insects, a few hundred million might barely make a dent.

Considering that not every Divine Insect is guaranteed to evolve, and a blue commander-level one commands a price of 100 million in Eceosian currency, the future costs for cultivating even mightier ones were daunting.

And the numbers available were dishearteningly low.

In the wild, most Demonic Beasts and Zergs were mature, making larvae exceedingly rare.

The quality of domestically bred insects often left much to be desired, and Faang Chen wasn't interested in those.

It was an unavoidable predicament.

"I'll just have to wait until I can get my hands on an evolved Divine Insect later on!"

Given his current financial situation, the cost of maintaining a Divine Insect was far beyond his means.

Moving on, Faang Chen browsed the equipment section.

With the 100,000 Eceosian currency he had, he selected a six-piece green Beastmaster set: weapon, clothes, pants, hat, gloves, and shoes.

He then logged off from the auction interface.

His leveling speed was impressive, and he was confident he'd reach the Two-circle level in just a few days, so this gear was merely a temporary measure.

There was no need to splurge on anything too extravagant.

Having completed his shopping, Su Mo entered with a gold card in hand.

"Here's your member gold card. With it, you'll receive discounts on auction items."

"The funds have already been transferred!"

Faang Chen nodded, accepted the gold card, and departed.

Stepping out of the auction house, he set out to find a general store where he could purchase an insect guidebook.

Back in high school, he had absorbed a wealth of knowledge.

Now, as a professional with a newly minted job title, it was essential to familiarize himself with the intricacies of his chosen field.

"The money has already been deposited!"

Faang Chen nodded, took the gold card, and left.

"Faang Chen!"

He turned to see the campus beauty, Su Muyu, approaching him.