"Brother Chi Cheng, aren’t we selling this stuff at the Adventurer’s Guild?"

Chi Cheng said matter-of-factly, "What are you talking about? There’s no way the Adventurer’s Guild could handle a haul this big."

"We need to find a dedicated merchant association for this."

Back in the Legendary Adventurer’s Guild, Chi Cheng was the one in charge of offloading their loot.

After all, he was a Gatherer, so this sort of thing was his responsibility.

The Ten Thousand Merchandise Association.

’Come to think of it, I saw their sign on the way here—the Ten Thousand Goods Mall.’

’I hear they sell everything.’

The guard at the door pulled it open for Chi Cheng.

Chi Cheng swaggered inside and called out in a loud voice, "Boss."

"I’m here to offload some goods."

The interior of the association was magnificent, giving it a dignified and grand atmosphere. Hearing the familiar voice, the owner came jogging out from somewhere, greeting them with a respectful attitude.

"Brother Chi Cheng!"

"It’s been a while! To what do we owe the honor? What goodies have you brought this time?"

Chi Cheng clapped the owner on the shoulder.

He made the introduction. "Lu Cang, this is the owner. He’s an old friend from back home; we’re both from the Brahma Origin Continent."

’Brahma Origin Continent,’ Lu Cang thought. He’d heard Chi Cheng mention it a few times.

’It’s just another continent, anyway.’

’The one I’m on now is called the Ruelun Continent.’

Lu Cang smiled and offered a greeting. "A pleasure to meet you, sir."

Before the owner could ask about Lu Cang’s origins, Chi Cheng clapped his shoulder again. "The goods I’m offloading this time... I’m not so sure you can handle them."

"Haha, you must be joking, Brother Chi Cheng. Our Ten Thousand Merchandise Association is one of the most renowned on the Ruelun Continent. Is there any merchandise we can’t handle?"

Chi Cheng was pleased to hear that. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

He chatted with the owner as they walked toward the Trading Hall.

’Looks like he knows this place like the back of his hand,’ Lu Cang thought.

According to Chi Cheng, this VVVIP reception hall in the Trading Hall was only opened for big shots of his caliber.

It was meant to sound exclusive and impressive, but hearing it from him, it somehow felt a lot less prestigious.

The Trading Hall was absurdly large.

After the three of them sat down, a vast open space remained.

"Brother Chi Cheng, isn’t it time you showed me what you’ve brought? Let this humble brother broaden his horizons."

’He looks much older than Chi Cheng, yet he calls him ’Brother,’’ Lu Cang mused.

"Haha, of course."

Chi Cheng raised his hand with a flourish.

BOOM!

The entire floor trembled!

A mountain of materials appeared, covering the entire open space of the Trading Hall.

"And that," Chi Cheng said, "is just a small fraction of it."

The owner’s eyelid twitched at the sight of such a massive volume of goods.

The whole reason the Trading Hall was built this large was to provide enough space for clients to display their wares when selling.

"Th-th-this...!"

"Eyes of the Distant Dark Bird... Star Pattern Blood... the third eye of a Daylight Celestial Veil..."

"These are all... materials from Nation Destruction Level Demons?"

"That’s right!"

Chi Cheng tossed him a few more bags—all of them were Storage Bags.

"See for yourself. This place of yours is too small to hold everything."

The owner’s eyelid twitched again.

’Too small?’ he thought.

’My hall has enough space to display the corpses of at least ten Nation Destruction Level Demons. A volume like that, and he calls it small?’

He grumbled internally as he probed the contents of the Storage Bags with his mind.

But what he found inside...

...made him gasp.

There were mountains of materials from the remains of Nation Destruction Level Demons. And these weren’t just useless carcasses; they were all valuable parts—bones, blood, eyes...

As the vice-chairman of the association, he considered himself a man of vast experience and knowledge.

He recognized all these materials.

In truth, he had never personally seen most of them before. It was only thanks to his Scholar Profession that he could match the physical items to the knowledge in his head.

Yet even as a Scholar...

...there were still several materials he couldn’t identify.

"How many... how many Tier Four, Nation Destruction Level Demons are all these from?"

Chi Cheng spread his hands. "There are also some corpses from Lord and King Level Demons mixed in."

"I couldn’t be bothered to process those corpses, so just give me a fair price for them."

The owner’s mouth twitched.

For a moment, he was at a loss for words.

He did a quick mental calculation. It looked like materials from around 580 Nation Destruction Level Demons. Some of the materials were hard to distinguish, making it unclear if they were harvested from one Demon or two...

But the number 580 was more or less accurate.

’No way.’

’Where did so many Nation Destruction Level Demons even come from?’

’In the entire history of the Ruelun Continent, only five Tier Four Nation Destruction Level Demons have ever appeared.’

’You could count them on one hand.’

’And now you just sit here and casually dump out materials from... 580 of them?’

’Are you running a farm?’

’A wholesale market for Grade-A Nation Destruction Level Demons?’

The owner calmed himself and said, "Brother Chi Cheng, you know that with a haul this large, we have to follow procedure."

"Inspection, authentication, appraisal..."

Chi Cheng waved his hand dismissively. "I know, I know. Just get it done. I have a pretty good idea of what all this is worth."

Chi Cheng wasn’t worried in the slightest that they might try to pull a fast one.

If they knew a few tricks...

...then he, a Level 6 Warrior, also knew a few Combat Skills.

As they spoke, a serving girl brought them fine tea.

"Brother Chi Cheng."

"If I may be so bold as to ask... where did all these Nation Destruction Level Demons come from?"

Chi Cheng’s reply was blunt. "That has nothing to do with you."

"It’s a Secret of the world of High Tier Professionals."

’Oh...’ Lu Cang thought wryly.

’A High Tier Professional... is he referring to me, a Level 2 Mage and Level 1 Death Priest?’

"Ah... I see."

"Brother Chi Cheng, there is something I must say, however..."

"Such a massive influx of Nation Destruction Level Demon materials will inevitably have a significant impact on the market."

"If we were to release them all at once, their value would drop considerably."

Lu Cang understood the logic.

After all, when something rare suddenly appears in quantities a hundred times greater than before, its price is bound to be affected.

"To maximize your profit, we would have to sell this stock in batches over a long period."

"It would likely take a very long time for the capital to flow back."

"For this entire lot, my rough estimate is a price of one hundred million. What do you think?"

"Of course, that’s the minimum price I can guarantee."

’A 25% cut...’

Chi Cheng said, "One hundred and twenty million."

"Accept that price, and I’ll keep supplying your association with more Nation Destruction Level Demon materials."

"If you don’t agree, I’ll just go next door."

’Oh?’

’He’s a pretty good haggler. Looks like Chi Cheng isn’t just a simple-minded oaf after all.’

The owner gritted his teeth.

He and Chi Cheng weren’t exactly close friends. Theirs was a purely business relationship; if one merchant’s price wasn’t right, a seller would simply go to another.

Different merchant associations offered different prices for different materials.

For instance, the Radiant Gemstone Chamber of Commerce paid much higher prices for gem-like materials, since they could turn a larger profit on them.

Meanwhile, the Armed to the Teeth Merchant Association was more generous when buying materials for forging heavy Weapons or Armor.

As for their Ten Thousand Merchandise Association, while they bought everything... their prices were, by comparison, rather mediocre.