Chapter 102 I don’t like this price

“No need.”

“Just prepare some insect eggs for me.”

No matter how eloquently Evan tried to persuade him, Arius remained unmoved.

Seeing that his efforts were futile, Evan didn’t appear disappointed.

After all, there had been hundreds, if not thousands of cultivators who came to him seeking insect eggs—but not a single one had successfully cultivated a large number of spiritual or poisonous insects.

Insect cultivation, while slightly easier than beast taming, still required a proper inheritance to be anything more than a half-baked effort.

To become a true Insect Master, one needed both inheritance and innate talent!

Across the entire Pyrenees Mountain Prefecture, beneath the Level 2 realm, Evan undoubtedly considered himself the number one Insect Master.

Take, for example, the so-called “Myriad Venoms Master” of Blood Wolf Hall—while he had an impressive array of venomous insects, most of them were not even self-cultivated.

They were all purchased as fully grown insects.

“Fellow Daoist, the path of insect cultivation is fraught with hardship.”

“But since you wish to try for yourself, I do happen to have some cultivation insights and insect-controlling techniques…”

“Since fate has brought us together today, I won’t ask for nine hundred low-grade spirit stones, nor will I ask for five hundred.”

“For a special price—just ninety-nine low-grade spirit stones—you can take home all my knowledge and experience!”

As he spoke, Evan mysteriously retrieved a towering stack of books from his storage ring.

The titles of these books were nothing short of grandiose—

The Immortal Scripture of Insect Cultivation

The Dao of Insect Control

From Novice to Insect Master

Theoretical Foundations of Insect Cultivation

Key Precautions for Raising Insects

A Must-Read Guide for Insect Cultivators

The stack towered over Arius, standing at least three feet taller than him.

This was Evan’s second trick—these books contained some real knowledge, but ninety-nine percent of the content was useless filler.

However, at first glance, the information seemed profound and logical, designed to mislead and entrap those unfamiliar with the subject.

According to these books, basic insect control was easy to grasp.

But when it came to actually raising insects?—utterly impossible.

Arius gazed at the massive pile of books, his face calm and composed, but deep in thought.

Despite their fraudulent nature, these books weren’t entirely without value.

In a way, they were fragmented remnants of true insect cultivation manuals.

If he could use the Appraising Immortal Mirror to enhance them, they might evolve into actual supreme cultivation techniques!

Arius already possessed an Insect Cultivation Manual.

However, that manual had come from the Ashfell Clan’s old patriarch, and only contained basic-level techniques for raising and controlling insects.

Even if he used the Appraising Immortal Mirror to enhance it, its grade would still remain limited.

The Appraising Immortal Mirror consumed very few resources for the first or second enhancement.

However, with each subsequent upgrade, the resource consumption would increase exponentially.

If he could enhance all these books at once, the gains would undoubtedly outweigh the cost!

“Fellow Daoist… are you toying with me?”

Arius narrowed his eyes, gazing at Evan with a cold intensity.

Although he was tempted to buy the books, he deliberately feigned anger.

A surge of Late-Stage Level 1 aura burst forth from him, sending waves of oppressive pressure throughout the entire Myriad Insect Pavilion.

Evan’s cultivation was already one of the weakest within the Level 1 realm, and he specialized neither in close combat nor direct spells.

At such a short distance, even a mid-stage Level 1 cultivator could easily kill him!

Under Arius’s crushing aura, Evan’s face turned deathly pale.

Although Floating Dream Pavilion strictly forbade fighting, there were plenty of cultivators with unstable temperaments.

Some were mentally deranged, some prone to extreme actions—it was not uncommon for a minor disagreement to escalate into a massacre.

Especially those who had recently broken through—with their unsettled state of mind, they were the ones most prone to Qi deviation, leading to irrational and deadly behavior.

From Evan’s perspective, Arius was precisely that type of cultivator!

No matter how strict Floating Dream Pavilion’s rules were, if Arius wanted him dead, no one would be able to save him in time.

The distance was too close—even if he wanted to release his spiritual and poisonous insects, he wouldn’t have time.

“Fellow Daoist, let’s talk this through!”

The more a person loved wealth, the more they feared death.

As the saying went—the greatest tragedy in life is having wealth left unspent while one’s life ends prematurely.

Evan was no exception.

He had spent years deceiving and swindling, amassing fortune after fortune—not for the sake of generosity, but for the sake of indulgence. For the sake of pushing his cultivation ever higher, to live longer and enjoy greater pleasures.

Arius had lived long enough to see through people like Evan.

That was why he had deliberately released his overwhelming aura, playing the part of a ruthless, unpredictable lunatic, just to intimidate Evan into submission.

With shrewd merchants like Evan, haggling or psychological games were useless.

He had only one weakness—his greed and his fear of death.

For people like him, the only way to gain an absolute advantage was to be more ruthless, more insane, and more domineering than anyone else.

“You dare try to fool me with a pile of worthless books? Heh heh heh…”

“Shopkeeper… do you take me for a fool?”

Arius let out a sinister, bone-chilling laugh, the oppressive force of his aura growing more terrifying by the second.

But aside from this display of raw intimidation, he made no further moves.

He had no intention of actually violating Floating Dream Pavilion’s rules.

After all, releasing pressure was not prohibited by the pavilion.

Neither was arguing with a shopkeeper.

As long as no physical violence occurred, the pavilion’s enforcers would not intervene.

“I will give you one chance to make a proper offer.”

As he spoke, Arius extended his strong, aged hand, gently patting Evan on the shoulder.

The moment he felt the subtle spiritual energy fluctuations from Arius’s palm, Evan nearly broke into tears internally.

He had been in business for years, and this was only the third time he had encountered a complete madman…

And worst of all—he couldn’t fight back.

He couldn’t afford to gamble on whether Arius would actually make a move.

One could never be too careful.

If he won the gamble, the benefits were minimal.

But if he lost, Arius could kill him in an instant before Floating Dream Pavilion’s enforcers arrived. Even if Arius were executed later, Evan would still die first.

That was not a risk he was willing to take.

“Heh… Heh heh…”

Suppressing his fear, Evan forced a smile and spoke again.

“Fellow Daoist, I feel like we have a strong bond… A special connection!”

“Let’s make it simple—one low-grade spirit stone!”

One low-grade spirit stone—a huge drop from his original price.

And truthfully, it was a fair deal.

The material used for these books was actually low-grade refining materials, carefully chosen to give the books an elevated sense of value.

To make them look more prestigious, Evan had even engraved mystical runes onto the covers and inlaid them with common gold and jewels.

And while most of the content was useless, there were some genuine bits of knowledge inside.

Selling the entire collection for just one low-grade spirit stone meant that Evan would barely break even, maybe even suffer a small loss.