When Draven woke up in the afternoon, his five avatars, which were sent to hunt, were now roasting two large buffalo legs with their spear over a firepit made of forest wood.
At one side, there were also several tiger-skinned water python bodies piled up like a small mountain. These snakes were just a meter long, which was quite small when compared to other Ascendant Realm beasts, but the poison they carried was enough to even kill beasts an entire realm higher than them.
But since Draven's Asura Avatars possessed all the abilities of his main body, they were not able to kill even one of Draven's clones, and instead became prey to them.
Draven sleepily rubbed his eyes and took out several spices from his storage ring before tossing it to the avatar which was standing guard beside him. It swiftly caught the jars of spices and went towards the fire pit to sprinkle it over the meat.
Due to making 106 Asura Avatars, Draven was still feeling sleepy due to the over-exertion of his spirit. So, in his mind, Draven commanded the Asura Avatars which were hunting inside the pond to stop and come out of the water.
Soon, more than 100 Asura Avatars popped out from the calm water surface with one or two tiger-skinned water pythons squirming on their spear tips. Once all the remaining beasts are placed onto the pile, Draven nodded in satisfaction and dispersed the 100 Asura Avatars, leaving only 6 of them behind.
After that, he began collecting the beast carcasses into his storage ring one by one. About half an hour later, all the carcasses were stored inside his storage ring.
"Ten thousand five hundred Ascendant Realm water snakes ranging from 1st stage to 7th stage, and eight thousand Mortal Realm water snakes ranging from 1st stage to 10th stage. Since the count has already gone over one hundred, by the contract they have to pay me double the amount. If everything goes well, all my debts could be paid off in one go," Draven muttered to himself as he started eating one of the roasted whole buffalo legs with relish.
As for the remaining leg, it was given to his rented mount. One-horned horses were an omnivorous breed, so it also loved the meat of this 9th-stage wild buffalo which was cooked with special spices.
After finishing his meal, Draven dispersed the remaining avatars and mounted his horse before bolting back out of the forest on his mount.
When they reached the outskirts and he was about to return the white horse to the rental shop, Draven thought of something and asked the shop owner, a young man who looked around twenty years of age, "Do you have a beast pouch made for this one?"
A beast pouch is a living place built using space magic for a tamed beast. It was similar to a storage ring, but while a storage ring could not contain living beings, a beast pouch could.
The shop owner shook his head. "No sir, we haven't made one specially for this 10th-stage mount since he has only been here for less than a month. But our previous Ascent Realm 10th-stage mount has a custom-made beast pouch. We are planning to sell this pouch and its youngling in an auction at the 20th Stronghold next year to collect money to make a suitable beast pouch for thirty of our Ascendant Realm One-horned horses."
"Even though it is built for a different type of mount, it can still be used to store this one-horned white horse temporarily, right? Why don't you sell both the pouch and this One-horned horse to me? I will buy it at double its market price," Draven said generously. After all, for the current him, making money was as easy as sleeping and eating, so what is the problem in squandering some?
The shop owner sighed when he heard this. "I can sell this horse to you if you want, but that beast bag is specially crafted for a rare breed of dragon species called the White Tyrant Dragon. The habitat inside that beast pouch is not suitable for this one-horned horse."
"White Tyrant Dragon? The one with the earth, wind and water attribute?" Draven asked as he recalled seeing the information on this beast somewhere.
The young shop owner smiled. "Yeah, White Tyrant Dragons are a rare breed of dragons with three elemental cores. It has been with my father for more than 100 years, but 8 years ago, it got injured during an escort mission and died, leaving only its unhatched dragon egg behind. We artificially made the egg hatch even without its mother's care, and now its youngling is 6 months old. If everything goes well, we will sell it after it reaches 1 year of age along with its mother's beast pouch."
Draven's eyes lit up when he heard this. "That means it hasn't formed a contract with anyone, right?"
The young man nodded helplessly. "I originally intended to keep it for myself, but this little fellow has quite a temper and won't allow anyone to form a contract with him no matter what. I am also not interested in taming him by force, so I decided to sell him to someone else."
Then he scratched his head and added sheepishly, "There is one more reason. Ever since my father's death, our financial situation is not that good. Raising a White Tyrant is like raising a cat which feeds on diamonds. Just in raising it for 6 months I have spent more than one fifth of my total assets. If this continues, I will be out begging in the street soon."
Draven remained silent for a moment and nodded. "I have decided, I won't buy this One-horned horse."
The young shop owner's face fell when he heard this. After all, it was a deal which would have made him double the money he spent in buying the horse. But the next words that came from Draven's mouth made the shop owner's jaw drop.
"I will be buying this White Tyrant Dragon youngling instead, along with its beast pouch. The offer is the same: double the market price. What do you think?"
The shop owner struggled to process this for a moment before saying in disbelief, "Sir, its market price is not cheap. For a White Dragon youngling that hasn't formed a contract yet, even though it is still in the Mortal Realm, the price can go up to ten second-tier Ascent Realm coins. Furthermore, the one I have is a mutated one with five different attributes. Its price could go up ten times in an auction. Also, the beast pouch is a custom-made one whose value, when paired with the dragon youngling, will soar to at least one hundred second-tier coins."
Draven nodded in understanding. "So, your estimated amount is one hundred second-tier coins for the dragon youngling and one hundred second-tier coins for the pouch, two hundred in total. According to the deal, I will pay you four hundred second-tier coins. How's that?"
The shop owner's breathing quickened for a moment. "Actually, a wealthy heir from the First Stronghold had already sent his representative here to negotiate the price with me. If you don't mind, can I contact him to see if he is willing to pay a better price than this?"
Draven shrugged. "Feel free to."
The shop owner hurriedly took out his phone and dialed a number. After a few times of dialing, the line got connected and he explained the situation to the person on the other side.
"Sir, they said they are willing to pay five hundred," the shop owner said with a shaky voice to Draven.
Draven's brows frowned. "I am increasing the price to ten times: five thousand second-tier coins."
Before the shop keeper could come out of his stupor, a calm voice came from the phone in his hand. "Give the phone to that gentleman. I want to talk to him."
The shopkeeper didn't dare delay and handed the phone to Draven with a stunned look on his face.
"My name is Aldric Skywalker. May I know what this gentleman's name is?" said the voice.
Draven fell silent for a moment when he heard the surname 'Skywalker' before he asked calmly, "Are you from the Skywalker family of the First Stronghold?"
"Yes, but don't worry, I won't use my status to pressure you. I just wanted to ask you one thing: are you sure you have enough capital to compete with me?" Aldric asked lazily.
Draven didn't respond immediately. Instead, he first touched his earring and asked in his mind, "Grandpa, are you confident you can save me if that old man from the Skywalkers comes after me?"
"Do whatever you want. If Silas wants to escape, there is no one in this world who can stop me."
A smile appeared on Draven's face when he heard the reply.
"Oh, then let's see how rich you really are. I am increasing my bid by a hundred times. If you dare, call a single copper coin above my bid."
Aldric sneered. "Do you take me for a fool? Fifty thousand second-tier essence coins for a mere Mortal Realm beast and an second-tier pouch? At this price, I can buy a hundred similar or even higher-quality beasts."
Draven laughed. "So go and buy one of those. Ego is something meant for men, not for sissies like you. I will finalize this deal at fifty thousand second-tier essence coins."
"You are crazy. Even if you are some wealthy second generation, you will squander all your wealth in no time if you spend like this," Aldric said icily.
"Thanks for the advice. But remember one thing: as long as there are demon beasts in the forest, I am rich," Draven said coldly and hung up the phone.
"You heard me. The deal is fixed for fifty thousand second-tier coins. I will pay the money in a week's time and take the goods. Until then, look after my dragon youngling well." After saying that, Draven left the rental shop, leaving the young shop owner somewhat in a daze.
On the other side, Aldric looked at the phone in his hand blankly.
"Fifty thousand second-tier coins? That's five fourth-tier essence coins! Is there really a person foolish enough to spend this much on a Mortal Realm beast?" Aldric muttered to himself, speechless.
"Either he is bluffing, or he is a wastrel with a lot of assets. Either way, you cannot afford to play this foolish game with him. If your uncle ever found out you squandered fifty thousand second-tier coins on a Mortal Realm beast, he would skin you alive," a beautiful woman with striking blue eyes standing next to Aldric said flatly.
Aldric's mouth twitched. "Who told you I am going to compete with that crazy bastard? It's just that this White Tyrant was a rare, successful mutated breed, which is not common among dragon species. A Tyrant Dragon at the tenth stage of the Mortal Realm is said to have battle power equivalent to a first-tier Ascent Realm beast. This estimate will be even higher when it comes to this mutated youngling, since it carries five different cores inside its body."