Draven waited in the appraisal area of the Hunter Association with Edward and the young lady from the Stillwind family of the First Stronghold.
While Draven stood with a casual expression, Edward and the young lady both looked stunned. Even for Edward, who had seen Draven's hunting skills, it was difficult to imagine that he had hunted such a large quantity of tiger-skinned water pythons in such a short time, and all by himself.
"My name is Amily Stillwind. May I ask if you hunted all these snakes by yourself, Grandmaster?" The young lady took a deep breath and finally broke the silence.
Draven nodded with a smile. "I am Draven Nyxborn. It's a pleasure working with you."
Amily looked at Draven in surprise. "Which branch of the Nyxborns are you from?"
Draven touched his earring and said, "From the main family."
Amily nodded in understanding. "No wonder. So you are a genius of the Nyxborn main family. I have only heard about the Nyxborns until now. This is my first time meeting a descendant in person."
Draven just smiled. After all, he himself had no idea what this Nyxborn family really was, so commenting further would only be pointless.
After a moment of silence, Amily hesitated and asked tentatively, "Grandmaster, can you introduce me to someone higher up in the Nyxborns? We Stillwinds are planning to open a large-scale virtual world project in the 36th Stronghold. If the Nyxborns can cooperate with us, it will be very good. In the future, we could even expand to other strongholds."
Draven shook his head. "Don't think too highly of me. I am not that important to the Nyxborns. Haven't you tried discussing it with other families in the 36th Stronghold?"
Amily sighed helplessly. "My trip here this time was mainly to discuss this matter with the different regional family heads. But due to the enormous expenditure and high risk of failure, no one is willing to invest. If I can't find an investor this time, the main family will directly take over this project. When that happens, I won't be the head of it anymore. I am a little reluctant to let that happen. This project was the lifelong dream of my deceased mother."
Draven nodded. "If it's not too much to ask, can you tell me more about this project?"
Amily smiled. "It's a massive project called 'Second World'. My mother was a very talented machine specialist. She worked on this project for more than five decades, and the zeroth-tier version of it was finally patented under her name. At the same time, a separate main server for Second World is placed at the headquarters of the Skynet exclusively for her. You can view it as an artificial intelligence program capable of self-repair and self-evolution."
"If we can establish a regional server for Second World in the 36th Stronghold, we will be able to connect with the main server at Skynet headquarters and create a virtual world where people can enter with their consciousness and perform activities like in the real world, but without the risk of death. These activities can be playing, deadly battles with beasts, training, and even romantic dates. All this can be achieved with a single virtual reality helmet, which will transfer your consciousness into the virtual world created by Second World. If this project is successful, then Second World will become one of the top business giants in the world, maybe even more powerful than any business we have seen until now."
Draven listened to the entire explanation and asked, "What's the expenditure?"
"Around forty-five fifth-tier coins. Thirty for the upgrade of the main server to the 2nd tier, ten for the setup of the new server in the 36th Stronghold, and five for the rest of the expenses."
Draven's mouth twitched. "Forty-five fifth-tier coins? That means 4.5 crore second-tier coins."
Seeing Draven's reaction, Amily sighed. "I know it is a bit exaggerated, but believe me, although there won't be any immediate profit in the short run, it will surely yield a thousand times more in the future."
Just as they were talking, the chief appraiser who was evaluating Draven's goods came forward and said respectfully, "Grandmaster, the appraisal is complete. The Ascendent-realm tiger-skinned demons are appraised at 88,606 second-tier coins according to the current market price. The Mortal-realm water snakes are estimated at 107,000 first-tier essence coins."
Draven turned to Amily. She hurriedly nodded. "Don't worry. These goods are purchased directly by our main family, so the money will be sent to your account as soon as I make a call. According to our contract, I will pay you double the amount. That will be..."
"One hundred seventy-nine thousand, three hundred and fifty-two," the chief appraiser said before Amily could finish.
Amily nodded and took out her phone to call someone from her family.
"Kid, you really are making a killing here. How in the world did you hunt this many water snakes in such a short time? According to that young lady, these snakes have a terrifying concealment ability that could even fool beasts an entire realm higher than them," Edward asked Draven curiously after Amily moved aside to make her call.
Draven laughed. "I accidentally stumbled upon their nest. It was just luck."
"Grandmaster, please give me your bank card," Amily asked as she extended her hand.
Draven took out his bank card and gave it to her. Amily scanned the small chip on the back of the card with her phone, and soon a notification rang on Draven's phone.
"One hundred and eighty thousand," Draven looked at the message in surprise.
Amily smiled. "Consider the rest an extra tip from our side for completing the job in a day's time. We were really in need of these snakes urgently."
Draven nodded. After all, why would he refuse free money?
Leaving the Hunter Association, Draven first went to the Merchant Association.
"I am completing the rest of the payment for The Six-Faced Spider today. Can you contact that executive head of Black Phantom? I want to discuss some more features I want in my super machine," Draven said to James as soon as he entered his office.
James looked at Draven in surprise. "You already prepared the money?"
Draven nodded as he sat down opposite James.
James contacted Sara and gave the phone to Draven.
"Sir, if you want to add extra features, the price will fluctuate slightly more. Are you sure about that?" Sara asked seriously.
Draven nodded. "No issues about the money. But make sure to add an artificial intelligence module in the super machine that can access the Skynet directly. Also, it should have an independent mobile server built inside itself where its AI module will be connected, with no room for being hacked by anyone..."
Draven and Sara discussed for about an hour before the final price, after modifications, was set at 8,500 second-tier coins. The colour was also selected to be white. Draven originally wanted black, but since that colour was already booked by someone else, he had to settle for white.
He also paid the full amount before he left the Merchant Association. The Six-Faced Spider would take more than a month to be delivered after all the modifications were done, so it would still take time.
After reaching home, Draven first ate the large portion of second-tier chicken fried rice he had bought on the way. He freshened up afterwards before sitting cross-legged in the living room to cultivate.
"First, go for the Drunken Man's Twin Treasures. With your new heart, you will be able to completely refine them in one go if you try a little harder," Silas suddenly appeared on the living room sofa and said.
Draven closed his eyes and began guiding his vital qi and spiritual chi towards the black space containing the crooked staff and the ordinary-looking wine gourd. Compared to his previous attempt, Draven could distinctly feel that the speed of his essence entering the black space was at least a hundred times faster and more robust. The illusory forms of the two weapons also began to appear more and more real as time passed.
Boom.
At some point, Draven was forced out of the black space by a sudden energy burst.
"Well, that was easier than I expected. Anyway, congratulations on completing the mission I gave you. Here is your reward." Silas took out an ancient book from his storage ring and tossed it towards Draven.
Draven caught the book in a daze. "Didn't you say I have to complete some task before I can earn the reward?"
Silas waved his hand lazily. "The task is simple. You have to refine wine for me with your life-bound weapon. You can just do it tomorrow. No need to hurry. After all, it's not like you can run away from me."
A light bulb lit up in Draven's head. "Is that legendary wine you mentioned somehow related to my life-bound weapon?"
Silas nodded without any change in his expression. "I tried several times to barge into the Asura God Mansion to steal this particular life-bound treasure without any success. But to my bad luck, by the time I finally sensed its presence, it had already become a part of you. So I have no choice but to keep you alive no matter what."
"Back when Davis tried to kill you, if I had sensed any real killing intent from him, I would have saved your life even if I had to go against the Skywalkers. This is also the reason why I personally decided to guard you, even at the cost of neglecting my duties as the head of the Nyxborns. So make sure that I won't lack wine. Otherwise, the consequences will not be pleasant."
Draven's mouth twitched. He ignored Silas and looked at the book Silas had just tossed towards him.
"Indestructible Heavenly Lotus Body? Is this the one used by the first owner of Silent Eclipse?"
Silas nodded. "Mm, it's the one. I bought it at an auction when I was about your age. Although it is not the strongest, I can guarantee you one thing: for the owner of the Silent Eclipse this one is nothing short of the best spirit technique in this world. It is even terrifying when we consider the fact that you have inherited my Stellar Reassembly skill."
"That exaggerated?" Draven frowned.
Silas smirked. "It is very difficult to cultivate, but if you can achieve something in it, even against a sea of enemies you will be unstoppable, like a peerless king with no rivals left in this world."
Draven nodded and placed the book into his storage ring.
The next second he simply waved his hand, and the golden dragon tattoo on his hand suddenly glowed as though it came to life. A crooked staff and a wine gourd appeared in Draven's hands.
The moment Draven's hands touched the two weapons, he felt a strange familiarity towards them. The way to use both of these weapons appeared in Draven's mind out of nowhere.
"A staff that can tame beasts and revive them back to life even if they die. It can also release a spirit type attack which can even stun cultivators a realm higher than me," Draven said as he looked at the staff in his hand with satisfaction.
According to the information that appeared in his mind, as long as he can provide the blood chi wine produced by the wine gourd to the staff, it will be able to reconstruct the body of any beast that was tamed with this staff.
"It's not a big deal. Tell me about the wine gourd first. Even in the All Drunkards Association of Valoria this thing is considered the ultimate dream wish of every drunkard out there. If it is truly as the legends say, there is a chance that you might even become the next president of the Drunkards Association. After all, strong wine is the best money there to make those old idiots vote in your name," Silas said eagerly as he fixed his eyes on the wine gourd in Draven's hand intently.