Rebirth: Supreme Soul Master

He had seen many crimson monster cores before, and this one looked somewhat similar. So, he asked William to confirm his guess.

“This is indeed the dark gold core of a scarlet monster, belonging to a scarlet bear,” William nodded.

“Just one? No way.” The middle-aged man misunderstood William’s actions. In the upper echelons of the fortress, everyone knew that he hated all those horrible, scarlet monsters to the core.

He guessed that William must have heard about this news from someone, paid a price to obtain such an extremely rare core, and then came here to exchange it for membership with him.

While he appreciated the effort and thought that went into it, he knew that the true value of this core was far less than what the child had paid to bring the membership home, as he had just claimed.

“I’ve had enough,” William’s next confident and calm reply startled Law, making him frown.

"How many exactly?" The man paused, then added, "Ordinary dark gold cores on the market aren't actually that expensive. A rare one like yours is only worth a few hundred thousand spirit crystals. If it's an even rarer variety, it can even sell for three hundred thousand! But for me, each one is worth five hundred thousand..."

“Five hundred thousand…five hundred thousand…” Luo’s gaze darted back and forth between the man and the core in William’s hand. “He said…he said he had enough…how much exactly…don’t tell me…damn it! Is he going there to sell them?!!!”

Luo was shocked; she muttered to herself incessantly, as if possessed. Neither William nor the man paid her any attention, but William said:

Why do they sell better when given away for free?

“Kid, don’t play these useless tricks on me,” the man sighed wearily, assuming William already knew about his past connection with the scarlet beast. “Let’s not waste time here. Everyone knows I paid a lot for these cores, and if you’re the one who killed them, even more!”

"I killed them."

"Pfft! Did you hear that? He actually said he killed the bear, hahaha!" Suddenly, a young girl walked to the table, pointed at William and laughed as if she had seen a clown.

William immediately noticed the striking resemblance between the girl and the man sitting opposite him. "It really is a family business," William thought to himself, as he watched the girl, who was about the same age as Luo, pull a chair from a nearby empty table and sit down next to the man.

“My dear Rose, watch your words and actions in front of our distinguished guests,” the man said sternly, giving his daughter a look before turning the same gaze to William. “Son, don’t take this as an insult. But those things you think are impossible won’t impress girls as much as you imagine.”

“I didn’t make any demands,” William slowly shook his head.

"Then explain to me how a Bronze Spirit Master killed a Dark Gold monster? Ah, and not just any ordinary monster, but one of the most terrifying and powerful monsters, a horrific and brutal Crimson Bear!" The girl named Ross couldn't help but burst into laughter, covering her wide-open mouth with her hand as she continued speaking.

But she failed.

“Ignore my daughter,” the man said, looking at her with a threatening gaze, as if silently promising to punish her later. “But please forgive my rudeness; what she says is more credible than what you say.”

“Of course,” William nodded, “I understand that this is an impossible task for the two of you, for anyone else. But… I didn’t lie!”

"..."

His confidence and his calm, casual way of speaking even made Ross stop laughing and, like the other two people sitting at the table, silently look up at him.

“Alright,” the man sighed helplessly and snapped his fingers, “Since you insist on continuing this futile behavior, then so be it. But I must warn you, we have someone here who possesses a technology that can see through the history of anything, including core information.”

"And then?" William became interested in this rare yet quite useful ability. He didn't notice the brief pause in the man's movements, after which the man continued waving to the people behind him, signaling them to come over.

“He’ll see if you’ve destroyed this core,” the man paused for a long time until a young man walked up to their table. “Thomas is an expert in this. If you’re proven wrong, you’ll have to pay him.”

“I have no objection.” William didn’t take the hidden warning in the man’s words to heart; he was just curious about what price a core member would have to pay.

If this person is willing to pay 500,000 for any cores that are transported here, how much would the cores he obtains after killing the Scarlet Bear be worth?

The man himself said he was willing to pay a higher price under these circumstances. This made William somewhat regretful that he had sold some core items to that businessman while still at the academy.

At the time, one core would have been enough to cover the cost of his entire order! But he didn't regret it too much. He had no choice at the time, and every situation has its unique circumstances.

Thomas was tall and robust, and looked to be about twenty-two years old. He was calm, with no emotional fluctuation on his face.

He walked silently to the table, his steps steady, like a king pacing in his throne room. Nevertheless, William felt that the young man had no interest in anything and looked like a dead man.