It was great that Tian Lang found a suitable payment for Yue Bing. However, the owner of the Wisdom Fruit and Lustrous Branch wanted an equal exchange.

The term equal exchange itself was a foreign and illogical thing. Humans exchanged to get something better, meaning profit. In other words, the existence of trade came for humans to gain profit. Equal exchange looked no different from a big trap to the Chaotic Being.

Also, from how zealously the humans talked about the Wisdom Fruit and Lustrous Branch, they seemed expensive too. So it became a big trap with costly items. But Tian Lang was also someone who refused to give up.

He went to a corner and checked everything inside the Shadow Leopard’s shadows.

The only thing of exchangeable value he had was a normal Silver-rank Grimoire and an egg. As for the Divine Grimoire, he had no plans of exchanging it. Well, unless he got a Dark Grimoire.

Tian Lang saw the egg once right after he gained his humanoid form. He also realized why all the Hydra’s came after them... it was because the leopard stole their eggs.

As much as he liked, Tian Lang couldn’t give this Hydra egg to Yue Bing. It had constantly stressed over not having compatibility with anything other than plant-type beasts.

It was also one of the reasons Yue Bing didn’t try to force a contract on him. And Hydras looked anything but plant-type beasts like he initially expected.

Tian Lang didn’t want a Hydra either. A mighty one might be desirable to him, but not a child. Not to mention their hideous look, he hated all kids in general.

Of course, he might’ve liked them if he hadn’t been harassed by a little Demonoid Human called Yue Shuang.

With a bloody cloth-bag in his arms, Tian Lang marched towards the Action House at a breakneck speed. In his path, he found a human child licking a popsicle. Tian Lang suddenly felt thirsty and grabbed the popsicle on his way.

Giving it a test taste, he found it quite desirable.

What an unexpected gain! Tian Lang marveled at the wonders created by humans. All the while, ignoring the faint audible cry of an innocent child.

If someone said Tian Lang was venting, they wouldn’t be entirely wrong either.

Tian Lang had just arrived at the Auction House when he found the Storm Mercenary Group Captain and prepared to initiate between him and the other party using the Hydra Egg.

“Hmm, this is a Hydra Egg? If it truly is the Hydra Egg, then I can offer the Wisdom Fruit, but it’s still not enough for the Lustrous Branch.” This captain named Feng Rui really liked the little Hydra that Tian Lang had brought, but seeing how poorly Tian Lang dressed, it was reluctant to offer both of its trump cards.

“Alright, I’ll see you later.” Tian Lang took his egg and walked out of the room.

“W-wait, friend! Haha, I just offered a price. We can always discuss it. How about this, we will have the egg professionally checked. If it received a good star rating, you can take both of them. If it doesn’t, unless you can add something more, I really can’t give you both of them.”

Tian Lang was skeptical. He knew beasts got star ratings depending on their appearance, intelligence, and other properties. How could an unhatched egg receive a rating?

Anyway, since there was nothing to lose, he decided to follow Feng Rui.

Inside a room filled with varieties of eggs, a fat human checked the egg with a crystal. Not long after, its fat started to tremble. “This-this is a five-star egg! Huh, I thought I won’t see another one anytime soon!”

Actually, the Hydras were beasts with low intelligence potential. The egg only got a 4.6-star rating, but it received five-star ratings since no such evaluation existed. Mainly because the Hydra had the potential to go through a variant evolution and reach the silver-rank.

Feng Rui’s eyes basically lit up like stars, “Alright, friend, let’s finish the exchange! I’ll give you both the Wisdom Fruit and Lustrous Branch.”

Tian Lang naturally didn’t like Feng Rui’s enthusiasm, “Human, do you think that’s an equal exchange?”

Feng Rui was thrown off-guard when Tian Lang said Human, but it decided that it was his way of showing sarcasm.

“Naturally!” Feng Rui understood Tian Lang’s skepticism and explained, “You can’t find Wisdom Fruit below the third floor. While the Lustrous Branch is the same, its uses are not as great as the Wisdom Fruit. You also have to complete a chain quest to gain the Wisdom Fruit, whose difficulty is not lower than fifth floor’s quests. Hah! I didn’t complete the quest. I traded this from the third floor. If you don’t want to exchange, fine!”

That sounds really hard to get your hands on. Tian Lang thought deeply. Wasn’t he gaining a huge profit? Feng Rui had to go through so much trouble to get its hand on the Wisdom Fruit and Lustrous Branch. While the leopard got the egg with little time.

Seeing Tian Lang falling silent, Feng Rui had its heart in its throat.

“Brother, Hydras are really ugly. It’s better if we don’t take it! My classmate bought a Winged Rabbit egg. If it’s incubated, the cute little Winged Rabbit after eating the Green Leaf of Life from this Lustrous Branch might evolve, so  let’s not exchange after all!” A human not much different in size from Yue Bing stood behind, attracting its older brother’s attention.

Tian Lang didn’t care much about this human. Its fleshy mound had barely reached half of Luo Hua City Mistress’s. That level of fighting power wasn’t anything he had to be afraid of.

“Hey, don’t cause trouble.” When captain Feng Rui heard its words, black lines formed on its forehead. Not exchanging for a Hydra, but to use the Lustrous Branch’s leaves to feed a Winged Rabbit with zero battle ability?

It tried to persuade Tian Lang, saying, “Friend, we can only add a hundred gold coins. This is the best I can offer. We are already taking a huge loss.”

“Hm? Ah, sure. Deal!” Tian Lang just said ok without considering. Anything above nine troubled the Chaotic Being a lot. How would he know when nobody taught him?

A guard came from behind and handed Feng Rui a pouch and box.

Feng Rui handed the box to Tian Lang, the latter took it, when a human hand clad in metal armor put its heavy hand on the box.

So, you have revealed your true intentions. Being the cautious creature he was, Tian Lang had long been prepared for attempted scams.

But when he traced back to the source, he couldn’t help but shout, “Ah!”

It was a human wholly clad in armor. If Tian Lang remained conscious while sulking, he would’ve recognized this human. This head-to-toe armor plate covered human was indeed the famous Royal Princess of the Da Xia Empire.

But he had no reason to stress over such nonsensical things. He shouted because he hadn’t expected to meet another fleshy mounded human near Luo Hua City Mistress’s level.

And even though the iron armor blocked his view, that shape alone confirmed that it was a type-soft and not the faulty type-hard. Just that, it might be a little smaller than Luo Hua City Mistress’s.

The Royal Princess had a frown on its face as it observed Tian Lang. The human’s inherent skill said it met this human just recently. Yet, it had no recollection of such an event. Let alone his exceptional appearance, just the striking get up alone would make one remember him for a long time.

The thing that made the Royal Princess even more surprised was the threat that it felt from this human in front of it. This was the first time it had ever felt from humans of its own generation. If it didn’t have the special [Six Records] Inherent Skill, it would have been fooled by this human’s deceiving getup and treat him as an ordinary thief.

After closer observation, to the Royal Princess’s surprise, he brought a Hydra Egg and exchanged it with Feng Rui.

“S-sister Qian Qian!” Feng Rui was so intimidated that it retracted its hand from the box and acted like a little kitten shrinking in a corner, not daring to even squeak again. Even the guards around Feng Rui shrank, not daring to look intimidating.

Hah! As expected from a mighty human! But from the other humans’ reaction, this ferocious human seems mightier than Luo Hua City Mistress. C-could it be...? Tian Lang suddenly had a dangerous thought.

Like beasts, demons, and grimoires, Human’s fleshy mounds have grades too? Their power, attractiveness, and softness depend on how well humans cultivated their fleshy mounds? Extremely possible! No wonder it was wearing an armor! As Tian Lang arrived at another conclusion, his mind drifted to what grade it could be...

The Royal Princess tapped its feet impatiently, “Don’t look at me as if I’m here to snatch from you. I’m only here for the Wisdom Fruit you owe me from last time. Can’t I take it back now?”

“Y-yes.” Feng Rui said in utter helplessness.

Tian Lang raised his mental brows.

This... shouldn’t be an attempted scam... This mighty human with SUPER SOFT fleshy mounds has no reason to scam me! Anyway, I’m not afraid of you! If you taste my claws... Suddenly, Tian Lang remembered that he had to be careful around humans and not let out his identity... Instantly Tian Lang cried a sea of tears. I’m terrified of you mighty human. Just don’t block me! It’s not like I don’t have fists!

He took the box and turned around, only to see another fleshy mounded human. Then quietly turning back, he stood in his previous position, acting as if he had nothing, he knew nothing. Nor did he ever move.

Tian Lang’s action amused the Royal Princess. His sneaky movement didn’t escape its attentive eyes, “What’s your name?”

“Sky Wolf!” Tian Lang spoke truthfully without even a shred of lies. Indeed, his name was Sky Wolf, or rather, his name meant Sky Wolf. Either way, to the chaotic being, it had barely escaped the category of Lie.

“Eh, that’s not right. Tell me the truth... Forget it, that’s not important... As you have heard, this Wisdom Fruit belongs to me. Return it.” The Royal Princess had its strong inherent skill; hence its senses were ten times sharper than average humans. Despite Tian Lang convincing himself, it detected his lies.

“I’m sorry, super soft fles–no, no, great human warrior... I mean to say, we have already traded my egg for the Wisdom Branch. You won’t snatch it from me, right?” Tian Lang was so nervous that he forgot to sugarcoat his words and almost uttered super soft fleshy mounded human.

The human from the back suddenly broke into stifled laughter.

“T-that’s right, we have already traded. Why don’t you take the next one, sister Qian Qian?” Feng Rui attempted to appease, but one eye contact was all it could bear before shrinking further.

The Royal Princess glared at Tian Lang with its big, heroic eyes, “What nonsense. There’s no Wisdom Branch. Did you train your muscle so much that you forgot what you were trying to exchange?”

Sweat dripped from Tian Lang’s brows as he realized his mistake, but he couldn’t back away now. And he had already thought of the best comeback, “Who said I’m uttering nonsense? I’ll plant the Lustrous Branch on the Wisdom Fruit, so it will become a Wisdom Branch!”

“Puchi!” The human from the back couldn’t hold back its laughter and let out its suppressed laughter.

Tian Lang was slightly attracted to the voice, but the Royal Princess’s presence made his guard super strong.

“Forget it. You don’t seem to have a beast. Give me that box, and I’ll return your egg. Once you incubate that egg, you will at least have a beast to protect yourself.” The Royal Princess was suddenly worried. This human didn’t seem to be lying. Did he really plan to destroy these expensive items? Just what kind of environment did he grow up in?

“What? No way! I need to eat the Wisdom Branch to increase my intelligence. Else how would I become a super-intelligent human?” Tian Lang held the embroidered box tightly. His expressionless face said, no matter what I won’t let go.

“You plan to eat it? Wisdom Fruit could only be fed to beasts. If an ordinary warrior eats it, he will become stupid like a beast. Don’t you even know that? Or are you just saying nonsense on purpose?”

“Wisdom Fruit can only be fed to beasts? That’s awesome!” Tian Lang was shocked. He had never heard of Wisdom Fruit before, so he didn’t know that humans could not eat it. Anyway, he thought he was paying Yue Bing a bit too much. If he ate the Wisdom Fruit, won’t the Lustrous Branch be enough for it?

“That’s awesome?” The Royal Princess felt like its head was spinning from this stupid human’s nonsense. “Forget it. I’ll let you take the Wisdom Fruit and Lustrous Branch if you do me a favor.”

“Huh, why would I do you a favor? Haven’t I already completed the exchange?”

So what if you are mighty and a super soft fleshy mounded human? Tian Lang showed steadfastness, matching his wild appearance.

The human from the back also pursued the Royal Princess. It spoke delicately, “Qian Qian, why not let it go? Wisdom Fruit is not much useful for my Aquarius Celestial Goddess anyway. Why not settle the debt at a later time?”

“Sister Yu, this guy hasn’t spoken one truth from the start. I’m already having a headache from his lies.”

Having a headache from lies? Tian Lang’s eyes basically lit the whole room bright.

The Royal Princess seemed to understand the hidden meaning behind Tian Lang’s glowing eyes and frowned, “Forget it. I’ll let you go this time. However, I feel like we will meet soon. When that happens, I’ll make sure to get even with you!”

Woah, finally! Tian Lang cheered and ran out of the Auction House as if he was running for his life. He didn’t forget to thank the gentle and delicate mannered human.