58: Chapter 58 Another Top-Tier Product Emerges

Myriad Treasures Pavilion, Backyard

The tailgate of the military truck was swung open heavily, and a nauseating, sickly sweet scent instantly permeated the entire yard.

Soldiers in charge of the transport wore gas masks as they carefully lifted down a semi-transparent sealed box.

"Ghost-Face Venomous Spider, Elite-level Peak."

Lin Fan, wearing specialized isolation gloves, lightly tapped the glass.

"Tsk, good stuff. Thunder Tiger must have dug this out from a pile of corpses."

The spider's venom sac was perfectly preserved, and even the barbs shimmering with a faint blue luster were completely undamaged. On the black market, this single carcass alone could be traded for a school district apartment in the city center.

But in Lin Fan's eyes, this was today's "trump card."

"Brother Fan, this thing... isn't it too fierce?"

The fatty, Zhang Hao, stood three meters away, pinching his nose with a look of disgust. "Won't putting this in the shop scare the customers away? Besides, with this smell, our newly renovated storefront is going to be pickled in it."

"Scare them away?"

The corner of Lin Fan's mouth twitched slightly, a flash of shrewdness in his eyes. "Fatty, remember this. To ordinary people, this is a deadly poison. But to certain lunatics who practice poison arts, this is a supreme tonic."

Ten minutes later.

In the very center of the Myriad Treasures Pavilion lobby, on the previously vacant "Treasure of the Shop" display stand, sat a pitch-black box. The box had no patterns on its surface, only a single bright red character for "Poison," which looked exceptionally eye-catching.

An electronic sign was set up next to it.

[Today's Shop-Defining blind box: Venom Series]

[Price: 5 million alliance coins, or equivalent high-level poison-attribute techniques/materials.]

[Note: Non-poison-path martial artists enter at your own risk; consequences are your own responsibility.]

Five million.

The moment this number lit up, the customers who were still browsing ordinary blind boxes in the shop instantly erupted into a frenzy.

"Are they crazy? Five million for a blind box? Is this owner insane for money?"

"Exactly, five million could buy a piece of B-Rank alloy battle armor! Who would spend that much to gamble on luck?"

"I think this Myriad Treasures Pavilion is just a gimmick. Those people who pulled good stuff before—could they all be plants?"

Voices of doubt and ridicule rose one after another.

Lin Fan sat in the leather boss chair behind the counter, playing with a coin in his hand with a calm expression. "Five million doesn't filter out the poor; it filters out the stupid. Real buyers never care about the price, only the value."

Time passed minute by minute.

The sun gradually dipped toward the west.

The crowd of onlookers grew larger, and many influencer streamers even rushed over to ride the hype, hurling insults at the black-gold blind box.

The traffic for Myriad Treasures Pavilion reached its peak at this moment, though most of it was negative.

The light at the entrance suddenly dimmed.

An extremely cold aura, like a freezing wind blowing out of hell, instantly swept through the entire lobby.

The previously noisy crowd was like ducks being grabbed by the neck; their voices came to an abrupt halt.

Everyone subconsciously turned their heads.

They saw an old man completely wrapped in a large black robe slowly walking into the shop. He had a hunched back and leaned on a withered wooden cane; with every step he took, the red carpet on the floor seemed to be coated in a layer of faint gray frost.

"This is..."

Someone recognized the old man's identity, their face turning deathly pale as they scrambled backward. "It's Poison Hand Ouyang Li, that wanted evil-path Martial Master! His strength has reached Martial Master Peak!"

Ouyang Li.

A ruthless character in the underground black market of Jianghai City, famous for his superb poison arts. He was eccentric and violent; it was said that those who died at his hands didn't even have bone fragments left.

Why would such a fierce person appear here?

The fatty's legs began to tremble. He wanted to press the alarm, but found his hands shaking so much they wouldn't listen to him.

Ouyang Li ignored the terrified gazes around him.

His murky, yellowish eyes stared fixedly at the black-gold blind box on the display stand. In his previously dead eyes, a near-greedy fervor erupted.

"Such pure poison qi..."

His voice was raspy and unpleasant, like two rusted iron plates rubbing together.

Ouyang Li walked to the counter.

"I'll take it."

A crumpled check was slapped onto the crystal tabletop.

Five million.

Not a cent more, not a cent less.

Lin Fan glanced at the check, not even bothering to verify its authenticity, and directly took out a specialized alloy key from under the counter and tossed it over.

"Much obliged."

Lin Fan's tone was as calm as if he were selling a bottle of mineral water, showing no reaction to the fact that the other party was a notoriously wanted criminal. "Shop rules: no responsibility once it leaves the counter. Sir, please proceed."

Ouyang Li looked at Lin Fan with some surprise.

This kid has some guts.

He grabbed the key and turned toward the display stand.

The surrounding crowd had long since retreated to the corners, each person holding their breath, fearing they would drop dead on the spot if they inhaled even a single puff of poison gas.

"Click."

The key turned.

The lid of the black-gold blind box slowly popped open.

The next second.

"Boom!"

A sickly green pillar of light, like a volcanic eruption, burst through the constraints of the blind box and shot straight toward the ceiling!

The temperature in the entire lobby plummeted.

A suffocatingly sweet fragrance instantly filled the air.

Within that green light, the phantom of a massive Ghost-Face Venomous Spider flickered. It opened its hideous mouthparts, let out a silent roar, and then suddenly contracted, turning into a thumb-sized emerald-green orb of light floating quietly in the box.

[Item: Source of Extreme Poison (A-rank Special Talent Medium)]

[Effect: Upon consumption, there is a 50% chance to awaken the A-rank Talent 'Source of Extreme Poison,' allowing mastery over all poisons and transformation into a Poison Spirit.]

Silence.

Absolute silence.

Everyone's eyes were about to pop out of their sockets.

An A-rank Talent!

It was actually an A-rank Talent!

In this era where C-Rank Talents were everywhere and a B-Rank Talent could make one a minor genius, what did an A-rank Talent signify? It meant there was hope of reaching beyond the Grandmaster level!

Five million?

If this thing were taken to an auction, people would fight to the death even at fifty million!

"Hahahaha, good, good, good!"

Ouyang Li let out a burst of owl-like wild laughter. With trembling hands, he grabbed the orb of light and, without even a second glance, stuffed it into his mouth and swallowed it.

"Boom."

A terrifying aura erupted from within him. The bottleneck that had stuck him at Martial Master Peak for many years actually showed signs of loosening at this moment. His black robe fluttered without wind, and green veins could be seen faintly pulsing beneath his skin.

He had gambled correctly.

This was a true reversal of fate.

"Kid, consider it that I, Ouyang Li, owe you a favor."

Ouyang Li gave Lin Fan a deep look and threw down a black iron token. "If you have trouble in the future, take this to the mass graves west of the city to find me."

With that, his figure flashed, turning into a streak of black smoke that charged out of the shop and vanished into the dusk.

He left behind a room full of dumbfounded customers and that slightly vibrating black iron token.

"Holy crap, it really was an A-rank Talent."

"Five million... who said it was expensive just now? This is practically a giveaway!"

"Owner, Owner, I want to buy one too! Are there any more of these blind boxes? I'll pay six million—no, I'll sell my house!"

The crowd went wild.

The previous doubts and mockery vanished in an instant, replaced by extreme madness and greed. Countless people waved cash and bank cards, rushing toward the counter like a zombie horde.

The fatty was almost squeezed to death, but his face was blooming with joy. He shouted while protecting the cash register, "Don't push, don't push! Line up, everyone will have a chance!"

Meanwhile.

Lin Fan, sitting in the boss chair, appeared calm and unruffled on the surface, but in reality, his mind was experiencing an even more violent storm.

[Ding!]

[Congratulations to the host! Customer 'Ouyang Li' opened a blind box and obtained the A-rank Special Talent 'Source of Extreme Poison'.]

[Triggering System Critical Hit Return mechanism...]

[Congratulations to the host for obtaining the S-Rank Talent, Myriad Toxicity Immunity Body!]

Boom!

A warm current appeared out of thin air within Lin Fan's body.

This warm current wasn't overbearing; instead, it brought a refreshing sense of comfort. It quickly flowed through Lin Fan's entire body, penetrating every cell.

Lin Fan could clearly feel that his blood seemed to have undergone a qualitative change. Within the originally bright red blood, there was now a faint hint of golden light.

Lin Fan looked at his system panel.

[Host: Lin Fan]

[Realm: Martial Artist Eight-Star]

Talents:

1. A-rank [Glazed Golden Body] (Extremely strong defense)

2. S-Rank [Eye of True Sight] (Sees through falsehoods, appraises all things)

3. S-Rank [Divine Ember Flame] (Burns all things, refines impurities)

4. S-Rank [Immune to All Poisons Body] (Immune to all toxins, can freely manipulate toxins; blood can cure a hundred poisons or kill a thousand people)

With this lineup of talents, if others found out, he would likely be dragged onto an operating table by various major powers to be sliced and dissected for research.

"Brother Fan, Brother Fan,"

The fatty swallowed hard. "That scene just now was filmed and posted online. Now the whole internet is searching for 'Myriad Treasures Pavilion.' Our reputation has truly exploded this time!"

It had transformed from an interesting influencer shop into a holy land for changing one's destiny.

This was exactly the effect Lin Fan wanted.

"Stay calm."