Chapter 131

The merchant saw Luo En's interest in the gladiatorial games, and the smile on his face became more flattering, his thick palms rubbing together unconsciously.

"Since you are interested in participating in the gladiatorial games, choosing a high-quality combat slave is crucial."

He said pointedly: "We still have a batch of top-quality embryos in the backyard specifically supplied to VIP users like you; why don't I take you to see them?"

Luo En nodded slightly, his face calm as he followed the merchant, but his heart had already developed some vigilance against this merchant who was full of nonsense.

Through the merchant's previous introduction and his own observations, Luo En had already realized a key problem:

These so-called "high-end combat slaves" were basically quick-made products, forcibly created into deformed weapons through rough bloodline fusion and mental control.

They might burst out with amazing combat power in the short term, but without exception, they all had fatal flaws:

Mental instability, short lifespan, and even the possibility of completely losing control at any time.

"A truly high-quality combat slave should be like Trish's leopard woman." Luo En thought to himself.

Although Liyue came from a tribal tribe that had been exterminated, her modulation process was clearly more gentle and detailed.

Basically, it was moderate strengthening and activation on the basis of already superior bloodlines, and cultivated from a young age, allowing the body and spirit to have sufficient adaptation time.

Combat slaves cultivated in this way were not only fierce in combat power, but could also maintain basic sanity, and their lifespan was far beyond those quick-made products.

Passing through a dim corridor, the merchant took Luo En to a compartment in the deepest part of the exchange.

Pushing open the heavy metal door, there were dozens of special culture tanks inside, each containing the embryo or young body of some creature.

"This is our 'Seed Bank', where all the most precious goods are bred."

The merchant introduced triumphantly: "These are rare bloodlines collected from all over the place, some even coming directly from exploration teams around the Great Abyss."

Luo En looked around, activated his Extraordinary Identification ability, and scanned every culture tank in detail.

"How about this one?" The merchant pointed to a culture tank containing a purple-black embryo, greed flashing in his eyes:

"A hybrid of Hellhound and Abyss Worm; it can master both black fire and earth-stone swimming abilities after adulthood, and the price is only five hundred magic stone fragments."

[Hellhound and Abyss Worm hybrid embryo

Bloodline fusion degree: Gold Ring 32%

Stability: Extremely low

Estimated lifespan: 3-5 years

Special ability: Black fire, earth-stone swimming (unstable)

Risk assessment: Extremely high, 80% probability of distortion during growth]

Luo En's face remained unchanged, but in his heart, he had already determined that this was another short-lived unstable combination.

"How about this one?" The merchant enthusiastically guided him to look at another culture tank, which contained a liquid embryo glowing with fire:

"This is a rare treasure! A hybrid of Phoenix and Mercury Elemental Creature, worth a fortune! After adulthood, it not only possesses partial regeneration ability but can also control metal elements, simply a perfect guard and combat assistant!"

[Phoenix (sparse) and Mercury Elemental hybrid embryo

Bloodline fusion degree: Gold Ring 25%

Stability: Almost zero

Estimated lifespan: Less than 2 years

Special ability: Limited regeneration, metal control (extremely unstable)

Risk assessment: Disaster level, core energy structure chaotic, may collapse at any time]

Luo En looked at the Extraordinary Identification results and had a deeper understanding of the merchant's shamelessness.

This was no treasure at all; it was simply a time bomb.

This kind of forced fusion of opposite elements had almost zero stability and could self-destruct at any time.

How dare this merchant do this; is there really some amazing backer behind him?

"There are a few more boutique items here that are more suitable for high-level modulation."

The merchant didn't notice Luo En's thoughts at all and continued to talk endlessly:

"This is a hybrid of Star Fairy and High-level Wraith, this is a combination of Deep Sea Murloc and Wind Elemental Fairy, and this most precious one—the hybrid embryo of the legendary Time Lizard and Beholder!"

Luo En scanned them one by one, and the results were almost the same—low fusion degree, poor stability, many hidden dangers, yet the price was an astronomical figure.

The merchant was clearly picking those most expensive, rarest, but actually least suitable embryos for beginners to introduce, clearly trying to take advantage of the situation.

"Do you have any more... basic embryos?" Luo En asked calmly: "I've just started to get in touch with bloodline modulation and want to start with something simple."

The merchant's smile stiffened for a moment, then piled up with flattery again:

"Of course! But those are all ordinary goods; like a genius like you, you should start directly from the high-end and get it done in one step..."

"I want to see those basic ones first." Luo En's tone was peaceful, but his gaze had become firm.

The merchant was helpless and had to take Luo En to another room; the culture tanks here were clearly not as exquisite as before, and the creatures in the tanks were also much more ordinary.

"These are all ordinary races, cheap in price, but nothing special."

The merchant's interest was clearly weakened, and his tone was flat: "A big shot like you shouldn't be interested in these."

Luo En ignored the other's guidance and carefully observed each culture tank.

He noticed several tanks placed against the wall that seemed to be deliberately ignored, one of which contained a small blue life form floating, looking like a young body that had just been born, not an embryo.

Walking closer, it was a young Siren, about twenty centimeters long, with an upper body similar to a human female.

But the skin was pale blue, and the lower body was a fish tail, shimmering with fine silver-blue scales.

It looked very weak, its body curled up in the culture fluid, its small face full of painful expressions, clearly in some unhealthy state.

"What's the situation with this one?" Luo En pointed to the small Siren and asked.

The merchant glanced at it, a look of disgust on his face:

"That's just an ordinary Siren young body, no special value. It's congenitally weak, eats a lot but doesn't grow, and probably won't live long; it's not worth your time at all."

Luo En activated Extraordinary Identification and carefully scanned the Siren's situation:

[Ordinary Siren (Young body)

Bloodline purity: Silver Ring 95% (Rare high purity)

Status: Severe malnutrition

Special talent: Big Eater (Second-tier talent, the more nutrients ingested, the faster the growth speed and the higher the potential limit; otherwise, development is inhibited)

Potential assessment: If sufficient nutrients are obtained, it can reach the Gold Ring limit; and it has amazing plasticity, with a chance to advance to a higher bloodline after modulation]

Luo En's heart shook.

This little thing looked weak, but actually possessed a rare high-purity bloodline.

Plus that extremely rare "Big Eater" special talent, as long as there were sufficient nutrients, the future potential was simply limitless!

And it looked sickly now, precisely because of the lack of sufficient food and nutrients, which caused its talent to backfire on itself and inhibit its own development.

The slave merchant threw it in the corner, clearly because he saw it eating a lot but not seeing results, thinking it was a defective product with no value, and was preparing to abandon it.

This was simply a heaven-sent opportunity to pick up a bargain!

"How much for this little guy?" Luo En asked as if nothing had happened.

The merchant was stunned, clearly not expecting Luo En to be interested in this "defective product":

"It... fifty, no, forty magic stone fragments, but to be honest, if it weren't for the contract signed with the relevant sea area supplier, not to abandon embryos and cubs at will, we would have thrown this little guy away long ago."

Luo En heard the disgust in the merchant's words and deliberately showed a slightly hesitant expression: "How about thirty? After all, it's in such a bad state."

The merchant thought about it and waved his hand: "Deal, anyway, keeping it is a waste of culture fluid."

Clearly, in his eyes, this little Siren was indeed worthless.

Next, Luo En noticed several smaller culture tanks nearby, in which floated some transparent gelatinous small spheres, different in color, but almost identical in size and structure.

"What are these again?" He pointed to those gelatinous spheres and asked.

"Ah, those are the lowest-grade Autophagic Slimes, purely experimental materials; I heard that the Crystal Spire has higher grades. But these few are expired goods that the boss handed to me to deal with when they were imported. If you like them, I can sell them to you at a low price."

The merchant said casually, clearly those were also ordinary goods with no profit in his eyes:

"They have almost no bloodline characteristics of their own and can obtain partial characteristics by devouring other creatures, but the duration is very short. Generally, this grade is only used by beginners to do simple practice."

The result of Extraordinary Identification showed:

[Autophagic Slime (Basic type)

Characteristic: Can devour other biological tissues, temporarily obtain partial characteristics, color change reflects the stability and fusion degree of the devoured object

Purpose: Excellent bloodline modulation tester, can intuitively display the effect and stability of modulation

(The bloodline limit that the basic type can withstand cannot exceed the Silver Ring level)

Origin: Created by the ancient alchemist - Lans

Because of this invention, bloodline modulation became an independent discipline, bringing endless favors to the creator]

"I'll buy a culture tank of this first and go back to try my hand." Luo En decided immediately.

This kind of creature was simply a perfect practice tool for beginners, which could intuitively display the effect and stability of bloodline modulation, far safer and more efficient than blind experiments.

"Ten magic stone fragments for one." The merchant rubbed his hands and said, after all, he could make a little money.

"Nine together, seventy, and I'll buy them back to try, if you don't sell, I'm leaving."

Luo En used the simplest bargaining technique and made a gesture to leave.

The merchant frowned and finally had to agree:

"Eh... sir, I agree to this price!"

After all, these were nothing more than low-end goods in his eyes, and selling them was already a profit.

At settlement, Luo En spent a total of only one hundred magic stone fragments to obtain a small Siren with amazing potential and nine Autophagic Slimes for bloodline modulation practice.

Compared with the "boutique goods" that the merchant initially tried to sell him for hundreds or thousands of magic stone fragments, it was simply the difference between an astronomical price and a cabbage price.

Of course, in the merchant's eyes, Luo En was nothing more than a fool who didn't know the market and couldn't bear to spend money, buying some useless things.

When leaving the exchange, the merchant was still smiling and seeing him off, but psychologically he was a bit speechless.

"Young apprentices just don't know the goods, leaving the real treasures unbought and picking those cheap goods with no value. When he gets tired of these toys, he will naturally come back to buy real combat slaves."

Luo En held the special container containing the small Siren and the Autophagic Slimes, a hint of an imperceptible smile hanging on the corner of his mouth.

He couldn't wait to return to the workshop and start his bloodline modulation experiment.

The harvest this time was perhaps far richer than he expected.

………………

After returning to the workshop, Luo En immediately took the newly acquired "experimental materials" into the most hidden laboratory.

"Master, do you need me to prepare anything?" Xiang Ailan asked gently at the door, her vines dancing softly.

"Prepare some high-nutrient concentrate, as much as possible."

Luo En ordered softly: "Also, during this time, if there are guests visiting, try not to let anyone notice the existence of this laboratory."

Xiang Ailan nodded, and leaves drew an elegant line of characters in the air: "Understood, Master. I will prepare a special cover array."

After settling the small Siren, Luo En began to study the nine Autophagic Slimes.

Each was placed in a special glass container, presenting a semi-transparent gelatinous state, like nine huge water droplets, floating quietly in the culture fluid.

"Autophagic Slime..." Luo En muttered to himself, observing this peculiar creature with focus:

"The great creation of ancient alchemists, born for bloodline modulation experiments."

He opened the "Introduction to Bloodline Modulation" borrowed from the school library and read the part about slimes seriously:

"...Autophagic Slime is one of the cornerstones of the bloodline modulation discipline. They can devour biological tissues, temporarily obtain partial characteristics of the target, and intuitively reflect the stability and fusion degree of the bloodline through color changes."

"The color change law of slimes is as follows: blue represents cold attribute; red represents heat attribute; green represents life attribute; purple represents space or time attribute; black represents rejection or corruption; white represents high stability; gold represents perfect fusion..."

"...Precisely because of the invention of this creature, bloodline modulation transformed from dangerous blind experiments into controllable science. Because of this, Alchemist Lans received endless favors and finally broke through the boundaries, achieving the position of a true Great Wizard."