The Evolution Compendium

Pay money? Putting aside whether Chu Yi had any of those Malevolence Coins to exchange, isn't freeloading just delightful?

The stall owner snorted coldly and ignored this little brat, wondering where he'd even come from.

This broken hourglass was picked up from a Secret Realm. It had been studied for a long time without anything special being found, but with its vintage look and some exaggeration, maybe some idiot would take a liking to it.

After Chu Yi left, another customer came up to take a look.

And at that moment, Chu Yi withdrew the Arc of Time. The hourglass, which had been in a static state, suddenly showed a few cracks.

BANG!

With a crisp sound, it shattered and returned to nothingness.

To avoid unnecessary trouble, Chu Yi, after extracting ingredients, had secretly activated the Clock Eye to delay the hourglass's self-destruction.

"Fine! You dare break my treasure? Pay me 100 Malevolence Coins, or don't even think about leaving!"

The stall owner was stunned. He immediately grabbed the bewildered customer and extorted him.

"Are you crazy? What kind of thing costs 100 Malevolence Coins! This is extortion, isn't it!"

"Anyway, you broke my family heirloom, so you have to compensate!"

"Screw you! I was being polite, and now you're pushing it!"

BANG!

A Beast Taming battle erupted just like that—simple and brutal!

And Chu Yi had long since hidden his achievements and fame, continuing to set up the next victim.

「A long time passed.」

Despite the transactions being nine parts fake to one part real, Chu Yi freeloaded all the way and actually extracted a pile of ingredients.

While sifting through suitable feast dishes in his mind, he extracted materials for various reasons, but their quality was very low.

This was far less efficient than using the Golden War Axe to hack down a group of unlucky souls and extract materials from them.

Oh, right. The plan to first squeeze the Night Commerce dry and then unleash the Divine Eye for widespread destruction… that's worth considering.

The only thing that made him wary was the Night Goddess statue in the center of the Royal City; her hazy, stunningly beautiful face seemed to be constantly staring at him.

Chu Yi smiled. He tried to use his extraction ability on the statue once.

Perhaps it was too far away, or there simply weren't any materials to extract, as nothing happened.

Chu Yi temporarily suppressed this thought and threw himself into the thrill of treasure hunting.

Freeloading makes me happy.

「Soon enough.」

After conning countless people, Lu Qi appeared, his expression respectful, "Sir, the items at the auction house may not meet your standards."

As he spoke, he handed over a compiled list. These were all rare treasures entrusted to the Night Commerce.

According to the auction house's rules, Lu Qi revealing this list to an outsider was a clear violation of regulations.

In response, Lu Qi could only smile bitterly. The King of Black Robes isn't human at all! A terrifying being who dares to enslave the Evil God's Favored, an existence beyond rules—he naturally isn't bound by these trivial regulations.

That was also why Chu Yi had directly used his King of Black Robes persona.

Otherwise, personally going to the auction house, mingling with a bunch of ordinary VIPs, and putting on airs to impress them… how exhausting would that be?

Chu Yi nodded, scanning the list.

Crown Flame Tail: Gold-grade, Fire-element rare material, sourced from a Dominator-rank Six-Tailed Flame Fox. Can grant a Fire-type Pet Beast the [Crown Flame] talent.

War General's Soul: Gold-grade, Martial-type rare material, sourced from an ancient tomb. Can enhance the combat abilities of a Martial-type Pet Beast.

Star Grass: Gold-grade, Star-element rare material. Can be used to train Starlight-type Pet Beasts.

...

Besides materials, there were also ultra-rare Pet Beasts.

Chu Yi's eyes scanned ten lines at a glance, jumping directly to the finale items section.

Five Elements Treasure Seeking Rat: Fantasy-type Pet Beast, Servant-rank. Can move unseen through Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth elements to seek treasures.

Fantasy-type is an extremely special attribute. Chu Yi had learned from the Starfire Sequence's library that Pet Beasts with this attribute have no evolutionary path but also no level limit; they can be continuously enhanced as long as resources are piled onto them. However, the Five Elements Escape Technique, coupled with a Treasure Hunting Technique, clearly indicated a support role. In the short term, the return on investment was very low. The resources used for training might even cost ten times more than the treasures these five rats could find, making it a terrible deal. Even in the long run, it would require an astronomical amount of resources, essentially raising a gold-devouring beast that was nothing more than a useless support specializing only in treasure hunting.

Meanwhile, there were at least ten finale items, each making Chu Yi itch to snatch them all.

"Wait a minute, this one..."

Chu Yi stared at the final finale item, the ultimate showstopper of the auction house designed to astound everyone.

Fairy Heart: Dawn Star-grade, Demon Spirit-type rare material, source unknown.

In his mind, the evolution catalog flipped rapidly. Countless shadows descended as high-dimensional information continuously bombarded Chu Yi's mind, his Spiritual Power depleting rapidly.

[Stone of Rebirth], [Unyielding Spirit], [Miracle of Life]...

Three-star and four-star feast dishes emerged one by one, and the core material for them was this Fairy Heart!

If given to Lulina for an upgrade, after evolution, her power would definitely surpass Bika's!

"Sir, what do you think?" Lu Qi asked anxiously.

He felt that this expert, with at least Radiant Moon-level strength and a taboo who enslaved the Evil God's Favored, shouldn't be interested in these materials. Before discerning the other party's true intentions, the best approach was to placate him.

"It's alright," Chu Yi suppressed his elation, turning to Lu Qi. His eyes were cold and indifferent, but the corner of his mouth curved slightly. "If I want them all, how will the Commerce handle it?"

Lu Qi: "..."

Lu Qi: "!!!"

Is the King of Black Robes testing our Commerce's attitude? No. For such a taboo figure, dismantling the auction house and looting everything on the list would be child's play. Moreover, he is a taboo—one who has walked out from the ancient River of Time, untouched by the ages, with collections as numerous as a cow's hairs. No matter how precious the auctioned treasures are, they are but a drop in the ocean compared to this taboo's collection, worlds apart in quality.

"If we could gain your friendship, Sir, our Night Commerce would be willing to present these humble gifts to you," Lu Qi quickly calculated.

Using rare materials in exchange for the goodwill of a taboo figure? That's a massive profit! Any losses would be temporary, but the benefits of this connection would be long-term. A Radiant Moon-level expert can invade other planes and open up new battlefields. Even the scraps that might fall from between his fingers would be enough for the Night Commerce to digest for a very long time.

Chu Yi quite enjoyed this life of effortless gain. Seeing how perceptive the Commerce was, he felt it would be almost impolite to unleash the Divine Eye for a massacre and feed the Soul-Calling Banner.

On second thought, by abandoning evil for good, he had saved tens of thousands of lives—an act of boundless merit!

Lu Qi acted swiftly. He informed his subordinates to cancel the auction and became even more attentive to Chu Yi.

The sellers whose auctioned items were confiscated by the Commerce only received equivalent compensation. They all cursed Lu Qi for being shameless, for breaking the rules, and wished for him to be struck by lightning and die a horrible death.

The moment they heard it was the King of Black Robes who had arrived, their expressions immediately changed.

Of course, they cursed Lu Qi even more vehemently. That dog! Borrowing flowers to offer to Buddha—how utterly disgusting! Gan Liniang!

Yet, Lu Qi felt no guilt at all. Instead, he showed Chu Yi around, his flattery skills truly impressive.

"Sir, apart from the auction house, there is another treasured place. Perhaps you might find it interesting."