The ancestor didnât answer immediately. He opened his palm, and something suddenly appeared thereâa golden rose with silver veins.
Of course, it wasnât a real flower. It was a material.
Richard wasnât sure whether it was an artifact or not because there was no aura indicating it was one.
However, the material was clearly extremely strong; he felt that even if he were one realm stronger, he still wouldnât be able to destroy it.
"Help me sell it and give me the proceeds," the ancestor said.
Richard couldnât help but show a strange expression upon hearing that.
This ancestorâs request was simply to sell something, and he handed the rose to Richard.
"It will appear in your Storage Artifact," he added.
"Ancestor, what is this, and how am I supposed to sell it?"
"Just sell it with Spirit Nature. It should fetch around 1 billion."
"One billion?" Richardâs jaw dropped the moment he heard that.
He wondered who could even afford it.
"Its name is Rose of Eternia. You may tell the buyer its name. You can also sell it to a shop, itâs fine if the price is slightly lowerâas long as itâs not below 950 million. Then, you may take 10 million as your fee."
"Donât you think itâs dangerous for me to sell something so valuable?"
Richard could think of a few people who might help him sell itâsuch as Gray and Elise, both backed by powerful forces. They should be able to offer the rose to influential figures.
If that didnât work, he could go to Aether Magic Shop. Even if they didnât buy it themselves, they surely had connections to people who might be interested.
But everything depended on whether he could sell the rose safely.
In the worst case, he might get robbed without even realizing it.
For only 10 million in commission, Richard was doubtful.
He thought this ancestor was extremely stingy.
If he werenât his ancestor, he would have refused without hesitation.
"Relax, you donât need to rush to sell it. Just keep it for now. As long as youâre only storing it, no one will know. You may keep it until youâre strong enough or confident in your safety." The ancestor replied.
"Are you sure?"
"I trust you well enough. If it were that girl before you, Iâm worried she would try to trick me and run off with my item."
Richard had no idea what Olivia had said to this ancestor to make him so distrustful of her.
"Can I use it temporarily?" Richard asked.
"Below Ancient Sovereign, no one can use it. You wonât even know what its function is..."
Richard, "..."
"I believe our meeting time is up." The ancestor added.
Before Richard could even say goodbye, the scene around him changed.
He returned to the real world, seeing Graceâs confused expression.
"What happened?" she asked.
"A meeting," Richard replied.
He didnât bother explaining further.
Grace nodded without pressing him.
"Letâs go back," she said.
Richard and Grace then returned to the previous corridor.
"By the way, Grace, do you know Olivia Skylight? She used to live in Apple Town."
"Of course I know. Mother has been looking for her for a long time and wants to arrest her." Grace answered.
"Have you heard anything about her recently?" Richard asked, curious about Oliviaâs whereabouts.
"Sheâs been wandering around and has committed many crimes, so a lot of people want to hunt her down. Oh rightâThundervale Clan from the Central Region is also after her because she once tricked Sean Thundervale, who liked her. She pretended to accept him just to steal his belongings."
"Looks like sheâs gotten even bolder..." Richard already expected nothing good from Olivia.
"Mm..." As they continued walking, Richard was suddenly interrupted by a group of people blocking their way.
It was Luke and his companions.
Richard wondered what they wanted.
This clearly wasnât a coincidenceâthey were obviously blocking him and Grace on purpose.
Moreover, their gazes were focused entirely on him.
"Richard, I saw you at that restaurant earlier, but I only realized just now that it was you..."
Luke approached Richard, smiling.
"Is there something you want?" Richard grew more suspicious because of how polite he sounded.
Of course, he didnât rule out the possibility that this was like Lord of the Crimson Veil earlier, who wanted him to join the Order of the Crimson Veil.
"Could we talk alone for a moment?" Luke asked.
"Why not here?" Richard replied.
"Itâs a personal matterânot suitable for others to hear," Luke said.
"Then where?" Richard didnât reject him completely, wanting to know what this was about.
What surprised him was that Luke opened a door beside them in the corridor.
There were many doors along this hall, but they were all private rooms for members.
Richard saw that it was a small empty chamber.
"Here," Luke said, and he went inside immediately.
After thinking for a while, Richard followed him in.
Click!
Luke closed the door right away.
"I heard you received a lot of Boundless Gems from John Goldwood," he said.
Richard wasnât surprised that the news had spread. John probably told a few people what happened.
"Yes. Is that a problem?" he replied.
He was naturally on guard now that this topic had been brought up.
Did this guy want those gems?
If so, that was basically a challengeâeven if he claimed he wanted to âtradeâ for them.
Those gems were something Richard needed right now. He even wanted more.
Otherwise, why would he need to go through such lengths to get them?
Luke seemed to observe Richardâs expression after bringing it up.
But he continued smiling.
"Donât worry, Iâm not going to do what youâre thinking. I just want to propose a little cooperation."
"Cooperation?" Richard was confused.
After mentioning the gems, Luke suddenly talked about cooperation.
"There are people who gamble on the contests held by the temple. Since you showed your strength, many are betting on you to win first place. But what if we make the results a little... different from their expectations? For exampleâI become the winner, and you bet on me. We often call it gambling manipulation. Itâs fairly common to earn some extra profit. If it goes well, you might even double the number of Boundless Gems you have."
Richard, "..."