Looking closely, it was a young Sea Siren, about twenty centimeters long, with a human-like female upper body.
But its skin was light blue, and its lower body was a slender fish tail shimmering with silver-blue scales.
It looked extremely weak, its body curled up in the nutrient fluid, and its little face was full of pain, clearly in some unhealthy state.
"What’s the situation here?" Ron pointed at the Little Sea Siren and asked.
The Merchant glanced over, showing a bit of disdain on his face:
"That’s just an ordinary Sea Siren juvenile, nothing particularly valuable. It’s congenitally weak, eats a lot but doesn’t grow, might not live long, and it’s not worth your time at all."
Ron activated his Extraordinary Recognition, carefully scanning the Little Sea Siren’s condition:
[Ordinary Sea Siren (Juvenile)
Bloodline Purity: Silver Ring 95% (rare high purity)
Status: Severely malnourished
Special Talent: Big Eater (Second-tier talent, the more nutrients ingested, the higher the growth speed and potential ceiling; otherwise, it inhibits development)
Potential Assessment: With sufficient nutrition, can reach the Gold Ring limit; possesses amazing plasticity, and after modulation, has a chance to advance to a higher bloodline]
Ron’s heart skipped a beat.
This little thing appeared fragile but actually had a rare high-purity bloodline.
Combined with that extremely rare "Big Eater" special talent, as long as there’s enough nutrition, the future potential is virtually unlimited!
And it seems sickly right now precisely because it lacks sufficient food and nutrition, causing its talent to rebound and inhibit its own development.
The Slave Merchant had thrown it into a corner, obviously because it ate a lot but showed no effect, thinking it was a worthless defective product ready to be discarded.
This was simply a huge bargain opportunity!
"How much for this little guy?" Ron asked nonchalantly.
The Merchant was taken aback, clearly not expecting Ron to be interested in this "defective product":
"That one... fifty, no, forty Magic Stone Fragments, but honestly, if it weren’t for the contract with associated sea suppliers not to arbitrarily discard embryos and juveniles, we probably would have dumped this little one a long time ago."
Ron sensed the Merchant’s disdain and deliberately showed a slightly hesitant expression: "How about thirty? After all, it’s in such poor condition."
The Merchant thought for a bit, then waved his hand: "Deal! Keeping it is just wasting nutrient fluid anyway."
Clearly, in his eyes, this Little Sea Siren was indeed worthless.
Then, Ron noticed a few smaller culture tanks nearby, containing some translucent jelly-like small spheres, varying colors but almost identical in size and structure.
"What are these?" he pointed to those jelly-like spheres and asked.
"Ah, those are the lowest tier Autophagic Slime Monsters, purely experimental materials. I’ve heard there’s a higher tier over at the Crystal Tower. But these were just handed to me by the boss when restocking, as they were near expiration. If you’re interested, I can sell them to you cheap."
The Merchant said nonchalantly, clearly seeing them as nothing more than ordinary goods with no profit:
"They barely have any bloodline traits of their own but can acquire some features by devouring other organisms, though the duration is very short. Typically, only novices use these for simple practice."
The Extraordinary Recognition showed:
[Autophagic Slime Monster (Basic Type)
Traits: Can devour other organisms’ tissues, temporarily acquiring some features, color changes reflect the stability and fusion degree of what was devoured
Use: Excellent testers for bloodline modulation, visually shows modulation effect and stability
(Basic type cannot endure bloodline limits exceeding the Silver Ring levels)
Source: Created by the Ancient Alchemist Lance, an experimental organism
This invention made bloodline modulation an independent discipline, bringing endless benefits to the creator]
"I’ll buy one culture tank of this to try it out back home," Ron immediately decided.
For beginners, these creatures are a perfect practice tool, they can intuitively show bloodline modulation effects and stability, which is much safer and efficient than blind experimentation.
"Ten Magic Stone Fragments per one," the Merchant said, rubbing his hands, figuring he could make some profit.
"All nine, seventy, I’m just conveniently buying them to try out, if not sold, I’ll walk away."
Ron used the simplest bargaining tactic, pretending to leave.
The Merchant frowned but ultimately agreed:
"Eh... sir, I agree to that price!"
After all, in his eyes, these were just low-end items, selling them was considered a profit.
Upon checkout, Ron spent just a hundred Magic Stone Fragments in total, acquiring a Little Sea Siren with astonishing potential and nine Autophagic Slime Monsters for bloodline modulation practice.
Compared to the so-called "premium goods" the Merchant initially tried to sell him, costing in the hundreds or thousands of Magic Stone Fragments, it was the difference between a king’s ransom and a bargain price.
Of course, in the Merchant’s eyes, Ron was just a fool unaware of the market and unwilling to spend, wasting money on useless things.
As Ron left the exchange, the Merchant still wore a smile as he bid farewell, though internally a bit speechless.
"Young apprentices just don’t know the goods, leaving behind real treasures but instead choosing those worthless cheap stuff. When he grows tired of these toys, he’ll naturally come back for the real Combat Slaves."
Ron held the special container with the Little Sea Siren and Autophagic Slime Monsters, a slight smile barely visible on his lips.
He couldn’t wait to get back to the workshop to begin his bloodline modulation experiments.
This harvest may be far more abundant than he initially expected.
......
Returning to the workshop, Ron immediately took his new "experimental materials" into the most concealed laboratory.
"Master, do you need me to prepare anything?" Ailan gently inquired at the door, her tendrils moving gracefully.
"Prepare some high-nutrient concentrate, as much as possible."
Ron instructed softly, "Also, if there are visitors during this time, try to keep them from noticing the existence of this lab."
Ailan nodded, her leaves writing an elegant line mid-air: "Understood, Master. I will prepare a dedicated disguise array."
After settling the Little Sea Siren, Ron began to examine the nine Autophagic Slime Monsters.
Each was placed in a specially made glass container, appearing as semi-transparent jelly-like blobs, like nine giant droplets, quietly floating in the nutrient fluid.
"Autophagic Slime Monsters..." Ron murmured, his eyes focused on these peculiar creatures:
"A great creation by the Ancient Alchemist, designed for bloodline modulation experiments."
He opened the "Bloodline Modulation Introduction" borrowed from the School Library, carefully reading about the Slime Monsters:
"... Autophagic Slime Monsters are one of the cornerstones of bloodline modulation. They can temporarily acquire some characteristics of target organisms by devouring their tissues, with color changes visually reflecting bloodline stability and degree of fusion."
"The color change rules for Slime Monsters are as follows: Blue indicates cold attributes; Red indicates heat attributes; Green indicates life attributes; Purple indicates space or time attributes; Black indicates rejection or corruption; White indicates high stability; Gold indicates perfect fusion..."
"... It is this creature’s invention that transformed bloodline modulation from a dangerous blind experiment into a controllable science, earning Alchemist Lance endless benefits and leading him to transcend boundaries, achieving the status of a true Great Wizard..."