The woman studied the three puppets briefly, her eyes scanning them from head to toe.
A faint smile played on her lips as she rested her chin on her knuckles.
"Good quality and craftsmanship," she commented, voice light.
"Basic, at best," Liam replied dryly, one brow lifting as he gave her a sideways glance. "Name your price."
"Seven hundred."
"Too low." He shook his head without hesitation, setting his cup down on the table with a quiet clink.
His fingers tapped lightly against his sleeve. "Twelve hundred."
The woman tilted her head, smile lingering. "One thousand."
He said nothing, just met her gaze.
"one thousand one hundred," she added smoothly, her tone suddenly shifting, sealing the deal with a nod.
Liam agreed without further words.
The transaction concluded quickly.
Three thousand three hundred low-grade spiritual stones exchanged for the puppets in one go.
The shop's guards entered quietly, lifting the puppets and carrying them to the back.
Liam handed over the puppet cores as well, allowing them to erase his spiritual imprint.
Not long after, the woman returned with a small sack in hand and placed it gently on the table.
"Three thousand three hundred low-grade spiritual stones, Senior. Counted with care, no discrepancies."
"Good." Liam gave a slight nod, face steady, his expression unreadable the entire time.
As she gracefully took a seat across from him, Liam leaned back slightly, voice dropping. "Does your shop sell any rare monster eggs?"
"Monster eggs?" Her brows lifted in curiosity. "For taming?"
Liam didn't answer. His silence was enough.
The woman caught on immediately, and her smile deepened as she clasped her hands. "We do carry some monster eggs, yes. But may I ask, what sort of qualities is Senior looking for?"
"Rare bloodlines," Liam said. "Or at least something with a faint trace of it."
"Even a slight chance?" Her expression turned uncertain, brows knitting for a moment. It was an odd request.
But she didn't press for clarification.
Instead, she gave a brief order to one of the staff nearby, and within minutes, a wide tray was brought in and laid on the table before them.
Twenty monster eggs sat carefully in cup-like holders.
Each one varied slightly in size and pattern, but none stood out in any significant way.
Liam glanced over them once, and already, he could tell.
Weak qi. Barely stirring.
These weren't the kind of beasts that would shake the heavens. Their bloodlines, if they had any, were zero.
Sensing his evaluation, the woman offered an explanation. "These were all sourced from the nearby wilderness. Their rarity is unconfirmed, but based on our estimates, most will grow no further than the Qi Refining Realm. Having no chance for Foundation building realms. But who knows... "
Liam understood the meaning.
She paused, then added with a slight tilt of her head, "That said, some might carry a rare trait, though it's not something we can verify without hatching."
Liam gave a small nod.
He already understood what she was implying and what she wanted to hear.
"How many do you have?"
"One hundred," she replied with a smile. "There are more in our storage room, all kept in these preservation holders to maintain viability."
"Any rare ones among them?"
"Only one." Her expression changed slightly. "But it's already dead, Senior. And we couldn't determine its origin."
That piqued Liam's interest.
"Bring it out."
Shortly after, another tray was carried in.
A single, much larger egg sat in the middle, its shell cracked faintly at the base.
It looked strange, almost unnatural, resting silently in its holder.
Liam extended his divine sense, brushing it carefully over the surface.
"It's dead," he murmured, his brows slightly furrowed.
"Yes. That's why I didn't bring it up at first," she admitted. "But it's the only one that has a trace of a strange bloodline. Unidentifiable, but… distinct."
Liam gave her a small nod. "It's fine. I'll take it."
Without fuss, he bundled up several hundred of the weaker eggs as well.
If even one or two of them proved useful, it would be worth the gamble.
He handed over a portion of the spiritual stones, still leaving a solid amount untouched in his bag.
The deal concluded, Liam exited the store.
The puppet he had stationed just outside the entrance quietly fell in step beside him as they rejoined the busy street.
His next destination?
None.
He'd already gotten what he came for.
As for the materials he needed, he'd leave that task to the puppet later.
For now, he returned home.
His storage bag weighed slightly more now one side filled with monster eggs, the other with spiritual stones.
Back inside, he settled down cross-legged on the mat in his courtyard, the same quiet spot where spiritual plants had once filled the field.
The pond lay still.
The tree, bare.
Expression unchanged, he raised his arm.
In a sweep of golden light, the first hundred eggs appeared beside him in neat formation.
There was no clear explanation from the system on how the dungeon identified monster types from these eggs.
He had to move slowly, carefully.
He reached out and took the first egg in his hand. It was warm. Smooth.
With a thought, golden energy flared gently from his fingertips.
The same energy he had used before to turn spirit herbs into points.
It wasn't Qi. It wasn't his.
It belonged to the system.
So far, its only known function was deconstruction, for turning objects into system resources.
Now, the question: how to transform an egg into a fully grown monster inside the dungeon.
What did "automatically turned into a full-grown monster" actually mean?
Did it refer to the species' maximum potential based on its bloodline? Or was it a fixed stage defined by the system? Or even according to the tier of the dungeon?
There were so many hidden questions he needed to explore, slowly that is.
Liam exhaled and began.
He focused. And under his watchful gaze.
Crack.
Boom.
The egg burst.
Not into yolk or fluid, but straight into powder. Dust drifted in the air.
Liam narrowed his eyes, confused.
He pulled out a small notebook from his storage bag, scribbled down a few thoughts, then picked up a second egg.
This time, he cupped it gently with his energy, forming a barrier around it, supporting it instead of crushing it.
Minutes passed.
He watched.
Crack.
Boom.
Another explosion. Another failure.
Liam frowned deeper. There were no instructions. No guidance. Nothing that explained the correct procedure.
For now, all he could do was experiment, slowly, methodically. Trial and error.
It was the only way forward.
For the next few hours, Liam repeated the process again and again, each attempt echoing the same disappointing result.
The eggs shattered, dissolved, or simply crumbled into nothing.
By the seventy-something failure, his brows had tightened, and a cold impatience tugged at the edge of his composure.
He almost snapped.
Soon after.
A shallow breath escaped through his nose.
His fingers trembled ever so slightly before he stilled them against his lap.
Long strands of white hair slid down his shoulders, brushing past his chest and trailing toward his waist like silver silk.
He exhaled deeply, voice low and dry.
"There goes my bad habit…"
He chuckled faintly at himself, though the smile on his lips was more resigned than amused.
Then, reaching to the side, he picked up another egg with slow, deliberate care.
"Ninety-sixth one," he muttered under his breath, not expecting anything anymore.
Thin strands of golden light unfurled from his fingertips.
The energy curved in gentle arcs and attached themselves onto the egg's surface, as if testing the shell's tolerance.
No reaction.
That was a good sign.
Liam narrowed his eyes slightly, his expression focused.
He coaxed the light to sink deeper, threading through the pores of the shell like a weaver sliding thread through cloth.
The strands wove carefully toward the embryo nestled inside.
His forehead beaded with sweat.
Each inch of progress demanded intense focus, and the weight of mental fatigue pressed against his temples.
Still, he pressed on.
The first strand touched the embryo.
Liam's breath caught.
He held it, maintaining the connection as though one wrong move would ruin everything.
When the stability held, he exhaled, steadying his breath as the tension in his shoulders relaxed just a little.
Minutes passed.
Then an hour.
He worked in silence, each golden strand forming a delicate connection, one by one.
The air around him remained still, his concentration uninterrupted.
By the time he reached the hundredth strand, the egg was quietly glowing from within.
Then.
A soft chime, not in the air, but in his mind.
Accompanied with the appearance of the egg.
[Congratulations to the host, for successfully obtaining the first monster for the dungeon!]
[The database has been updated. The monster can now be brought inside the dungeon from pocket space.]
Liam blinked.
"Pocket space?" he repeated, lips parting just slightly. "Wait, system?"
No reply followed.
The mechanical clarity of the voice made it clear, it had simply been an automated message.
He leaned back just a little, fingers resting at the edge of his knee as he looked at the faintly glowing egg in his palm.
Finally… something had worked.