Chapter 3048: Negotiate

Emery found Ronan back in his lair not long afterward, already waiting for him. Without much preamble, Ronan swept one arm through the air, and three corpses materialized in the space between them.

"My collection of Three Cosmos corpses."

Emery immediately understood where this was going. "And how many clones are you looking to trade for them?"

Ronan’s smile widened. "All twenty of your clones."

Emery couldn’t hide his disbelief. All twenty? Not just a portion of his allotment?

Ronan laid out the offer plainly. He would give Emery all three Three Cosmos corpses in exchange for the entire twenty-clone allotment, and cover the twenty billion spirit stones required to retrieve the clones. It was a straightforward trade, but the value of the three corpses was obviously far greater than their price suggested.

Emery studied the bodies without moving closer. The first was an elderly human male, his body showing the signs of a long life despite remaining remarkably well preserved. The second was a dark-elf woman, her features still bearing the distinct characteristics of her race. The third appeared to be a halfblood with a Tiger bloodline, faint markings still visible along his jaw even in death.

"Who were they?"

"Does it matter?" Ronan shrugged. "Once you’ve broken them down into true clone material, their race and gender won’t mean anything."

Emery shook his head. "I don’t need their life stories. I just need to know that none of them are going to come back and bite me later."

His concern was simple. Criminals, battlefield casualties, or unidentified dead were one thing. But if, for example, the Tiger halfblood happened to be some distant relative of the Raging Sun Supreme, Emery had no interest in inheriting that kind of trouble.

Ronan’s expression flickered slightly before he gave Emery the explanation he was looking for.

The human had once been an elder of a Grade Two faction that had become involved in a long conflict with the Serpent Clan. Eventually, Ronan himself had been called in to "resolve" the matter, and the elder had been one of the casualties.

"If you’re worried about anyone coming after you, don’t be," Ronan said. "There isn’t anyone left in that faction who could come looking for this one."

The dark elf had been a war commander who was killed on the front lines by the Serpent Clan. Recovering her corpse had not been easy, and several Serpent Grand Magus had lost their lives during the process.

As for the final corpse, Ronan’s expression changed slightly.

"This one is a halfblood traitor, one of their own elders." He paused before adding, "This could be slightly troublesome for you, but you’ll want this one more than the others. A Three Cosmos body with a Tiger bloodline will give you a noticeably higher success rate."

Emery nodded slowly as he understood the value. The shared lineage between the Wolf and Tiger bloodlines already made the body especially suitable for him, while the fact that it had reached the Three Cosmos realm made it even more valuable. Obtaining such a body through any legitimate means would have been extremely difficult, and certainly not something Emery could casually acquire on his own.

He looked at the three corpses again before finally speaking.

"Alright. I want all three, but the price is too high."

Emery ran through the numbers quickly. Well-preserved Three Cosmos corpses were rare, but they still had a relatively established value. Depending on the condition and cultivation level, each could generally be worth around one to two billion spirit stones. Even after adding the cost of procuring them, all three corpses should have cost him no more than five billion in total.

The twenty universal clones, however, were another matter. Their market value was far higher outside the Halfblood Alliance, where demand vastly exceeded supply. Emery could easily make at least a hundred percent profit by selling them, meaning his twenty clones represented a minimum of twenty billion spirit stones.

That left a difference of roughly fifteen billion.

Ronan’s lips curled into a faint smile, clearly preparing to make his counterargument, but Emery interrupted him first, his tone remaining polite.

"Senior wouldn’t be asking for fifteen billion as payment for teaching me the technique, would you?"

The Serpent Supreme’s smile widened.

"Well, I wouldn’t sell this technique for twice that price." He chuckled. "It is my own creation, after all."

Emery understood immediately.

Through the Cosmic Palace and the Supreme Tablets, he could acquire other powerful divine techniques, often for less than ten billion spirit stones. Ronan, however, did not possess a tablet within the Supreme Halls, meaning his technique had no fixed system valuation. Its price was whatever the creator was willing to demand.

Emery let out a quiet sigh.

So that was Ronan’s game.

The Serpent Supreme had intentionally taught him only part of the True Clone technique, leaving the complete method just out of reach and then using the missing knowledge to justify an enormous price. Emery had no intention of letting himself be taken advantage of so easily.

He calmly shrugged.

"Yes... Then I suppose I don’t need these three corpses after all. I should just settle with using the universal clones instead."

"Hehehe..." Ronan’s eyes narrowed with amusement. "You’re bluffing."

Emery continued, keeping his tone calm. "Honestly, I don’t want my future to involve running around collecting high-risk Grand Magus corpses. There are too many complications that come with using bodies that once belonged to powerful people."

Ronan frowned slightly before offering another concession.

"Fine. I’ll add five billion spirit stones. Consider it my way of helping a junior with a bright future."

Emery chuckled.

"Senior, I’m still just a junior now, aren’t I? I thought you said I was family."

The fact that Ronan still wanted all twenty clones only strengthened Emery’s suspicion that the Serpent Supreme needed them for something important. If the clones were truly worth less to Ronan than the three corpses, he would have had no reason to keep pushing for the entire allotment.

So Emery decided to push a little further.

"These clones must be extremely valuable to you. May I ask what you need them for?"

Ronan’s expression tightened.

"That’s not something you need to pry into... Just tell me what you want?"

Emery immediately returned to his polite smile.

"Senior, I’m genuinely grateful for your help. The technique you taught me has already been extremely valuable, and I don’t take that lightly." He paused before continuing carefully. "But I hope Senior would be willing to share some insight into the process as well. Understanding how the technique works would help me make better use of what you’ve already taught me."

Ronan stared at him for a moment.

Then his surprised expression broke into laughter.

"Hehehe... You greedy kid."

He shook his head, looking at Emery as though he had just discovered an especially troublesome student.

"You’re already trying to covet my thousands of years of accumulated knowledge?"

What Emery asked was indeed Ronan’s mastery in the Dao of Undying itself.

He added respectfully, "All I ask for is a chance to learn. If Senior believes I am not suited for this path, then I would not dare ask for anything more."