The person in Box 8 was a woman from the Mage Tower. In fact she was a vice tower master, a very powerful mage. She made her way to Box 11.
"White Star, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am Silvia, a vice tower master of the mage tower. This fruit of yours is very interesting. I propose an exchange with the following item."
Then an item floated from her hand and landed on Tristan's. It was actually a scroll with a powerful space magic inscribed in it. Tristan shook his head amd handed the scroll back.
"This is indeed a very valuable item, however, I do not have a use for it."
Silvia was not surprised. This scroll was not an ordinary one and actually a test on her part. Rejecting this scroll meant that White Star was definitely not a mage. At this moment, any information about this mysterious individual was valuable.
Silvia nodded and took out another item. When Tristan took it in his hands he did not react. It was a pebble.
[Luck Aura]
[Absorb? Y/N]
Tristan turned the pebble around, but then looked at Silvia with a confused expression. "This... may you tell me what this object is?"
Silvia smiled. "This object is a very rare object called a Catalytic Stone. It is quite rare and in demand from Mages and Alchemists. It has a mysterious effect, as its name suggests, it often helps in the final stages of an extremely difficult concoction or magic spell and used by us when we are at the cusp of a breakthrough in skill to reach a higher level."
Tristan nodded. "That is indeed a very interesting object. I agree to trading a fruit with this Catalytic Stone." In his mind he was thinking, no wonder it helps in reactions and spells at the breaking point, at that moment only luck can let one persevere.
He couldn't absorb any more now as his progress was 100% but he could use it after he evolved. Unfortunately he could only use a Catalytic Stone once, because the system said repeated use won't help him or he would just begin buying these stones in large numbers.
Thus three fruits had been sold and there were two more. The auctioneer had lost a lot of his mood with this one and people were also getting unsettled because they didn't know what was being traded behind the scenes. Many people looked at the first buyer who bought the fruit for 200 million.
For the fourth fruit no one came up for a personal bid and people bid with money again. This time the previous two mysterious trades had raised the price of the fruit to 300 million.
For the final fruit people were clamming again. Then a man suddenly got up from the common area of the auction. He was hidden as well, his clothes hid every inch of his body, but people could make out that this person was young. He suddenly spoke loudly.
"I wish to trade for the fruit!"
Other people in the auction sneered. One man who sat next to him loudly yelled. "Boy, you were gritting your teeth, struggling to bid a few hundred thousands for trinkets earlier, you now dare to trade with White Star?"
However Tristan didn't mind at all. He wasn't actually a big shot, he hadn't even evolved yet or had any true abilities, yet he was able to amass treasures. He did not look down on others.
"Very well. Come to the box and show me the object you wish to trade." Tristan announced.
This turned the audience quiet. The disguised young man entered the Box 11.
"So what is it that you wish to trade with?"
The young man, unbeknown to Tristan was the bearer of an inheritance. Within his mind an old sage was guiding him.
"Haha, providing this White Star some forbidden spell or formula might be enough to earn his gratitude, along with the fruit. Once you eat the fruit you can get the Corrosive Immunity Physique and then temper yourself in the blood of the Singularity Mammoth." The old sage laughed.
The young man took out a scroll and wrote down a text. He then handed it to Tristan.
Tristan saw the scroll and shook his head. "These kind of things are useless for me. Spells and Formulae of this kind would be worth a killing, but they are not something I have a use for unfortunately."
When the young man heard that he was stunned. He had always followed the old sage's advice till now and never failed. Even the old sage within his consciousness was stuttering. "This...this... tell him you will give him information." The old sage gritted.
The old sage was a peerless powerhouse, but unfortunately the young man didn't have any treasure on him. Forbidden Secret techniques and information about the past were the few things he could trade with.
Tristan nodded. "Information is good. Provide me with something good and I can reward you for its worth. But remember, I have information channels as well, so what you tell me should be something I cannot find anywhere else."
The young man hesitated... then asked. "Would you be interested in finding out information about the Ancient Civilization?"
Tristan asked "Which one?"
When the young man heard the question he was stunned. Which one? The old sage always told him Ancient Civilization without specifying. Even the old sage was speechless. "This brat is weaker than you, how does he know so much?" He commented to the young man.
After some time the young man spoke. "The seventh civilization. The ruin invitation you purchased earlier is a major ruin belonging to the Seventh Civilization."
Tristan nodded. "It seems you know quite a bit about the seventh civilization, I can sell you the fruit for this information. Go on."
The young man spoke. "The seventh civilization was a civilization that practiced a bizarre cultivation method of worshipping Totems and Statues. They prayed to totems and the faith bestowed them with power. They were an extremely powerful force in their era, more powerful as a civilization than Earth today."
Tristan thought about it. "Is this a borrowed or foreign cultivation art that became the the major technique used by the seventh civilization or was it a form of humans surpassing its limits?"
The young man didn't understand the question, but the old sage rapidly replied. "It is a cultivation technique created by humans themselves. Although it is an unconventional method of surpassing limits using totems, it is not a borrowed technique. However, while it is powerful, it is also very hard to practice and most modern humans do not have a plate or even if they form a plate it isnt strong enough to satisfy the conditions to form a totem."
When Tristan heard about plate, his eyes lit up. "What do you mean by plate?"
The young man spoke again. "When a human surpasses limits they form a plate. The plate is essentially a container that determines how much power an individual can hold onto."