Huh? Two hundred gold coins? Why don't you just rob me? That'd be much faster money, Temo! Give me back my favorability, and give me back my resonance!
Xuan Ye kept cursing inwardly, but still put on a smile.
"Um, ordinary Sand Magic Cores only cost fifty gold coins or so. Even with a shortage premium, I can't quite afford two hundred gold coins."
That was four times the price! Twenty thousand silver coins! Compared to life on Earth, that was equivalent to the purchasing power of two million yuan!
How could you be such a crooked merchant? A bottle of inferior Baptismal Potion only cost a little over a hundred gold coins. Just the Earth Magic Core alone, without counting the other materials for the advancement ritual, cost two hundred. It was really a bit too much for him.
He still had to prepare the other materials for the ritual. The materials on him couldn't be touched anymore.
"This is already a friendship price because I see Ian's face. Some things can't be measured with gold coins. I don't mind having a few more Earth Magic Cores as insurance. Or you can exchange them with equivalent materials. If Stanrose doesn't have them but I need them, I can calculate them at a premium."
Jane said this stiffly, completely unmoved.
For mages, money came quickly and went even faster. Rituals, research, testing, experiments—everything cost money. When it came to being a crooked merchant, she never showed mercy.
Materials, materials... After rummaging through the few spellcasting materials left in his Spatial Bag, Xuan Ye felt a pang of pain. He had gone out of his way to learn the spells associated with those materials, precisely because he feared he might need them someday. He was truly unwilling to give them away.
But as he rummaged around, a scroll in the corner of his Spatial Bag fell into his sight. Right, this thing seemed to be valuable enough, and it was practically useless to him.
The old Xuan Ye would have taken it out to trade without a second thought. But now, after experiencing so much with Luo Luoji and the others, even though the time had been short, he had matured considerably. He now knew to weigh his options and think things through.
After hesitating for a moment, he ultimately took out the scroll. No matter what, it could be considered Dean and the others' dying wish. Although neither Dean nor the Paladin Young Lady had been particularly close to him, the dead deserved respect, and the Paladin Young Lady had saved his life...
"I have something interesting here. I wonder if I can exchange it with you."
After taking out the "evidence" containing that Wraith, Xuan Ye said calmly. He had claimed to Ian that he was merely a wandering apprentice, so it was perfectly normal for him to have encountered and sealed a Wraith by chance.
"A Sealing Scroll? Not bad. The scroll alone is worth over a hundred gold coins. But from the looks of it, it can only target Predator Rank Magical Beasts below Three-Star at most. Including the price of the beast inside, unless you're offering a Magic Core, otherwise..."
Jane spoke calmly. Sealing Scrolls were similar to single-use spatial tools. Scrolls for sealing items were cheaper, while those for living creatures were more expensive. They weren't particularly difficult to obtain.
"Hehe, what's inside is the good stuff. I nearly died to get this thing. It only fell into my hands because it was injured for some unknown reason. It's a Wraith."
As Xuan Ye explained, he mixed in misleading details about how he had obtained it.
"A Wraith? You got it in the Desert of the Dead, right? Wraiths are fairly rare, but they're still a local specialty around here. It's not valuable enough."
Jane looked completely unmoved.
"If it were an ordinary Wraith, I naturally wouldn't have gone to the trouble of wasting a scroll to seal it. This Wraith is very interesting. Within the core model of the 'Fear Art,' it has as many as forty-two 'counter-array gates.'"
Xuan Ye wasn't worried in the slightest that it wouldn't be valuable enough. According to Dean, Mage Roland had noticed the anomaly of the Necrotic Tower and informed Dream Island. He believed that handing this over would be enough to attract their attention. He should have no problem exchanging it for even more.
"Impossible! The model circuit of the Fear Art isn't particularly complex. Even with its many variations, it's usually a quick spell within a hundred magical-magic-script bytes. The number of array gates is limited, and because of the characteristics of the counter-array gates, no matter how it's constructed, it will produce a logical error. Could it be a Wraith born deformed and unable to use the Fear Art?"
After hearing Xuan Ye's explanation, Jane answered without even thinking. Ian and Blade beside her, however, both showed slight surprise and thoughtful expressions.
"No, no. Its Fear Art is probably considerably stronger than that of a normal Wraith. Its model stability is inferior to that of a normal Wraith, but it's still stable enough to be cast multiple times."
Seeing Jane's reaction and recalling what Ian had said earlier, Xuan Ye felt somewhat moved. Although Jane was stronger in terms of power and had even begun preparing to advance, compared with Ian, her qualities as a mage weren't particularly outstanding.
This wasn't referring to cultivation speed or talent, but rather the ability to question and innovate. Without questioning, how could there be verification and progress? The words "impossible" shouldn't appear in a mage's dictionary.
"Here, the scroll is right here. You can see for yourself. I'll state this in advance: if what I said is verified, then our trade will count as a verbal agreement."
Xuan Ye tossed the scroll to Jane nonchalantly and spoke with a calm expression.
Jane caught the scroll without wasting words. After running a finger over the rough leather surface, she closed her eyes and carefully sensed it.
Although he was inferior to Ian and Blade when it came to acceptance and skepticism, Jane had still achieved his current accomplishments through his own talent as a mage and his thirst for knowledge.
"How can it be so extraordinary? Incredible! How could such a high ratio of counter-array gates be this stable?"
After slowly opening his eyes, a shocked expression appeared in Jane's eyes. This seemingly simple Fear Art had already reached the level of Turning Decay into Wonder. So many parallel counter-array gates were enough to double the effect of the Fear Art!
"I'm afraid even my teacher couldn't construct such a marvelous crystal... Hmm? Wait, where did you discover this Wraith?"
After coming back to his senses, Jane continued to wear an expression of astonishment and admiration. But then, as if he had realized something, his expression changed slightly as he asked.
"In the Desert of the Dead. Didn't you know? I originally came here after hearing that there was a Necrotic Tower left over from the Near Ancient era, just to broaden my horizons. Strangely enough, I didn't even see the tower's shadow, and the Domain of the Dead didn't appear either. Then this little thing popped out. Because of it, I ended up in a sorry state, lost my way, and had to find a city first to resupply."
Xuan Ye put on an astonished expression while silently describing what he had encountered in a different way.
Although he appeared calm on the surface, his heart was pounding with anxiety. He wasn't entirely confident.
However, as shut-in apprentice nerds who never left home, these apprentices perfectly embodied the phrase "high intelligence, low emotional intelligence." Faced with Xuan Ye's equally half-baked deception, they failed to notice anything amiss.
Instead, Jane hurriedly stood up and went to activate the communications array in his room...
"Hey, what about my Earth Magic Cores?"
Seeing how anxious the man looked, Xuan Ye maliciously interrupted him. Serves you right for being a crooked merchant and ripping me off.
"I'll give you two."
Jane's impatient voice came from afterward, filling Xuan Ye with a familiar tycoon's aura. What the hell? He had only made a casual joke, and the reward had doubled. Were crooked merchants and tycoons really separated by only a single thought?
Thanks to Nightglow Spreading and Mo Gong 66 for the tips, and thanks to all the readers for your support in any form!
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