The Scheming Merchant and the Local Tyrant

Huh? Two hundred gold coins? Why don't you just go rob someone, that'd be way faster for making money—give me back my goodwill, give me back my resonance!

Xuan Ye grumbled inwardly, yet still forced a smile onto his face.

"Well, an ordinary Sand Magic Core usually only costs about fifty gold, right? Even with a shortage and inflated pricing, two hundred gold is still a bit much for me to bear."

That's four times the price, man! Twenty thousand silver coins! Compared to Earth living standards, that's the purchasing power of two million soft yuan!

How can you be such a profiteer? A bottle of defective Baptismal Potion only costs around a hundred gold coins, and just a plain Earth Magic Core without the other materials for the class-change ritual already costs two hundred—I really can't handle that.

I still have to prepare the other materials for the ritual, and the materials on me can't be touched anymore.

"This is already a friendly price I'm giving you out of consideration for Ian. Some things can't be measured in gold coins. I wouldn't mind having a few extra Earth Magic Cores on hand just in case, or you can trade with corresponding materials. If it's something Stanrose doesn't have but I need, I can adjust the price at a premium."

Jane remained unmoved, speaking rigidly.

For mages, money comes fast, but it goes even faster—rituals, research, tests, experiments, everything costs money, and when it's time to be a profiteer, they never hold back.

Materials, materials. Rummaging through the few spell components left in his Spatial Bag, Xuan Ye felt a pang of reluctance. He had specially learned the spells for these materials just in case he ever needed them, and giving them away really stung.

But as he was digging around, a scroll tucked in the corner of the Spatial Bag caught his eye. Right, this thing should be valuable enough, and for me, it's way too useless.

If it were the old Xuan Ye, he wouldn't have hesitated and would've just taken it out to trade. But now, having gone through so much with Luo Luoji and the others, even if the time was short, it had matured him quite a bit, and he knew to weigh his options.

After hesitating for a moment, he finally pulled out the scroll. After all, it was part of Dean and the others' last wishes. Even though his relationship with Dean and that Paladin Young Lady was just so-so, the dead should be respected, and the Paladin Young Lady had even saved his life...

"I have something interesting here. I wonder if it's worth trading with you."

Taking out the sealed 'evidence' containing the Wraith, Xuan Ye said calmly. He had originally claimed to Ian that he was a wandering apprentice who happened to encounter and seal the Wraith, which was perfectly plausible.

"A sealing scroll? Not bad. The scroll itself is worth over a hundred gold, but it looks like it's at most for a Three-Star or below Predator Rank Magical Beast. Counting the beast inside, unless it drops a Magic Core, it's not worth much..."

Jane said flatly. Sealing scrolls were like single-use spatial tools—item sealing scrolls were cheaper, living creature ones were pricier, but overall, they weren't too hard to come by.

"Heh, there's some good stuff inside. I almost lost my life to this thing, and it only got cheap for me because it was already injured for some reason. It's a Wraith."

Xuan Ye explained, mixing in misleading hints about how he obtained it.

"A Wraith? You got it from the Desert of the Dead, right? Wraiths are rare, but they're still a local specialty around here. Not valuable enough."

Jane showed an unimpressed expression.

"If it were an ordinary Wraith, I wouldn't have gone to the trouble of wasting a scroll to seal it. This Wraith is special—the core model of its 'Fear Art' has forty-two 'and-gates'."

Xuan Ye wasn't worried about the thing's value being insufficient. According to Dean, it was Mage Roland who noticed the anomaly in the Necrotic Tower and notified Dream Island. He believed this item would be enough to raise alarm, and he could even ask for more in trade.

"Impossible! The model circuit of Fear Art isn't that complicated. Even with many variants, it's usually a quick spell within a hundred magic rune bytes. The number of gates is limited, and with the characteristics of and-gates, no matter how you construct it, it'll create a logic error. Is it a Wraith born deformed and unable to use Fear Art?"

Hearing Xuan Ye's explanation, Jane responded without thinking, while Ian and Blade beside him both froze slightly, showing thoughtful expressions.

"No, no. Its Fear Art is probably even stronger than a normal Wraith's. The model stability isn't as good as a normal Wraith's, but it's enough to cast multiple times."

Seeing Jane's reaction and recalling what Ian had said earlier, Xuan Ye felt a bit emotional. Although Jane was stronger in terms of power and was even preparing for advancement, compared to Ian, his mage qualities weren't outstanding.

It wasn't about cultivation speed or talent, but about the ability to question and innovate. Without questioning, there's no verification or progress. The word 'impossible' shouldn't appear in a mage's dictionary.

"Here, the scroll is right here. You can check it yourself. But let me state upfront: if what I said is confirmed, our deal is verbally agreed."

Xuan Ye tossed the scroll to Jane carelessly, speaking calmly.

Taking the scroll, Jane didn't waste words. He ran his finger over the rough leather surface of the scroll, then closed his eyes to sense it carefully.

Although he wasn't as good as Ian and Blade in terms of acceptance and questioning, Jane still had his own mage talents and a thirst for knowledge that had brought him to where he was.

"How miraculous! Unbelievable! How can such a high proportion of and-gates be so stable?"

Slowly opening his eyes, Jane showed a look of shock. This seemingly simple 'Fear Art' had reached a level of turning decay into wonder. With so many parallel and-gates, the effect of 'Fear Art' could be doubled!

"Even the teacher probably couldn't construct such a beautiful crystallization... Hmm? Wait, where did you find this Wraith?"

After coming back to his senses, Jane remained in a state of awe and admiration. But then, as if realizing something, his expression shifted slightly.

"The Desert of the Dead, didn't you know? I originally came here because I heard there was a Necrotic Tower from the near-ancient era, to broaden my horizons. But strangely, I didn't even see a trace of the Necrotic Tower or the Domain of the Dead. This little thing just popped up. Because of it, I got pretty roughed up and lost my way, so I had to find a city to resupply."

Xuan Ye put on an amazed expression while subtly recounting his experience in a different way.

On the surface, he remained calm, but inside, his heart was pounding with uncertainty.

However, as expected of reclusive apprentice shut-ins, these few apprentices perfectly embodied the stereotype of high IQ and low EQ. Faced with Xuan Ye's half-baked bluffing, they didn't notice anything off.

Instead, Jane hurriedly got up and activated the communication array in his room...

"Hey, what about my Earth Magic Core?"

Seeing the guy's anxious look, Xuan Ye couldn't help but add some mischief, calling out to him. Serves you right for being a profiteer, for trying to rip me off.

"I'll give you two."

Then Jane's impatient voice came through, which once again gave Xuan Ye a familiar feeling of rich-kid vibes. Damn, just a casual tease and the reward doubled. The line between profiteer and rich kid was just a thought away...

Thanks to Nightglow Spreading and Mo Gong 66 for the magic attack rewards, and thanks to all readers for any form of support!!