Synthesis Again

"Follow him and find out where he lives. If he leaves the city, inform me." Joshua spoke to one of his servants in a sinister voice.

The servant acknowledged the order and followed Abel from a distance.

"I'll make you regret what happened today." Joshua knew that Zack was a Rookie Knight at the peak of Rank Four and approaching Rank Five. Finding people to intercept and rob Zack was unreliable. Moreover, Zack was the heir of a Feudal Knight. If the matter came to light, Joshua would be in serious trouble.

Abel, on the other hand, was merely a blacksmith. Even if he was a blacksmith who followed Master Bentham, no matter how talented he was, if he died, then so be it. No one would cause him trouble over a blacksmith.

Joshua had no idea that he was walking farther and farther down a path of no return.

Zack had won the bet, and the group planned to celebrate at a high-end restaurant. Abel did not go with Zack and the others. Having just arrived in Harvest City, he wanted to buy some things, so he bid them farewell.

Abel counted the gold coins on him. Apart from the twenty gold coins he already had, Knight Marshall had given him fifty gold coins to spend while visiting Harvest City, making seventy in total. He found a jewelry store and used all of them to buy 138 small gems. To avoid attracting attention, he bought the gems from four different jewelry stores.

Looking at his now-flat money pouch, with only two gold coins left inside, Abel did not dare perform the synthesis on the street. Instead, he found an inn and rented a private room, where he slowly began synthesizing with the Horadric Cube.

The familiar synthesis process took very little time. Abel had soon synthesized twenty rubies and twenty-six sapphires.

Looking at the gems, Abel thought about the Horadric Cube's synthesis formula. He did not know which gems from Diablo 2 these successfully synthesized gems corresponded to in reality. As he stared at them, an idea arose in his mind: synthesize them one more time, but only synthesize a single one and see what happened.

He placed three sapphires into the Horadric Cube and synthesized them again. When he took them out, they had become a large sapphire that was perfectly round, with countless facets cut around it.

Let's try upgrading it once more. With that thought, the six sapphires in his hands became two large, round sapphires. He then placed three large, round sapphires into the Horadric Cube and clicked synthesize. This time, the sapphires became a teardrop-shaped sapphire. Abel could now confirm it: this was a perfect sapphire. In Diablo 2, the final version of a sapphire looked exactly like this. The Horadric Cube had forcibly transformed the sapphire into the shape specified by the game.

Looking at the teardrop-shaped sapphire gleaming with a deep blue light in his hand, Abel had no intention of selling it. The gems synthesized by the Horadric Cube were simply too perfect. With the divine artifact Horadric Cube on him, Abel was extremely careful while selling the ordinary sapphires as well. Fortunately, Harvest City was large, and the process of selling them went smoothly.

Abel now knew what eleven thousand gold coins looked like, but he had no way to carry them all on his person. At the Temple of the Goddess of Wealth, he exchanged part of them for hundred-gold coins and threw them all into the Horadric Cube. Fortunately, when he put eleven thousand gold coins inside, the Horadric Cube merely displayed them as a number without taking up any slots. When he took them out, they became hundred-gold coins or ordinary gold coins again, which was very convenient.

Hundred-gold coins were a commonly used currency in large transactions. They were slightly larger than ordinary gold coins and covered in various anti-counterfeiting divine patterns. The patterns could only be produced through a temple, making hundred-gold coins extremely secure.

In high spirits, Abel considered how to spend this huge sum of money. He failed to notice the servant following him. The servant, meanwhile, was extremely depressed. His master had ordered him to follow a young man that day, but this young man was far too energetic. Riding a horse, he had visited nearly every jewelry store in Harvest City. By now, the servant was exhausted and could only hope that Abel would soon find somewhere to rest.

When he looked up and saw a sign, Abel found himself standing before Edmund Auction House. Seeing the familiar sign reminded him of the Qi Condensing Potion he had bought at Edmund Auction House. His Qi Condensing Potion had already been used up, and his next step was to break through to the Knight rank. If he cultivated slowly, he would need to accumulate Qi for several years before he had enough to condense a Qi Core.

After using Master-grade Qi Condensing Potion to raise his rank by two levels, Abel had remained worried that his rapid advancement might cause problems. Who would have thought that, just after he had advanced two levels, an accidental epiphany would raise him another level? This made him realize that rapid advancement did not rely solely on medicine; there were other methods as well. Both Master Bentham and Knight Marshall had taken his breakthrough after the epiphany for granted and had shown no concern over Abel's rapid advancement.

By Abel's understanding, since the other methods caused no problems, the harmless Qi Condensing Potion naturally would not cause problems either. In that case, he might as well buy some more Qi Condensing Potions.

As soon as Abel entered Edmund Auction House, he heard a familiar voice.

"Welcome to Edmund Auction House. How may we help you?" The voice paused, then continued in pleasant surprise, "Why, it's you, young and handsome sir."

"Lady Yvette, what brings you here?"

Yvette gave a light laugh and said proudly, "Because of my excellent performance, I was promoted from Libo Town to Harvest City to serve as a deputy manager."

"Congratulations, Lady Yvette." Abel saluted her.

To be able to come to a major city like Harvest City and serve as a deputy manager at such a young age, Yvette's abilities had to be exceptional. Abel held capable people in high regard.

Yvette was overjoyed to receive congratulations from someone she knew. Her pressure had been immense after arriving at her new post. Harvest City was completely different from a small town like Libo Town; there were three deputy managers here alone.

"What would you like to purchase today?" Yvette asked softly.

"Give me 162 bottles of Basic Qi Condensing Potion." Abel calculated silently and gave her a number.

Yvette was extremely excited about such a large transaction involving Basic Qi Condensing Potion. A major deal like this would greatly help her establish herself in Harvest City.

"That will be 1,620 gold coins. Just give me 1,600." Yvette casually quoted the price and applied a discount.

Abel saluted Yvette. "Please wait a moment."

As he spoke, Abel took sixteen hundred-gold coins from the Horadric Cube, placed them in his money pouch, and handed the pouch to Yvette.

A short while later, a shop assistant brought out a medium-sized chest. It was densely packed with 162 bottles of Basic Qi Condensing Potion.

After riding back to his residence, Abel immediately returned to his room and synthesized all 162 bottles of Basic Qi Condensing Potion into six bottles of Master-grade Qi Condensing Potion. Looking at the Qi Condensing Potion shimmering with an amber glow, Abel was filled with confidence in his improving strength.

He placed the six bottles of Master-grade Qi Condensing Potion into the Horadric Cube. Recalling Yvette, whom he had met at the auction house that day, Abel realized that Lady Yvette had never asked his name. Both of his transactions with her had gone smoothly. With the reputation of Edmund Auction House, along with Lady Yvette's cautious attitude, Abel decided that he could hand some inconvenient items over to Yvette for disposal in the future.

Outside the courtyard, although it was already the New Year, the weather was still bitterly cold. A servant was curled up in the darkness, staring intently at the courtyard gate. This courtyard was only Knight Marshall's temporary residence, so it was not well known. If the servant knew that it was the residence of a noble, he might not have had the courage to continue watching. Sometimes, ignorance was the most frightening thing of all.

After nightfall, a carriage carried Knight Marshall and Abel to the Lord's Mansion to attend the New Year's banquet. The servant did not know whether Abel was in the carriage, and the city gates of Harvest City had already been closed for the night. After hesitating for a moment, the servant decided to stay and continue watching.