Re-Synthesizing

"Follow him and find out where he lives. If he leaves the city, inform me." Joshua said to a servant trailing him in a chilling voice.

The servant acknowledged with a sound and began to follow Abel from a distance.

"I'll make you regret what you did today." Joshua knew Zack was a level four, almost level five, Rookie Knight. Hiring someone to ambush Zack was unreliable, especially since Zack was the heir to a noble's fief. If things went south, Joshua would be in serious trouble.

Abel, on the other hand, was just a blacksmith. Even a genius blacksmith apprenticed to Master Bentham would simply die, and no one would come looking for trouble with him over a blacksmith.

Joshua didn't know that he was walking further and further down a path of no return.

Zack had won the bet, and they were preparing to celebrate at a high-class restaurant. Abel, however, wasn't with Zack. Having just arrived in Harvest City, Abel wanted to do some shopping and bid farewell to Zack and the others.

Abel counted the gold coins he had. Besides the 20 he already possessed, he had another 50 from Knight Marshall for his visit to Harvest City, totaling 70 gold coins. He found a jewelry store and used all his gold to buy 138 small gems. To avoid drawing attention, he visited four different jewelry stores to make his purchases.

Seeing his coin pouch was nearly empty, with only 2 gold coins left, Abel didn't dare to synthesize the gems on the street. Instead, he found an inn, rented a private room, and began synthesizing them slowly with the Horadric Cube.

With practiced ease, the synthesis took only a short time. Abel had already created 20 rubies and 26 sapphires.

Looking at the gems, Abel pondered the Horadric Cube's synthesis formulas. He wondered which gems in Diablo 2 these synthesized gems would equate to in reality. As he looked at them, an idea sparked: he should try synthesizing just one more.

He took three sapphires and placed them into the Horadric Cube, synthesizing them again. When he retrieved them, they had become a large, round sapphire with countless facets around its edges.

Let's try upgrading it again, he thought. Another six sapphires turned into two large, round sapphires. He then placed three of these round sapphires into the Horadric Cube and clicked synthesize. This time, the sapphires transformed into a teardrop-shaped blue gem. Abel was now certain: this was a perfect sapphire, identical to the final version in Diablo 2, with the Horadric Cube forcefully transforming it into the game's custom appearance.

Looking at the teardrop-shaped sapphire in his hand, shimmering with a melancholic blue, Abel decided not to sell it. The gems synthesized by the Horadric Cube were too perfect. Carrying the divine artifact, Abel proceeded to sell the ordinary sapphires very carefully. Fortunately, Harvest City was vast, and the process of selling the sapphires went smoothly.

Abel now knew what 11,000 gold coins looked like. However, he couldn't carry it all. At the Temple of the Goddess of Wealth, he exchanged a portion of it for hundred-gold coins and threw them all into the Horadric Cube. Fortunately, the Horadric Cube only displayed a number for the 11,000 gold coins, not occupying any inventory slots. When he took them out, they reverted to hundred-gold coins or regular gold coins, which was very convenient.

Hundred-gold coins were a common currency for large transactions. They were slightly larger than regular gold coins and were covered in various anti-counterfeiting divine patterns. These divine patterns could only be created through the temple, making these hundred-gold coins extremely secure.

In a cheerful mood, Abel pondered how to spend this large sum of money. He didn't notice the servant tailing him. The servant was also frustrated. His master had ordered him to follow a young man today, but this young man was too fond of wandering. He had ridden his horse through almost every jewelry store in Harvest City. The servant was already exhausted and just wished Abel would find a place to rest soon.

He looked up and saw a sign: Edmund Auction House. Seeing the familiar sign, Abel couldn't help but recall the "Qi Condensing Potions" he had purchased there. His "Qi Condensing Potions" had run out. Next, he needed to break through to the Knight realm. If he cultivated slowly, it would take him several years to accumulate enough Qi to condense a Qi Core.

After using Master-grade "Qi Condensing Potions" to advance two levels, Abel had been worried about his rapid progression. Unexpectedly, after just advancing two levels, a minor epiphany allowed him to advance another level. This made him realize that rapid advancement wasn't solely achieved through medicine; there were other methods. Both Master Bentham and Knight Marshall seemed to take his breakthrough after the epiphany in stride, showing no concern about his rapid advancement.

As Abel understood it, since other methods posed no issues, the "Qi Condensing Potions" with no side effects were certainly fine. So, he decided to buy more "Qi Condensing Potions."

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

"Welcome to Edmund Auction House. How may I help you?" The voice paused, then continued with some surprise, "It's you, my young and handsome sir."

"Ms. Yvette, what are you doing here?"

Yvette chuckled lightly and said proudly, "Due to my excellent performance, I've been promoted from Libo Town to Deputy Supervisor here in Harvest City."

"Congratulations, Ms. Yvette," Abel said with a bow.

To be a Deputy Supervisor in a large city like Harvest City at such a young age, Yvette must be very capable. Abel held great respect for outstanding individuals.

Yvette was overjoyed to be congratulated by someone she knew. She felt immense pressure in her new role. This was unlike the small town of Libo; there were three Deputy Supervisors here alone.

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

"Give me 162 bottles of Beginner Qi Condensing Potion," Abel said, mentally calculating the number.

Yvette was thrilled by such a large transaction of Beginner Qi Condensing Potions. Such a big deal would be very helpful for her to establish herself in Harvest City.

"That will be 1620 gold coins. I'll give it to you for 1600 gold coins," Yvette said casually, offering a discount.

Abel bowed to Yvette and said, "Please wait a moment."

With that, Abel took 16 hundred-gold coins from the Horadric Cube, put them into his coin pouch, and handed the pouch to Yvette.

A short while later, a clerk brought out a medium-sized chest, densely packed with 162 bottles of Beginner Qi Condensing Potion.

Riding his horse back to his residence, Abel immediately went to his room and synthesized all 162 bottles of Beginner Qi Condensing Potion into 6 bottles of Master Qi Condensing Potion. Looking at the amber-colored "Qi Condensing Potions," Abel was filled with confidence about the improvement of his strength.

He placed the 6 bottles of Master Qi Condensing Potion into the Horadric Cube. He remembered Ms. Yvette from the auction house today. Ms. Yvette had never asked for his name, and their two transactions had been very smooth. Relying on the reputation of the Edmund Auction House and Ms. Yvette's cautious demeanor, Abel decided he could entrust her with handling some items he found inconvenient to sell himself in the future.

Outside this courtyard, despite it being the New Year, the weather was still very cold. A servant was huddled in the darkness, his eyes fixed on the courtyard gate. This courtyard was merely Knight Marshall's temporary residence, so it wasn't well-known. If the servant had known it was a noble's residence, he might not have had the courage to continue his surveillance. Sometimes, ignorance is the most terrifying thing.

After dark, a carriage took Knight Marshall and Abel to the Lord's Mansion to attend the New Year's banquet. The servant didn't know if Abel was in the carriage. After hesitating for a moment, the servant decided to stay and continue his surveillance.