Transcendental Market

Holding excitement, a sliver of curiosity, and a touch of doubt, the two of them studiously flipped open the tofu-grinding magazine, which featured a nude-apron witch on the cover.

The witch from the cover appeared on the first page, holding a bag of soybeans, with the following text written in regular script next to her: [Tofu-grinding is an ancient traditional craft of our country. Every year on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, there is a folk custom of pushing a millstone to make tofu...]

It really was a genuine tutorial on grinding tofu.

It was a bit different from the process of "mirror-grinding" that Jiang Han had imagined!

What the hell is hand-grinding tofu!

"It's the hand-grinding tofu method from the Guangdong region; I've heard about it for a few years now!"

Li Li's excited voice made Jiang Han realize that she had truly misunderstood something.

So, she coughed awkwardly, said, "What a great way to make hand-crafted tofu...", and then proceeded to pull and tug at Li Li until she got the full story out of her.

It turned out that in this world, domestic hand-ground tofu was much like hand-ground coffee in her previous life; every witch loved to make a few blocks of tofu to eat herself. Some even processed magic potions into tofu to make them easier to consume during combat, and there were also methods for making dried tofu.

Although it was just ordinary tofu.

For an average witch, it was just a common snack to satisfy a craving, but at the very least, when eating it, one could feel the taste of home. Offering one's own hand-ground tofu to a newly met companion was also a way for witches to grow closer.

If they could share tofu and wine from their hometowns, perhaps they could take their relationship a step further.

After Jiang Han and Li Li watched the tofu-grinding method for a while, the birdcage carriage came to a stop. Cen Jing, wearing a provocative black and pink witch robe, led them off the boarding platform and into a mountain floating in the air. The interior of the floating mountain had been hollowed out, and upon entering for the first time, one would be stunned by the dozens of circular floors of the supermarket.

The levels were brightly lit, with witches riding broomsticks back and forth.

Although she didn't know the name of this place, seeing such a scene, she couldn't help but let out a heartfelt sigh.

This place was the Witch Market.

On many of the stalls, there were all sorts of strange bottles and jars, a dazzling array of materials, and the commercial prosperity of South City was concretely manifested here. There were materials from Africa, materials from Europe, and countless specialties from folded spaces. Witches of all kinds mingled among them, trading, communicating, or inquiring about information.

"This is where many witches make their fortune, and also where many witches fall into poverty. There are always more spells to learn than you can ever master, and the materials you want are never enough, so no matter which country a witch is from, they will have maxims or proverbs similar to 'Self-Restraint'," Cen Jing introduced the market.

Jiang Han nodded at her; she had already seen how expensive a witch's knowledge was during the remedial class earlier.

5,000 credits for a single rare spell...

No wonder there were often rumors in the news about Archwitches on the verge of bankruptcy. Without a suitable industry, the bankruptcy rate among witches was indeed consistently high... The spells required to hunt powerful monsters were extremely expensive, and to obtain more powerful or exquisite spells, one had to hunt monsters. This created a pseudo-vicious cycle: the more anxious you were, the more you suffered.

She did some mental math.

If a witch didn't need to learn new spells, didn't need to hunt for magical items, and didn't need to strive for greater power, then as long as she maintained a level of being "able to cast 6 third-tier spells in a row," she could easily save over two thousand credits every month.

But once a witch started on the path of power, it was a disaster; the path of power could be translated as the path of debt. A monthly economic level of 2,000 would instantly spiral into heavy debt. Debt was like a Hollywood actress taking off her clothes—once you start... you can never put them back on. Once you start accumulating debt, it is basically very difficult to pay it off.

"Must be vigilant about economic conditions, never use loans..." Jiang Han whispered. While developed communication had its benefits, it also brought the bad habit of spending future money. However, her two guardians at home, Ye Keshu and Jiang Xuan, were the typical type who disliked loans. They didn't even take out a loan to buy their house, instead working extra jobs and taking on commissions, working hard to steadily increase their income and funds.

Following behind Li Li and Cen Jing, they walked past stall after stall in the market. Whenever something worth noting appeared, Cen Jing would stop and explain the function and rarity of the materials in detail, as leisurely as three girls of the same age out for a stroll.

Substitute teachers were probably all like this, mostly slacking off. It would make students feel, "If only this substitute teacher could teach us forever," but in reality, when a substitute teacher was actually teaching their own students, they definitely wouldn't be slacking off like this.

Wake up! There is no teacher in this world who would take you out to browse stalls every day, tell you stories, and let you study on your own!

Such a teacher could only be a substitute teacher, because they didn't even know what they could teach the students during these few days.

As Jiang Han wandered around with the substitute teacher, she actually learned to identify quite a few minerals.

For a witch, the most important gemstones were now mostly identified, such as rubies, cat's eyes, topazes, amethysts, and moonstones.

Gemstones possessed a spirituality that ordinary materials lacked, and they held an extremely important position in both Eastern and Western occultism, second only to gold and silver. Taoism also used gemstones and jade as important materials; out of ten unique spells derived from Taoist witches, nine required gemstones as a catalyst for their potions.

"It's a pity they are just too expensive..." Jiang Han muttered to herself again.

As a poor witch with only 50 big ones in her pocket, unless she learned from the Joyous Bodhisattva and offered her body as alms, she really couldn't afford these expensive materials.

Abandoning the dangerous thoughts born of poverty, Jiang Han kept a well-behaved smile and followed her mentor around the first-floor stalls, identifying a variety of plant-based materials. This time, she was extra attentive, because she might encounter plant materials when she went out, and it was also a good way for a poor witch to get rich.

With no money in my pocket, I'll search the mountains for my travel expenses!

Jiang Han turned her head and saw that Li Li was also listening with extra care, presumably sharing the same thought: earning extra money.

Noticing the change in their attitude toward the lecture, Cen Jing smiled and said:

"Except for a few very precious ones, the price of plant-based materials is generally not high. If you want to make money, hunting dragon-kin is the best way."

Hunting dragon-kin—she had heard this term quite a bit recently, but she didn't know the specifics.

"Wouldn't that be very dangerous?" Jiang Han asked deliberately.

Cen Jing looked at her with a faint smile: "It's not dangerous as long as you don't hunt large dragons."

Speaking of dragon-kin, Li Li also became interested:

"Hunting small or medium-sized dragon-kin is indeed not dangerous. I heard that a single fireball spell is enough to hurt them?"

Cen Jing replied: "It's highly unlikely. Dragon-kin are quite agile, and most of them are resistant to spell tracking, so it's hard to hit them with just a fireball spell. For many witches, a third-tier spell consumes a lot of energy, so they only use it as a trump card when there is an opening."

After talking about hunting dragon-kin for a while, Cen Jing turned back to the materials on the stalls.

Jiang Han nodded thoughtfully.

She had the mana pool of an Archwitch; she didn't need to be as cautious about throwing fireballs as an average witch. This way of making money was worth considering!