Vine Stone

Sure enough, Alice's voice rang out. "Sli? What are you doing here? Is Chen Rui upstairs?"

The Lesser Imp was thrilled that the little princess remembered his name. He hurriedly nodded. "Master is on the second floor."

Alice skipped upstairs. When she saw Chen Rui, she said happily, "I was just about to come find you, and you came to find me first!"

Who would want to find you...? Chen Rui had spent the last two days focused on the Super System. Then he suddenly remembered he still owed her an "exciting story," and quickly changed the subject. Pointing at the Princess Chess, he said, "Isn't this Huarong Dao? How did you...?"

"Heh heh, I'm clever, aren't I?" The little girl showed no shame about copying someone else's idea. Instead, she looked smug. "If I hadn't had the brilliant idea to change it into this, nobody would have bought it. You should learn from me."

"That's right. The little princess is the clever one." Chen Rui nodded with a wry smile. These days, plagiarists were far more brazen than the original creators. Though, now that he thought about it, he was also copying someone else.

"Since you're here, come help." Alice raised the storage bracelet on her wrist and dumped out a pile of large items. Fortunately, there wasn't any of that sexy lace underwear he'd seen during their last picnic.

"Help sort these into categories, then Jia can label them with prices."

She really didn't hold back... Chen Rui had no choice but to help Jia sort everything in the basement. A natural, delicate fragrance wafted from Jia, and combined with her bewitching figure and looks, it was devastating to men. Chen Rui knew that the Succubus's danger rating was S-class. He composed himself and kept his eyes straight ahead, afraid that if he turned his head, her gaze would ensnare him.

The little girl noticed how tense he was. Her eyes darted around, then she asked, "By the way, Chen Rui, I heard my sister said she might give Jia to you in the future. Are you especially looking forward to it?"

Chen Rui's heart gave a jolt. How did Alice even know about that?

"Did the Eldest Princess really say that?" Jia froze. Seeing how nervous Chen Rui was, she smiled mischievously and deliberately moved closer to him. "Then, when the time comes, should I call you... Master?"

The female Succubus drew out the word "Master" in a sultry voice. Chen Rui felt a rush of heat and lowered his head even further, pretending not to hear. He turned his body away.

"Master, are you rejecting Jia? I'm so sad..." The female Succubus edged closer to Chen Rui. She drew her shoulders back slightly, making the cleft between her breasts look even deeper. Chen Rui shivered and swallowed with difficulty, silently cursing the vixen for bringing ruin to the realm. Alice had already dragged over a chair to watch the fun, laughing so hard she could barely sit still.

Most Succubi were born seductresses, and Jia was one of the best. If Chen Rui hadn't been so scarred by his past, he might not have been able to resist her.

Suddenly, the notification in his mind jolted Chen Rui back to his senses. "Convertible energy material detected. Convert it into aura?"

Chen Rui remembered that he'd activated the Analytical Eye, and his attention immediately fell on the dark-purple stone in his hand. It was about the size of a fist and translucent, with radiating patterns inside that gave it an eerie beauty.

"Little princess, what is this?" Chen Rui asked Alice, holding up the stone.

"Joseph gave it to me. I think it's called Vine Stone. It's a specialty of Chiyou Territory." Alice noticed his interest in the Vine Stone. Her eyes darted around, and she gave him a strange look. "Vine Stone has a special effect. It seems to... improve a man's, um... performance. Don't tell me you're the kind of man who needs this stone?"

Improve a certain kind of performance? Chen Rui shuddered and hastily dropped the stone. No matter how much he wanted aura, he couldn't admit in front of two beauties that he was impotent!

Jia hadn't been teasing him anymore, but seeing his reaction, she couldn't help smiling behind her hand. She looked utterly alluring, while Alice laughed even harder, clutching her stomach on the chair.

Chen Rui recalled how the little girl had tricked him when they first met and couldn't help growing suspicious. Joseph might be the eldest son of Lord Chiyou, but he was also Darkmoon City's financial officer. There was no way he'd give the little princess something so sordid, was there?

For the sake of the aura, Chen Rui steeled himself and asked, "Little princess, what does Vine Stone actually do?"

The little girl teased him a few more times, then finally had her fun and explained. Vine Stone could enhance a mage's magical power to a certain degree. It was usually set into equipment that amplified magic, so it really did "improve a certain kind of performance."

Chen Rui strongly disapproved of Alice's way of describing things. "I really like this stone. Would you sell it to me, little princess?"

"Do you really think you look like the sort of man who needs to 'improve a certain kind of performance'?" Alice said. Seeing how serious he was, she lost interest and answered sulkily, "If you really want it, five Black Crystal Coins. I'll give you a good price!"

"That's so expensive!" Chen Rui was shocked. He didn't even know how much aura the Vine Stones could provide, but the price alone was enough to scare anyone away. Five Black Crystal Coins was almost everything he owned. Forget it. He'd wait for Zack's free ore instead.

"Don't be so stingy," Alice said with a foxlike smile. "I know my sister gave you five Black Crystal Coins through Aldas."

She even knew that! The little girl had planned to make him go broke all along. She really was the owner of a crooked shop! Chen Rui deliberately feigned indignation. "Surely the Eldest Princess didn't tell you to do this on purpose? I'll go see her right now and give the reward straight back to her."

"No!" When Alice heard he was going to see her sister, she hurriedly stopped him. "I was only joking with you. Why are you taking it so seriously?"

So this was how you dealt with little girls! Chen Rui congratulated himself silently, only for Alice to name a new price that left him speechless. "Then four Black Crystal Coins and ninety-nine Purple Crystal Coins!"

That was the difference between five thousand and four thousand nine hundred ninety.

"Too expensive. I'll pass." Chen Rui promptly gave up. It looked like there was no way he was getting a Vine Stone from the little girl today.

"Can't you see everything here is expensive? How else would it show off my status as a princess?" Alice said with a pout. "But I do have my standards for customers. If you can make me happy, I don't mind giving you another Vine Stone for free."

Two Vine Stones! Chen Rui perked up. But making Alice happy was far from easy. She'd nearly emptied his stock of stories over the past few days.

"Little princess," Chen Rui said after a moment's thought, "how about I teach you how to run a shop and make more money?"

Alice's eyes lit up, but then she frowned adorably. "Isn't this how you run a shop? Everyone does it this way. I'm already much cleverer than they are."

Chen Rui shook his head, his gaze brimming with confidence. "This isn't how you run a shop."

A while later, the Lesser Imp, who was waiting downstairs, saw his master come down and hurried over to meet him.

Chen Rui frowned. "Why didn't you tell me earlier that this was the little princess's shop?"

"Didn't Master want to find a shop that sold strange things?" The Lesser Imp noticed his master's displeasure and smiled ingratiatingly. "This is the strangest shop in the city. And since you're so close to Her Highness the little princess, you were bound to get a surprise, right?"

Chen Rui looked at Sli's fawning smile and held up the two Vine Stones in his hand.

"Vine Stones!" The Lesser Imp cried out in surprise. He recognized them at a glance. "Those are expensive! I remember the magic shop under Lord Joseph's name sells them for fifty Black Crystal Coins each!"

Fifty Black Crystal Coins apiece! Chen Rui looked upstairs in astonishment. His impression of the scheming little princess finally improved a little.

After leaving Alice's shop, Chen Rui waited until Sli wasn't paying attention, then secretly tried using the conversion skill. The Vine Stones really were worthy of being expensive magical materials. Together, the two of them provided 230 aura, bringing his total to 406. It was as if a penniless peasant had suddenly made it into the middle class.

The Vine Stones gave Chen Rui new hope. He had Sli lead him to the magic shop owned by Joseph to see if he could find any other treasures.

The magic shop was in the busiest part of the city center, but it had very few customers. The reason was simple: everything was too expensive. The Vine Stones Chen Rui had absorbed, for instance, cost even more than the Lesser Imp remembered: sixty-eight Black Crystal Coins apiece, and there were only three of them. The other magical materials were also priced outrageously high, far beyond what Chen Rui could afford. It seemed mages and alchemists were both money-burning professions.

Chen Rui was disappointed, though he'd already had a bountiful haul today. Zack could continue supplying him with aura in the future, so he should be content.

Just as he was about to leave, a voice sounded from the doorway. "Isn't that Master Aldas's human apprentice? What brings you here?"

Chen Rui looked over and saw a finely dressed man, handsome and distinguished, with a hint of gloom between his brows. He looked no different from a human and, like Athena, was probably a Greater Devil with a high-level mutated bloodline and two forms.

Two Greater Devils, a man and a woman who appeared to be servants, followed behind him.

Beside the man stood another Greater Devil Chen Rui recognized, glaring at him with a cruel look. It was Athena's suitor, Allen, the general in charge of Darkmoon City's defenses.

Sli hurried forward to pay his respects, while also trying to clue Chen Rui in. "Lord Joseph. Lord Allen."

Only then did Chen Rui realize that the handsome young man was Joseph, the man who controlled Darkmoon City's economic lifeline and its current financial officer, as well as Lord Chiyou's eldest son.

"Get lost!" Allen barked. Sli was so frightened that he scrambled behind Chen Rui.

Chen Rui quietly activated the Analytical Eye. Allen's overall strength rating was E, the same as his own current level. But after what had happened with Gangke, Chen Rui knew that the same rating didn't necessarily mean they were evenly matched. Athena had once said that even among mid-tier demons, one at the peak was at least ten times stronger than one who had just advanced. The overall rating might work the same way.

The two Greater Devils behind Joseph were both rated D and were quite powerful. As for Joseph's own strength rating, it was, unbelievably: Unable to determine!