Mage Exchange

It was not until the following morning that the flying ship descended into the Dragon Mountain Tower of the prefecture city.

"I will be returning to the main campus of Changfeng Academy today. I had some insights while casting ice-type spells during the explosion, and I intend to return to the main campus to study them properly. I may not return to Qinghe Prefecture for a long time." Yu Jingqiu had just sat onto the back of a fire-red avian mount when she suddenly spoke; she did not know why she had said this.

"I have yet to visit the main campus of Changfeng Academy. I will certainly go when I have the time," Dongbo Xueying replied quite casually.

"Mm."

Yu Jingqiu said nothing more. The fire-red avian magic beast took flight immediately, and Yu Jingqiu, dressed in green robes, saw her hair fluttering as she quickly drifted into the distance.

High in the sky, she looked back at the Dragon Mountain Tower, which had already shrunk in size, before turning her gaze toward the south.

Dongbo Xueying rode his Snow-Treading Horse out of the Dragon Mountain Tower and arrived at a shop in the prefecture city that sold mage treasures. The shop was quite quiet, with only a few customers; after all, the number of mages was small to begin with, and those who came to buy treasures were even fewer.

"Whoa there..." Dongbo Xueying dismounted and handed his horse to an attendant.

"Greetings, my lord." A female attendant immediately came to welcome him.

"Introduce all the Heaven-Rank mage artifacts of the ice type in your shop to me," Dongbo Xueying said casually. The attendant's expression turned strange... introduce all of them? Was this customer truly overbearing, or was he just trying to make things difficult? Nevertheless, the female attendant led Dongbo Xueying around and described them one by one.

"Winter Cold Bracelet, top-grade Heaven-Rank! It contains a modified, miniature Frost Domain model. Its power is immense, reaching thirty percent of the power of a Frost Domain cast by a Meteor Rank mage!" the attendant said skillfully. "With this, even an ordinary mage can instantly cast a 'Miniature Frost Domain'."

"Continue." Dongbo Xueying decided instantly that he would take this one as well.

"This bracelet is a mid-grade Heaven-Rank artifact. It contains a magic array; once activated through mana, its power is comparable to an Arrow Torrent cast by a Heaven-Rank mage."

Dongbo Xueying listened and filtered through the options.

The spell models within mage artifacts were fixed and stable; a mage only needed to channel mana to activate them! It was the most convenient method... of course, the power unleashed by a mage artifact could not be improved. A powerful mage still had to rely on their own research and study to comprehend and construct more powerful spell models.

In fact, even a Silver Moon Rank mage, despite having powerful mage artifacts, would be unable to cast spells when suppressed by the heaven and earth energy controlled by a Title-level expert.

Therefore, one's own strength was the foundation!

Of course...

The probability of encountering a Title-level expert was extremely small. His younger brother was currently only an ordinary mage, capable at most of activating Heaven-Rank mage artifacts! As for Meteor Rank mage artifacts, he would be unable to activate them.

"Mm, not bad." Dongbo Xueying carefully selected, "This one, this one, this one, that one over there, and this one too. Give them all to me."

The female attendant's eyes widened and her mouth fell open.

Everything Dongbo Xueying had chosen were top-grade Heaven-Rank artifacts! What was a top-grade Heaven-Rank artifact? Generally, they possessed thirty to forty percent of the power of a Meteor Rank spell, or they were unique artifacts created for specific purposes.

"Calculate how many gold coins this will cost," Dongbo Xueying instructed.

"Oh, right, give me that staff as well, and that mage robe." Dongbo Xueying also chose a staff and a mage robe for You Yue. The price of the staff was relatively cheap, only two thousand gold coins; after all, a staff was merely an aid for a mage to cast spells, and for a mage with too little strength... giving them a top-tier staff would not be of much use.

The mage robe, which was actually a Heaven-Rank mage artifact, was much more expensive, costing eighteen thousand gold coins.

Dongbo Xueying felt that given his relationship with You Yue, this was sufficient; it had not yet reached the point of giving her the best, as he had done for his brother.

"My lord." The shopkeeper was immediately drawn over and said hurriedly, "These five top-grade Heaven-Rank artifacts are quite expensive. I will waive the odd change; it will be two hundred thousand gold coins in total! As for the other mage robe and staff, that will be twenty thousand gold coins! Haha, all in all... let's just call it two hundred thousand gold coins. I hope you will visit us often in the future. I cannot say for certain that my prices are the cheapest in all of Qinghe Prefecture, but they are not far off."

In the entire prefecture city, there were not many who could throw away two hundred thousand gold coins! How many gold coins had someone like Gai Bin of the Curved Blade Alliance managed to scrape together after years of frantic looting?

One would likely need a net worth of a million gold coins to be able to spend so much so casually. Such a big customer had to be treated well.

"Mm." Dongbo Xueying nodded.

"Might I ask who you are, my lord?" the shopkeeper asked in a low voice.

"Dongbo. Just call me Dongbo," Dongbo Xueying said.

"Lord Dongbo, our 'Crimson Moon Tower' has many branches throughout Anyang Province. This is a token of our esteem; in the future, even when buying cheaper items, you will receive a ten percent discount." The shopkeeper immediately presented a purple-gold plaque, which was clearly also crafted by mages. In fact, if one included the odd change from Dongbo Xueying's purchase, a ten percent discount would bring the total to just over two hundred thousand gold coins.

The shopkeeper also decided that he would definitely investigate later to see where such a formidable figure had appeared in Qinghe Prefecture, capable of spending two hundred thousand gold coins in one go.

Afterward, Dongbo Xueying went to buy some alchemy equipment. His own robes and inner armor were indeed too poor, worse than those of many Silver Moon Knights, and Uncle Zong and Uncle Tong also needed to be equipped with good treasures. Once the purchases were complete, Dongbo Xueying rode his Snow-Treading Horse that very day, traveling without rest toward Yi Water City.

After two days of continuous travel, he arrived at Snow Eagle Territory on the evening of the second day.

"Finally home." Looking from afar at the towering Snow Stone Mountain and the castle on the summit, Dongbo Xueying was filled with joy. This was his true home.

Clip-clop, clip-clop...

The horse galloped, and they soon reached the castle.

"The Lord is back!"

"The Lord is back! Quickly, go tell Young Master Qing Shi."

The entire castle soon became noisy and bustling. The drawbridge began to lower, and the city gates began to open slowly.

Zong Ling and the Lion-Man Tong San also arrived at the gate with joyful expressions to welcome him.

"Uncle Zong, Uncle Tong." Dongbo Xueying dismounted and said with a smile.

"You must be exhausted from the journey back. Qing Shi is still with his teacher, but the servants have already gone to pass on the message. I believe Qing Shi and You Yue will be back soon," Zong Ling said with a smile.

Dongbo Xueying nodded with a smile; he had prepared gifts for them.

"Oh, right, there is one thing I must tell you. A genius mage from the Si Family, 'Si Chen', has come to see us," Zong Ling said.

"The Si Family?" Dongbo Xueying frowned. Was it because of the death of Si Borong? But logically, the Si Family should not have known the list of the five people who accepted the mission. The Dragon Mountain Tower would not dare to leak it, Yu Jingqiu would not have said anything, and Yu Jingqiu had long since gone to Changfeng Academy.

"Just two days ago, this Mage Si Chen arrived, specifically to pay a visit to Master Bai Yuanzhi. Both of them are Meteor Rank mages, and it is said they needed to exchange insights on a certain area of research..." Zong Ling said, "Xueying, you know the status of the Si Family in our Qinghe Prefecture, so I dared not neglect him. Fortunately, Si Chen has been staying at the Mage Tower the entire time, but since you have returned, it is only proper to meet him."

"Mm." Dongbo Xueying nodded.

How could it be such a coincidence?

I just encountered Si Borong of the Si Family during my mission, and now another mage, 'Si Chen', has come to my place? However, since he arrived two days ago, it should be unrelated to the matter with Si Borong.

It seems I have quite the affinity with the Si Family, Dongbo Xueying thought to himself.

"Uncle Zong, send someone to extend an invitation. Request the presence of this young master of the Si Family for a banquet tomorrow," Dongbo Xueying said.