A win-win

"Enough! Stop pretending. Didn't you brag to me last time that you'd finally managed to trade someone for a small bottle of Ice Spirit Cold Spring?"

Otto revealed a somewhat wicked smile and exposed Gute's lie in front of everyone.

"Get lost, you old bastard! Don't ever come here again!"

With Otto laying his secrets bare, Gute flew into a rage out of embarrassment.

"Rest assured, Senior Gute. I won't ask you to give me your Ice Spirit Cold Spring for nothing. I can trade these spirit medicines for it."

As Nalan Sheng finished speaking, he brushed his hand over his Storage Ring, and dozens of jade boxes appeared out of thin air before him.

Each jade box contained a spirit medicine that Nalan Sheng had gathered in the Dou Wang's cave abode.

"Purple-Blue Leaf, White Spirit Ginseng Fruit, Snow Lotus Seed... Hiss!"

When Gute and Otto saw the spirit medicines inside the jade boxes, both sucked in a breath of cold air.

Nearly all of them were high-grade spirit medicines suitable for refining fourth- or fifth-grade pills, and some were even rarer than Ice Spirit Cold Spring.

Never mind a mere Dou Zhe like Nalan Sheng-even many Dou Wangs couldn't produce so many precious spirit medicines.

"Senior Gute, if you're willing to give me your Ice Spirit Cold Spring, you can choose any one of these spirit medicines in exchange. What do you think?"

"Well..."

Looking at those exceedingly rare spirit medicines, Gute hesitated for only a moment before nodding firmly. "All right, I'll trade!"

Gute soon brought out his treasured Ice Spirit Cold Spring, then took a spirit medicine even rarer than it.

[Ding! The host has snatched the destined male protagonist's Ice Spirit Cold Spring. Reward: 3,000 Villain Points!]

As the system notification sounded in his ears, Nalan Sheng's smile grew even brighter.

"Young friend, young friend! Don't put them away just yet!"

Just as Nalan Sheng was about to put away the jade boxes on the floor, Gute suddenly stopped him. Wearing an ingratiating smile, he said, "I have plenty of other valuable treasures here. I'd like to trade some of them for more of your spirit medicines. Why don't you take a look at my collection first?"

"Sure!"

Nalan Sheng smiled and nodded. "If there's anything that catches my eye, I can trade these spirit medicines for it."

In fact, Nalan Sheng had brought out so many spirit medicines in front of them precisely because he wanted to trade them with Gute and Otto for some treasures.

After all, Nalan Sheng wasn't even an alchemist yet. Keeping these high-grade spirit medicines would only leave them gathering dust, so he might as well exchange them for treasures he could use.

For example, Profound Rank cultivation methods and Dou Techniques, or Alchemist's Notes and Pill Recipes.

It had to be said that Gute's collection was truly extensive, surpassing even those of many Dou Wangs.

After some bargaining, Nalan Sheng ultimately traded more than ten high-grade spirit medicines for a Third-Grade Alchemist's Notes, more than ten relatively common Pill Recipes, several Profound Rank Dou Techniques, a pile of poison-attribute materials, and two fifth-tier magic cores.

As for the remaining high-grade spirit medicines, they were all valuable, but Gute already had the same ones in his Treasure Vault, so there was naturally no need to collect a second specimen.

Nalan Sheng therefore put the remaining high-grade spirit medicines back into his Storage Ring.

"Young friend Nalan, if you come across anything good next time, remember to come find me. I certainly won't let you lose out."

After trading for those high-grade spirit medicines, Gute became even more enthusiastic toward Nalan Sheng and personally escorted him and Otto to the door.

Gute could hardly be blamed for his enthusiasm, since he felt he had gotten an incredible bargain.

Although Nalan Sheng had taken quite a few treasures off his hands, things such as Alchemist's Notes and Profound Rank Dou Techniques could be copied endlessly, so they were no great loss to Gute.

All Gute had truly lost were two fifth-tier magic cores and a pile of poison-attribute materials!

"Rest assured, Senior Gute. If I have any treasures to sell in the future, I'll consider you first."

Nalan Sheng likewise felt he had struck gold, since ordinary alchemists simply couldn't bear to sell things like their Alchemist's Notes and Pill Recipes to outsiders.

Only an oddball like Gute would sell his own Alchemist's Notes and Pill Recipes for high-grade spirit medicines he couldn't even use.

"Then it's settled!"

Gute immediately gave a satisfied smile, then eagerly shut the door and went back to admiring his newly acquired precious spirit medicines.

"That fellow..."

Otto couldn't help chuckling at the sight.

"Senior Otto, thank you for your help today."

Nalan Sheng cupped his hands toward Otto. "If you and Chairman Frank ever visit the Imperial City, please be sure to send someone to let me know, so I can show you the hospitality of a host."

"You're too polite, young friend Nalan."

Otto smiled and waved his hand. "All I did was introduce you to Gute. Being able to trade with that fellow for what you wanted was entirely down to your own ability."

"Whatever you say, Senior, I'll remember the favor you did me today."

Partway through speaking, Nalan Sheng suddenly changed tack. "Unfortunately, I have urgent business and must hurry back to the Imperial City. Otherwise, I really ought to arrange a feast and invite you and Chairman Frank for a proper drink."

"I appreciate the thought, young friend. But since you have urgent business, you should head back first! Don't let it delay anything important."

"Then I'll take my leave."

Nalan Sheng first cupped his hands and bowed to Otto, then headed toward the aerial transport service with Xiao Yi Xian.

After passing through several unfamiliar, bustling streets, Nalan Sheng and Xiao Yi Xian arrived at a spacious square.

At the center of the square lay more than ten enormous creatures, all giant birds covered in brown feathers, each over a hundred feet long.

These giant birds weren't magical beasts, but a kind of bird known as the Thick-Winged Bird.

Although Thick-Winged Birds couldn't fly as fast as first-rank flying magical beasts, they had tremendous endurance and gentle temperaments, making them easy for humans to tame.

Unfortunately, Thick-Winged Birds were scarce, so usually only an empire had the resources to establish an Aerial Transport Fleet like this.

Ordinarily, these Thick-Winged Birds served as flying transport, carrying passengers between major cities to earn enough bird feed for themselves.

When war came, these Thick-Winged Birds

would be forcibly requisitioned by the empire to help transport all kinds of military supplies.

Beside the Thick-Winged Birds stood lines of people, each holding a Bird Ticket as they queued in an orderly fashion for ticket inspection.

At the sight, Nalan Sheng couldn't help recalling catching flights in his previous life, and a nostalgic expression crossed his face.

Coming back to his senses, Nalan Sheng hurried with Xiao Yi Xian to the ticket office in a corner of the square and bought two Bird Tickets.