Recaps

Claire discussed the upcoming auction with Shane, learning that Count Hawk planned to bid for the Life Potion but could probably spend only five or six million Gold Coins. Shane also told Claire that Sirian had been punished after sneaking out to see him, and Claire planned to visit him at Knight Academy in about two weeks.

• Shane asked Claire why she needed to borrow money, and Claire said she wanted funds for experimental materials.
• Shane told Claire that Count Hawk intended to buy the Life Potion and had asked others not to compete with him.
• Shane estimated Count Hawk could spend five or six million Gold Coins, and Claire believed his own funds would be enough to contend with him.
• Shane told Claire that Sirian had climbed out of Knight Academy to see him and had been hung up and beaten by the dean.
• Claire said he would visit Sirian in about two weeks, and Shane offered to use his family's connections to arrange the visit.

Claire and Shane attended the Royal Capital auction, where Claire reviewed the items and focused on a potion that could restore vitality for Hong Qi. The auction began and bidding grew increasingly intense, while the potion remained among the later lots.

• Claire spent her days copying magic notes, while Shane arranged for Wendy to adapt Claire's new story and prepared to promote Tulip Shop's pink crystals.
• Claire and Shane entered the auction using Claire's invitation and settled into Lady Sophia's private box.
• Shane gave Claire the booklet listing the auction items, and she studied several magical treasures before reading the details of the Vitality Replenishing Potion.
• Claire decided the potion might suit Hong Qi because it replenished vitality gently, even for someone who was not a mage or knight.
• The auction began, and bidders competed over increasingly expensive lots as the venue grew louder and more excited.

Claire competed with Count Hawk to buy the Life Potion, pushing the bidding to eight million Gold Coins despite lacking enough funds on hand. Count Hawk challenged her ability to pay and demanded that the auction house verify her funds.

• Claire waited for the auction's finale, the Life Potion, after other rare treasures sold, including Sword Saint Willie's sword for over five million.
• The auctioneer introduced the Vitality Replenishing Potion, and Count Hawk opened the bidding at five million Gold Coins.
• Claire and Count Hawk raised their bids against each other until Hawk offered seven million five hundred thousand Gold Coins.
• After learning Shane could not lend her money, Claire bid eight million and said she could mortgage Nafu City's three Iron Ore mines to the Lixis Merchant Guild.
• Count Hawk accused Claire of disrupting the auction and demanded that the auction house verify her funds.

Claire outbid Count Hawk for the Life Potion, but a royal capital noble offered fifteen million Gold Coins just as the auction was ending. Unwilling to lose the potion, Claire offered the auction house a treasure to appraise.

• The auction house declined to verify Claire's funds after learning she carried Lady Sophia's invitation, and the auctioneer confirmed she had sufficient funds.
• Claire and Count Hawk kept raising their bids until Claire offered ten million one hundred thousand Gold Coins and Hawk gave up.
• A bidder from the private room that had bought Willie Sword Saint's Sword offered fifteen million Gold Coins for the Life Potion.
• Claire admitted she could not match the bid, but stopped the auction and offered a treasure for appraisal.

Claire paused the auction to have a rare fruit appraised so she could raise money to bid on the Life Potion. After confirming its effects and pricing the four fruits, Ron left Claire with enough funds to compete in the auction.

• Claire called for the auction to pause and asked auctioneer Ron to appraise a fruit.
• Claire showed Ron a large fruit that could advance an Intermediate Mage to a High Mage, and Ron verified its effect by tasting a small piece.
• Ron valued the large fruit at five million Gold Coins, while Shane warned that Claire would still be tied with the opposing bidder.
• Claire revealed three smaller fruits that could advance Elementary Mages to Intermediate Mages, and Ron offered one million Gold Coins for each.

Claire resumed bidding on the Life Potion but stopped when another bidder raised the price to twenty-five million Gold Coins, beyond her means. She later bought a Battle Aura Cultivation Method for five million Gold Coins, borrowing from Shane again.

• Ron left after appraising Claire's fruits, and Shane told Claire that she had sold them too cheaply.
• Ron resumed the auction, and Claire bid eighteen million Gold Coins for the Life Potion.
• An unknown bidder raised the price to twenty-five million Gold Coins, so Claire gave up and returned Shane's Purple Crystal Card.
• Shane offered to ask his father about a Life Potion, while Claire planned to ask Sophia whether her family had one available.
• Claire bought a Battle Aura Cultivation Method for five million Gold Coins, borrowing Shane's money again.

Claire sold one of her smaller fruits to the auction house for two and a half million Gold Coins, clearing her debt, while Shane promised to look for a Life Potion for her. Meanwhile, General Hubert received the Life Potion and Sword Saint Willie's sword he had won, then asked Ron about Claire.

• Ron offered Claire eight million Gold Coins for her four fruits, raised the offer to ten million, and Claire refused to sell them all.
• Claire negotiated with Ron and sold him one smaller fruit for two and a half million Gold Coins, asking him to deduct her debt from the payment.
• Shane offered to ask his family whether they had a Life Potion, and Claire joked about wanting a discount if he found one.
• Ron delivered Sword Saint Willie's sword and the Life Potion to General Hubert, who treasured the sword and barely acknowledged the potion.
• Hubert asked Ron who had bid against him, and Ron said Claire was not from the capital, was connected to Lady Sophia, and was close to the third young master of the Ansier Family.
• Hubert asked Ron what treasure Claire had acquired earlier that was worth eight million Gold Coins.

Ron told Hubert that the fruit could help mages and knights advance in rank, and Hubert became interested in its potential. Days later, Claire received a same-night invitation from Hubert and prepared to visit the Hilt Family residence.

• Ron explained that the fruit could help an Intermediate Mage become a High Mage or a Silver Knight become a Gold Knight, and Hubert asked about its possible effects as a potion.
• Hubert dismissed Ron, then privately remarked that he had gained something without even trying.
• Shane and Claire sought Life Potions, while Tulip Shop continued expanding and Claire declined Shane’s invitations to noble gatherings.
• Shane told Claire that Marquis Hubert had sent an invitation addressed to her, and Claire wondered why he had noticed her.
• Shane realized Hubert was likely the bidder who had bought the Life Potion for twenty-five million, and Claire learned the invitation was for that evening at the Hilt Family residence.

Claire met with Marquis Hubert and exchanged a fruit that could advance an Intermediate Mage for the Life Potion she had previously bought. After turning down Hubert’s extra payment, she asked him to arrange a visit to her friend at Knight Academy, leaving with a new connection and his help secured.

• Claire arrived early at Hubert’s residence and waited while he trained.
• Hubert asked Claire whether she possessed a fruit that could advance an Intermediate Mage to a High Mage, and she confirmed that she did.
• Hubert offered Claire the Life Potion in exchange for the fruit and proposed an additional five million Gold Coins.
• Claire refused the extra payment, and Hubert offered to consider her a friend and help her if she needed anything.
• Claire asked Hubert to arrange a visit to her friend at Knight Academy, and he agreed as one of the academy’s deans.

Claire traded her advancement fruit to Marquis Hubert for the Life Potion he had won, then wondered why he had surrendered it so readily. After learning that Hubert had paid a fortune for the potion, Claire concluded he had actually been trying to gain Master Morey’s favor so the alchemist would make a different potion for him.

• Hubert smiled after Claire left, believing the fruit would greatly improve his chances of advancing.
• Shane gave Claire Life Potions from Sophia and his father, and Claire revealed she had already obtained one by trading her fruit to Hubert.
• Claire and Shane puzzled over why Hubert had exchanged a Life Potion he had bought for twenty-five million Gold Coins.
• After asking Shane about Master Morey, Claire inferred that Hubert had bought the potion to establish a connection with the alchemist.
• Claire guessed Hubert wanted Master Morey to refine an advancement potion, though she and Shane remained unsure why he would need one.

Hubert brought a miraculous fruit to Master Morey so he could brew an advancement potion for Angus, who was nearing sixty and needed to reach Archmage soon. Morey agreed to make the potion, though it would take three or four months and could not guarantee Angus’s breakthrough.

• Hubert gave Master Morey the fruit, and Morey sensed that its active magic could improve the advancement potion.
• Morey questioned why Hubert was spending so much to help Angus advance, and Hubert explained that Angus was nearly sixty.
• Hubert reflected on the Hilt Family’s need for a powerful mage, while Morey warned that becoming an Archmage Saint was exceedingly difficult.
• Morey agreed to brew the potion and told Hubert it would take three or four months, with no guarantee of success.
• When Morey asked who had supplied the fruit, Hubert mentioned a connection to Sophia, and Morey declined to meet the source because of his past with the August Family’s ancestor.

Claire traded a Life Potion to Hong Qi in exchange for two Cultivation Methods. After drinking it, Hong Qi rapidly regained his health, though the full effects of the potion were still unfolding.

• Claire saw Hong Qi's message saying his life force was fading too quickly for him to last another week, and they arranged an immediate trade.
• Claire showed Hong Qi the Life Potion, and he eagerly placed both Cultivation Methods in the trade box.
• After they confirmed the trade, Hong Qi asked Claire to stay and watch while he drank the potion.
• The Life Potion transformed Hong Qi's body, restoring his hair, complexion, weight, and skin.

After Claire’s Life Potion restored Hong Qi’s vitality and much of his strength, the spiritual energy he absorbed exposed his hiding place to the Water Origin Sect. Hong Qi faced the pursuer, and Claire recognized the weapon he produced at the end as an Electromagnetic Cannon.

• Hong Qi recovered from the Life Potion, absorbed spiritual energy, and thanked Claire before agreeing that he might trade for more potions.
• The spiritual energy fluctuations drew the Water Origin Sect’s pursuers, who attacked Hong Qi’s cave with water snakes and arrows.
• Hong Qi emerged to confront a cloud-patterned youth, who demanded the sect’s treasure and accused him of taking items from the former sect master’s ruins.
• The youth launched a barrage of water arrows and attacked with two spiritual treasures, forcing the weakened Hong Qi to retreat.
• Hong Qi produced a pitch-black object, and Claire recognized it as an Electromagnetic Cannon.

Hong Qi used the Electromagnetic Cannon to bluff the cloud-patterned young man, but Claire warned him just in time to dodge the young man's Nascent Soul grandfather. Hong Qi wounded the old man with the cannon, yet the old man's Weak Water pierced Hong Qi's ice defenses and sent him crashing toward the ground.

• The cloud-patterned young man accused Hong Qi of stealing his sect's relic and demanded the Electromagnetic Cannon, while Hong Qi challenged him to approach.
• Hong Qi hid himself behind spreading icy mist and used it to distract the young man while he fled from the area.
• Claire warned Hong Qi of an attack from behind, allowing him to dodge the plump old man's surprise strike.
• The old man summoned Weak Water as Hong Qi fired the Electromagnetic Cannon and sealed himself inside ten-zhang ice crystals.
• Hong Qi's shot blew off the old man's right hand, but the Weak Water shattered the ice and struck Hong Qi, who spat blood and fell toward the ground.

Hong Qi used his last strength to escape the fat old man, but the old man tracked him down and killed him while Claire watched helplessly. After the trade ended, Claire mourned Hong Qi and worried about her own survival, while regretting losing her chance to trade for cultivation techniques.

• Hong Qi threatened the fat old man with the Electromagnetic Cannon, then used the Earth Vein Swiftness Technique to flee through the earth veins.
• Claire assured Hong Qi that she could provide Life Potion at their next trade, and he hid in a cave to await it.
• The fat old man tracked Hong Qi by sensing the weak-water aura and crushed his skull despite Hong Qi's pleas for help.
• The fat old man searched Hong Qi's corpse for the lightning-element treasure, found nothing, and destroyed the body in frustration.
• Claire watched the trade close and reflected on Hong Qi's death, the importance of strength, and her lost chance to trade for cultivation techniques.

Claire visited Sirian at the Knight Academy, where she learned he had advanced rapidly in Battle Aura and reaffirmed his loyalty to her. She gave him two Cultivation Methods to study, but he noticed they cultivated magic power rather than Battle Aura.

• Claire entered the Knight Academy with Hubert’s badge and waited beneath a tree for Sirian.
• Sirian told Claire that her Cultivation Method had helped him reach the peak of Silver Rank, close to breaking through to Gold Rank.
• Claire learned Sirian had lost touch with the gang he once led and urged him to focus on his prospects at the Knight Academy.
• Sirian said he hoped to help Claire someday, and she warned him not to speak carelessly about his loyalty to her.
• Claire gave Sirian two Cultivation Methods and told him to keep them secret, but he found they cultivated magic power instead of Battle Aura.

Claire discovered that two cultivation manuals could be adapted to cultivate magic power, though they offered no combat techniques. She gave Sirian one manual to test while researching the other, leaving open the possibility of a new path for cultivation.

• Claire examined the two manuals and realized they cultivated magic power rather than Battle Aura, but lacked methods for using that power in combat.
• Claire gave Sirian the Frost Ghost Technique to practice and warned him to keep its contents secret.
• Claire helped Sirian sense magic power and found that he had enough affinity to begin cultivating.
• Claire returned to the Royal Capital Magic Academy library with the Crimson Firmament Scripture and researched theories about the origins of Battle Aura.
• Claire learned that scholars had no definitive explanation for Battle Aura's origin, though they believed it emerged naturally as the body was trained.

Claire studied the lost Battle Mage lineage and used her cultivation method to develop a new close-combat style combining magic power with a greatsword. After successfully splitting a boulder with modified Wind Blades, she began testing whether the blades retained their strength when fired separately.

• Claire found records of Battle Mages, whose combat methods had vanished, and decided their approach could still offer useful ideas.
• Claire spent a week researching the lineage and cultivated until she reached the first realm of her manual, which Hong Qi called Qi Refinement.
• Claire sensed that her cultivation method worked alongside her Magic Vortex and channeled magic power through her body into an enchanted greatsword.
• Claire formed modified Wind Blades along the greatsword and split a boulder with a powerful strike.
• Claire began testing whether she could detach and fire the Wind Blades without losing much of their power.

Claire tested her spell structures and established the Magic Swordmaster as a private cultivation branch that combined sword combat with spellcasting. She returned to the Knight Academy and learned that Sirian had drawn magic power into his body but could not advance without absorbing an undead creature.

• Claire tested the analyzed spell structures in the Sunset Mountains and named the new branch Magic Swordmaster.
• Claire weighed the branch’s strengths and weaknesses, noting that it relied on mages to develop spell structures and that its practitioners had less control over spells than mages.
• Claire decided to keep the Magic Swordmaster path private until she grew stronger or obtained a higher-level Cultivation Method.
• Claire returned to the Knight Academy and asked Sirian how his cultivation was progressing.
• Sirian told Claire he had drawn magic power into his body but still needed to draw in an undead creature to reach the first realm.
• Claire checked the Frost Ghost Technique and confirmed that Sirian needed netherworld energy to transform his magic power into Ice Element magic power.

Claire took Sirian to the Royal Capital Public Cemetery to practice the Frost Ghost Technique, where he absorbed ten undead and advanced. He gained the ability to control those undead, and Claire confirmed that his magic power had become colder and helped him cast Ice Element spells more easily.

• Claire used Hubert's badge to secure more leave for Sirian, then took him to the Royal Capital Public Cemetery after nightfall.
• Claire and Sirian captured ten relatively high-quality undead in the cemetery.
• Claire brought the undead to Sirian one by one, and he absorbed all ten while enduring intense cold.
• Sirian advanced and summoned the ten undead as phantoms before solidifying them under his control.
• Claire tested Sirian's magic power and taught him spell structures, discovering that he formed Ice Spike more quickly than Wind Blade.

Claire returned Sirian to the Knight Academy after teaching him spell structures, then spoke with Headmaster Hubert about Sirian’s magic training and an upcoming wedding. She learned the wedding would take place the day after tomorrow and discussed Shane’s plans to promote a new product there, called Cupid's Gift.

• Claire sent Sirian back to the Knight Academy and advised him to focus on Battle Aura training while continuing to cultivate magic at a measured pace.
• Claire met Hubert at the academy, and he sensed magic power around Sirian; Claire said she had let him practice magic because he had talent for it.
• Hubert praised Claire’s prospects as a mage and invited her to Duke Charlie’s heir’s wedding banquet, promising to bring her inside if she was stopped.
• Claire told Shane she planned to attend the wedding, and Shane said it would take place the day after tomorrow.
• Shane revealed that he had named their product Cupid's Gift and planned to build its reputation by showcasing it at the wedding banquet.
• Claire asked Shane to tell her about Duke Charlie.

Shane told Claire that the Charlie family’s wedding was a political alliance with the royal family, then brought her to the banquet, where her connection to Nafu City drew the attention of noblewomen. The chapter left off as a hostile young noble challenged Claire, and Shane tried to ease the tension.

• Shane explained that Old Duke Charlie had stepped down so Young Charlie could marry the King’s second daughter, and said the princess had taken a liking to him at a ball.
• Shane mentioned that Irene had repeatedly asked about Claire, prompting Claire to change the subject to the Tulip Shop’s gift box design.
• At the wedding banquet, Shane introduced Claire to young nobles, and Claire drew their attention by revealing that she was the lord of Nafu City, where mermaids appeared.
• A young noble emphasized Claire’s viscount title while questioning whether travel to her territory was troublesome, and Shane stepped in to praise Nafu City.

At Duke Charlie's wedding banquet, Claire confronted a young noble who insulted her and refused to apologize when his mother, Amy, threatened to ruin her businesses. Claire stood firm and declared she would rather face hardship than bow to Amy.

• A young noble belittled Claire as a border viscount, and Claire answered by listing her magic rank, businesses, and title as reasons he was not better than her.
• The boy challenged Claire to a duel, but she shredded his handkerchief with magic and reminded him that he was only a Magic Apprentice.
• Amy arrived to defend her son and demanded that Claire apologize, while Shane tried to mediate by offering her a Tulip Shop product.
• Amy rejected Shane's appeal and threatened to shut down Claire's businesses and trade, but Claire refused to apologize and said she would never bow her head to Amy.

Claire confronted Lady Amy at a wedding banquet, but Marquis Hubert, Sophia, and Shane’s father intervened and forced her to back down. After speaking with Sophia and Shane, Claire went to the restroom, where he found a disheveled young man staring blankly into a mirror.

• Claire defied Lady Amy after she threatened him and ordered him thrown out of the banquet.
• Marquis Hubert appeared and asked Lady Amy to let the dispute end, while Sophia and Shane’s father also stood with Claire.
• Lady Amy backed down and left with her son after realizing Claire had the support of powerful nobles.
• Claire spoke with Hubert and Sophia, thanked her for her support, and again refused to join her necklace venture.
• Shane apologized to Claire, who went to the restroom and found a disheveled young man standing blankly before the mirror.

Claire met a despondent young man in the restroom and encouraged him to face hardship, then returned to find noble girls seeking her company at a wedding banquet. Irene interrupted their gathering and warned Claire about Yana, while Claire’s teasing left Irene flustered.

• Claire dried the young man's wine-stained clothes and urged him to overcome hardship, and he thanked her before they parted.
• Claire found Shane surrounded by girls who wanted her contact information, and Yana of the Guen Family introduced herself and invited Claire to talk.
• Claire welcomed Yana and chatted with the other girls while promoting Nafu City as a place to visit.
• Irene clung to Claire's arm, driving some of the girls away, while Shane sent the remaining guests off to prepare for the wedding banquet.
• Yana winked at Claire as she left, and Irene warned Claire not to trust her before blushing at Claire's praise.