The Drunken Scholar

Zijin thought for a moment. "Russell and Galio have a hidden hideout up north. Their spellbooks and research materials are there. We can look for them when we go."

"When we go?" Su Ming caught the scholar's wording. "Do we have to go there?"

"Sooner or later. All the spatial spell materials Galio collected are stored there."

Galio the Traveling Crow was the most renowned researcher in the field of planar teleportation. It was only natural that he had amassed a large stockpile of related spell materials, and Su Ming had to agree.

He recalled Zijin's meeting with the chamber of commerce's representative a few days earlier. "Don't you already have the materials? Why were you trying to buy more from Charles of the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce?"

The scholar had not only brought it up during the meeting, but had also sent a message to the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce afterward with a substantial purchase list. Charles had politely declined the request, saying he needed time to prepare.

"The planar teleportation that brought you here proved that most of what academia originally considered planar materials were wrong," the scholar explained. "What I'm missing are other materials, so I need to sell off the ones I can't use."

"Hold on!" Su Ming raised a hand and thought for a moment before it clicked. "You told Charles all that and rushed to buy from him because what you really wanted was to sell to him?"

"That's right!" Zijin admitted. "Materials in the planar teleportation field are scarce and expensive, but they have limited uses, so the market is slow. I'm fabricating demand to lure Charles in. That way, I can sell off this batch of junk and use the money to buy the supplies we need."

Su Ming understood