Knowledge Is Power

"Young Master Lin Qi, this Burning Trap is only a white-quality Magic Card. Why is it so expensive?"

Early the next morning, it was card-selling day at the Wonderful Tales Shop once again.

A crowd had already gathered outside the shop, plainly eager to see whether it had the cards they wanted this time.

Lin Qi took his place behind the counter and put up a sign that read "Honesty comes first."

"Young man, the Burning Trap is white-quality, that's true, but it's a two-star card. In all your years, have you ever seen a white-quality two-star card?"

The young man shook his head blankly, and the people around him began whispering among themselves.

The two-star cards at the Ten Thousand Cards Pavilion were all green-quality. They really had never heard of a white-quality two-star card.

"Exactly!"

Lin Qi suddenly raised his voice, drowning out all the noise.

"How much do two-star Magic Cards cost at the Ten Thousand Cards Pavilion? Which one doesn't start at two thousand Ka'en? Mine is also a two-star card, but it's only fifteen hundred Ka'en. Do the math-isn't that a huge bargain?"

"That makes sense!"

Someone in the crowd immediately chimed in. "How much cheaper do you expect a two-star card to be? Besides, this is Master Lin Feng's work. Even as a collectible, it's worth more than fifteen hundred Ka'en."

"Exactly, exactly! Give me one. My boy just became a One-Star Card Apprentice and needs a Secondary Card to protect himself!" Someone else was more direct and pulled out his money on the spot, instantly making up the minds of those who were hesitating.

Once someone led the way, sales took off. Lin Qi maintained a calm expression as he collected money and handed over cards, but inside, he was overjoyed.

He had fused each Burning Trap from five junk cards worth one Ka'en apiece. The cost was practically negligible, yet each one brought in fifteen hundred Ka'en.

"Too bad I can't sell them without restraint. Otherwise, a hundred thousand Ka'en a day wouldn't be a dream."

Lin Qi understood better than anyone that a tall tree catches the wind. Although he had a hundred Burning Traps, he only dared put twenty up for sale, enough to whet everyone's appetite without drawing too much attention.

Even so, those twenty alone would bring in a reliable thirty thousand Ka'en.

"Burning Traps are sold out! Next up is a one-star Magic Card, the Sound and Light Bomb! Everyone, please quiet down and let me explain it in detail..."

As Lin Qi launched into an animated explanation, fifty cards were snapped up in the blink of an eye, and only then did the noisy crowd gradually disperse.

"Whew, that was exhausting."

He slumped into a wicker chair and took big bites of black bread, sweat dripping from his jaw onto the front of his clothes.

Ruilian was working the abacus. When its clattering stopped, his face was full of delight. "Xiao Qi, we made thirty-eight thousand Ka'en in total this time!"

Lin Qi wasn't surprised by the figure.

The Magic Cards he had sold this time were all white-quality. Aside from the two-star Burning Traps, whose price he had raised to bring in thirty thousand Ka'en, the rest had basically sold for less than the Ten Thousand Cards Pavilion charged.

But the Ten Thousand Cards Pavilion had card makers to support, while all his cards were junk transformed into treasures by the Dust Star Card, so it could all be considered pure profit.

"Uncle Ruilian, you've been stuck at Three-Star Card Master for a long time. Take these Source Crystals and use them. Come to me for more when you run out."

Lin Qi placed five Source Crystals on the table.

"Source Crystals?!"

Ruilian looked astonished, plainly unable to understand where Lin Qi had gotten them.

"Xiao Qi, Source Crystals aren't common in Stone Iron City. Keep them for your own cultivation. My talent is what it is; they'd be wasted on me."

Ruilian had just begun to decline when Lin Qi interrupted him.

"Uncle, take them. I have plenty more Source Crystals. I'm going to the church to read, so I'll leave the shop to you."

"Xiao Qi, I..."

Seeing that Ruilian still wanted to refuse, Lin Qi dashed out, leaving him alone.

"That boy..."

Ruilian shook his head and put the Source Crystals away.

As he walked along the road, Lin Qi murmured to himself, "Uncle Ruilian's talent is average. I have to advance his Natal Card, or even with the help of Source Crystals, the results won't be very good."

Lin Qi wasn't worried about cultivation resources now.

He could exchange Ka'en for Source Crystals at the Lava Church. The market rate was twelve thousand Ka'en for one Source Crystal, but his status as a Messenger of God got him a massive discount: one thousand Ka'en per Source Crystal.

Even that was something Lin Qi had strongly insisted on. Otherwise, Xiaoduo had planned to simply give him the Source Crystals.

As a cardinal who symbolized the spirit of martyrdom, Xiaoduo received a salary and cultivation resources from the Card Master Association every month.

But because Stone Iron City was so remote, those things were ultimately converted into Source Crystals and issued once a year.

On top of the Source Crystals issued each year for enlightenment, Xiaoduo had so many that even chests couldn't hold them all.

Of course, all that was just a drop in the ocean.

Lin Qi had once asked Xiaoduo why he had come to a small, out-of-the-way third-tier city like Stone Iron City.

At first, Xiaoduo said it was because of divine instruction, so he could come and meet Lin Qi.

Only after Lin Qi pressed him did he learn that Xiaoduo had heard there was a large amount of Fire Crystal Ore around Stone Iron City. To create a perfect statue of the God of the Flame Hell, he had come all the way from the royal capital and stayed for over thirty years.

Lin Qi's jaw had nearly dropped.

The three-meter-tall statue in the church had actually been built out of Fire Crystal Ore!

Ruilian had said that a single piece of Fire Crystal Ore could sell for a hundred thousand Ka'en. If the whole statue were dismantled and sold, it would be a veritable mountain of gold on the move.

In the Lava Church's study, sunlight streamed through the stained glass, casting dappled patches of light on the floor.

There were many books here, all brought from the royal capital by Xiaoduo back then.

"They're all books praising the God of the Flame Hell. Aren't there any history books?"

Lin Qi flipped through a few and immediately lost interest.

"Rustle~"

Just as he was about to look for another kind of book, he suddenly heard a faint sound from a corner of the study.

"Someone there?"

Lin Qi's nerves instantly went taut. He drew the Eerie Vine Demon's card and crept toward the source of the sound.

Behind a bookshelf, a slender figure crouched on the floor, long golden hair spilling over her shoulders like a sunlit waterfall. She was engrossed in an ancient, yellowed book and didn't notice anyone approaching.

"Alicia?"

Lin Qi called out in surprise. Wasn't this girl the eldest young lady of the city lord's residence?

Alicia spun around. When she saw who it was, her delicate face was also full of astonishment.

"Lin Qi?"

"What are you doing here?" Their voices rang out at the same time, then both stopped.

Lin Qi answered frankly, "The bishop gave me permission to read here."

"The bishop's permission?"

Although Alicia was somewhat puzzled, she nodded.

"I've been free to come and go from the church since I was eight, and the study has always been open to me."

Lin Qi's eyes lit up. He'd been worried about finding the books he wanted to read.

"Beautiful Miss Alicia, then you must know the books here very well, right?"

Because of what had happened with the Wind Chime Cat, Alicia had a poor impression of Lin Qi, but she still stood and gave him an elegant smile. "What kind of book are you looking for?"

Lin Qi replied at once, "I'd like to read some history books about the Source Card Continent or the Lava Kingdom."

"You actually like reading history books?" Alicia looked utterly surprised.

As far as she was concerned, history was full of dry, false accounts, nowhere near as entertaining as storybooks and travelogues.

Even so, she raised a hand and pointed to a bookshelf at the very back of the study. "That shelf at the very back is full of Origin Card history books. Pick one yourself."

"Thank you."

Lin Qi hurried over, his face full of eagerness for knowledge.

"When reading, start with history. Only by understanding history can you understand the true meaning of the world."

He pulled out a copy of Chronicles of the Source Card Continent at random, and as soon as he opened the first page, the opening words drew him in.

"Legend has it that when the universe first came into being, there was only a Sea of Source Cards, churning in chaos..."

As Lin Qi focused on reading the history book, Alicia put down her own book and stared at him without blinking.

This guy can actually understand history books?

She had thought Lin Qi was a merchant who loved money as much as his own life. Now it seemed she had underestimated him.

A merchant who's eager to learn and ask questions, loves money as much as his own life, and is quite capable at getting things done. If Lin Feng really is a card maker, as the rumors say, then Lin Qi may well amount to something in the future.

Although Alicia wasn't a merchant, her grandfather was a profiteer.

Back then, he had bought the mine in Stone Ridge Village cheaply, hired the villagers to work it, and used the profits from the mine to curry favor with the nobles of the Iron Anvil Duchy. In this way, he rose from an ordinary merchant to the city lord of Stone Iron City, achieving a spectacular reversal of fortune.

Although her family were merchants at heart, by Alicia's generation, her father had never let her get involved in the city lord's business. He only had her focus on acquiring knowledge, cultivating Source Power, and learning noble etiquette, hoping to completely wash away their background and identity as merchants.