Chapter 345 Debt-Free and Light as Air

When Xia Nan walked into the Verdant Crucible, Edwina was standing alone behind the counter, a soft cloth in hand, gently wiping her Rimless Glasses.

This gentle woman with long, wavy hair had been running her herb shop in town for many years. Thanks to her high-quality goods and prices much lower than the Association's alchemy shop, many adventurers chose her store when buying basic salves and poultices.

Over time, she had built up a large base of regular customers, and her stellar reputation had gradually spread throughout Rivervale Town.

Xia Nan remembered when he had first arrived in town. Because of a gathering quest for Glowgarlic Vines, he had gifted her a bottle of Magma's Sigh.

He knew that this gentle and intellectual lady had a rather contrasting passion for genuine "strong liquor."

Catering to her tastes, he had gradually established a solid relationship with her.

The bell above the door chimed softly, echoing between the exquisite yet uncrowded shelves of the Verdant Crucible.

Edwina put her glasses back on and looked at the familiar figure before her, a smile naturally spreading across her face.

"Welcome, Xia Nan."

"How was it? Did your journey go smoothly?"

Returning the greeting, Xia Nan slipped off his bulging backpack and placed it on the counter.

As he took out the harvested fog lamp grass and carefully arranged it on the surface, he casually replied, "Overall, it was fine, but I ran into a slight delay in the middle."

"The heavy rain a few days ago caused a mudslide that completely blocked the Canyon's entrance. I had to go in from the other end to gather the fog lamp grass."

Hearing this, Edwina stared blankly for a moment.

"The other end?" she asked.

"That place isn't easy to find. You have to go deep into the basin."

"I've heard adventurers mention it before. There's apparently a small village nestled around there, and they aren't very friendly to passersby."

"The route is definitely complicated." Placing the last stalk of fog lamp grass on the counter, Xia Nan nodded slightly. "Without a local to guide you, it's very hard to find the path leading to the village."

He only brought it up casually, but for Edwina—who had a steady, annual demand for fog lamp grass—it was a topic worth noting.

Frowning, she asked, "How bad is the mudslide blockage? Is there any way to clear it?"

As if realizing something, Xia Nan's thoughts raced, and he didn't answer her immediately.

The gathering quest for fog lamp grass was posted every year, which meant that regular Adventurer Squads would head to the Canyon's vicinity every so often.

If they found the Canyon's entrance completely blocked by a mudslide, their only option to complete the quest would be to enter through the other side.

Would that be good news for Fog Lamp Village?

Xia Nan didn't think so.

With the village chief dead and Aspen serving as the acting leader, the Canyon was no longer a forbidden zone for Fog Lamp Village. Passersby could travel through it without restriction.

To some extent, adventurers—who were typically generous with their coin—could boost the village's economy and bring more opportunities to the impoverished villagers. That much was undeniably good.

But on the other hand, through his experiences over the past year or so, Xia Nan had gained a relatively clear understanding of the general moral character of adventurers in this world.

Lady Edwina's request was posted on the Association Second Floor, meaning anyone capable of taking it was a veteran adventurer with an established Class Level.

This implied a higher quest completion rate, but it also meant these individuals possessed overwhelming strength that ordinary people couldn't possibly resist.

In the years to come, if even a single evil-leaning individual who treated commoners like pigs and livestock were to take the request—

Given Fog Lamp Village's pitiful state after years of devastation from the sacrificial ritual, it would absolutely not survive such a blow.

The area was remote and entirely unsupervised. Whether the village was slaughtered or not would depend entirely on the conscience and mood of the passing adventurers.

Weighing all this, Xia Nan finally gave his answer. "It's actually fine overall. The rain was just too heavy at the time, and the road conditions were overly complicated. I didn't want to risk it, so I chose the other side."

"The entrance isn't completely blocked off. Under normal weather conditions, the terrain is perfectly traversable for a Class Holder. There's no need to take a detour."

He wasn't lying, nor was he exaggerating or covering up the actual situation at the Canyon's entrance.

His slight hesitation in responding to her question, however, allowed the meticulous and observant woman to grasp the young adventurer's stance.

Since it wouldn't affect the fog lamp grass harvest in the coming years, and seeing as he clearly didn't want to discuss the other side of the Canyon, she didn't press the matter and went straight to business.

Her Rimless Glasses caught the faint light as her gaze swept over the fog lamp grass on the counter. Every so often, she would pick up a stalk to inspect it closely.

Though he didn't know what criteria she used to evaluate the quality of the fog lamp grass, her demeanor gave off an incredibly professional air.

After ten solid minutes of inspection, Edwina's face—which always turned exceptionally serious when professional matters were involved—finally softened into a warm smile. She looked up at Xia Nan.

"The quality is excellent across the board! Thank you for your help!"

"I'll submit the highest possible quest rating to the Association later."

150 gold, secured!

Even though the money hadn't hit his account yet, such a massive payout made waves of excitement ripple through Xia Nan's heart, drastically improving his mood.

He was in no rush to leave.

Instead, he waited for Edwina to put away all the fog lamp grass before taking out the biological materials he had harvested from the Fog Lamp Monster and setting them on the counter.

"This is loot I collected from a monster in the Canyon. See if it has any salvage value."

Xia Nan obviously wasn't going to treat her like a fool.

The Fog Lamp Monster's physical characteristics were so obvious that even he could spot them, let alone the experienced owner of a herb shop.

Claiming it had absolutely nothing to do with fog lamp grass would only arouse her suspicion and make him look insincere.

Besides, he had already burned down the druid's wooden cabin and garden, and the diary was currently on his person.

It was better to simply explain the situation to make it easier for her to appraise.

"I suspect it's a mutation of the fog lamp grass. It was highly aggressive toward humans," he added.

"But it seems there was only one of its kind in the entire Canyon. I did a thorough sweep afterward and didn't find any signs of others."

Edwina didn't overthink it.

After all, even the villages around Rivervale Town occasionally found mutated crops that differed from their normal counterparts during the autumn harvest.

The Misty Forest was rich with magic particles. Because the Canyon was located right on the outer edge of the forest, the concentration of magic particles in the air was much higher than elsewhere.

Coupled with the unique nature of the fog lamp grass as a magical crop, it actively emitted magic particles when it bloomed.

No matter how low the probability, with year after year passing by, it wasn't too surprising that a special mutation had eventually birthed a plant-type monster.

The smile on Edwina's face slowly faded into an expression of intense focus. She leaned forward slightly, scrutinizing the biological materials Xia Nan had presented.

The first thing that caught her eye was, naturally, the Fog Lamp Monster Core. Even though it had been separated from the main body for days, it still emitted a bluish-white glow and was surrounded by a hazy mist.

"Is this the inflorescence of the fog lamp grass? No, it's visibly larger, and the shape is much fuller," the woman murmured to herself as she observed it closely.

"The glow given off by ordinary fog lamp grass flowers is softer, and the moment they're detached, it quickly fades. But this... it's almost entirely crystallized, like some sort of gemstone essence."

Edwina picked up the floral core with a pair of tweezers and held it up to the light, her eyes narrowing.

"The purity of the crystallization is very high, and there are traces of flowing magic. It seems the glow emitted by the fog lamp grass has been condensed and solidified inside this core."

"Hmm, I can feel the magic particles gradually dissipating from within. It's clearly not a constant light source, so it can't be used as a material for enchanting equipment. But if it were used in alchemy..."

Her long, wavy hair swayed gently in the breeze blowing in from outside. Frowning slightly, the woman fell into deep thought, seemingly considering the potential uses for the Fog Lamp Monster Core.

Only after a long while did she gently set down the crystallized fog lamp grass flower.

She turned her gaze to the side, looking at the bundles of thorny, purple-green vines—the toughest parts of the Fog Lamp Monster's body.

Compared to the glowing crystal core, these vines were clearly much easier to evaluate.

Edwina simply picked up one of the bundles with both hands. After pulling and testing it for a few minutes, she had already formed a rough analysis.

"Its physical properties are outstanding. The toughness even surpasses many known enchanted woods. If you need to craft high-level traps, longbows, or thorned whips, you might want to consider keeping it and finding a suitable artisan to process it."

"Of course, it would still require detailed strength testing beforehand. That's something you'll need to keep in mind."

Edwina straightened up and folded her hands in front of her, returning to her gentle and affluent demeanor.

"To be honest, I can't price this loot for you based on conventional materials."

"After all, naturally mutated monsters like this are incredibly rare. When it comes to fog lamp grass, you might not see one for decades."

"I hope you can understand that."

Xia Nan nodded slightly in agreement.

He knew very well from the diary that the Fog Lamp Monster was an experimental subject created in advance by that evil druid for his ascension ritual. There wouldn't be a second one in the entire world.

With that as a given, its biological materials naturally had no references for comparison.

Whether it had value, and exactly how much it was worth, depended entirely on the buyer's own discernment.

"Then I'll speak frankly." Edwina leaned forward, the eyes behind her glasses looking straight at the black-haired youth with absolute sincerity. "Although I have a few vague processing ideas in mind, buying these carries a certain amount of risk for me."

"It is, after all, a brand-new material that has never appeared on the market. Everything has to start from scratch."

"Material quality, magical reactions, compatibility with other ingredients—"

"If it later proves that their quality doesn't match expectations, or if the experiments fail, then the money spent will essentially be thrown down the drain."

"The risk involved is huge, the margin for error is low, and the potential returns are entirely uncertain."

"So, no matter how rare the materials themselves are, my purchase offer won't be exceptionally high."

"But there is one thing I can guarantee. Out of all the shops in Rivervale Town capable of processing such unfamiliar materials and willing to take them on, the terms I can offer will absolutely be the most generous."

Edwina's expression was earnest. After explaining the situation, she gave him her quote point-blank.

"The crystal core, plus these bundles of vines—"

"320 gold."

Xia Nan's heart leapt. Her offer had clearly met his expectations, but he wasn't in a rush to agree. Instead, he considered it seriously.

First of all, just like the Rockhammer weapon shop, Lady Edwina of the Verdant Crucible had always maintained a stellar reputation among the town's adventurers. He had done business with her many times and built a fairly deep relationship.

She had no reason to ruin the reputation and brand her shop had accumulated over so many years just for a few hundred gold coins.

The offer—in all likelihood—was perfectly fair.

Secondly, the "high-level traps, thorned whips, and longbows" she had mentioned didn't fit his combat style. Since he had no need for them, there was naturally no reason to keep the materials to craft gear. It was better to just sell them for cash.

Finally, to be honest, Xia Nan had harbored his own expectations for the selling price of these materials before coming here.

Unlike Edwina, he actually had a few points of comparison.

The Armored Lurker had a Challenge Rating 4. He had missed out on its most valuable feathered gills, but still managed to sell some of its nerve fibers, carapace, and a single eyeball for 100 gold.

The Petrification Lizard was Challenge Rating 3. It was inherently one of the most lucrative types of monsters at its tier. Coupled with the rare fact that they almost never appeared in the Misty Forest, the small half of the skeleton Adeline had helped haul back, along with its heart and stomach sac, had fetched a total of 683 gold.

Using those two as a baseline...

Based on Xia Nan's actual combat experience, the Fog Lamp Monster's Challenge Rating was probably somewhere between 2 and 3, slightly lower than the previous two.

Plus, he hadn't brought its entire body back. He had only taken its core floral crystal and some of its toughest vines.

He had just been hoping to make a little extra cash on the side.

Given all that, 320 gold was already more than the combined total of the various quest rewards and scrap materials from this trip.

It vastly exceeded Xia Nan's original expectations!

Deciding not to haggle, he nodded at Lady Edwina, who was waiting patiently for his answer.

"Deal."

The bell chimed softly.

Xia Nan pushed open the door of the Verdant Crucible herb shop and slowly stepped outside.

The once-bulging backpack slung over his shoulder had been completely emptied.

In its place were three extra Crystal Cards tucked into his waist pouch.

Once the paperwork for the various commissions at the Association was processed and the rewards hit his account, combined with the 320 gold he had just earned, his total profit from this adventure would reach 575 gold, 7 silver, and 3 copper (fluctuating by about 10 gold depending on the exact payouts from the two Goblin subjugation quests).

Adding in his original savings and the salvage value of the chainmail...

The balance in his bank account—

It was back in the four digits!

Even if it was only temporary, destined to drop back down once he paid off his debt for the enchanted armor, Xia Nan couldn't stop the wave of relief washing over him.

He just felt the ever-increasing weight that bills and debts had pressed onto his shoulders suddenly lift away.

It was as if he had shrugged off an invisible burden.

Even his footsteps grew a bit lighter as he headed in the direction of the blacksmith shop.