Chapter 57: Bargain Hunting
Chapter 57: Chapter 57: Bargain Hunting
But Magic Plant Spaces had always been rare. Even when Andre offered all these Witchcraft Artifacts and the value of his Storage Ring combined—a sum comparable to the smallest Magic Plant Space—no one was willing to trade with him.
Instead, the crowd gathering and gossiping around Andre only grew larger.
Faced with the crowd’s chatter, Andre showed no signs of impatience. He simply waited at his stall. A month passed like this. He even managed to collect some Elemental Crystals, but there was still no news of a Magic Plant Space.
Still, Andre wasn’t worried. There was no use in rushing such matters.
Seven more days passed. Andre packed up his things, took them all to the academy’s shop, and exchanged them for Magic Stones. After posting a request to purchase a Magic Plant Space in the Task Hall, he began to wander through the marketplace.
’Let’s see what good things are available in the market!’
Andre activated his Eye of Truth, and a vibrant, multicolored world instantly appeared before him.
Countless moving lights of different colors filled his vision. These lights were the Magic Power within the bodies of the Wizard Apprentices.
Andre looked down at the ground, where the lights were even more brilliant.
’It’s hard to see anything clearly like this!’ Andre blinked, and the colors began to contract, resolving into the shapes of people and Magic Plants.
’Much better. This is more suitable for finding what I want!’
Looking at the world now visible to him, Andre breathed a sigh of relief.
He had accidentally discovered this new function of his Eye of Truth while searching for ingredients to make the Thousand Extremes Potion in the Black and White Forest. Through repeated practice, he had since mastered this change.
’The brighter the color, the higher the value. But to make real money, I need to find bargains or search for mutated specimens among the piles of Magic Plants. Fortunately, that isn’t too difficult for me.’
Andre blinked and began to wander through the marketplace.
After passing four or five stalls, Andre stopped and crouched down to sort through a pile of ores.
"Those are all White Iron Ores. If you want to craft Witchcraft Artifacts or Tools, this Cold Silver Steel is much more suitable."
The stall owner saw Andre rummaging through the White Iron Ore and kindly reminded him not to pick the wrong type of ore.
"White Iron Ore and Cold Silver Steel might be different, but the two ores grow together, and each has its own use. Because of its cold properties, Cold Silver Steel is an excellent material for crafting Water and Ice Element Witchcraft Tools, but White Iron Ore isn’t useless either."
A faint smile appeared on Andre’s lips as he listened to the stall owner’s advice.
"Because they grow together, White Iron Ore has excellent resistance to cold. It’s an essential building material in frigid regions. As it happens, I’ll be heading to a rather cold place soon. How many Magic Stones for all this White Iron Ore?"
Andre looked up and asked the stall owner.
"If you want it... four hundred Magic Stones!"
The stall owner was taken aback. He had been lost in thought about what Andre said, so when Andre suddenly asked for the price, he couldn’t react in time and subconsciously quoted a relatively low price.
The moment the price left his lips, the stall owner felt a pang of regret.
If what Andre said was true—that White Iron Ore had good cold resistance—then its price should at least be double. But he had already named his price, and it wouldn’t be right to change it now.
Andre nodded, took out 400 Magic Stones, and handed them to the owner. He then placed the pile of White Iron Ore into his Storage Ring and continued his search for the next target.
’400 Magic Stones for a piece of Crystal... Even if it’s only half the size of my index finger, this is an incredibly profitable deal.’
Andre rubbed his Storage Ring and continued to roam the market.
This time, after walking for ten minutes, he finally spotted his second target.
"Fragrant Grass, ten stalks for one Magic Stone."
The stall owner announced the price as soon as Andre crouched down.
Andre paused for a moment, then picked out his target, paid the Magic Stone, and left.
’A Clear Spirit Flower, a Level 1 Magic Plant, worth thirty thousand. It’s a mutated version of Fragrant Grass, extremely rare, and a main ingredient for making Talent Potions.’
After leaving the stall, Andre recited the target’s value to himself.
Because Clear Spirit Flowers are a variation of Fragrant Grass, the lucky few who find them often mix them in with bundles of Fragrant Grass to sell, which is why Clear Spirit Flowers rarely appear on the market.
’High-value items are usually screened out. Bargains can only be found in these bulk goods.’
Andre continued to wander through the market, finding quite a few small bargains along the way.
His ability to find these bargains was all thanks to the special nature of his Eye of Truth.
And so, Andre walked until the sun went down before finally stopping.
’A whole day of walking, and I’ve only covered a third of the market.’
Andre leaned against a tree, massaging the bridge of his nose. Due to prolonged use of the Eye of Truth, his eyes were starting to feel hot and strained.
As a result, even if Andre wanted to keep searching for bargains, he no longer had the strength.
Andre took out a Potion from his Storage Ring and applied two drops to his eyes to relieve the fatigue.
As he closed his eyes to rest, Andre mentally calculated the total value of his haul from today’s bargain hunting.
’One Crystal: 15,000 Magic Stones. One Clear Spirit Flower: 30,000 Magic Stones.’
’One piece of Crimson Flame Copper: 12,000 Magic Stones. One Void Calm Vine: 50,000 Magic Stones. Four pieces of Ice Nether Iron: 40,000 Magic Stones. One Vermilion Heart Grass: 7,000 Magic Stones. Two Jingbai Stones: 100,000 Magic Stones.’
’Total value: 254,000 Magic Stones. Subtracting my expenses of 76,000 Magic Stones, I’ve earned a profit of 178,000 Magic Stones. No wonder they say a man can’t get rich without a windfall, and a horse can’t get fat without night fodder. Finding bargains is just too profitable!’
After calculating his day’s earnings, Andre opened his eyes and applied two more drops of the Potion.
’This is so much faster than making Magic Potions to earn Magic Stones. But bargain hunting relies on luck. You need someone who doesn’t know the true value of their goods to find a deal, which makes it highly unpredictable. So, it can only be considered extra income.’
Andre blinked a few times, and once his eyes felt normal again, he left the marketplace.
’If I process this haul into Magic Potions and Witchcraft Artifacts, their value will increase even more. But I’m missing many of the necessary materials, so I’ll need to spend a significant amount to maximize the value of these items.’
Andre returned to the Wizard Inheritance Hall, pondering how to increase the profit from his day’s haul. As he thought about it, a smile spread across his face.
’Looks like I inherited a merchant’s Bloodline after transmigrating here, huh?’