Chapter 158: Ice Heart Ring

Under the tyranny of Erza and the others, Josh could only weep inwardly and had no choice but to sell the crystal at cost price—one thousand Rank One Mana Cores.

Evan was very happy after getting such a good bargain, and his heart leaped with joy.

"How do I use it?" He asked while holding the three-centimeter-wide, light-blue crystal.

"Just put a drop of blood on it, and you’ll be able to use it," Josh said, looking gloomily at the Mana Cores on his counter.

Evan pricked his finger and placed a drop of blood on the crystal. The moment his blood touched it, the crystal absorbed it and shone with a light-blue glow before returning to normal.

Suddenly, Evan felt that a connection had been established between him and the crystal.

He focused his mind on this connection, and a holographic screen suddenly appeared before his eyes.

[Contacts: None]

A look of surprise flashed across Evan’s eyes as he immediately realized that the holographic screen was very different from his Status Window.

His Status Window was directly connected to his consciousness, and he could see it even with his eyes closed.

Meanwhile, the holographic screen projected by the Communication Crystal appeared directly in front of his retinas.

The two were completely different.

Taking a deep breath, he turned to Alice and asked, "How do I add contacts?"

"Here," Alice said, taking out her own Communication Crystal. "Just touch your crystal to mine, and you’ll be able to contact me anytime."

Evan touched Alice’s Communication Crystal with his own, and his crystal made a ding sound.

He shifted his attention to the contact list, and a name appeared there.

[Contacts: 1. Alice]

Evan tried calling her, and he immediately felt his Mana flow into the Communication Crystal. Soon, Alice’s crystal began glowing dark blue, indicating that someone was trying to contact her.

Seeing this, Evan canceled the connection and nodded in satisfaction.

"Alright, now that you’ve got what you wanted, get out of here!" Josh said, shooing Evan and the others away.

"Elder, I also want to purchase some Exit Stones," Evan quickly said when he saw Josh trying to chase them away.

"Exit Stones?" Josh shook his head and sighed. "Sorry, young man, but I don’t have any at the moment. They’re very popular items, so they sell out as soon as I get a new batch."

’These rascals will ask me for another discount if I sell them my precious stones. It’s better to chase them away before they rob me of anything else,’ Josh thought inwardly, feeling pleased with his own wisdom.

"Oh, here they are! I found some!"

Just as Josh was feeling happy, he heard Erza’s voice and abruptly turned his head, only to see her picking up some stones from the lower shelves.

Erza brought the Exit Stones to the counter and shook her head.

"You’re really getting old, Grandpa. I found ten Exit Stones here. If I hadn’t taken them out, they would’ve just turned to dust with the passage of time."

Josh’s eyes twitched violently when he noticed the cunning smile on Erza’s face.

However, he couldn’t exactly tell them that he didn’t want to sell the stones, so he coughed lightly.

"Ahem! Indeed, I’m really getting old. I completely forgot about them..." He snatched the stones from Erza and looked at Evan. "They’ll cost you fifty Mana Cores each. How many do you want?"

Erza’s eyes widened, and she pointed at Josh.

"Old man, you already forgot about these stones. If I hadn’t found them, who knows how long they would’ve been left there collecting dust? Don’t you think you should at least give us a discount since I found them?"

Evan and the others nodded at Erza’s words and collectively looked at Josh with expressions that practically screamed, Give us a discount!

Josh wanted to tell them that he hadn’t forgotten about the stones, but he couldn’t bring himself to say those words.

In the end, he still gave them a discount and sold Evan one Exit Stone for forty Mana Cores.

"Alright, now scram! I don’t want to see any of you here again!" Josh said in a deep voice, glaring at them as though they were a bunch of thugs who had robbed him in broad daylight.

Evan had also wanted to buy a Recording Crystal, but unfortunately, Josh claimed he didn’t have any available.

Who knew whether he was telling the truth or lying? Regardless, they couldn’t exactly beat him up and force him to sell something he didn’t have.

"Well, let’s go, then," Evan said with a shake of his head, deciding not to think too much about it.

However, just as he turned around to leave, he suddenly noticed a shining sky-blue ring with a light-blue, heart-shaped gemstone set in its center on one of the shelves.

Evan approached it and examined its details.

---) Ice Heart Ring (Rare-Grade): A ring made from an Ice Heart Jewel. It grants the wearer the blessing of ice.

---) The Blessing Of Ice: Grants immunity to cold temperatures and reduces damage from ice-attribute attacks by 5%.

Evan studied the ring’s description and was surprised to discover that, although it didn’t grant him any stat points or flashy skills like his Thunder Ring, it would protect him from cold temperatures as long as he wore it.

This ring was practically a passive skill that would constantly protect him from low temperatures, allowing him to use his full power even in cold environments.

He had heard about many dungeons that were difficult to conquer not because of their monsters, but because of their harsh environments.

With this ring, he would be better prepared to handle situations in which he found himself in a freezing environment.

Evan thought for a moment before bringing the ring to Josh.

"Elder, I want to buy this."

Josh, who was still dazed after being robbed by a bunch of young thugs, snapped out of his thoughts upon hearing Evan’s voice and looked at him.

"You’re still here?"

"I want to buy this," Evan repeated, showing him the Ice Heart Ring.

When Josh realized that Evan still wanted to buy something, he wanted to curse him out. However, he held back and took a deep breath.

Josh looked at the Ice Heart Ring and said, "It’s three hundred Mana Cores, and there’s no discount this time."

Evan’s mouth twitched when he saw Josh’s stern expression. He felt that if he dared to ask for another discount, the old man would definitely whip him.

Knowing it was impossible to buy the ring cheaply, he sighed and took out three hundred Mana Cores.

The moment Evan took them out of his Storage Ring, Josh snatched them away as though he feared Evan might change his mind and put them back.

Evan was speechless when he saw how quickly Josh snatched the cores from him. However, he didn’t say anything and left the shop with Alice and the others.

"Humans really are terrifying. Just by making a human friend, Erza and the others have completely changed," Josh mumbled to himself after everyone had left.

"I should warn my grandson never to make a human friend. Otherwise, he might also become a thug like them."