Chapter 33: The Mind-Boggling Potion Sale
Mushroom Prophet and Kaiser placed both signs outside the door. Baha, who had witnessed the entire process, had disbelief in his eyes. He couldn't believe that Kaiser was willing to offer a discount and reduce profits—this was far more absurd than a pig climbing a tree.
Su Xiao had no particular opinion on this, but he firmly believed one thing: Kaiser's so-called 20% off was definitely different from the 20% off that ordinary people understood. Based on his knowledge of Kaiser, it might even be a reverse 20% off. That bastard Kaiser was fully capable of doing such a thing.
Leaving the treehouse, Su Xiao noticed that Mushroom Village had undergone considerable changes. The entire village was still surrounded by vines, as if woven into a large bowl inverted over the village. Apart from the circular skylight above, there was only one exit leading to the outside world, giving a strong sense of security.
Originally, the village only had two clusters of wooden buildings with a winding dirt road in between. Now, the flower beds and fungal beds around the village were occupied by tents of various colors. The mushroom people in the village said nothing, clearly having received substantial benefits and welcoming the participants' presence here.
The only tavern in the village, being the largest building, had nearly turned into a team recruitment guild. Many participants came here to find teammates, as venturing alone into the high-risk area of Bay City was suicidal for most people.
The area covered by the vines had been certified by the Void Tree as a temporary safe zone. Fighting here not only came with an extremely high damage reduction but also caused the attacking party to suffer severe attribute penalties and forced equipment deductions.
If someone recklessly attacked another, three moves would drop them back to seventh rank, and after a full combo, their attributes would be permanently reduced to below third rank. This was permanent damage to the body.
It was precisely these restrictions that allowed the violators and contractors here to coexist peacefully. However, while safe zones appeared, killing zones naturally emerged as well. Within three kilometers outside Mushroom Village, it was all a killing zone.
Don't forget, killing other participants not only earned 1 point of basic killing merit but also allowed you to seize all the killing merits the victim currently possessed.
This created a situation where less outstanding participants had to leave the village in groups. After all, lurking outside were contractors from Reincarnation Paradise and Death Paradise, along with quite a few divine stick wielders from Sanctuary Paradise.
It could be said that after Mushroom Village became a safe zone, the madmen of Reincarnation Paradise were overjoyed. Previously, they couldn't find people to hunt, but now they could just block the exit of Mushroom Village, and someone would come out sooner or later—like feeding a tank full of piranhas.
With so many participants gathered, it was inevitable that trading would occur, or they would simply set up stalls. Now that the participants were about to explore the high-risk area of Bay City, whether for tickets or supplies and recovery items, they all needed Soul Coins.
This led to the formation of a small market in the southern area of the safe zone. Several hundred participants gathered here, making the market quite sizable. With participants from various paradises, the items were diverse, tempting people to browse a few rounds to see if they could find a treasure.
Su Xiao followed the noise toward the small market. Upon arrival, he saw participants setting up stalls along a stone path that was originally used by Mushroom Village to dry rice or seeds.
The noise was lively, and occasionally someone would curse during price negotiations. Some hot-tempered individuals would 'enthusiastically' invite the other party out for a one-on-one fight, with the loser being the coward.
Su Xiao currently had 54,044 Soul Coins on him, and he also had some items he wanted to sell. Before he had gone far, he spotted acquaintances—the Three Brothers of National Football.
"Brother Bai Ye, when did you arrive at Mushroom Village? I didn't see you earlier."
The eldest of the Three Brothers of National Football raised his hand in greeting, while the second brother was calculating something, and the third was already lying back asleep—ordinary people couldn't achieve that sleeping posture.
The eldest didn't mention the previous incident in the Queen's bedchamber. That kind of situation was too common; they had experienced it countless times while fighting their way to eighth rank. Besides, they had been set up by Wood.
Su Xiao crouched in front of the stall and found that the items were all products of the Black Forest. Not finding anything he wanted, he greeted the eldest brother and continued browsing the market.
Before he had gone far, Su Xiao encountered another friend—Solomon.
Solomon silently nodded in greeting. This was only because it was Su Xiao; if it were anyone else, Solomon, the undead system archmage, wouldn't bother acknowledging them.
"Are you entering Bay City?"
Su Xiao lit a cigarette and made a motion to toss one to Solomon. Solomon raised his hand to indicate he didn't have that habit.
"Yes."
As Solomon spoke, he pointed to the stall in front of him, and all the items immediately dropped by 10% in price. Unfortunately, there was nothing Su Xiao needed. These items were relatively valuable, but that also meant they were hard to sell.
Solomon was actually not poor at all. The items on this stall alone were worth at least 30,000 to 35,000 Soul Coins. His problem was that he consumed resources heavily.
Among the three major poor systems of Reincarnation Paradise, Solomon was both an undead system and a mage lord. He had also dabbled in technique abilities before, but he was so poor that he couldn't improve those abilities much.
At that time, the Hell Knights under Solomon breathed a sigh of relief, knowing their warhorses were safe. The Death Lord cowered and dared not speak, as the gems on his sword had already been pried off and sold. He feared that if he breathed too heavily, his master might notice and pry off the gems on his crown as well. This wasn't a delusion; a female banshee colleague's headdress had been torn off and sold, leaving her resentful for a long time.
Su Xiao tossed two long crystal cases to Solomon and said, "These are tickets."
"How much do I need to pay?"
The taciturn Solomon rarely uttered five words. Interestingly, when communicating in text form, Solomon's messages were much longer.
"I made them."
"Hmm?"
Solomon's eyes widened slightly, but recalling the permanent magic-type enhancement potions Su Xiao had sold him before, he nodded thoughtfully.
The reason Su Xiao gave Solomon two bottles of [Life Secret Medicine] for free was an investment. Given Solomon's strength, once the Great Relic opened, he had a high probability of fighting his way inside.
If the situation became chaotic at that time, Su Xiao could entrust Solomon to help block for him while he used the [Talent Awakening Device].
Su Xiao continued strolling through the small market. At one stall, he found someone selling Soul Crystals (Complete). This was rare to encounter in Paradise's trading streets or markets. Since the participants were in urgent need of Soul Coins, selling some Soul Crystals (Complete) to tide them over wasn't impossible.
According to market prices, Soul Crystals (Complete) cost 100 to 150 Soul Coins each. At this stall, they were 125 Soul Coins each, so Su Xiao bought all ten.
Su Xiao had a great demand for Soul Crystals (Complete). His current Blood Spear Grandmaster skill was at Lv.57, and to raise it to Lv.59, he needed 200 more Soul Crystals (Complete). Additionally, the subsequent [Technique Type Sub-System] ability might also require this resource.
Raising Blood Spear Grandmaster to Lv.60 as quickly as possible to trigger a major improvement was a good strategy to enhance his combat power. Unfortunately, even in this situation, few participants were willing to sell Soul Crystals (Complete), preferring to keep them for themselves.
There were only a few stalls left ahead. At an unmanned stall, Su Xiao spotted a good item.
"Long time no see."
A female voice came from behind. The voice sounded somewhat familiar. Recalling the tone and the owner's completely transparent constant form, Su Xiao remembered it was Divine Hidden from Holy Light Paradise—an invisible healing type who, when in conflict with others, would start being sarcastic. In the World of Paintings, she had nearly broken Molei's composure.
"Isn't this Yin-Yang Girl?"
Baha spoke. It had also 'clashed' with Divine Hidden before. In terms of sarcasm, Itachi·Baha would acknowledge Divine Hidden as the strongest.
"Heh~, hello there, Diao Bro."
Divine Hidden spoke. Baha = Sand Sculpture = Diao Bro.
Soon, Baha and Divine Hidden started 'opening their microphones' to communicate. Su Xiao was attracted by an item on the stall—a piece of Overlord equipment with a very high initial rating.
[Collector]
Origin: Wind Sea Continent · Overlord Creature · Chi Ox
Quality: Overlord Rank
Category: Special Equipment
Durability: 120/120
Equipment Requirements: Strength above 10 points, Physique above 10 points, Charm below 10 points.
Equipment Effect: Collect (Active): This ox horn can absorb various types of energy (including material energy, spiritual energy, elemental energy, etc.) and store them at the bottom. Over time, the energy within this ox horn will be purified, filtered layer by layer, and stored at the tip. After unscrewing the middle section of this ox horn, the purified energy can be released.
Rating: 1519 points
Introduction: A curious item crafted from the horn of the exotic beast Chi Ox. Though limited in use, its effect is remarkable. This Overlord-level existence once had its mate lured away by a magnificent celestial horse, causing the residual spiritual power within this equipment to be extremely repulsive to charm characteristics. Those with excessively high charm cannot use this equipment.
Price: After use, it will undergo soul binding, making it unsellable.
...
An Overlord equipment with such a rating, even if its effect was useless to most contractors, would cost at least tens of thousands of Soul Coins. At the very least, taking this item to a designated location in Paradise for decomposition would yield 1 to 2 fist-sized Overlord Essences.
Overlord Essences had no grade distinction, only size. The Overlord Essences Su Xiao had obtained before were mostly the size of longan nuts or walnuts. As his enemies grew stronger, the Overlord Essences he now obtained were generally fist-sized. It was said there were even coconut-sized Overlord Essences, but Su Xiao had never seen one.
[Collector] was priced at 9,999 Soul Coins. Divine Hidden, behind the stall, saw Su Xiao pick up [Collector] and introduced, "This is a good item..."
"If it's a good item, why are you selling it?"
Baha's question dealt internal damage to Divine Hidden. Indeed, if it was a good item, why wasn't she using it? The answer was simple—she couldn't use it at all.
"We're all at eighth rank now. Whose charm attribute is still below 10 points? Even if you occasionally gain 1 point in a mission world, it's still above 20. What kind of stupid prerequisite is this?"
Divine Hidden cursed. This was an item she had blind-bid on in Holy Light Paradise's auction house. When she opened the chest and saw it was Overlord equipment, she was overjoyed. After reading [Collector]'s attributes, a bucket of cold water was poured over her head. The ups and downs of life were too sudden.
"Oh! I remember now, your charm attribute is -9 points. In the World of Paintings, I scouted you. You can definitely use this equipment, hahaha."
"If you can talk, say more."
Baha immediately retorted. Divine Hidden chuckled without counterattacking, but she raised the price of [Collector] to 13,000 Soul Coins.
...
Su Xiao glanced at Divine Hidden's faint outline, then stood up to leave.
"Divine Hidden, you'll have to leave the village eventually, right?"
Baha smiled as he looked at Divine Hidden, causing her breath to catch. She was used to selling things in Holy Light Paradise, and after setting up her stall, she instinctively acted as if she were still in Holy Light Paradise, forgetting for a moment that she was in Mushroom Village.
If it were anyone else, Divine Hidden would have shown them both middle fingers. She was confident in her stealth abilities, but she suddenly realized that Su Xiao was a Hunter from Reincarnation Paradise. Among the six Paradise factions, no one was better at hunting than Hunters.
"Wait, wait, wait."
Divine Hidden spoke, and Su Xiao paused.
"Brother, I was just joking. Why are you so unable to take a joke? We're all good brothers here."
Divine Hidden quietly changed the price of [Collector] to 7,000 Soul Coins.
...
Su Xiao didn't respond. He was thinking about how much time it would cost to block Divine Hidden, what her willpower was like, and whether a few injections of [Mercy Thorn] would make her yield.
After weighing things using the Law Annihilation formula, Su Xiao felt the success rate of this was very low, and the time cost was too high.
[You have paid 7,000 Soul Coins.]
[You have obtained Overlord Equipment · Collector.]
The reason Su Xiao bought [Collector] wasn't because of his charm attribute 'advantage.' He didn't know about other Paradises, but in Reincarnation Paradise, there were people at eighth rank with charm below 10 points, though not many.
Purifying or filtering energy seemed like a useless ability to other contractors, offering no help in combat. But in Su Xiao's view, this ability was very useful.
Whether when concocting potions, manufacturing Apollo, or cultivating Devourers, this characteristic could be used. In the short term, it seemed like a loss, but from a long-term perspective, buying this for 7,000 Soul Coins was absolutely not a loss.
Not finding any other items he wanted, Su Xiao found an empty spot to set up his stall. He had just sat down on the ground and taken out items to display when a notification appeared.
[Notification: This area has been contracted by Arbitrator · Nicholas Kaiser. To sell items here, you need to pay a stall rental fee of 5 Soul Coins per hour. If you rent for a single session of 10 hours, it will be discounted to 10 Soul Coins.]
Seeing this notification, Su Xiao was speechless for a moment. Kaiser and Mushroom Prophet really knew how to stir things up, even coming up with stall rental fees.
The fee Kaiser set was clever. 5 Soul Coins per hour was expensive, but renting for 10 hours at once discounted it to 1 Soul Coin per hour. This not only lowered the price but also subtly increased the participants' stall time, thereby boosting popularity and attracting more people to set up stalls.
Su Xiao looked at the items he wanted to sell in his storage space. He now had a large sum of Soul Coins. These items could be taken back to Reincarnation Paradise and sold by Beini.
Returning to the treehouse, Su Xiao found it had been temporarily expanded. At the far end were two adjacent counters—Kaiser on the right and Mushroom Prophet on the left, separated by a wooden partition.
Kaiser's counter read: "Points Recharge Center."
Mushroom Prophet's counter read: "Item Exchange Center."
Additionally, Kaiser's 'improvement' of [Life Secret Medicine] had been completed a few hours ago, renaming it [Blood Strengthening Potion] and changing its usage from injection to drinking. It had to be said, Kaiser was truly talented in the art of swindling.
Everything was ready, only one announcement needed to be released. The original plan was to use Mushroom Prophet's authority to issue a Void Tree announcement, but Mushroom Prophet refused. While it was possible to create such an announcement, the cost was unimaginably high.
Su Xiao and Kaiser had to settle for the next best option—having Aidoer Papa pay 300 Soul Coins to post a high-authority message in the World Contact Platform. This message would be pinned at the top of the platform for a period and wouldn't be pushed out of visibility by other messages for an hour.
"Let's begin."
Kaiser spoke from behind the wooden counter. Aidoer, standing beside Su Xiao, covered her face with one hand. Hearing Kaiser's words, she looked at Su Xiao with a pleading expression.
Su Xiao pretended not to see, causing Aidoer to gradually put on a pained expression.
A few seconds later, in the World Contact Platform:
Aidoer Papa (Special Overlord): "Good news, good news, great news! The village chief of Mushroom Village is selling [Blood Strengthening Potion]! With it, you no longer need to fear the [Water Stagnation Blood] effect of Bay City! It's not only a 'ticket,' but after drinking it, it can also cure endocrine disorders, prostate enlargement, incomplete urination, waiting to urinate, hemorrhoids, athlete's foot, etc. Men, women, old, and young all say it's good! Don't miss it if you're passing by!"
Carrollo (Apocalypse Paradise): "Hahahahaha."
National Football Second Brother (Reincarnation Paradise): "Haha, this is too ridiculous."
Anonymous (Apocalypse Paradise): "I've saved this screenshot. When I get back to Apocalypse Paradise, I'm submitting this to 'This Week's Top Five Ridiculous Events.'"
Aidoer Papa (Special Overlord): "No!!!"
Witch Doctor (Sanctuary Paradise): "This..."
Anonymous (Apocalypse Paradise): "Hahahaha, I'm dying of laughter (Revival Coin -1)."
Hyena (Death Paradise): "I'm more curious, is this potion really the ticket?"
Divine Hidden (Holy Light Paradise): "This is a ticket sold by a neutral unit, certified by the Void Tree and put into an exchange shop. Can you believe it?"
Xiao Ju (Death Paradise): "Learned something new."
...
The World Contact Platform was buzzing with discussion. Some were laughing hysterically at the advertisement. Without a doubt, this ad written by Kaiser for Aidoer—mentioning prostate enlargement, hemorrhoids, athlete's foot, etc.—was all aimed at low blows. It was definitely Kaiser's style.
Su Xiao looked at Aidoer. The girl was already squatting by the wall with her hands covering her face. Thinking about how she would end up on 'This Week's Top Five Ridiculous Events' and might even top the list, she wasn't just blushing; her blush had spread to her neck.
"Aidoer, what is 'This Week's Top Five Ridiculous Events'?"
"It was started by someone in our Apocalypse Paradise. At first, it only circulated within a large adventure group, like a newspaper updated weekly. Later, it spread more and more, and all kinds of bizarre news kept appearing."
Aidoer shared a few messages and said, "This is from two editions ago."
Su Xiao checked the messages Aidoer sent. It was somewhat like a news report, but only five items, some with attached photos. The content was:
TOP1: A newbie contractor got lost after entering a mission world and called the police officer uncle for help. Due to his international wanted criminal status, he was shot on the spot by the officer uncle.
TOP2: A contractor learned the wrong ability, accidentally learned a female ability, and turned into an E-cup in three days (with attached photo).
TOP3: A contractor held his staff backward and accidentally blew his own head off.
TOP4: A newbie contractor in his first trial world falsely claimed to be a doctor. While performing surgery on a companion, he was too nervous and accidentally injured himself and two assistants. Due to the technologically backward era, including the injured, all four died from wound infections.
TOP5: During a battle, a first-rank contractor intended to drink a recovery potion but took the wrong bottle and drank poison, killing himself on the spot. His opponent drew the remaining poison from the Scarlet Card. In a later battle, that person also mistakenly drank the poison as a recovery potion.
...
Seeing these ridiculous events, Su Xiao was somewhat speechless. The low-rank contractors of Apocalypse Paradise really had all kinds of bizarre characters—truly a gathering of talents.
"Aidoer, I estimate that in two to three weeks, you'll be on the list."
Baha laughed maliciously, and Aidoer's pained expression became even more pronounced.
Just then, someone pushed open the door. The newcomer was bare-chested, with dark golden dragon scales on his arms—it was Scale Dragon · Alec.
Alec had met Su Xiao a few times. He had come to buy [Blood Strengthening Potion] to gain entry to Bay City.
Alec headed straight for Mushroom Prophet's counter. After activating the exchange shop, he found it was a points system. [Blood Strengthening Potion] was inside, priced at 100 points.
After a brief exchange with Mushroom Prophet, Alec looked displeased. In his view, buying points with Soul Coins and then using points to exchange for items was like taking off pants to fart.
With this mindset, Alec went to Kaiser's window. After checking the points exchange rules, he found it was a 1-to-1 exchange—1 Soul Coin equaled 1 point, with a minimum exchange of 100 points per transaction.
Alec decided to exchange 100 points first, just enough to buy one bottle of [Blood Strengthening Potion] to see the quality of this 'ticket.' He activated Kaiser's points shop.
[You have paid 100 Soul Coins.]
[Kaiser has enjoyed a 20% discount.]
[You have received 80 points.]
[Due to Kaiser's unique ability 'Fee X' being triggered, you will bear a 3% transaction fee for this trade.]
[You will pay 10 Soul Coins as a transaction fee (due to ??? ability causing 'rounding,' the calculation is: 100 × 3% = 3 × ??? = 10).]
[Due to a low-probability event, you have triggered the 'Fee X' ability again. You need to pay a 3% fee on the 10 Soul Coins transaction fee.]
[You will pay 10 Soul Coins as a transaction fee (due to ??? ability causing 'rounding,' the calculation is: 10 × 3% = 0.3 × ??? = 10).]
[Your total payment for this transaction is 120 Soul Coins.]
...
After receiving these notifications, Alec's eyes widened slightly, as if confirming he hadn't misread. The 20% discount, the fee, and the fee on the fee all stimulated his nerves.
"You!"
Alec was about to make a move when he received a warning from the Void Tree. Kaiser was now considered a semi-neutral unit.
This left Alec so frustrated that his face darkened. He gloomily went to Mushroom Prophet's counter and activated the exchange list. He almost spat out blood—he had only exchanged for 80 points, not enough to buy [Blood Strengthening Potion].
A few minutes later, Alec finally exchanged for a bottle of [Blood Strengthening Potion], but he quickly noticed that while the potion's effect was decent, its duration was lacking. He felt that this stuff had been watered down.
After a moment of silence, Alec left with a look of disgust. Seeing the wooden sign outside that said 20% off, he almost kicked it in anger.
The first victim left, and a few more people came to buy [Blood Strengthening Potion]. Without exception, they all left looking like they doubted their life choices.
Soon, another acquaintance entered the treehouse—Crow Woman.
As soon as Crow Woman entered, she saw Su Xiao sitting there. Not only did she show no hostility, but she even winked at him with her left eye.
Crow Woman was the type to chat and laugh naturally, even somewhat cheerful, but when it came to fighting, she was the most ruthless.
"Bai Ye, have you seen Shenfu recently? Is he still in the Treeborn World?"
...
Su Xiao didn't speak. Seeing this, Crow Woman snorted lightly and muttered something under her breath. She went to Kaiser's counter to exchange points.
One minute later, the smile on Crow Woman's face disappeared. She coldly stared at Kaiser, memorizing his appearance completely.
"Dear customer, your gaze is really frightening. Kaiser better not show his face."
Kaiser took out the Abyssal Jar, enlarged it a few sizes, and put it on his head, merging man and jar.
Crow Woman was momentarily stunned, then immediately stepped back several paces. She naturally knew about the Abyssal Jar. At this moment, someone was wearing it on their head, which she found unbelievable, to the point of temporarily forgetting about the 20% discount and fees.
After a while, Crow Woman exchanged for [Blood Strengthening Potion] and left, unwilling to stay a second longer.
With a bad reputation established, Kaiser's goal was achieved. He took off the Abyssal Jar, ran to the door to retrieve the 20% off sign, and then reported himself.
That's right, Kaiser reported himself, claiming he suspected he was a profiteer and wanted to turn over a new leaf.
[Announcement (Void Tree): The profiteer · Nicholas Kaiser has been punished. All ill-gotten gains have been confiscated, and his reputation has been significantly reduced. However, due to Nicholas Kaiser's good attitude in confessing his crimes and his self-correcting behavior, he will not be expelled from this world for now. Additionally, the neutral unit · Mushroom Prophet is no longer allowed to open an exchange shop using the points system.]
Since it involved an exchange shop opened by a neutral unit, the probability of an announcement appearing after the issue was resolved was high. This was exactly what Kaiser and Mushroom Prophet wanted to see.
No faction's credibility could surpass that of the Void Tree and the Paradise factions. For an individual to have the Void Tree issue an announcement, the cost was astonishingly high. That's why Kaiser pulled this stunt—first becoming a profiteer, then reporting himself.
After this move, the effect immediately became apparent. Many participants in Mushroom Village came to the treehouse to buy [Blood Strengthening Potion]. Although 100 Soul Coins per bottle wasn't cheap, they had to buy quickly. No one knew how much stock there was or whether Kaiser would pull some other stunt later.
Nearly half the morning passed quickly with the potion sales. Around noon, Mushroom Prophet did a tally: a total of 270 bottles of [Blood Strengthening Potion] were sold. After deducting the 10% certification fee for opening the exchange shop, Su Xiao took 12,150 Soul Coins, Kaiser took 7,290 Soul Coins, and Mushroom Prophet took 4,860 Soul Coins.
This was just the appetizer. Kaiser's second move quickly followed. He hid in a secluded spot, changed his clothes, enlarged the Abyssal Jar a bit, put it on his head, and after merging man and jar, he set up a separate wooden shed near the treehouse to sell the currently scarce recovery potions.
The recovery potions Kaiser sold had an astonishing stock of 370 bottles (actual stock was 6,700 bottles). This potion was called [Life-Saving Elixir], and its price was particularly cheap—only 10 Soul Coins per bottle. Under the current circumstances, this was an incredibly fair price.
[Life-Saving Elixir]
Origin: ???????
Type: Recovery Item (Only usable within this world)
Effect: This potion cannot be used in combat. When consumed outside of combat, it quickly restores 99% of health.
Introduction: Economical and practical.
...
This suspicious potion had an unknown origin, no displayed quality, and no displayed rating—a typical product with no three guarantees. However, its effect was outstanding. Although it couldn't be used in combat, it could restore 99% of health outside of combat, and its price was only 10 Soul Coins per bottle. This cost-effectiveness was almost unbelievable.
On the wooden table in front of Kaiser stood a sign that read: "Fair and Just, No Deception, Honest and Upright, Genuine Goods at Fair Prices."
Seeing this, Su Xiao had Bubu blend into the environment and go to Kaiser to get a bottle of [Life-Saving Elixir].
With Su Xiao's expertise in alchemy, as soon as he got the potion, he sensed something was off. So he opened its data, switched to a separate projection, took out a small electron microscope to examine the potion's data, and scanned it for records. Sure enough, under the microscope's observation and recording, the potion's effect became:
"This potion cannot be used in combat. When consumed outside of combat, it quickly restores 0.17% to 99% of health."