Chapter 166: The Market for Enchanted Materials

Chapter 166: The Market for Enchanted Materials

As the days of the Witch Hunt faded further into the past, many factions chose to pull back. Too much time had passed. Even if that Witch hadn’t fully recovered her strength, her overall power wouldn’t be far off. Continuing to take risks under such circumstances could very well cost an entire faction everything. Persisting simply wasn’t worth the potential losses; it was better to stop early and avoid futile actions that only brought harm.

Inside the Bar, Qin couldn’t help but smile lightly as she looked at the sneaky Alchemical Avatar before her. “The recent commotion concerning your affairs has mostly died down.”

“That’s true, but some people still refuse to give up,” Zheng Yichen said, resting his chin on his hand with a slight sense of helplessness. He wanted to acquire a batch of good materials from Qin. Unfortunately, this place was simply too far from where his main body was located. Any materials obtained here could only be stored in his Workshop and couldn’t be sent to support his main body.

“Those who refuse to give up are just minor opportunists. The only ones who haven’t truly abandoned their efforts are those with deep reserves and long-established strength. Most ordinary factions have pretty much given up,” Qin stated.

“Ah~ Anyway, I need some materials… Can I owe you for now?”

“Hmm? Sure,” Qin replied with a soft laugh, looking at her own hand. “I’m counting on you to maintain this Avatar well in the future.”

“Uh, about that… I probably can’t make a better one within at least a year,” Zheng Yichen said, looking somewhat conflicted at the Avatar Qin was using. Honestly, he envied this Avatar. Its craftsmanship and materials were both top-tier. This body simply ignored Magic that could detect the true identity of the Avatar he himself used.

With an Avatar like this, Zheng Yichen felt he could move about freely in the sunlight without a care, unlike his current situation where he had to be sneaky about everything.

“Only a year?”

“Hey, doesn’t that indirectly prove my quick progress?” Zheng Yichen grinned. “I’ve already made a plan. There might be new improvements in Avatar creation in the future, but I’ll talk about the specifics then.”

As he spoke, Zheng Yichen placed a list in front of Qin. Qin glanced over the contents. It didn’t require many high-grade materials; most were ordinary Enchanted Materials. She guessed Zheng Yichen was probably planning to produce some kind of mass-produced item again. “That’s quite a lot of stuff. Pick it up yourself at the usual place in two days.”

“Alright,” Zheng Yichen nodded. He always collected the goods himself. This wasn’t Earth, after all, where some people were too lazy to go out and needed delivery services. In the Otherworld, being diligent wasn’t a bad thing. Even though his relationship with Qin was fairly good, it wasn’t close enough for him to reveal the location of his Workshop. Barring any accidents, he planned to use that Workshop for a long time, and the fewer people who knew about it, the better.

However, when faced with beings like Dan Marina, Zheng Yichen felt truly helpless. She found him purely by cheating. No matter how tightly he tried to guard against it, she could always find a loophole.

During those two days, Zheng Yichen wasn’t idle. He didn’t use his Projection to handle matters in his Workshop, though he hadn’t tended to it for a while due to recent events. The Alchemical Puppets there were still working and had accumulated quite a number of resources, but most of those were ordinary materials. There weren’t many true Enchanted Materials.

Finding a pure Enchanted ore deposit was incredibly difficult. Most that were discovered were held by various empires or major factions. The profits from the Enchanted Materials market were too great. After being divided up and traded among these high-level factions, anyone else trying to get involved would be like throwing meat buns into a dog kennel.

No backing? Anyone who meddled would get into trouble.

Besides keeping an eye on his Workshop affairs, Zheng Yichen spent most of his time reading in the Underground Library. This time, his focus was on books about Enchanted Materials. He indeed found a lot of related knowledge. For example, certain special Alchemy techniques could simulate a degree of Demonization in ordinary materials, producing Inferior Enchanted Material. Its effects were similar to low-grade Enchanted Material, but it had a major flaw.

Materials that weren’t naturally Enchanted had no potential for further improvement. Whatever strength they were made with was what they’d have forever. Even nurturing them with Mana wouldn’t change that. This Alchemy technique was considered a ‘secret formula,’ developed by an Alchemy master. Zheng Yichen thought about it; there didn’t seem to be much of this Inferior Enchanted Material on the market… Perhaps it was never disseminated after being researched. The book in Loris’s Underground Library was probably a unique copy.

It made sense. If such a Secret Method got out, even if it could only produce materials close to low-grade effects, it would cause a huge impact on the Enchanted Materials market. After all, the entire market was largely supported by low-grade Enchanted Materials. Most people couldn’t afford high-grade stuff anyway.

Even though Inferior Enchanted Materials lacked the potential for growth, under normal circumstances, how many people making weapons or equipment from low-grade Enchanted Materials were actually planning to nurture and improve them?

The growth potential of low-grade Enchanted Materials was terrible! Putting in ten times the effort might only yield one time, or less, of improvement. Who in their right mind would do such a foolish thing? So one could imagine how popular Inferior Enchanted Materials would be once they hit the market, especially with a lower price. Flaws? Those minor flaws wouldn’t matter!

So, after seeing this Alchemy secret formula, Zheng Yichen felt conflicted. Should he attempt such an obviously risky move? If handled poorly, he’d become a target, undoubtedly getting squeezed out. “Forget it. I can’t produce that much alone anyway. Being self-sufficient is enough. There are plenty of ways to make money. No need to forcefully break into the exclusive market of Enchanted Materials.”

This Alchemy secret formula also involved Potionology… Hmm, related to Potionology. So, after finding the book recording this secret formula, Zheng Yichen tried to look for books related to its author. Sure enough, he found one concerning Potionology… and inside, he found a Potionology formula related to the secret formula. It wasn’t a potion for people, but one for use on materials. Basically, it was an Otherworld version of coating…

By applying a specially made Magic Potion to ordinary materials, it created an enchanted protective coating, allowing the material to temporarily possess the effects of an Enchanted Material and resist Mana erosion. Essentially, the Alchemy secret formula for making Inferior Enchanted Material was a deeper utilization of this potion, fully integrating it into the material.

In short, to make Inferior Enchanted Material, one first needed a foundation in Potionology. “Even though I plan to get involved in this area eventually… sigh~ Let’s leave it for now. Not enough time. I’ll think about it later.”

Muttering to himself, Zheng Yichen put the two books back and started handling the tasks for his Workshop. Those materials had arrived. He was planning to make a Transport Aircraft to ship some resources from his Workshop to his Secluded Refuge.