Chapter 28: Emptying the Family Savings

He browsed the stalls for a while longer and bought a few items that caught his eye.

BEEP BEEP. Someone was sending him a message. Su Xingyu opened the channel.

[Black Star]: "Brother Yu, I brought the guy over. Same old place."

[Xingyu]: "Okay, wait a few minutes. I'll be right there."

[Black Star]: "Sure thing."

Leaving the street of stalls behind, Su Xingyu headed straight for the courtyard Wang Dong had rented.

After so much time had passed, Su Xingyu was no longer the clueless newbie he had been when he first arrived. By scrolling through the information channels, he had gained a general understanding of the City of Gods. Take this courtyard, for instance. Renting it in the City of Gods for a single day cost 50 Divine Source—fifty times more than staying outside to set up a stall. It was exceedingly expensive.

Even so, quite a few people still rented houses here, especially merchants.

The reason came down to one single point: the flow of time within the courtyard could be freely adjusted, capable of even matching the time flow of This Plane at its maximum. Renting a courtyard saved Players a significant amount of time.

At this moment, Su Xingyu's physical size was larger than the doorway. However, when he stepped into the courtyard, the entire space instantly widened, as if everything inside had been magnified to accommodate him.

"Brother Yu, you've grown stronger again." As soon as Su Xingyu entered, Wang Dong, who was waiting in the living room, sensed his arrival. He hurried out and looked at the towering Dark Divine Spirit in awe.

Through their interactions over the past few months, he knew Su Xingyu wasn't the type to show off by intentionally enlarging his body to become the center of attention. Therefore, there could only be one reason for his current size: his strength was growing too quickly for him to fully control, resulting in an overflow of Power.

"A little bit of progress," Su Xingyu replied, nodding with a smile.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Wang Dong led Su Xingyu further inside. "The guy is already here. He's just inside."

The two entered the living room, where a Human Race Player was already waiting. Seeing Wang Dong lead someone in, the man stood up and smiled. "Black Star, this must be the big client you mentioned."

"Yes." Black Star was the title Wang Dong had chosen for himself, much like an online screen name. "This is Li Qing, a Religious Stream Divine Spirit. And this is Xingyu, a Lord Stream Divine Spirit."

"Hello."

"Hello."

The two nodded slightly in greeting.

"Black Star mentioned that you wanted to buy a Magic Scripture, Brother Xingyu. I happen to have one on hand. I wonder if it'll be to your liking?" Since the two had never met before, they skipped the small talk and got straight to the point.

Bound by the influence of his Believers, a Divine Spirit's form would change accordingly. Li Qing's Divine Spirit manifestation appeared rather elderly, exuding a kindly and gentle aura.

A thick book materialized in Li Qing's hand, and he passed it over. Su Xingyu took the book, noticing the system notarization mark on its cover.

Flipping it open, Su Xingyu casually browsed through the contents before nodding. "It's very good. What's your price?"

"This book contains over a thousand types of Magic, including more than a dozen Middle Tier Spells. It took a lot of effort for me to collect all of this," Li Qing said, avoiding a direct price quote in favor of highlighting the book's value and the difficulty he faced in compiling it.

Only then did he speak slowly, "Ten thousand Divine Source."

"..."

Su Xingyu frowned but didn't rush to answer. Instead, he countered, "How many Players right now do you think are willing to spend ten thousand Divine Source on this book? It's too expensive. If you remove the restrictions, I might barely find that price acceptable."

GASP...

Li Qing's expression remained unchanged, but internally he was incredibly shocked, drawing a sharp breath. He had only thrown out a high initial price to leave room for bargaining later. He never expected that someone could actually fork over ten thousand Divine Source to buy an item at this stage.

"You must be joking, brother. This is my livelihood, after all." Li Qing chuckled, vaguely brushing over the topic.

The "restrictions" he mentioned referred to a system agreement: for a set period, the buyer was forbidden from leaking the Magic Skills within the book to other Players through any means.

"How about five thousand Divine Source? This price is already a great discount," Li Qing offered.

Su Xingyu shook his head. "Make it three thousand. It certainly wasn't easy for you to collect this, but I'm not your only customer. Besides, I already possess some of the Magic recorded here—I just haven't organized them yet."

Li Qing hesitated for a moment before nodding slightly, agreeing to Su Xingyu's offer. "Deal, three thousand it is. However, do you have Blood Crystal Stones? I'd like you to convert the payment into Blood Crystal Stones at the current market rate. How about a 1:100 ratio?"

"Sure." Su Xingyu nodded in agreement. He really wasn't short on Blood Crystal Stones at the moment. Even with the growing population in the Night Tribe, owning several Blood Crystal Ore Veins meant he still generated a massive surplus. His warehouses were already overflowing. It couldn't be helped; the Extraordinary Warriors simply couldn't absorb the Blood Crystal Stones faster than the tribe could mine them.

"Thank you."

The two quickly completed the transaction.

"You must be planning to develop a Magic System. Mages can't get by with just a Magic Manual. I also have the basic Meditation Methods for the eight major Elements. I wouldn't call them top-tier, but their Effects are definitely solid," Li Qing said, a bright smile appearing on his face now that the transaction was complete. "If you want them, you can have them for one thousand Divine Source. If you pay in Blood Crystal Stones, I'll give you a five percent discount."

Su Xingyu's face twitched slightly. However, after taking a look at the items, he couldn't resist and bought them anyway. The Night Tribe did have Mages, but their Cultivation methods were entirely based on luck and lacked any value for widespread teaching.

"Now you have Meditation Methods and a Magic Manual. I think no matter what, you should equip your Mages with Magic Staffs... I happen to have a batch of Black Iron Level Magic Staffs here. How about 150 Blood Crystal Stones each?"

Su Xingyu: "..."

"Ten percent off."

"I'll take them."

"A Magic Staff only increases a Mage's combat Power. If you really want to boost their Cultivation speed, you need a Magic Robe. A Black Iron Level Magic Robe is universally compatible with all Elements and can increase a Mage's Element absorption rate by ten percent. Buy in bulk for a discount. If you buy enough, I'll even throw in a Golden Level Magic Robe for free."

"I'll buy them."

"..."

Seeing that Su Xingyu was so wealthy, Li Qing brought out all of his hoarded goods, every single one of them related to Magic.

Half an hour later, Li Qing beamed with joy as he looked at his inventory space packed with Blood Crystal Stones.

"Brother, let's add each other as friends. If you need any Magic-related items in the future, you can always come to me. I'll give you a discount."

After adding each other as friends, Li Qing left, completely satisfied.

Su Xingyu stood in place in silence, lost in thought.

"Brother Yu, are you okay?" Wang Dong, who had been standing by in awe of the two men's sheer wealth, finally snapped out of his daze and asked quietly.

"I'm fine," Su Xingyu shook his head and sighed. "I just didn't expect you to know such an incredible Player. His Magic inventory is exceptionally rich."

"Uh... honestly, I was shocked too."

While Li Qing's pile of Magic Items had stunned Wang Dong, Su Xingyu's financial strength was actually far more terrifying to him. After all, from what he knew, Li Qing's Divine Position seemed to be "Wisdom."

It wasn't altogether surprising that Li Qing could produce a Magic Encyclopedia and Meditation Methods. Those naturally fell under the purview of his Divine Position. However, the Magic Items he brought out afterward definitely weren't all his own—or at least, not exclusively his creations. Without a forging-type Divine Spirit and a large number of blacksmith apprentices, it would be absolutely impossible to churn out so many Magic Items.

Moreover, there was the issue of gathering materials. A single Religious Stream Divine Spirit like Li Qing could never scrape together so many Magic materials on his own. Barring any surprises, Li Qing definitely had a team backing him up.

As for Su Xingyu, he had casually forked over hundreds of thousands of Blood Crystal Stones without batting an eye. This truly astounded Wang Dong.

He was freaking rich!