Yuehua Academy, Trade Market.
Wu Wei had spotted a bull horn on display in the stall.
"Did Yellow just resonate with this?"
Narrowing his eyes, the bull horn's attributes appeared before him.
..
Item: Broken Bull Horn
Quality: Common
Level: 10
Description: Although it is a very plain-looking bull horn, there are mysterious symbols on its side.
..
"How much is this?"
When Wu Wei saw the Bull Horn's attribute, he immediately asked for the price.
When Wu Wei asked about the price for the 'leftover merchandise', he did not think it would cost much.
However, the stall owner casually called an earth-shattering price.
"200 runic stones."
Wu Wei was dumbfounded. He raised his head and looked at the stall owner. It was the first time he had looked closely at the big-shot stall owner.
He realized that the big shot was female.
She was a girl with an exceptionally well-built physique. Even though she was seated, she was still around Wu Wei's height, and when she stood up, she turned out to be around 1.8 meters tall. She was wearing leather armor designed with a set of wings.
It was November now, and her clothes were not suited for winter.
However, no one would dare question her taste in fashion – not after seeing her muscular physique, and especially not after seeing her war hammer.
When Wu Wei noticed her, she spoke straightforwardly.
"There is not a single item I would sell that could be considered ordinary. As for this bull horn, I simply am not interested in researching it much. Since you're interested in it, you must have noticed its specialness."
"However, I won't ask what it is you've noticed. I'll sell it to you for 200 runic stones."
"If you stand to gain, it's your business. And if you don't – well, it's still your own business!"
Wu Wei cursed his 'luck'.
"Fine!"
Although regretful, Wu Wei did not hesitate. He immediately forked out the 200 runic stones for the bull horn.
It was the most significant sum of money that Wu Wei had ever spent in his life.
However, Wu Wei believed that it was worth it. After all, it must have been something special to have resonated with Yellow, so it was 200 runic stones well spent.
After obtaining the bull horn, Wu Wei went to a secluded corner to summon Yellow. He gave the bull horn to Yellow, hoping to gain an insight into its use.
Wu Wei could roughly decipher a piece of information with Yellow's help.
Unfortunately, the answer Wu Wei discovered was not one he had hoped to hear.
The bull horn was useful to Yellow – but only after the First Stage.
"Well, at least the First Stage is already within grasp…."
After the inspection, Wu Wei put the bull horn away and headed for 'Brother' Black Robe's stall.
The black-robed stall owner noticed Wu Wei approaching from afar.
When she saw him, she immediately lowered her head.
Wu Wei observed this and guessed he was in low spirits.
"Was the refinement of the Runic Treant Pill a failure?"
Looking at how depressed 'Brother' Black Robe seemed, Wu Wei could roughly guess what had happened.
The black-robed young woman simply nodded without using the sign.
Next, she buried her head in her arms.
Wu Wei had trusted her so much to give her both the recipe and the necessary ingredients, yet she had still failed to refine it, so she did not have the face to see him right now.
He will be angry, right?
He will scold me, right?
He won't be my friend anymore, right?
Thinking of this, the black-robed young lady could not help but tear up.
At this moment, a hand patted her head.
"It's okay. If you fail, so be it. Don't be depressed!"
The black-robed young lady was shocked. She raised her head in disbelief and began writing on her sign.
[ Aren't you angry? ]
"What's there to be angry about? Isn't failure common in pill refinement? Failure is the mother of success. Just treat it as accumulating experience. Don't be discouraged! Keep working hard, and you will definitely succeed!"
Wu Wei's words caused the black-robed young lady's eyes to sparkle. At this moment, Wu Wei seemed to her like he was shining with a warm, radiant light.
"Oh right, since you failed, are there any medicinal dregs? Where are they? Let me take a look. There might be something special!"
Hearing this, the black-robed young lady hurriedly took out a large jar full of medicinal dregs.
The sight of the three kilograms' worth of medicinal dregs caused Wu Wei's eyes to narrow.
Initially, he had given the black-robed young 'man' two High-grade Runic Treant Hearts to work with. However, looking at the number of medicinal dregs, it was apparent that 'he' had spent 'his' own money to buy more to refine Runic Treant Pills. It was unfortunate that 'he' had failed.
No, it was not entirely a failure.
Wu Wei inspected the medicinal dregs.
Name:
Quality:
Effect: After consumption, the user will be inflicted with excruciating itchiness, its duration based on the amount consumed.
During this period, the user's cultivation effects will also increase to a certain extent based on the amount consumed.
..
Although Wu Wei did not understand what exactly the cultivation effects here referred to, it was important because it was [High+] grade.
Wu Wei was perplexed. 'Brother' Black Robe's talents in pill refinement were… hard to assess.
It would be hard to call her gifted - not when she had been unable to produce a single [Runic Treant Pill] even after using over 20 portions of ingredients over the last three days.
However, it would also be hard to call her untalented – not when she could produce so much [High+] grade medicinal dregs. A Runic Treant Pill was a [High] grade pill, so it could be considered miraculous that her by-products were of even higher grade!
Trying to assess her talent gave Wu Wei a headache.
After that, he spent most of his remaining 158 runic stones to purchase goods from her.
He bought a portion of Terrifying Medicinal Dregs - the one with which he had poisoned a Wild Boar King to death. Wu Wei suggested she sell it at 5 runic stones per 50 grams.
He bought a bottle of common-grade Runic Pills and a bottle of High-grade Runic Pills.
The common-grade variant was used by Runemasters leveled 10 or under to cultivate and recover spiritual energy. In contrast, the high-grade variant was used by First Stage Runemasters.
While common-grade Runic Pills cost 5 runic stones each and were sold in bottles of 5, high-grade Runic Pills cost 50 runic stones each and were sold in bottles of 2.
It was a vast price difference.
Wu Wei's heart ached when he parted ways with his hard-earned money.
After the transaction, he was left with 28 runic stones.
"Sigh, back to square one!"
Wu Wei then packed up and left. As he was about to leave the trading market, he passed by the blind box shop that had always caught his attention.
In the past, Wu Wei would leave after watching for a moment – but that was because he had been poor.
However, spending over 300 runic stones today had desensitized him, and he felt as if 10 runic stones were just chump change.
"If I'm lucky, I might even be able to win High-grade, Superior-grade, or even Unique items! I'll do it!"
Gritting his teeth and stomping his feet, Wu Wei went inside the blind box shop.
Three minutes later, Wu Wei reappeared at the entrance with a bottle of cola in either hand and a dazed expression on his face.
It took a while for Wu Wei to come back to his senses.
When he finally did, he looked back and spat at the blind box shop.
"Blind box, my foot! It's just a scam. I'll never open a blind box ever again!"