```
...
"Is the customer selling local goods?"
I give up on your grandma.
Lin Suo was unapologetically direct.
"Last month, at the Antique Guild's auction, someone sold a sacrificial artifact of the Elf Royal Family—a clay pot."
Old John was startled, his lean body trembling slightly in fear.
But it lasted only for a negligible moment.
"Why are you telling me this?"
Lin Suo startled him with his next words.
"That item, I sold it to you."
"You...?!!"
Old John jumped in shock but quickly retorted.
"That has nothing to do with me, I passed it on to someone else, and I didn't manage the auction."
"The authenticity of that item, you and I both know very well."
"Are you interested in a long-term partnership."
Old John shook his head as if he was a bobble-head.
"Don't get your hopes up; I, Old John, have always upheld my integrity, never selling fake antiques. You deceived me with that clay pot! Leave now, or I'll call the enforcement team."
Lin Suo just stared at him blankly.
His right hand grasped a metal object displayed on the counter.
"The decades of reputation of Uncle John's Antiques Shop..."
Creak~
"I won't... possibly..."
Creak~
"Collaborate..."
Clang!
"Pleasure doing business with you!!"
Lin Suo smiled.
He let go of the crumpled metal ornament and shook Old John's hand, revealing his pearly white teeth.
"Pleasure doing business."
Physical persuasion has its merits but isn't sustainable.
Ultimately, it's all about the gains.
Lin Suo placed his handbag on the counter and undid the clasp.
"No matter how much you sell, give me fifty thousand Gold Coins a month. My people will contact you later; the sales mustn't go through the auction house but rather undercover sales only."
"How about it?"
When Old John heard fifty thousand Gold Coins, he was dizzy with greed, but dumbstruck upon seeing a dozen exquisitely made "antiques" inside the bag.
With his level of appraisal, he couldn't discern any flaws in these items; if aged expertly, they looked genuine.
Inside the bag were antiques from the Elf Clan, Beastmen, Sea Clan, humans—a diverse collection, each with unique characteristics.
This damn criminal syndicate, gotta hold onto it tight!
When he came to his senses.
Lin Suo had already vanished into thin air, but he left a note on the table, detailing a place and date, as well as instructions on how to proceed.
Yes, he only planned to meet with Old John this one time.
Hereafter, he'd hide the goods at the appointed place and could leave; when needed, he could retrieve them, largely increasing the safety.
There's no surveillance in this era; this scheme is already perfect.
With his imminent Peak Knight strength, plus some training in surveillance and counter-surveillance tactics, he didn't believe himself inferior to anyone; to catch him, one would need a real Wizard.
With the pitifully short detection distance of a Wizard Apprentice's spiritual power, it's tough to spot him.
There are no permanent resident Wizards in Kouste.
Dabbling in shady dealings requires courage and meticulousness, so it's done.
After returning to the bookstore successfully and shedding his disguise, Lin Suo reverted back to his handsome, sophisticated young self, wearing gold-rimmed glasses (self-made) and sitting behind the bookstore counter, leafing through a medical textbook.
The Meditation Method has limited daily training time; overdoing meditation would only exhaust the Spiritual Space.
Moderation is key.
Nowadays, aside from managing the bookstore, he's brushing up on the proficiency of various Skills.
To today's date, he doesn't possess a single ability that can be judged as a [Skill]. Lin Suo estimated, if it's not the Combat Skills of a Knight, it must be the Witchcraft of a Wizard.
He's working on the money.
```
According to his knowledge, the cost of Apprentice Level witchcraft was not high, far less valuable than items like the Enlightenment Flower or Meditation Method.
Taking the [White Rose] opened by White Tower in Kouste as an example.
Apprentice Level witchcraft.
The defensive type of witchcraft was the most expensive, reaching the ceiling of one hundred thousand Gold Coins, attack type only cost thirty thousand Gold Coins, and functional types varied from thirty thousand to eighty thousand depending on the specific effects.
Of course, this was for Apprentice Level. No one would sell First Rank witchcraft, even if commerce in the Dan Dong Empire was well-developed, they wouldn't sell.
It involved fundamental inheritance.
The Gold Coins of the Dan Dong Empire were only the size of a fingernail and were not pure gold but mixed with other metals.
In the alchemy of wizards, many things required gold dust and silver dust as materials.
Thus, even though Gold Coins were the common currency for ordinary people,
They also had a certain material value.
If calculated based on the value ratio of gold dust to Magic Stones.
The gold dust refined from one hundred thousand Gold Coins could almost be exchanged for ten Magic Stones.
Unfortunately, no one was willing to make the exchange.
What use would they have for so much gold dust.
The estimated value would be much lower, and since Gold Coins were currency, refining them for gold dust meant that that amount of money would be permanently removed from the market, not a big deal once or twice.
But fear comes if it happened too often.
Therefore, there were also issues of imperial control and such.
Between Magic Stones and Gold Coins, unless it was a private illegal transaction, there was no place to exchange.
Being able to use Gold Coins to purchase witchcraft was already good enough, nothing to be dissatisfied about.
Lin Suo had set his sights on a few Apprentice Level witchcraft, but unfortunately, he didn't have enough money, and fake antiques could only be sold slowly, preferably to merchant ships passing through Kouste Port.
It was best to let them spread it around.
This way, the likelihood of finding the source was very low.
Fifty thousand Gold Coins a month was an exorbitant profit, even nobles couldn't earn that much, indeed, there's a stupidity tax on luxury goods.
But it was still far from enough to buy a set of witchcraft.
Lin Suo pondered back and forth.
He planned to use the Enlightenment Reagent to test the waters, this item couldn't be handled by him directly, he needed to find a controllable agent, so if anything happened, it wouldn't be traced back to him.
Before that, he had to solve the problem of obtaining the Enlightenment Flower.
And fulfill his own needs for cultivation.
…
A few days later.
Valia came as usual for a free meal, with her hands behind her back, shaking her head and swaying as she walked into the Rhein Bookstore.
"Rhein Rhein, what are we eating today..."
Lin Suo: ▄█▀█●
Honestly, he was about to throw up eating vegetarian all the time, every time Valia came, he had to accompany her eating fruit salads to satiation, he was fed up.
The crystal pork knuckle he had just made was hidden away by him.
He pulled out a vegetable similar to a cucumber and chopped it into small strips.
"Spicy cucumber mixed with sweet melon..."
The legendary savory, sweet, and spicy flavor with a crunchy texture, not something ordinary people could handle.
But Valia liked this taste and often brought her own ingredients.
"Yay!"
The Elf lass sat on the sofa and didn't move, Lin Suo had to finish the job quickly and mixed a few fruit salads of normal tastes.
"Eat"
"Thank you, then I won't be polite!"
Chomp chomp～
The cheeks of the little Elf girl were puffed out, her words unclear because her mouth was full.
"Say, Rhein, why do you like eating Elf Clan food... It's really rare to see someone like you."
Lin Suo's face darkened.
He took a bite of an apple, tasting as bland as wax.
After a while, Valia was well-fed and drank her fill, so Lin Suo conveniently put down his fork.
"Lea, about that matter of the Enlightenment Flower seeds."
"That, uh..."
"I can give them to you, no problem, but you've already completed your Enlightenment, haven't you? What do you need the seeds for?"
"Besides, the concentration of Magic Power in Kouste is too low to sustain the Enlightenment Flower."