"The Dragon's Saliva..." Transparent droplets of saliva fell into the vial, mingling with the murky concoction of various ingredients. As the dragon saliva dripped in, a miraculous transformation occurred.
Faint red glimmers emerged, dotting the mixture. When Sorinus poured in the last of the dragon's saliva, the entire vial turned into a perfect shade of pale red.
Transferred into a crystal vial, under the lamplight, it resembled a translucent ruby.
Success!
A hint of satisfaction gleamed in Sorinus's eyes. Learning from his initial failure, the second attempt was a success. It had to be said, Sorinus was a genius in alchemy.
"Roar..."
Ilya growled twice, as if saying, "This success owes something to my contribution too!"
Sorinus chuckled, murmuring to himself, "Let's see what the product made with Ilya's saliva looks like..."
With practiced ease, he brewed an intermediate mental potion using Ilya's saliva. It also turned red. However, upon closer inspection, there were differences.
While the color of a regular intermediate mental potion was beautiful, it lacked luster. In contrast, the one made with Ilya's saliva emitted a faint red glow and felt warm to the touch.
"What difference does it make in effects?"
Sorinus decided to try them himself. But then hesitated. The thought of one being made with dragon saliva from Ilya and the other from another dragon made him feel uneasy.
"Sigh, I've been licked by Ilya's tongue countless times; why do I care about this?"
Sorinus shook his head wryly and chose to first sip the regular potion.
Meditation.
A few minutes later, Sorinus opened his eyes.
"Meditation efficiency increased by about twenty percent, much better than the beginner's potion."
Then he tried the potion made with Ilya's saliva.
After a moment, Sorinus's eyes snapped open, burning with excitement.
"Incredible! Meditation efficiency has increased by a whopping forty percent, and even the affinity with fire magic elements has increased by at least thirty percent!"
Sorinus stared at the bottle of intermediate mental potion made with Ilya's saliva, his face filled with astonishment.
"This will definitely fetch a good price."
As far as Sorinus knew, a bottle of intermediate mental potion currently sold for around eight hundred to one thousand gold coins, over a hundred times the price of a beginner's potion. The prices for advanced potions were even more outrageous, starting at least from ten thousand gold coins, and some were so rare that they were only seen in auctions.
"Back to Dragon Pasture."
Sorinus appeared on the floating island.
"Check my current personal attributes."
"Host: Sorinus Title: Lord of Dragon Pasture Profession: Second-tier Mage (66/200) Owned Dragons: Fire Dragon (Ilya) Owned Buildings: Small Fire Dragon Lair *1, Primary Farm *1 Owned Items: Gold Coins *1756"
Sorinus's total assets amounted to 1756 gold coins. Upgrading the dragon lair required ten thousand gold coins, leaving a gap of over eight thousand.
"A regular intermediate mental potion sells for one thousand gold coins. This enhanced version, comparable to advanced ones, and with added affinity to fire elements, should sell for at least five thousand gold coins or more."
Calculating this way, as long as Sorinus could successfully sell the three bottles of mental potions in his hands, he would have enough money to upgrade the dragon lair.
He also wanted to cultivate more farmland or upgrade the existing one. Ilya would need better crops as she grew to the fourth tier, as dragon scale fruits wouldn't satisfy her appetite forever. Besides, Ilya couldn't just eat vegetables forever...
Ah, these were all places where money needed to be spent!
Sorinus sighed lightly, looking at the vast Pasture, thinking to himself: If you want returns, you have to invest first.
...
"Young master, are you going out?"
Elara carefully helped Sorinus change his clothes and asked softly.
Sorinus glanced at her slightly surprised, then smiled.
Elara must have learned from little Jack; she also started calling him "young master" and was becoming more like a maid.
"Yes."
Sorinus grabbed Elara's hand.
Elara blushed like a startled rabbit, subconsciously wanting to pull away. But she soon realized that Sorinus had only gently let go of her hand.
She fixed her collar's knot.
"Going out to buy some things..."
Sorinus said lightly, "Do you want anything? I can bring it back for you."
Elara shook her head, biting her lower lip lightly, then suddenly spoke up, "Can... can I go with you?"
In her sky-blue clear eyes, there was hope and longing.
Sorinus understood a bit.
Elara stayed in the house every day while he went to class during the day and spent his time studying alchemy or magic when he came back, hardly paying attention to her. She must be feeling quite lonely.
"Next time."
Sorinus couldn't bear to refuse Elara, but taking her along this time would be troublesome as he was going to sell potions.
"Oh."
Elara's head drooped, looking a bit disappointed.
Sorinus comforted her softly, "Wait until I find some time, and I'll take you to the Imperial City to stroll around properly. To be honest, I also want to go out and have some fun..."
"Okay!"
Elara nodded, suddenly feeling a bit greedy.
Being captured by humans and not becoming a noble's sex slave was already good enough.
Moreover, she was now better off in terms of food, clothing, and shelter than when she was in the Forest of Fallen Moon. What else was there to be unsatisfied about?
Most importantly, young master Sorinus had never touched her...
Sometimes Elara felt grateful, sometimes she felt lost. Was it because she was not attractive enough?
Sorinus changed into a noble shirt with leather boots and white trousers underneath. It was the most fashionable attire in the Imperial City, highlighting Sorinus's well-proportioned figure.
With his handsome face and slightly curled chestnut short hair, Sorinus exuded an elegant and noble aristocratic aura.
Just like when he came in, Sorinus showed the silver badge to the guards and smoothly left the gates of the academy.
Flagging down a carriage, Sorinus tossed a gold coin and said lightly, "Take me to the largest trading firm in the Imperial City."
"Sure thing! My lord, you're in for a treat!"
The coachman took the gold coin, overjoyed, and his attitude was extremely enthusiastic.
...
"It's here!" Sorinus poked his head out of the carriage.
"The Prose Merchant Guild..."
"Yes, it's run by Lord Prose... It includes two auction houses, three jewelry shops, and around ten magic potion stores, weapon shops, and so on." The coachman rattled off the information fluently.
"Ah," Sorinus murmured. "Let's check out the weapon shop first."
The coachman nodded respectfully and drove the carriage for about five minutes, stopping in front of a shop with crossed staff and sword symbols hanging outside.
"Wait here at the entrance," Sorinus instructed the coachman before entering the weapon shop.
Sorinus needed a suitable magic wand. While wizards weren't as reliant on weapons as knights, a good wand could significantly enhance casting speed, spell potency, and mana recovery rate. In a duel between two wizards of equal strength, the one with a wand would surely dominate.
However, Sorinus emerged from the shop shortly after entering.
The coachman was surprised. "My lord, why so soon?"
Sorinus let out a faint hum. "Nothing worth buying."
The coachman was taken aback. "Shall we head to the magic potion shop?"
The carriage changed direction, and Sorinus wore an expression of resignation. He had actually found a decent wand introduced by the shop assistant, made of cherry wood core and a medium-sized fire element gem, but it was priced at eight thousand gold coins. He couldn't afford it.
The magic potion shop wasn't far either.
As Sorinus entered, he was greeted immediately, just like at the weapon shop.
"Do you have any spiritual potions?" Sorinus inquired.
"Of course!" The attendant's face lit up with a warm smile. "We have beginner spiritual potions for fifteen gold coins each, and intermediate ones for twelve hundred gold coins... which one do you need?"
Sorinus frowned. "So expensive?"
The attendant smiled, "We can offer you a discount."
"Ah." Sorinus nodded. "I'll come back another time."
The attendant's smile froze on his face, muttering under his breath, "No money but still acting like a wizard, pah..."
Sorinus heard every word clearly and couldn't help but smile.
Next, he had the coachman take him to a dozen different magic potion shops across various guilds.
"That's enough for today," Sorinus said, tossing a gold coin to the coachman and yawning, looking a bit weary. "Let's head back; I'm tired."
The coachman agreed, slightly puzzled. This nobleman was quite strange; they had circled around half the city all day, and it seemed like he hadn't bought anything. He couldn't understand.
But he didn't dare to ask more questions. He dropped Sorinus off not far from the academy's entrance and happily drove the carriage away. Earning two gold coins in a day was more than enough to make him happy.
Once the carriage was out of sight, Sorinus didn't return to the academy but slipped into an alleyway.
A few minutes later, a pale-faced, gaunt figure emerged from the alleyway. It was Sorinus himself.
He hadn't bought nothing at all. In several shops, he had purchased "Transformation Potion" and "Voice Alteration Potion."
Now, he had transformed from a handsome young man into a solitary and eccentric master of magic potions.
It was a necessary disguise. Sorinus had to be cautious. If people found out he was selling intermediate spiritual potions, attracting the attention of those with ill intentions could lead to unwanted consequences, especially since both he and Ilya were still relatively weak.
The Shale Merchant Guild. A medium-sized guild. Large guilds had too many good items, leaving Sorinus with no chance to make a profit, while small guilds didn't have the money to buy at the right price.
Little John stood bored in front of the counter, yawning. There had been no customers all day except for a well-dressed noble youth who asked a few questions before leaving.
Little John thought it might be a big customer coming, so he was extremely enthusiastic, offering tea and snacks. But in the end, the customer left without buying anything, which left him annoyed.
Suddenly, a figure walked into the shop.
Little John's eyes lit up, and he hurried over, but when he saw the person's appearance, his enthusiasm waned. The person was dressed too shabbily, not like a wealthy customer at all.
"Sir, can I help you with something?" Little John asked politely.
However, the person didn't even glance at him and went straight to sit inside the shop, demanding, "Call your shopkeeper out; I have a big deal to discuss with him."
Little John couldn't help but furrow his brows. "Sir..."
Before he could finish speaking, the person gave him a fierce glare, and a chill ran down Little John's spine. He felt a cold sweat breaking out on his back.
"I... I'll go get him right away!"
Little John hurriedly ran off, silently cursing in his heart: Damn, he's actually a magician!
It wasn't unusual for a magic potion shop to encounter wizards, but meeting one so domineering and unreasonable was just bad luck for Little John.
After a short while, the shop manager of Shale Magic Potion Shop arrived, a thin, sharp-eyed middle-aged man.
"What may I call you, esteemed guest?" The shop manager smiled as he took a seat across from Sorinus.
Sorinus snorted coldly. "Just call me Alduran."
"Mr. Alduran." The shop manager smiled and sat down opposite Sorinus. "What can I do for you?"
"The business I mentioned, do you accept spiritual potions?" Sorinus asked directly.
The shop manager frowned slightly. He had thought the customer was here to buy something, not sell.
His attitude turned cold. "Our guild has its own potion masters..."
Sorinus interrupted, "What about advanced spiritual potions?"
"Ah!" Little John couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, and the shop manager shot him a sharp look, causing him to tremble.
"What do you mean?" The shop manager asked, his demeanor changing.
Sorinus directly placed the spiritual potion on the table. "This is an advanced spiritual potion, a new type... It increases meditation efficiency by forty percent and enhances fire element affinity by thirty percent."
"How is that possible?!" The shop manager couldn't help but laugh.
Sorinus glanced at him, seemingly unbothered by his arrogance. "You can try it."
The shop manager, seeing Sorinus' confident demeanor, whispered something to Little John, who quickly left and soon returned with someone else.