Evan had no idea he'd once again provoked John. At the moment, he was resting with his eyes closed, contemplating a few things.
Before long, the taxi pulled up in front of the Herb Hall.
Standing at the entrance, Evan looked up at the familiar sign with the three characters for "Herb Hall," feeling a strange sense of nostalgia.
In his past life, he had dealt with the Herb Hall fairly often. It was not limited to Blue River City; they had branches in cities across every province, and their strength was considerable. Back then, it was a very prominent organization.
"I wonder if that Manager Neil is still around. If he is, things should be easier." Musing aloud, Evan headed inside.
At the entrance, two attendants noticed that the customer was just a student, showing little interest at first. However, they still greeted him with a polite, "Welcome!"
Evan gave a slight nod, stepping into the Herb Hall with a calm expression.
The Herb Hall had three floors. The first floor primarily stocked basic medicinal herbs, which weren't too expensive and, naturally, weren't very effective either.
"Little brother, what are you looking for?" A saleswoman with a professional smile approached Evan, speaking in a soft tone.
"Just looking around," Evan replied, his gaze landing on her name tag out of habit. "Sarah?"
"How did you know my name?" Sarah was taken aback by the boy's words.
Evan paused. In his last life, he had visited the Herb Hall countless times, and it was almost always Sarah who helped him. He'd just said her name out of habit.
But having lived two lives, Evan was good at keeping his composure. After a brief pause, he pointed to the wall. "It's written up there."
Sarah glanced up. Sure enough, there was an employee board with photos and names of all the staff.
"Oh, I see." Sarah smiled, assuming the young man in front of her likely didn't have much money or knowledge of herbs.
"Little brother, I recommend this Aromatic Fruit. It's harvested from the southern mountains, has a delightful taste, and can strengthen a beast's physique and enhance its combat power."
"Aromatic Fruit?" Evan raised an eyebrow. "As far as I know, Aromatic Fruit is mainly enjoyed by certain beasts for its scent. It has no other effects."
"That…" Sarah was at a loss for words. Before she could explain, Evan smirked and added, "Besides, feeding Aromatic Fruit to a beast can make it more likely to go into heat. Is that what you meant by 'enhancing combat power'?"
Sarah's face turned bright red, and she instinctively took two steps back.
"Aromatic Fruit is useless for actual enhancement." With a glance at Sarah, Evan dismissed the fruit and looked over several more baskets of herbs before shaking his head. "Do you have any Firefruit here?"
"Firefruit? Yes, yes!" By now, Sarah had realized that the boy wasn't some clueless kid and quickly led Evan up to the second floor.
On the second floor, the offerings included various spiritual herbs and fruits. As Evan stepped in, the fragrance of medicinal herbs filled the air.
"The Firefruit is right here."
On the display table, a platter held seven or eight small, bright red fruits.
This was his main reason for coming—a fruit that could enhance the fire abilities of fire-based beasts: the Firefruit.
"How much?" Evan frowned slightly at the fruits, noticing that they looked wrinkled and aged, indicating they were likely older stock.
"50,000 credits per piece," Sarah replied. Noticing Evan's dissatisfaction, she added, "If you're not satisfied, I can get you some freshly harvested ones from today."
"Hmm…" Evan paused, considering.
50,000 was about what he'd expected. If he resold them later, they wouldn't go for quite that much but would still fetch a decent price.
Sarah, waiting beside him, grew inexplicably nervous. It felt like she was facing someone important—this boy seemed to see right through everything. She glanced at Evan's profile, growing a bit apprehensive.
At that moment, Evan seemed to come to a decision and suddenly asked, "Do you have any Firefruit seeds or transplantable roots?"
"Seeds?" Sarah was once again surprised. Who would come to the Herb Hall to specifically buy seeds? It was almost as if he was asking for a challenge.
She was about to say they didn't sell seeds, but seeing Evan's piercing gaze, she hesitated and finally said, "I'll check with the manager for you."
Evan nodded, and Sarah went upstairs. Soon, she returned with a middle-aged man wearing a cap and a long coat.
"Which young gentleman is interested in buying Firefruit seeds?" The middle-aged man's powerful voice rang out from the top of the stairs.
The customers in the hall turned to look around.
"That would be me," Evan said, gazing calmly at the man.
Neil, the head of the Herb Hall in Blue River City—a Beastmaster close to the Gold rank.
If he was here, this would be much easier. Neil was a shrewd man, which might save Evan some trouble.
"So, it's this young gentleman." Neil looked surprised at first, but he quickly broke into a wide smile, lightly scolding Sarah, "A VIP is here, and you didn't greet him properly."
"Yes." Sarah nodded, hurriedly leading Evan upstairs.
Soon, Evan followed Sarah to the second floor, where Neil was already seated at a table, gesturing for him to sit. "Please, have some tea."
Evan didn't care much for the formalities, but since he was here to buy something, he took a seat and sipped the tea casually.
Neil, eyeing Evan, spoke with a probing tone, "Young man, Firefruit seeds aren't cheap, and the Herb Hall generally doesn't sell them."
"Firefruit isn't exactly rare. Even as a seed, it shouldn't cost more than 10,000 credits," Evan replied evenly. "Its market is small—apart from certain specific beasts, almost no one uses Firefruit. For the same price, Strong Root Grass would be more effective and versatile."
Neil was taken aback but, having been in business for years, quickly adapted. He raised an eyebrow and continued, "So, you must have a fire-type beast that requires Firefruit?"
"Indeed."
"Would it be…?" Neil began to ask.
"Fire Hound," Evan interrupted, meeting Neil's gaze directly.
"Fire Hound… that makes sense." Neil nodded thoughtfully. "In that case, I'll sell you the Firefruit seed for 10,000 credits."
"Sarah, let the cultivation team know to bring up a Firefruit root."
"Root?" Sarah froze. "But he only asked for a seed…"
A root was essentially a pre-cultivated seed, with a much higher survival and yield rate. The price was easily double that of a seed.
"A young man like him deserves the best. Consider the root a gesture of friendship." Neil smiled at Evan, giving a respectful nod. "I hope you'll continue to visit our Herb Hall in the future."
"I will," Evan nodded, offering no further words of gratitude.
Sarah quickly went downstairs and soon returned with a box.
Opening the box, she revealed a root with fresh green leaves.
"Young man, these spiritual herbs can be tricky to keep. Once you return, plant it in fertile soil," Neil advised as he handed the herb to Evan. "In good soil, the Firefruit should yield a crop in May, producing three to five fruits per harvest."
"Understood." Evan accepted the box, stood up, and took his leave.
After a brief stop on the first floor, he purchased a few more spiritual fruits before leaving. Sarah accompanied him the whole time.
As she watched Evan leave, Sarah ran back upstairs.
"Manager Neil, the boy has left," Sarah reported breathlessly upon reaching the second floor.
"I know," Neil nodded, seeing Sarah's confusion. "You're wondering why I treated that boy so well, aren't you?"
"Yes," Sarah replied openly. "He is indeed mature for his age and knowledgeable, but his clothes and accessories seemed quite ordinary—not the look of someone from a powerful family."
"A single root is worth 30,000 credits; it costs us over 20,000 just to grow one. I don't see how giving it to him for 30,000 was worth it."
"Ah, you still have a ways to go in reading people," Neil chuckled.
"What do you mean?"
"No child from an average family would carry himself like that." Neil explained, "While we were talking, I let a bit of my Gold-rank Beastmaster aura slip, but the boy didn't flinch in the slightest."
"That could mean either he's stronger than me and unaffected by my aura, or he has a Gold-rank family member and is used to it."
"Plus, he mentioned raising a Fire Hound. I've heard that's not easy—it takes time, rare resources, and dedication. This visit may just be the beginning; if he's serious about raising a Fire Hound, he'll certainly be back."
"I see…" Sarah finally understood. "So, he does have some background after all."
A Gold-rank Beastmaster was a force to be reckoned with in a small place like Blue River City.
"There are other places that sell herbs and fruits besides the Herb Hall," Neil said, looking off into the distance. "If a single herb can secure the goodwill of a powerful family or a future powerhouse, it's well worth it."