Chapter 13

"Private trading of 0-level spell formulas is not rare, and for this kind of transaction, the official has always turned a blind eye, hasn't it?" Gao De understood all these principles, but he didn't give up his idea and continued to insist.

0-level spells are quite special; the cultivation of this level of spells does not require the assistance of magic potions, so they are also called cantrips and are not in the ranks of magic.

This also led to the fact that private trading of spell formulas of this rank is much more common.

The trial and error cost is lower.

Pierre narrowed his eyes and didn't speak, seemingly considering.

"If you agree, I can add 10 three-leaf flower silver coins for each spell formula." Gao De increased his chips.

He urgently needed to master new spells.

New spells with lethality.

A crisis could come at any time, he must strengthen his own strength, and try every possible way to prepare trump cards for himself, so that he would have room to resist.

"Private trading of 0-level spell formulas is indeed common, but I am doing business after all, and I cannot determine what your intention is. Perhaps you say you want to trade with me, and after the transaction, you turn around and report me."

"Although both parties to such a transaction have to accept punishment, you would at most pay a fine and be detained for a period of time, but my shop would have to be forced to close. I cannot take this risk." Pierre looked at Gao De and shook his head flatly.

Private trading of spell formulas, although repeatedly banned, is basically only done between individuals.

Pierre and Gao De were meeting for the first time, and there was not even a thin layer of trust between them, and the consequences they had to bear were not equal; Pierre's refusal was reasonable.

However, before Gao De was completely disappointed, Pierre spoke again: "I will not make this trade with you, but..."

Gao De's eyes lit up, seeing Pierre make a hesitant gesture, he instantly understood, "If the boss can provide any reliable channel, I can pay for it."

Pierre saw that Gao De was so sensible, nodded with satisfaction, "I have a guest who happened to be a bit tight on money recently and once wanted to sell me several spell formulas, which I also refused."

"I can help you two bridge the line. As for how to trade specifically, you have to discuss it

Gao De pursed his lips, pondered for a moment, and nodded, saying: "Naturally, that would be the case. Then I shall trouble you, shopkeeper."

He naturally knew that there were risks involved, but he had no other choice.

Hogen City was merely a small city; there was no so-called official Saint Xi En Magic User Association here, so Gao De could not purchase spell formulas through regular channels at all and could only choose to trade privately.

"This customer usually comes to me once every ten days or half a month. The last time he came was already eight or nine days ago. How about this: come back to the shop once more in five days, before the evening prayer," Pierre said.

Evening prayer, which is five o'clock in the afternoon.

Gao De had no objections.

Knowledge is truly an expensive thing.

After walking out of Pierre's Grocery Store, Gao De sighed inwardly.

In order to get Pierre to help make the connection, he had already paid the price of 10 Three-Leaf Flower silver coins before even seeing the spell formula.

But at least there was some gain; he only needed to wait another five days.

At the thought that he would be able to obtain a new spell formula in five days, Gao De could not help but feel some anticipation.

Having arrived in this world for less than a day, he had already gained a preliminary understanding of the magical nature of spells.

And how many people do not yearn for such supernatural power as spells? He walked along the alley toward the main road of the commercial district.

It was getting late, and he needed to hurry to meet up with Amy and then return to the medicine garden.

Gao De walked in a hurry, yet his mind was quite distracted, muttering constantly to himself.

Whether it was his inexplicable arrival in this world, the current crisis, or the magic of spells, all of it brought him great shock, forcing him to think about it more.

The following five days were calm and uneventful. While Gao De kept his guard up, he also gradually became familiar with life in the medicine garden.

But this familiarity did not put him at ease; as time passed, he only became increasingly restless.

Knowing that the next test would basically be equivalent to his "death date," and knowing that the next test was not far off, yet being unable to determine the specific time—this feeling of torment is something that cannot be understood by those who have not experienced it personally.

That Gao De had not yet collapsed or gone mad, and was still living well and actively thinking of ways to survive, can only be attributed to his resilient will, perhaps forged by the "battles" with those math problems for over a decade in his past life.

"New spells, and a new source."

Gao De knew this was his only chance of survival at the moment.

It was just that while there was hope for a new spell, the new source left Gao De at a complete loss.

Zero-circle creatures are not easy to find. "Zero-circle degenerates" like the little gray mouse, which possess the bloodline of earth-vein creatures and reach the zero-circle rank but have no combat ability at all, are even rarer than phoenix feathers and unicorn horns. Even magic apprentices like Yilan, whom Gao De needed to ambush at night to kill, actually belong to the bottom tier of combat power among zero-circle magic users.

While pondering, he dripped the last drop of green spider venom into the medicine bottle. As a flash of spiritual light passed, a batch of primary spider venom potion of good quality had been successfully brewed.

Gao De put away the potion, tidied up the tools on the table, and then took out a wooden box from under the storage shelf.

He opened the wooden box, and gold, silver, and yellow colors met his eyes.

The box contained all his savings,

totaling 6 gold, 30 silver, and 8 copper.

Approximately equal to 7,500 yuan.

Gao De quickly converted it in his mind, thought for a moment, took out all his savings, put them into his pocket, making it feel cumbersome, then put the wooden box back in its place, slowly stood up, and pushed the door open to leave.

The afternoon's work was finished.

Next was his free time.

Just as he stepped out, he happened to run into Amy. He clearly did not expect Gao De to be out instead of brewing potions in the workshop at this hour, but he reacted quickly.

"Gao De, are you going into the city?"

Gao De nodded, not hiding his whereabouts.

After Yilan's death, he already possessed the right to freely enter and leave the medicine garden, with no need to be secretive.

Watching Gao De's back disappear into the shadows of the medicine garden's corridor, only to be enveloped by the light outside the gate, Amy stood blankly in place for a long time.

The five days were up. Gao De brought all his wealth into the city this time, not for anything else, but specifically to purchase spell formulas.

Leaving the medicine garden, with the experience from last time, plus the fact that it was daytime and he was in a hurry, Gao De was familiar with the route this time and arrived at the Hogen City commercial district in less than forty minutes.

This was not his first time coming to the commercial district, and compared to his past life, the prosperity of this so-called bustling commercial district was not even as good as a single commercial street in a small county town.

But having stayed in the oppressive medicine garden for so long, the bright and spacious commercial district still made Gao De feel a sense of longing and a sense of vitality.

His purpose for this trip was clear; he looked straight ahead and followed the house numbers to Pierre's Grocery Store, hidden deep in the alley.

Gao De strode into the grocery store. Just like their first meeting, the shopkeeper Pierre was leaning back on a lounge chair resting, only compared to five days ago, there was an outsider in the empty shop.

This was a man of about thirty years old with a long, thin face, sparse stubble on his face that looked slightly weathered, and he was wearing clothes woven from fine linen.

Clearly with his back to Gao De, and without even turning his head to look at him, Pierre seemed to have an eye on the back of his head. As Gao De was sizing up the man with his gaze, he stood up and said: "You've finally come. Yomu has been waiting for you for almost an hour. If you didn't come, I wouldn't have been able to keep him here."

The man's name was Yomu.

He was the customer Pierre introduced for Gao De to trade spell formulas with.

"It took some time on the road." Gao De apologized to Pierre while looking at Yomu, not speaking to him immediately.

When conducting a transaction, if you cannot ensure you have the initiative, then wait for the other party to speak first; this will make it difficult for them to figure out your bottom line.

This was a little trick of Gao De's.

Yomu clearly had no experience in this regard. After knowing that Gao De was the one who wanted to buy his spell formula, he eagerly sized Gao De up with a suspicious gaze.

"You're the one who wants to buy a spell formula?"

Clearly, Gao De's simple attire and youthful appearance made Yomu doubt the strength of his money bag.

"No one would pay ten Three-Leaf Flowers just to play a joke." Gao De spread his hands and said calmly.

The intermediary fee of ten Three-Leaf Flower silver coins was paid by Gao De.

Yomu stared into Gao De's eyes for a few seconds, and after a moment of silence, he calmly took a piece of yellow parchment from his bosom and handed it to Gao De.

"This is the spell formula I am prepared to sell. Take a look."

—Spell formulas sell knowledge; naturally, it is impossible to let Gao De see the formula directly before the transaction is reached.

On the paper were some spell formula entries and the corresponding introductions to the spell effects.

Customers go through these introductions, and after choosing the spell they like, they pay and receive the goods; this is the most common process for spell formula transactions.

Even when purchasing spell formulas through official channels, this is the process.

(End of chapter)