Chapter 1645: Feiqi's Trust: A Three-Day Deadline

Inside the Xiu Xi Shi.

Xia Duo was sipping tea while flipping through the "Agricultural Book" he had just sent out, waiting for Beilaila to bring the people in.

Just as he was pondering how these Mages with noble backgrounds would treat this book, the doorbell alarm was triggered. The crisp, tinkling sound of the bell perked Xia Duo up, and he thought to himself that business had finally arrived.

"Come in!"

"Lord Xia Duo."

Seeing that only Beilaila had entered, Xia Duo could not help but feel puzzled and asked, "Just you alone? Where are the others? Didn't Aoerdelin come?"

"They are outside. Custom-made Magic Items shouldn't be known by too many people."

Beilaila explained briefly, then added, "Besides Aoerdelin, there is also Andate Laibu, as well as Feiqi; they have all clearly stated they wish to commission one."

Hearing the name Andate Laibu, Xia Duo was lost in thought; it seemed the situation in the south was truly somewhat dire. As for Feiqi, this person was not a Seven Towers Mage, but a Secret Text Deacon of the Arcane Union.

When Beilaila organized and prepared the exchange meeting, she prioritized Advanced Rank Mages first. Without these keynote speakers, and with only a group of mid-to-low-rank Mages, it could not be called an exchange meeting in Seventon at all.

Secondly, there were those Xia Duo had specifically instructed to have noble backgrounds—those who were lords themselves, those whose fathers or grandfathers were lords, or even those who had good relationships with lords of certain regions also counted.

Xia Duo carefully recalled, but could not find any further information about this Feiqi. Fortunately, Beilaila was right there, so he asked directly:

"What is that Feiqi's background?"

"Mage Feiqi is a Secret Text Deacon of the Arcane Union. At the same time, he is also the younger brother of the Lord of Ai Sa Ke Ling in the central region. He studied at Giles Tower when he was young, and only joined the Arcane Union after failing to seize the position of lord upon returning to his territory."

"I see!"

Xia Duo vaguely felt there was some trouble in this, so he asked again, "What do you think Feiqi's current thoughts are regarding Ai Sa Ke Ling?"

"That is hard to say."

Beilaila also seemed to realize something, and her words were very cautious, "However, I heard that the Lord of Ai Sa Ke Ling once sent his favorite eldest son to be an Apprentice under Mage Feiqi. Plus, with Ai Sa Ke Ling currently developing new land on the Kelong Plain, perhaps the relationship between the two sides is not as discordant as outsiders imagine."

"Understood. You may let Feiqi in first."

"Yes."

Soon, Beilaila went out and brought Feiqi in, while she herself left the Xiu Xi Shi again to go out and entertain the other two guests.

Inside the Xiu Xi Shi, Feiqi bowed respectfully to Xia Duo, "Respected Lord Xia Duo, Feiqi Aisake pays his respects to you."

Xia Duo nodded and went straight to the point, "Mage Feiqi, there is no need for such formalities. I heard from Beilaila that you intend to commission a high-quality Magic Item?"

"Yes."

"Then do you know my price?"

"I know. Beilaila has already told me: 100,000 Gold Coins and providing your own Mithril. As a 'Great Arcanist Customization', I believe this price is very reasonable, perhaps even a bit low. I am completely able to accept this."

Feiqi expressed his thoughts without hesitation.

Theoretically, an Archmage or a Senior Arcanist would be enough to craft a high-quality Magic Item, but not every Archmage or Senior Arcanist is proficient in Psionic Creation, and even a Great Arcanist might not necessarily be proficient in it.

Therefore, high-quality Magic Items that appear on the market are either reserved by others long in advance, or they have various hidden flaws that no one wants.

Their prices are also not something an ordinary person can accept, basically starting at over 50,000 Gold Coins with no upper limit; the specific price depends entirely on how high the buyer's demand is.

As for Xia Duo's asking price, the Mithril provided is almost negligible compared to the 100,000 Gold Coins. And 100,000 Gold Coins—let alone buying a custom version—might not even be enough to buy those so-called high-quality Magic Items that circulate on the market.

Feiqi didn't quite believe it when he first heard the news. It wasn't until Aoerdelin and Andate Laibu clearly stated they wanted to commission one that he hurriedly joined in, for fear of missing out.

As for whether this was a scam or a conspiracy, Feiqi was not that worried; he considered himself to have nothing worth a Great Arcanist setting a trap for.

Furthermore, as a Secret Text Deacon of the Arcane Union, he had almost absolute trust in Kangjienio, and this trust extended to Iolum and Xia Duo; even if it were discounted, it was still much higher than his trust in others.

Feiqi's firmness and trust exceeded Xia Duo's expectations. He had prepared a spell to monitor Perception before the other party even entered the door.

Even against an Advanced Rank Mage, even if he could not necessarily detect the other party's specific thoughts, it was enough to judge whether the other party's words were consistent with their Conscious Mind.

Feiqi was not lying, and he did not look like someone who had undergone self-hypnosis. Xia Duo felt deeply gratified by this; finally, someone knew quality when they saw it.

Thinking about it carefully, among the few people he had entrusted to spread the word, except for Aiwa, the others—including Beilaila—might not have seriously promoted this matter.

At the very least, it was not as Xia Duo had envisioned, similar to the promotional methods on Earth.

For a moment, Xia Duo regretted finding those few people. If he had known, he would have just posted a task in the Arcane Union; the efficiency might have been better than it was now.

Next, Xia Duo asked Feiqi about his requirements for the Magic Item.

To this, Feiqi's answer was—"I hope to commission a high-quality Scrying Magic Item that can search for various targets directionally. If it could also possess anti-Scrying capabilities at the same time, that would be even better!"

"That is possible."

Xia Duo agreed after a moment of thought. Without asking the other party about the purpose of commissioning such a Magic Item, he stated a date directly, "Three days from now, come to Weilan Manor to pick up the goods. No problem, right?"

"Three days?"

Hearing this time, Feiqi's face was full of surprise, "Three days is too fast! I thought, I thought—"

"Thought what? That I would drag it out for half a year, pretend it failed countless times, and then demand an exorbitant price?" Xia Duo said with a smile.

As far as he knew, there were quite a few Archmages who played like that. Even if it were agreed upon beforehand and a deposit was taken, they would likely drag out the time and then tinker with it haphazardly only when the delivery deadline was near.

Those with good character might deliver the goods directly; those with bad character might start demanding exorbitant prices.

Occasionally, some would mess up and fail to produce the goods in the end. The result would be a loss of reputation at best; if a Sacred Contract had been signed beforehand, they would be directly placed on the blacklist of the Lord of Radiance.

Regarding Xia Duo's joke, Feiqi did not dare to follow up, only exclaiming, "I didn't expect Lord Xia Duo to have such profound attainments in the field of Psionic Creation."

"Then can you accept the three-day timeframe?"

"Yes, absolutely! I will go back and raise the money immediately. Tomorrow—no, the day after tomorrow, I will definitely deliver the payment to Weilan Manor!"

It was already late at night. Even with his enthusiasm, Feiqi did not say he would come to deliver the money tomorrow. Mithril was easy to handle; having worked at the Arcane Union for so many years, if he hadn't saved anything else, he certainly wasn't lacking in Mithril.

But 100,000 Gold Coins was not so easy to come up with; it would require some careful preparation.