Chapter 2

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Protagonist:

Chen Yi

Master!

What the hell is this?

Chen Yi looked at them with a puzzled gaze. Dozens of elders in luxurious robes stood in neat rows facing him, their postures and etiquette similar, truly oppressive.

Moreover, these were clearly foreigners, perhaps the teachers of believers, yet they were speaking Chinese?

Looking closer, the scene here was no different from behind him, the space so vast it was unimaginable. In other words, the broad area Chen Yi had thought was spacious was actually only half of this building.

Chen Yi, plunged into astonishment, remained silent for a long time.

The believers on the other side of the light curtain still kept their heads deeply bowed, with a solemn and reverent bearing.

About two or three minutes later, Chen Yi tried pushing the light curtain on the train door again; it trembled stubbornly twice, still blocking the way.

It did not look like a virtual scene.

Chen Yi tentatively said: "Hello..."

The other side shouted in unison again: "Greetings, Master."

Chen Yi was shaken by it, but his heart calmed considerably.

That slightly respectful and humble tone was similar to many people he had seen before, a greeting from a subordinate to a superior, like the scene when his grandfather convened a family meeting.

The terror brought by the strange scene quickly passed, and Chen Yi said calmly enough: "Do you know me?"

The old man in the lead wearing a red robe moved his head slightly, glanced up, and replied: "We have never seen the Master, but have heard the descriptions of our predecessors; any mount appearing in the Mage Tower must belong to the Master."

"Hmm." Chen Yi turned his neck and said more slowly: "What is your name?"

Since neither side had met before, asking for a name was no problem.

"I am Timothy, the Grand Mage of this Mage Tower. Master."

"Hmm." Chen Yi made the same sound again.

Timothy understood the implication and immediately continued: "Since the previous Master left, following the edicts of our predecessors, we have always been collecting various items, waiting for the arrival of a new Master to serve, with reverence and joy..."

Amid a string of chaotic adjectives, he flicked his finger, and bright white light flashed; a mirror-like screen was raised high before the train door.

The mirror surface, over a meter in length and width, flickered twice, and rows of images, text, and numbers appeared, as magical as a computer.

The text kept changing, with alphabetic text and pictographic text, until Chinese appeared; Chen Yi had not yet spoken when the changes stopped abruptly.

Chen Yi pinched his thigh hard, thinking: If this is a dream, I must be taking it too seriously.

The first row of the mirror surface read "Scroll," and the next line read "Intelligence Scroll" in vigorous, powerful characters, like the style of a calligraphy master, astonishing.

Tapping "Intelligence Scroll" in the air, the mirror surface changed again as expected.

"Intelligence Scroll Level 1, increases Intelligence by 1-3 points, worth 200 Gold Coins."

"Intelligence Scroll Level 2, increases Intelligence by 4-8 points, worth 600 Gold Coins."

"Intelligence Scroll Level 3, increases Intelligence by 9-18 points, worth 1800 Gold Coins."

An arrow marker appeared at the bottom right of the mirror surface; tapping it entered a new page:

"Agility Scroll Level 1, increases Agility by 1-3 points, worth 180 Gold Coins"

"Agility Scroll Level 2, increases Agility by 4-8 points, worth 540 Gold Coins"

Chen Yi's heart went "bang bang." Although he didn't know what Intelligence points or Agility points specifically were, he roughly understood Gold Coins.

The most exciting thing was that a mysterious world was unfolding before him.

If it were real...

Chen Yi couldn't bear to think further and hurriedly continued looking; the new page was different again, showing only the names at the top and brief introductions, such as "Endurance Scroll," "Listening Scroll," "Dispel Scroll," and so on.

Chen Yi didn't know how much time he had, couldn't look closely, and flipped past it.

After flipping who knows how many pages, he began to see things with the "Potion" suffix.

However, only the names "Energy Recovery Potion," "Stamina Recovery Potion," "Lightness Potion," "Beneficial Potion," etc., were present, with no other information at all.

Chen Yi grew tired of looking, and Timothy, knowing the situation, said: "The trade rules left by the previous Mage limit us to providing different items according to different conditions; please choose two usable ones, Master."

Chen Yi nodded as if understanding.

Actually, he knew nothing.

Timothy's spirits lifted, and he said expectantly: "I don't know what scarce items Master has brought this time for exchange?"

His expectation contained too much information.

He worried Chen Yi might not like his things, and also worried the things the other party provided weren't good enough.

An opportunity waited a hundred years for; even with his status, he couldn't help but become nervous.

Chen Yi didn't think much, but understood; the other party was respectful, yet it was still a transaction based on the principle of Equivalent Exchange, like ancient China's Tributary States paying Tribute—politically flattering, but economically at least equal.

He looked back; the Carriage was empty, where were the items for exchange? Instead, he held a Test Paper Collection he had just received.

Professor Hu giving him the Test Paper Collection had symbolic meaning greater than actual meaning.

Chen Yi thought: Might as well let it serve a purpose.

So he threw it over and said: "I've had this thing for a while... uh, since it's our first meeting, I'll give it to you."

A short sentence instantly removed the risk.

Timothy didn't understand the situation, gratefully took it, placed it on a Silver Tray, and seriously explained: "Master's Generosity makes us feel ashamed; we should offer it with all our might, but the Crystal Screen left by the previous Mage has its Rules..."

He said, handing the silver tray to the Mage behind him: "Please, Master, choose two items."

Chen Yi cared, yet did not care.

For him, verifying facts seemed more important, so he only chose the first two he saw, saying: "How about the Wisdom Scroll and the Perception Scroll?"

Scrolls of different levels differ greatly, so only names were given, not levels.

"Please wait a moment, Master." Timothy made a glance behind him, then said: "Since you are not a Mage, the scrolls you can use are limited... This kind of scroll is difficult to produce and extremely energy-consuming to use, so take note."

In just two sentences, he explained the usage and range of the scrolls, and pointed out their preciousness.

Scrolls for Mages and Unrestricted Scrolls usable by ordinary people still have slight differences. Over years of development, the latter were often neglected, and their value instead rose.

Chen Yi did not care how much, nodding repeatedly.

If it were a dream, then let him dream a dream of slaughtering all directions. If he slept long enough, perhaps there would still be time to dream a beautiful dream of conquering the world and roaming the world.

If it were reality, that would be wonderful.

Chen Yi watched covetously as a box floated before his eyes.

A certain Red Robe Mage was in the air, making a circle with his finger and chanting, and the floating box flew into the carriage, blocking Chen Yi's light curtain, but not blocking the penetration of objects.

Heavy in hand, the hollow patterns on the outer edge gave it a classical fashionable taste.

After receiving it, Chen Yi eagerly opened it to look, paying no attention to the Mages at all.

Two light red and two bright red scrolls were neatly placed in the compartments of the box.

They were like paintings cut in half, or magazines halved and rolled up, engraved with special characters; between clear or blurred strokes, transparent dark patterns flowed, and they were tightly tied with a ribbon in the middle.

"The colors of scrolls were unified hundreds of years ago. You can notice that light red is Scroll Level 1, bright red is Level 2 Scroll. Besides, there are dark red Level 3 Scrolls, light yellow Level 4 Scrolls. Scrolls of levels seven to nine are green, levels ten to twelve are blue scrolls; the higher the level, the more the cost increases several times." Timothy did not care about Chen Yi's own strength; whoever could provide scarce resources and master magical mounts was the "Master."

Since ancient times, the world has operated this way.

"There are three Perception Scrolls and three Intelligence Scrolls here... gifted to the Master." Timothy did not say the mood-killing transaction.

The Mage was still explaining seriously; Chen Yi observed for a while, reached out with his right hand, grabbed a light red Perception Scroll, pulled hard, and yanked off the ribbon on it.

The scroll shattered with a bang, and even the two characters "Perception" on the ribbon exploded into smoke, instantly enveloping his whole body.

The light flashed and vanished, and his body had an itchy, refreshing feeling. Chen Yi narrowed his eyes, and at the tiger's mouth of his right hand, a mark similar to the two characters "Perception" had been stamped.

At first glance, the mark looked as if struck by a laser.

Timothy did not need to look; judging from the magic fluctuation alone, he said: "Perception Scroll Level 1, usable for thirty minutes."

Perception Level 1?

Chen Yi, according to the simple introduction he had seen before, touched his clothes, and a thought immediately arose in his mind: "Animal fur mixed with chemical fiber."

He touched his watch again, and vocabulary surged in his mind again: "Metal material."

It seemed even the lowest-level Perception Scroll could distinguish the material properties of items; this should be the first step in perceiving objects.

But he did not know what was special about levels two and three.

Chen Yi suppressed his curiosity and could not help but smile.

The several Great Mages behind Timothy could not help but think: Was it because he was too young? This Master did not seem as... solemn and wise as the predecessors had said.

Before they could figure out what was going on, they heard Chen Yi continue: "Your Saint Qiao Kingdom, what 'scarce' items do you mainly want?"

Having the qualification and ability to trade with the "Master" was the main reason the Kingdom could hang the character "Holy" before its name. Timothy immediately smiled broadly: "I believe the Master's items will surely be satisfying. Of course, if there were some raw materials for producing scrolls, potions, and weapons, that would be even better. The scroll materials you just gifted us are of quite good quality, haha."

When he laughed, Timothy's classical clergy image vanished completely.

Even ordinary test paper is of quite good quality?

Chen Yi felt much more at ease, yet thought: This Saint Qiao Kingdom, could it be from the ancient era of drinking blood and eating raw meat, not even having paper?

The Subway Door Light flickered, but did not close immediately.

Timothy understood he was about to leave, and with regret, smiled: "Please, Master, must visit again."

"Certainly." Chen Yi boasted, then hurriedly asked: "How are scrolls used on others?"

"Tear the scroll while casting on the released target..." Timothy said, turning his finger in the air twice, then suddenly pointing at a guard near the statue.

A small lightning cloud gathered half a meter above the guard; the latter stared straight ahead, stunned, waiting for the Z-shaped lightning flashing with light to strike down, and received a free explosion hair and tan effect.

Chen Yi was delighted and said happily: "Thank you, Mage, please stay."

His polite words were spoken extremely smoothly; his talent was innate.

The Subway also started slowly.

A group of Mages, with ceremonial movements, bowed in unison: "See off the Master."

Chen Yi caught sight of the Emergency Brake Gate on the right side of the car door, and his mood calmed slightly.