Chapter 978: Risk

“State your price.”

Su Xiao bought Black Merchant 24K a cup of coffee; Black Merchant 24K nodded politely.

“Mr. Baiye, we’ve already collaborated once, so we’ll offer a discount—300,000 Paradise Coins.”

Undoubtedly, for the target audience of this blueprint, 300,000 is an astronomical price—even if the blueprint is Gold quality.

Su Xiao merely smiled, his gaze fixed on Black Merchant 24K, saying nothing.

Ten seconds. One minute. Five minutes.

Sweat beaded on Black Merchant 24K’s forehead, hidden by his hood; the café’s elderly female owner swallowed hard and muttered, “What’s with this tense atmosphere? It’s just a transaction—why so terrifying?”

Imagine the feeling of being stared at by Su Xiao—dripping with blood, smiling—Black Merchant 24K panicked.

“Cough, haggling during transactions is normal… this…”

Though somewhat wary of Su Xiao, Black Merchant 24K was a seasoned merchant; no matter the situation, he must uphold the basic dignity of a trader: never sell at a loss.

“Fifty thousand Paradise Coins plus two bottles of healing potion.”

Su Xiao couldn’t expend too many Paradise Coins—he still needed to create alchemical creatures, a major expense.

“What quality are the healing potions?”

Black Merchant 24K didn’t refuse immediately—he was a refined merchant; before confirming the buyer’s offer, he never rejected it, no matter how outrageous.

“Purple quality.”

As he spoke, Su Xiao pulled out a vial of Potion No. 1—a specially modified version with minimal Konan cells, posing no risk of tree-like transformation, though its healing capacity was slightly reduced.

The full version of Potion No. 1 restores 87% of maximum HP; this version restores 76%. To Su Xiao, it was mediocre.

Seeing the potion, Black Merchant 24K was startled—he’d seen higher-tier potions before, but never one of Purple quality with such healing power. Recalling Su Xiao’s intent to purchase the alchemical creature blueprint, he made a connection.

“Unexpected. I assumed Mr. Baiye was a melee specialist, but now it seems your Intelligence stat is astonishingly high.”

Black Merchant 24K’s words puzzled Su Xiao slightly; he showed no reaction, but pondered the implication.

Clearly, Black Merchant 24K was highly interested in this modified Potion No. 1—and he explicitly noted Su Xiao’s high Intelligence stat. Could Intelligence enhance alchemy?

No—if it did, he would’ve noticed earlier. But another possibility: Intelligence boosts the efficacy of independently developed formulas, most evident in potion-making—like Su Xiao’s own Potion No. 1.

Long ago, he’d wondered why Potion No. 1 was so potent: a Purple-quality potion restoring 87% HP, with strong healing effects on internal injuries.

Now he understood: Intelligence amplified the effectiveness of his personally developed formulas. This was crucial information.

“What do you say?”

Su Xiao looked up at Black Merchant 24K.

“I can see you don’t want to spend many Paradise Coins—you likely need them soon. How about twenty bottles of this potion plus fifty thousand Paradise Coins?”

“One bottle.”

“...”

Black Merchant 24K fell silent, his expression grim.

“Mr. Baiye, this lacks sincerity.”

“No, I’m very sincere.”

In those few words, Su Xiao realized why Black Merchant 24K cared about Potion No. 1: though it restored massive HP, it carried minor side effects. Any healing potion with side effects loses significant value—that’s why Su Xiao never sold Potion No. 1; it simply wouldn’t sell. In combat, even slight stat degradation could be fatal. Potion No. 1 was his personal potion, unsuitable for others.

Black Merchant 24K was interested because he wanted to reverse-engineer Potion No. 1’s formula, improve it, and profit immensely if successful.

Black Merchant 24K was overestimating. Potion No. 1’s composition was so complex it would make most alchemists doubt their sanity. It was based on a Special-grade alchemical secret formula, then heavily modified by Su Xiao with Konan cells and other materials. The difficulty was extreme—even with the exact formula, few alchemists could replicate it. This was Su Xiao’s exclusive formula.

“If that’s the case, then forget it. There are many other guilds in the Paradise.”

Su Xiao’s meaning was clear: Black Sail Guild wasn’t the only one—he simply cooperated with them often, so he came first.

Black Merchant 24K fell into thought. Su Xiao was a loyal, powerful client; losing him weighed heavily. Black Sail Guild’s success came primarily from loyal clients like him, secondarily from Chairman Qian Dapang’s business acumen.

“Deal.”

Black Merchant 24K decided instantly. This alchemical creature blueprint had cost their guild 40,000 Paradise Coins—yes, only 40,000. The market was tiny; no individual could sell it. Neither usable nor sellable, even a Gold blueprint held no value. The previous owner initially priced it at 250,000 Paradise Coins, then dropped it to 150,000 after two derivative worlds, then 100,000, 60,000, and finally, reluctantly, sold it to Black Sail Guild for 40,000.

Su Xiao paid 50,000 Paradise Coins and one Potion No. 1, acquiring the Gold blueprint—this item had likely sat unsold in Black Sail Guild for years.

As soon as he received the blueprint, Su Xiao used it immediately.

[You have learned the blueprint for manufacturing the Frostwinter Minotaur.]

[Frostwinter Minotaur materials required: Advanced Pseudo-Living Bone (12 units), Large Monster Core (1 unit), Advanced Bio-Magical Tissue (42 units), Bio-Metal (27 units), Active Hydrogen (50 units), Magical Energy Conduction Patterns (18 units), Aslan Powder (36 units), Soul Fragments (307 units), 3000 Mana Points.]

…

This mountain of materials would deter over 80% of would-be creators—each component was expensive. Su Xiao tried using Paradise Coins as substitutes.

[To substitute materials with Paradise Coins, you must spend 460,000 Paradise Coins and 3 Medium Soul Crystals.]

Upon hearing this, Su Xiao wasn’t surprised—he already had a solution.

“I need to purchase other items.”

“Of course, welcome.”

After Su Xiao briefly described his needs, Black Merchant 24K compiled a preliminary list. An hour later, the transaction concluded.

Leaving the café, Su Xiao headed straight for the Trading Market, meticulously scanning its countless stalls. He shopped until noon, spending a total of 130,000 Paradise Coins—combining purchases from Black Merchant 24K and the market.

The Frostwinter Minotaur required many materials—this was, in a way, beneficial. The more materials needed, the higher the chance of finding substitutes. In contrast, creations like Apollo, requiring only three materials, were harder to replicate.

After his major procurement, Su Xiao returned to his private room’s alchemy lab. Soon after, Bubu Wang returned to serve as his assistant.

Su Xiao tried again to substitute materials with Paradise Coins. Since he’d already acquired many components, the required amount dropped sharply—to just 100,000 Paradise Coins.

Indeed, substituting materials with Paradise Coins was a terrible deal. Unless absolutely unable to obtain the required components, Su Xiao never used this method.

Paradise Coins rapidly depleted as vast quantities of material, forged from Paradise Coins, appeared in Su Xiao’s hands—Paradise-made, always top-tier.

Manufacturing the Frostwinter Minotaur had a high threshold. Merely the 3000 Mana Point cost would deter many. Insufficient Mana could interrupt the process, ruining all materials.

Su Xiao took a deep breath, pulled out three Medium Soul Crystals, and shattered them, obtaining 312 Soul Fragments.

Everything was ready. Time to begin manufacturing the Frostwinter Minotaur. Bubu Wang was thrilled—because the Frostwinter Minotaur would be controlled by him in battle and carried by him otherwise. This meant a qualitative leap in his combat power—he now had a powerful enforcer.

Su Xiao had only one chance; failure meant losing 230,000 Paradise Coins, which is probably why Contractholders rarely studied alchemical creature manufacturing—profit was enormous, but the risk was far too great.