Chapter Twenty-Four: Pure Magic

“This sword measures three feet, seven inches, and six tenths long, weighs sixteen pounds and four taels, and is forged from black iron and refined gold. Its color is like the cliffs of the dark mountains, its grain swallows as the giant beasts of the rocks, and when the sword is drawn it—”

“All right, all right, I’ll buy it, how many magic crystals is it?” The bald customer, listening to Qi Xiao’s impressive yet incomprehensible sales pitch, felt a headache coming on and hurriedly interrupted.

“One hundred and twenty magic crystals, ninety-six after the discount. Thank you for your patronage.” Qi Xiao replied with a bright smile, “For a single purchase over one hundred magic crystals, we also give you a complimentary membership card. No need to apply separately. What do you say, why not add a bottle of Vitality Potion and round it up?”

The bald customer had no objection. For a sword of this quality, one hundred and twenty magic crystals was already a great deal, not to mention there was a discount, and the potion was practically a freebie.

Qi Xiao sheathed the sword and handed it to the customer along with the potion. After receiving the magic crystals, his smile grew even brighter as he reminded, “We’re hosting an auction at five o’clock this weekend. If you have time, you’re welcome to—mmph!”

Suddenly, Qi Xiao felt a surge of turbulence within his own magic. His vision went black for a moment, and he closed his eyes to collect himself, trying to calm the chaotic energy coursing through his body. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself lying in the break room. Demott, nearby, exclaimed with delight, “The boss is awake!”

Yara entered upon hearing this, visibly relieved. Qi Xiao managed a weak smile to reassure them, “Don’t worry, I’m fine. I’ve just been overworking on alchemy these past few days. I just need a bit more rest. You two go ahead, no need to look after me.”

Demott wasn’t surprised. He had already been amazed when he saw how much stock the boss had managed to produce in just five days, and when he learned that Qi Xiao had crafted everything himself, he’d begun to regard him as something of a monster.

Having previously worked in a potion shop, Demott had some understanding of the trade; such efficiency could only be achieved through relentless effort, making it just barely reasonable.

“Your health comes first, boss. Don’t overwork yourself, or it won’t be worth it,” Demott advised sincerely.

Yara, however, had witnessed Qi Xiao’s terrifying talent and didn’t believe that all this could have weakened him so. He’d seemed perfectly normal right up until the moment he collapsed… Nevertheless, she had no intention of probing further and simply smiled, “As long as you’re all right. You should have a healer look at you just in case. Demott and I will go back to work. Take a rest here, Ash.”

Demott nodded at Qi Xiao and left with Yara to greet more customers.

Only now did Qi Xiao have the opportunity to examine the true culprit behind his episode—a mass of pure, primal magic within his body.

“Congratulations! You have successfully completed an alchemical supply and received a reward: Pure Magic.”

Recalling the voice he’d heard earlier, Qi Xiao tentatively began to absorb the mass of magic, feeling it slowly pour into his body and spirit sea. He hurriedly closed his eyes to draw it in more deeply.

About half an hour later, Qi Xiao opened his eyes and exhaled a long, murky breath.

“The amount of magic in this mass equals about five days’ worth of meditation for me,” he mused. Now he’d absorbed it all in half an hour, and felt no side effects at all.

“Well, that’s good… What I lack most right now is time and power.” Without a solid foundation of magical cultivation, there were many things he couldn’t learn or use. The reason he’d nearly fainted was that his training had been too brief, making this influx of magic overwhelming, and he’d let it circulate through his body without any precautions. With this experience, he would not lose his composure so easily next time.

As the crowds outside dwindled and Demott and Yara became more proficient with the routine, Qi Xiao simply closed his eyes and returned to meditating, purifying and absorbing magic with the “Cosmic Singularity” he’d constructed in his spiritual sea.

He meditated until a knock at the door roused him.

It was already late. Seeing Yara and Demott enter, Qi Xiao rose and smiled, “Thank you both for your hard work. Go home and rest. I’ll head back to Lake Heart Island to prepare the alchemical goods for the weekend auction. I’ll be counting on you for the next couple of days—after that, I’ll bring in more staff. Just a few days’ effort now.”

After some words of encouragement, Qi Xiao bid them farewell and rode his griffin back to Lake Heart Island.

On the way, he estimated the distance from the lakeshore to the island. He reckoned that once he became an intermediate wizard’s apprentice and learned Level 2 Spatial Transfer, he could teleport directly from the lakeside into the Bubble Space.

Though it was late, Qi Xiao, having meditated most of the afternoon, was feeling refreshed. Upon returning to the island, he went straight to the alchemy lab to plan out the lots for the weekend auction.

Leafing through numerous design schematics in the lab, Qi Xiao finally selected seven: six ordinary alchemical weapons and one finely crafted alchemical bracelet.

There was little issue with the weapons. While their finished quality would be slightly better than the ordinary weapons sold in the shop, the difference wasn’t great. The bracelet, however, was particularly challenging, and Qi Xiao wasn’t fully confident he could complete it.

Still, this was already the simplest design among all the fine-grade schematics he had, and even a formal wizard usually only wielded such quality artifacts. Even though this bracelet was just barely at fine-grade and less practical than some high-difficulty weapons, it would still make advanced wizard apprentices envious. High-end alchemical products were always in short supply.

Moreover, only members with a card could participate in the auction. The final price might not even be very high, but that was precisely Qi Xiao’s aim: to use a fine-grade artifact and a low price as a promotional draw.

Smelting—condensing—shaping—engraving; after a succession of processes, dawn broke, and the six alchemical weapons were complete.

Qi Xiao stored the weapons away, intending to rest and recover before attempting the bracelet over the next three days.

His constitution was not yet strong enough to replace sleep with meditation, so after about three hours’ rest and a quick wash, he returned to the lab invigorated.

He carefully reviewed the schematic twice more, committing the entire process to memory, then went to the storeroom to select materials.

Some of the ingredients required for this alchemy were quite valuable, and he hadn’t specifically prepared them, so he’d have to dip into his reserves and replenish them later.

For the bracelet’s main body, he chose blue iron refined gold. Blue iron is a type of soft iron, and its properties are highly mutable, which was one important reason he’d chosen this schematic. If it required a harder metal of the same grade, his melting spell might not suffice.

Though blue iron is soft, once blended with glass silver, its hardness rivals tungsten steel.

The crafting process needed to follow the schematic as closely as possible, but the appearance could certainly be customized. Having seen many bracelets, Qi Xiao ultimately decided on an openwork floral design, which best suited the aesthetic preferences of most wizards.