Above the mage!

Chapter 482 Bone and Blood Thorn Elixir

The first stall at the entrance to the black market is in one of the prime locations.

The stall owner who can occupy this position must have some ability, and the things they display must be rare.

The stall owner was unwilling to show his true face and was wearing a hooded black robe.

Even the only face that was visible was covered by a hideous skull mask, making it look fierce and menacing.

That wasn't enough. Gao De secretly activated his Mandora's Eye and detected traces of magical energy flowing through the small patches of skin on the stall owner's body that weren't covered by a mask.

This means that the face beneath the stall owner's mask is also a non-real appearance concealed by magic such as [disguise].

You think I'm on the first floor?
Actually, I was on the second floor.

Goodness. Gao De couldn't help but sigh inwardly. What heinous things had this guy done outside, and who had he offended, to be so cautious?

However, compared to the stall owner's true identity, Gaode was more concerned about the goods on his stall.

The stall owner set up a total of three shelves on the stall.

One of the shelves was filled with strange potions of various colors in glass bottles. At a glance, Gao De couldn't recognize a single one of them.

Gao De immediately became interested, stepped forward, and asked, "What kind of magic potions are these? I don't seem to have seen them anywhere else?"

The stall owner, who had been squatting behind the shelf with his head down as if in deep thought, raised his head when he heard Gao De's question. A strange glint flashed in his eyes, which were hidden behind his mask.

"These are all potions I concocted myself, all of them are self-developed formulas, and each one is unique in the world. Of course you haven't seen them anywhere else."

His voice was very strange, like countless tiny gears rubbing together dryly, each syllable carrying a mechanical stutter, and the end of each syllable trailing off with a faint hissing sound, as if he was leaking air while speaking.

Clearly, it was another case of a voice deliberately altered to conceal one's identity.

The stall owner's withered, bluish-black fingers emerged from his gray robe, his fingernails turning bluish-black, and his fingertips pointed at a bottle of magic potion on the shelf.

Gao De followed the tip of his finger.

The potion's liquid was a color between deep purple and jet black, like solidified dark liquid.

The liquid also contained countless tiny, silvery-gray flocculent particles that, upon closer inspection, appeared to be slowly wriggling, like some kind of miniature insect.

"For example, this bottle of Dark Erosion Dew is my original three-ring enhancement potion. After drinking it, it can increase the drinker's success rate in enhancing their ring by 10%, and the raw materials are several times cheaper than other three-ring enhancement potions with similar effects."

"Oh?" Gao De raised an eyebrow slightly upon hearing the stall owner's introduction.

For him, a potion that increases the success rate of upgrading rings by 10% is beneath his notice.

If he were to advance to the next ring, he would definitely prepare the highest-grade advancement potion for himself. For example, the [Green Vine Dew] he drank when advancing to the second ring could increase the success rate of advancement by 40%.

But this is because he is a sea sentinel mage and the king of the North, no longer an ordinary mage, and his vision and channels are far superior to those of ordinary people.

For ordinary mages, a potion that can increase the success rate of upgrading a ring by 10% is already a treasure they desperately want, requiring years or even decades of effort to obtain.

Just like in the previous life, Gaode only had two university options, and looked down on the others. But for most ordinary students, being able to attend any university is already very satisfying.

With such a potion that has the same efficacy but is several times cheaper on the market, it's easy to imagine how popular it would be.

The fact that this stall owner could concoct such a powerful potion speaks volumes about his potion-making skills.

With such skills, why not go out into the world to become a potion master and make a name for yourself, instead of staying in Black Sails City as a small stall owner?

Gao De looked at the stall owner in front of him with suspicion.

Without him needing to think too much about the intricacies, a series of heavy footsteps approached from afar, accompanied by the salty smell of the sea breeze, and a burly man happened to pass by.

He happened to overhear their conversation and let out a disdainful sneer, his voice rough and hoarse like sandpaper scraping: "Old ghost, you're fooling outsiders again. Aren't you afraid of getting your arms and legs chopped off one day for selling fake medicine?"

The burly man was about two meters tall, with broad shoulders and a thick back. His bare arms were covered with hideous scars, and his bronze skin was adorned with a dark skull and ship tattoo that rippled through his muscles as he spoke. He exuded the aura of a fierce pirate.

Before the stall owner could respond, the burly man strode over to Gao De, patted his shoulder with his large, fan-like hand, and said with considerable force: "Don't believe this old ghost's nonsense, he's lying to you!"

"Drinking this Dark Erosion Dew can increase the success rate of ring enhancement by 10%, but it doesn't mention that its ring enhancement potion has no protective effect and cannot resist the magical backlash caused by ring enhancement failure."

"I only said that Dark Erosion Dew can increase the success rate of upgrading rings by 10%, and that is indeed the case," the stall owner, whose lie had been exposed, said calmly, seemingly without any emotional fluctuation. "How can you say that I'm lying?"

After hearing what the burly man said, Gao De finally understood why the stall owner was willing to live in Black Sail City.

The Ring-Up potion has two functions: resisting the magical backlash caused by failed Ring-Up attempts and increasing the success rate of Ring-Up attempts. Only when it has both functions can it be considered a Ring-Up potion according to strict standards.

This Dark Erosion Lotion is a stripped-down version.

It's like a cell phone that can only make calls but not receive them. It's not that it's completely unusable, but unless you really have no other choice, who would normally use such a thing?

Moreover, if castration is performed, and it's made clear beforehand, then it's a case of mutual consent, and no one can be blamed.

But the stall owner in front of me didn't mention any drawbacks, seemingly not lying, but in reality, he was just exploiting loopholes.

It certainly fits his stereotype of the City of Black Sails.

"This old ghost learned his potion-making skills from Sea Nest City, but he didn't master them. He only learned the huge side effects inherited from Sea Nest City's potion-making tradition, but he doesn't possess the powerful effects that far surpass ordinary potions." The burly man said disdainfully again before striding away.

Despite being exposed and scorned by others, the stall owner remained completely unfazed.

The same goes for Gaode Maps; they didn't feel any anger or resentment at being "deceived."

He was already mentally prepared for the environment of Black Sails City.

Just like if everyone goes to a bar, you can't expect to find a good boy or girl to marry there, can you?

Gao De shifted his gaze from the bottle of Dark Erosion Dew and asked, "Among these potions, are there any that can quickly increase a mage's level or assist in cultivation? The more significant the effect, the better."

Upon hearing Gao De's question, the stall owner, who hadn't shown any emotion even after his shortcomings were exposed, couldn't help but give Gao De a deep look before taking a bottle of dark red potion from the shelf.

Black specks of light floated in the liquid, gathering and dispersing erratically.

The stall owner shook the medicine bottle and introduced it: "Bone and Blood Thorn Elixir, a third-tier magic potion. After drinking it, the efficiency of refining magic power with the same amount of mental strength will be increased by two times, and the effect will last for seven days."

"What about the side effects?" Gao De didn't immediately take the potion.

The stall owner paused for a moment before answering in his mechanical voice, "Both of its main ingredients contain spiritual toxins. Although I reduced the toxicity somewhat through the auxiliary ingredients, I couldn't completely remove them. Therefore, after drinking the Bone and Blood Thorn Elixir, the drinker's mind will be contaminated by the toxins, affecting aspects such as spell casting stability and spell model construction."

"However, this effect is not permanent. It will be metabolized by the body in about six months."

After hesitating for a moment, the stall owner finally tried to salvage the reputation of his potion, saying, "If you can be sure that you will be in seclusion for the next six months, neither fighting nor learning spells, then the side effects will be negligible."

"Price?" Gaode asked again.

"The market price of a Tier 3 magic potion is around 140 Golden Bird Flower Coins. Cultivation magic potions, due to their special properties, usually have a premium of 20% to 50%." The stall owner did not quote a price immediately.

"But your potion has significant side effects," Gao De reminded him.

"I know," the stall owner mumbled in response, knowing he couldn't fool Gaode Maps after being exposed. "One bottle is 100 Golden Bird Coins, buy five get one free."

"How many bottles do you have?" Gao De's next question took the stall owner by surprise.

"I only have ten bottles on hand right now, but I still have some raw materials left. If needed, I can produce another 15 to 20 bottles in a short time," the stall owner replied after thinking for a moment.

“I’ll take all 10 bottles. Also, I’ll buy as much of this stuff as you can concoct in the next few days,” Gao De said with a smile.

"Huh?!" The stall owner was dumbfounded after making such a big sale.

"To quickly level up a mage, you always have to pay a price," Gao De said casually.

"Unfortunately, most people don't understand this principle." The stall owner paused for a moment, then sighed.

After sighing, he quickly rummaged through the cargo box behind him, found the remaining 9 bottles of Bone Blood Thorn Elixir, packed them into a box, and handed it to Gao De, "A total of 10 bottles, buy five get one free, totaling 900 gold, I'll charge you 850 Gold Sparrow Coins."

Gaode was naturally extremely satisfied.

The people here may be ruthless, but they are still very shrewd in their work. After realizing that Gaode was a major client, they decisively offered discounts.

—It sounds simple, but in reality, very few businessmen can actually do it.

After exchanging money for goods, Gaode didn't leave but instead looked at the other items on the stall.

Aside from the potion shelf, the other two shelves were much more cluttered, lacking strict categorization, and even contained a still-wriggling sea monster heart.

Gao De crouched down, and Mandora's Eye was activated throughout, his gaze sweeping over all the materials on the shelf.

【Identification+】is indeed useful for identifying extraordinary materials, but it requires prolonged contact and is cast on a single target.

With so many extraordinary materials, it's definitely impractical to use the [Appraisal Technique] to appraise them one by one.

Although Mandora's Eye cannot obtain detailed information about extraordinary materials like [Appraisal+], it can still observe the energy flow on the surface and even inside the material, and can preliminarily determine the grade and quality of the material.

First, use Mandora's Eye for initial screening, then use [Appraisal Skill+] for detailed appraisal. It is precisely because of these two abilities that Gao De is full of expectations for this trip.

Even if you don't find a great bargain, you're unlikely to get scammed.

Perhaps the stall owner was in a good mood because he had just closed a big deal, or perhaps in the stall owner's eyes, Gaode had become a rich sucker.

The stall owner, who had been somewhat indifferent just moments before, was now actively promoting his goods to Gaode Maps.

"This is the Greedy One's Abacus, a Tier 3 transcendental equipment created by an alchemist proficient in necromancy. It takes the spine of a greedy mage, melts it down into jade beads, and then infuses each bead with a howling soul. Moving the beads will release the [Painful Scream]."

"this is"

He only sells the most valuable items in his inventory, mainly extraordinary equipment.

I don't know where a potion master got so many extraordinary equipment?

However, Gaode is not particularly interested in extraordinary equipment. It's not that he's not interested, but rather that he looks down on it.

After carefully scanning the area, he didn't find anything worthwhile, but he did discover materials for two kinds of magical potions. These were considered scraps on the shelf, and Gaode bought them for less than 100 Golden Bird Coins.

Then, he gave the stall owner another instruction to prepare another batch of Bone and Blood Thorn Paste as soon as possible, and then he and Lan Wen headed to the next stall.

After this round of spending, Gaode only had less than 1800 Golden Bird Coins left.

Therefore, he had a clear plan: to focus on two main types of goods for the time being: raw materials for magic potions and seeds of magic trees.

Once the payment from the Embroidered Anchor Gang is received and the Anling Festival auction concludes, and the Azus Feather Whistle Tree Seed is successfully acquired, then we will launch a massive "sweep" of the black market.

The black market, which was close to the Wrath of the Liberation auction, did not disappoint Gao De.

After browsing less than ten more stalls, he obtained seven or eight kinds of magical potion materials and an extremely rare second-tier aquatic magical tree seed.

In addition, he also saw spell recipes for sale at the stalls. In a place like Black Sails City, where there is no legal oversight, the trade in spell recipes, which is strictly restricted on the continent of Nolan, should have been very popular.

The truth is quite the opposite; very few people in Black Sails City are in this business.

The reason is simple: there is no market.

It's inherently difficult to verify the authenticity of spell recipes; relying on official endorsements is the safest approach.
After all, spell recipes are based on potion recipes to concoct potions for consumption. If you buy a fake recipe and take a fabricated potion, it could really kill you.

Black Sails City is a place rife with unscrupulous merchants and a lawless place.

Counterfeiting spell recipes is virtually costless, so who would dare buy spell recipes here?

Just as Gao De and Lan Wen were about to walk to the next stall, a very faint magical fluctuation suddenly appeared.

"Is it a communication spell?" Gao De raised an eyebrow, identifying the source of the magical fluctuations and confirming that they were directed at him.

Someone is trying to send me a message using [Telecommunications]? What's going on?
His gaze swept around, searching for the mysterious messenger—even with the ascended ring spell, the casting range of the [Messenger] spell generally wouldn't exceed a hundred meters.

In other words, the person who sent you the message is currently within a hundred meters of you.

While searching for the "culprit," Gaode chose to receive the message.

The message was brief.

"Someone's watching you!"

(End of this chapter)