I became a god through archaeology in the Wizarding World.

After the commotion subsided, there was a deathly silence.

Inside the Bloodline Law Academy's private medical room, the air was filled with the distinctive minty and ambergris scent of high-level recovery potions.

Rhodes lay on a soft velvet hospital bed, his body covered with various alchemical tubes monitoring his vital signs.

After confirming that his beloved student was only unconscious due to mental exhaustion caused by the bloodline eruption, Master Galon left with satisfaction.

Before leaving, they didn't forget to set up two construct guards at the entrance.

Only after Galon's footsteps completely disappeared at the end of the corridor did the boy on the hospital bed, who had been breathing weakly and had a pale face, suddenly open his eyes.

"Acting is really physically demanding."

Rod removed the tubes from his body and stretched his sore neck.

Although he acted like a mad beast in the ring, in reality, apart from excessive magic consumption, his physical condition was surprisingly good.

The dual physical enhancements from [Stone Skin] and [Steel Mane] have given him a recovery ability far exceeding that of ordinary people.

He walked to the window and glanced at the guards patrolling downstairs through the gaps in the heavy curtains.

"The final assessment is in five days, so these five days are a rare window of opportunity."

Rod tapped his fingers lightly on the windowsill.

He crippled Marek in the arena not only to establish his authority, but also to thoroughly enrage Mortimer and make the Necromancers focus on how to retaliate. Otherwise, if the Necromancers intervened in other areas, the situation would become very troublesome.

But now, he faces a new problem: he's running out of money.

He used most of the 500 magic stones he had swindled from the king to buy cultivation resources to advance to the intermediate apprentice level.

The underground excavation project has reached its most critical stage. Professor Isaac's list indicates that a large amount of alchemical explosives and high-strength alloy tools are still needed to break through the final rock layers.

"We need to raise some money, and it can't be a small amount."

Rhodes turned around and took out the package he had brought back from the Misty Forest from a hidden compartment under the bed.

Besides Kane's legacy, there was also a special item he had accidentally discovered in the underground ruins, but had never dared to sell.

"A small-time dealer like Jack can't handle this shipment, and it's easy for word to leak out. We need to go to a higher-class place."

Rhodes took a deep breath, and his figure began to blur in the moonlight.

Right under the noses of the two construct guards, he slipped silently through the crack in the door like a ghostly wisp of smoke and disappeared into the night.

……

Upper City of the Royal Capital, gilded roses.

If Rat Alley is the sewers of the capital, a den of filth and grime, then the Gilded Rose is the crown of the capital, the epitome of luxury.

This is a huge six-story building, made entirely of white marble, with countless magical crystals embedded in its exterior walls, emitting an ambiguous warm light in the night.

This place was not only a den of iniquity where nobles squandered their gold coins, but also the largest underground intelligence and high-end black market trading center in the entire Golden Flower Dynasty.

Rhodes changed into a well-tailored black velvet suit and wore a plain silver mask.

Instead of going through the main entrance, he skillfully showed the waiter at the door a gold coin engraved with special runes, and was then respectfully led up to the private booth area on the second floor.

"Sir, what service would you like? Fine wine, beautiful women, or... a message?" the waiter asked in a low voice.

"I'm looking for the most discerning person among you, Benjamin."

Rod's voice, disguised, sounded deep and magnetic: "Tell him I have some interesting gadgets from the old days; he'll be interested."

The waiter's expression changed slightly, then he bowed even more respectfully: "Please wait a moment."

A moment later, Rhodes was led into a luxurious room decorated with dark red tapestries.

Behind the mahogany table in the center of the room sat a slightly plump middle-aged man dressed in an elegant silk vest.

He wasn't holding a wine glass; instead, he was rapidly turning the twirls of an exquisite crystal abacus, producing a series of pleasant, crisp sounds.

Benjamin, the chief representative of the Steel Federation Chamber of Commerce in the capital, is also one of the real bosses behind the gilded rose.

"Something from the old days?"

Benjamin stopped what he was doing, looked up, and scrutinized Rhodes through his monocle with his shrewd little eyes: "This mysterious gentleman, in Gilded Roses, the term 'old-time' shouldn't be used carelessly. If it were just an ordinary antique, it could be handled in the lobby downstairs."

Without wasting words, Rhodes walked directly to the table, took out a small glass bottle, no bigger than the palm of his hand, sealed with special magic-sealing wax, and gently placed it on the table.

Benjamin's gaze fell on the glass bottle.

The bottle was filled with a pale green preservative solution, and in the center of the liquid, a plant root no longer than a finger was suspended.

It looks like a dead vine, its surface a dull, rocky color.

"A dead twig?" Benjamin raised an eyebrow, a hint of disappointment flashing in his eyes. "Sir, if you're here to make fun of me..."

"Look at it." Rod interrupted him, extending his finger and tapping the glass bottle three times lightly.

Boom, boom, boom.

As the vibration was transmitted, the dead tree branch inside the bottle suddenly seemed to be awakened and twitched violently!

Immediately afterwards, the rocky color on its surface faded rapidly, turning into a vibrant, luscious emerald green in an instant.

The top of the rootstock even split open into a small opening, like a miniature mouth, greedily sucking up the surrounding preservative liquid, and even trying to hit the glass bottle wall, making a soft hissing sound.

Benjamin's pupils instantly contracted to pinpoint size.

"This is... a living fossil?!"

He abruptly stood up, disregarding etiquette, and rushed to the bottle, staring intently at the strange plant: "This magical fluctuation... this ancient biological structure... is this a [Poisonous Vine Demon] from the Second Era? Wasn't it extinct long ago? How could it still be alive?"

"Nothing is impossible in this world, Mr. Benjamin."

Rhodes sat on the opposite sofa, his tone calm: "I found this by chance in a collapsed underground cavity. It was in a peculiar petrified dormant state, and could be briefly revived with certain stimuli."

This is of course a lie. This vine was a pseudo-living sample that Rhodes specially created by using his [Poisonous Vine Demon] genes and combining them with his [Stone Skin] ability.

It is indeed active, but it is also a derivative of Rhodes' body, and can only survive for a few days after leaving the original body.

But for Benjamin, this was already shocking enough.

"Incredible...it's a miracle."

Benjamin carefully picked up the bottle, his eyes practically brimming with greed: "Do you know what this means? It means we can extract an ancient toxin formula from it, and might even be able to deduce a long-lost model of plant-based magic!"

He took a deep breath, forced himself to calm down, sat back in his chair, and regained his businessman's shrewdness.

"Name your price, sir. I'll take this."

"Five hundred magic stones," Rhodes announced.

"Deal." Benjamin didn't even haggle, simply pulling a crystal card from the drawer: "This is a universally accepted magic stone prepaid card from the Steel Federation, which can be redeemed at any time."

Rhodes took the crystal card but did not leave immediately.

"Mr. Benjamin is so generous, it seems this thing is worth far more than five hundred magic stones." Rhodes looked at him with a half-smile.

Benjamin smiled and poured Rhodes a glass of wine. "Sir, you're a shrewd man. In the capital, this thing is worth at most this price, because most wizards here are stuck in their ways, only knowing how to cram in ancient books. But across the sea..."

He pointed eastward and lowered his voice: "In the Central Continent, in the alchemy center of the Steel Federation, those crazy alchemists are willing to pay ten times the price for this kind of living fossil."

"Ten times?" Rhodes' heart skipped a beat.

"That's right." Benjamin took a sip of his drink, seemingly intending to befriend this mysterious supplier: "Although the magical technology of the Central Continent is advanced, its resources have long been exhausted."

This ancient biological material, imbued with primitive genes, is known there as a "puzzle of God." Especially recently, it's been rumored that the Tower of Truth is offering a high reward for any clues regarding living specimens of ancient organisms.

He pulled a gold-embossed business card from his pocket and pushed it in front of Rod.

"If you can get your hands on this kind of good stuff again in the future, please be sure to consider me first. Whether it's poison vines or something else... like some kind of incredibly hard bone, or a carapace with elemental affinity."

Benjamin looked at Rod meaningfully: "As long as it's alive, I can turn it into a mountain of gold."

Rod put away the business card, a slight smile curving his lips beneath the mask.

The central continent is resource-poor but technologically advanced, and urgently needs paleontological samples.

And isn't the "Species Atlas" he holds in his hand an inexhaustible treasure trove of paleontology?

This is not just a business deal, but also a fallback plan.

If one day he can no longer make it in the capital, or if he needs more advanced knowledge and technology to analyze the encyclopedia, the Central Continent will be his best destination.

"I will remember that."

Rhodes stood up and straightened his collar. "It's been a pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Benjamin."

"It's a pleasure working with you." Benjamin raised his glass in a toast.

Rhodes turned and left, his figure disappearing outside the door.

Benjamin looked at the now-calm glass bottle, a calculating glint in his eyes: "A mysterious seller... It seems this capital city is more interesting than I imagined."