I became a god through archaeology in the Wizarding World.

The capital city's night is divided into two worlds by an invisible line.

The upper town was brightly lit, with noble carriages traveling along the avenues illuminated by magical streetlights, while the lower town resembled a festering wound, hidden in shadows and stench.

This is a paradise for the poor, the homeless, the wanted criminals, and the wild wizards who are not under the control of the council.

Rod wore a dark brown hooded cloak he'd found at a flea market, the hood pulled low over his face, obscuring most of it.

To conceal his physique, he padded his shoulders and back with cotton to make himself appear more robust and hunched over than usual.

The stone path underfoot was covered with slippery moss and unidentified filth, and the air was filled with a smell that was a mixture of cheap tobacco, fermented swill and some kind of pungent chemical agent.

Rhodes showed no signs of discomfort; the scenes he had witnessed in the emergency room in his previous life were far worse.

Following the directions in the library materials he remembered, he arrived at the end of a dead end.

There was only a red brick wall covered with withered vines, and the corners were piled with garbage. Several large black rats scurried in and out of the garbage, making rustling sounds.

Rod stopped and his gaze fell on an inconspicuous loose brick in the corner.

There was a very faint mark there, exactly the same as the maze pattern on the back of the coin he found on the assassin.

Rod pulled the black coin from his pocket.

Instead of directly inserting the coin into the brickwork, he tapped the edge of the coin against the brickwork three times in a specific rhythm.

"Click".

A slight click of a mechanism was heard.

The seemingly solid red brick wall suddenly rippled like water, and then the bricks in the middle flipped inward, revealing a dark opening that could only accommodate one person at a time.

A stronger, strange odor, mixed with magical radiation, wafted out of the cave entrance.

Rhodes took a deep breath, gripped the knife hidden in his sleeve, and stepped inside.

After passing through a brief, dark passageway, the view suddenly opened up before us.

This is not a spacious and bright underground plaza, but a winding, labyrinthine underground street.

The streets were lined with all sorts of signs, some spelled out with fluorescent moss, others the skull of some kind of creature.

The dim, magical light flickered, casting long, distorted shadows of pedestrians.

Rhodes tried his best to conceal his presence, blending into the crowd like a ghost.

The surrounding stalls displayed all sorts of disgusting or astonishing items.

The still-beating heart of an unknown creature, eyeballs submerged in a green solution, and foul-smelling black powder...

The Atlas of Species vibrated slightly in his mind, as if reacting to some ancient objects around him.

But Rod did not stop.

He is too weak now; any unnecessary greed could lead to his death.

He arrived at a shop with a sign that read "Jack's Grocery Store".

It's less of a shop and more of a junkyard full of broken things.

A dried monkey paw hung by the door, and inside sat a young man as thin as a bamboo pole, his legs crossed, trimming his nails with a rusty knife.

Jack the Swift, that's the name Rhodey found hidden in the invisible ink layer of the assassin's letter.

The assassin was clearly a regular here.

Rod entered the shop, and shadows fell over the counter.

Jack didn't even look up, and said lazily, "We're closed, unless you have gold coins or news that's more interesting than gold coins."

"I want a copy of 'Basic Mental Training Methods'."

Rod's voice was deliberately lowered, becoming hoarse and rough, sounding like that of a weathered middle-aged man.

Jack paused for a moment while trimming his nails.

He raised his head, revealing a pair of shrewd little eyes, as sharp as a mouse's, and looked Rod up and down.

"Meditation?"

Jack chuckled, toying with the small knife in his hand. "This is contraband. Those old men in Parliament value knowledge more than their lives. On the black market, this stuff is hard currency."

"Name your price," Rod said succinctly.

Jack held up three fingers and waved them in the air.

"Thirty gold coins?" Rhodes frowned; he only had twenty coins on him, which he had looted from the assassins.

"ha!"

Jack burst into exaggerated laughter: "Thirty gold coins? That was the price ten years ago! Things are tense now; the council's enforcement teams are like mad dogs, attacking everywhere. Thirty magic stones! Not a single one less!"

Rhodes' heart sank.

Magic stones are the common currency among wizards, containing pure energy.

At the current exchange rate, a low-level magic stone can be exchanged for at least ten gold coins, and it is often in short supply.

Thirty magic stones are worth three hundred gold coins.

This is simply not something he can afford right now.

"Too expensive."

Rod said coldly, "A common book that can only be cultivated to the peak of the apprentice level is not worth this price."

"Too expensive?"

Jack's smile vanished, replaced by a dangerous glint in his eyes: "Friend, this is Rat Alley, not a charity. If you don't have money, get out of my way and don't block my business."

As he spoke, he tapped his fingers lightly on the counter.

Rhodes keenly sensed that there was a faint magical fluctuation coming from under the counter.

That's some kind of triggered defensive trap, or alarm device.

This is a warning.

If it were an ordinary mortal, they would probably have been intimidated by Jack's imposing presence by now.

But Rod didn't move. He knew very well that for an information broker like Jack, demanding exorbitant prices was instinctive, and bullying the weak and fearing the strong was in his nature.

If you act weak, he will suck your blood like a leech, but if you act tough and mysterious enough, he will become cautious.

"Thirty magic stones, that's the price for those reckless young noblemen."

Rhodes suddenly took a step forward, leaning slightly forward, and pressed his right hand, which had been partially petrified and was hidden under his cloak, heavily onto the counter.

"Thump!"

The dull thud made the dust on the counter jump up.

Jack's eyelids twitched; he felt a heavy sense of oppression wash over him.

That wasn't the pressure of magic, but a threat posed by pure physical strength.

"I'm here to do business, not to listen to your jokes."

Rhodes stared into Jack's eyes, his tone chillingly calm: "I know you not only sell things here, but you also buy things. And... you sell information too."

Jack abandoned his dismissive attitude and began to re-examine the mysterious cloaked figure before him.

There was no magical fluctuation, but his physical strength was astonishing.

Could it be a knight? Or a mutant who has taken some kind of magical potion?

In Rat Lane, these people are often more dangerous than apprentices who only know how to chant spells, because they don't need to chant to kill.

"Okay, okay."

Jack raised his hands in a gesture of surrender, a professional, fake smile plastered on his face: "Don't get so worked up. Business is business, we can always talk. You want the meditation method, but it's indeed out of stock. However..."

He abruptly changed the subject, his shifty eyes sweeping over Rhodes: "If you're short on cash, you can trade something else. Like... some rare material, or some unknown secret."

Rhodes' heart skipped a beat.

Material?

He doesn't have any rare materials on him right now.

But he has an illustrated guide to species.

In this black market filled with all sorts of dubious items, some things that others consider trash may be priceless treasures to him.

"Let me check the goods first."

Instead of answering directly, Rhodes made a request.

Jack hesitated for a moment, then pulled a tattered parchment book from a hidden compartment under the counter and threw it on the table.

There were no words on the book cover, the edges were worn out, and there were even a few stains that looked like bloodstains.

"This was taken from a dead, homeless apprentice."

Jack shrugged: "The content is fairly complete, except it's missing the last few pages on insights into breaking through to become a full-fledged wizard. For beginners, it's sufficient."

Rod reached out and flipped through a few pages.

Although he hadn't yet learned meditation, the complex geometric shapes and mental guidance routes on the pages of the book made him feel inexplicably dizzy.

This is genuine.

With this, he can truly step into the realm of the extraordinary.

"I want it."

Rhodes closed the book, but instead of returning it to Jack, he pressed it directly under his hand.

"Hey! Rules!" Jack was getting impatient.

I will give you a satisfactory price.

Rhodes turned around, his gaze falling on the bustling market area outside the shop, a barely perceptible smile playing on his lips: "But not with magic stones, but with my discerning eye."

"A discerning eye?" Jack was stunned.

"Come with me."

Rod didn't explain and walked straight out of the shop.

Jack hesitated for a moment, glancing at the defensive runes on the counter and then at Rhodes' confident back.

Greed ultimately triumphed over caution.

He gritted his teeth, pulled a short crossbow from under the counter and hid it behind his back, then quickly followed.

"If you dare to play me."

Jack muttered viciously to Rhodes' retreating figure, "I'll chop you up and feed you to my ghouls."

Rhodes didn't turn around, but silently replied in his heart, "If you knew what kind of bargain I'm going to take you to pick up next, you'd probably kneel down and call me mentor."

The shockwaves in the encyclopedia are growing stronger.

Not far ahead, at a street stall, some ancient, long-forgotten aura was calling to him.