Wizards begin by accessing the Inspiration panel.

Chapter 141 One Body, Two Souls

He does have magic stones. Putting everything else aside, a single high-grade magic stone can easily be exchanged for more than 10,000 ordinary magic stones.

Richard did not want to use the high-level magic stone unless absolutely necessary.

After all, this kind of thing is rarely sold on the market, and almost every time it appears, it is bought at a premium.

Therefore, while it's easy to sell these high-level magic stones, it's difficult to acquire them again.

Moreover, Richard currently only has one high-grade magic stone left, which is the key to teleporting to the blind fishman tribe, and it is even less likely to be exchanged for easily.

The other unnecessary items in his bag, pieced together, amounted to about ten thousand magic stones, making it seem impossible for him to acquire all three items.

Richard thought about it and decided to see how many magic stones the [Wind Spirit Pendant] could sell for first.

So Richard pretended to be reluctant and painfully pulled out a rhomboid, transparent crystal pendant from his pocket.

"Manager Boris, I wonder if your auction house is interested in acquiring this [Wind Spirit Pendant]?" Richard said, turning around and solemnly handing the Wind Spirit Pendant to Boris, who was standing beside him.

Boris was taken aback when he saw Richard's expression, but then he was overjoyed. It seemed that this pendant was a more precious magical artifact than the [Storm's Fury] from before. He immediately accepted it with both hands and examined it carefully.

The next second, Boris looked surprised. This was actually an extremely rare top-tier defensive magical artifact.

From a practical standpoint, it is arguably no less useful than the [Mimetic Wristband], and he doesn't know why the other party wants to sell it.

However, from the auction house's perspective, such a fine item was certainly not to be missed. Boris hesitated for a moment, then said seriously, "Honorable guest, may I test the effect of this [Wind Spirit Pendant] now?"

"Of course," Richard nodded.

"Thank you." Boris immediately recited a few short syllables according to the description on the magic circle.

Instantly, a pale blue wind element shield enveloped his entire body, and the wind energy at his legs was particularly concentrated, a result of the combined effect of the swift wind and the wind element shield.

In an instant, Boris was running at lightning speed through the VIP room.

A few seconds later, Boris, his face flushed, returned to his seat and said, "Honorable guest, I'm willing to offer 5000 magic stones to purchase this [Wind Spirit Pendant]. What do you say?"

Richard was secretly pleased, as this was nearly 500 magic stones higher than he had expected. However, he still feigned great distress and reluctance, frowning as he said, "Manager Boris, this price seems a bit low, doesn't it? If so, I won't sell it."

"No! No! VIP, look, 5500 magic stones, that's my bottom line," Boris quickly said.

Richard fell silent for a moment.

The girl beside him clenched her fists, nervously watching Richard's pensive face, her heart screaming, "Agree! Agree!"

After a long pause, Richard nodded.

Boris and the girl both breathed a sigh of relief and smiled broadly.

Richard was secretly overjoyed; this was much higher than he had expected, which was certainly a good thing.

Based on this, after selling these two pieces of equipment, I can get a total of 9000 magic stones. Adding the more than 4000 magic stones I have on hand, I can basically gather 13500 magic stones.

"Manager Boris, I'll take all three items you just showed me!"

"What? You want all the VIPs?" Boris was stunned, and the girl next to him was even more surprised, her mouth agape.

The two looked at each other and saw surprise in each other's eyes.

It seems that both of them were impressed by Richard's boldness.

13500 magic stones is a huge sum of money, no matter where you put it.

For the girl and Boris, this is a double celebration!

Boris quickly calculated in his mind, and after a moment, he said to Richard, "Honorable guest, your two items cost a total of 9000 magic stones. You'll need to pay the difference of 4500 magic stones. How would you prefer to pay the remaining amount?"

From the auction house's perspective, Boris, as the manager, was more than happy that Richard could offer one or two more good items to offset the remaining payment.

In this way, you can earn more money by reselling it through an auction house.

Richard thought for a moment and realized that, apart from high-level and mid-level magic stones, he only had about 4000 ordinary magic stones left.

He immediately left over 1000 pieces as spares and took out 3000 magic stones to give to Boris.

Boris was somewhat disappointed to see Richard actually take out magic stones to pay for the rest.

Finally, still short of 1500 magic stones, Richard thought for a moment and then took out a bunch of hemostatic potions, healing potions, and basic mental energy recovery potions from Muken of the Gurus Academy to use as payment.

This immediately brought a smile to Boris's and the girl's faces.

For them, the profit from in-kind discounts is certainly greater.

Ten minutes later, the money and goods were settled.

Richard walked out of Pete's Auction House with satisfaction, escorted by Boris and the young woman.

This trip to the auction house can be described as a complete transformation, as Richard traded away all his ill-gotten possessions for three top-tier sorcery items, increasing his combat power by at least 20%.

However, his pockets were suddenly much emptier, and the remaining thousand or so magic stones had to be used to buy a mount, giving him a feeling of being back to square one.

At this moment, Richard felt a pang of nostalgia for the people who had delivered the spoils of war to him.

Hopefully, next time, the enemy's storm will be even fiercer!

Richard took a couple of steps and then realized something was wrong.

The way the wizard apprentices around him were looking at him was a little strange.

It seemed to be filled with awe, envy, and a touch of greed.

In an instant, Richard realized what was going on.

His own knight's longsword, [Frost Guardian], was alright, since it had a scabbard and the hilt was slightly covered by his robe, so it was not obvious that it was a top-level sorcery tool.

However, the [Griffin Wings] is a longbow that is 1.6 meters long and has an extremely cool appearance. When worn diagonally on the back, it is very eye-catching.

If a skilled wizard apprentice were to approach Richard within a few meters, he would be able to sense the powerful wind elemental force emanating from the bow.

It was immediately obvious that this bow was not an ordinary witchcraft tool.

Richard thought for a moment, then found a leather armor shop and bought a set of dark, shiny leather armor. However, he still wore a hood to maintain a certain sense of mystery. With a sword at his waist and a large bow on his back, he gave the first impression of a wandering knight.

Richard had also covered the bow of the Griffin Wings with the hide of some strange creature, which greatly weakened the magical fluctuations of the bow's magic array.

The same applies to the hilt of the 【Frost Guardian】; without drawing the sword, it is impossible to tell that this is a knight's longsword of top-tier sorcery item level.

In this way, when you walk down the street, you appear ordinary and no longer so high-profile.

Following the signs, Richard arrived at a mount shop in Andel Market, but unfortunately, unlike the Black Forest Market, this mount shop did not have any special mounts for sale.

The mounts sold here are either ordinary horses or wildebeest.

According to the shop assistant, wildebeest are the offspring of a common horse and a zebra with horns on its head.

Richard smiled slightly when he heard this. The zebra with a pair of horns on its head was a horned zebra, a low-level supernatural creature, roughly on par with low-level monsters.

Wildebeests have far greater endurance and physique than ordinary horses, but not as great as zebras.

So Richard spent 25 magic stones to buy a strong wildebeest, which was much better than the nag he could buy for 4 gold dinars in the small village.

After wandering around for a while and collecting some rare herbal ingredients, Richard prepared to leave Andel Market and head to Silverpine Town.

Starting from here, if you drive your wildebeest at full speed, you can reach Silverpine Town in about half a day.

The thought of seeing his family soon filled Richard with a mix of excitement, joy, and a touch of nervousness.

However, just as he was riding his wildebeest toward the market exit, he caught a peculiar glimpse of a shop out of the corner of his eye.

The shop occupied a large area, and on the signboard at the entrance, there was a group of people, men and women. The men were strong and the women were beautiful, but they all had one thing in common: they were all wearing shackles.

Richard couldn't help but be very curious; it seemed to be a shop that sold slaves.

Richard tugged at the wildebeest's reins, hesitated for a moment, and then decided to go and take a look.

I've been to many shops so far, but this is the first time I've ever seen a slave shop.

I wonder if we have any officially knight-level slaves. If we do, we could buy a few to expand our family's strength.

However, what's rather strange is that many wizard apprentices have gone into this shop, but none of them have ever come out.

After a moment's thought, Richard had a rough idea in mind.

However, Richard left disappointed shortly after entering.

This slave shop primarily sells female slaves, and the quality of these female slaves is quite high. Many are young and beautiful, and some are even former noble ladies, making them very popular with wizard apprentices.

After all, most wizarding apprentices have limited talent, many choose to live for the moment, and some are unable to withstand pressure and need to vent some of their darker desires.

So, just as Richard had guessed, this slave shop had a hidden back door. After the wizard apprentices had chosen the female slaves they needed, they would put on hoods and quietly slip away through the back door.

After all, many wizarding apprentices are of noble birth and are quite mindful of their image.

Hypocritical? Richard thought for a moment, then couldn't help but chuckle. It seems that it's the same in every era.

Richard glanced at the male slaves and found that most of them were at the level of quasi-knights. The few who had reached the level of knights were either older than his father or were barbarians from the north, two meters tall with thick hair, too conspicuous in the family.

After hesitating for a moment, Richard finally shook his head and walked out of the slave quarters.

But as soon as Richard stepped out of the slave quarters, he noticed that the Soul-Eating Spider, which had been sleeping in his arms, suddenly stirred, and a mental energy fluctuation no less than that of an ordinary third-level wizard apprentice instantly emanated from his arms.

This immediately drew the attention of many wizard apprentices entering and leaving the slave quarters, who stared in surprise at Richard, dressed as a knight-errant.

-

Richard was also startled and immediately hurried to the only inn in Ander Market and booked a room.

Upon entering the room, Richard's face showed a mixture of surprise and uncertainty. He took out the crystal-colored Soul-Devouring Spider from his pocket and stared at it blankly.

Just now, a little girl's voice suddenly appeared in my mind.

"Mother, I can finally speak now."

"Mother? Are you calling me? Are you the Soul-Eating Spider?" Richard thought to himself.

"Yes! But 'Soul-Eating Demon Spider' sounds awful. Mother, can you help me name it?" A little girl's cheerful voice echoed in my mind.

Richard was silent for a moment, but after thinking about it, he decided to correct one thing first.

"Don't call me Mother, call me Father."

This left the Soul-Eating Spider somewhat bewildered, because in its bloodline genetic information, there was no father figure; all those who raised it were referred to as mothers.

What is a father?

Richard had a headache; he wasn't even married yet, and he already had a daughter.

"Similar to a mother, I'll explain the specifics later." Richard then asked, "How come you can suddenly speak?"

"I don't know either. After this evolution, I can talk. Oh, right, Father..." the little girl stammered.

"It's the father," Richard pointed out.

"Father, by the way, Father, you haven't given me a name yet!" the little girl said coquettishly.

"Your current appearance is like a piece of crystal, so let's call you Crystal, what do you think?" Richard thought for a moment and said.

"Father, I have an older sister here who also wants to come out and talk to you?" Crystal continued.

"What?" Richard suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

When did the Soul-Devouring Spider gain another older sister inside its body?

Could it be schizophrenia?

Or is it a side effect of consuming too many souls?

"When did you get an older sister?" Richard asked, sounding surprised and uncertain.

"After I evolved, my sister woke up. It seems she knows Dad?" Crystal didn't quite understand why either.

Richard's mind raced. Could it be...?

"Alright, Crystal, then let her out," Richard said, calming himself down.

"Dad, if she comes out, I have to go back. I'll give her half an hour," Crystal said reluctantly.

"it is good."

The fist-sized Soul-Eating Spider on the table trembled slightly.

"Richard, do you remember me?" A familiar, yet long-unheard voice echoed in Richard's mind.

Richard recognized the voice immediately; it was none other than Stephanie!

Indeed, "good people don't live long, but bad people live for a thousand years."

They're still alive!

"Stephena?" Richard confirmed.

"It's me! I never expected to see you again under these circumstances."

Richard fell silent for a moment, unsure of what to say.

"Don't worry, now that I and the Soul-Devouring Spider are one body with two souls, the blood oath you signed with it is equally effective on me."

Richard was taken aback after hearing this and said, "So, you're now also one of my contracted creatures?"

After a moment of silence on the other end, a soft female voice finally came through: "Yes! Are you satisfied now? Everything I did has become your dress."

"Well, I was just lucky," Richard said, rubbing his nose.

"Richard, could you do me a favor?" Stephanie asked hesitantly.

Richard immediately became alert.

"What help? I can't help you with anything big."

"Currently, Crystal and I are one body with two souls. Every time she comes out, I can only fall asleep. Could you find a suitable body for me?" Stephania explained somewhat hesitantly.

"Richard, I've already signed a blood oath with you, I'm yours now. If I become stronger, it'll be a good thing for you too. And you no longer need to worry about me playing any tricks on you."

Richard's face darkened, and he thought to himself, "What do you mean, 'my man'?"

However, Richard sensed it and could indeed feel an invisible connection between himself and Stephanie; it seemed he could control or command her to do anything.

After a pause, Richard asked, "What kind of physique? There must be requirements, right?"

"Could you help me find a female body, preferably a pretty and young one? If possible, it would be best if she had Spider Woman blood." Stephania's voice became much more cheerful when she saw that Richard seemed to agree.

Richard nearly collapsed to the ground upon hearing this, and said in a deep voice, "Spider Woman bloodline? Where am I supposed to find that?!"

Seeing that Richard seemed a little angry, Stephania quickly said, "The Spider Woman bloodline is something that usually awakens in our family every 5 to 10 years. It's just that the bloodline concentration might not be as high as mine. I know that there is a ten-year-old girl in a collateral branch of our family, who should be considered my cousin, who has the Spider Woman bloodline."

Richard was speechless for a moment; indeed, old habits die hard.

"Stop! Let's discuss this again. By the way, besides a female body, what other conditions are needed? Do you, like Crystal, have a special ability to directly possess a body?"

"The biggest difficulty going forward is that we need to find someone to perform the spirit rebirth ritual, or Richard, you could learn how to perform the spirit rebirth ritual. It's just that this kind of witchcraft is not easy to find, but I heard that there are people at the Gurus Academy who should know this kind of witchcraft."

"It can't be that coincidental," Richard thought to himself. After killing Muken during the spirit rebirth ritual, he happened to discover that Muken actually knew this rare witchcraft, so Richard learned it without much effort.

After a long silence, Richard said quietly, "Let's discuss it again."

-

Rossby County.

Yinsong Town.

At this moment, most of the houses in Silver Pine Town were destroyed, leaving only broken walls and some houses emitting plumes of black smoke.

It looked like a small-scale war had broken out.

Only Clavel Castle stands majestically, seemingly untouched by the ravages of war.

Besides the fully armed guards on the castle walls, there were three men in full knight's armor watching the enormous monster, which looked like a crab and a bit like a spider, wreak havoc in Silverpine Town.

The middle-aged knight in the center, with a furrowed brow, was Richard's father, Baron Clavel, and to his left was Richard's brother, Levi.

"Father, are we just going to watch this monster wreak havoc in Silverpine Town?" Li Wei watched as houses were easily destroyed by this enormous monster, like building blocks, and his heart bled.

It should be noted that this is the century-old fiefdom of the Clavel family, which has been managed and developed by generations of the family over a long period of time, making Silverpine Town a prosperous place.

But now, it has been completely destroyed by this enormous monster.

"Even Lord Duan, who possesses the strength of a second-level wizard apprentice, is no match for this monster, let alone us. Moreover, the monster's carapace is exceptionally hard. We've tried using sheer numbers, but it's only resulted in more casualties and has been completely pointless," explained Sir Rollins, the sheriff standing nearby.

After a pause, Knight Rollins added, "However, Lord Duan has already sent a letter requesting assistance to the Ignis School, but it is unknown when reinforcements will arrive."

"Li Wei, don't be too hasty," the Baron said in a deep voice.

Baron Clavel looked much older. A few months ago, when the Ignis School informed the Baron that his second son, Richard, had died in a battle with the underground races, the old Baron remained silent.

For three consecutive days, the old baron did not sleep, but stood blankly in front of the study window.

After Li Wei comforted his mother and went to visit the old baron, he found that his father had aged considerably in an instant. His once jet-black hair had turned mostly gray in just three days, which showed how much his brother Richard's death had affected him.

Perhaps a thorn has been deeply embedded in the old baron's heart all along!

He believed he had made a wrong choice, not only causing the death of his second son Richard, but also personally pushing the Clavel family into danger.

Otherwise, if the family still had the promise from the wizard Celeste, this monster in front of them could have been dealt with easily.

"Your Excellency, I heard from Lord Duan that even a regular third-level wizard apprentice might not be a match for this monster. Fortunately, you had the foresight to have me evacuate the town's inhabitants to the castle, so at least so far there have been no casualties among the people," Knight Rollins reported.

"By the way, I sent three cavalrymen yesterday to report to Earl Harris in Rossby County. I'm sure the Earl will send reinforcements as soon as he receives the news."

"Rollins, you're thinking too simply. Not to mention that the road from Silverpine Town to Rossby County has been blocked by suddenly appearing monsters. Even if the cavalry manages to get there, how can you guarantee that Earl Harris will send reinforcements in time?" The old baron said quietly, gazing ahead.

Li Wei's expression immediately changed, and he said, "Father, are you saying that such powerful monsters might also appear in other parts of Rossby County?"

Rollins' expression immediately changed upon hearing this. Indeed, Earl Harris was probably in a state of utter distress at the moment.

"There may be some places where the situation is more critical than here," the old baron nodded.

"Indeed, if it weren't for Lord Duan and these large crossbows, this monster would have breached the castle gates a few days ago!" Thinking back to the situation, Knight Rollins couldn't help but show a look of fear.

"By the way, how is Lord Duan's injury?" the old baron asked.

Duan was injured by the shockwave from the monster's enormous pincers slamming into the ground during their battle a few days prior, and his injuries have not yet healed.

"The injuries are not minor, but in another day, he should be able to move around without any problems. However, fighting will be difficult!" Li Wei shook his head and said.

(End of this chapter)