Conquer the other worlds with abandon, they've fallen in love with me!

Lin Yu came out of Lilia's room. The corridor was quiet, with only the sound of his footsteps.

The door to Vera's office on the second floor was ajar, and he knocked on it.

"Please come in," came the voice from inside, which was lighter than it had been in the morning.

Pushing open the door, I found Vera had already finished dealing with the pile of documents and was leaning back in her chair drinking tea.

"Is it all done?" Lin Yu asked.

"Mmm." Vera looked up at him, a slight smile playing on her lips.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. Let's go. Today we'll finish teaching the remaining basic elements."

The two went into the training room next door.

Vera seemed more relaxed today than yesterday, standing closer during the lesson and spending more time with her fingers on Lin Yu's wrist and forearm.

"Mr. Lin Yu, earth magic is the most stable of all magic." She stood beside Lin Yu, her right fingertip touching his palm:

"Feel the magic emanating from your palm..."

Vera's fingers slid up the inside of his arm, from his wrist to his forearm, and then to the back of his elbow.

My fingertips felt cool, even through the thin fabric.

"Here." Her hand stopped at the inside of Lin Yu's elbow and pressed gently:

"The flow of magic needs to slow down in this area, down to about the same as a heartbeat."

Lin Yu closed his eyes, sensed the energy, and adjusted the rhythm of his magic output.

The magic in his palm began to thicken, unlike the restless fire element or the light wind element, but rather a heavy, downward force.

Vera's hand was still on Lin Yu's elbow, and she could feel his pulse beating.

"Yes, that's it." She said in a very low voice, almost touching his arm.

His breath was warm on his forearm.

Lin Yu opened his eyes, and a small ball of brown earth element condensed in his palm.

It wasn't large, but it was very dense, hovering heavily in the air above my palm.

Vera leaned closer for a look: "Not bad." She straightened up, the fabric of her cheongsam brushing against Lin Yu's arm, silky smooth and warm from her body.

"Let's try again, this time try to deform it."

Lin Yu closed his eyes again and adjusted his magic output.

The ball of earth in the palm of the hand slowly began to elongate, turning into an irregular cone shape.

A hint of surprise flashed in Vera's eyes, but it was quickly covered up by her usual lazy smile.

"Mr. Lin Yu, your progress is faster than I expected."

"It's because you taught me well."

Vera chuckled softly, didn't reply, and continued teaching.

The training went smoothly from there.

The stability of the soil system, the growth potential of the wood system, and the purifying properties of the light system.

Every time Vera taught a new skill, she would get very close, guiding Lin Yu's magic with her fingers and pressing her palm against his skin.

Occasionally, she would whisper a few key points in his ear, her breath brushing against his earlobe, carrying a faint scent of tea and a barely perceptible hint of alcohol.

Lin Yu learned very quickly, and he succeeded in learning each spell on his third or fourth attempt.

An hour later.

"Alright, that's all for today's lesson." Vera stopped and took two steps back.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on her forehead; the continuous high-intensity teaching had made her breathing more rapid than usual.

A small patch of the cheongsam's collar was soaked with sweat, its color darkening and clinging to the collarbone.

She raised her hand to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear, the movement slow, the lines of her wrist appearing slender in the morning light.

"Come sit in my office." Vera turned and walked towards the door.

The high heels clicked rhythmically on the floor.

The hem of the cheongsam swayed gently with her steps, revealing a section of her calves encased in black stockings.

Lin Yu followed behind her, his gaze lingering on her calves for a moment.

Unfortunately, Vera wasn't wearing the special-effect black stockings today.

Although still tempting, it was hard for Lin Yu to look at it more than a few times.

......

The tea in the office had gone cold, so Vera poured two more cups and pushed one of them in front of Lin Yu.

She sat down behind her desk, took a leather bag from a drawer, placed it on the desk, and pushed it towards her.

The leather bag wasn't big, but it was bulging, and the drawstring at the top was tied very tightly.

"The money for the 600 bottles of healing potions will be split as agreed beforehand." Vera picked up her teacup, took a sip, and looked at Lin Yu through the rim of the cup:

"Each bottle is priced at 1 gold coin and 30 silver coins. You take 70%, so the total is—"

She paused, then tapped her fingers twice on the table: "546 gold coins, please count them."

Lin Yu untied the rope and glanced inside.

The gold coins were neatly stacked, gleaming alluringly in the morning light.

He didn't count, tied the bag back up, and put it on the table.

"No need to count."

"You trust me that much?" Vera's lips curved into a smile, her eyes smiling, but the smile didn't reach her eyes, as if she was used to this kind of probing conversation.

"Trust is the foundation between partners," Lin Yu said.

Vera put down her teacup, interlaced her fingers on the table, and leaned forward slightly.

This pose loosened the neckline of the cheongsam, revealing a small patch of fair skin below the collarbone.

"Mr. Lin Yu, I enjoy dealing with people like you."

Her voice was lower than before, carrying a relaxed quality that only comes when the two of them are alone:

"No dragging things out, no taking advantage of others, and no pretense."

As you can see, the quality of this batch of medicine is excellent, and the response has been even better than I expected. It sold out very quickly after it was put out to market yesterday.

Some adventure teams even requested to purchase more items.

She paused, then tapped her fingers lightly twice on the table:

"Continuing to cooperate is beneficial to both of us."

"nature."

"Then... please keep the money." Vera pushed the leather bag towards Lin Yu, her fingertips lingering on the opening for a second longer:

"I hope the quality will be this good next time."

Lin Yu took the leather bag, weighed it in his hand, and instead of putting it in his pocket, he untied the rope.

Vera raised an eyebrow as she watched his movements.

Lin Yu counted out some gold coins from the bag, stacked them up, and pushed them back in front of Vera.

110 pieces, stacked neatly.

Vera glanced down at the stack of gold coins, then looked up at Lin Yu. Her expression remained unchanged, but a hint of inquiry appeared in her eyes.

"This is?"

Lin Yu put the remaining gold coins into his storage magic bag before looking up at Vera.

"Thank you for your help to Lilia."

Vera was taken aback.

Her fingers remained motionless on the table, as if nailed to the spot by those words.

After a dozen seconds, she finally spoke: "What did Lilia say to you?"

"Yes, I told you about saving her," Lin Yu said calmly.

Vera lowered her eyes, her gaze falling on the stack of gold coins.

"That child..." she began, then paused, as if organizing her thoughts.

After a few seconds, she continued:

"I happened to be passing through the alley at that time and heard some noise inside."

I pushed open the door and saw a woman dragging a little girl out. The little girl didn't cry or scream; she was just being dragged along, her feet dragging on the ground, and her shoes had fallen off.

I knew she was going to sell the little girl, because this kind of thing happens often. Later, I gave her some money and took the child away.

Vera put down her teacup and ran her finger along the rim of it.

"Lilia was only six years old then, as thin as a kitten, and covered in bruises."

Vera didn't say anything more after she finished speaking.

She leaned back in her chair and turned her head to look out the window.

The morning light shone through the window, falling on her profile, obscuring the emotions in her eyes.

Lin Yu didn't say anything.

The office was quiet for a while.

Vera turned to look at Lin Yu, her usual lazy smile returning to her face:

"Looking back now, that money wasn't a bad deal," Vera said casually, tapping her fingers on the armrest.

"After raising her for over ten years, she became a well-behaved and sensible girl, and even brought a capable potion master to the guild."

Mr. Lin Yu, I knew I hadn't misjudged you.