Miss Witch, even if we're poor, we can't sell ourselves!

Miya practically rushed out of the subway station.

The heat on her face hadn't completely subsided. She gripped the backpack strap tightly, lowered her head, and hurried across the platform. Only when she was back under the gray light of the overcast sky did she slow down and let out a long breath.

That's so embarrassing.

Her original plan was to go to the Central Market to complete the herb samples she had collected from the back mountain that morning, and also to pick up a few low-level herbs with special properties to conduct resistance experiments.

But she had only walked less than 200 meters out of the subway station and hadn't even turned into the main street of the market when she heard hurried footsteps behind her, followed by a hand grabbing her backpack strap.

"Wait! Please wait a moment!"

Miya turned her head and saw a girl about her height holding her backpack with both hands, her chest heaving, clearly having followed her all the way.

The girl's hair was a very light orange-red, tied into a low ponytail with the ends sticking up messily, as if blown by the wind or as if it was born disobedient.

Her eyes were amber, with slightly upturned corners. Deep within her pupils, a few fine golden lines slowly flowed, a sign of activated magic circuits. Miya had seen this in textbooks; it usually meant that the witch had been dealing with high-temperature magic for many years, and the magic had permeated into her iris tissue.

She was wearing an apron that was clearly a size too big, with its pockets stuffed full of bottles and jars that jingled as she walked.

"You smell of potion essence."

The girl loosened her backpack strap and took a step back, but her gaze remained fixed on Mi Ye's face.

"I can't be mistaken, please sell me that!"

Miya instinctively covered the side pocket of her backpack, warily scrutinizing the girl in front of her.

She just drew the potion essence on the bus, and she didn't take it out the entire time on the subway. How did this person know?

Relying on smell? What kind of dog nose is that?

"I'm not selling."

Please!

The girl clasped her hands together, her amber eyes wide open, and her ponytail swayed from side to side with her movements.

"I've been looking for this for ages! I'll offer 20,000 Loren per bottle! I'll buy both!"

"I'm not selling it."

Miya took a step back, her tone resolute.

She is not short of money now, and has nearly 30,000 Loren in savings. The best choice is to keep the rare material, Magic Potion Essence, for her own potion making in the future.

Once you've sold it, buying it back isn't just a matter of money anymore.

The girl seemed surprised to be rejected so decisively and paused for a moment.

Then she did something that Miya had never expected: she squatted down, hugged Miya's knees with both hands, and hung on her legs.

"Please! I'll do anything! Really! Anything! Oh my god!"

The sound was so loud that people on half the street could hear it.

Miya felt completely numb.

Although the pedestrian traffic on the street was not as high as during the morning and evening rush hours, it was still quite substantial. At least a dozen pairs of eyes turned to them as they prepared for their exams, as well as as they were as vendors and parents of young girls passing by with their children.

A little witch clinging to someone's leg shouting "I can do anything"—this scene just doesn't look right.

"Let go of me! Don't mess with me in the street, are you doing this on purpose?!"

"Then you must agree to come into my shop and take a look! It's just ahead! Not far!"

Miya felt that if this street farce didn't end soon, the image she had managed to salvage on the subway would be shattered into nothingness in another neighborhood.

"Fine, you win."

Upon hearing this, the girl jumped up, the bottles and jars in her apron pocket clattering loudly. Her expression instantly changed from pitiful pleading to a bright smile, the speed of her change making Mi Ye wonder if she had been tricked.

The girl's shop is the third one at the entrance of the market's side street.

The storefront was so small that it consisted of only one room, and the sign was written in chalk on a small blackboard.

The Flame's Alchemy Workshop

The handwriting was crooked and messy, and next to it was a drawing that looked like a flame or a cloud, probably meant to express the idea of ​​being forged at high temperatures.

Pushing open the door, a smell mixed with sulfur, charcoal powder, and sweet honey syrup wafted out.

The shop contained only a worktable, two chairs, and a wall of wooden drawers. Each drawer had a label on it, some saying "Fire Catalyst," others "Stabilizer," and some labels were so covered up that the writing was completely illegible.

Let's get to know each other formally.

The girl turned to face Mi Ye, one hand on her hip, the other outstretched, palm up, a small cluster of orange-red flames suddenly emerging from her fingertips. The color of the flames transitioned slightly between orange-red and pale blue, making her amber eyes sparkle.

"My name is Luo Yan. I specialize in fire elemental magic and also practice alchemy. I am also the owner of this shop."

Miya, somewhat sullen, didn't hold her hand, but instead stared at the cluster of flames for a long time.

The textbook states that being able to condense flames at will is a basic operation of fire elemental magic, but being able to make the flames display a transitional color of blue flames indicates that the magic output is extremely stable.

This is not something just any candidate can do, so this seemingly unreliable guy at least has solid professional skills.

"Miye".

She simply gave her name.

How did you know I had Yuan Cui on me?

"I can smell it."

Luo Yan extinguished the flame at his fingertips, sat down in a chair, grabbed something from a drawer and put it in his mouth to chew. His eyes narrowed slightly, and golden lines slowly flowed deep within his irises.

"Name your terms. How much are you willing to sell for, or we can trade? You can pick anything you like from my shop."

"I won't change it, I want to use it myself."

Luo Yan pouted, but immediately cheered herself up, leaned forward, rested her elbows on the worktable, and began her long speech.

"I know you're not short of money. The only people who can carry two bottles of Radiant Essence with them and refuse to sell are either in the same industry or have a fortune. But you don't look like an alchemist, so I guess you probably don't know the true value of Essence."

She pulled an old book from the drawer, its pages curled up, and handed it to Miya. It was filled with recipes and ingredient lists for various potions.

"Elemental Essence is the basic ingredient for crafting all legendary potions. The recipes for legendary potions are extremely precious, but even if you get the recipe, it's useless without Elemental Essence."

"What's the approximate purity level of those two bottles you're holding?"

Miya hesitated for a moment, then took one of the bottles out of her backpack and placed it on the table.

Under the light of the workbench lamp, the crystal bottle refracted a pale golden luster. The liquid inside was so clear that there were no suspended particles. When gently shaken, a thin golden film would slowly slide down the bottle wall.

Luo Yan leaned closer to look, then fell silent.

She held the crystal bottle up to the light and turned it around several times. She then opened the stopper and sniffed it, but immediately put it back in, as if afraid that even a tiny bit of evaporation would be a loss.

"Top-grade."

She put down the bottle and took a deep breath.

"The impurity content is less than one-thousandth, which is purer than any bottle I have ever seen. No wonder you are unwilling to sell it. You will definitely need this quality of essence in the future."

She sat back down in her chair, crossed her hands on her knees, lowered her head and thought for a moment, then looked up and changed her tone.

"Here's the deal: you provide the materials, I'll provide the technology, and I'll help you refine it. You'll pay me with a bottle of Yuan Essence, and I won't charge you any alchemy fees."

"You can get the potion you want, and I guarantee the quality. It will be absolutely top-notch, and I'll compensate you if it's not good. My family has been alchemists for generations. Although the shop is small, you can ask around for their skills. Besides, you probably don't have the blueprints or the technology right now, right?"

Luo Yan smiled and offered a very tempting deal.

Miya did not answer immediately.

She lowered her eyes, as if she was thinking about something.

Although the shop of this super-sensitive orange dog is small, the utensils on the workbench are arranged in an extremely orderly manner, and the wooden drawer labels on the wall are clearly categorized. It's obvious that it's a craftsman. Besides, I don't really have any blueprints or anything right now, and it would cost a lot of money to find someone to process them.

More importantly, I have two bottles of Yuancui. Spending one bottle to exchange for a long-term alchemist is a worthwhile deal.

"What can you refine?"

Luo Yan's eyes crinkled slightly when she heard the question.

Instead of answering directly, she stood up, walked to the wooden drawer on the wall next to the worktable, opened the largest drawer in the middle, and took out a palm-sized, iron-gray metal box.

The box was opened, and inside lay five or six small crystal bottles, each containing a different colored potion.

Some were a deep red, some were a translucent blue, and one bottle shimmered with a pearly luster under the light.

"Let's start with the most basics."

She picked up the light blue bottle.

"The mental energy recovery potion is 30% faster than those sold on the market, but it has a bitter taste as a side effect."

Then there's the red bottle.

"Magic Circuit Activator. After taking it, magic output efficiency increases by 20% for three hours. It can also be used to stay awake when you're studying late into the night before exams."

Finally, there's the pearl-colored bottle.

She handed it to Mi Ye, and when the bottle was shaken slightly, the liquid inside shimmered with fine silver light.

"The quality of the mid-grade magic amplifier is significantly better than the ones I mentioned before. Its effect is that it temporarily increases the magic circuit capacity by 10% within 24 hours after consumption, without any rebound side effects."

Miya's lips twitched. She didn't know how a 10% increase in magic circuit capacity would affect an ordinary witch, but for a witch like her who couldn't even cast half a fireball spell, a 10% increase was practically useless.

She shook her head calmly and put the amplifier back on the table.

"What I want are potions that boost vitality and stats, like those that can directly increase maximum vitality."

Luo Yan paused for a moment, then took another look at the short witch in front of her.

"Are you a flesh and blood mage?"

Miya did not deny it.

Luo Yan's expression became even more complicated.

"This kind of potion is generally hard to find, since there are too few people who need it to form an industry chain. You can only refine it yourself. Give me a bottle of Yuan Cui, and in exchange, I promise to refine a top-quality potion for you."

"We can discuss the specific formula. You tell me what effect you need, and I will assess what auxiliary materials are needed. I will cover all the material costs and the alchemy process."

"So you got the potion you wanted, and I got the essence I desperately needed. We're even."

Upon hearing this, Miya tilted her head.

"Hmm... Deal!"