After the slave owners went bankrupt, they all wanted to keep me as a mistress.

"No need, we only need these three pieces of equipment."

Mu Qiu shook his head.

He looked down on equipment that was cursed.

The mage can only equip four blessed items in the entire warehouse, and the other one is a gold-grade magic wand.

Now that he has bought the three most valuable blessed equipment pieces in this warehouse, he can leave the remaining gold-grade blessed equipment pieces to the adventurers here.

As he spoke, Mu Qiu took out a magic crystal card containing 1.1 million gold coins and handed it over.

"There are 1.1 million gold coins in this card. Please give the extra 240,000 gold coins to the leader of the Crimson Thorn Adventurer Guild and pass on a message to her: 'During the dungeon riot a month ago, we were fortunate to have your help. We are deeply grateful for your life-saving grace. This is just a small token of our appreciation. Please don't be too kind.'"

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P.S.: There will be a third update at midnight tonight~ New author, new book, please read and vote!

Chapter Fifteen: Humans bought the elves; there must be only one purpose!

Outside the Adventurers' Guild.

Fiona idly flicked her long dragon tail, yawning incessantly: "Ilúvier~! How long are we going to have to wait here? I'm starving!"

Upon hearing this, the elven woman, shrouded entirely in a black robe, calmly said, "Fiona, be patient."

"Once we get the forbidden book and bring it back to the council, we'll get at least a thousand Starstones as a reward. Then you can eat whatever you want."

"A thousand starstones? Would those old fogies in the council be that generous?"

Upon hearing about Starshine Stone, Fiona instantly perked up.

Starstone is the hard currency of the Star Council.

One Starstone is enough to exchange for 10,000 gold coins!

However, if you want to exchange gold coins for starstones, even if you offer 20,000 to 30,000 gold coins for a single starstone within the Star Council, it's not certain that anyone will be willing to trade with you.

Even occasionally, some Starshine Stones that have fallen into the outside world can be sold at auction houses for a sky-high price of seventy or eighty thousand, or even one hundred thousand gold coins!

There is no other reason.

Legendary potions, legendary equipment, and even some extremely special items of rank seven or higher can often only be traded using Starshine Stones.

Of course, there are some exceptions.

For example, the shameful legendary potion—Starry Sky Secret Brew.

Despite bearing the name of a legendary potion, its effects are merely a plus version of Moon Dew Essence.

Legend has it that Starry Sky Secret Brew was originally a magic potion tailor-made for elves.

Its true effect is to awaken the dormant Moon Elf bloodline within the elf.

However, within the Moon Elf race, there is a secret technique that can awaken dormant bloodlines, and the materials required to perform it once cost less than a thousand gold coins.

As for other elves, who would have the time to buy a legendary potion and gamble that they actually have the blood of a moon elf?

Even if you travel all the way to the Moon Elf for a bloodline test, it wouldn't cost this much!

At most, the moon elves there would just laugh at them, saying, "You stinking outsider, coming to our Moon Capital to beg for food?"

Unless there happens to be a wandering moon elf who neither wants to return to the moon elf clan nor awakens the dormant power of her bloodline, Ilúvier can't imagine anyone buying this potion.

But which moon elf would not want to return to the embrace of its kind?

Therefore, when Starry Sky Secret Brew was first released, its high price caused it to repeatedly fail to sell at auctions...

Finally, after the price plummeted from 1.8 million gold coins to 360,000 gold coins, a wealthy merchant, out of curiosity, finally bought the Starry Sky Secret Wine.

After that, Starry Sky Secret Wine disappeared from the auction and was instead displayed in the exhibition cases of various branches of the Fountain of Life for 360,000 gold coins, aptly named "the store's treasure".

Don't ask if it works or not yet, just tell me if it's a legendary potion!

A seventh-tier legendary potion is certainly worthy of being the store's prized possession!

Although in the eyes of insiders like Ilúviel, Starry Sky Brew is a disgrace to legendary potions, to those who are unaware, the mere fact that it's a seventh-tier legendary potion is enough to intimidate them.

Don't tell me yet.

Thanks to this, Starry Sky Secret Brew has actually sold quite a lot over the past few decades, with seven or eight portions sold at headquarters alone.

After all, 360,000 gold coins can't buy other legendary potions, but they can buy you a Starry Sky Secret Brew!

"Last time, the Truth Association next door gave the person who found the forbidden book a reward equivalent to five hundred Starshine Stones, and... the forbidden book hasn't summoned a hero for a long time."

"It seems like the last time a hero appeared in the world was more than a thousand years ago."

Ilúviel chuckled, her voluptuous figure swaying slightly, a hint of anticipation flashing in her beautiful emerald eyes: "It is said that the longer the interval between summons, the stronger the hero's potential will be, and the greater the achievements of his companions on their adventures will be. I wonder what the legendary hero... will look like."

"Ha! I want to join the hero's party too!" Fiona raised her chin, a smile spreading across her delicate face. "Going on an adventure with the hero sounds exciting!"

"But... what if we summon a demon king? Or what if the forbidden book has already been used?"

“Then let’s just kill it.” Ilúvier’s smile vanished instantly, her tone turning icy. “Every hundred years, the Forbidden Book can be summoned once. Afterward, we can bring the Forbidden Book back and hand it over to the Council, and we will receive the same reward.”

"As for what happens if the banned books are used..."

The elven woman snorted and said casually, "That should have been used by my sister. Let her lead us to the hero. But judging from her current situation, she probably hasn't had time to use the forbidden book yet."

"Oh right, I remember the Fountain of Life Merchant Guild here also has Starry Sky Brew, right?" Fiona suddenly remembered something, nudged the elven woman beside her with her elbow, and lowered her voice, "Do you think that human might buy all the Starry Sky Brew here and give it to your sister?"

Ilúviel turned her head, her emerald eyes fixed on the dragon girl opposite her, and said in a low voice, "Have you ever seen a slave owner buy such extravagant potions for his slaves?"

She sneered, her tone disdainful: "Humans would never use us elves as battle servants. Those filthy and despicable nobles would only put magic-suppressing collars on our elven compatriots and play with their bodies!"

"Besides, although Starry Sky Secret Brew is a disgrace to legendary potions and its price is not even comparable to a top-tier sixth-tier near-legendary potion, it is still a seventh-tier legendary potion. That human has already spent one million gold coins to buy my sister, so he can't possibly take out another three hundred thousand gold coins!"

"Moreover."

Ilúviel seemed to have thought of something, and a playful smile appeared on her lips: "If he really is a nouveau riche and bought this kind of potion for my sister, then it saves me a lot of trouble."

That's her own sister.

It's impossible for me to help a human nobleman to fight against her older sister, right?

Chapter Sixteen: The Demon King Who Continuously Blocks the Entrance to the Novice Village!

“That’s true.” Fiona nodded in agreement.

The more profound the heritage of a thousand-year-old family, the stricter its family rules tend to be in order to maintain the family image and ensure the stable development of the family. They will not allow their descendants to squander money and buy such useless things.

The reason why those legendary families have been able to stand strong for thousands of years is that they have always had legendary experts in their families.

However, apart from exceptionally gifted geniuses, it is extremely difficult for ordinary geniuses to break through to the legendary level, and they often need the assistance of their families.

If this generation doesn't have a genius with sufficient talent, then we'll have to spend a massive amount of resources to forcefully create a legendary seventh-tier powerhouse.

Occasionally, one or two geniuses emerge, which can save the family a large sum of money.

It's not difficult to use money to acquire fifth or sixth-tier professionals, but reaching the seventh tier requires an exponential increase in the amount of money required.

Some legendary families failed because they did not properly discipline their descendants.

After the legendary ancestor passed away unexpectedly or died of old age, his descendants were all mediocre and had little tolerance for drugs. They could not produce a seventh-tier legendary figure even if they exhausted their family wealth. In the end, they gradually declined and disappeared into the long river of history.

These powerful individuals who achieved legendary status through their families naturally also have corresponding obligations, and even if they are their own children, they will at most show some favoritism.

After all, legendary experts in a family are often hesitant to take risks. Their earning power is limited, and their primary concern is ensuring the smooth operation of the family business and maintaining a higher status within the empire.

Unlike legendary adventurers who risk their lives for money by venturing into large or super-large dungeons, they don't earn a fortune.

Adventure groups like the Crimson Thorns Adventure Group, which are about to reach the Mithril level, can earn equipment worth millions of gold coins by clearing a medium-sized dungeon once. When divided equally among themselves, each member can earn hundreds of thousands of gold coins.

Once their guild leader reaches the legendary realm, they can earn tens of millions of gold coins in a single run of large or even super-large dungeons if they're lucky.

Of course... in the unlucky case, encountering a high-level demon in the abyss could result in a total wipeout.

Under such circumstances, even the most direct descendants of legendary families wouldn't dare to say they could just buy a top-tier sixth-order near-legendary potion whenever they wanted.

Expensive potions like Starry Sky Secret Brew often require family approval.

Once approved, this potion will be added to the family's next procurement list. Then, the family representative will negotiate with the merchant guild to purchase it in bulk at a relatively low price.

Those who go directly to the store to buy this kind of potion are either nouveau riche with no connections or wealthy nobles from other places.

Ilúviel also holds a certain position among the moon elves. After joining the Star Council, her knowledge far surpasses that of ordinary elves, and she is quite familiar with the operating methods of these legendary families.

Therefore, she was certain that a mediocre talent like Mu Qiu, who was seventeen or eighteen years old and had no magic power, would not be highly regarded in his family.

Spending a million gold coins to buy her sister in order to ban a book must have been authorized by their family, but they definitely didn't have the authority to use hundreds of thousands of gold coins to buy magic potions on their own.

During their conversation, Fiona suddenly saw Mu Qiu and Vera walking out of the Adventurers' Guild one after the other.

"Ilúvier! Look! That human and your sister are coming out!"

Ilúviel looked in the direction of the sound and saw that Vera was still wrapped in that large cloak, which concealed her graceful figure. However, thanks to the elf's excellent eyesight, she could still see the necklace around Vera's neck and the bell in the middle of the necklace from a distance of about a hundred meters.

"Humph!"

Upon seeing the bell, Ilúviel snorted coldly, her face beaming with an "I knew it" expression: "Fiona, I told you, this human really did go to pick out an anti-magic collar for my sister!"

Fiona's hand instantly rested on the hilt of her sword, her expression eager: "Shall we make our move now?"

"Wait a little longer." The elven woman's gaze locked onto the carriage. Seeing Mu Qiu and Vera board the carriage one after the other, her eyes flashed, and she whispered, "They've boarded the carriage; they're probably heading to the inn to rest. Let's go! We'll follow them!"

Just as their figures disappeared into the shadows of the street corner, quietly following the carriage away.

Not far behind them, the air seemed to freeze for a moment.

A petite figure with white hair and red eyes silently floated in mid-air, watching with great interest the direction in which Ilúvail and Fiona had disappeared.

Upon hearing the content of their conversation, the girl's lips slowly curved into a cold and cruel smile, devoid of any warmth, filled only with endless mockery.

"The Star Council... Ha, a bunch of fools indulging in past glories!"

The girl's slender, pale fingers rose gracefully, as if plucking invisible strings.

"These creatures on earth still naively believe that we will be like those foolish and arrogant demon kings of the past..."

Deep within the girl's crimson eyes, a dark red heart-shaped rune flashed by, exuding a chillingly evil aura.

"...Will you just stay obediently in the abyss, waiting for you to summon your so-called hero, make him stronger and stronger, and then defeat him step by step, repeating the same heroic story over and over again?"

"The forbidden book... has been summoned nine times already."

"You're lucky, every time... every time a hero appears."

"pity--"

Her lips curled into a wide grin, her voice suddenly rising in pitch, filled with an almost manic excitement, her high, full breasts heaving: "Those heroes, the moment they were summoned, were easily killed by us like insects!"

"And now... it's the tenth summon!"

The girl raised her head, looked up at the clear, boundless sky, and took a deep breath, as if she wanted to devour the essence of this beautiful world.

"The one summoned to this moment by the forbidden book is none other than our Demon King of the Abyss!"

She opened her arms wide, her small body seemingly trying to embrace the whole world, her red eyes burning with a mad desire to consume everything.

“Look…” Lilith closed her eyes, her snow-white hair cascading down, a cruel, almost intoxicated smile on her face: “What a beautiful world this is… The birds are singing, the flowers are blooming…”

"Insects like you... should burn in the abyss!"

"This land... will belong to us demons in the future!"

Chapter Seventeen: A human who doesn't attack an elf is definitely not a normal human!

"Finally, I can get some rest."

At the entrance of the hotel.

Mu Qiu stepped down from the carriage, stretched, and then flicked a few gold coins from his fingertips, which landed in the coachman's hand.

"Thank you for your hard work. Go back now. Come over after nine o'clock tomorrow morning. I have something to take care of."

"Yes, my lord!"

The coachman bent down, nodded vigorously, and felt a surge of secret joy.