Chapter 66: Chapter 66: Disappointment
’This time, I’ll just find a random spot.’
Andre, carrying a wooden box, found a random spot and took out its contents.
At the same time, he stomped his right foot. The earth churned, forming a platform in front of him.
Andre placed a blanket on the platform, set the test tubes on it, then sat down on the wooden box and began to flip through a book.
This time, he was reading the second volume of *Basic Demon Pattern Study*.
He wanted to use Demon Patterns to develop a Creation Technique, thereby forming his own Ladder of Truth.
To do that, he had to understand Demon Runes thoroughly. Only by extracting their most fundamental principles could he possibly succeed.
As Andre laid out the Potions one by one, a crowd quickly gathered in front of him. They stared at the Potions, their eyes glowing with greed.
Although these were just the most common, basic Potions, their consumption rate was enormous for that very reason.
Countless basic Potions were consumed every day, so the demand for them was always immense.
Seeing that a decent crowd had gathered, Andre took two wooden planks from his Storage Ring and placed them on either side of the earthen platform.
All eyes turned to the two wooden planks Andre had produced.
One plank listed the standard prices for the basic Potions. The other detailed the conditions for trading books for them.
"You can trade books for Potions!"
The moment Andre set out the planks, the entire market erupted. People rushed over, eager to see which spendthrift was actually trading life-saving Potions for books.
Books were important, sure, but Potions could save your life.
As the crowd around Andre grew, people started holding up books to ask about their trade-in value.
In response, Andre simply held up the book he was reading.
"The books I want are special and niche. I have no interest in common ones."
Andre stated this directly when someone came to ask about the trade conditions.
The person nodded upon hearing this, showing no signs of disappointment.
This was to be expected. If Andre accepted just any book, they would have to worry whether he had poisoned the Potions.
Soon, a few people brought some dust-covered books for Andre to inspect.
After flipping through a few pages of each, Andre returned the books to their owners and shook his head, indicating they weren’t suitable for trade.
Andre’s rejections made the Wizard Apprentices who had confidently brought their own books feel their certainty waver.
Still, people kept presenting books, hoping to make a trade with Andre.
Books could be copied, but a Potion could save your life when you needed it most.
They understood this perfectly well. Still, few were willing to part with their books; most preferred to buy the Potions at the standard price.
Soon, a large number of Magic Stones had found their way into Andre’s hands.
Andre accepted the Magic Stones and sold his Potions, but he grew increasingly disappointed.
Magic Stones were certainly good, and he needed plenty of them, but they were a much lower priority than the books he was looking for.
’Sigh, not a single one!’
Andre was greatly disappointed. He had sold dozens of Potions without receiving a single book in return.
Even though he had been mentally prepared for this, he hadn’t expected such a complete lack of results.
By now, a crowd of at least a hundred people had gathered at his stall.
Yet not one satisfactory book had appeared.
’Still, getting Magic Stones is a good thing.’
Andre didn’t complain. The idea to trade Potions for books had been his own, after all.
He already had a good idea of whether it would succeed or not.
The venture was highly likely to fail, so there was no need for him to have high expectations.
Soon, he had sold one Potion after another.
As he sold his Potions and the Magic Stones piled up, Andre put up another wooden sign: now he was also buying materials.
When Andre put up this sign, the crowd in front of him grew even larger. Many people who cultivated Magic Plants brought them out for Andre to inspect, hoping to trade them for Potions.
In the past, when they tried to trade Magic Plants for Potions, the Alchemists had been dismissive. Even if they were interested in the plants, they would be incredibly picky and drive the price down mercilessly.
Now that an Alchemist who wasn’t so picky had finally appeared, they naturally had to seize the opportunity.
Andre, however, remained unhurried. He carefully inspected the Magic Plants, keeping the useful ones and rejecting the rest.
As this side of his business took off, the once-terrifying number of Magic Potions in his Storage Ring began to dwindle at a shocking rate.
By noon, he had sold nearly all of his Potions.
In exchange, he had acquired a Storage Ring full of Magic Plants and Magic Stones.
As for the books Andre yearned for, there wasn’t a single trace.
Once the Potions were sold out, Andre clapped his hands together and addressed the people who had just pushed their way to the front.
"That’s it for today’s Potion sale. I’m all out."
As he said this, looks of disappointment appeared on the faces of those who had just heard the news and rushed over.
"However, I do have another offer. I’m looking to buy books related to Fusion Demon Patterns—the more obscure, the better. Price is not an issue. If you have anything, you can find me later at the Wizard Inheritance Hall. Additionally, I’m also buying information about the Magic Plant Space. Again, price is not an issue."
After speaking, Andre packed up his blanket. With a stomp of his foot, the earthen platform crumbled, sending up a cloud of dust as it collapsed back into the ground.
The crowd waved their hands to clear the air, and Andre used the cover of the swirling dust to slip out of their encirclement.
’Time to go treasure hunting. I need to be faster this time. Last time, I only covered a third of the market. I still have two-thirds left to go. It’s been over ten days, so the vendors have changed. There should be some good finds.’
Andre changed his clothes and cast a Transformation Technique to alter his face. Then he turned and dove back into the market crowd, beginning to wander through the stalls.
’It’s all just small stuff!’
Andre didn’t emerge from the market until after dark, rotating two stone balls in his hand.
These two stone balls were the greatest treasure he had found in the market this time.
The two spheres were Haoyu Stone Balls, a material used to create Spatial Bags.
They had been mixed in with a pile of Obsidian. If Andre hadn’t possessed the Eye of Truth, which allowed him to see the Energy within them, these two Haoyu Stone Balls would have slipped right through his fingers.
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