As Kevin looked at the three-finger-sized bottle filled with crystal-clear potions, he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "So, are you saying you are selling this for 1900 units?" he asked, trying to keep a straight face.
Meanwhile, James, feeling the heat of Kevin's scrutiny, was sweating more than a marathon runner. He had deliberately raised the price, thinking this young lad wouldn't know any better. For example, he sold Irista petals worth 2000 units for just 750. Who does that?
James tried to maintain composure, but he couldn't help but feel like a sneaky merchant caught red-handed. Seeing Kevin hesitate, he attempted to salvage the situation. "Well, if you want, I can lower the price to 1850," he offered, hoping to regain some trust.
Kevin, who was now wearing the slyest grin inside his head, pretended to ponder for a moment. He had already checked the system evaluation, and it revealed that the potions were worth way more than the price James was quoting.
[Item: Qi potion
Tire :- Earth
Purity :- +E
Description: Used to increase the cultivation qi in the body.
Price: 25 omni tokens]
But then why is he selling them for so low a price?' Kevin, clueless about potions or alchemy, didn't have time to read up on them. He couldn't fathom the price or significance of an E-rank potion, but seeing the system's worth assigned to 2500 units, he assumed it must be valuable. He couldn't understand why the nervous man before him was selling them for such a low price.
'I couldn't care less,' Kevin thought to himself, shrugging off any concerns about the potions' true worth. He put on a smile and decided to engage the man in conversation.
"Mr. James, right?" Kevin asked, making sure to pronounce his name with a slightly mischievous twist.
James nodded nervously, hoping his shady tactics wouldn't blow up in his face.
"You must be an alchemist, right? I remember you bought the ingredients for this potion from me last night," Kevin inquired with a grin, as if he had uncovered a secret.
James gulped audibly, realizing his cover was blown. "Yeah, is there a problem?" he replied, trying to act nonchalant while beads of sweat dripped down his forehead.
Kevin shook his head, doing his best not to burst into laughter. "No problem at all. In fact, I wanted to offer you a deal. How about, from now on, you buy ingredients from my shop, and then you can sell your products back to me?"
James looked like he had seen a ghost. "Uhm, sure, that sounds... good," he stammered
Kevin's offer surprised James, who thought to himself, 'He seems to not know about me.' This realization slightly eased his nerves.
Still, James couldn't shake off all his anxiety, and Kevin sensed hesitation. He reassured James, saying, "Don't worry. I'll offer you ingredients at discounted prices, and if I don't give you a fair deal for your products, you're free to sell them to other shops."
James pondered for a moment, considering Kevin's proposal, before nodding in agreement. "Okay."
Kevin's face lit up with a bright smile as he sealed the deal with James. "Good! Now, let's finalize this transaction, shall we?" Kevin picked up the crystal bottles and scanned each one with the system to ensure their quality.
Looking at James, Kevin said, "You originally asked for 1850, right? How about 1800?"
James didn't hesitate and nodded, knowing that he intended to sell them initially at that price, leaving him with more than 8000 units for ingredients after deducting the 10,000 units for loan installments.
Kevin was pleased with the deal, as he could sell them for more profit. He calculated, "Let's see, the assigned price is 25 omni tokens, so after adding half of it, I can sell it for at least 3750 units. That's more than 50% of its actual price."
After the agreement, James confirmed the purchase by signing some papers, and Kevin paid him a total of 18,000 units out of the 24,830 units he had left after buying the new smartwatches for the ladies.
The watches cost him nearly 3,000 units each, with his sister's being a bit more expensive, but he didn't mind. He still had more than enough money, and his store was now operating smoothly. From the Irista petals, he made a total of 10,7000 units, out of which 7,1500 units were converted to omni tokens by the system, leaving him with 35,500 units.
Kevin was content with the deal, and he felt optimistic about the future of his business. The unexpected alliance with James had turned out to be quite profitable, and he looked forward to more successful ventures in the days to come.
But alas, luck was not on Kevin's side. As he searched the cultivation association's website for information about the qi potions, his face fell with disappointment. He quickly left the shop in a rush to find James, but to his dismay, James was nowhere to be seen.
"That cunt, I am gonna kill him." Kevin cursed with greeted teeth.
He had fallen victim to a scam, discovering that the price of the potions he bought was not more than 1500 units in the city, yet he had purchased them for 1800 units. Oh, the irony!
Feeling frustrated, Kevin tried to justify his mistake, believing that he had bought them based on the system's price. He had assumed that the system wouldn't increase the price but instead would decrease it, which turned out to be a wrong assumption.
Feeling frustrated, Kevin tried to justify his mistake, blaming the system for leading him astray. "System, what the hell? Did you get me scammed? You priced them way higher than they are worth!" he exclaimed, half-accusing, half-playful.
[No host, the system didn't price them wrong. They are worth as much as the system had assigned to them.]
'But they are not?' Kevin exclaimed in his mind as he scrutinized the bottles filled with clear liquid.
Intrigued by the situation, he decided to pick up each bottle, one by one, to examine them closely. As he did, a system panel materialized before his eyes, revealing a new function - the merging lottery.
[New function unlocked: Merging Lottery]
[Merging lottery: A host can use this function to merge two identical products together to create a higher-grade product. However, there's a chance that nothing will be created, and both products will be destroyed in the process.
Merging cost for Earth rank: 1 Omni token....probability of an Earth rank product advancing to a higher tier is 93%.
Merging cost for Immortal rank: 1000 Omni tokens...Probability of an Immortal rank product advancing to a higher tier is 41%.
Merging cost for Sky rank: 90000 Omni tokens....Probability of a Sky rank product advancing to a higher tier is 19%.
Merging cost for Haven rank: 900000 Omni tokens...Probability of a Haven rank product advancing to a higher tier is 2.04%.
Merging cost for...
Hosts can increase the probability rate by upgrading the function.
Upgrade cost: 15000 Omni tokens.]
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