Chapter 60: Putting Formulas on the Market

Chapter Sixty
Putting Formulas on the Market

Wednesday night, 7:55 p.m. The back alley behind Bravehearts Bar.

Using his memory, Klein circled for a while and finally found that house where no lamplight shone.

Today, he had made certain disguises. He wore a gray-blue worker’s uniform, a peaked cap, and had filled his face with pasted-on beard. The purpose was to prevent anyone from connecting him with the fellow who had previously bought Black Snake’s item and gambled on luck.

Ideally, even the old gentleman Eye of Wisdom and that Apothecary fellow will not recognize me. Otherwise, a newly minted Beyonder who had relied on luck to become extraordinary suddenly producing several potion formulas after only a week would definitely lead others to think of many things and inevitably become suspicious…

Klein thrust both hands into his pockets, touching Azik’s copper whistle, ordinary tarot cards, and the charms he had replenished.

This worker’s uniform had also been specially modified by a tailor. It had quite a few small pockets that could hold small metal bottles containing herb powders, hydrosols, essential oils, and similar items.

After inhaling slowly and exhaling just as slowly, Klein took out from inside his clothes the iron mask that covered only the upper half of his face, completing the preliminary disguise.

Immediately afterward, with the help of the Clown’s abilities, he controlled his facial expression and subtle body movements, changed the manner of his stride, and numbed the nerves in his face. He strove to make himself clearly different from his past self.

Still, I do not know what the old gentleman Eye of Wisdom uses to recognize people. I can only go this far. Sigh. If I were already Faceless, things would be wonderful… But if that were the case, I would have no need to attend a low-end Beyonder gathering like this…

Klein stood outside, calmed himself for several seconds, lifted his right hand, and knocked on the door: seven heavy knocks, one light knock, six long pauses, and one short pause.

There was almost no wait. The small wooden panel on the door was silently pulled open, and an eye appeared behind it, examining the visitor from top to bottom.

Two or three seconds later, the door creaked open. Eye of Wisdom’s attendant handed a black hooded robe to Klein.

Maintaining an expressionless state, Klein quickly pulled on the robe and lowered the hood, letting shadow conceal his face.

On the way to the sitting room, he deliberately used an unfamiliar stride length and worked hard to remove the awkward feeling it caused.

Inside the dark, heavy room where only the light of a single candle gently flickered, quite a few gathering members had already arrived. Klein did not choose a corner as he had before. Instead, he openly sat down on a high stool near the center.

In short, every external performance must be different from the last two times!

And this was precisely an area in which a Clown’s ability to reflect his own image in his mind and exert preliminary control excelled.

Inside the sitting room, where the silence felt almost solid, time passed second by second. At last, the old gentleman Eye of Wisdom glanced at the clock on the wall and spoke in an aged voice.

“It is time. Let us begin. There is no need to wait for friends who are late.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than Klein said in a deep, hoarse voice, “I wish to sell potion formulas.

“Sequence 9 Bard and Sequence 8 Light Suppliant of the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun.

“The former is 220 pounds; the latter is 450 pounds.”

This was the most suitable plan he had arrived at after deliberation. Spectator and Telepathist involved the Psychology Alchemists, a secret organization rather active in the Loen Kingdom and Backlund. Rashly bringing those formulas out might attract their attention. The Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun, however, was blocked outside the Loen Kingdom by the Church of the Lord of Storms. Corresponding Beyonders rarely appeared in Backlund, and there was little they could do. It was a very safe choice.

As for the potions of the Seer pathway, they involved Klein himself. Naturally, he was unwilling to expose those characteristics.

After experiencing and witnessing so many Beyonder battles, he had gradually come to a certain understanding: below the high Sequences, Beyonders of different pathways each possessed their own traits. They were not the same. In other words, each had strengths, and each had weaknesses. Moreover, both strengths and weaknesses were extremely obvious. Where they were strong, they were truly strong. Where they were weak, they were similarly weak.

For example, the Spectator pathway lacked direct combat ability. But if one ignored them and was guided unconsciously, then even if one’s fighting skill and supernatural abilities were powerful, one might die without knowing why. A vivid example was Vice Admiral Hurricane Qilangos. He clearly possessed the mystical item Creeping Hunger, and his overall combat strength had reached Sequence 5. Yet in the end, he died inexplicably. Most of the credit belonged to Azik’s strength, but one absolutely could not overlook the role the Spectator had played.

Precisely because below the high Sequences, most Beyonder professions possessed distinct traits and equally obvious shortcomings, with fragile fleshly bodies, if one could conceal one’s own strengths, learn the enemy’s situation ahead of time, and make effective arrangements targeting their weaknesses, then defeating the strong as the weak was not impossible. In extremely extreme situations, a Sequence 9 killing a Sequence 5 had a tiny chance of occurring.

Of course, that example belonged to a perfect assumption. In reality, it was almost impossible. Sequence 5s could already be called powerhouses, and their corresponding Beyonder abilities possessed aspects worthy of being called miraculous. Their strengths could effectively cover their weaknesses. Without reaching Sequence 6, it was very difficult to affect them.

From another angle, many Beyonders below the high Sequences greatly feared being surrounded, even if all of their opponents were lower in Sequence, because once they became flustered and had to attend to one side while neglecting another, their shortcomings could turn fatal.

These issues were precisely why Shepherds could stand in the first tier below the high Sequences. They were too comprehensive. If their Beyonder abilities were combined and matched well enough, they practically had no weaknesses.

Once I advance to Sequence 7 and possess all kinds of magic-like Beyonder abilities, even if I encounter a Sequence 6, I will be able to fight head-on for a while and may even have a chance of victory… If I encounter a Sequence 5, I should also have an opportunity to escape…

As thoughts came one after another, Klein looked around, waiting for someone to speak.

If Bard and Light Suppliant cannot be sold, then I can only settle for the next best thing and consider Spectator and Telepathist, or consider knowledge such as the Laws of Beyonder Characteristics Indestructibility and Conservation… I absolutely cannot sell formulas from my own pathway. Nor can I sell the Demoness pathway’s formulas. That would cause many tragedies. Whether Instigator or Witch, both are types that require actively doing evil…

Klein felt somewhat uneasy inside, but his face remained expressionless as he waited.

“Actually, I could consider buying them,” the chubby-faced Apothecary said with a laugh. “I could take another apprentice and give him those two formulas, making him specifically pray for sunlight for my herbs. Perfect! Luxurious!”

His words broke the brief solid silence in the room. From a corner, a man whose hood was pulled very low deliberately sharpened his voice and said, “Perhaps I can give them to my child. At the very least, they are better than my own Sequence.

“Sequence 9 for 200 pounds, Sequence 8 for 400 pounds. If you agree, we have a deal.”

To be able to produce six hundred pounds at once—he is quite wealthy. That is enough to buy a house in Tingen City…

Klein pretended to consider it. He looked toward the other gathering members, observing their reactions.

Seeing that no one showed any impulse to raise the price, and that the other party’s offer had already reached his psychological bottom line, Klein thought it over and said, “With one additional condition: you cannot sell these two formulas at this gathering. Anywhere else is up to you.”

The man said in that sharp voice, “Very well. The old gentleman Eye of Wisdom will bear witness.”

Klein did not know how to prove the formulas were real, and he also did not want to open his mouth and ask, exposing the fact that he had attended only a few gatherings. He could only silently lift his robe, take out the two potion formulas he had written long ago, and hand them to the attendant beside him.

The attendant did not go toward the corner. Instead, he came to the single sofa at the center and handed the folded papers to Eye of Wisdom.

The old gentleman unfolded the papers, yet did not glance at them more than once. He placed them on the small round table beside him.

Then he took out a handkerchief, wiped his right palm, and removed from his pocket a ring inlaid with many tiny diamond-like fragments.

The ring’s form was complex and exquisite. At the center, clustered around by decorations, was an emerald gem like an eye. With only a distant glance at it, Klein felt his head swell and his body grow unwell, just as he used to feel when seeing a mathematics exam paper.

Eye of Wisdom solemnly put that ring on the middle finger of his right hand. Then he closed his eyes, as though brewing something.

Suddenly, the emerald gem on the ring burst forth with brilliant gold light—gold like sunlight.

Eye of Wisdom swiftly extended his right hand to the side, letting that gem touch the potion formulas Klein had written.

Threads of golden light grew purer and purer, finally evolving into the projection of something like a seal.

“True and valid!” Eye of Wisdom announced in a deep voice. Immediately afterward, he removed the ring, not daring to wear it a second longer.

That tone sounds very much like a Notary… Is that ring the old gentleman Eye of Wisdom’s best collection, Sealed Artifact 2-081? It simulated the ability of a Notary?

Klein watched thoughtfully, rather covetous.

After the “notarization,” the transaction was swiftly completed. Klein received a thick stack of cash, all of them ten-pound notes.

After counting them exactly three times, he did not fold the notes and stuff them into his pocket. He simply held them in his palm, waiting to see whether an opportunity to spend them would appear.

He planned to observe for a while first and confirm there were no items he needed before speaking up to purchase things.

At that moment, the round Apothecary looked left and right and said, “I brought several sedatives.”

He really brought them? I had already forgotten this matter… In order to distinguish myself from before, I can only pretend I am not here.

After calling several times and receiving no answer, the Apothecary muttered, “That fellow did not come this time?”

“Maybe he died somewhere.”

Thank you for your “blessing”… Still, the fact that you failed to recognize me is something worth celebrating…

Klein relaxed slightly.

The Apothecary then habitually asked again for pith crystals from the Elven Spring, but still gained nothing.

Once he temporarily closed his mouth, a lady whose face was completely hidden in the shadow of her hood, with two boxes beside her feet, spoke.

“I have two weapons with Beyonder effects.”

This should be the lady who sold the rune steel sword last time, right? My Diviner spiritual intuition tells me so… She has two more similar weapons? Is there a supernatural arms group behind her? Mm, perhaps behind her is an Artisan—Sequence 6 of the Savant pathway, also known as Mechanical Expert…

Klein looked over with considerable anticipation.

What he had promised The Sun was a Beyonder weapon worth five to seven hundred pounds that could effectively raise his combat strength. He had not promised a specific type or traits. Therefore, as long as the weapon that appeared shortly was close enough and barely usable, he could buy it.

In any case, The Sun would not be picky.