The bearded master, after hearing Ethan's final answer, had to admit one thing to himself—the Big Sword Mantis egg he'd sold back then was perfectly ordinary. Whatever insane growth Ethan's summoned beasts had shown was purely the result of Ethan's own ability to raise and train them.
Satisfied, he decided there was no need to pry further. Recruiting Ethan could wait for another time. The two parted ways outside the Darunhua trade center.
As Ethan stepped inside, the familiar sales assistant greeted him with a bright smile. "Oh, you're here! What are you shopping for today? Should I get Master Charles for you?"
"Charles is here?" Ethan asked, raising a brow.
"Of course. Ever since you talked with him yesterday, he's been holed up in a forging room. Hasn't come out since."
Ethan chuckled. "Still busy?"
"Very."
It seemed Charles was taking their last conversation—and perhaps Ethan's advice—very seriously. But for now, Ethan's priority was to deal with today's massive haul.
Completing his one-turn mission had been wildly profitable. He had come away with thirty-two pieces of gold-tier equipment alone. Thanks to his damage-transfer ability, Ethan swapped out all replaceable gear for items that boosted spiritual attributes. Physical defense didn't matter much anymore—his summoned beasts took the hits, and if they couldn't handle it, no armor on his body would save him.
The rest of the gear? Sold without hesitation.
He also dismantled a mountain of loot, ending up with over six hundred gold-tier crafting materials, which he sold as well. Da Dao Boy and the others were already so strong that more gold-tier upgrades barely made a difference to their stats.
But even that wasn't the biggest win of the day.
When Ethan felled the final dungeon boss, a series of notifications had popped up in his mind:
> "Progress for first-turn mission completed. Calculating score…"
"External interference detected. Dungeon difficulty increased. Score adjusted upward. Final result: SSS+."
"Next level-ups will grant attribute points ×10. Additional rewards: bonus items + Skill Enhancement Stone (Elementary)."
The tenfold attribute gain was staggering. That meant each level-up would now give him 1,300 stat points instead of 130.
The Skill Enhancement Stone was equally tempting—it could upgrade any skill of blue rarity or lower. While the most "efficient" choice might have been to save it for a blue skill and bump it to purple, Ethan trusted his instincts.
He chose to enhance Vine Entangling, a green skill he used constantly. Its ability to restrain enemies and alter the battlefield was invaluable.
> "Skill Enhancement Stone (Elementary) used successfully."
"Vine Entangling (Green) → Thorn Bind (Blue)."
The upgraded Thorn Bind summoned a mass of barbed vines whose number scaled with energy spent. The vines now inflicted damage in addition to restraining enemies, and their durability had increased significantly. Ethan tested it and was pleased—this was another step toward creating his own "tree world."
With that settled, he began unloading his loot.
Clatter—
The pile of gold-tier equipment he dumped onto the reception table overflowed, clattering to the floor.
The sales assistant froze mid-step. She'd seen customers sell gear before, but never this much at once—and never all gold-tier. For a moment she thought she might faint.
Biting the tip of her tongue to stay grounded, she rushed to fetch the appraisal device.
"I've calculated everything…" she began.
"Wait," Ethan interrupted. "I still have more. Store these first."
"…More?" she echoed faintly. "O-okay."
By the time she was done with the materials—six hundred gold-tier pieces of all shapes and sizes—her head was spinning.
But she couldn't stop smiling. The total came to over 180 million credits. Her personal commission alone would be in the millions. Yesterday, she'd thought Ethan spent money like water; now she realized his ability to make money was even more outrageous.
She began to hand him the detailed breakdown, but Ethan waved it away. "I trust your work."
"In that case, should I contact finance and have the money transferred to you?"
"No rush," Ethan said, scanning the nearby display shelves. "I'll see if there's anything worth buying first."
"Of course! Take your time. I'll make you some tea."
She picked the best tea they had—paying for it out of her own pocket to show respect to her best client.
Ethan browsed through the materials section, but nothing met his standards. Even the rare pieces were in quantities too small to matter. No dark-gold-tier materials appeared anywhere.
Could it be that I can't even spend money when I want to?
Turning to the final page, he found… nothing above gold-tier. It made sense—Darunhua wasn't a high-end store, and Ravenshade City wasn't a major hub for top-tier professionals. For anything better, he'd have to go to a larger city or use more exclusive channels.
Or… maybe take another look at that bearded master's organization, he mused. Later.
He flipped to the props section. Most were novelty items, best-sellers for entertainment or utility—time extenders, underwater breathers, trace detectors, damage resist charms. Useful, but not urgent for him.
Then he saw it: a Skill Upgrade Stone (Elementary). Exactly like the one he'd just used. Only one in stock, priced at a steep 200 million credits—making it the most expensive item in Darunhua.
Before he could decide, the door to the reception room swung open. The sales assistant entered, followed by Charles.
The man looked terrible—his dark circles were so deep they could be seen from across the room, like he'd stayed up for 473 consecutive nights.
"…Are you alright?" Ethan asked, half-concerned, half-amused. Please don't die on me here.
"Better than ever," Charles replied, eyes bloodshot but alight with manic energy.
It turned out he'd spent the past 18 hours straight pushing his forging skill to new limits. He could now synthesize gold-tier equipment into dark-gold-tier pieces, with a success rate nearing 30%. The profits from even average-quality results were decent—and for Charles, this was the first real step toward changing his life.
"All thanks to your funding," he admitted. "Without it, I never could've powered through the early stages."
Ethan waved it off. "No need for thanks. But you should rest before we do anything else. Later, I have some gear for you to synthesize."
The gratitude in Charles' eyes deepened—Ethan's concern for his health was unexpected. "It's fine," he insisted. "My state doesn't affect the skill's success rate. I can start now."
Ethan shook his head. "Rest first. I'll rest here too."
"…Alright," Charles relented.
Truthfully, Ethan wasn't worried about failed synthesis attempts. He was worried Charles might keel over from exhaustion mid-forge—or worse, get so excited at a success that his heart gave out.
And besides, Ethan still had two identical gold-tier replica necklaces in his inventory, and plenty of time to work.
---
Key events in this chapter:
Ethan sells 32 gold-tier equipment pieces and 600 gold-tier materials, earning over 180 million credits.
Receives SSS+ mission rating from the one-turn dungeon, granting 10× attribute gains and a Skill Enhancement Stone.
Upgrades Vine Entangling → Thorn Bind (blue), adding damage and durability.
Finds another Skill Upgrade Stone for sale at Darunhua for 200 million.
Charles arrives, revealing he can now synthesize gold-tier gear into dark-gold with a 30% success rate.
Ethan insists Charles rest before starting work on his items.
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