Chapter 35

"Thank you, my lord. The demon who burned seven of my Ice City's planting zones has been slain by you, and I am extremely grateful. This is a small token of appreciation from Ice City, I hope my lord will like it." After saying this, Lan presented a helmet with both hands.

"Huh? What is this? Quite interesting, made of demon steel, with soul iron inside, slim and long, without space for the ears, this is a helmet specially made for a skeleton, truly interesting, a magic helmet for skeletons?" Nigris projected into Ang's soul, marveling.

Ang tilted his head and asked, "What is it?"

Lan shook his head and said, "We don't know either, but normal people can't wear this helmet. We suspect it was specially made for skeletons, perhaps it can only show its true value in your hands, my lord."

Ang tapped the helmet and found it to be solid inside, with his soul unable to penetrate it. When he put it on, it fit perfectly, staying in place even when he shook his head.

Indeed, it was specially made for skeletons. If it were a living person, with hair, flesh, and ears, the inside of the helmet would be completely different. The helmet has protrusions where the ears are, which fit into the concave ear areas of the skull, making it very stable even without a chin strap.

Wearing the helmet, the world instantly felt much quieter, as if entering a silent barrier.

Skeletons observe the world through soul vibrations, primarily radiating from the eye sockets. However, the skull is also penetrated by soul vibrations, though much weaker.

Thus, a skeleton's field of view is 360 degrees, but only the front can be perceived clearly. Other angles are blurry and distant, causing interference.

After putting on the helmet, since the helmet cannot be penetrated by soul vibrations, all the blurry perceptions disappeared, leaving only the area illuminated by the eye sockets, making the perception much more focused.

Quite interesting, Ang took off the helmet and said, "I like it."

"Phew, that's great, I'm glad my lord likes it." Lan sighed in relief, the heart that had been in his throat finally settling back down.

Gifts are not given casually. Even if my lord likes the gift, it's only natural to make a small request.

"My lord, the batch of holy mushroom powder was very satisfactory to the customers, but the quantity of the powder is too much for them to handle. They hope my lord can process it into Sacred Essence Liquid, and they are willing to pay five times the price." Lan said respectfully.

Ang didn't understand yet, but Nigris was already scolding, "They must be dreaming! Only five times the price for Sacred Essence Liquid? They must be dreaming! These dead merchants, only goblins would offer such a price, shameless merchants!"

Nigris looked furious, as if he had been cheated by goblins before, clenching his teeth and wishing he could leap out of Ang's soul.

"What is Sacred Essence Liquid?" Ang asked, puzzled.

"It's the liquid extracted from holy mushroom powder using purified holy water. It has amazing effects. Holy mushroom powder can remove minor negative effects, such as stopping bleeding, diarrhea, colds, and fevers, but it can't heal severe external injuries, such as severed limbs, large burns, allergies, poisoning, and aging. For these, you need the essence liquid."

"If you soak a severed limb in the essence liquid, a new limb can grow back in three to five days. Although there is a limb regeneration spell in holy light magic, it requires an eighth-level or higher priest to cast it. Without connections, how could you get a ninth-level priest? The Sacred Essence Liquid is much easier to obtain."

"Allergies, for example, are beyond the reach of magic, but the essence liquid can change the skin's properties and even delay aging. It can be used on sensitive skin, but to extract the same weight of Sacred Essence Liquid, you need five times the amount of powder and a large amount of holy water. They are only offering five times the price? What kind of merchants are they? Is magic free? Is time free? Is technology free? No, we need more money."

"When I was young, I was severely cheated by those goblin merchants. They said they wanted dragon saliva grass and offered an irresistible price, saying it would grow from dragon saliva on the ground, but they didn't say how long it would take. I ended up spitting for fifty years, those merchants!"

After explaining the situation of the Sacred Essence Liquid, Nigris couldn't help but grumble. Even the all-knowing God of Knowledge had been young and naive once, and had been severely cheated.

Ang summarized Nigris' long explanation and got the key point: "We need more money."

"Ah? More money? How much more?" Lan was taken aback. She wasn't surprised by the request for more money; after all, business is about negotiation. She was just putting on a show to avoid Ang setting the price too high.

Ang had no concept of price, so Nigris finally set the price: "Ten times."

One pound of holy mushroom powder costs thirty magic crystals, so one pound of Sacred Essence Liquid would cost three hundred magic crystals.

This price was too high for Lan to decide on her own. She stepped aside, closed her eyes, and communicated with Anna of Ice City using her soul, and they agreed to the price.

"My lord, this is the deposit. We need five pounds of Sacred Essence Liquid. When can we expect delivery?" Lan handed over a bag and asked.

"Ten days." Ang relayed Nigris' words, and Lan left happily.

Looking at the bag of magic crystals Lan handed over, Nigris said in Ang's soul, "It turns out their customer is the Church of Light."

Ang tilted his head, puzzled.

Nigris explained, "The material of the shroud, without runes, can only be woven by the Church of Light."

"Don't they grow holy mushrooms?" Ang asked, puzzled.

Nigris rolled his eyes, "Do you think everyone is as abnormal as you? Just purifying the holy water requires how many priests? The time and effort to grow the mushrooms and extract the essence, the cost is unknown. Now, you can buy a pound for just three hundred magic crystals, it's so cheap."

"Oh." Ang responded, not sure if he understood. Harvesting, drying, grinding, and extracting, ten days later, the essence liquid made from thirty pounds of holy mushroom powder was delivered.

Lan returned to Ice City as quickly as possible, contacted the customer who placed the order, and delivered the essence liquid.

In the human plane, at the southernmost tip of the land, in the Holy Spear Fortress, the headquarters of the Holy Spear Knights, Knight of God Leonard had just finished training, bare-chested, and came out of the training ground, steaming hot.

The serving maidens nearby looked at Leonard's strong body with misty eyes, their faces blushing, and their heartbeats so loud that the next room could hear them.

Leonard smiled, his lips forming a perfect curve, and he nodded gently to the maidens.

The maidens' legs went weak, and they struggled to gather around, wiping him down, dressing him, and finally presenting a transparent liquid.

Leonard raised an eyebrow and said, "Hmm, the essence liquid has arrived?" He poured a little into his palm and rubbed it on his face, patting it to help it absorb better.

If the disabled people with severed limbs knew that Leonard was using the Sacred Essence Liquid as a skincare product, they would probably jump out of bed in anger.

Feeling the effect was quite good, Leonard asked, "Where did it come from? As far as I know, the diocese hasn't allocated Sacred Essence Liquid to us in the Holy Spear Army."

"It was sent by the quartermaster." A maiden replied.

"Have the quartermaster come see me." Leonard said.

Soon, the quartermaster arrived and saw Leonard, who was fully dressed.

"You say this Sacred Essence Liquid was bought from a plane of the Abyss? How much did you buy? What about the rest?" Leonard asked.

"Five pounds, I kept two bottles for you, my lord, and the rest were sent to the medical team for the disabled soldiers." The quartermaster reported.

Leonard waved his hand, and a gust of air slapped the quartermaster's face. "Are you stupid? Do you know how much a bottle of essence liquid can sell for in the capital? One thousand magic crystals, and you gave it to those fools? Are the disabled all fools, worthy of using such things? Get it back for me immediately."

The quartermaster, covering his face, responded hastily, "Yes, yes, yes." But he felt deeply wronged. Didn't the diocese always allocate Sacred Essence Liquid to the disabled soldiers? Now that they don't allocate it, he found a way to get some from elsewhere, and it's not for the soldiers?

After scolding the quartermaster, Leonard remembered something. "You say this was bought from a plane of the Abyss? What level of plane?"

"Level six. One of their conditions for selling the essence liquid is to exchange for food, so it must be a plane lacking food, with a small population, and no plane teleportation array, as they require us to deliver it to a specific location." The quartermaster reported.

Leonard nodded thoughtfully and waved his hand. "There are no missions recently. Don't let those fools eat too much, to avoid trouble. By the way, how much did these essence liquids cost?"

The quartermaster replied, "The original price was three thousand magic crystals, but we only paid one thousand five hundred, and the rest was exchanged for one hundred tons of food delivered to a specific location."

"What?! Three thousand magic crystals? Per pound?" Leonard was somewhat incredulous at the number he heard.

"No, five pounds for three thousand magic crystals."

Leonard couldn't help but take the essence liquid and carefully inspect it. The price was too low, so low that he suspected it might be fake.

After the inspection, it was genuine, and the effect seemed even better than what the diocese allocated. He knew the essence liquid from the diocese was definitely diluted, and everyone knew it but didn't say it, as long as everyone was happy.

This bottle of essence liquid was like undiluted concentrate.

A bottle of essence liquid is about one hundred milliliters, selling for one thousand magic crystals, so five pounds would be twenty-five thousand magic crystals. The quartermaster had only spent three thousand magic crystals, a fivefold profit.

After some thought, Leonard asked, "Where did you get the information about this plane?"

"It was gathered by our people posing as goblin merchants."

"No one else knows? Transfer this information to me, and destroy the backup, understand?" Leonard instructed. After the quartermaster left, a sunny smile appeared on his face, and he muttered, "A fivefold profit is still a bit low, let's try some cost-free methods."