Versatile Mage (Web Novel)

Edited by Aelryinth

“You should go and buy a Galaxy Vein and improve your Summoning Element to the Advanced Level. With your current cultivation, one Galaxy Vein should be enough,” Pang Lai said.

“Oh, sure!” Mo Fan just needed to follow the instructions of the master.

“Once your Summoning Element reaches the next level, remember to feed all its energy to the Swift Star Wolf. The energy that is produced when the Nebula expands into a Galaxy is the purest and strongest. The energy will be very useful when the Swift Star Wolf is attempting to evolve,” Pang Lai added.

Pang Lai taught Mo Fan the procedures patiently, and was even more serious when he explained the process of selecting the right soul for the Summoned Beast.

It was the most important part of the process. When Jiang Yu noticed Mo Fan’s blank face when some unfamiliar terms were mentioned, he said to Pang Lai, “Master, why don’t you just go with Mo Fan to the marketplace? No one has eyes as sharp as yours. Even if you told us what to do, it’s very likely that we would make a mistake. Please help him, he has been taking care of me during our training…”

Pang Lai was the Royal Guard’s chief, meaning that it was a great honor for anyone to listen to his teaching. However, even a Councilman would have trouble asking Pang Lai to go to a marketplace and let him choose a suitable soul on their behalf.

Pang Lai hesitated for a while. It was obvious that he cared a lot for Jiang Yu, as if Jiang Yu was his own son. After hearing Jiang Yu’s plea, Pang Lai could not help but let out a sigh and say, “You seriously know how to order me about! Fine, Mo Fan, come with me, I’ll pick the Soul for you.”

Mo Fan was overjoyed. He knew how much of a blessing this was. He immediately expressed his gratitude to Pang Lai and Jiang Yu.

“Don’t worry about it. The World College Tournament means a lot to our country’s pride, and it also decides the distribution of some rare materials between the countries. As long as you try your best in the tournament, it’s reasonable for me to lend you a hand, too,” Pang Lai said.

——

Mo Fan followed Pang Lai to the marketplace. He could not help but ask in confusion, “Chief, why aren’t we going to the auction? Aren’t their things better there?”

The marketplace was quite big, with lots of things on the shelves. As long as you had the time, you could basically buy anything you needed.

However, the sources of the goods were too unorganized. It was quite common for the sellers to put up low-quality goods and sell them at a higher price. Even though the average price was lower at a marketplace than at an auction, those unable to tell the quality of the goods would suffer!.

“Are you rich?” Pang Lai turned around and asked in return.

“Ugh… I’m very poor,” Mo Fan answered honestly.

“Exactly. The items being sold at an auction are nice, but there are many rich people bidding for them too, and usually, the items will be sold at some unreasonable price. The marketplace also has a lot of good stuff, but it depends on how sharp your eyes are.” Pang Lai walked in front of Mo Fan and Jiang Yu, his hands behind him while he explained the truth of the marketplace.

Pang Lai seemed to be very experienced when shopping at a marketplace. He snorted disdainfully at seeing some of the seemingly high-quality goods.

Jiang Yu whispered to Mo Fan, “My master spent lots of time at the marketplace when he’s young, and even earned a fortune there. Everyone used to call him the Golden Eyes!”

“I see!” Mo Fan exclaimed in delight.

Mo Fan rarely came to the marketplace. As a matter of fact, if he was experienced enough, it would surely have saved him a fair amount of money. Unfortunately, Mo Fan was basically blind when evaluating the goods being sold at the marketplace!

“This one, pay the money,” Pang Lai pointed at something floating on a table and said to Mo Fan.

“Is this a Galaxy Vein?” Mo Fan looked at the thing on the table with astonishment.

Normally, for something like a Galaxy Vein, Mo Fan seriously did not dare to buy one from the marketplace. Good things did not come at a cheap price. When he was actually improving his Element to the Advanced Level, he would find it incredibly infuriating if he bought a fake Galaxy Vein.

“Yes, buy it, it’s only seventy million, it isn’t expensive,” Pang Lai said.

Mo Fan was stunned. Jiang Yu quickly nudged Mo Fan, signaling him to pay the money.

Mo Fan was a complete amateur, so there was nothing he could say. He immediately handed his card over.

The seller did not waste any time, either. He was so quiet that he did not bother greeting them as he proceeded to withdraw a huge sum from Mo Fan’s card.

After receiving the money, the seller handed the Galaxy Vein to Mo Fan. He did not even bother thanking him; he simply continued doing the task he was busy with before.

Putting the Galaxy Vein away, Mo Fan followed Pang Lai to the area where Soul Essences, magic equipment, and battle souls were being sold.

After walking around the place, Pang Lai seemed to have trouble finding a Soul that could satisfy him. Even when the vendors were boasting how valuable their goods were, Pang Lai did not even bother casting an extra glance at them, and kept moving.

“The quality of the Souls in Venice is less than impressive; it can’t even compete with the quality of the Souls in our capital’s marketplace. I guess we have no choice but to buy a lower-quality Soul if we really can’t find a suitable one,” Pang Lai remarked.

“Sorry about that,” Mo Fan said helplessly.

“Mmm? That thing…” Pang Lai suddenly noticed something. He came to a stop in front of an ordinary-looking shop and glanced into it through the entrance.

——

At the entrance of the marketplace, a man with long orange-yellow hair was quickening his pace. He even bumped into a few people, yet he did not show any intention of apologizing to them.

“Advisor, I wasn’t able to make the call, which is why I’ve asked you to inspect it for me. The price isn’t low either, so I didn’t dare buy it right away,” the man said.

“Judging from your description, that thing shouldn’t be too bad. Actually, you shouldn’t hesitate in the first place. There are people with sharp eyes in the marketplace too, and they are most likely going to buy it,” an old woman beside the man replied.

The woman’s hair had grayed, but her face still looked like someone in their forties. She had done a great job preserving the condition of her skin. Her appearance clearly hinted at her noble background, but she seemed pretty disdainful, like it was very hard for anyone to get along well with her.

“Don’t worry, the shop is pretty deep in the marketplace, and it’s unlikely that anyone will notice it. Besides, I wasn’t away for long,” the man with orange-yellow hair said.

—

They finally arrived at the shop after some time. However, as soon as the man entered the shop and was about to greet the owner, he was shocked to see three Asians inside it.

Seeing someone in the shop was not a big deal, but Jack’s expression sank when he realized that the three people seemed to be interested in the thing he had come back for!

“Pay the money, we’ll take it,” Pang Lai said confidently.

“Sure… but, I don’t have that much on me right now, can you pay the rest for me first?” Mo Fan did not hesitate to make up his mind, but the price of the item did exceed his budget.

The thing that caught Pang Lai’s attention was the soul of a Commander-level creature, and it had a price of three hundred million!

Mo Fan had spent around eighty million on the bone dust and the lineage, and he had also spent seventy million on the Galaxy Vein not long ago. He only had one hundred and fifty million left.

“See how poor you are? You should really learn how to distinguish between good and bad goods!” Pang Lai said.

After learning that Mo Fan had basically bought everything from the auction, Pang Lai had been criticizing Mo Fan a lot. He kept telling Mo Fan that if he knew how to distinguish the goods himself, everything that he had bought from the auctions would be twenty percent cheaper.

Mo Fan could only smile wryly. He did not even understand the basics, so he might even lose his pants after being scammed by the vendors in the marketplace!

“If you don’t have the money, we’ll be taking it! Here, three hundred million, I’ll pay the money right away!” Jack immediately walked up and placed a resplendent, golden card in front of the owner of the shop.

“It’s you again,” the owner smiled.

“Yeah, it’s me, and we already had our eyes on it first. I only went to get the money from my elder, I’m sorry about that,” Jack replied in inspiration, apologizing in advance.

The owner was stunned after hearing Jack’s statement.

However, Pang Lai had spent lots of time making a living in the marketplace too when he was young. He immediately knew the young man did not reserve the item when he saw the owner’s reaction.

“Who told you that we didn’t have the money? How could I possibly let the young man pay for it? We already decided to take it when you came, you should mind your manners!” Pang Lai took out his card, too.

The shop owner, Hubert was lost in thoughts when he saw the two cards in front of him. However, he still chose Pang Lai’s card in the end.

After all, they had already reached a deal. The young man said he did not have enough money, but he never said he was going to buy it!

“Mister, my student has already settled on it first. Isn’t it inappropriate for you to take that man’s card? My student will be participating in the treasure hunt in a few days, the soul is very important to him… oh, here is my name card.” The old woman beside Jack handed over a crystalline card.

The shop owner took the card and gasped.

“So you’re Gisele, the vice elder of the Sacred Hall of Liberty. Pleased to meet you!” Hubert quickly handed the card back. He did not dare accept it.

“Hold on to it, just let me know if you need any help. The thing is, my student did come to your shop and show his interest in the item. Can you please explain the situation to your customers?” Gisele said in a demanding tone.

As Gisele was speaking, she cast a glance at the item. It was indeed very valuable, and was definitely worth more than three hundred million.

It was most likely the treasure of the shop. She did hear from Jack that the owner had inherited the shop from his father, and had no choice but to sell this treasure, as business had been bad recently. The man was not willing to pay the fees for selling it at an auction, so he gave it a price he had roughly estimated.