Above The Sky
Chapter 480 - 480 450 Long-awaited Pick-up Line 23

480: Chapter 450: Long-awaited Pick-up Line (2/3) 480: Chapter 450: Long-awaited Pick-up Line (2/3) Contrary to what most people imagine, the cores of water-attribute magical beasts are not cool like frost and snow.

On the contrary, if a magical beast can manipulate the three states of ice, water, and fog, its core must be incredibly hot, appearing in thermal imaging as bright as a small sun.

For it is by gathering the heat extracted from their water element origin substance that water-attribute magical beasts can create ice out of thin air, using the accumulated heat to vaporize water and disperse fog.

Just like Ian’s Minor Abyssal Jade, this sublimation structure adjacent to his heart, primordial seed, and ancient dragon heart core and located at his collarbone, emits a high temperature when activated, causing it to glow a bright cyan blue.

But it is precisely for this reason that mist envelops the young man’s side.

The interaction between the ancient dragon heart core and the silver chip accelerates this conversion process.

This combination method isn’t surprising, considering that the Dragon Worship Cult’s members could still notice something even when Ian used only fae origin substance.

The Water Glider Butterfly is a rather beautiful water series demon bug.

Its wings are dark with blue patterns, and its abdomen is usually dark brown but lights up with a blue glow when its abilities are activated.

When the energy gathering shell operates, it absorbs heat from surrounding objects.

With just a simple treatment technique, it can be made into a makeshift icebox.

Although Ian’s Entangling Void Armor itself is essentially an icebox, maintaining it daily is one thing; to truly allow the Frost Butterfly to evolve, proper equipment is definitely needed.

“Next, I need to find a safer place for the Frost Butterfly to evolve, to absorb the materials I have prepared for its evolution,” he said.

After donning his armored clothing and packing his luggage, Ian looked towards the cloud pillar and lightning in the distance, then gently patted the camel beast’s back, signaling the massive creature, which had rested quite a bit, to get up.

The Ground Hurricane Bridge near the Nanling Province side is surrounded by several towns, forming a shape like a maple leaf.

Before dawn, Ian arrived at the town called ‘Yellow Vine’ located in the center.

True to its name, sturdy stone-wood terraced houses were adorned with light yellow vines, a plant symbolizing ‘wealth’ and ‘smooth sailing’, essential to the town’s key culture.

As the first light of dawn shone upon the yellow vines, the entire city seemed to awaken.

The streets were bustling with people, and the noisy commotion of traffic and merchant caravans made the place extraordinarily lively.

Along the way, Ian bought some local specialty pancakes, lined with a layer of sweet sauce, smoked meat, and crispy fruit sticks.

The pancakes had a rather good texture; the sweet sauce was pleasantly sweet, the fruit sticks crunchy, and the smoked meat savory.

The textures were clearly distinct yet unified, making them an ideal breakfast.

He couldn’t help but be reminded of chicken wraps and Peking duck from his previous life.

Come to think of it, it seemed that no one in Terra actually prepared Peking duck.

Maybe he could try making it at home next time.

In Yellow Vine Town, one can get a close-up view of the Terrestrial Whirlwind Cloud Pillar.

To the northwest of the town, the greyish-yellow column of clouds appeared to move slowly from afar but was actually blowing rapidly upward; the rising morning sun cast a gleaming fiery light upon it, making it look like a vivid orange-red pillar erupting from the earth’s core.

“Beneath this must be a geothermal power plant…

or perhaps it is a mantle mining center, and then some of the subterranean water systems around the Bison Mountain Range overflowed here, poured into the Great Rift Valley, where heat meets water, creating this cloud pillar,” he mused while eating his pancake, estimating the truth behind the ‘Ground Hurricane’—he was indeed shocked and curious about this phenomenon, but upon careful analysis, he found it not inexplicable: “The Golden Prairie itself was the result of a volcanic eruption, even a precursor to a small-scale dark rock event, but it was suppressed by the Sublimators of that era, or the remnants from a previous epoch with unknown methods.”

“In other words, the geothermal resources in the north of South Ridge must be very rich, so having an operating geothermal power station with excess energy creating the stable phenomenon of Ground Hurricane isn’t strange at all.”

Today’s Ground Hurricane is not just a scenic spectacle, but also a water resource circulation center around the edges of the Golden Prairie.

The subterranean rivers of the Bison Mountain Range are evaporated by the geothermal heat inside the Bart Great Rift Valley, and the Ground Hurricane blows them high into the sky as clouds, which occasionally transform into heavy rains that wash the vicinity, forming a regular rainfall pattern.

Ian estimated the cloud layer and found that in at most two to three days, and possibly as soon as this afternoon, there would be a rainstorm.

“First, I need to buy some alchemy materials.

I’ve used too many potions for acting,” he said.

Ian had checked his pack before setting off, and his remaining alchemy materials were indeed not plentiful.

Although there were no expected battles on the next stretch of his journey, such things were unpredictable…

Being fully prepared was his principle all along his travels.

With that, he entered an alchemy workshop to procure the necessary materials.

“Hello, Knight Sir…

may I ask if you have a membership or a referral?”

The shop assistant watched Ian, clad in the Entangling Void Armor, and the order he requested, finding himself somewhat in a predicament.

This was not to say he was being difficult or unwilling to make the sale—only a fool would give a hard time to a Sublimator wearing Sublimation Armor who looked not to be provoked and could be a knight of some house.

The main issue was that the materials Ian had requested were too numerous and miscellaneous, with some dangerous materials mixed in; without proof of identity, they dared not sell them casually.

Of course, Ian understood this point, and upon presenting his Knight’s Writ and alchemist accreditation, the assistant breathed a sigh of relief.

The assistant passed the order to other workers and then invited Ian to wait in the lounge.

“Indeed, using one’s own commerce guild is more convenient,” Ian thought to himself.

Whether it was the White Chamber Commerce Guild of the White Folks, the Platinum Iridium Workshop, or the Silver Bazaar Company, they never asked him for such declarations—recognizing his identity was enough, and even if there truly were contraband that theoretically couldn’t be sold openly, they would have transferred it to him without batting an eye and without recording it in the accounts.

Yellow Vine Town had a newspaper since the place was also considered a major goods distribution center, with numerous merchant caravans and adventurers passing through every day.

As Ian waited for the workshop staff to tally his materials, he browsed the newspaper’s news.

Being a small-town local paper in essence, it was full of various employment, recruitment, and trade-related information—truly a mix of everything.

After flipping through just two pages, Ian saw advertisements for buying and selling alchemical firearms, requests for concocting potions, bounties for bandits in the Western Territory, and recruitment for mercenaries to join a group.

Beyond that, there were calls for collecting specific Magical Beast Materials and hiring by gangs around the Ground Hurricane Bridge…

The most outrageous was that there was even an open solicitation for smuggling channels!

It was a mess with no sense of layout.

Ian keenly sensed that this was a business opportunity—if some astute person took the initiative to organize the various commissions, recruitments, and bounties from these local newspapers and utilized them, they could definitely make a small fortune.

Not to mention, with the content he had just seen in the newspaper, there were clearly complementary pieces of information, such as alchemists volunteering their services and requests for potion concoctions.

Without lifting a finger, just being an intermediary could earn a living, but that would require the kind of brain and Silver Core Chip he possessed to quickly gather information.

It was fine for accruing initial wealth, but truly valuable was the network built over time with long-term operations.

By the time the young man had finished reading the newspaper, the materials had arrived.

The alchemical materials Ian purchased ranged from the most Ordinary Rainheart Grass to rare Queen Ant Venom, from the unremarkable Earth Crystals to the valuable gold roots of Jade Blood Vines, adding up to a total of more than one hundred and forty-five talle—by far the most substantial sum he had spent since leaving Harrison Port.

Feeling the talle disappear to be replaced by two boxes of various herbs and ores, Ian had an odd sense of satisfaction.

—Finally, it was him earning and spending his own money, rather than being inexplicably gifted a bunch of things by others!

“The feeling of self-reliance is surprisingly pleasant!”

With that thought in mind, Ian prepared to pack up his materials and head to the inn to prepare the advanced potion for the Frost Butterfly.

Suddenly, he encountered an unexpected encounter—a long-missed conversation starter.

“Wait, hey there, brother…

sister…”

Just the sound of the voice was refreshing, a gentle female voice coming from behind the young man that made him raise his eyebrows slightly.

He did not turn around but instead used Fairy Perception to look behind him.

Then, he was somewhat surprised for once and even turned his head.

Because what entered Ian’s line of sight was a girl who could be described as stunningly beautiful.