Chapter 1 – The Strongest Warrior

Chapter 2- Becoming a Mage

Children are innocent, and they are also the most intelligent. They are like a blank sheet of paper, able to write whatever they want and be whoever they want to be. If an individual wants to have achievements in martial arts, then they must practice while they are young. If they waste their first eight years, then even within their whole lives it will be impossible to achieve unity between heaven and man and reach the realm they want to reach.

However, children are also naughty and playful, so how much benefit do they really receive from this precious period of time? If we weigh this precious time on a scale of ten units, even if the child utilized one or two units, then that child is already considered to be smart!

Suo Jia’s mother looked at Suo Jia with pride. She knew that when she contracted her illness three years ago Sou Jia was still too small, and couldn’t play outside by himself. Ever since then, that stream of water was his only companion, as well as his only form of toy.

She watched Suo Jia with an apologetic look, knowing she owed him too much. Within these three years, Suo Jia had already avoided communicating with others. If he wasn’t sitting on the side practicing with water alone, then he was by his mother’s side listening to stories about his father.

Every day around this time, Suo Jia’s mother would always watch her son perform his water-control techniques and afterwards, give her son encouragement, and fill him with praise. This is why although only three years had passed, Suo Jia’s water control techniques can be considered to almost have reached the magic expert level.

However, controlling water is not the same as water magic. Controlling water is like adding, subtracting, multiplying or dividing; simply a basic foundation. Water magic, however, was an advanced practice that used high-rank water techniques. Right now, Suo Jia can only be considered to have an exceptional foundation.

Suo Jia’s mother sighed, and embarrassingly said while looking at son, “Suo Jia, listen to your mother’s words, mother knows that you want to become a powerful warrior, however the truth is that warrior schools won’t accept any water-controlling warriors. If you aren’t accepted to a school, then you could never become powerful.

Ah!

After listening to his mother’s words, Suo Jia could not help but sit up and impatiently say, “This cannot be mom! How can they not accept me? I will definitely become powerful and for mother’s sake bring back father!”

Suo Jia’s mother smiled gently, and while softly stroking Suo Jia’s hair said, “Your mother is very pleased with your intention, but the truth is obvious! If you want to become powerful, then you need to become a water mage.”

Suo Jia looked at his mother stubbornly, hoping that she would have an alternative way to solve this problem. However, after looking at her for a long time, she did not say anything, only looking at him helplessly. Suo Jia understood that some things simply could not be changed.

Suo Jia’s mother watched the stubborn Suo Jia who was unwilling to look at her. Finally, she was unable to continue looking at her miserable son, and with a loving hug she gently said, “Child, regardless of other things, just become a water mage okay? If you don’t, then there’s no way of becoming more powerful. Just forget about your dream of becoming the strongest warrior!”

“Is going to school the only way to become stronger?” Suo Jia looked firmly at his mother, with his final effort.

Suo Jia’s mom nodded with difficulty, and reluctantly said, “That’s correct, only by going to a school can you receive the most systematic and well-rounded education. If you don’t go to a school, then then you won’t become strong.”

Suo Jia took a deep breath, and firmly said, “Alright mother. Since it’s like this, for the sake of becoming stronger, I will become a water mage. However, I will never throw away my goal. One day, you will definitely see me become the greatest warrior.” After saying this, Suo Jia jumped off the bed and took large strides out of the room.

Looking at Suo Jia’s stubborn back, Suo Jia’s mother face was bitter. Maybe her child’s wish was naïve and without reason, but at the same time he was stubborn and determined! When Suo Jia returned to his room, he sat unhappily on his bed and once again pulled out that thumb-thick stream of water and skillfully began to control it.

Suo Jia, while looking at the pure and glistening water stream in his hands, secretly wondered why couldn’t water controlling individuals become great warriors. Why did all water controllers need to become mages? This wasn’t fair at all!

While looking at the tricking water in his hands, Suo Jia felt what it meant to be hopeless for the first time. No matter how skilled he was at controlling water, if he could not become a powerful warrior, then what was the point?

Heng!

After playing with the stream of water for a while, Suo Jia finally put away the water stream and stubbornly said to himself, “Forget it. No matter what happens, I still want to become a strong warrior like my father. Even if I enter school as a mage, I still will work hard to become the strongest warrior.”

After thinking about this alone in his room, Suo Jia finally found peace. With a happy grin, he put his mind to ease and extending both hands, freely began to control the sparkling water stream. The stream moved around both his hands and his body continuously, and after a short period of time, happy laughter could be heard within the house.

Five days later, Suo Jia and his mother arrived at Holy Light Academy’s preliminary assessment area early in the morning. Only by passing the preliminary test could you have a chance to take the formal exam at Holy Light Academy’s Headquarters.

The weather was extremely cold. Even though it had just stopped snowing, it felt even colder than before. Despite the fact that it was dawn, the examination area was already packed with people in groups of twos and threes. Everyone was silently waiting for the start of the exam.

Only after the sunlight had just began to sneak out of the mist and a slight red appeared over the horizon, did Holy Light Academy’s Examiners come out one by one into the already decorated exam room. The children said their goodbyes to their parents, and entered the examination room.

The examination took place at a big building nearby, and since this was a small village, not many children took part, only roughly 200 or 300. Looking at the surrounding decorations and scenery, when Suo Jia saw the nearby children talking and laughing he began to feel awkward and uncomfortable. No one talked to him, and he didn’t try to talk to others either.

Fortunately Suo Jia didn’t have to feel this way for too long, as the exam was going to begin soon. One by one, the children entered the examination room to begin. The exam was extremely fast, lasting about only one minute per person.

Suo Jia didn’t want to come into contact with others too much, so he moved towards the back of the line. Only after almost all of the other children were tested did he get the opportunity to enter the testing room. By now, there were only a few children that haven’t been tested yet.

“Sigh… In this city, there’s not even one talented child. Not only that, none of the parents knew that encouraging them to practice was important. Don’t tell me that they don’t know that spoiling the children can only be bad for their future?” Suo Jia heard this heavy voice upon entering the door.

Suo Jia lifted his head and saw within the examination room, there was a long wooden table. Behind the wooden table sat three examiners who were talking among themselves.

While Suo Jia was observing the room, another voice replied, “You shouldn’t have too high expectations, this is only a small city. If not for that powerful warrior Soros originating from this village, this place wouldn’t be necessary for our selection process. We really only take about one in a million!”

Hearing the examiner’s words, his eyes lit up. Soros was his father! That was the first time Suo Jia heard someone else talk about his father. Super powerful warrior? That was really too cool.

“Alright, alright that’s enough. We can talk about these things after the exam is over. Either way there aren’t many children left, let’s finish early and grab a couple of drinks. The weather is so cold, and there might not be anything that tastes very good.” The examiner said in a serious tone when he saw Suo Jia.

Gesturing his hands towards Suo Jia, the examiner opened his mouth and said, “Kid, come a bit closer. It’s just a test, uncle won’t eat people, you don’t need to be so far away.” (TL: whoa pedo alert)

Suo Jia, hearing those words, turned a little red and stepped forwards obediently. After taking a small step, he immediately stopped again. The examiners could not help but laugh a bit. Standing so far away, how could they test him?

However, after so many failed children, the three examiners did not think too highly of this child. If he wanted to stand far away, so be it! As long as they let him demonstrate for a bit, they could ask him to leave. These three examiners already inwardly thought that they had wasted their time coming to this village.

The examiner smiled and said, “Alright! Demonstrate some of your skills for us! Show us your best techniques so we can evaluate them.”

Chapter 9 – The First Deal

In theory, this was actually quite simple; Suo Jia would simply combine the magic and a stream of water together, and then use that mixture to sketch the spell array. With this combined magic power, the possibility of it fading midway was eliminated, and the water’s uses, as well as the Moisture Technique’s effects, were even more extraordinary. After all….the Moisture Technique was the water element’s more representative magic, and had a very deep relationship with it.

Other people normally utilized a magic crystal to help maintain their magic formations, but Suo Jia used his personal water stream to solve his staff problem. From today onwards, Suo Jia did not need a staff anymore. With just his bare hands, he could draw out any magic arrays of the water element.

Holy Light Academy’s education system comprises of 6 days of classes every week, with the last day of every week being a day of rest. During the day of rest, apart from being required to attend a religious service at a church, the rest of the time is free for students to use for themselves.

The Holy Light Empire’s faith is based on the God of Light. Every seventh day of the week, it is mandatory for everyone to attend church and pray. Because of this, the seventh day is the city’s liveliest day of the week. Everyone is required to attend service at the church, and pray for the God of Light’s blessings and protection.

At the crack of dawn, Suo Jia and his mother left the house. His mother wanted to finish her prayers quickly while the people were still few, so that she could return to continue working. Although her job was strenuous, it had been hard for her to find, so she treasured it dearly.

After the service ended, Suo Jia and his mother parted ways in front of the church. Seeing his mother’s figure rushing off into the distance, Suo Jia could not help but feel excited. Today, while the city was lively during the day of rest, he wanted to test his lecturer’s statements. At the liveliest area he could find, he would arrange his own vendor’s booth.

Quickly running home, Suo Jia took out a white cloth with some large words he had written on it, which he had prepared earlier. With this sign hung up, he would be able to start his own business.

On the large white cloth, Suo Jia had written: “Thank you for the God of Light’s blessings. Suo Jia, from Holy Light Academy, is volunteering to perform the Moisture Technique on any females’ skin for only a token of one gold for lunch money.”

Truthfully, seeing the words on the large white cloth, Suo Jia was a bit nervous. Going by his teacher’s words, a water mage normally demanded at least 100 gold for every person that is moisturized. However, to Suo Jia, it seemed that simply waving his hand could release the magic. How was that worth much money? Even receiving 1 gold felt a bit over the top. It must be pointed out that 1 gold was not just small change; it was enough to buy 5kg of meat! His mother worked hard every day, and only earned 1 gold from it.

“Che…” Gritting his teeth, Suo Jia decided to believe in his teacher’s words. If his teacher said that a mage was a noble profession, then receiving 1 gold would definitely count as a voluntary duty. There was the possibility that his teacher had been lying, but when he thought back, he decided that this was unlikely since he trusted his teacher a lot.

That afternoon, Suo Jia finally arrived at Holy Light’s main street. He pulled up his white cloth, taking up about 10 square meters of space. In the center of the empty space, Suo Jia sat on a wooden chair that he had brought from home. He wore a brand new uniform from Holy Light Academy; even though it was not high quality clothing, these clothes represented his identity and status in a public manner. Those qualified to wear these clothes would definitely not have low statuses in the future.

Nervously sitting on the chair, Suo Jia could not guarantee that any people would come. Unconsciously, he adjusted his clothes. Even though his clothes had already been ironed until there wasn’t a single crease on them, Suo Jia could not stop the action of fixing them. Without any action to occupy himself with, Suo Jia was afraid he would just run away.

The large white cloth quickly attracted a group of people’s attention, especially the content of the words written on it. The thing that made people ceaselessly curious was: would anyone actually voluntarily use the Moisture Technique on people?

The Moisture Technique is not a technique that can be easily scoffed at. Within the Holy Light Empire, there are many successful uses of the Moisture Technique. At most, only about 10,000 people can do it, and a majority of those people are wealthy and respectable. Wanting them to perform the Moisture Technique on you is only possible in your dreams!

The Holy Light Empire has about five hundred million females; however only around 100 of them are willing to perform the Moisture Technique on others. These masters at the Moisture Technique have all graduated from Holy Light Academy. Although their current positions are not high, once they get a bit older, and have built up rank and status, then they will definitely not be willing to perform the Moisture Technique on others. This is too shameful of an act, so if they do, they will not have the face to meet anyone anymore.

Suo Jia knew that if he had a rank and status, then he would undoubtedly not need to do this anymore. Even if he was willing to, the royal family giving him his privileges and his status would not allow such an act. If it was because of money, there were many other more honorable jobs that could do the same.

“Hey!” While in his wild thoughts, Suo Jia completely failed to notice that a fiery red figure had quietly entered his service area. Only after the figure had voiced its inquiry did Suo Jia arouse from his thoughts.

Suddenly raising his head, Suo Jia looked across from him. He noticed the figure addressing him was a girl with a head of long fiery red hair, wearing clothes of the same color, and was currently curiously looking at him.

While Suo Jia was inspecting her, the girl in red clothes asked skeptically: “How come you’re a male? Are you really from Holy Light? And can you actually use the Moisture Technique?”

Suo Jia awkwardly nodded his head; he knew what the girl was thinking. But despite his embarrassment, he needed to reply, or else how would he be able to start his business?

Trying hard to calm himself down, Suo Jia said serenely: “Does this really arouse suspicion? If I wasn’t from Holy Light, then how would I be able to use the Moisture Technique? And if I was unable to use the Moisture Technique, then why would I be here?”

“Nn….” Hesitating for a bit, the girl was finally unable to endure her desire, and lightly sat down on the chair opposite from him. She said impatiently: “Never mind, no matter what, just help me moisturize my skin quickly. This week, my training has been intense; my skin has gotten all coarse!”

Hearing the girl’s words, Suo Jia could not help but look at her face. After a glance, Suo Jia naturally furrowed his brows. The girl’s face was white, and it could be also said to be extremely beautiful. However the skin on her face was dry, and the chapped skin had begun to form lines on her tender face. Her head of red hair, even though the color was bright red, was also insipid, similar to a bunch of dying grass.

Judging from the color of the girl’s hair and clothes, she was most likely a warrior with an affinity for fire, or a fire elemental mage. Training all day would mean she was often exposed to flames. In other words, this girl with an affinity for fire was probably constantly ruining her skin, and needed moisturizing the most. No wonder she was the first one to come in; her desire to get someone to help her moisturize her skin was probably strong to begin with.

After inspecting her for a while, Suo Jia did not say anything and simply took in a deep breath. He raised his right finger, and a warm, pale blue light shone. It followed Suo Jia’s skilled hand movements, and a strange palm-sized magic array formed in front of him.

“Si…” With a soft, gentle sound, a fine mist formed and gently sprayed in the redhead’s direction. As the spray fell onto her, the girl’s hair that had been as dry as dust was gradually restored to its original luster. The skin on her face also gradually showed the benefits of Suo Jia’s Moisture Technique.

The Moisture Technique was actually not that complicated. Using it only took about 4-5 seconds and it only took around 4-5 seconds to take effect, making the time period a total of only 10 seconds. The results, however, were exactly like what how his lecturer had described: a miracle from God!

If the girl in red was described as a dried-up prairie in autumn before treatment, then after receiving treatment, she was like lush green plains after being moistened by the spring rain. She was a wild grass shining with a pearl-like radiance, appearing fresh and clean after the moisturization.

Seeing that the girl in red’s originally dry, chapped face turning a rosy tint, with her skin so delicate and tender it looked like it could fall to pieces with a single touch, Suo Jia could not help but stare blankly for a while. The difference between before and after the treatment was really too significant. The skin now gave off a satiny, tender feeling that could be seen without actually touching it. It could be clearly felt that this was really the main merit of the Moisture Technique!

The girl in red was an unquestionable beauty but….if before the treatment she was rated 80 points in beauty, she was definitely past 100 after the Moisture Technique, becoming a top emperor-level beauty. This type of shy, charming appearance was something that left even the 8-years-old Suo Jia secretly speechless.

Accepting the mirror Suo Jia passed to her, the girl trembled as she caressed her face, unable to believe that her own skin and hair could become so beautiful.

Seeing the girl’s excited expression, Suo Jia was secretly happy as well. Being able to help others was always pleasant. Smiling faintly, Suo Jia said gently: “I should first say clearly: my magic power is very low, so this Moisture Technique can only last for a week. After a week, the moisture’s power will fade away!”

Completely not paying attention to Suo Jia’s words, the girl casually pulled out a handful of gold, around 6-7 pieces. Not even looking at the money she handed to Suo Jia, she said eagerly: “Lasting for even one day is worth it. You continue working, I’m going back quickly to show my sisters and let them know exactly who is the prettiest girl of the fire element!” As soon as she finished talking, the girl leaped up off of the cloth in a flash and escaped into the distance.

Chapter 30 – New Discovery

It was now time for afternoon class activities, and yet Suo Jia still could not find an answer to his problem. Miserably shaking his head, Suo Jia decided to temporarily stop thinking about it. For many things, if you cannot find a solution by thinking about it right now, then it is better to stop thinking about it. Time is precious, and using every minute to enhance yourself is crucial.

Lifting his head, he looked at the lighthearted little guy flying within a cloud of moisture. Suo Jia laughed with satisfaction; the little guy grew quickly during the past 3 or 4 months. Although it was still immature, it was already capable of flight!

All in all, this little guy was really quite fortunate. In this world, he was probably the only one lucky enough to receive several thousands of Moisture Techniques everyday. Although everyone had already learned the Swamp Technique at this point, casting spells from longer distances still needed work. Because of this, the little dragon could continue to enjoy the moisturizing rain for quite a while.

Currently, after three months of hard work, Suo Jia was capable of casting 60 Moisture Techniques in succession with a bit of energy left over. As for the other girls, although they weren’t as hardworking as Suo Jia, they still averaged at around 20 consecutive Moisture Techniques. A few girls were even able to cast 30 in succession.

Suo Jia had never casted the Moisture Technique in front of his other classmates. In general, as soon as he recovered some energy, he would immediately secretly cast a Moisture Technique on the little guy. Casting the Moisture Technique during class time was not an issue either, as he was very subtle while casting this spell and he didn’t need a staff.

Closing his eyes, Suo Jia worked hard to focus on the formation of the Swamp Technique. Suo Jia was not like other students that only focused on memorizing the formation after learning the technique. In his opinion, since all water magic relied on the same principles, they should also have similarities. If that was the case, then it would be much more effective if he could find out and understand what these similarities were.

So far, Suo Jia had only learned a total of two significant spells. One of them was the Moisture Technique, the other was the Swamp Technique. As for the Water Sphere and Aqua Aegis techniques, they fell under the category of water control and did not have much to do with magic spells.

During the past six months, Suo Jia had already cast the Moisture Technique more than ten thousand times. In regards to the Moisture Technique’s formation, he knew it like the back of his hand. With repeated learning and practice, he had already carved the magic formation firmly into the back of his mind. It had become a part of him.

Now Suo Jia was trying to compare the Moisture Technique with the Swamp Technique. He tried to find any similarities between the two techniques and distinguish the parts that were different, and afterwards attempted to understand them bit by bit.

To his surprise, he soon discovered that even though the magic formation of the two techniques were different, the frameworks were basically the same. Whether it was the Moisture Technique or the Swamp Technique, they were both developed using the same method.

By comparing the two, Suo Jia was able to discover the framework rather quickly. Sou Jia was very familiar with this framework. In reality, it was simply a Six Pointed Star Array.

Suo Jia realized that the Six Pointed Star Array was the basic diagram of all magic. This was the reason why you needed to stack other symbols on top of the formation to distinguish the characteristics of the water magic. This meant that other than this basic framework, there should be other similarities between the two techniques as well.

Suo Jia compared the Swamp Technique and Moisture Technique non-stop until finally, Suo Jia found a peculiar symbol. He tried out both magic formations by drawing them on the ground at the same time. To his surprise, he discovered that there were parts within the formation that overlapped completely. The Six Pointed Star Array was the only part that was identical between spells, the other symbols did not overlap!

After this discovery, the first thing Suo Jia did was to quickly draw out a Six Pointed Star Array. Afterwards, he drew the symbol that represented water. Drawing up until this part, the only symbol left in the whole formation was the Moisture Technique’s formation. In other words, this symbol represented the Moisture Technique.

Sure enough, the moment Suo Jia drew that symbol which represented the Moisture Technique, the whole magic spell formation suddenly lit up. A cluster of mist instantly appeared out of thin air and covered the small Frost Dragon. The casting this time turned out to be a success. That meant even if Suo Jia did not follow the teacher’s instructions, he could still successfully cast the Moisture Technique!

Everyone started learning magic a specific way: they would follow given sequences and patterns, learning it step by step. If one made a small error while performing magic this way, there was a good chance that the magic would fail. Who would have known that one could draw a magic spell formation in such a simple way!

Suo Jia spent his time at home ever since he was young with no one to talk to. He did things the way he wanted to. Without thinking, he even went as far as changing the magic spell formation’s drawing sequence. If this news spread, it would definitely shock the entire world!

After a series of discussion and research, Suo Jia could finally confirm that following an exact sequence was not important. The most important part was that you had to be precise. As long as the formation was correct, the spell would be successfully executed.

Discovering this, Suo Jia was hesitant. If it didn’t matter how you drew it, then why did the teaching material require a certain diagram and drawing sequence? Was there actually some hidden meaning to this?

Doubtfully, Suo Jia carefully examined his research. Just by comparing the two, Suo Jia immediately discovered that the drawing sequence passed down by the teacher saved more time and was the most convenient method. If he followed the drawing sequence from before, Suo Jia wouldn’t be able to draw the magic formation within three seconds! There were too many details and repetitions.

While calculating silently, Suo Jia arrived at a conclusion quickly. If he followed the drawing sequence passed down by the teacher, then he only needed 24 strokes to complete the Water Moisture Technique’s formation. But if he followed the drawing sequence he created himself, he needed 28 strokes to finish the magic formation! Four additional strokes!

Arriving at this conclusion, Suo Jia couldn’t help but frown; there were advantages and disadvantages. Currently, Suo Jia couldn’t tell which was better.

The advantage of the traditional drawing sequences from the magic book was speed. The disadvantage was that they were hard to remember and practice. You needed to learn from scratch each time you learned a new type of magic, since the drawing sequence for each traditional magic diagram was different.

With Suo Jia’s method, it was easier to remember and practice. All he needed to do was to remember each symbol and what they represented. This was easier to remember and to practice, because in the end…the number of magical symbols were numerous, and spells would have many symbols that would serve as their basis.

Of course, this method wasn’t perfect at all. Its weak point was that the strokes to create the spell were more than the other method, and was slower to cast as well. When fighting against another, it was likely that the other spell would smash into you first, so this spellwork was in no way finished yet! In the middle of a battle, whoever cast their spell second would be the one destined to lose.

The traditional method had a shorter casting time, however it was hard to remember and practice while the new method was slower to cast, but was easier to remember and practice. After thinking about it for a long time, Suo Jia finally came to a conclusion; he would have to use his own method to cast spells!

As far as Suo Jia was concerned, all 18 spells of the Laws of Water were pretty much the same. The Moisture Technique was fine, and so was the Swamp Technique! They all used the same 6 pointed star formation and also used the same water symbols! The only major differing parts were the sections that didn’t overlap with each other.

Quickly drawing out the formation and the accompanying water symbols, Suo Jia filled in the symbol for the Moisture Technique soon after. Immediately…a fine rain began to drizzle down, as if the spring rain had come early.

Quelling his excitement, Suo Jia drew the foundation of the spell once more with the water symbols. And soon after, according to his memory, he drew the symbol for the Swamp Technique right on top of the diagram!

”Shuaa!” At the very instant when Suo Jia drew the final symbol, a soft echo was heard as he suddenly felt powerless. There was no response after that, so as he looked around his surrounding environment with doubt, he saw nothing out of the ordinary. Embarrassed, Suo Jia scratched his head, he knew that this time, he had failed.

Continuing to watch and draw using the two methods, he began to think about the probability of success for the new method he came up with. Although there was a problem with how it could exist as a method, Suo Jia knew that wasn’t the reason why he didn’t succeed in casting the Swamp Technique; it was because the way he was writing and casting the spell wasn’t the standard way of doing so.

”Kyaaa!” As Suo Jia was internally despairing, a shriek was suddenly heard echoing throughout the training floors. As he looked up in shock, he could only see a chubby girl with a face full of fear as she stared at her own feet and continued to scream non-stop.

Puzzled about what was happening under the girl’s feet, he looked at both of her legs. Her legs had already been sucked into the ground, and although she was pulling at herself with all her strength, she was unable to pull herself out.

Fortunately, she wasn’t stuck too deeply, and the girls around her extended their arms to help. With a strenuous amount of effort, she was pulled out. However both of the girl’s shoes had remained stuck in the ground!

Chapter 37 – If You Say So

“Ah!” Hearing his mother’s words, Suo Jia opened his mouth in amazement, and dazedly said: “What are you girls thinking? The reason I wanted to build this wooden house was not for people to live in, but to open a beautician site!”

His mother unhappily rolled her eyes at him upon hearing his words. “You silly child, sometimes you are frighteningly intelligent, but other times you are just so dense. Let me ask you: with such a small location, how many customers would you be able to accommodate? Where would you make everyone wait?”

“This…” Hearing his mother’s words, Suo Jia could not help but glance at their surroundings. The construction area had a man-made lake on one side, a fake mountain waterfall on another, and the other two sides had both grass and man-made woods. The room was to be built on the empty space in the exact center of this environment. Aside from the house, there really weren’t any other available spaces for customers to wait.

Seeing Suo Jia’s embarrassed expression, his mother continued. “Think carefully; including you, there are eight of us here. That White Villa is so grand, and with such few of us living together, it’s too quiet and uncomfortable. It’s also such a waste of space.”

At this point, his mother’s eyes lit up, “The first level of the White Villa consists of an enormous lounge capable of fitting 400-500 people. The second level is also spacious with dozens of rooms as well as a large parlor that could be used as your place of work. Isn’t this villa perfectly suited for your purposes?”

Here, Eldest Sister also piped in, “I also agree with your mother’s words. Aside from that huge lounge on the first floor, the surrounding gardens accommodate customers as well. Even if there were 500 people, it would not seem crowded at all. In other words, if you use the White Villa as your base of operations, then we will have the ability to accommodate up to nearly 1000 people!”

“Wa!” Hearing both his mother’s and Eldest Sister’s words, Suo Jia shouted out excitedly, “This is really too wonderful. If we do it that way, then the amount of customers will no longer be a problem. I can moisturize at least 1000 afflicted people per day, meaning that I could potentially earn 1000 gold a day. Heavens, we’ll be rich!”

“Haha…” Hearing Suo Jia’s words, Eldest Sister laughed as she shook her head. “Young Master, I have a few suggestions. I wonder if you would be willing to hear them?”

“Suggestions!” Hearing Eldest Sister’s words, Suo Jia’s eyes quickly lit up. Suo Jia greatly admired Eldest Sister’s abilities. After all, he was still young and inexperienced, and didn’t have much knowledge about these types of things. If Eldest Sister was bringing up a suggestion, then she definitely had some good ideas.

With Suo Jia’s urging, Eldest Sister smiled. “With Young Master’s natural talent and abilities together with Young Master’s and Miss Wen Ya’s relationship, I can ascertain that Young Master’s future will be splendid and glorious. You will enter the aristocrats’ circle for sure!”

As Eldest Sister finished these words, Suo Jia’s mother happily nodded her head afterwards. “That’s right, that’s right; it is exactly so. My precious son will definitely have an extraordinary future!”

Respectfully nodding her head at Suo Jia’s mother, Eldest Sister continued: “Since this is so, if Young Master has so many extraordinary abilities that others don’t have, I recommend that this beautician service’s standards should be higher. It is not necessary to accept 1000 customers every day. Actually, we should not simply focus on the normal citizens; we should be seeking to earn money from the aristocrats. While earning this money, we can also build our relations with the aristocrats for the sake of allowing Young Master to enter their circle and build his foundation there.”

At this point, Eldest Sister’s eyes glowed even brighter and was almost breathless from excitement. She continued, “This area is very famous. The area’s sites are tied to Holy Light’s foundation, to the point where we could accept fees from those just coming to sightsee. Thus, anyone able to visit this place could definitely be considered wealthy and respectable!”

Hearing Eldest Sister’s words, Suo Jia could not help but furrow his brows. “Eldest Sister, isn’t this a bit too influential?”

“Influential?” Hearing Suo Jia’s words, Eldest Sister suddenly laughed. “If you think that this is influential, then I cannot refute it. However, I am simply discussing it from a business viewpoint; I am only considering this for the business’ sake. I am responsible for stating my suggestions, rejecting or accepting them is Young Master’s decision!”

Hearing Eldest Sister’s words, Suo Jia swallowed his words, and without a sound, he gestured at Eldest Sister to continue speaking. Receiving his permission, Eldest Sister continued. “In short, my suggestion is that this place shouldn’t become just another common marketplace, but rather Holy Light City’s most elegant and luxurious area. In the future, it should become the gathering place for aristocrats. Those able to enter here must have a symbol of their status and privileges. Common people would not have the qualifications to set a single step in.”

Speaking up to this point, Eldest Sister’s confidence grew, and said, “As long as we set up such a form, then Young Master’s status in the aristocrats’ circle will also be set up. As long as you maintain good relationships with the customers, then within Holy Light City, you will be able to do whatever you please, and be well-known everywhere!”

Speaking in excitement, Eldest Sister looked straight at Suo Jia with a strong gaze. “Money, privileges, influence; no matter what you want, it will be there. If there is anything you want to do, it will become a reality. Is such a scenario bad?”

“How is that possible!” Hearing Eldest Sister’s words, Suo Jia could not help but shout out. Even Suo Jia’s mother had an incredulous expression on her face.

Seeing Suo Jia’s and his mother’s expressions, Eldest Sister laughed and said, “When I was receiving my training at a young age, this idea was drilled deep into my mind repeatedly: this world is controlled by men, while women are in control of the men!”

“This can’t be!” Hearing Eldest Sister’s words, Suo Jia violently shook his head, “How can women control men? If it’s true, then why did father leave?”

Suo Jia’s mother looked down sadly upon hearing this, revealing a sad expression. But Eldest Sister was not emotionally moved in the slightest bit. She just stood there silently and looked at Suo Jia. Eldest Sister quietly said, “Even if the wife can’t control the husband, I ask you, can your mother control you? Are you going to listen to your mother’s words?”

Suo Jia replied angrily, “What nonsense are you talking about? Of course I will listen to my mother’s words! But what does this have anything to do with women controlling men?”

Hearing Suo Jia’s childish reply, Eldest Sister smiled and said, “So are you trying to say that your mother is not a woman?”

“That…“ Suo Jia finally realized after listening to Eldest Sister. The ones that were controlling the men were not only their wives, but also their mothers, daughters, and grandmothers…

Seeing the sudden change in Suo Jia’s expression, Eldest Sister smiled and continued, “Think about it, Young Master. If your mother begged you to help someone by giving him 1000 gold, would you refuse?”

Suo Jia finally understood completely what Eldest Sister was saying. This world… was really controlled by men, but in the end, men were still being controlled by women; if not the wife, then the mother. If the mother also couldn’t, then the daughter. There were no men who were not under the control of women. If there really were, they couldn’t be considered human.

Seeing that Suo Jia finally understood, Eldest Sister continued, “And have you ever thought of this: If our customers are the commoners, then we can only receive one gold coin per client. A payment of ten gold coins is out of the question. In such a case, we can’t earn much even if we worked to death! There is absolutely no benefit. But if we serve the aristocrats, this will not be a problem.”

“We will Hire the best designers and build the highest-grade work spaces possible in the best location. The work space must be at least 100 square meters to allow for numerous luxurious leather chairs and expensive couches we plan to add. We can also allow carriages to enter the villa and go to the work space directly.”

“Next, we can consider the garden next to the main building; beside the garden is a swimming pool. Now picture this: Holy Light maids lining the walkway to the entrance and standing by the front door. Each of them will be wearing unique, specially designed headdresses that compliment their youthful vigor. They will, whether they like it or not, give guests a nice “Welcome!” readily with an authentic Holy Light accent! They will also have to be very respectful [to the guests].”

“We will build several recreation rooms with the highest quality materials, and also add ornaments made of pure gold. To enter any one of these rooms, one will have to pay a small fee of a couple dozen gold coins. We will also add another kitchen to the house, except this one will supply food to the guests all 24 hours of a day. To even eat a single piece of bread will require a price of several gold coins, let alone a luxury banquet. There is only one way to describe this lifestyle —- Luxurious!”

“The customers who have entered will have to wear either platinum or amethyst jewelry. Anyone entering with a gold necklace will find themselves utterly put to shame, too embarrassed to even greet anyone else. With this kind of beautician venue, how much do you think it will cost to get even a single Moisture Technique done?”

At this, Suo Jia answered, “No matter how you look at it, it must cost at least 10 gold coins.”

The maid replied, “Ten gold coins? That is only the beginning price! 100 and above gold coins could still be considered inexpensive. Even those who think it is expensive wouldn’t ask for a discount. You have to understand the aristocrat’s pride competitive spirit. If they are willing to pay a 10 gold entrance fee, they wouldn’t care even if they had to pay an additional 90 gold coins for anything else!”

“Do you know what it means to be called an aristocrat? An aristocrat is someone who buys the most expensive things, even if they are not necessarily the best! That is why the slogan for our beautician is —- Not necessarily the best, but definitely the most expensive!”

Chapter 45 – Future Choices

After hearing Suo Jia’s words, the girl’s face blushed deep red in embarrassment. How was she supposed to explain? Was she supposed to say, ‘This specific place is delicate’, or ‘Young Master has to be tender/affectionate in this way’, in order to prevent him from breaking her?

Helplessly, the girl clenched her teeth and said resolutely, “In short, this lowly maid’s everything has been entrusted to Young Master. Young Master just has to remember to take pity on this lowly maid. As long as you remember this, anything you do will be fine.”

“What….” Helplessly rubbing his forehead, Suo Jia bitterly laughed, “I don’t understand what you’re talking about it. Forget it, I’m sure that there are many things that children [like me] do not understand. Anyways, I’m just going to directly say what I wanted to!”

Hearing Suo Jia’s words, the girl breathed in a sharp breath. She tightly closed her eyes, waiting for that moment to arrive. Even though the girl knew that this day would eventually arrive, and she had even once dreamt about the circumstances of her first time, no matter what, she had never imagined that her first time would unexpectedly be with the young master…..

Just as the girl was waiting for Young Master to make a move on her, Suo Jia’s voice was heard and took 5 minutes to explain the circumstances from top to bottom. Lastly, he pointed out that he wished for Eldest Sister to help him think of a solution.

Opening her eyes in disbelief, Eldest Sister said breathlessly, “You secretly called me inside just for this?”

“Yes, what else would it be? I really can’t understand you; no matter how much I think about what you said before about breaking you, I can’t understand it. I’ll ask Mother later, and have her help explain it to me….” Suo Jia muttered to himself.

“Wu…” Hearing the young master’s words, the girl grew more embarrassed the more she listened. Eventually, when she heard that the young master was actually going to question his mother in order to understand the situation, the girl panicked, and held him back. She quickly used her hand to cover Suo Jia’s mouth, and said in a strained voice, “Don’t, Sister begs of you; please don’t tell others about what just happened, alright?”

Hearing Eldest Sister’s words, Suo Jia understood that there definitely had been some misunderstanding between the two of them just now, although he didn’t know how it happened. Moreover, this misunderstanding was something that Eldest Sister did not wish for any person to know about. From her ashamed expression, she looked like she wished the misunderstanding had never even occurred.

Wrenching Eldest Sister’s hands away, Suo Jia gloomily said, “Why cover my mouth for no reason? This place doesn’t have anyone else in it; as long as you don’t tell other people about what I’m about to tell you, I will also keep your secret.”

After saying this, Suo Jia furrowed his brows, and anxiously said, “You should hurry up and help me think of a way. I really don’t have the heart to see those older sisters become disfigured, but I also don’t wish to see my classmates do something so senseless every day.”

“Hehe…” Once the emergency had been avoided, the girl’s mind immediately kicked back into action. While pondering this problem, the girl lifted her finger and said, “I’ve got it, Young Master. I’ve thought of a solution!”

“Hurry up and say it…” Hearing Eldest Sister’s words, Suo Jia excitedly urged her to continue.

Smiling at Suo Jia, the girl said confidently, “If you hadn’t invited your classmates over yesterday, I actually wouldn’t dare say there’s a solution. However, based on their actions here yesterday, besides from a few select girls, most of the girls in your class are from normal backgrounds. Even the few who are from better backgrounds definitely aren’t part of aristocratic families!”

Suo Jia nodded his head. In regards to his classmates, he understood quite a lot about them. After all, they had been together for a bit over half a year; it was inevitable for him to understand at least some things about them.

After contemplating for a bit, Suo Jia said with certainty, “In my class, there are definitely some rich and powerful people. However, I can ascertain that none of them are from aristocratic families. The other girls are all from middle-class backgrounds.”

After saying this, Suo Jia looked at Eldest Sister with a puzzled expression and said, “Out of curiosity, how were you able to guess this when you’ve only seen them once?”

Laughing in glee, Eldest Sister proudly replied, “Do you think I just fooled around during my years of training? Not mentioning other things, Eldest Sister is extremely skilled in observing people.”

At this point, the girl felt that she had bragged too much. Embarrassed, she stuck her tongue out and said, “In reality, it’s not anything big. If they are from aristocratic families, then they would not have admired our house so much, and would also not have gone wild with joy when they had tried those dishes we served. If they really were from aristocratic backgrounds, they would have been tired of eating those types of foods.”

Wrinkling his brows, Suo Jia asked in confusion: “This explanation is fine, but the few girls from the rich and powerful families should’ve also been tired of these foods. On what basis did you rule out the possibility that they were from aristocratic families?

“Temperament, speech patterns, manners, etiquette, poise, and bearing.” Faced with Suo Jia’s question, the girl fluidly said these six characteristics without a single pause.

Hearing Eldest Sister’s words, Suo Jia first started, then immediately understood. There were many things that could be pretended, but things like temperament, speech patterns, manners, etiquette, poise, and bearing were things that were difficult to learn. Aristocrats had their own versions of these characteristics, and although they were not good or bad in any way, they were definitely different from those of an average person’s, like the contrast between black and white.

Looking at a spot on Suo Jia’s head, the girl continued, “If that is the case, then it’s easy. Rather than persuading them, why not persuade their parents instead? Against the commoners, we convince them with money. In regards to influential families, we move them with fame. With both fame and money, there aren’t many problems that can’t be solved in this world!”

With a blank face, Suo Jia laughed bitterly and said with difficulty, “When you say it, it sounds simple. However, where would I make a name for myself, and where would I go to pass it onto them if I don’t have fame or money myself?”

In exasperation, the girl rolled her eyes at Suo Jia, and sighed, “You don’t have fame or money? Right now in all of Holy Light City, there is nobody that doesn’t recognize the name of the genius mage. First, you casted the Moisture Technique on people on the streets voluntarily, then you miraculously succeeded in helping Miss Wen Ya lose weight. Even though you don’t realize it yourself, in reality, you’ve already become the main source of gossip in all of Holy Light City!”

“It can’t possibly be to such an extent!” Suo Jia exclaimed in shock.

“It isn’t possible?” Glancing up and down Suo Jia, the girl said with certainty, “The topic has already fallen into girls’ discussions, since your abilities are exactly what girls dream about. Especially since we recently advertised quite a bit, as well as the fact that Miss Wen Ya helped you spread the word, you are currently the biggest trend in Holy Light City.”

Hearing about how famous he had become, Suo Jia stood up in happiness, and paced around. Although unsure of how to express his inner happiness, his expression soon turned bitter again. Turning around, he said to the girl, “However, even if it is like so, my reputation and benefits are both fake. I can’t pass them to others; I can’t even really earn them myself.”

“Hehe….” Shaking her head with a smile, the girl’s eyes lit up as she said, “Young Master, listen to me. We should draw up letters and directly send them to the girls’ parents. The letters will all have the same format: first, introduce an appropriate wage, then explain how working here can help them enter the aristocrats’ circle. This way, no matter what type of parents they are, they will not be able to resist such temptations. No matter whether for reputation or for benefits, coming here will definitely be the best choice.”

“However, what if there are people who do not desire reputations or benefits?” Even though Suo Jia had faith in Eldest Sister’s plans, Suo Jia still tried to investigate all possibilities.

Helplessly rolling her eyes at Suo Jia, she replied, “No matter what they desire, coming here is still the best decision. Even if they were pursuing greater strength, coming here would raise their chances of fulfilling this goal. Also, since we’re giving wages, where else could they find a better opportunity?”

After speaking up to this point, the girl’s eyes shone and she lightly smiled, “Also, when you send the letters, you should also ask your Sister Wen Ya, with her status in Holy Light City, to send out invitations. With the government involved, people’s trust in us will be preserved. I don’t think anyone would be doubtful enough to reject our offer.”

“But….” Furrowing his brows, Suo Jia said worriedly, “What I need is for them to stay by my side for the rest of their lives so that they can help those fire wind warriors. With just your idea, won’t everyone still go their own separate ways after graduating?”

Looking at Suo Jia in praise, the girl replied, “Suo Jia, the fact that you have considered this possibility proves that you have a strong resolve to see this through to the end. However, you must understand that if anyone is ever willing to follow you, they will definitely be doing so because they are satisfied in your abilities to fulfill their desires, ideals, and the pursuing of their objectives.”

Standing up with a serious demeanor, she continued, “Your current task is to quickly improve your strength and try to enter the aristocrats’ circle as soon as possible, so that you can obtain the status of a noble and earn lots of money. Once you have enough power, privileges, and gold, then you will be able to fulfill everyone’s desires. In that case, who would bear to leave your side?”

With the spirit of admiration reflected in her eyes, the girl excitedly continued, “Look at Duke Wen Sha; he has so many people who want to stay by his side. All of the students in Holy Light Academy would be willing to follow him. If you reach Duke Wen Sha’s level, then how could anyone not vow loyalty and devotion to you?

Chapter 56 – Provoking Emma

There were many ladies that needed Suo Jia’s help within Holy Light City. However, because this Shar Pei woman needed help urgently and had enough expenses to pay for his services as well, this put her at the top of the priority list.

Looking at the sparkling golden card in her hand, the Shar Pei woman’s entire body began to tremble. While her body was still shaking, the inside of the her throat began to emit a gurgling sound, as if a mother hen was being choked at the neck.

Seeing the Shar Pei woman’s excited expression, Wen Ya felt reassured, and said with a smile to her, “Miss Emma, congratulations for pulling the respectable golden card. May I ask whether you wish to keep this card or convert it into gold?”

“Sou!” Hearing Wen Ya’s words, the Shar Pei woman let out a cry, and suddenly retracted her hands. She tightly buried the card in her bosom, and urgently said, “Yes! Of course I wish to keep it. This is Heaven’s decree, you guys cannot renege!”

“Eh!” Hearing the Shar Pei woman’s words, everyone could not help but stare at her blankly, thinking: this woman had actually thought that they would back out? Did she not think about it for a bit? If they backed out, then what was the point of holding this campaign?

Smiling at the Shar Pei woman, Wen Ya warmly replied, “How could we back out? This card has to be given away eventually, I just want to confirm it for a second.”

Eagerly looking at Wen Ya, the Shar Pei woman trembled as she said, “Quickly tell me, where is Lord Suo Jia? I want to meet him right now; I can’t wait a second longer.”

Just as the Shar Pei woman’s words fell, Wen Ya laughed, “Since you have chosen to be Lord Suo Jia’s customer, then you will naturally be able to meet him whenever you want. Someone come, bring Miss Emma to Lord Suo Jia’s workplace!” Following Wen Ya’s voice, a maid quickly walked next to the Shar Pei woman, and made an inviting gesture.

Under everyone’s gazes, the Shar Pei woman shifted her fat body, and walked up the staircase. At the same time, Wen Ya knit her brows and smiled at the other guests, “Ok, everyone please enjoy yourselves with the music and good wine as much as you’d like. Except for today, everything here requires fees. Moreover, I will secretly tell everyone that the prices of everything are scarily expensive. Everyone should seize the opportunity and properly enjoy it now.”

Hearing Wen Ya’s words, all the guests’ mouths twitched. There were so many priceless things that they had never seen or enjoyed. The more Wen Ya talked about it, the more they wanted to come back a few times. Otherwise, wouldn’t they be looked down on by their peers?

Seeing the guests’ expressions, Wen Ya warmly smiled. She knew that her objective had already been achieved. While increasing the White Villa’s quality, she was also attracting more customers to the White Villa. If none of the high ranking nobles came to the White Villa to spend their money, then how could they not resign themselves to wretched frustration? Even if they just wanted to show off their ostentatiousness, they needed to come at least once. In addition, they had to spend their wealth in a presentable manner.

Leaving aside Wen Ya going all out dealing with the others downstairs, the maids on the other hand led the excited Emma to the third floor. Due to having fat all over her body and her excited mood, Emma’s body and face were covered by a layer of sticky sweat. It couldn’t be helped… all fat people perspired more easily just by moving a little.

In front of a pair of doors embedded with gold and gems, the maid respectfully bowed at the Shar Pei woman, “Lady Emma, this is Lord Suo Jia’s office. Please enter on your own. During the working hours, the servants do not have the rights to enter.” During the speech, the maid turned around and gently pulled the door. Immediately… everything in the room was presented in front of the Shar Pei woman.

Even though she had seen enough of the luxurious and extravagant decorations, she had to admit that even if this place couldn’t compare to her home, all the decorations here were top-notch. Although it couldn’t be said that everything was priceless, they were still luxurious.

Luxurious and cozy sofa, a bed with unusual shape, European style window, gorgeous fireplace, huge and luxurious office desk, and soft bright-colored carpet. Everything in this room made one feel an alluring noble air attracting them.

The door gently closed behind Emma. Standing within a huge space which was around a hundred square meters, Emma looked around suspiciously. Soon… Emma saw a cute boy who was about of age, smiling and looking at her.

“Hey!” Looking at Suo Jia without restraint, Emma shook the fat on her face as she said, “Are you Lord Suo Jia’s apprentice? I ask you, where did Lord Suo Jia go? Quickly bring him to me.”

“Eh!” Hearing Emma’s words, Suo Jia could not help but stare blankly. This woman had actually mistaken him as an apprentice. However, now that he thought about it, that was not strange. How could an 8 year-old child earn a person’s trust?

While thinking, Suo Jia quietly turned around, and walked to the large chair behind the desk. Leisurely sitting down, he calmly looked at Emma, who was wearing an impatient expression, and said in a low voice, “I am Lord Suo Jia, and am also the person you are looking for. If I haven’t guessed wrong, then you are my first assigned customer, right?”

“What!” A shrill sound resembling that of a dying chicken came out of Emma’s mouth. “What did you say! You are Lord Suo Jia? What joke are you trying to pull, you’re just a little brat. What could you possibly do?”

Suo Jia was depressed and knitted his brows, he said in a displeased tone, “There’s no need for you to verify my ability. If you do not need my help, you can leave now. I won’t bother to see you out!” While speaking, Suo Jia exerted strength into both feet and stomped on the ground. The swivel chair rapidly started to turn around, and the Shar Pei woman’s line of sight was blocked by the huge chair.

Even though Suo Jia acted this way, he actually felt quite nervous. However, Wen Ya had told him if someone was very capable, he must learn how to be callous. If he was too amiable, it would give people the feeling that he didn’t have any skill. Actually, when a specialized field is involved, one absolutely must not yield even if the the emperor himself arrived. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be possible to earn people’s trust.

Right now, the Shar Pei woman questioned his ability simply because of his age. This was absolutely not tolerated. Although he could explain politely and confirm the truth with his own actions, if he did this, Suo Jia’s image in front of the Shar Pei woman’s eyes would not be very good. Regardless of his ability, he was still merely a wimpy brat who would think everything is okay if she simply bought a jelly bean for him. He had fundamentally no value to her.

Facing Suo Jia’s indifferent and arrogant attitude, the Shar Pei woman could not hold in her anger anymore. Even though her sorry appearance was a disgrace to her country and people, her status and position were still clearly evident. She was being flattered everyday by the people around her. When would she ever experience this disrespectful feeling?

Looking at the back of the big chair which blocked her sight of Suo Jia, Emma stomped the ground fiercely and turned around. One of the reasons she acted in such a way was because she couldn’t take this anymore. Most importantly, she didn’t think that an 8 year-old child had the ability to help her.

Behind the chair, Suo Jia smiled gloomily. He hadn’t expected that everything the Eldest Sister had ordered him to do would be accomplished by him so easily. Thinking back to the weird tactics employed by Eldest Sister, Suo Jia sighed and shook his head. He was still too young and could not have possibly thought of such a sinister scheme.

“Wait a moment!” Seeing that the Shar Pei woman was about to leave, Suo Jia finally said in a deep tone.

Hearing Suo Jia’s words, the Shar Pei woman stopped in doubt. Impatiently looking back and facing Suo Jia, she said, “It was you who asked me to leave. Now you ask me to wait. What do you want now?”

Slowly turning the chair, Suo Jia’s body slowly faced the Shar Pei woman, “Since you do not need me, please return the golden card. I cannot tolerate allowing the golden card to wander around everywhere as one wishes. For the people who need it, this golden card is more valuable than life!”

Her mouth twitched. Since the Shar Pei woman had no plans to exchange the card for a hundred million gold, she directly took the golden card from her pocket and threw it on top of the table before saying, “Fine, fine! You can have the golden card back! I can leave now right?!”

Casually receiving the golden card, Suo Jia calmly said, “Originally, you wouldn’t be able to receive my service since you are not my customer. But… today is a special day. Today is the day the White Villa open for business. Since you drew the golden card, I must serve you at least one time.”

Speaking until here, Suo Jia came to a stop and his complexion turned ashen, “Furthermore, I cannot allow you to go out and tell everyone that I do not have the capability. That’s why… before you leave, I will perform the Weight Loss Technique for you once. I will show you whether I have the capability or not.”

Originally, the Shar Pei woman had been very angry. She had been prepared to leave and never return here anymore. But Suo Jia mentioning Weight Loss Technique, was equivalent to pointing out her achilles’ heel. Even if she couldn’t trust Suo Jia, who was only 8 years old, she wasn’t willing to give up on the opportunity to try it.

Chapter 57 – Crafty Plots

According to Suo Jia’s instruction, Emma strenuously lied down on the luxurious couch. While Suo Jia continuously casted a few Moisture Techniques, Emma moved her body cozily, allowing herself to lie down a little more comfortably.

In reality, the Moisture Technique was not some extraordinary event for Emma. She alone already had two personal moisturizing masters helping her moisturize her skin everyday. Since she was able to enjoy the fresh and cool feelings from the Moisture Technique daily, she had already gotten used to it.

Looking at the comfortable expression on the Shar Pei woman’s face. Suo Jia lowered his voice, “Alright, even though you will only get one chance, you still have a choice. Which part do you want me to perform the Weight Loss Technique on?”

Faced with Suo Jia’s problem, the Shar Pei woman became hesitant and pointed towards her own face. Seeing the Shar Pei woman’s actions, Suo Jia chuckled. Truthfully, in regards to an individual’s appearance, the face was the most important, since it was the part that people paid the most attention to.

As for live advertising, there was already Wen Ya, but Suo Jia wouldn’t mind having one too many live advertisements like these. If this Shar Pei woman could also become a live advertisement, then wouldn’t his persuasiveness become stronger?

Moreover, once the Shar Pei woman received his treatment, she would be able to see the face remodeled by Suo Jia’s miraculous skills every day. How would she not come to beg Suo Jia to help her? If this were to happen, then she would certainly have fallen into Eldest Sister’s plan completely.

In fact, each and every one of those golden cards were very valuable. It was impossible to present them to others as prizes for no reason. But in reality, Suo Jia wouldn’t just simply perform a Weight Loss Technique for her directly. That was too cheap!

Actually, the quarrel earlier had been inevitable. Even if the Shar Pei woman’s temper was better, Suo Jia would have still gotten into a quarrel with her, and seized the opportunity to let her feel his skill. After waiting for her to return and plead for him to continue, Suo Jia would reject her again and again. This would make her become the most suitable live advertisement.

Even though she had gotten the golden card, it was still too early for her to get help from Suo Jia. What defines the most precious thing? Is it the best thing? Or the rarest thing? No… That is definitely not the case. In reality, the most precious things are the things that everyone desires. For example, panda feces are few in numbers, but nobody treats it as a treasure.

If Suo Jia took the initiative to help others lose weight, the results would definitely not be good. Only when you refused to agree after someone comes pleading at your door with a smile and money in hand, would that be considered good results. In addition, for these types of people, the higher their social status and positions were, the better the results would be. Just like how Liu Bei from the three kingdoms ended up asking Zhuge Liang, only that could be considered status and identity.

While thinking, Suo Jia gently reached out with his two hands and quietly closed his eyes. Concentrating his attention entirely on the woman’s skin and flesh, he began to skillfully control the water within her fat cells.

Ever since he had successfully helped Wen Ya with her weight-loss, Suo Jia had never stopped his experimentation and practicing of the Weight Loss Technique. He still practiced a frightening amount, helping a Quack Chicken lose weight every day. This has already become a normal practice routine.

Following Suo Jia’s movements, the Shar Pei woman could only feel her face becoming numb and itchy. When she reached out her hands to scratch the itch, she would be stopped by Suo Jia. Helpless, she could only endure.

After about half an hour’s worth of non-stop modifying and perfecting, Suo Jia finally retracted his two hands in satisfaction. After looking through the details one last time, Suo Jia silently turned around and walked towards a different room. At the same time, Suo Jia said in a loud voice, “Alright, I’ve already finished. You can leave now!”

Hearing Suo Jia’s words, the Shar Pei woman slowly opened both her eyes. When she brought her hands to her face, she could only feel a pile of grease. When she looked at her hands, she saw that they were covered in a yellow and muddy liquid. What in the world was this?

Right when the Shar Pei woman was having her doubts, the door opened and a maid walked in and led Emma to the washroom. After cleansing her face, the Shar Pei woman really wanted to see what her face looked like. However, the situation was prepared in such a way that no matter how hard she looked, she could not find a mirror!

After washing her face, the Shar Pei woman gloomily followed the maid and walked downstairs. Compared to before, she really did not feel that she had undergone any sort of change at all. Instead, she felt a belly full of dissatisfaction. At this moment, the Shar Pei woman secretly vowed to never return to this place. Other than being extremely unsatisfied, what else did she gain from this visit?

“Woo!” Quickly, under the guidance of the maid, the Shar Pei woman walked down the stairs. At once, all the guests all turned to glance in the Shar Pei woman’s direction. Everyone who saw this scene cried out in alarm.

Seeing the previously obese Shar Pei woman slowly walk down the stairs, Wen Ya hurriedly welcomed her and asked in a loud voice, “Wow, Sister Emma, Suo Jia does indeed have ability right?”

“Heng!” With a cold snort, the Shar Pei woman replied sullenly, “I can’t see any ability at all, he’s simply a seven or eight year old child. He doesn’t have any sort of ability, and his temper is short as well. I’ll never come back again.” After saying these words, the furious Shar Pei woman did not pay attention to anyone. She dodged the crowd and left the lobby.

Looking at the Shar Pei woman who walked past, if it were not for her figure and voice staying the same, everyone would highly doubt if this was the same Shar Pei woman as before.

Undergoing Suo Jia’s modifications, the Shar Pei woman’s eyes, that were originally only barely visible after being obscured by the layers of fatty skin, were now large and bright. This was especially evident in the currently enraged Shar Pei woman’s eyes that were now shooting out a starry bright coldness.

Her eyes weren’t the only things that had been altered by Suo Jia. The layers of skin on the Shar Pei woman’s face had already receded, and the currently ruffled Emma had a blushing face like that of an apple. There was absolutely not a hint of resemblance to a Shar Pei anymore.

Although because of her figure and her bone structure, Emma would never become a beauty like Wen Ya, after Suo Jia’s miraculous hands, her face alone was already that of a delicate and adorable girl. Her face was flush red, chubby, and round, with a small mouth and large eyes. Her whole face was rosy and glossy. Even though she could not be called a beauty, she was lovely enough to want people to kiss her.

Unfortunately, everything below the face remained unchanged. Starting from the neck down, her body was still layers of skin like that of a Shar Pei’s, and her swelling fats were like that of an old pig. Comparing these two extremes, everyone could only stare blankly. Deep inside, they all recognized exactly how far the extent of Lord Suo Jia’s abilities could reach!

However, what made everyone beyond confused was that despite achieving such a result, Miss Emma was still not satisfied. She had even said that Lord Suo Jia had no skill, and was only a 7-8 years old brat. Heavens! If this still counted as having no skill, then could there be anyone that dared to say a person with skill in this world existed?

Leaving aside everyone’s shock, on the other side, the Shar Pei woman had returned home, panting with rage. However, she had not imagined that as soon as she entered the grounds, she was met with interception from 4-5 robust guards. With serious faces, they blocked her path, and bellowed, “Stop! This is Ellison’s mansion, people who are not employed here cannot enter!”

Stunned, Emma stared at the few guards blocking her path. Originally, she had felt melancholy, but now that she couldn’t even return to her own home, she became angry. She yelled out indignantly at the top of her lungs, “Your useless eyes have all become blind, you can’t even recognize me anymore? Hurry up and get out of my way, otherwise, I’ll accidentally cut off your heads and use them for soccer!”

Even though her face had changed, her figure, voice, and temper, were originally Emma’s. After hearing the the young mistress’ voice, and giving another glance at her figure, the few guards immediately realized who she was, and they gave way one by one, each person scared witless. Despite her new face, this was still the young mistress.

Impatient throughout the whole trip, Emma quickly returned to her own room, and sat down on the chair. In a loud voice, she yelled, “Did everyone die off? Didn’t you see me return? Quickly fetch me a cup of tea, I’m dying of thirst” Because of Suo Jia, Emma was severely dehydrated, and was naturally thirsty. The worst part was that Suo Jia had not even been willing to let her drink water.

Sitting on the chair, Emma gasped for breath. Just now, she had been walking a bit too quickly. Looking towards the door, Emma could not help but secretly get angry; that brat maid, how long could it possibly take to bring over a cup of tea? If she didn’t punish her properly, the brat wouldn’t know what…

While thinking, Emma had started to turn around. However just at that moment, she suddenly froze, and then quickly completed her turn to look towards her reflection in the mirror. From the glowing mirror, the appearance that Emma saw made her shout out soundlessly.

Chapter 64 – The Auction

Under the help of the magic robe, Suo Jia discovered that although not much had changed in terms of his spirit power, he discovered that he could clearly feel that his magic power had increased by 10% even though in reality it wasn’t that big of a difference.

The problem now is that although the elemental density around Suo Jia was definitely no longer a problem, his power to absorb these elements was too lacking. If he had a magical necklace to help adjust his magical power as well as a magical helmet to improve the effects of meditation, then his improvement would be even clearer.

Currently, Suo Jia did not need magical items like rings or bracelets. Within this short period of time, he did not need to fight. What he needed most were the items that could improve his training speed, since this was the foundation to everything.

The night passed without any incidents, and Suo Jia left the next morning to attend school. Due to having excellent results while cultivating, Suo Jia left a bit late. Only when class was about to start did he leave the White Villa.

While walking towards school, Suo Jia could not help but jump with joy. With the help of the robe, his training speed could finally be considered to have made a breakthrough. Only… he didn’t know how long it would take before he could collect the other pieces.

While contemplating, a group of youths wearing embroidered garments passed by. At the same time, what they said next stood out to Suo Jia, “Hey! I heard that the Holy Light Auction House will auction off a few legendary-class magical items. Is that true or false?”

“Xi!” Hearing this, Suo Jia could not help but stop walking. Legendary-ranked items! This was way too extraordinary; it should be pointed out that the robe that Suo Jia currently could afford was only a High-ranked robe. Compared to Legendary-ranked items, there were still four or five grades in between.

Magical items were split into grades too. From low to high, the ranks were Low-ranked magical items, Middle-ranked magical items, High-ranked magical items, Practical-ranked magical items, Power-ranked magical items, Precious-ranked magical items, Excellent-ranked magical items, Ideal-ranked magical items, Legendary-ranked magical items, and Epic-ranked magical items; a total of ten grades.

The only rank surpassing the Legendary-ranked magical items were Epic-ranked magical items. Anything above these were divine artifacts titled the Laws of God. These things only existed in legends, as they did not actually exist. In other words, a complete Epic-ranked magical equipment set was precisely a divine artifact. Although this knowledge existed, there weren’t many supporters of this.

While pondering this, Suo Jia blended in with the group of youths. Last night, Suo Jia had already reaped the benefits of the High-ranked magical equipment’s effects. As for legendary-ranked magical items, between that and High-ranked magical items, there were still the Practical-rank, Power-rank, Precious-rank, Excellent-rank, and Ideal-rank. He could only begin to imagine this five rank difference; how much better would the effects be if he wore one of those?

Nodding his head in praise, Suo Jia knew that the Legendary-ranked mage robe increased his limits by a certain amount. These effects far surpassed his previous robe, which had increased his limits by 10%. Unfortunately, the Legendary-ranked magical items had values that were beyond imaginable!

Suo Jia helplessly shook his head. Although he knew that he couldn’t afford them, he still wanted to glance through them. Even if he couldn’t actually use them, being able to personally witness a Legendary magical item was still good.

While thinking this, Suo Jia’s movements stopped. After some hesitation, he turned around to walk back home. He first asked Eldest Sister to help excuse him from a day of school, and then he sat on a carriage to rush towards Duke Wen Sha’s mansion. Currently…the only person who could help him enter the auction venue was Wen Ya.

An hour later, as Suo Jia’s carriage entered Duke Wen Sha’s mansion, the youth in magnificent clothes that Suo Jia had met this morning coincidentally just entered Emma’s room. Having closely inspected all of Suo Jia’s actions, he reported them back to Emma. It was obvious that this fellow had been dispatched by Emma.

“Hehe….” Laughing in glee, Emma knew that Suo Jia had already taken the bait. After so many years, Emma had learned quite a few skills from her father. If one wants to gift someone with something, then the receiver must know the gift’s high value. Otherwise, how would the receiver be touched?

Hearing of Suo Jia’s intentions, Wen Ya happily agreed. Such a minor thing was actually something that Suo Jia himself could do; his eighth ranked lord status was enough to carry out many tasks. However, Suo Jia attached too much importance to depending on his own heart.

Skipping over the minor details, that evening at 8pm, Suo Jia held the entry notice and directly entered the auction VIP room. The so-called VIP room was really just a box that anyone with distinguished enough status could enter. As for other people, no matter how much money they had, they had to stand in the large hall underneath.

Suo Jia’s box was Box #1 together with Wen Ya. Aside from Wen Ya and Duke Wen Sha, the average person had no rights to enter Box #1. Even Emma and her father couldn’t do so.

Although Emma’s father held a position of great power and wealth, in reality, his power within Holy Light City’s hierarchy was not high at all. Emma’s box number wasn’t even within the first 10 boxes: Box #18.

Sitting within her box, Emma was stuffing herself with large, red grapes. While she was enjoying her food, a low sound came from outside her door, “Miss Emma, Lord Suo Jia has already arrived. He’s currently in Box #1 with Miss Wen Ya.”

“Oh!” Hearing the news, Emma’s eyes lit up, and she began to shovel down the grapes at a faster speed.

In terms of power, titles, and status, perhaps Emma’s family was not within the top 10. However in terms of money, if her family said they were second; even Duke Wen Sha could not dare be called first!

Although the amount of money Duke Wen Sha had could not be considered little, it really couldn’t be compared to Emma’s household. 80% of Duke Wen Sha’s property belonged to the Holy Light City, so the amount of money actually in Duke Wen Sha’s hands was not much. While Emma’s household did not own as much property as the Duke, she had mountains of gold within her warehouse!

Strictly speaking in terms of money, Emma’s household has never lost in any comparison. Even though they were extremely rich, it’s not a good idea to play tricks on them, as they generally only bought items at good prices. If someone randomly raised the price beyond the normal price of that item, then Emma’s household would not pay attention to that idiot.

After some time flowed, the auction finally began to start. Initially the auction revealed some other treasures, such as real estate and other goods, and there was not much that aroused Suo Jia’s interest. However, although those items did not arouse Suo Jia’s interest, he was still greatly shocked at the prices of those items!

Generally speaking, for a piece of Holy Light real estate, as long as the location was good, a single ping of land could sell for 10,000 gold! Suo Jia was convinced that the amount of gold the land was worth could completely cover the surface area of the land.

In a daze, Suo Jia watched as each of the auction goods were sold one by one. With difficulty, he turned around and looked at Wen Ya. Before, he knew that the White Villa was worth a high value, however, only now could he clearly determine its exact price.

The White Villa’s location was Holy Light’s most flourishing area. Compared to the properties sold today, its location was far better. Not mentioning the real estate and the gardens included with the White Villa, simply selling the White Villa alone would already be worth an astronomical price.

The White Villa’s area of land was ten thousand pings. If one ping was worth 10,000 gold, then according to the most basic calculations, 10,000 ping was worth a hundred million gold. All of Holy Light City counted as Duke Wen Sha’s property, and thus represented Wen Ya, so she hadn’t spent any money on this property. However, despite this, this area of land’s value was only so high; its value would never change for any reason.

Suo Jia knew that if he demolished the White Villa and re-constructed a supermarket there, the profits he’d gain would be immeasurable. Having such a good location and such a large area of land, was something most people couldn’t gain even if they begged their families. However, Suo Jia could use it as his residence; it was really too extravagant. Aside from Suo Jia, the only person who could afford to be as luxurious would only be Holy Light City’s Lord, Duke Wen Sha.

While thinking this, the auction gradually reached its climax. Goods like property had already finished being dealt out; next was the auction of various battle equipment and magical items. This was this auction event’s greatest selling point. Seeing the maids carry over all different types of battle equipment and magical items over, Suo Jia excitedly straightened his back, and concentrated all his attention on the stage.

Chapter 65 – Faerie’s Soul

The first items put up for auction were weapons and other equipment designed for warriors. There were multiple warrior armors with strange designs, and each were sold at jaw-dropping prices due to the fierce competition of the auction house. Suo Jia knew that these were not even the most precious items the auction had; generally speaking, the more precious the item, the later it would be put up for auction. The last item auctioned was usually the main attraction of the auction.

“To our distinguished guests, we are about to auction off the last two items of this auction. The first of the two is an Ideal-ranked fire elemental staff, Vulcan’s Roar. It can raise the power of fire magic by 100%. The starting bid is 60,000,000 gold; honored guests, please begin your bids now!” The auctioneer’s voice rang out from above the platform.

Seeing the flame red staff on display next to the auctioneer, Suo Jia had found it difficult to breath. There were many strange patterns engraved upon the staff, and it was about two meters long. It had a crude grip, and on the tip there was a fist-sized red crystal. The crystal shone with a fiery red radiance, and it gave off the feeling as if it would suddenly ignite and combust.

60,000,000… 70,000,000… 75,000,000…

Together with the shouts within the auction, the staff’s price continued to soar until it reached a staggering 120,000,000 gold before the final hammer sounded. Although he could not use this staff, when they removed the fiery staff from the display, Suo Jia could not help but want to run down and snatch it away.

Seeing the staff finally being removed from the display, Suo Jia finally realized that he was still very far from being considered “wealthy”. How could anyone possibly say he was rich, when he couldn’t even gather the money required to afford an admired staff’s original price? It was still very early before he would reach the point of being truly wealthy.

Although Suo Jia could be called rich when compared to the average citizen, he was still at the level of being in poverty when compared to the truly wealthy, and he was part of the group of people that still required the material assistance of others.

In his disappointment, the auctioneer’s voice suddenly rose from the auction platform, “To our distinguished guests, the next item being auctioned is the final auction good!”

While speaking, the auctioneer picked up a small embroidered case, and gently opened it. The next moment….a bright glow shone out from within the case, which illuminated the entire auction platform.

Sighing in admiration at the good within the case, the auctioneer shook his head, “The distinguished guests who have attended today’s auction are really quite lucky. Our humble auction has managed to collect a Legendary-ranked magical item, and it is exactly this item that is stored within this case.”

As he spoke, the auctioneer turned the case towards the audience. At the same time, he continued, “This is a magic necklace; it’s name is Faerie’s Soul. I believe that everyone sitting in the audience has heard of this name before. Although…..it is not an Epic-ranked magical item, it still has certain abilities that can be considered better than those of an Epic-ranked item’s!”

“Huh?” Hearing the auctioneer’s words, Suo Jia wrinkled his brows in doubt. In confusion, he asked Wen Ya, “His words are so strange. Could it be….that a Legendary-ranked magical item could actually be stronger than an Epic-ranked magical item?”

Hearing Suo Jia’s words, Wen Ya showed an expression of astonishment. In confusion, she looked at Suo Jia and asked in a strange tone, “Your words are the strange ones. Who ever dictated that a Legendary-ranked item had to be weaker than an Epic-ranked item?”

Suo Jia grew even more confused after Wen Ya’s words, “If a Legendary-ranked item is even stronger than an Epic-ranked item, then how come Legendary-ranked items are always graded behind Epic-ranked items?”

Hearing Suo Jia’s question, Wen Ya finally realized that even though Suo Jia was a mage, he knew even less than the average person when it came to magical items.

Wen Ya whispered into Suo Jia’s years, “The greatest difference between Legendary-ranked and Epic-ranked magical items are that Legendary-ranked magical items are singular, but Epic-ranked magical items come in sets!”

For example, normally, a Legendary-ranked item’s power is higher than an Epic-ranked magical item’s, unless the Epic-ranked equipment are combined into a set. Otherwise, its true power cannot be utilized. Moreover…..Epic-level magical items have larger historical value, and are thus ranked above Legendary-ranked magical items.

Legendary-ranked magical items had generally originated from rulers from ancient times. They borrowed the power of the item, and ran amok with it, thus creating so many legends. That’s why these magical items had been deemed as “Legendary”.

On the other hand, Epic-ranked magical items are normally created by undefeatable monarchs, whose magical equipment were always combined into sets. In addition….compared to Legendary-ranked items, Epic-level magical items can form a set that addresses all aspects, making its wearer invincible.

In summary, Legendary-ranked items are individual, while Epic-ranked items come in sets. When comparing singular items, Legendary-ranked items are stronger. However, their largest downside is that they cannot be combined as a set. They can only exist alone.

A set of Epic-ranked magical items are all-around: attack, defense, recovery, and improvement aspects are all covered. It doesn’t have any particular strengths or weaknesses. However, Legendary-ranked items only boost one aspect. Any other aspect will obviously have holes and defects in them, so those that use Legendary-ranked items have never been unrivaled.

“This….” Hesitantly looking at Wen Ya, Suo Jia asked in confusion, “I don’t understand that though. If this was true, then wouldn’t a set of Legendary-ranked equipment make up for their respective defects?”

Helplessly looking at Suo Jia, Wen Ya patiently explained, “I’ll give an example. If the Vulcan’s Roar from before was a Legendary-ranked magical items, it could improve the user by 120%. However, an Epic-ranked magical item could only boost by 100%.”

At this point, Wen Ya ran some mental calculations, then continued, “If we exclude the effects of being in a set, an entire set of Legendary-ranked equipment would be stronger than a set of Epic-ranked equipment by 20 – 50%. However, once the Epic-ranked equipment are combined as a set, its overall effects and power are raised by 100%. This makes it two times more effective than a set of Legendary-ranked equipment.”

Generally, Epic-ranked equipment can interconnect, and make up for their individual weaknesses. It could also boost these defects. This means that one can utilize two times more of each equipment’s power and effects in the set. Thus, when including the factor of a set, Epic-ranked equipment are far stronger than Legendary-ranked sets; they are practically incomparable.

Suo Jia finally understood after hearing Wen Ya’s explanation. This was the exact same as comparing teams at sporting events. The five most powerful individuals was not necessarily the most formidable team. Another group of five that had weaker individuals, if they were experts in teamwork and cooperation, could easily defeat those 5 powerful individuals.

The so-called “five and five being greater than one” was based off of this reasoning. No matter how powerful Legendary-ranked items were, they could not interconnect with each other. Even though they complement each other’s deficiencies, they could not boost each other’s effects. This was why in terms of power, a set of Legendary-ranked items were nowhere close to the formidability of a set of Epic-ranked items.

Thinking up to this point, Suo Jia finally completely understood the situation. He once again glanced back at the platform; after such a long time, the auctioneer was still chattering away about its abilities, “This Faerie’s Soul, besides being able to adjust your inner magic power, it can also help boost your magic recovery rate by 100%, and increase your magic growth rate by 100%!”

“Motherf*cker! Are you kidding? There’s no way it can be so extreme!” Hearing the auctioneer’s words, Suo Jia shouted strangely as he jumped up.

Seeing Suo Jia’s frantic appearance, Wen Ya giggled, “Look at yourself, what have you become? Did you think that the people qualified to come here were ordinary people? No matter how daring the auctioneer is, he would not risk tricking people. After all…this Faerie’s Soul is also a very famous Legendary-ranked magical item, so everyone knows about its effects. Nobody would be stupid enough to lie in a situation like this.”

Speaking up to this point, Wen Ya’s eyes reflected a sentimental light as she looked at the magic necklace on the platform. Sorrowfully, she said, “That Faerie’s Soul has a very sad and beautiful legend behind it.”

While speaking, Wen Ya’s eyes looked off into the distance, as she murmured, “Legend says that a prince fell in love with a faerie princess. However, their families were enemies, and their love was not accepted by the faerie king or the human king. Thus, for the sake of thwarting their affair, the two kings simultaneously dispatched assassins to kill the prince and the faerie princess.”

At this point, Suo Jia was already completely engrossed in Wen Ya’s story. She continued, “After being on the run for a very long time, finally….the prince and the princess were no longer able to escape their fates. At the Faerie’s Spring, they simultaneously encountered both of their pursuing assassins, and a major battle eventually began.”

Chapter 69: Faerie’s Form

Atlantis was a person’s name, as well as a city’s name. The Atlantis Emperor’s water magic summons were at the god level; they were so powerful that he could create an entire city underwater!

The Atlantis equipment set was the Atlantis Emperor’s equipment. It was at the top of all Epic-ranked equipment sets, although its exact formidability remained unknown, since nobody had ever completely gathered all the parts of an Epic-ranked set before. According to the epic records, as long as one gathered all of the Atlantis set, one could utilize Atlantis Emperor’s power; the power that was able to create the mysterious underwater world!

However, the Atlantis set only appeared in parts. This crown was only one of them; the other parts had yet to appear. Naturally, there was nobody that could gather them all.

The crown in front of him seemed to be made of indigo sapphires. According to the legends, once one wore the crown, then he/she could use Atlantis’ Wisdom, although without a complete set, its effects were halved. However even so, it was already plenty strong. It definitely was on par with a Legendary-ranked magical item; its powerful effects definitely weren’t lower than the Faerie’s Soul’s.

Although the Faerie’s Soul was already a high grade Legendary-ranked magical item, Atlantis’ fame was much higher. The Atlantis Emperor’s achievements were too miraculous, and even amongst other Epic-ranked sets, the Atlantis set still qualified as a high grade equipment set. Thus, any one of its pieces were no less formidable than a Legendary-ranked equipment.

Suo Jia weakly fell back into his chair. With an agonized expression, he said to Emma, “Alright, you win. I’ll try to become friends with you. In addition…I’ll work hard to help you lose weight, and even be willing to maintain your beautiful appearance at any time.”

“Ya!” Emma exclaimed at Suo Jia’s words, and she shook as she replied, “What did you say? Do you mean…..”

Looking at the excited Emma, Suo Jia helplessly replied, “Don’t worry. Since you’ve already taken out Atlantis’ Wisdom, then I will definitely try my best to provide service for you. I will not only help you lose weight, but I will also help maintain your beauty, until you tell me to stop.”

“However, didn’t you say you’d only do it if we became friends?” Emma doubtfully asked.

Hearing Emma’s words, Suo Jia paused, then shook his head, “No, even if we weren’t friends, I would still do this. After all….there’s no way I can refuse the item you just took out. Since I accept your gift, I need to pay you back with service. Thus, even if you aren’t my friend, on behalf of the crown, I will try my best to help you. This is part of business ethics!”

Hearing Suo Jia’s words, Emma finally sighed in relief. However, what was strange was that although she didn’t gain his friendship, she had still reached her objective. Yet, for some unknown reason, she couldn’t help but feel disappointed.

Emma sighed as she looked at Suo Jia. She knew that Suo Jia was completely able to nonchalantly accept the crown and agree to try to become friends with her. After all, that was what Emma had requested.

However, Suo Jia had not done so. He plainly admitted that even if they weren’t friends, for the sake of this crown, he would be willing to do one’s utmost to provide service for her. The fact that he was so frank about it confused Emma. It was obvious that saying it in such a way was disadvantageous to Suo Jia, and yet, why did he still choose to do so without any hesitation? Could it be…..that Suo Jia was an idiot?

After profoundly looking at Suo Jia for a while, Emma finally recalled Wen Ya’s words. If she wanted to earn Suo Jia’s friendship, then she had to be her truest self in front of Suo Jia. And right now, Suo Jia was doing so to her; in other words, Suo Jia was willing to try to become friends with her. Without hiding anything, he had plainly admitted his thoughts to Emma.

Seeing an unlimited happiness shine from his eyes, Emma suddenly discovered that seeing him so happy and excited also made her feel delight and satisfaction. Why was this? She wasn’t the one that had gained the item, so why was she feeling so ecstatic and content about it?

After fiddling with the crown for a while, Suo Jia finally returned to his senses. He smiled at Emma, “Alright, I can help you lose weight at any time. You can choose the location and time!”

“Ok…” Emma muttered to herself for a bit, then excitedly said, “Then how about tomorrow, tomorrow night. I’ll wait for you at my home. It’s best if my mother and father watch from the sides. Otherwise, if the change is too great, I’m afraid my mother and father won’t recognize me.”

Smiling. Suo Jia nodded, “No problem, it’s decided then. Tomorrow evening at 8, I will punctually arrive at your house and help you lose weight. However…although your parents can watch from the sidelines, it’s best if you warn them that no matter what, they cannot make any sounds. Otherwise, if anything goes wrong, then it could lead to an irreparable damage, and you may lose all hopes of ever becoming beautiful again.”

After planning everything out, Suo Jia escorted Emma out. Afterwards….Suo Jia brought the three treasures to the underwater training area, impatient to try them. Putting aside the Faerie’s Soul, the Atlantis’ Wisdom alone was too tempting for Suo Jia to resist. After all, it was an Epic-ranked magical equipment.

Sitting cross-legged in the largest room, Suo Jia first inspected the Vulcan’s Roar. It was always best to look at things from the worst to the best. That way, the more one progressed, the happier one would become. If one started from the greatest object, then the excitement would gradually become disappointment.

Flipping the Vulcan’s Roar over and over, Suo Jia couldn’t help but feel regret. Even though it was an Ideal-ranked magic weapon, Suo Jia had absolutely no use for it. The reason he felt such great regret over the magic weapon in his hands was because among the 3 magical items, this was the only one that could boost a magic’s strength. Even if Suo Jia wore both the other two at the same time, it would not increase his magic’s strength at all. And the one object that could was one that Suo Jia couldn’t use, since he had an affinity for the water element, while the staff was for the fire element.

Regretfully setting the Vulcan’s Roar next to him, Suo Jia picked up the case with the Faerie’s Soul inside. He gently opened the case, and at that moment….the sparkling and translucent Faerie’s Soul appeared before his eyes.

The so-called Faerie’s Soul was really just a necklace with a chain of a secret type of silver, and attached to the chain was the legendary Faerie’s Soul, which was the real treasure of the necklace.

The Faerie’s Soul was a peanut-sized hexagonal gem that was entirely transparent. Within the crystal-like gem was a green light that constantly flashed from within the gem. Was that the faerie princess’s soul?

Taking a deep breath, Suo Jia excitedly put the necklace on his neck. He loosened his collar so that the necklace rested against his bare skin. At that moment….a refreshing feeling entered from the skin on his neck. In the blink of an eye, it rushed through Suo Jia’s entire body, and Suo Jia could clearly sense all the magical elements surrounding him begin to move towards him. In that instant, Suo Jia felt that…..he and the magical elements within him had already become friends.

Closing his eyes, Suo Jia closely reached out at the magical elements moving in and out of his body. This Faerie’s Soul really lived up to its reputation of a Legendary-ranked magical item. Before, although Suo Jia’s body didn’t reject magical elements from entering his body, the magic power that entered was at an extremely slow pace, and his recovery rate was also not high.

However now that Suo Jia had a body that didn’t reject the magical elements as a base, his body had a strong, attractive force that drew the surrounding magical elements towards him. The magical elements continued to constantly flow through his body, sometimes flowing in, and sometimes flowing out. This definitely increased the effects of the magic power’s growth and recovery.

It could be said that after wearing the Faerie’s Soul, no matter whether he was in his normal state or meditative state, his magic power recovery and growth were both boosted by 100%. This was the reason behind the Faerie’s Soul’s high value.

After quietly relishing in the Faerie’s Soul’s benefits, Suo jia slowly opened his eyes, and looked over at the case holding the Atlantis crown. As a top Epic-ranked magical equipment, what would the effects of the crown be like?

Chapter 363 – Haggling Pt.2

Originally, Suo Jia had thought that because of the magic’s original attack range, power, and other factors he’d need to use at least a dozen Hailstorm Techniques to eradicate the mass of boars. But it seemed that with this strengthened hailstorm a single attack was enough to completely kill off all 300 boars!

He gaped in shock at the Sea God’s Trident in his hand. Did it really only double the magic’s might? No…this wasn’t even a proportional effect anymore, it was exponential! However, Suo Jia couldn’t tell exactly how much it was being boosted.

Suo Jia commanded the Diamond Dragon to land back on the ground. As he looked around at the boar corpses all frozen in ice he couldn’t help but let out a sigh of admiration. This was the power of a Divine Artifact?

By now, the Diamond Dragon had already recovered its energy and finished repairing itself from the previous impacts. Thus, under Suo Jia’s prompt, the Diamond Dragon restarted its advance towards their destination.

After two days of travel, Suo Jia had crossed over 2000 kilometers and obliterated six more crowds of magical beasts to finally arrive at the city built next to the mines: Scarlet City!

Now that he’d completed this journey Suo Jia was finally able to comprehend the main difference between the first and second checkpoints: the number of magical beasts. At the first checkpoint, Suo Jia would at most only encounter 30 at a time. But at the second checkpoint, the number had increased by tenfold to 300 at a time. Smaller magical beast communities couldn’t possibly survive in this place.

Of course, because their numbers were larger, the amount of territory they covered was larger as well, meaning that the frequency of encounters was less. However, each encounter would always have at least 300 magical beasts involved!

If any other person encountered such a massive number of magical beasts they wouldn’t have any choice but to flee. But Suo Jia was different; with powerful strength and the might of the Divine Artifact, Suo Jia plowed forwards. Thus, his current travel speed was even faster than it had been at the first checkpoint.

Upon arriving at Scarlet City, Suo Jia first replenished his food supply at an inn before heading to the market with the aim of selling out the pickaxes in his possession as quickly as possible.

However, Suo Jia didn’t plan to open his own shop to sell the pickaxes this time. He preferred to use that time to do other useful things. Suo Jia’s purpose for this business wasn’t to earn profits but to increase his strength!

After wandering around the market for a long time he found that there were many pickaxe shops. Most of them sold pickaxes that had been repaired after being broken, but even those were sold for prices of up to 10,500.

Although these pickaxes could still be used, their dimensions were no longer proportional and harder to transfer strength through. This lowered their ore-extracting efficiency extremely and most of the pickaxes’ tips had shortened in length by at least 10 centimeters after being repaired so many times.

Suo Jia decided on a plan, and after circling the market a few more times, entered the largest shop. As soon as he walked in the salesperson warmly welcomed him and courteously said, “Mister, have you come to buy a pickaxe and try your luck?”

Suo Jia glanced around and noticed that the intact pickaxes being displayed were actually an astonishing price of 20,000 each! He couldn’t help but inwardly gasp in shock.

After his survey of the shop, Suo Jia responded to the salesperson, “I’m not here to buy pickaxes, but rather, to talk business with your boss. Go and tell your boss that I’ve come with a huge business proposal!”

The salesperson hurriedly nodded and sped towards the backdoor. If this person was here to discuss a huge business proposal, he couldn’t be offended.

Soon afterwards, a short and stout middle-aged man was led over by the salesperson. After seeing Suo Jia, the boss asked in confusion, “I’m the boss of this shop, may I ask why you’re looking for me…”

Suo Jia smiled and shook the boss’s hand. “It’s like this: I have 10,000 excellent quality pickaxes I want to sell out. Are you interested?”

“What?!” The boss’s jaw dropped in shock as he asked incredulously, “What did you say? 10,000?! How is that possible?”

Suo Jia chuckled and waved his hand to pull out one of the pickaxes and passed it to the boss. “You can take a look yourself, it’s this type of pickaxe. I hope that you will be able to propose a suitable price. If it’s too low, I’m sure that other shops will definitely welcome me as well.”

The boss hurriedly accepted the pickaxe and carefully scrutinized it, occasionally knocking on it to test its hardness.

After a long while, he praised, “This really is an excellent good. Although it isn’t a peak grade pickaxe it can already count as a premium item. But…do you really have 10,000 of these?”

Suo Jia firmly nodded and calmly replied, “As long as you offer a suitable price, I will provide the goods. If the price is good enough I can even supply more!”

“What?! More is possible?!” The boss stared at Suo Jia in disbelief.

Suo Jia confidently answered, “That’s right, that’s what I said. However…typically, I don’t like selling out so many goods in a single city. After all…the demand in one city is limited!”

The boss knit his brows together in deep thought. After some time, he abruptly raised his head to look at Suo Jia, “Can you tell me how many of these pickaxes you can provide at most?”

Suo Jia hesitated for a bit before finally answering, “If I’m satisfied with the price, I can immediately supply 10,000. But you must keep in mind that I only have the heads of the pickaxes. You have to fit the handles yourselves!”

The boss shook his head excitedly. “Fitting the handles isn’t a problem at all, those are everywhere. The problem right now is whether you can really supply 10,000 of these pickaxes immediately…”

Suo Jia furrowed his brows. “Boss, that isn’t the immediate problem. Right now, the main question is how high Scarlet City’s demand for the pickaxes is. I don’t want to oversaturate my goods here. I’m sure you understand as well that if that happens, the prices will be inflated and fall, and our profits cannot be ensured!”

The boss could tell from Suo Jia’s reply that he indeed had the amount of goods he claimed and urged, “I agree that your words are reasonable, but…you’re underestimating Scarlet City’s demand. Anyone here would want at least a dozen pickaxes like this. With such excellent quality pickaxes, the speed of ore extraction would increase, as would the production of ores. The investment and manufacturing are definitely proportional!”

He paused to think for a moment before continuing, “How about this, I’ll purchase all your pickaxes for a price of 13,000 each. I can guarantee that even if you ship them to other cities this will be the highest price you can sell them for unless you plan on opening your own store to sell them. Otherwise, this is the limit!”

Suo Jia did some calculations. After buying the pickaxes from Suo Jia, this guy would definitely sell them for 15,000 each and gain a profit of 2,000 per pickaxes. Although selling a single pickaxe wouldn’t amount to much profit the sum of 10,000 together meant a profit of two hundred million!

Suo Jia scrutinized the boss’s expression for a long time before firmly stating, “How about this then? I’ll sell all my pickaxes to you for 14,000 each. If you agree, then let’s start immediately. If not, I’ll go to another store. I’m confident that there will definitely be many people willing to complete this transaction with me!”

Chapter 1 – The Strongest Warrior

The screaming northern wind mixed together with the flying snow that filled the air devastated and ruined the plains of this northern country as they fused the sky and the ground together. The border line could not be found and the bare trees were mournfully shrieking in the cold wind like a young girl.

The formerly noisy alleys seemed especially bleak and desolate. Very rarely would a person walk by. Occasionally, there would be a person fully equipped. From top to bottom they would be tightly covered and only revealing a pair of pitch-black eyes. They seemed like mysterious killers with masks, but their swelled cotton clothes and their thin bodies created obvious contrasts.

The winter of the north made people feel especially desolate, as if all the living were hibernating. The days of the water droplets forming into ice made people’s thoughts slow as well. If there weren’t many things to do, people would usually stay at home. Very seldom would they go out the door, so people also became lazier.

Within a short cottage, Suo Jia was silently sitting on top of a wooden bed. Both his hands were skillfully turning and a stream of water which was as thick as a finger was continuously passing between his hands. This was his only toy and it was also his closest companion.

Some quiet coughing sounds came from the room next door. Although it was obviously restrained, it still did not pass Suo Jia’s sharp ears. He slightly spread both of his hands, and the long stream of water went along Suo Jia’s hands and withdrew itself. It magically disappeared and could not be seen.

Nimbly jumping off the wooden bed, Suo Jia quickly walked out of the room. He went to the iron pot on the stove, and poured a cup of boiling water. Carefully holding it with both hands, he walked towards the room next door…

Within the room, a weak woman was leaning on a pillow without strength. Her right hand was pressing on her soft chest, her eyebrows tightly wrinkling. Her face was full of pain, but the instant Suo Jia pushed open the door, she quickly made all that vanish. The pain on her face disappeared in a flash, and her expression and attitude were like those made when awakening from a sleep from spring.

Lightly walking over in front of the bed, Suo Jia asked, “Mother…Is your illness better? Should we go ask for a doctor and take a look? It seems that your coughing is getting worse and worse these days.”

The woman warmingly extended her right hand and lightly stroked her son’s jet-black hair and lovingly, replying, “No need, no need…I’m fine; it’ll get better after a few days.”

Frowning, Suo Jia looked at his mother as he half believed and half doubted her words. He touched the cup with his left hand, and after checking the temperature, he moved the cup of water in front of the woman.

“Mother, drink some water. After drinking water, I want to hear you tell stories about father.”

Gratefully accepting the cup of water, the woman lightly sipped it, moistening her throat, then smiled and said, “You want to hear stories about father huh, no problem… But, you need to show me how your ability is. If you’ve trained well, I’ll tell the story to you!”

Suo Jia excitedly lit up his eyes. He spread his hands apart, and coiling around his body was an almost 10 meter long water stream that was as thick as his arm. It quickly appeared around Suo Jia’s body, and magically spiraled around Suo Jia.

While nodding, the woman expectantly looked as her precious son, “Okay, you can perform now. Let me see what state you have reached in your control of the water streams!”

Nodding, Suo Jia cleverly moved both his hands and confidently controlled the near 10 meter long water stream that was around his body. It playfully danced around, as Suo Jia had absolute confidence in his control in the water streams. From the day of his 5th birthday, after his mother had taught him this small game, he practiced every day. Up until today, it had been a whole 3 years. The water stream had already merged with him and became one. He could use it like his arms and however his heart wished to.

After a while, Suo Jia put away both his hands, and the long, faint-blue water stream slowly returned back into his hands and went missing. As he proudly looked at his mother, Suo Jia firmly said, “Don’t worry mother, I will be like father and become the greatest warrior!”

Hearing her son’s words, the woman bitterly nodded. Warrior? Was it possible for a water-type mage to be a strong warrior? She looked at her son with regret. She knew that because her son was a water-type, he was more suitable for being a mage. It would be very hard for him to have any achievements if his goal was to become a warrior. The delicate water streams had no way of harming the enemy. Even if the water was solidified into ice, it was impossible to go against warriors that controlled fire.

Walking next to the bed, Suo Jia took off his shoes, climbed into his mother’s bed and snuggled against his mother’s warm embrace. He acted like a spoiled child and said, “Okay mother, now…you can tell stories about father right?”

The woman sighed inwardly. She knew that the reason why her son wanted to be a warrior so badly was because she always told stories about his father. The father of the child was an extremely strong fire-type warrior. But sadly…The child’s ability did not follow his father’s, it followed his mother’s, which was a water-type!

Looking at the child who was snuggled against her and embraced by her, the woman tightened her arms and embraced her child even more strongly. The soft and pleasant-to-listen story began…

The warm light of the setting sun leaked into the room from the window. The story was finished. Suo Jia looked at the yellow that was outside the window as if it was a dream and he muttered, “Mother…Why hasn’t father returned yet? When will he return? I want to see him!”

Her son’s words made her nose sour and tears almost fell. As the strongest warrior in the area, the child’s father left with some of his comrades 6 days after the marriage. 9 years had passed since then. Perhaps he didn’t even know that he had a son and that the son was already 8 years old. Perhaps…not only the son…perhaps he even forgotten about his wife?

The woman’s arms grew even tighter. Now… the two of them relied on each other. But…her son was already 8 years old and it was about time he should go to school.

The face of the woman became serious. She lowered her head and looked at her son who was in her embrace. She frowned in worry because in a few more days, it would be the time in which the school would start to enroll students. Although she didn’t want her son to leave her, for his future, she could not selfishly keep her son by her side.

But that wasn’t the biggest problem. The thing that troubled her the most was, as a water controller, her son only wanted to become the strongest warrior. Since it was a bad choice, purely based on the thoughts of the school, they would certainly not accept him!

The woman looked at her son and tried to persuade him. “Suo Jia, listen to your mother. Don’t be a warrior and become a noble mage. You should know that within the water-type mages, there are lots of beautiful little girls. In the future, you don’t need to be afraid of not being able to find anyone to play with you!”

“No! I don’t want to!” Hearing his mother’s words, Suo Jia resolutely shook his head and firmly said, “I have already decided to be the strongest warrior on the continent! I don’t want to become any mage. Only little girls become mages.”

You!

Hearing her son’s words, the woman couldn’t help but anxiously frown. A water controller wanted to be a warrior. The school would undoubtedly not accept him. Although children who were 8 years old had a chance to enter the school, the enrollment standards of the school were abnormally strict. There were millions of people living around this area, but they only had 100 spots available every year.

Looking at her son who made things difficult, the woman knew in the history of hundreds and thousands of years, there was never a water controller that could become a strong warrior. Just from that, no matter how much talent her son had, the school would not accept him.

The woman knew that her son’s talent was not especially outstanding. It was just that his control with water was extremely proficient because of his training since he was young. The woman had never seen anyone that could control the water to such an extent. Even the greatest water-type mages could not do it.

Although her son had only trained for 3 years, those 3 years, had been the period of quickest development for her son. The realm in which he reached using 3 years to train was not achievable even if he used 30 years of training in the future. If one missed that period of time, a person would never be able to control the water currents as they wished.

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