15: One skill brings millions

"Meng Yan, I've already mailed some materials monopolized by the Xiao Corporation to your system inbox. Stay in contact with Lin Ling, and if he needs any materials or equipment, provide him with assistance immediately."

A text message popped up on Zhou Mengyan's phone, and a hint of joy instantly flashed in her eyes.

"Got it. I'll stay in touch with him. Mom, when can I leave Ya Zi? Also, has the suspicion about Lin Ling not been cleared yet?"

"You'll have to bear with it for a while longer. We still need to observe him; the situation is still too strange."

...

Xuanfu Base City.

Yunmeng Trading House.

A young man with an ordinary face, so common he would be hard to find if he blended into a crowd, was sitting in the VIP reception room.

This person was Lin Ling, wearing an illusionist mask.

"Manager Li, I have a large quantity of white and blue equipment. Do you buy them?"

"Yes, there's a shortage of low-level equipment right now. I'll buy as much as you have."

"What's the price for skill books now?"

"Hahaha... Little brother, for anyone else, I'd offer at most 800,000 for a main combat Professional skill book, but since we're fated, I can give you 1,000,000."

Manager Li of Yunmeng Trading House said with a beaming smile.

Lin Ling nodded and didn't haggle over the price.

He just wanted to quickly cash out, and he knew very well that both equipment and skill books were more valuable the sooner they were sold.

Once the main leveling force returned in the evening, equipment prices would immediately shrink significantly.

"Manager Li, let's do as you said. Convert all of these into cash."

With a wave of Lin Ling's hand, a small mountain of items instantly appeared on the floor of the VIP room.

Manager Li's eyes immediately widened.

How many monsters did he have to kill to drop so much equipment?

No, that's not right.

This must be stock hoarded from last year.

A flash of realization crossed Manager Li's eyes.

The price of low-level equipment simply couldn't compare to high-level equipment.

Few people would hoard low-level equipment to sell the following year.

They might as well level up and fight high-level monsters with that time.

After all, combat Professionals were all busy leveling up, and few were willing to farm equipment in the novice zone.

Of course, few didn't mean none. Manager Li had worked in the trading house for many years and it wasn't the first time he had encountered Professionals who hoarded equipment.

These people weren't highly talented, leveled up slower, so they simply farmed equipment in the low-level zones, specifically waiting for the awakening day of the following year to sell.

"Little brother, if you have any good goods in the future, come directly to me. You're a shrewd businessman; it's truly clever to sell low-level equipment at this time."

Manager Li looked like he understood, and quickly inventoried all the equipment.

"Hahaha, 11.7 million. My brother, we're fated. How about we round it to 10 million? I'll also get you a VIP card for free."

Manager Li looked at Lin Ling with a smile.

"Are you seriously trying to rip me off? Is that how a VIP card is obtained? Is that how you round numbers?"

Lin Ling rolled his eyes, really wanting to spit on this cunning merchant's face.

"Hahaha..." Manager Li let out an awkward laugh, "Just kidding, little brother. Let's trade at the original price, no rounding. I'll get you a VIP card right away."

Lin Ling's expression darkened. "12 million. If you don't sell, I'm leaving right now!"

"Don't be like that. 12 million it is. You're not very good at taking a joke, little brother. Please take this Platinum VIP Supreme Card." Manager Li said with an embarrassed smile.

Lin Ling took the card, and soon a text message notification for a fund transfer popped up on his phone screen.

He only used one skill, and 12 million dragon coins were in his pocket. He wondered what Manager Li would think if he knew?

"Manager Li, do you have any Mage skill books in stock?" Lin Ling asked immediately after selling his goods.

Manager Li was slightly stunned, and a huge smile instantly bloomed on his face.

"Yes, we have everything here. For Mages, there's a Level 10 skill, Blazing Fire Ring. Main combat Professional skill books are quite expensive now, but since we're fated, just give me 2.5 million and it's yours."

Lin Ling directly rolled his eyes. 2.5 million?

You buy one for 1 million, and then turn around and sell it for 2.5 million?

Whoever is fated with you is the fool.

Indeed, no merchant is not cunning.

Manager Li seemed to notice the displeasure in Lin Ling's eyes and gave an awkward smile.

"Little brother, if you think it's too expensive, I have some small trinkets here. I'll give them to you."

Manager Li said apologetically, suddenly pushing over a dozen scrolls.

Lin Ling immediately cast a Detect spell.

Item: Gift for the Treant Race.

Category: Special Item.

Analysis: Contains a skill book collected by a treant. There's a chance to obtain an initial Professional skill book after opening it.

A hint of surprise flashed in Lin Ling's eyes. He didn't expect it to be this item, no wonder it was given away for free.

This 'Treant's Gift' was known as the most useless item.

Normally, initial Professional skill books were completely unnecessary.

Upon awakening their profession, Professionals automatically gained initial skills and didn't need skill books to learn them.

This item was basically a quest item; obtaining the initial skill book inside allowed one to exchange it with the Treant Race for 100 experience points.

This item might be useless to others, but for Lin Ling, as long as it could produce an initial skill, it could still be transformed into a Forbidden Spell.

"Then thank you, Manager Li. Oh, by the way, do you have any zhan guo red agate here?" Lin Ling put away these scrolls and continued to ask. This was the material he most urgently needed at the moment.

Manager Li's face immediately showed a troubled expression.

"We really don't have any."

"Not even one piece?" Lin Ling frowned slightly, gazing at the middle-aged man in front of him.

Manager Li looked troubled, raised his hand to pull out a stack of A4 papers, and looked apologetically at Lin Ling:

"Little brother, the Xiao Corporation has monopolized the acquisition of all transfer materials.

You might try posting a bounty online. Other trading houses probably don't have any either.

However, warring states red is currently in high demand these days; one piece will cost at least over a million. If you wait half a month to buy, the price will definitely be halved."

Lin Ling looked at the transfer material guide on the table, feeling a bit speechless.

He had never thought he would leave the Ya Zi Guild before, and the materials needed for Ya Zi Guild members to transfer professions were all provided for free by the guild.

"Manager Li, this is a list. I need all the materials on it. Can you calculate how much it will cost?"

Lin Ling took out a prepared list, which contained the materials for crafting his full set of basic exclusive weapons.

Manager Li took the list and quickly began calculating on his tablet.

Soon, he said with a smile: "Little brother, our guild can gather most of the materials you need. If you want all of them, it will cost a total of 32 million dragon coins. I'll give you a discount, 30 million will do."

Even though Lin Ling was mentally prepared, the flesh on his face still twitched a few times when he heard the number 30 million.

This was only the cost for the initial blanks, and it was just a fraction compared to the cost required for later upgrades.

"Alright, then give me this portion of the materials first."

Lin Ling lightly drew a line on the list with his fingern. What was on it were the materials needed for crafting weapons.

The 12 million dragon coins he had just received hadn't even warmed up before 8 million was spent again. The importance of weapons among all equipment was undeniable, and they were also the most expensive item.

Unfortunately, even after spending 8 million, two core materials were still missing.

One was the holy light gem, which could only appear in the second transfer dungeon.

The other was even rarer: the demon king's heart, which had an extremely small chance of appearing only by killing a hidden BOSS.

Lin Ling hadn't originally expected to buy these two materials at the trading house.

Rare materials were usually hoarded by large conglomerates or the state and rarely circulated on the market.

Lin Ling could only try his luck with the holy light gem in the second transfer dungeon. As for the demon king's heart, he could only hope it would appear at some auction.

At that time, he would have to shamelessly borrow money from his cheap little brother to get it.

With the materials in hand, Lin Ling left the Yunmeng Trading House.

He went to several other small trading houses, and as expected, none of them sold warring states red agate.

Lin Ling took out his phone and muttered, "I'll just post a bounty online."

Suddenly.

A red system announcement suddenly popped up in front of all Professionals globally.

Congratulations to 'Ye Xiu', a newcomer from Xuanfu Base City, for achieving the first kill of a wild elite BOSS in the novice zone, obtaining Underground City Dungeon entry ticket fragment * 1.