33: Chapter 33 Changing Careers?

Nie Ning slowly opened his eyes, his expression dark.

At this moment, everything around him seemed to become clear. He could even see the mosquitoes flying several meters away with perfect clarity.

However, Nie Ning could not bring himself to be happy.

The power of a Wizard is mainly composed of two categories. The first is Spiritual Power, which is the foundation of a Wizard. Releasing spells mainly relies on the guidance of Spiritual Power, and it also possesses various miraculous effects.

The second point is Mana, which can also be called Wizard Power.

It is converted from the elemental power in the air. Having Spiritual Power without Mana makes it impossible to release sorcery.

And that's where the problem lay. His Spiritual Power had indeed increased, but his body could not condense Mana!

"Could it be that I missed something?"

Nie Ning looked at his scratch paper with some confusion.

He could clearly perceive the power of the red fire element and the green wood element, yet he remained unable to convert and absorb them into his body.

Unfortunately, Nie Ning's knowledge of Wizards was too shallow; he simply couldn't understand where the problem was.

Nie Ning sighed softly. "It seems the path of a Wizard is still a long and difficult one."

Fortunately, it wasn't without gains. At least this time it didn't trigger a Dou Qi riot. Perhaps with a few more adjustments, there would be no problem.

...

One week later.

The tavern.

"You said last time there was good news. What is it?"

Nie Ning acted as if he were in his own home, lying on the sofa and asking Borton, who was tinkering with a mechanical watch face in his hands.

Borton had been very mysterious before Nie Ning left last time, telling him to come back here in a few days.

Borton put down the mechanical watch face, a smile appearing on his face.

"You've got great luck, kid. I heard you performed a great service in Poyi Town. Knight Raimond couldn't find you, so he asked me to bring the reward to you."

As he spoke, Borton placed a small cloth bag on the table.

Nie Ning thought about it; Knight Raimond did seem to have said something like that when he left Poyi Town.

However, his mind had been entirely focused on the darsya grass at the time. He hadn't paid any attention to what the man said, nor did he think their paths would cross again.

Picking up the bag on the table, he found three gold coins, two bottles of secret spirit pills, and a letter inside.

"Knight Raimond is truly polite."

Nie Ning smiled.

Although it didn't look like much, a single gold coin was enough for an ordinary family of three to live on for a year with some left over.

Furthermore, two bottles of secret spirit pills weren't cheap, worth nearly one gold coin. This was also why it was difficult for Knights to emerge among commoners.

Working hard for a year, one might not even be able to afford two bottles of secret spirit pills.

There were also requirements regarding daily meals.

Not to mention eating well, one at least had to eat their fill, which was already very difficult for many people.

Despite Nie Ning eating and sleeping well himself, if not for the physical bonuses brought by Supernatural Adaptability, he might not even be able to manage hunting for money.

This was especially true for Knight Apprentices; their strength was average, and they lacked a good source of income.

With things balancing out like this, they would miss the optimal age for cultivation, leading to a vicious cycle later on and limited future achievements.

Nie Ning opened the letter. The first few lines were pleasantries, followed immediately by an invitation for Nie Ning to join the City Lord, mentioning various benefits of the City Lord's Mansion.

It had to be said, these benefits were indeed mouth-watering.

A salary of three bottles of secret spirit pills and two gold coins a month, along with various holiday bonuses, merit exchanges for various rewards, and so on.

When one got older, they could transition to being an instructor. After retirement, the City Lord's Mansion would also pay a certain amount of money based on the Knight's strength.

As long as one didn't squander it recklessly, it was enough for a Knight to live out their years in comfort.

...

While Nie Ning was reading the letter, Borton put away the gold coins on the table.

Nie Ning only gave Borton a glance and didn't say a word.

He hadn't had much income lately, but his cultivation required pills and high-calorie food. Because of this, he had already run up quite a tab with Borton.

Moreover, as his strength increased, the demand in this area grew higher and higher. Relying solely on catching wild animals simply couldn't satisfy his own consumption.

Not to mention that the emergence of firearms had led to a large number of wild animals being hunted and killed.

Recently, the City Lord's Mansion had issued a wildlife protection ban; being caught would result in a significant fine.

If he wanted to make money through hunting, he could only go hunt those dangerous exotic beasts.

Because exotic beasts were not on the wildlife protection list, and it was difficult to subdue an outlier creature like a Frenzied Giant Bear with just a musket.

Looking at the letter in his hand, it had to be said that Nie Ning was starting to feel tempted.

However, he needed to protect Lilith and couldn't manage both ends. This was indeed a very troublesome headache.

...

"I'm planning to change careers recently. Interested in joining in?"

Borton rested his chin on his hands, staring at Nie Ning with a face full of wretched smiles.

Hearing this, Nie Ning put away the letter and looked at Borton with great confusion.

"Aren't you doing quite well? Why change careers for no reason?"

"Sigh~"

Borton let out a sigh, his eyes filled with a sense of dejection.

"The times are developing too fast. Where is the need for fighting and killing every day anymore? The old ways haven't worked for a long time."

For Borton, running a tavern didn't actually make much money. He relied almost entirely on income from the Transcendent side to maintain the tavern.

But the times were changing too quickly. After various technological items came into the world, the living space for low-level Transcendents had been severely squeezed.

Not only were there far fewer Knights than before, but even some old buddies he knew had already changed careers.

After all, cultivating for a lifetime might not necessarily block a musket, so why spend so much money to become a Knight?

After listening to Borton's account, Nie Ning's expression was complicated.

As someone who came from a technological era, he naturally knew what kind of impact technology would have on the world.

It was no exaggeration to say that as long as technology took off, it probably wouldn't take a hundred years to create weapons that could affect mid-level or even high-level Transcendents.

Not to mention that this world possessed all sorts of weird and wonderful materials; the development of technology would definitely far exceed that of his previous life.

"Then what do you want to do?"

Nie Ning asked with some curiosity.

Borton was already over fifty. Wouldn't it be a bit late to change careers now?

Borton gave a 'hehe' laugh, his expression as wretched as could be.

"Recently, the trend of mistresses has been prevalent in the city. I'm planning to open a Detective Agency."

Hearing this, Nie Ning's eyes widened, and he shouted 'holy cow' in his heart.

Borton really was a genius to be able to discover such a major business opportunity.

After all, the more developed a society was, the more prevalent the trend of mistresses became.

If it were turned into an industry chain, he could open a law firm later, or directly open a security company, and so on.

But Nie Ning still had concerns. He then looked at Borton's wretched old face and asked in a low voice, "Does it make money?"

In his impression, in his previous life, there were so many mistresses that it had become a common occurrence. He really didn't know if it could make money.

"It does! It makes a lot!"

Borton smiled slightly. "Those people are very rich; otherwise, where would they find the time to look for a mistress?"

...