Chapter 170: Top-Quality Magic Equipment

Chapter 170: A Peerless Magical Artifact

Three days had passed since Li Wei last saw Troska.

Li Wei concluded his morning cultivation session.

He glanced at the fruits of his practice.

[Crystal Meditation Technique (Second Tier)] 422/10,000

[Fireball Spell (Second Tier, Minor Mastery)] 124/10,000

[Invisible Armor Spell (First Tier, Great Mastery)] 8,456/10,000

[Telekinesis (First Tier, Minor Mastery)] 7,555/10,000

[Great Dream Soaring Technique (First Tier)] 1,560/10,000

[Phantom Form Spell (First Tier)] 3,000/10,000

[Basic Alchemy (First Tier)] 1,750/10,000

[Shadow Tendril Surgery (First Tier, Proficient)] 60/2,000

[Ice Arrow Spell (Zero Tier, Great Mastery)] 420/8,000

[Stone-Breath Method (Proficient)] 866/2,000

[Blast Flame Technique (Third Tier)] 18/1,000

...

His progress advanced steadily.

After elevating Fireball to the second tier,

Li Wei had begun refining both Invisible Armor and Telekinesis.

Once Fireball reached perfection,

he was certain that if he could bring the remaining two spells to completion as well,

he could fuse all three into an entirely new flight spell—

a flight spell uniquely his own.

Then, he could strike when he willed, flee when he chose.

Rocket-propelled speed—none would catch him.

But before that, he needed to retrieve the Sourceheart Necklace from Torasta.

Li Wei arrived at the Adventurers’ Guild.

Without Evelyn’s escort, the guards blocked his entrance.

Only after sending word did Wiley emerge,

holding Troska’s platinum membership card to usher Li Wei inside.

Li Wei glanced at the card in Wiley’s hand, surprised. “Is this yours?”

Wiley shook his head. “No. It belongs to my father.”

“He’s forged gear for many extraordinary adventurers in the guild. Even branch leaders beg him for equipment. To make visits easier, the guild granted him a platinum card.”

Li Wei frowned slightly. “If even the guild’s top figures commission him, why would he bother selling at magic fairs?”

Wiley gave him a knowing look. “Do you think forging is so simple?”

“The gear those powerful people want isn’t ordinary. Even my father can’t guarantee success every time.”

“What he sells at stalls? Trinkets made on a whim—mere pocket change.”

He shook his head. “Last time, if I hadn’t entered the Young Mages’ Tournament, my father wouldn’t have gone at all.”

In truth, Troska had only attended to accompany his son.

He hadn’t gone willingly to peddle goods.

Li Wei nodded, understanding now.

He also grasped something of Troska’s mindset.

Crafting the Sourceheart Necklace had already taken three days.

The requests from high-ranking patrons must be far more demanding.

Even if Troska possessed the skill, he wouldn’t readily accept such tasks.

They demanded immense effort and sacrifice.

Unless the client offered something truly tempting—

and it certainly wasn’t gold.

Troska had initially agreed to forge the necklace only because Evelyn recommended Li Wei.

He couldn’t refuse her.

Later, upon learning Li Wei was Torasta’s disciple—someone with a claim on him—he’d waived the fee.

Otherwise, even thousands of gold coins might not have swayed him.

They arrived at Troska’s private forge.

Wiley led him inside.

Troska sat within, rising as Li Wei approached, his face pale and weary.

Li Wei asked in alarm, “Master, what happened to you?”

Troska let out a bitter smile. “The forging was harder than I imagined.”

“Using a Fire Spirit Pearl instead of an elemental core… the difficulty was far greater.”

“But… it succeeded.”

“This, without doubt, is a peerless magical artifact.”

He pulled aside a red cloth. Upon the table lay a necklace.

The Sourceheart Necklace. The Fire Spirit Pearl embedded within a silver mithril chain.

Intricate runes covered its surface—each one meticulously carved to channel the pearl’s power.

Troska said, “The mithril you provided wasn’t enough. This consumed five hundred grams in total.”

“Plus, one hundred fifty grams of source-gold, three portions of flowfire liquid, seven low-tier magic crystals, five alchemical micro-rune arrays…”

Li Wei felt his scalp prickle. He quickly asked, “Master, just tell me the price.”

“The materials at cost,” Troska replied. “Twelve hundred gold.”

Li Wei sighed inwardly.

He knew full well—if he tried buying those materials himself, two thousand gold wouldn’t suffice.

Troiska had given it to him at a very low price.

Li Wei took out five hundred gold coins and handed them to Troiska.

This was the money he’d obtained by selling off some of the materials from his spatial ring—

all the gold he currently possessed.

“Master, here are five hundred gold coins for now. I’ll pay the remaining seven hundred later.”

“Or… perhaps I could offer some materials as compensation instead.”

A sudden thought struck Li Wei, and he spoke up.

Troiska nodded. “That’s acceptable.”

Li Wei brought out the molten core left behind after the lava giant’s death.

Like a magical beast’s mana core or an elemental spirit’s crystal nucleus, this core held energy—

though less universally useful than the others. Yet for those who needed it, its value could be even greater.

Troiska glanced at it, unsurprised. He had expected something like this.

“A high-tier third-stage lava giant’s molten core—worth three hundred and fifty gold,” he assessed.

Li Wei nodded, then emptied his pockets of various unnecessary magical materials.

Now, there was no need to hide anything.

Only after clearing nearly half his spatial ring did he finally settle the debt.

He exhaled deeply, then picked up the Origin Heart Necklace.

He had expected it to be heavy, forged as it was from so many rare components.

Yet in his hand, it felt surprisingly light.

“Considering the sheer amount of material used—and how heavy the necklace might have become—I inscribed Featherweight Runes upon it to reduce the burden,” Troiska explained.

Li Wei nodded. “Thank you, Master.”

Troiska studied him for a moment, then asked, “When will you fulfill your promise to me?”

Li Wei replied, “I need to know one thing—do you wish to see her again? Or do you want to keep her beside you?”

Troiska paused, puzzled. “What do you mean?”

“If you merely wish to see her,” Li Wei said, “I can find a way to send you back into the past—to reunite with her, to see the true woman from your memories.”

“But if you want her by your side… then I can only manifest a puppet that resembles her in form.”

Troiska lowered his head, thinking silently. Then he looked up.

“You truly can let me see her?”

“It depends,” Li Wei said, “on how deeply you remember her.”

“A psychic spell?” Troiska asked.

Li Wei smiled faintly. “You could call it that. Or think of it as one of my extraordinary innate abilities.”

He sought to conceal the Great Dreamwalking Art beneath the guise of a supernatural trait.

Troiska’s voice grew firm. “I want to see the real her.”

“No problem. Come to the mage tower tomorrow night,” Li Wei said.

“Can’t it be tonight?” Troiska pressed, urgency in his tone.

Li Wei met his gaze. “You’re not in the right state of mind now. And I need time to prepare.”

Troiska nodded slowly. “Fine.”

In truth, Li Wei was occupied tonight testing the effects of the Origin Heart Necklace—he had no time to guide him into dreams.

(End of Chapter)