"I’m eternally grateful, Mage Li Wei. I’ll never forget this kindness."

Li Wei waved his hand. "Don’t overthink it. This was just a transaction."

"Come on, it’s about time we headed back."

The two walked toward the exit of the Secret Realm.

Li Wei had earned 1,650 Gold Coins from Balaha.

The little fatty Balaha was wealthier than he could have ever imagined.

He’d shelled out over a thousand Gold Coins with barely any hesitation.

If it hadn’t become difficult to find Skeleton Monsters of Tier Two and Above, Li Wei would have liked to earn even more.

All the students had completed their practical course assignments.

Most had completed two or three of the assignments.

Very few students had only completed one, and even fewer had managed to complete all four.

As for completing all of them, that was something no one even dared to imagine.

They were all just Tier Two Mages; dealing with Tier Three Skeleton Monsters was already a difficult task.

Challenging a Tier Four Skeleton Monster, a leap of two tiers, was simply suicidal.

Tier Four Skeleton Monsters were meant for the third-year Magic Class students.

Sean glanced over the crowd, confirmed no one had been left behind in the Secret Realm, and opened the Secret Realm Teleportation Gate.

"All of you, go first."

With a wave of his hand, Sean summoned a Fire Cloud that descended and formed a long wall of fire, blocking the advance of the Skeleton Monsters.

Li Wei took one look and walked into the Teleportation Gate without turning back.

By the time they returned to the Floating Island, it was already afternoon.

The day was nearly over.

Li Wei didn’t wait for Sean to return, leaving before the group was dismissed.

Sean, the last to leave the Secret Realm, returned to the Secret Realm Plaza and checked everyone’s results.

He was surprised to find that first place didn’t go to Li Wei, but to a student named Balaha.

A look of surprise crossed his face.

"Who is Balaha?"

Sean asked, looking at the students.

Balaha’s heart seized. He nervously raised his hand and answered quietly, "I am."

Sean looked at him, frowned for a moment, and then it dawned on him.

Although the Elemental Tower forbade students from privately trading Credit Points, such transactions were not uncommon.

The most common method was trading Credit Points during practical courses.

Sean glanced at him but didn’t dwell on the matter.

He nodded. "Alright. I understand."

"Everyone, go get some rest. The classroom should be repaired by tomorrow."

"Goodbye, sir."

The students dispersed.

Sean looked around but didn’t see any sign of Li Wei.

He couldn’t help but shake his head as he turned and walked toward the Elemental Tower.

After leaving the Teleportation Plaza, Li Wei went directly to the market to set up his stall.

He was selling Energy Secret Medicine again today.

The effect of the Ring of Greed would last for 24 hours, until tomorrow morning.

Li Wei calculated that he needed to gather at least three sets of awakening materials to fully maximize the ring’s effect.

If he did, he had a chance of completing his awakening and breaking through to Tier Three within four days.

Li Wei had just set up his stall and placed the Energy Secret Medicine on display when someone walked over to buy some.

"How many more do you have?" the man asked.

Li Wei glanced at the man’s clothes and saw the badge of an Alchemist emblazoned on his chest.

A thought flickered in his mind; he guessed the man’s intentions.

’Not that it matters,’ he thought.

"How many do you want?" Li Wei asked.

The Alchemist replied, "Three bottles."

Li Wei took out two more bottles and handed them over.

The Alchemist nodded, left the money, and walked away.

An auspicious start—three bottles sold right after he opened for business.

However, as the night wore on, Li Wei only managed to sell six bottles in total.

The price of the Energy Secret Medicine was simply too high.

Ordinary Mages couldn’t afford it, and even Tier Three Mages had to think long and hard before deciding to buy.

Still, the money from six bottles was almost enough.

Li Wei went to the Zui Wan Commerce Association to buy materials.

"Could you please get me three sets of the same materials as last time?"

"Of course. Please wait a moment."

After a moment, the attendant returned. "My apologies, Master Mage, but we only have two stalks of Fire Spirit Ginseng left. Would you like to replace the third with another suitable Treasure of Heaven and Earth?"

"What else do you have?" Li Wei asked.

The attendant replied, "We have a 300-year-old Red Flame Fruit. It’s six hundred gold coins."

Li Wei did a quick calculation, then nodded. "Alright, I’ll take one Red Flame Fruit."

The total came to 2,878 Gold Coins.

After leaving the Zui Wan Commerce Association, Li Wei had a little over 660 Gold Coins left.

’If only I’d sold one more bottle of Energy Secret Medicine tonight,’ he thought. ’I could have bought another set of materials.’

Then again, he remembered that the Red Flame Fruit was one hundred gold coins more expensive than the Fire Spirit Ginseng. Even with the money from one more bottle, he likely couldn’t have afforded a fourth set of materials anyway.

’Such is fate.’

Back at his manor, Li Wei first went to check on the Dragon Blood Tree.

Some of the Dragon Blood Tree’s leaves had started to wilt.

Lacking nourishment from Dragon Blood, the tree grew weaker each day.

Li Wei felt a sense of helplessness.

He glanced at the Little Bone Dragon beneath the tree and felt that something about it had changed.

But he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

Li Wei turned to leave.

Then, a thought occurred to him. He walked over to the Dragon Blood Tree, took out a small knife, and slit his palm, smearing his blood onto the trunk.

The Dragon Blood Tree eagerly absorbed his blood.

A moment later, Li Wei pulled his hand away and saw several bright red, vein-like patterns appear on the tree’s bark.

A flame flickered in his palm. When it died down, the wound was completely healed.

’This is one application of Elementalization, I suppose.’

After absorbing his blood, the Dragon Blood Tree looked much more vigorous.

Seeing this, Li Wei returned to his room, relieved.

’Feeding it blood occasionally is fine, but my body won’t be able to take it in the long run.’

’I still need to find a way to collect blood from a Dragon Blood Species, or even a Sub-Dragon Species of Magical Beast with a high-purity bloodline.’

That wasn’t an urgent matter, however.

Li Wei’s current focus was entirely on breaking through to Tier Three.

He had to solve the immediate problem first; he could figure out how to keep the Dragon Blood Tree alive later.

If worse came to worst, he would have to kill the goose that laid the golden eggs—refine the Dragon Blood Tree into Energy Secret Medicine and squeeze out its final bit of value.

That night, while the effect of the Ring of Greed was still active, Li Wei performed three Fire Spirit Ceremonies in a row.

When the third Fire Spirit Ceremony concluded and Li Wei opened his eyes, the morning sun was already streaming through his window.

[Crystal Meditation Method (Tier Two Awakening)] 8845/10000

The ceremony using the Red Flame Fruit instead of the Fire Spirit Ginseng had increased his awakening progress by over two hundred points, but less than three hundred.

Still, that was good news.

Based on these results, if he used the Red Flame Fruit as the material for his advancement ceremony, he would only need one more ritual, at most, to complete his awakening and break through to Tier Three.

Li Wei had been up all night, but he felt exceptionally energized.

Victory was within his grasp.

He only needed to sell two more bottles of Energy Secret Medicine to have enough money for the materials needed for the final ceremony.

BUZZ!

His Magic Badge vibrated. Li Wei picked it up and took a look.

The payment for answering questions in the Hall of Truth a couple of days ago had arrived.

He glanced at it, and his expression turned to one of surprise.

There were sixty-three Gold Coins available to be claimed in his Magic Badge.

This meant he only needed to sell one more bottle of Energy Secret Medicine to have enough.

More good news.

Li Wei left and went to the Hall of Wealth in the Elemental Tower to withdraw the Gold Coins from his Magic Badge.

He then took a stroll through the market.

Too impatient to wait for a buyer, he consigned a bottle of Energy Secret Medicine to an auction house.

In the afternoon, Li Wei returned to the market.

The Energy Secret Medicine had already been sold.

He received 272 Gold Coins for it. He’d lost a little on the price, but it had saved him a lot of trouble.

It wasn’t as if Li Wei was short on cash.

He bought the materials from the Zui Wan Commerce Association and immediately returned to his manor.