Chapter 278: Trading Life Elixir, Massive Gains! (7000)

Cao Xing pondered for a moment.

Speaking of which, although Edward had a decent life skill, Cao Xing really didn't know what use this Advanced Painting Mastery had.

Therefore, Cao Xing said: "There isn't anything for you to do at the moment."

"Once you have recovered enough, I will have you engage in territory construction or combat work."

Hearing this, Edward said respectfully: "Understood, my Lord!"

"Thank you for taking care of me, my Lord."

Cao Xing waved his hand, "It's nothing, go get some rest first."

Edward bowed and retreated respectfully.

And not long after he left,

On the bluestone floor before him, a creature appeared with the graceful upper body of a woman and a snake body covered in white scales below the waist.

This bewitching snake-person priestess was twisting her water-snake waist as she walked towards him.

"Respected Lord, I've encountered a bit of trouble."

Cao Xing asked in confusion: "Ilena, what is it?"

She gripped the weapon in her hand and said: "My Lord, the quality of my trident is too low. It broke in two places during the battle last night, and I can't continue using it."

Hearing this, Cao Xing looked over.

He discovered that the short trident in Ilena's hand indeed had two gaps where it had broken.

"Let me see."

Ilena obediently handed the weapon to Cao Xing.

[Obtained: Broken Snake-Person Priestess Trident (Green)]

Checking its attributes, he found it was only a Level 5 weapon.

This was normal, after all, when Ilena was summoned, she was only a Level 5 snake-person priestess.

Come to think of it, Cao Xing hadn't really encountered trident-type weapons before; not even one had been opened from a treasure chest.

After all, there weren't many professions that used this kind of weapon for combat.

However, as an experienced blacksmith, Harold should have a way to forge one.

So he said: "Alright, I understand. I will find a way to get you a new weapon in a while."

Hearing this, a look of joy immediately appeared on the bewitching beauty's face.

"Thank you, my Lord. I knew you would agree to it~"

Cao Xing smiled, and just as he finished speaking, he was about to leave.

"My Lord, don't be in such a hurry, I have something else to discuss with you~"

Cao Xing was stunned, "What is it?"

Ilena had a faint, elusive smile on her lips.

Then, she led Cao Xing into the room.

"Clang!"

The door closed.

"Ilena, what else is there?"

And just at this moment, Ilena's lips curved into an arc.

Then, right in front of Cao Xing, she reached behind her with both hands, undid her breastplate, and removed the skirt armor on her lower body.

In an instant, a pair of firm, perky mounds appeared before him.

At this moment, Ilena was completely bare.

Her upper body was a perfect female torso.

Her lower body was a bewitching snake form.

Her waist twisted and turned, full of a unique temptation.

Ilena's bewitching face moved quickly closer, and then she arrived at Cao Xing's side.

Her hands rested on Cao Xing's neck, and she exhaled wisps of cold air from her mouth.

"Today, I want to try something different with my Lord~"

Cao Xing was stunned and asked in confusion: "Something different? What is it?"

Ilena didn't speak, but instead controlled her fair, long tail to wrap around Cao Xing, then made him sit on the bed.

A moment later, this beautiful snake-person stuck out her forked tongue and lowered her head directly.

"Slurp… slurp…"

The snake-person's tongue moved constantly, winding and twisting flexibly.

This made Cao Xing gasp continuously.

"Hiss! Ilena… is this what you meant by something different?"

A moment later, this snake-person beauty raised her bewitching head, covered her mouth, and chuckled lightly.

"Yes, this is what Sister Elena and the others taught me."

"They said, I have a body different from other humans, and this is my advantage."

"My Lord, do you like it when Ilena does this?"

Cao Xing was silent for a moment, then nodded and said: "Hmm…"

Hearing this, the beauty with the beautiful features and bewitching temperament smiled even more happily.

Her fair shoulders trembled slightly, making the white, soft skin on her chest shake.

She continued to lower her head, sticking out her tongue, and wrapping it around from various angles.

As time passed…

This beautiful snake-person priestess's pretty face gradually became covered with two white snake scales.

This added a few more touches of unique aesthetic to her.

Her pupils gradually turned red, her graceful waist twisted unnaturally, and her long snake body also began to rotate constantly.

A moment later, Ilena pressed down on Cao Xing.

"My Lord, are you ready?"

"Ilena is coming…"

And seeing this, Cao Xing was shocked and quickly said: "Ilena, wait a moment, transformation…"

Before he could finish speaking, Ilena had already pressed directly onto him.

From her mouth, a charming sound was emitted.

"Ugh…"

The sudden stimulation also made Cao Xing gasp sharply.

A wave of cold, soft sensation struck him in waves.

Ilena bit her lower lip, seemingly adapting to this feeling.

A moment later, a satisfied smile appeared on her beautiful face.

"This… form is indeed more convenient…"

The snake-person race really was a completely different experience…

However, fortunately, as a Tier 4 mage, he finally made this little enchantress submit in the end.

In the blink of an eye, nearly two hours had passed.

After the battle ended, Ilena asked softly: "My Lord, how do you feel?"

Cao Xing laughed: "I feel very good, Ilena."

Ilena was overjoyed upon hearing this: "That's great, I thought my Lord might not like it~"

"Next time, I want to continue with my Lord~"

Stunned for a moment, Cao Xing nodded and said: "Alright."

…

…

After leaving Ilena's room, Cao Xing also felt refreshed.

Checking the time, it was only a little past 10 in the morning, still early.

"That's fine, the Ice Dragon Horn challenge won't start until the afternoon."

"It just so happens that there are two days left in the point leaderboard, so during this time, quite a few people should be making a push for the rankings."

"Let's see how many arrows Harold has crafted, and Francesca's potions too; I'll take this opportunity to sell a batch."

Thinking of this, Cao Xing pushed open the door to the blacksmith shop first.

"Clang! Clang, clang!"

The sound of hammering continued to ring out.

The dwarf before him was still sweating profusely.

Seeing Cao Xing enter, he stopped what he was doing and said respectfully: "My Lord, may you be well."

Cao Xing nodded slightly and asked directly: "Harold, how many Nightmare Arrows have been crafted?"

"Replying to my Lord, a little less than last time. There are only 1,600 green arrows, 242 blue ones, and 54 purple quality ones."

Hearing this, a look of realization appeared in Cao Xing's eyes.

Thinking about it, this was normal.

After all, only about a day had passed since the last trade.

Harold's efficiency was already very good.

"Not bad, your efficiency is as high as ever."

"Thank you for the praise, my Lord."

The dwarf replied humbly.

At this moment, Cao Xing remembered what he had promised Ilena earlier and asked: "Harold, if I want to forge a trident, do you have any ideas?"

Harold pondered for a moment before saying: "Trident-type weapons… I have come across several blueprints before; they can be forged."

A look of joy appeared on Cao Xing's face.

Harold was indeed an experienced blacksmith; he even had blueprints for weapons like tridents.

This would save him a lot of resources.

"However, my Lord, what grade of trident do you need?"

Cao Xing understood what he meant, "Around Tier 3 or Tier 4 is fine; if possible, Gold quality would be best."

Harold nodded, "Very well, my Lord. However, to craft a Gold quality trident, it will require materials like Constant Gold Ingots and Mithril."

Cao Xing asked: "How much is needed?"

"About 40 Constant Gold Ingots and around 200 units of Mithril."

Hearing this number, Cao Xing was slightly surprised.

The consumption for forging a Gold weapon was indeed quite high, requiring so many Constant Gold Ingots and Mithril.

Currently, his reserve of Mithril was sufficient, but he didn't have that many Constant Gold Ingots.

But that was fine; he would just trade for them in the market in a while.

"I understand, I will bring the materials over in a bit."

Harold nodded respectfully, then as if remembering something, continued: "Oh, by the way, my Lord."

"There are two gem inlay slots on the trident weapon. If you have any orbs or gems on hand, you can inlay them to increase the power of this trident."

Hearing this, Cao Xing also remembered something.

He did have several gems and orbs on hand, such as the [Moonlight Orb] and [Blue Copper Orb].

Besides that, he could also go to the Dragon Shop and exchange for those two powerful [Glacier Magnetite] and [Dragon Stone].

And just at this moment, a flash of inspiration hit Cao Xing!

He took out the [King's Warblade (Gold)] that Liu Muxue had retired from his backpack.

"Harold, there are two gems on this weapon. Can you take a look and see if they can be removed and inlaid onto the trident?"

The dwarf blacksmith took it, examined it carefully, and joy gradually appeared in his eyes.

He said pleasantly: "My Lord, the material of this weapon is truly excellent. It uses a lot of Constant Gold Ingots, and the craftsmanship is also very exquisite."

"If you need it, I can melt it down and craft it into the shape of a trident."

"Then add some Mithril and Constant Gold Ingots to upgrade its tier, which will save a lot of materials."

Hearing this, Cao Xing was also somewhat surprised.

He didn't expect that this retired [King's Warblade] could be melted down and reused.

He said with satisfaction: "Not bad, Harold. Then do that. Inlay the gems from it directly onto the new trident. Just tell me if anything is missing."

"Understood, my Lord!"

After arranging things with Harold.

Cao Xing went to the storage chest and took out all the crafted arrows.

[Obtained: Refined Nightmare Arrows (Green) * 1600]

[Obtained…]

…

The quantity of arrows was the same as the number Harold had reported.

Cao Xing left the blacksmith shop with satisfaction.

Then, he headed straight for the area where the Alchemy Workshop was located.

Just as he pushed open the door to the Alchemy Workshop, a rich medicinal scent wafted out.

The lighting in the Alchemy Workshop was quite dim, with a ghostly green glow flickering overhead.

Next to it were many cargo shelves, marked with the names of some herbs, as well as some semi-finished potions.

And in the middle of the Alchemy Workshop, a witch's cauldron was bubbling 'gurgle, gurgle'.

Cao Xing saw two figures busy inside.

One was Francesca, wearing a yellow, low-cut gown.

She was as beautiful as ever; just a side profile was enough to make one fascinated.

And Cao Xing also discovered that this woman changed into a different outfit every day.

They were basically those kinds of gowns with large skirts that looked elegant and luxurious, setting off her beauty.

Although she stayed in the Alchemy Workshop every day and rarely went out, this didn't hinder her love for beauty.

Francesca knew clearly that she had a perfect appearance, and she also liked her own beauty.

Sabina, next to her, was busy at another workbench.

The two women, one making poison and the other making Life Elixir, chatted a few times, and they got along quite harmoniously.

Seeing Cao Xing arrive, Sabina walked over quickly and bowed respectfully.

"My Lord, you've come."

And Francesca bowed slightly.

Cao Xing nodded and looked first at Sabina beside her, asking: "How is the progress on the Nightmare Potion?"

The mature woman before him reported: "Reporting to the Lord, in the past two days, a total of 217 bottles of Nightmare Potions have been produced, 46 of which are of Blue quality."

Upon hearing this, a smile appeared at the corner of Cao Xing's mouth.

This potion has many uses, so it is quite impressive to be able to produce so many bottles.

"Well done, Sabina."

"Francesca, how about you?"

The beautiful witch replied softly: "As you instructed, I have basically been brewing that improved Life Secret Potion for the past two days, and a total of 1271 bottles have been produced."

Hearing this number, Cao Xing's eyes immediately lit up with joy.

Good heavens! So many?

As expected of Master-level Alchemy Proficiency!

Cao Xing said: "Francesca, you possess excellent alchemy skills."

Beside them, Sabina also exclaimed in admiration: "Indeed, this beautiful witch lady's alchemy skills are simply superb; compared to her, I am far behind."

Hearing the praise from both, Francesca pursed her lips slightly, forming a beautiful curve.

"Thank you."

"However, it should be noted that the raw materials for this Life Secret Potion have been consumed quite a bit over the past two days, and at most, about two thousand more portions can be brewed."

Cao Xing was stunned. He had prepared so many materials, yet they were going to be used up by her in just a few days.

But it was still not bad; adding them up, over three thousand portions could be produced, which could be exchanged for a large amount of resources.

"Alright, I understand."

"Produce all of them first, and when the time comes, I will arrange other potions for you to make."

The witch before him nodded slightly, and then went back to work.

Cao Xing walked to the storage box and collected all these secret potions.

[Obtained: Improved Life Secret Potion * 1271]

[Obtained: Sabina's Nightmare Potion (Green) * 171]

[Obtained: Sabina's Nightmare Potion (Blue) * 46]

"Not bad, a Blue quality potion was indeed developed."

He took a look at the attributes.

[Sabina's Nightmare Potion (Blue)]

[Quality: Excellent]

[Potion Effect: Apply to melee weapons or arrows, causing the next 10 attacks to inflict 1 stack of Psychedelic Poison effect, reducing the enemy's Attack Power by 489 points within 30 seconds, and causing them to enter a Psychedelic state, receiving a Mental Shock every 5 seconds…]

[Remaining Uses: 10]

"Very good, compared to the Green quality potion, the reduction in Attack Power is even higher."

"In this way, the Attack Power of Tier 2 elite monsters might even be reduced to zero!"

A smile played on the corner of Cao Xing's mouth.

This thing, for those Tier 1 and Tier 2 Survivors, is a god-tier item.

"Next, I need to sell a batch of these potions and arrows to exchange for resources."

Although his Ice Dragon Mark count was already over a million.

But this thing is definitely the more, the better.

Moreover, there were still many things in the shop that hadn't been exchanged yet.

For example, those precious gems, as well as [Snowball Turret Blueprint], [Frost Catapult Blueprint], and so on…

Furthermore, Cao Xing was preparing to form new legions, and these legion soldiers would all need various Hearts of Strength to breakthrough.

Thus, Cao Xing walked directly to the [Market] and opened the consignment interface.

In an instant, over a million consignment messages appeared.

After this period of development, there were more and more items on the market.

"Not bad. When future version updates arrive, there might even be more server merges."

"At that time, there will be even more resources on the market, and any rare item can be obtained."

Consequently, Cao Xing proceeded as usual and listed the [Refined Nightmare Arrows (Green)] first.

However, the price was slightly higher, changing from one arrow being equal to 300 Ice Dragon Marks to 400.

Moreover, he added a condition: each person could purchase a maximum of 2.

Less than 10 seconds after listing, a Survivor named Hong Zhuling immediately discovered this consignment information.

He glanced at the chat channel and found that no one was discussing this matter, so he immediately realized that he might be the first person to discover that Cao Xing was consigning these arrows!

After yesterday's events, everyone knew how powerful these [Nightmare Arrows] were.

Many large group leaders were offering to buy them for 500 or even 600 Ice Dragon Marks each.

But everyone wanted to keep this item for themselves.

After all, no matter how many Ice Dragon Marks one has, how can they compare to one's own life?

Hong Zhuling realized that this might be his opportunity; before others discovered it, he could snatch up more Nightmare Arrows to resell.

However, he didn't have that many Ice Dragon Marks on hand, so he immediately contacted his relatives and friends, wanting to borrow some.

However, before he could borrow them, he found that people on the chat channel were already discussing this matter.

He immediately felt deeply regretful, feeling that he had missed a huge opportunity.

Shen Xue: "Brothers, Great Lord Cao Xing has listed Refined Nightmare Arrows for consignment again. This time there are only over a thousand, those with Ice Dragon Marks, go grab them quickly!"

Kong Yue: "Finally, he started consigning. I've been waiting since yesterday."

Qiao Chunbo: "Me too. I directly mobilized my connections and borrowed three thousand Ice Dragon Marks from relatives and friends. This time, I'm going to exchange for 10 arrows directly, haha!"

Huang Gangan: "Don't even think about it, upstairs. Each person is limited to 2, you can't buy that many."

Wan Qisheng: "Damn, why was this restriction added, and the price rose slightly too."

Li Liang: "It's a good addition. With this restriction, those guys who want to buy in bulk and then resell won't have a chance!"

"Brothers, charge!"

"…"

In an instant, the Survivors began to rush into the market to scramble for them.

Although the restriction of two per person was added, these arrows were just too popular.

A large number of Survivors traded with him, and trade notifications appeared frantically.

[Trade Successful: You lost [Refined Nightmare Arrows (Green)] * 2, you obtained [Ice Dragon Marks] * 800…]

[Trade Successful…]

…

In less than two minutes, the 1100 Nightmare Arrows that Cao Xing listed were all snatched up!

And he once again obtained 440,000 Ice Dragon Marks!

However, the Survivors were still waiting.

After all, according to their understanding of Cao Xing, they all knew that every time he traded, he wouldn't just sell one type of item.

He usually saved the good stuff for later.

At least thousands of eyes were staring longingly at the market at this moment.

However, after waiting for a few minutes, they still didn't see any consignment information from Cao Xing.

Everyone was a bit bewildered.

Some people tagged Cao Xing in the chat channel.

Li Rongrong: "@Cao Xing, Great Lord, are you not continuing to consign? You should have stronger arrows in your hands, right?"

Zhan Yonghu: "Yeah, yesterday Great Lord Cao Xing even sold Blue and Purple Nightmare Arrows, so he must still have some."

Mo Rong: "Great Lord, hurry and take them out to trade, the little sisters are all waiting."

"…"

Cao Xing saw the messages tagging him in the chat, and then replied with a smile: "This time, there really isn't any."

"This type of arrow takes a lot of time to craft. These thousand-plus arrows are my entire stock."

In his backpack, although there were still over two hundred Blue quality arrows, the quantity was too small, so Cao Xing planned to wait until the quantity was higher before selling them.

Hearing this, the Survivors in District 17 felt a bit regretful.

But Cao Xing continued: "However, although there are no more arrows, I have some other items on hand that need to be sold."

These words immediately aroused the curiosity of the Survivors on the scene.

"Other things?"

"Great Lord Cao Xing, what is it?"

"Haha, I think it must be good stuff."

"That's right, everything Great Lord Cao Xing sells has great utility."

Cao Xing didn't waste any words and directly pasted the attributes of [Sabina's Nightmare Potion (Green)].

The Survivors checked it out one after another.

It instantly caused a chorus of exclamations.

"Damn! This potion is a bit terrifying! Reducing over 350 Attack Power directly, doesn't that just reduce a Tier 2 monster's attack to nothing?"

"Yeah, even a boss-level Ice Nest Evil Beast would have its Attack Power reduced by half, and most importantly, there's a Mental Psychedelic effect every 5 seconds. This thing combined with the Nightmare Arrows is simply a perfect match!"

"Too strong! This potion has ten uses, adding up to 100 attacks. The threat of those bosses and leaders will plummet!"

In the chat channel, there were still quite a few who knew their stuff.

After listening to the analysis of the few people above, the other Survivors also realized the power of this potion.

"As expected of Great Lord Cao Xing, to be able to get his hands on such a powerful potion. I just don't know how many bottles are being sold this time."

"Yeah, this kind of potion should be very expensive, right?"

Cao Xing said: "I don't have much of this potion on hand, only two hundred bottles in total, so the price will be a bit more expensive."

"1000 Ice Dragon Marks per bottle, limited to one per person."

Hearing this number, all the Survivors on the scene were shocked.

Because for most ordinary Survivors, 1000 Ice Dragon Marks is not a small number, and many people couldn't come up with that much at once.

However, thinking of the powerful effect and the number of uses of this potion, everyone felt that it was worth it!

"1000 Ice Dragon Marks it is, I'm going to borrow some right now!"

"Er Gou, lend me 500 Ice Dragon Marks, I'll pay you back another day after I take down the boss-level Ice Nest Monster!"

"Is there any little brother willing to lend me 1000 Ice Dragon Marks? I can date you…"

"Upstairs, you're dreaming!"

"…"

The Survivors went to mobilize their connections, borrowing Ice Dragon Marks everywhere.

And Cao Xing also quickly set up the consignment information for this potion.

Since Cao Xing only intended to exchange this potion for Ice Dragon Marks, trading was very convenient.

System notifications kept flooding the screen.

[Trade Successful, you lost [Sabina's Nightmare Potion (Green)] * 1, you obtained [Ice Dragon Marks] * 1000…]

[Trade Successful…]

…

The market in District 17 was as hot as ever, and in less than a minute, all the potions in Cao Xing's hands were sold out.

A total of 200,000 Ice Dragon Marks were obtained!

At this moment, after these two waves of trading, the number of Ice Dragon Marks in Cao Xing's hands had officially exceeded two million, reaching 2.34 million!

"Not bad, not bad. Now I can buy all those gems and blueprints!"

Cao Xing was extremely excited.

And those Survivors were also very excited.

"Great Lord Cao Xing, are there any more? These bastards have such fast hands, I was squatting by the market and still didn't manage to snatch any."

"Me too, damn these guys are really too fast, they buy 1000 Ice Dragon Marks just like that, without any hesitation."

"Great Lord Cao Xing, list some more, you should still have some in your hands, right?"

"…"

A moment later, Cao Xing replied: "There are no more Nightmare Potions, but I will indeed continue to sell one more item. This is also a secret potion, its effect is different from the potion, but it is even rarer!"

Hearing this, a look of anticipation rose in everyone's hearts again.

"Haha, I knew Great Lord Cao Xing definitely had more good stuff!"

"This time I'm going to use my 30-year single-life hand speed to instantly snipe it down!"

"What's the rush? You haven't even seen the attributes yet."

"…"

They didn't wait long, and soon they saw the attributes of the [Improved Life Secret Potion] that Cao Xing pasted.

Everyone clicked to view it.

The entire chat channel fell into a moment of silence.

Then, there was a tsunami-like roar of voices.

…