Chapter 74: Energy Crystals

In just twenty minutes, Ain had finished measuring the attribute traces of all the resource samples, ready to transmit them back to Goddess Nocturnal and Green Water. But there was still one essential step required before he did so.

And that step was to receive his payment.

Ain had already received payment from Goddess Nocturnal, which set his mind at ease. The price he listed was not in star coins but in energy crystals.

The star coin was established alongside the founding of the Dawnstar Federation, becoming its official currency. It was primarily created to facilitate the mortal economy. The term "mortal" was remains of bygone eras, referring to regular people.

But in the realm of spirit tamers, the principal currency was energy crystals. Energy crystals stood true to their name; they were natural crystals that could store spirit energy.

The Rocky Region that Ain used to visit before was home to several energy crystal mines, mostly in its central region. They were crucial to the city, serving as one of its lifelines. Because of the high regeneration rate, these mines could provide a constant supply of energy crystals.

Energy crystals served numerous other purposes beside from being a currency; they could serve as energy sources for various devices and artifacts, be used as ingredients by craftsman professions, and even allow one to absorb spirit energy for accelerated replenishment, especially during rank breakthroughs and spirit pet evolution.

As such, beyond Rank-1, it was rare to see transactions conducted using star coins. Even some Rank-1 items could only be traded with energy crystals.

One energy crystal was roughly valued at one million star coins. This was also the price Ain had set for measuring attribute traces of a Rank-1 item. So far, he had yet to use Scan on Rank-2 items, so Ain couldn't be sure if he would succeed. Hence, he only provided the attribute traces measurement service for Rank-1 items.

Goddess Nocturnal had sent over nine resource samples while simultaneously transferring nine energy crystals into his account. Just like star coins, Ain could use these energy crystals directly from his account for transactions. He could also physically withdraw them if the need arose.

Looking at the balance in his account, Ain's elation was hard to suppress. If converted to star coins, he had made nine million star coins in this one transaction, where the greatest effort he put in was commuting to the transmission hub.

Furthermore, it was only one of the transactions. Green Water had sent fourteen resource samples, equaling fourteen million star coins.

The income from his weekly trips was incomparable to these numbers.

Calming his emotions, Ain messaged Green Water, requesting his payment. Within ten minutes, his balance increased to twenty-three energy crystals.

Seeing the quick response, Ain couldn't get a read on Green Water's circumstances.

They had sent him the samples, attempted to negotiate afterwards, easily gave in to his refusal, and calmly transferred the payment upon request. Ain couldn't determine whether the other party was being cautious, generous, or naïve.

What he didn't know was that this impression was mostly due to Lord Trystum's servant. Since Lord Trystum had given him the task, it had to be accomplished flawlessly. But no matter how generous Lord Trystum was, the servant's mindset was ultimately different. Hence, in the beginning, they attempted to negotiate the price. But after receiving Ain's blunt refusal, the servant didn't push further in fear of jeopardizing the transaction.

Now that he had received his payment, Ain hurried towards the Cyberspace transmission hub.

Similar to the previous process, he presented the transmission token, which was scanned by the clerk, before handing over the two packages.

Soon after, Ain left the building while contemplating the transmission fee. His twenty-three energy crystals were down to seventeen. Each transmission cost him three energy crystals.

If his customers had only sent three items or less each, Ain wouldn't have profited from these transactions. This was something to keep in mind for the future.

Due to his lack of relevant knowledge, Ain couldn't make a judgment on the transmission distance solely based on the transmission fees. Even though the trading forum was in the Emerald Garden, anyone with a Cyberspace access higher than 3-stars could view it from outside of the Emerald Garden.

Having finished his tasks, Ain walked to the hoverbus station and embarked on his journey home.

Evening was only an hour away by the time he set foot in his apartment. After relaxing with the pups for a while, he headed towards the park to finish his daily training.

...

During the weekend, Ain remained true to his weekly routine and visited the Duskfield Forest.

This was his first trip after the interclass competition, and he was astonished to notice the vast improvement in his abilities.

The most noteworthy contributors to these improvements were undoubtedly the Purple Cloud Fruit and the Secret Phantom Technique.

Other than improving his spirit energy's quality and quantity, the Purple Cloud Fruit had also improved his perception towards spirit energy. Ain had already noticed these changes and even experimented with them in the park.

But only in the Duskfield Forest did he truly realize their true potential. If Ain's perception before was comparable to an oil lantern, then now it had been upgraded to an LED one. It was still a lantern, but the range and quality had increased greatly.

Even without Nox's life aura perception, he could sense the concealed spirit beasts from a farther distance than before. Even the faint spirit energy fluctuations from Rank-1 spirit plants could now be detected.

On the other hand, the effects of the Secret Phantom Technique could be observed in both Ain and Nox.

Ain's natural presence had diminished slightly, making it easier for him to conceal his aura. Paired with his increased perception, Ain's survivability saw a massive boost.

The technique also augmented Nox's skills, directly increasing their power.

When they fought together, no Advanced Rank-1 Spirit Beast was their match. If not for his carrying capacity, Ain would've remained in the Duskfield Forest for a longer duration.

Upon his return, Ain's balance, excluding the energy crystals, had surpassed three million star coins. But this number failed to rouse his excitement. The reason didn't need to be pointed out.

On his way back, he made a stop at Liberty Firm to replenish some of the necessities. He purchased Blood Refinement Pills, alchemy ingredients, resources for Nox, another Rank-0 Ice Crystal for the cat, and some new food for the pups.

With his prospective income, Ain also began looking into some other things, just to be prepared for when he had more energy crystals.

Just like that, the weekend flowed by naturally as he anticipated what was to come.

...

Saint Heart Arcane University.

The bright moon reflected elegantly in the sky river, delivering moonbeams towards the neighboring islands.

On one of these floating islands, Leila returned to her room with hints of fatigue as she softly swept her black hair behind her ear.

Mixed in with the lethargy were hints of expectation and doubt. Two days ago, she had received a message notifying her of a pending package at the Cyberspace transmission hub.

With her busy schedule, she only found the opportunity to visit the transmission hub this evening.

After taking a seat in front of the familiar table, Leila placed the package on top and retrieved the contents. Other than the resource samples, there was a note listing all the resource names, followed by their attribute traces, all measured to one decimal place.

"They can recognize the resources accurately. This is a good sign."

Leila studied the attribute traces for a while before walking out of the room, towards her personal laboratory.

She assembled everything she needed and prepared to concoct the Mystic Sight Pills. With a deep breath, the fatigue was washed away as multiple spells were used to assist in the process.

An hour later, Leila held the freshly concocted Mystic Sight Pills. After reviewing the concoction process and present conditions, she started calculating the expected attribute traces for the pills. She used the data she received from the attribute traces measurement service, resulting in a calculated accuracy of one decimal place.

If the service was indeed authentic, the measurements she receives for the pills should match her calculated attribute traces.

When she was done with all this, Leila placed the pills into a pill bottle and packaged it. She would head over to the transmission hub tomorrow and send the pills over.

...

Aethralis.

In a palace-like mansion, Lord Trystum stared at an evolution potion on the table, contained within a special transparent bottle.

On another table nearby, there was a Rank-0 Coral Toad with a Common quality.

"Hmm, the evolution potion's attribute traces should now match the Coral Toad's."

"Let's test the results. I'll know whether it was a scam or not pretty soon."

After muttering a few words, Lord Trystum fed the evolution potion to the Coral Toad.

Within five seconds of consuming the evolution potion, a soft blue glow suddenly surrounded the Coral Toad, completely shrouding its figure. Sounds of strong waves resounded in the vicinity, and the air in the laboratory grew humid as the Coral Toad's evolution progressed.

A few minutes later, the phenomenon slowly dissipated, along with the light surrounding the Coral Toad.