Chapter 567: Vault
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
In reality, when William invited Lin Li to the vault of the Time Consignment Store, he had the intention to atone for his mistakes and get closer to Lin Li. The vault contained treasures that had been accumulated and collected by more than 10 generations over hundreds of years. It could be said to be the foundation of the Time Consignment Store, and the treasures in the vault were priceless. Lin Li was the first outsider to visit the vault in hundreds of years.
That alone showed how important the cooperation was to William.
Along the way, they were all heavily guarded. The guards of the Time Consignment Store protected the Time Consignment Store seamlessly with numerous magic gears and mageweaths, which made Lin Li feel a little daunted. If William did not lead the way, he would probably have to pay a huge price to get into the vault with the current abilities of the Tower of Dusk.
The passageway of the basement continued to extend all the way down, and when they reached almost 100 meters below ground, they finally saw a huge metal gate which was almost 10 meters high. They had no idea what kind of metal it was made of, but there was an icy cold, metallic luster that showed some magical waves on it. However, they did not know if the waves had come from the metal gate itself, or from the treasures hidden behind.
William stopped in his tracks when he was in front of the entrance, and whipped out a bunch of keys from his chest pocket with a solemn expression.
There were hundreds of keys in the bunch, and William began to insert these keys into the keyhole one by one, and twisted them each time they were inserted. William looked just like an old man whose vision was blurry trying hard to find the key to his own home.
Are you kidding me… Lin Li was secretly amused, and he even chuckled. However, he could no longer chuckle soon enough, because he discovered that the angle and strength applied by William was different each time he twisted the key.
Damn it, so it’s a Magical Thousand-contraption Lock. How generous of the Time Consignment Store… By the time William stuck the key inside the keyhole, Lin Li could already tell that the lock of the vault was a Magical Thousand-contraption Lock, which was rumored to be unbreakable even for the Legendary-realm Bandits.
Lin Li didn’t research too much about magic gears; he was at most just a Master. There was a definite gap between his knowledge of magic gears and that of magical enchantment and potion-making. However, when Lin Li was in the Endless World, he had heard of such locks. Legend had it that there were countless variants of Magical Thousand-contraption Locks, each of which could generate countless possibilities. Even the omniscient deities could not unlock them by calculation alone.
The only way to open the Magical Thousand-contraption Lock was to use hundreds to thousands of keys which were to be twisted in different angles. There must not be any errors throughout the process.
Of course, only a hundred-something keys were used for this lock, and it was not the most complicated one of all. A truly impressive Magical Thousand-contraption Lock would require more than a thousand keys, and some absurd ones would require more than 10,000 ones. Of course, such locks only existed in legends. Lin Li remembered that the Magical Thousand-contraption Locks were also known as Vientiane.
Although it was only a basic Magical Thousand-contraption Lock, it still took William half an hour to unlock. By the time William stopped, he had already broken out into sweat that stained his forehead. “Alright, Mage Felic, we can go in now.”
William opened the door slowly after speaking apologetically.
Everyone was instantly greeted with a clear view of what was inside the vault. It was not luxurious or full of gems; most of the items were peculiar and bizarre collectibles instead. There was a plethora of magical equipment, magical gemstones, and other gear used by various professions, such as pharmaceutical tools, and furnaces and hammers used by blacksmiths. There were also inscription brushes for mageweath-inscribing and various tools for the crafting of magic gears.
The group took a sweeping glance at the items, and soon arrived in the area where formulas were kept. William carefully opened a magic chest, and retrieved some scrolls. He specially took out six scrolls which he then handed to Lin Li, and conscientiously said, “Master Felic, I’m really sorry. These six scrolls should be a part of the potion formula that I had given you previously. Please check that it’s correct.” Had he known earlier that the formula was for such an impressive potion, he wouldn’t have given it away so willingly.
Before Lin Li even extended his hand, Wilkinson and the other pharmacists grabbed the scrolls and opened one of them before handing it to Lin Li.
Lin Li had already studied the formula, and after taking a quick glance at the scrolls, he was certain that it was the formula for the Divine Potion. The scroll contained the design sketches for some equipment to be used for the preparation. Although Lin Li remained calm on the surface, he was actually secretly feeling happy about it. it contained various principles of pharmaceutics, and it was indeed a recipe that could help one be promoted to a Divine Smith.
Of course, the formula alone was not enough. Lin Li had studied the formula he had thoroughly, and discovered that all of the required herbs were rare and hard to find. However, it was just one of the problems. The materials that were to be used with the specialized equipment and tools were extremely rare, and the crafting process was tedious too. The process of concocting potions required more than just precision in technique. It also required the mastery of the Rule Power.
Lin Li knew that if the tough conditions were met, he would probably get to be promoted to a Divine Smith, which was the pinnacle of the pharmaceutical industry. It was said to be a level that only gods and deities could reach!
Next, Lin Li proceeded to look at the other formulas. Although none of them impressed him, their effects were still rather attractive.
For example, one of the formulas that was for a Dragon’s Clout potion was actually rather rare, and the potion formulated using it would allow the user to temporarily obtain the power of a Wyrm. There would be huge improvement in physical strength and power, and the herbs required by that potion were not that difficult to obtain. The cost price of one serving of that potion was at most 20,000 gold coins. A weak army of soldiers would experience a massive increase and battle power if combined with a large supply of Dragon’s Clout potion.
The Withering Potion was a natural magical buff that would allow one to be almost immune to magic after consuming it. Although the effects would only last for a short period of time, a mere minute was enough to cause terrible damage to a mage who was an expert in nature magic.
For example, if Lin Li had had a bottle of Withering Potion during the battle just then, he would have been able to defeat Vidas more decisively.
As Lin Li browsed through the formulas in his hand one by one, his grin became wider and wider. They were precious gems that could not be bought with money. Besides, he already had a team of capable pharmacists, and the Tower of Dusk would have plenty of formidable potions once the batch of herbs from Seven Leaf Grass arrived.
At this moment, William could tell from the look on Lin Li’s face that he was confident of making potions out of these formulas which had been said by pharmaceutical Masters to be impossible to concoct. Hence, he took the opportunity to smilingly say, “Master Felic, do consider cooperating with us.”
Lin Li nodded silently without even looking at William.
William did not find anything wrong with his attitude, because he knew that a pharmacist would be greatly enticed by a formula that he had never seen before, just like mages who were attracted to new magical spells.
Hence, William cleared his throat again gently, and then, with a smile on his face, said, “Master Felic, I already have a plan for our cooperation. I shall tell you about it. Formulas are the most important when it comes to pharmaceutics, followed by the herbs required during the concoction. Hence, after I gave it some consideration, I suggest that I supply you with all of the herbs that are required by the formulas, while the Tower of Dusk provides the concoction technique. We shall split the sales proceeds of the potions in a 60:40 ratio, with the Time Consignment Store enjoying a 60% share and 40% for Tower of Dusk. What do you think?”
Lin Li smiled and waved at Wilkinson, gesturing for him and his peers to put the formulas down. He then turned around and looked at William quietly, after which he turned around and walked towards the vault’s exit. Wilkinson and the rest hurriedly cast the formulas aside and chased after Lin Li.
William panicked, for the formulas would go to waste if there wasn’t someone to use them to concoct potions. He frantically chased after Lin Li and begged, “Master Felic, please don’t go, please don’t go. If there’s anything that you’re upset about, we can always talk things out. Business is all about discussing.”
Lin Li stopped in his tracks and glanced at William derisively. He then said with a faint smile, “That’s right, business deals happen after discussion. However, Mr. William, you seem to have forgotten that I’m not a businessman. I’m just a mage, and discussion doesn’t exist in the dictionaries of mages.”
William felt his heart contracting vigorously, and he finally realized what the problem was. The young man in front of him was not his usual business partners. He was a powerful mage who had defeated Master Vidas from the Elven Kingdom in the Harvest Square not too long ago. He was a level-22 Legendary-mage—a terrifying existence.