Chapter Fourteen: The Deal (Humbly Seeking Your Votes and Support)

“Little brother, do you have any potions?” Oakdin’s gaze grew eager.

“I do have some, but you might find them unappealing.”

At the thought of the peculiar concoctions he had created, Murong Xun couldn’t help but rub his forehead. He could indeed choose not to use his innate talent, avoiding any side effects, but then the potions wouldn’t reach high star ratings and their effectiveness would be limited.

“No, no, not at all!” Oakdin assumed Murong Xun thought himself above them and feared disdain, so he quickly assured him otherwise. “Take a look first!”

Murong Xun presented the instant healing ramen he had crafted. At the moment, this was the only product he could confidently offer. He had made quite a few before, but potions were scarce, mostly just enough for his own use.

“Hmm…” Seeing the attributes, Oakdin felt a slight twinge. Healing within ten minutes was decent, the first use granting a stat boost was a good effect, and the drawback of reducing a stat for a day after use was tolerable. But immediate diarrhea? What was that about?

Given their current lack of resources, they had no choice but to accept it, as something was better than nothing.

“How many do you have?”

“How many do you need?”

Murong Xun checked his inventory. In his spare time, he had produced quite a stockpile. Once made, these items were pure profit if sold, and if not sold, he could use them himself. Thus, he had accumulated a fair amount.

In the Magic Tower, consumables were a major expense. Ordinary healing potions cost hundreds, and items like healing ramen were even rarer.

“Oh? Looks like you’ve got a good stash. How many can you sell us?”

Oakdin didn’t ask about the price, his tone commanding.

“I can spare two hundred portions. Let’s say one hundred Paradise Coins each.”

When it came to business, Murong Xun was unapologetic. If someone was willing to be a big spender, he wasn’t about to be modest. Although he had a decent amount of Paradise Coins, as his level rose, consumption would skyrocket. It was wise to stock up now.

“That works!”

Oakdin nodded immediately. He was even surprised Murong Xun had so much stored, and the price wasn’t too steep. To Oakdin, buying such consumables for a hundred coins in the dungeon world was a bargain. He had braced himself for being overcharged.

“Consider it a favor owed. Once you get inside the Magic Tower’s inner sanctum, you can call on our Myth team for help, as long as it’s not too excessive.”

Hearing Oakdin’s promise, Ding Xiang and the others were stunned. This was the captain of Myth speaking — his word carried great weight.

“No need.”

Murong Xun replied coolly. The future was uncertain, and business was business. It was best not to mix it with personal favors.

“You’re alright!”

Oakdin laughed heartily, not offended at all. In fact, he made a mental note of him. Favors weren’t just spoken; they had to be earned and repaid. Oakdin realized his offer might have been ill-advised — Myth had rivals, and if others found out, it could bring trouble to Murong Xun.

“I have some materials and a potion recipe. Can you help us craft it?”

Oakdin recalled a recipe they had obtained in a previous world. Initially, they had hoped to sell it for a high price, but now they needed that particular potion.

If they returned from this world empty-handed, all their investments would be wasted. Even Myth’s team, flush with resources, couldn’t afford such losses.

“I’m not sure I can make it.”

Considering his alchemist level, Murong Xun didn’t want to promise.

“You can take a look first,” Oakdin offered.

After finalizing the trade and storing the two hundred ramen portions, Oakdin shared the recipe’s attributes with Murong Xun.

[Dragonblood Potion: Bathed in dragon’s blood, grow stronger with every battle!]

[Quality: Rare, Recipe Type]

[Effect: Instantly restores 5% health, 10-second cooldown]

[Crafting Requirement: Alchemy Mastery or above]

After reviewing it, Murong Xun frowned.

“I can make it, but the success rate is very low.”

His alchemist level had just reached Mastery Level 3 through constant crafting. Creating such a rare potion was a huge challenge.

“Just being able to make it is enough!”

Oakdin was ecstatic. The difficulty of instant healing potions was known, and no one else could make them right now. Finding someone willing was already fortunate.

“I’ll give you the recipe as payment. You just make the potions for us, success or failure—we’ll bear the risk.”

“Agreed!”

Without hesitation, Murong Xun nodded. Such a recipe was invaluable after the Magic Tower, even more precious than passive skills, because it was a money-making tool. Receiving it for free pleased him immensely.

“However, I have another proposal. You can consider it.”

“Go on.”

Oakdin raised an eyebrow. He found this man intriguing. In the past, no one had dared to bargain so freely in his presence.

“I have a talent that can increase the star rating of crafted items by one level and possibly improve success rates significantly,” Murong Xun confessed.

“But it comes with a catch—all crafted items have side effects.”

“What kind of side effects?”

Oakdin recalled the dark ramen from before.

“I don’t know,” Murong Xun shook his head. “The effects are completely random.”

“Random?”

Oakdin’s expression flickered uneasily. Randomness meant unpredictable outcomes—anything could happen.

“Then let’s craft one bottle and see.”

“Alright!”

Murong Xun agreed.

“I’ll have the others bring the materials over.”

Oakdin called the other three teammates to join them.

“Now that we have consumables sorted, let’s discuss other matters.”

“Other matters?” Ding Xiang and the others were curious.

“What else is there?”

“I want to hire you to join us on a mission to the center of the Mist. We’ll cover your consumables and pay each of you ten thousand Paradise Coins.”

Oakdin laid out the offer directly.

Having traversed multiple divine realms and hunted countless deities, they had amassed considerable divine power and numerous valuable items. Their stash of Paradise Coins was substantial. If it weren’t for the extraordinary costs of entering worlds with deities, they would have even more.

Spending tens of thousands to hire help was no big deal to them.

Ding Xiang, Ye Cangyi, and Zhong exchanged glances, genuinely surprised by Oakdin’s generosity.

Some people barely earned ten thousand coins in a whole world, yet here they were casually offering that amount upfront.

Since their mission already related to the Mist, there was no reason to refuse.

This meant they could leverage Myth’s strength and earn money—a perfect arrangement.

“Alright!”

Ding Xiang pretended to contemplate briefly before agreeing.

Oakdin was overjoyed. He didn’t care what they thought; as long as the god-hunting task was completed, the expenditure was worth it. Divine power gains made it all worthwhile.

Soon, the other three Myth members arrived at the designated spot.

“Let me introduce you. This is our frontliner, Zosis!”

Oakdin introduced the shorter but very sturdy man.

“Boss!”

Zosis glanced arrogantly at the group, merely greeting Oakdin. He saw no reason to acknowledge the others.

“This is our support, Sars.”

Oakdin continued.

“Greetings, everyone!”

Sars was friendlier, smiling as he greeted them.

“And this is our damage dealer, Keld.”

Oakdin introduced the last member, revealing only his name.

“Hello.”

Keld nodded coolly in acknowledgment.

Having spoken with them over the team channel earlier, they all brought out the materials they carried. Some were collected personally, others exchanged with others. Since the quantity was large, the four divided the load to free up space.

Soon, piles of rare materials were amassed on the ground.

Seeing this, Ding Xiang and the others’ expressions were remarkable.

It was clear these were big shots—the materials alone were worth fortunes far beyond anything they could afford.

There were only five piles, five types of materials, yet each was extraordinarily expensive. Buying even one would be painful, let alone such quantities.

Murong Xun was moved too. This would greatly boost his alchemist rank!

But he was also anxious. With so many precious rare materials at stake, what if he failed multiple times? Would they get angry enough to take action against him?

That worried him most.

As for himself, having already profited, he cared little for more.

To get a free recipe and so many rare materials to level up—this was a treasure few could find even with a lantern.

Yet, with all eyes fixed on him, he found it impossible to refuse.

Oakdin handed him the recipe without hesitation.

He had no fear Murong Xun would betray them after learning it or make potions and refuse to hand them over.

Frankly, in the Second Tier Zone and below, few had the means to challenge them. Those who dared usually had powerful backers anyway.