After confirming that Amy had not followed him, Gaode wandered the streets, looking for a suitable shop.
A city's commercial district, aside from usually being located in the city center, had another characteristic: it tended to develop around the City Lord's Mansion, a church, or a market square. Hogan City was no exception; its commercial district was built around the city square.
Although it adhered to the laws of development, the street layout of Hogan City's commercial district was actually quite chaotic, lacking unified planning. There was only one main road, running north to south, leading straight to the city square. However, there were several branch roads that formed a network of narrow alleys. Because foot traffic in these alleys was low, the corresponding shop rent was also cheap. Therefore, they hid many small businesses and workshops.
After ducking through several alleys in a row, Gaode finally found his target.
It was a grocery store. Compared to the magnificent facades of other large shops, it was much more rudimentary, and its location was remote. At the already shabby entrance stood an even shabbier wooden sign. A few lines were scribbled on it: "Pierre Grocery Store: Sells various finished Potions, Divine Water, herbs, and herb seeds; sells various materials and ores (including Magic Crystals); sells various Low Tier Magical Accessories and Protective Talismans; also provides item recycling and treasure appraisal services."
Looking at the wooden sign that perfectly captured the essence of a small workshop, Gaode nodded slightly. This was exactly what he needed.
When Gaode walked into the grocery store, the owner, Pierre, was curled up on a recliner behind the counter, resting with half-open eyes. It was obvious that business was usually quite slow.
"Take a look around for whatever you need. If it's not on the shelves, it doesn't mean we don't have it; some of the goods are in the back warehouse," Pierre casually called out. The store owner was an old man who looked quite advanced in years. He clearly heard Gaode's footsteps but didn't even bother to lift his head.
Gaode casually glanced around and found that although the items here were numerous and cluttered, they were kept quite neat and tidy.
"I saw the wooden sign at the door says item recycling. Do you take anything?" Gaode cut straight to the chase.
"Of course not." Pierre shook his head, still showing no intention of getting up. "This is a grocery store, not a junkyard. It has to be something of value."
"What about Magic Potions?" Gaode asked, browsing the Potions displayed on the shelves. There was a huge variety, but they were all Zero Tier Potions.
"Let's see the goods." Hearing this, Pierre showed a bit of interest. He finally opened his half-squinted eyes and climbed up from the recliner.
The Basic Spider Venom Potion was not some rare treasure, so there was no need to hide it. Gaode immediately took out three small bottles of Basic Spider Venom Potion from his bag and placed them on the counter.
"Basic Spider Venom Potion." A faint Spiritual Light flashed across Pierre's eyes, the hallmark of casting the Trick, Detect Magic. He then nodded and said, "The Spiritual Light is very bright; the quality is quite good."
Gaode muttered to himself, "Mastering a single Magic allows one to be called a Mage Apprentice. Therefore, this shop owner is at least a Mage Apprentice. Given his age, even if his talent is poor, his strength is definitely higher than mine..."
"Here, my standard purchasing price for a set of Basic Spider Venom Potion is normally thirty silver coins. Your goods are of excellent quality, so I'll add an extra silver coin per small bottle. That makes it thirty-three silver coins for the set," Pierre offered straightforwardly.
This was an absolutely fair purchasing price. The long-term purchasing price that Mage Seda had negotiated was only forty silver coins (two gold coins).
"Deal," Gaode agreed without hesitation, feeling quite satisfied.
After the transaction was completed, Gaode did not leave.
"Do you still need something?" Pierre took the initiative to ask.
Gaode leaned closer to the counter and lowered his voice. "Do you have any Magic Formulas for sale here?"
A moment of dead silence ensued.
"In Sean, the private trading of Magic Formulas is strictly forbidden." The politeness faded from Pierre's face, leaving him expressionless.
In fact, it wasn't just the Sean Duchy; almost all the countries across the entire continent had similar regulations, classifying Magic Formulas as controlled items and restricting their private trade. If a Mage wanted to purchase a Magic Formula, they could only go to the official Mage Association or certain officially permitted Mage organizations.
There were many reasons for this.
In the world before Gaode's transmigration, controlled items generally fell into three categories. The first category included items with massive lethality that could pose a severe threat to social order, such as firearms, ammunition, and controlled knives. The second category involved items that infringed on intellectual property rights, including pirated software and pirated audio-visual products. The final category consisted of items that generated huge profits but could inherently cause harm, with tobacco being the most typical example.
Surprisingly, Magic Formulas met all three of these conditions.
First, they allowed the buyer to master Magic with powerful lethality or destructive capability. They were equivalent to "firearms and ammunition," or perhaps even worse.
Additionally, Magic Formulas were extremely profitable. At the end of the day, they were nothing more than a piece of paper with some words on it. They cost practically nothing to make yet could be sold for astronomical prices. The average price of a 0th Ring Magic Formula was as high as six gold coins, which already represented hundreds or thousands of times the profit margin. The average price of a 1st Ring Magic Formula was even higher, at twenty-five gold coins. Because they were essentially selling knowledge, the paper was merely the medium.
Finally, Magic Formulas were far too easy to fake, and private trading could not guarantee their authenticity. If fake formulas were to flood the market, it would cause severe harm to the entire country. The reason they were called Magic Formulas was that mastering a Magic required not only diligent practice and talent but also the consumption of the corresponding Magic Potion.
Therefore, a complete Magic Formula included not only the Magic's introduction, Magic Model, and casting techniques, but also the corresponding Magic Potion recipe. If someone bought a fake Magic Formula, they would brew a fake potion. Not only would they lose everything and go bankrupt, but consuming a fake potion also carried a high probability of resulting in fatal accidents.
Taking all of these factors into consideration, various countries implemented strict controls on Magic Formulas. This practice killed four birds with one stone: it increased national revenue, maintained market order, protected the "intellectual property" of Mages, and prevented the uncontrolled spread of Magic.
Of course, no matter how strict the controls were, it was impossible to completely ban the private trading of Magic Formulas. This was because the act of trading itself was difficult to identify. For example, Mage Seda teaching Tricks to his apprentices was clearly not considered a trade and was thus permitted. Therefore, as long as there was no evidence, many acts of privately trading Magic Formulas could simply be called "teaching." Who could do anything about it then?
Of course, in most situations, Mages would rather buy Magic Formulas from official channels at a high price than choose private trading, even if the private prices were much cheaper. The Magic Formulas from official channels might be expensive, but their authenticity was guaranteed. Who could guarantee the authenticity of Magic Formulas from other channels?
After all, the threshold for faking a formula was incredibly low; anyone could do it. Moreover, the materials required for a Magic Potion were often much more expensive than the formula itself. Trying to save a little money by buying a fake formula, only to end up wasting even more money on the materials to brew a fake Magic Potion, simply wasn't worth the loss.