With three silver coins, Li Fei purchased two bottles of potion.
Besides the soporific, she had also picked out a healing potion.
[Margaret's Curative Potion (Defective)]
Potion Rating: ?
Effect: If the consumer's Constitution is below 20, death will occur within three minutes of ingestion.
She couldn't accurately measure a Transcendent's Constitution — but by her rough estimate, a Sequence 9 Transcendent, or even a Sequence 8 mage, wouldn't last three minutes after drinking this thing.
"Brother, it's time for your medicine…"
Li Fei muttered under her breath as she carefully packed away the bottles and bid the vendor farewell.
Bai Mengtian fell into step beside her, eyeing her up and down with the scrutiny of a wife inspecting a husband who'd snuck home at midnight — checking for suspicious traces, like lipstick smudges and worse.
"Why are you looking at me like that…"
Li Fei felt a twinge of guilt.
"Best friend, do you have a system or something? Or maybe the soul of some wise old alchemist grandpa tagging along behind you…"
Bai Mengtian's eyes sparkled with open curiosity. "I refuse to believe you picked those at random."
"Ugh."
Li Fei gave a theatrical shudder. "I'm not some protagonist with a mysterious old man hovering around me 24/7 — one who might peep on me in the bath, in the bathroom, or sneak into a little girl's room in the dead of night to 'nurture her constitution.' Zero privacy. I'd have a breakdown."
"So you do have a system."
Bai Mengtian's tone dripped with vinegar. "I'm reporting this. Someone is cheating."
"I, Li Fei, am absolutely not cheating."
Li Fei held firm, doubling down stubbornly. "I picked those potions on pure instinct."
"In that case…" Bai Mengtian seemed to have thought of something. Her expression turned serious. "You might have an Innate Talent for good fortune and avoiding disaster, you know. If that's actually the case — best friend, you've struck gold."
"Oh? Tell me more about Innate Talents."
Li Fei slid a sidelong glance at her own Innate Talent — Depravity — and asked without any change in expression.
"Innate Talents are gifts bestowed by the laws of existence — persistent abilities that can't be replicated. Generally speaking, Transcendents on the Knowledge Sequence have a chance to awaken an Innate Talent when they advance to Sequence 9, Sequence 6, and Sequence 3."
Bai Mengtian explained, "Most Innate Talents are fairly mediocre, but occasionally you'll see exceptional ones that provide enormous advantages to a Transcendent… Organizations like the Magic Academy have spent thousands of years researching the mysteries behind Innate Talents and have mapped out certain patterns — enough to help their core members improve their odds of awakening a high-quality talent. That said, the deepest secrets of Innate Talents have yet to be fully unraveled…"
"What we can say with confidence is that the probability, quality, and type of an Innate Talent awakening are all tied to a Transcendent's Class, Aptitude, the Transcendent knowledge they've mastered, their personality, their soul — and even their fate. The major factions approach it from all those angles when trying to help their core members awaken superior talents."
"Of course, there are also lucky individuals — or races with exceptionally powerful bloodlines — who are simply born with one or even multiple Innate Talents."
"Take the top-ranked bloodline Transcendent: the Black Dragon. Its 'Spell Immunity' talent is the stuff of nightmares for every mage alive."
Something clicked in Li Fei's mind, and she pressed forward with barely contained excitement: "So — is there any way to detect someone else's Innate Talent?"
"Plenty."
Bai Mengtian smiled lightly. "Interrogation, kidnapping, manipulation, mind-reading, mental domination…"
"Stop, stop — I meant without resorting to extreme measures."
Li Fei added hastily.
"But those are all perfectly normal methods?"
Bai Mengtian looked genuinely puzzled.
"Hisss…"
Li Fei sucked in a sharp breath, realizing with dawning horror that her best friend's moral compass was oriented considerably further south than her own.
Is this what a world of the strong looks like? Terrifying. Absolutely terrifying.
"What I mean is," Li Fei clarified carefully, "can someone discern another person's Innate Talent without causing offense?"
"No."
Bai Mengtian understood now and shook her head. "No known item or skill can peer into another person's Class or Innate Talent. You can only observe and deduce through indirect means."
Excellent.
Li Fei clenched her fist in quiet triumph.
From here on out, anything the system helps me with, I can just attribute to my Innate Talent. No one can prove otherwise!
In high spirits, Li Fei milked her dear best friend for more information without an ounce of guilt:
"I see, I see… Best friend, I'll be honest — I seem to have a talent for appraising the value of items. Roughly what tier would that fall under?"
"Gold tier, at minimum."
Bai Mengtian replied, "By the Magic Academy's classification system, Innate Talents are ranked Bronze, Silver, Gold, Crystal, and Gem. Your talent has no combat value, but there are nine schools of Transcendent knowledge after all — for aristocratic-class Transcendents, a talent like that can generate very considerable returns."
"So I, Li Fei, have the makings of nobility?"
Li Fei put one hand on her hip and let out a couple of smug little hums.
"When you're rich and powerful, don't forget about me."
Bai Mengtian played along, wrapping herself around Li Fei's arm and pulling the expression of someone angling to be kept.
"Don't worry, I won't…" Li Fei paused, then asked with genuine curiosity, "Speaking of which — what's your Innate Talent?"
"I don't have one."
Bai Mengtian answered with breezy nonchalance.
"Huh?"
Li Fei was stunned. "But you're…"
The words died on her tongue as the implication landed.
No Innate Talent — and Bai Mengtian is still a once-in-four-millennia genius. What does that say?
She's done it again. She's showing off without even trying.
Li Fei puffed out her cheeks and turned her head away in protest.
Bai Mengtian kept her smile — but the soft warmth in her gaze carried a faint trace of something else, the particular expression reserved for a beloved, hopeless best friend.
Even a high-Sequence powerhouse could only observe that Li Fei's affinity for Transcendent knowledge read as zero — no Aptitude to speak of whatsoever. Only Bai Mengtian could see with perfect clarity the mana coiled dormant within Li Fei's body, quietly maintaining its activity at every moment.
It was abundantly clear that Li Fei — who had not yet crossed the threshold to Sequence 9 — had nonetheless mastered at least one school of Transcendent knowledge, enough to have begun rousing her sleeping mana from its slumber. In fact, Bai Mengtian had taken a moment during a recent outing to glance across several kilometers at the aftermath of the battle site where Eddy and his companions had died, and the entire sequence of events had reconstructed itself in her mind instantly — she had discerned that Li Fei had mastered at least two schools of Transcendent knowledge.
Which raised a rather pressing question:
How was a best friend with zero Aptitude pulling off things that countless prodigies at the Magic Academy couldn't?\
A grandmaster's talent was impressive, certainly — but a person with no measurable Aptitude producing results this monstrous? The moment any high-Sequence Transcendent noticed the discrepancy, Li Fei would find herself in very serious trouble.
Li Fei, still full of blind spots in her knowledge, had no idea that high-Sequence powerhouses functioned as living Aptitude detectors — and in her carelessness, she had already exposed far too many suspicious inconsistencies.
Bai Mengtian didn't particularly mind whatever secrets Li Fei was sitting on. She had even quietly cleaned up the traces of combat at the wolf den where Li Fei had killed Eddy's group, leaving Kenneth with the mistaken impression that Li Fei had hired outside help for the ambush. But if another high-Sequence Transcendent noticed Li Fei's anomalies, there was no guarantee they would be so benevolent.
Still, Bai Mengtian didn't dwell on it overmuch. She simply watched her best friend's little performance with quiet appreciation — because in all her years, her life had grown unbearably dull. Her unmatched Aptitude, fortune, and charm had made it all too easy to live a life that would make even the gods blush, but that very ease had stripped away the joy of struggle. The rare noble who'd failed to read the room had been dealt with before she'd even warmed up — strung from lamp posts before she'd really started.
Meeting Li Fei had woken something in Bai Mengtian — pulled her out of a gilded, stagnant existence. She found herself genuinely curious how far this best friend of hers, so perfectly matched in temperament, would go. It reminded her of the pleasure she'd once taken in chasing the latest chapters of a serialized novel.
"Come on, hurry up."
Li Fei laced her fingers through Bai Mengtian's and looked around with lively, curious eyes.
Walking a step behind, Bai Mengtian felt as though she were watching a door blow open — and beyond it, brilliant light. Li Fei's hand in hers, pulling her across the threshold, and before her stretched the stage of a fate she longed for and could not predict.
"So dazzling…"
Bai Mengtian murmured to herself.
"What was that?"
Li Fei glanced back, puzzled.
"Nothing."
A contented smile settled at the corner of Bai Mengtian's lips. She broke into a little jog to catch up and looped her arm through Li Fei's.
...
"Sister, are you really going to…"
Before the entrance of the Golden Kumquat Tavern, a tall and striking young elven girl — green hair, green eyes, clean and elegant — fidgeted nervously with the hem of her clothes, words trailing off into silence.
Had Li Fei been there, she would have recognized her instantly: this was Beatrice, the elven beauty she had crossed paths with once after first arriving in Loxibrook.
"Yes."
Standing in front of Beatrice was a woman whose face bore a striking seven-or-eight-tenths resemblance to hers — the same green hair falling to her waist, but with golden irises instead of green. She gave a calm, measured nod.
Beatrice stroked Fufu the unicorn's rainbow-colored mane with considerable force, wrestling with herself for a long moment before finally venturing:
"Sister, if you're short on money, I can give you some… you really don't have to…"
"I've already decided."
Isabella's expression softened briefly, and she refused her younger sister's offer with quiet finality. "Beatrice, you and I are different. You were born with exceptional Aptitude — you broke free from the constraints of the bloodline early and stepped onto the Knowledge Sequence long ago."
"I, on the other hand, must first survive the 'Blood Elf Ritual' before I can hope to elevate my Aptitude and reach deeper layers of Transcendent power. If I can actually reach that point, I'll be starting from zero — climbing the mountain of Transcendent knowledge from the very bottom."
"Our clan's support has its limits. The Transcendent path's hunger for resources is limitless. I ought to plan ahead and gather provisions for myself in advance."
"Besides —" A faint weariness crossed her features. "I've been guarding that wolf den for years. I'm tired of it. I want to see different scenery."
"But…"
Beatrice stamped her foot. "Why does it have to be now?"
"Last month, I came across an Eastern girl who seemed bent on dying — she walked into the wolf den alone. When she came back out, she was lying on a circling griffin, barely breathing. Lady Gneia had to save her life…"
Isabella sighed softly. "A few days ago, I saw her again."
"So?"
Beatrice didn't follow.
"The value of a single mage's robe that Eastern girl was wearing exceeded my entire life savings."
Isabella tugged the corner of her mouth upward. "You know the Golden Kumquat Tavern is run by Lady Gneia. I want to try my luck there too."
Beatrice stared, jaw slack, watching the retreating figure of her sister walking toward the Golden Kumquat Tavern to apply for work — and found she had absolutely nothing left to say in protest. In fact, she felt a faint stirring of temptation herself.
That much money just from selling wine? After only one month on the job?! Even Transcendents earned fast, but the spending never seemed to slow down either…
Maybe I could…
No. Absolutely not.
I'm a Sequence 6 Beastmaster! I have dignity. I have standards.
Though… just how beautiful did that Eastern girl have to be for clients to spend that kind of money on her?
For some reason, Beatrice found herself thinking back to the encounter two months ago — she could still picture clearly that strange-clothed, bright-eyed Eastern girl with her gleaming teeth and striking face.
…Had she learned the Common Tongue by now?
...
"Ugh, scammers, scammers, all of them scammers."
Having wasted a full hour with nothing to show for it, Li Fei swung Bai Mengtian's arm back and forth in vocal complaint.
The dizzying array of bizarre and flashy Transcendent artifacts crammed into every stall was, in the vast majority of cases, fake junk designed to fool the gullible.
The rare genuine articles, meanwhile, were priced like they owed money.
Even the stalls selling defective potions were nearly impossible to find a second time around.
The star courtesan had poked and prodded at everything in sight until her fingertips were practically worn smooth — at this rate, how was she supposed to hold anyone's hand in the future?
"People with a good eye aren't exactly rare, you know. Bargains don't just fall into your lap," Bai Mengtian said, thoroughly enjoying the situation. "As for defective potions — first, they have a limited shelf life; second, the risk is too high and almost no one dares buy them; third, if someone drinks one and dies, the seller is an easy target for revenge. Not many people want to deal in that kind of merchandise."
"Hmph."
Li Fei stomped her foot and sulked in silence.
"That said… you've only been browsing street stalls. You haven't visited any proper shops yet."
Bai Mengtian suggested, "Try asking at one of the busier apothecaries — a decent stock of defective potions shouldn't be hard to find."
"You could have told me that earlier."
"And miss watching you insist on combing every single stall first?" Bai Mengtian teased. "Wasn't it you who swore up and down, just a little while ago, that you would find something good out here?"
Li Fei's face went faintly pink. She rapidly redirected her gaze to a storefront not far away. "Let's check that shop first."
"Qin's Apothecary? Sure."
Before Bai Mengtian had even finished the sentence, Li Fei had grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her toward the shop entrance.
The curtain parted, and a breath of fragrant incense immediately curled into their nostrils, gently masking the not-unpleasant smell of medicinal herbs beneath.
The shop wasn't crowded — a few scattered customers were chatting quietly with the staff.
"What can I help you with today? Herbs or potions?"
A fresh-faced young shop clerk stepped forward at once, a polished smile in place.
"I'd like to buy some defective potions."
Li Fei offered the most embarrassed, impoverished smile in her repertoire.
The clerk blinked, clearly not expecting two such strikingly beautiful women to turn out to be broke. Even cash-strapped Transcendents usually bought at least one or two proper potions first, keeping the defective ones as a last resort. But a customer who waltzed straight in asking for defectives — that was a first.
She recovered quickly, her smile unchanged. "Of course, please give me just a moment. Which category of defective potion were you looking for? I'll fetch them for you."
"Actually…" Li Fei hesitated a little. "Could you bring out all of your defective potions and let me have a look through them?"
"Ah, well…" The clerk paused again, then gently explained, "You really can't tell the effects from appearance alone…"
"I've had good luck since I was a child. I feel better picking things out myself. Please — I'm begging you."
Li Fei pressed her palms together in a little plea, lightly biting her lower lip, and directed at the clerk the most shamelessly effective soft look in her arsenal — the kind of gaze that worked especially well when asking a woman for a favor.
This expression, powered by nearly two hundred points of Charisma — can you really resist that?
The clerk could not.
Her heartbeat stuttered, and in a pleasantly dazed state she agreed to Li Fei's request — only snapping back to her senses a few steps later:
If she'd been lucky since childhood, why would she be buying defective potions in the first place?
That excuse was far too flimsy.
So on her way to retrieve the potions, she gave a colleague a quiet tap on the shoulder. "Could you ask Miss Zhihua to come down and keep an eye on things? The two new customers are a little… unusual."
That done, she efficiently hauled out a crate of potions.
"Thank you."
Li Fei flexed her clever, pale fingers, her heart brimming with barely suppressed anticipation.
It felt exactly like showing up to a scratch-ticket booth with X-ray vision.
Time to put the cheat codes to work.
____
________________________________________
🌸 Help Love Bloom!
Our girls need a little push... and you can help!
💖 Gift for Everyone: Once we hit 50 Powerstones, I'll release +1 bonus chapter to warm your hearts.
🚀 Community Reward: If we reach 20 supporting members, we'll have a +5 chapter marathon across all stories! The romance won't stop.
👻 Come to our secret corner: Search for GirlsLove on (P). You know that's where the magic happens... 😉