Chapter 504: Chapter 245: Nolen Commerce Association, The Elemental Affinity Decay Formula

"Welcome to the Nolen Commerce Association."

The moment they stepped inside, two very beautiful, formally dressed attendants bowed slightly to them.

Their level of professionalism was clearly a cut above that of ordinary shop staff, as if they truly came from noble families.

It reminded Lin Mo of his time staying at the City Lord’s Mansion in Silver Stream City.

In an instant, the Alchemy Shop’s image became incredibly upscale.

The decor could be described in three words: opulent and elegant.

And it wasn’t the gaudy, glittering gold kind of luxury. Instead, it was tasteful, emphasizing a style that was lavish but not ostentatious, exquisite but not contrived.

Every aspect of the layout was arranged to feel perfectly comfortable to the eye.

’The owner of this shop is definitely a person of refined taste!’

"Sir, how may I help you?"

Barely two or three seconds after they entered, a shopping guide hurried over. She was clearly another professionally trained employee, her movements and expression perfectly polished.

"We’re looking to purchase one Basic Ice Element Reagent, one Exquisite Level Fire Element Magic Stone, and one Exquisite Level Ice Element Magic Stone."

For now, at least, Lin Mo’s Magic still primarily centered on Ice and Fire.

Besides, the Secret Silver Gloves could only be socketed with two Magic Stones. Many Magic Staffs could only hold one.

Other than special cases like gloves, Magical Weapons capable of holding multiple Magic Stones required specially designed circuit pathways and were rarely used by anyone. They would most likely need to be custom-ordered.

That was something to consider when forging more powerful weapons in the future.

But not now...

For the moment, Lin Mo’s focus was on forging a better pair of Secret Silver Gloves.

Besides, two Magic Stones were more or less enough. Anymore sockets and he wouldn’t be able to afford the extra stones, and their utility wouldn’t be as great as the Ice and Fire Attributes anyway.

"Of course. Please follow me."

The shopping guide nodded and immediately led them deeper into the shop.

"Here we are... For the Basic Ice Element Reagent you require, our shop offers a variety of different quality grades."

"For example, this one is the work of an Alchemy Master. It can increase Ice Element Affinity by 13% and costs 800 Gold Coins."

"This one is a reagent from a High Level Alchemist. It increases Ice Element Affinity by about 12% and costs 700 Gold Coins."

"And over here, we have a reagent from a Senior Alchemist. It only increases Ice Element Affinity by about 11% and costs 600 Gold Coins."

...

The shopping guide’s introduction was extremely detailed, clearly explaining the effects and prices of each item.

Most importantly, the prices were also extremely cheap—so cheap they were almost unreasonable!

Lin Mo recalled that the first Elemental Reagent he ever drank was a Fire Element Reagent made by an Alchemy Master, which he had obtained in a Secret Realm.

Back then, he was still in Roland Town, and the town’s Alchemist, Lady Julian, had offered a purchase price of 800 Gold Coins for it.

But that was in Roland Town, a small, remote, and relatively undeveloped town on the fringes of the Empire.

And this was the Royal Capital!

As everyone knows, in more developed areas and for larger-scale shops, certain hidden costs are much higher.

For example, expenses like storefront rent, decoration costs, and staffing—in the Royal Capital, these overheads were immeasurably higher than for that little shop in Roland Town.

Yet the purchase price for an Elemental Reagent was the same. That didn’t make any sense.

Just by looking at the shop’s scale, the sophistication of its decor, and the caliber of its employees, one could imagine how much capital was required to achieve all this.

Selling such an Elemental Reagent for 800 Gold Coins could hardly be profitable.

If you were to buy the same thing at the Royal Capital’s established Alchemy Shop—the Molin Shop—the price would be at least 1,200 Gold Coins or more!

Moreover, while the Molin Shop was also considered quite high-end, there was still a significant gap when compared to the Nolen Commerce Association before him.

This abnormal situation quickly led Lin Mo to a certain conclusion.

It seemed this Nolen Commerce Association, as a rising star, was gearing up to lock horns with the Morlin Commerce Association.

That was why they were making such a big move, selling items at near-cost prices right after opening...

To put it bluntly, they were waging a price war to squeeze out and seize the Morlin Commerce Association’s market share.

Lin Mo didn’t particularly care or have any interest in these matters, but regardless, he was definitely benefiting from the "conflict" between the two commerce associations.

"We’ll take the reagent made by the Alchemy Master."

"Excellent. Please wait a moment; a staff member will be with you shortly to package your item. For now, please follow me to the third floor to select the Magic Stones you desire."

Lin Mo nodded and followed the shopping guide to the third floor of the Alchemy Shop.

The items here were clearly a cut above those on the first floor.

The density of merchandise was noticeably lower. A placard was placed beneath each item, detailing its material sources, its forger, and its precise, specific effects.

The professionalism was off the charts.

Lin Mo’s eyes swept over the displays and immediately landed on a bottle of High Level Strength Potion.

The price was 1,800 Gold Coins. Its effect was to increase Strength by 25 points for 300 seconds, and aside from not being usable consecutively in a short period, it had almost no side effects!

This price was also absurdly cheap.

What did 25 points of Strength mean?

Even for an Elite Level Adventurer, that was a direct, one-level increase in Combat Power!

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