I Ascend to the Divine Throne through Arcane Means

Bright City, Langai Street, Old Jack's shop.

Some time had passed, but Old Jack still looked at Lis, who had just entered, with dead fish eyes.

He found it strange, this guy was clearly a noble, so why did he keep coming to his shop?

Ordinarily, nobles tended to avoid Langai Street at all costs.

And this time, he hadn't even brought that Golden Warrior as a guard, instead, he had a white bat perched on his head.

Such an unconventional noble was a first for Old Jack.

Lis, however, didn't mind Old Jack's strange gaze; after all, that guy looked disdainfully at everyone.

When Lis had come over, he had distinctly felt that Langai Street was much quieter than before.

It wasn't that the shops were all closed; there were hardly any shops open on the entire street.

The number of homeless people lying under the eaves and the people secretly peeping had greatly decreased.

It wasn't clear if they had disappeared as the reports had stated, or if they had gone somewhere else out of fear.

These were not things Lis could manage right now, nor did he have the leisure to care.

Lis was rummaging through the goods Old Jack had piled on the side, occasionally taking out some special materials and setting them aside.

Despite the First Magic Workshop, the academy, and the kingdom providing many magic materials, and Lis having access to some, he still needed to prepare some of the less common ones himself.

Rather than commissioning the Guild to purchase them, it was better to see what Old Jack had available.

After all, Old Jack's stock came from a wide array of sources, he had all sorts of strange materials, many of which were black market and quite cheap.

As Lis was scouring for various precious materials, Ashley gently pushed open the door and walked in.

Seeing Lis's gaze turn towards her, Ashley politely greeted him:

"Hello, Big Brother Lis!"

"Hello, Ashley."

Seeing this Little Easter Egg, Lis also greeted her with a smile.

However, Lis soon noticed something different about Ashley; her aura was more refined than last time, and even faintly carried a bit of sharpness.

Was this because she had just become a Professional not long ago and couldn't control her aura very well?

Lis wondered why Old Jack had started training Ashley so early.

Lis remembered that in his past life, even after players appeared, Ashley was still just an ordinary little girl.

"Hmph!"

Old Jack, seeing that Lis seemed to notice something, snorted coldly and pulled Ashley to the side.

With a face that seemed to be shooing someone away, Old Jack impatiently said,

"Are you done yet? Don't waste my time dragging this out."

Lis didn't mind and put the selected special materials on the table in front of Old Jack.

They were some magic gemstones, magic potion materials, and precious metals.

"You've taken quite a lot, that'll be one thousand gold coins!"

Old Jack was somewhat surprised; this was a big sell for him. Experience tales with empire

Although it was a bit painful for Lis, he still took out bags of gold coins from the storage ring and handed them over to Old Jack.

There was no helping it, these were necessary materials for his research, and he had already been very frugal.

Under normal purchasing, these would probably cost around one thousand five hundred gold coins.

If it weren't for a recent investment that allowed him to pull some emergency funds, Lis couldn't have afforded so many.

With the materials in hand, Lis was not in a hurry to leave, but asked with a smile,

"Old Jack, Langai Street seems to be not very peaceful lately?"

"So what if it is."

Old Jack replied impatiently, but as he was still counting the gold coins, he wasn't in a position to directly send Lis away.

"I'm just worried about little Ashley's safety,"

Lis smiled and nodded at Ashley.

"You needn't concern yourself!"

Old Jack put the gold coins down, at this moment, he had stopped counting them; even if some were missing, it didn't matter, what was most important was getting this annoying person out of here.

"That's hard to say, after all, you're getting on in years."

Lis chuckled lightly.

"Getting old? You think you're stronger than me?"

Old Jack couldn't help but laugh angrily—how dared this Silver Level brat provoke him?

Did he not know my strength?

Or was it because of the courage given to him by that Gold-level Warrior who isn't here?

Old Jack was ready to teach the youngster a lesson to stop him from always hovering around his apprentice without any good reason.

"I advised you not to take action," Lis said, noticing Old Jack seemed ready to make a move.

"Although you are a Gold Rank assassin, I still have some confidence."

Upon hearing what Lis had said, Old Jack calmed down immediately.

This kid knows my strength and still remains so unfazed?

Is he bluffing?

No, he could have brought that Gold-level Warrior with him, but he didn't.

So, he's confident that I can't harm him?

Does he have some kind of life-saving item?

Old Jack scrutinized Lis, his mind racing, and said calmly,

"Boy, if you have something to say, just say it, otherwise you're not welcome here."

"Nothing special, I just wanted to discuss a cooperation with you, Old Jack," Lis said with a smile.

This was his plan all along—to cooperate with Old Jack to get the materials and Magic Items he needed.

On the other hand, it could serve as a way to attract players.

In his previous life, Old Jack's shop was well-known among the player community.

The players didn't care whether Old Jack sold black market goods as long as they were cheap and worked well.

Of course, Lis was only planning to cooperate, not to directly involve Old Jack in the Guild.

The most important thing about this small shop was, in fact, Old Jack himself.

Old Jack, with numerous connections, was well capable of procuring many untraceable black market goods, which said enough about his capabilities and connections.

Since Lis's Guild couldn't openly sell these items, it made more sense to cooperate with Old Jack to also increase the Guild's influence among the player community.

However, while Lis's plans were attractive, Old Jack's refusal was more straightforward.

"I don't need any cooperation," he said.

Lis nodded nonchalantly. He hadn't expected Old Jack to agree just from a conversation; this interaction was just laying the groundwork, as there was still time.

"Whenever you change your mind, you can find me at 36 Feis Street."

"And you too, Ashley, just come directly to me if you need anything!"

Lis reached out to pat Ashley's cute little head but was smacked away by Old Jack.

"Alright, alright, you can go now."

Old Jack didn't think he'd ever need Lis for anything.

After all, being well-informed, he couldn't recall any great Noble named Kane.

Meanwhile, Ashley nodded quietly to Lis, indicating she understood.

Ashley had a fond impression of this consistently gentle big brother.

Not all nobles are bad, after all!

Seeing this, Lis waved to Ashley, stored all the materials he bought into the ring, and then left Old Jack's shop.

Once Lis had left, Old Jack felt increasingly uneasy, sensing he was forgetting something important.

With Ashley looking on curiously, he pulled out a pile of notes with written text from a wooden cabinet behind him and began to examine them carefully.

These were messages Old Jack regularly purchased from the underworld in Bright City—they were mostly useless, but some were beneficial for Old Jack's "business."

Suddenly, he picked up a relatively new note, freezing in mid-air, his expression shifting uncertainally.

Curious, Ashley tiptoed to take a peek. Under Old Jack's diligent guidance, she could now basically recognize the words written on the note.

"According to intelligence, Court Viscount Lis Kain is likely to be taken as an apprentice by the Legendary Mage 'Judgement Flame' Fran Stephens."