"Please, take a look. Are you satisfied?"

Pei Ze took the Demon’s Finger. Under the guise of examining it, he secretly used the Eye of Omniscience to perform a check. He was highly satisfied with the results.

The modified item’s effects were nearly identical to the results analyzed by the Eye of Omniscience.

That was already quite impressive.

After all, even an Enchantment Master couldn’t have modified the Demon’s Finger to perfectly match the final specifications from the Eye of Omniscience.

Human skill, after all, has its limits. No matter how meticulous or exquisite the craftsmanship, it could never compare to what was essentially a cheat.

The same was true for Pei Ze.

That was why, even when the Eye of Omniscience provided the optimal formula and monitored the entire process with reminders, he could never achieve a one hundred percent success rate in potion brewing.

Shaking off his stray thoughts, Pei Ze offered a few words of praise for the Enchanter’s craftsmanship before leaving the shop, sent off by the beaming, bald shopkeeper.

After that, he wandered around the Black Market for a while longer, but unfortunately, he found very little of value.

At Pei Ze’s current level, the items he required were often extremely rare and valuable.

Take Magic Items, for instance. An item had to be at least Glimmer-grade to even pique his interest, and even then, it was merely an interest.

For him to truly covet something, it would have to be a treasure on the level of a Wizard Armament, at the very least.

As for potions, only a Tier Two Potion, like the Vile Illusion Potion, could compel him to go out of his way to acquire it.

However, both Wizard Armaments and Tier Two Potions were rarities in the Black Market. They were either a shop’s prized treasure—for display only, not for sale—or they were snatched up the moment they appeared. There was never a chance for Pei Ze to find a hidden gem.

After making a full circuit, he only managed to use the Eye of Omniscience to snag a few overlooked materials. It was better than nothing.

Shaking his head in disappointment, Pei Ze turned and left the Black Market, heading back to the City Guard Army barracks.

All that was left was to wait for tomorrow’s sweep operation to begin.

’Even if I don’t earn enough merit points for a spot in the Realm of Truth, winning the bet against Gu Lin and obtaining the Gem Enchantment knowledge would be a decent consolation prize.’

「The next morning.」

The moment Pei Ze stepped out his door, he saw Su Ya and Peng Yan waiting for him, already in full gear.

"Sir!" they greeted in unison.

Pei Ze gave a slight nod and started walking.

"Let’s go."

Su Ya and Peng Yan quickly fell in behind him.

To facilitate patrols, the City Guard Army had assigned a carriage to each squad.

The carriage’s side walls were engraved with a Protective Array. When hit by an external attack, it would release a barrier with Defense Power equivalent to a Mage Armor spell, buying the occupants time to counterattack.

Furthermore, the carriage was not drawn by an ordinary horse, but by a type of artificially bred beast called a Black-Horned Horse.

It was larger and more powerfully built than a normal horse, with a jet-black coat and a single horn on its head that slanted toward the sky.

In appearance alone, it looked somewhat like the nightmares of legend.

The driver assigned by the City Guard Army was one of the Diluo Barbarians. Upon seeing Pei Ze and his two companions arrive, he immediately broke into an ingratiating smile, hopped down from his seat, and eagerly opened the carriage door.

"Please, sir."

Pei Ze gave him a slight nod and climbed into the carriage.

The driver’s expression immediately became one of someone who was deeply flattered.

There were numerous barbarians in Chenxi City, with a million residing in the Outer City alone.

Aside from the very few who had achieved citizenship through great merit, the vast majority of barbarians were either commoners or slaves.

Slaves held the lowest status and were mostly found in the mines or plantations outside the city.

Commoners were a step above, but they too were divided into a clear hierarchy.

Those with the highest standing among them served as attendants to a Wizard or Wizard Apprentice, or as guards for the wealthy.

Those with lower standing, like him, could only find low-paying but stable jobs within the city.

The class system in Chenxi City was strict and clearly defined. Citizens naturally felt superior to commoners and slaves.

The citizens he usually encountered were stern and treated him as if he were invisible.

Let alone a Wizard Apprentice, who belonged to the elite class of citizens. This was the first time he had ever met such an affable Wizard Apprentice.

Su Ya, on the other hand, didn’t spare the driver a single glance and climbed straight into the carriage.

Peng Yan gave the driver a simple, good-natured smile before climbing aboard as well.

He was of half-barbarian blood, so he was naturally friendlier toward them than most.

The carriage’s interior was quite spacious, with more than enough room for the three of them.

After taking a seat, Pei Ze ordered, "Let’s move out."

"Yes, sir!"

The driver responded respectfully, then nimbly climbed into the driver’s box and cracked his whip over the Black-Horned Horse.

With a sharp whinny, the Black-Horned Horse set its hooves in motion, pulling the carriage swiftly out of the barracks.

Inside the carriage, Su Ya took out a map and spread it on the seat.

"Sir, as you instructed, I requested a map of the Outer City North District from the City Guard Army."

Pei Ze nodded, his eyes falling upon the map. Su Ya had already marked their squad’s designated patrol zone.

"Sir, where do we begin our patrol?" Peng Yan asked, his voice booming.

Pei Ze had already made up his mind. Pointing to the nearest district on the map, he said, "We’ll start here."

There was no particularly clever way to search for the cultists; it all came down to a simple grid search.

It was time-consuming and exhausting, but its main advantage was that it was simple and effective.

They just needed to follow the detection radius of the Demon’s Finger and sweep through the area, one district at a time.

Of course, considering the cultists might change their hiding spots, they would probably have to sweep the area more than once.

Hearing Pei Ze’s plan, Su Ya and Peng Yan both nodded, looking eager to get started.

During their last deployment, the two had made a considerable profit under Pei Ze’s lead, which they had exchanged for many precious resources. They were now full of motivation, practically chomping at the bit to charge into the cultists’ hideout.

Before long, the carriage entered their squad’s designated patrol zone.