Chapter 164: God of Wealth

Rhain turned his head toward the sharp, highly irritated voice.

Standing at the entrance of the herb store was a young woman with short-cropped auburn hair and sharp, intelligent eyes.

It was exactly the young woman he had observed earlier—the Expert Rank Alchemist whose Epic-Grade refinement had ended in a spectacular failure.

Neve.

She marched directly up to the counter, entirely ignoring Rhain’s presence, and slapped a wrinkled requisition slip onto the wood.

"Uncle Luan, hurry up and get them for me!" Neve demanded.

Luan looked at the slip, and his previously respectful face instantly warped into a deeply troubled grimace.

He didn’t move to fetch the items. Instead, he let out a heavy, exasperated sigh.

"Lady Neve..." Luan began, rubbing his temples as if fighting off an impending headache. "Preceptor Ignar clearly ordered me to not hand you any more Epic-Grade herbs."

Neve’s expression stiffened.

"Preceptor Ignar specifically told me," Luan continued, his tone apologetic but firm, "that you have already burned through more than ten full batches of Epic-Grade herbs in the last month alone! He said that if I dared to give you even a single stalk more, he will not pay for it later."

Hearing her master’s name, Neve’s irritated face instantly turned furious.

Preceptor Ignar was her master, and she had been severely scolded twice by him over the past month.

He had sternly instructed her to completely stop refining for a while and focus purely on calming her turbulent internal state.

But Neve simply refused to accept it.

She was just a hair’s breadth away from breaking through! She desperately wanted to become a Master Rank Alchemist, and she was thoroughly convinced that just one more successful batch would shatter her bottleneck.

Smack!

Neve slammed her small palms violently against the wooden counter, glaring at Luan.

"Uncle Luan! Do not anger me!" Neve threatened, her chest heaving. "Just give me the herbs! I am this close to a breakthrough, I can feel it!"

Luan, however, was entirely unafraid. He simply shook his head and firmly crossed his arms. "I cannot, Lady Neve. Your master’s orders are clear. I am not giving you the herbs."

Seeing that intimidation was utterly useless, Neve’s furious, aggressive facade changed in the blink of an eye.

In an instant, her fierce glare melted into an incredibly pitiful, pleading expression.

"Please, Uncle Luan!" Neve begged in a pleading voice. "I promise that this is the last batch I will borrow! Just give them to me, and I promise I will pay for the herbs later!"

Luan remained entirely unmoved by her puppy eyes.

He knew her tricks very well. He had been fooled more than once by those eyes.

"Lady Neve, if you want these Epic-Grade herbs today," Luan stated ruthlessly, "you will have to pay for them right now. No credit, no favors."

Neve’s pitiful expression froze.

Her shoulders slumped dejectedly. She didn’t have the money.

Because she had relentlessly chased her breakthrough, every single Aetherium Crystal and contribution point she possessed had already been utterly drained buying her previous failed batches.

Right now, her pockets were cleaner than her face. She didn’t have anything left.

Just as she was standing there, biting her lip in complete despair, a calm voice drifted over from right beside her.

"I can help."

Neve abruptly turned her head.

Because she was slightly short, she had to tilt her head upward to look clearly at the tall dark-robed youth standing next to her.

Her gaze naturally swept over him, quickly landing on the deep black robes and the gleaming Gold Badge pinned to his chest.

Although her own cultivation was low, earning her only a Silver Badge in the Inner Palace, her status was entirely different.

As an Expert Rank Alchemist who could step into the Master Rank at any moment, her standing was absolutely not lower than that of any Gold Badge disciple.

Because of this, the top thirty geniuses were always incredibly respectful to her, and she knew every single Gold Badge disciple by face.

But this handsome youth with dark grey eyes was clearly not one of them.

Her eyebrows knitted together in a frown as she demanded, "Who are you?"

Rhain looked at her, and replied, "I am a newly recruited disciple, Rhain."

Neve was astonished.

A newly recruited disciple from the Outer Frontier? And he was already wearing a Gold Badge?

That defied all the established rules of the Academy!

But her mind quickly pushed that shock aside, focusing entirely on the words he had just spoken.

"How could you possibly help me?" Neve asked, eyeing him with both suspicion and curiosity.

"Your problem is that you are not allowed to take the herbs because you don’t have the money to pay upfront," Rhain stated bluntly, crossing his arms. "So, I can pay for them instead of you."

Neve blinked in surprise.

She stared at Rhain, completely not expecting a total stranger to casually offer to pay for incredibly expensive Epic-Grade herbs.

Then her eyes narrowed sharply.

She had been pursued by boys before.

Her talent as a prodigy alchemist, and her beautiful appearance has attracted many proud geniuses in the Inner Palace who actively pursue her.

They are always offering her extravagant gifts and resources, desperately trying to buy her affection.

But she had rejected every single one of them.

She knew exactly how men thought; none of them truly loved her, they only lusted after her beauty and the immense value of having a high-tier alchemist as a wife.

Assuming this newly recruited disciple was just another one of those fawning suitors trying to play the hero, Neve’s expression instantly cooled.

"I refuse," Neve said haughtily, lifting her chin. "I don’t like to owe anyone. Especially not strangers."

Rhain simply let out a short, amused scoff.

"You misunderstand," Rhain replied, not caring about her rejection, "You won’t owe me anything. I also need a help from you."

Neve was caught off guard by the directness.

She instinctively took a half-step back, her voice trembling slightly as her imagination ran wild. "W-What... what kind of help do you need?"

Rhain didn’t even bother acknowledging her baseless paranoia.

He casually gestured toward Luan behind the counter.

"I need a few specific Epic-Grade herbs," Rhain explained calmly, "But I am not allowed to buy them because I don’t have the stamped permission from a Preceptor."

He looked back down at her.

"You have Preceptor’s permission, but you do not have the money. It is a very simple problem to solve."

Neve’s sharp mind instantly grasped the plain deal.

She had permission but no money.

He had money but no permission.

Together, they could both get exactly what they needed without breaking a single rule.

"So," Rhain concluded, "the arrangement is simple. You use your authority to purchase my herbs for me. And in exchange for that favor, I will pay the cost of your herbs."

Neve’s initial wariness quickly softened.

"Deal!" Neve agreed without a single second of hesitation. She eagerly stepped closer, her previous hostility completely vanishing. "Tell me what herbs you need! I will buy them all for you right now!"

Rhain nodded, and without a change in his expression, he repeated the names of the herbs he had listed earlier.

"Nine-Petal Frost-Heart, Mandrake Root, Deep-Sea Marrow Orchid, Spirit Dew Lotus..."

As Rhain calmly listed off the names, Neve’s eyes stretched wider and wider.

She was an Expert Rank Alchemist.

She knew the medicinal catalog of the Academy inside and out.

The herbs he was casually rattling off were not standard Epic-Grade materials. They were exceedingly rare herbs that even she had never dared to requisition!

"Wait, wait, wait!" Neve interrupted, her voice pitching up in disbelief. "What in the world do you need these for?"

Rhain looked at her as if she had just asked the most foolish question in existence.

"For Alchemy, obviously," he replied.

Neve stared at him sharply as if trying to see through his skull. "Alchemy? What is your alchemist rank?"

I don’t have one," Rhain stated flatly.

If he told them he was a Grandmaster Rank, they would definitely treat him like an eccentric lunatic.

It was better to keep things simple for now.

Hearing his blunt admission, Neve was left completely speechless.

An unranked, newly recruited disciple wanted to buy the rarest Epic-Grade herbs in the Academy’s vault to casually practice alchemy?

"Are you insane?" Neve blurted out. "Do you even have any idea how much those specific herbs cost?"

Rhain simply shrugged. He turned his dark grey eyes back toward the sweating Luan. "How much do they cost, shopkeeper?"

Luan wiped his forehead with his sleeve.

He didn’t know the exact sum off the top of his head—these herbs were almost never purchased all at once.

He hurriedly pulled out a thick, heavy registrar from beneath the counter, frantically flipping through the pages to tally up the astronomical prices.

After a full minute of rapid calculations, Luan looked up. His voice trembled as he spoke the final number.

"E-Esteemed Senior... for the exact quantities you requested... it comes out to twelve million and six hundred thousand Aetherium Crystals."

12.6 million Aetherium Crystals!

The Bronze Badge disciple standing beside Rhain nearly collapsed, his legs shaking so hard he had to grab the counter for support.

Even Neve, a prodigy who wasted her master’s wealth like flowing water, felt her heart stopped beating for a second.

Yet, Rhain’s expression remained perfectly indifferent.

"Buy them for me," Rhain instructed, turning back to Neve.

Neve stared at him, utterly dumbfounded. "Do you... do you actually have that much money?"

Rhain gave a calm nod.

In truth, he only had around fifteen million liquid Aetherium Crystals left in his spatial ring.

But that was merely liquid currency.

If he factored in the pill-veined Epic-Grade and Rare-Grade elixirs he had refined, along with the countless treasures he had looted from the Ashvele Clan and the Iron-Blood Valley—excluding the Epic, and Mystic grade items gifted by the System—his net worth easily exceeded one hundred million Aetherium Crystals.

If he ever chose to actually sell his flawless pills, it wouldn’t be long before he became a literal billionaire in this Inner Province.

To him, a few million Aetherium Crystals was nothing more than pocket change.

Looking back a few months ago, he could not even afford a hundred Aetheruim Crystals.

Now he had 100 million. He had come too far without realising it.

Seeing Rhain’s absolute confidence, Neve swallowed her words, and turned to look at Luan as she spoke sharply, "Uncle Luan! Bring all the herbs he listed. And my batch as well!"

Luan had no reason to delay anymore.

He immediately scurried into the deepest warded sections of the vault.

Ten minutes later, Luan returned, carefully carrying several exquisite, jade-sealed boxes that radiated profound medicinal auras.

"The total... including Lady Neve’s batch of Blood Striae Mushroom, Scarlet Sunflower, and Earth Heart Ginseng..." Luan calculated nervously, "comes exactly to fourteen million Aetherium Crystals."

Rhain didn’t bat an eye.

With a casual flick of his wrist, a glowing spatial ring materialized in his palm. He tossed it lightly onto the wooden counter.

Luan caught the ring with trembling hands and projected his Spiritual Sense inside.

When he saw the literal mountains of glowing Aetherium Crystals neatly stacked within, his mind was almost driven to insanity.

"I-It is confirmed! Fourteen million Aetherium Crystals, exactly!" Luan spoke weakly.

Neve swiftly claimed her own herbs, storing them into her spatial ring with a look of immense satisfaction.

Then, she turned to Rhain, her sharp eyes gleaming as if she was looking at a pile of gold.

He was a walking god of wealth!

"Hey, Rhain," Neve said, a bright smile stretching across her face. "If you ever need to buy more restricted herbs in the future, you can come find me at Residence Number 59 in the Inner Palace."

She patted her chest proudly. "I will use my Master’s permission to help you buy whatever you want! And in exchange... you just have to pay for a few of my herbs too. It’s a perfect partnership!"

Rhain let out a low chuckle, finding her shameless opportunism somewhat amusing.

"I will consider it," Rhain replied with a faint nod as he stored his own precious Epic-Grade materials into his spatial ring.

He then turned to the trembling Bronze Badge disciple who had guided him here.

"Thank you for showing me the way," Rhain said politely.

"Y-You’re welcome, Esteemed Senior!" the disciple somehow managed to stutter out.

Rhain gave the paralyzed disciple another nod before he turned around and calmly walked out of the apothecary, leaving the bustling Alchemy Division behind.