From the way he clenched the Mind Gem so tightly, William could tell how reluctant he was to part with it.
Controlling the Venomspike Dragonfly to move forward, William suppressed the joy in his heart and calmly took the Mind Gem from Henir’s hand.
After handing over the gem, Henir immediately said to William, “I’ve given you what you wanted. Please keep your promise and have your minions stop their attack immediately.”
“What’s the rush? Don’t I need to take it back to my divine domain and verify whether it’s the real deal first?”
“If there’s no problem, then the trade is complete. But if this thing turns out to be a fake… hmph, you can prepare to die.”
With that, William controlled the Venomspike Dragonfly to dive and roll, disappearing into the teleportation channel.
By the time the dragonfly carrying the Mind Gem returned to William’s divine domain, he had already revealed his semi-divine form and was waiting at the invasion portal.
Raising his hand, he made the Venomspike Dragonfly, still holding the sky-blue gemstone, stop steadily in front of him.
Placing the so-called Mind Gem in his palm, William wasted no time. He released his divine sense to scan it while also using the rare resource data-matching function of his divine login pod.
As a faint blue holographic screen appeared before him, the gem’s information came into view.
This was the immense advantage William, as a trained student, had over wild demi-gods.
Many pieces of knowledge that wild demi-gods considered extremely rare and precious were just basic education for him. This allowed newly ascended demi-gods like himself to avoid many detours.
Item Name: Mind Core
Resource Rating: Ultra-Rare Precious Resource
Market Valuation: Starting bid at 1 billion Divine Power
Description:
- A top-tier mutated crystalline core of the Mind Gem, extremely rare. Long-term wear can strengthen the soul, enhance mental power, and promote intellectual growth.
- Of great value to magic-based civilizations. Rumored to increase the chances of a magic-based civilization’s Hero-tier subordinate ascending to Lord-tier under special conditions, though the exact method is unknown.
- No known side effects.
“Hehehe...” A suppressed, eerie laugh escaped from William’s semi-divine form.
The moment Henir projected the gem’s image, William had already suspected that it wasn’t a Mind Gem.
As a top student, William could tell just from the projection that Henir’s item had subtle differences from the Mind Gems illustrated in textbooks. Even visually, it appeared more exquisite.
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Now that he had it in hand, his suspicions were confirmed—it was indeed not a Mind Gem.
It was something even rarer and more valuable: a Mind Core. Its worth far exceeded that of a regular Mind Gem.
After laughing enough, William composed himself and activated his faith threads, signaling his swarm to stop their assault.
As a professional and honest businessman who had just received an unexpected windfall, William was in an excellent mood. He decided to uphold his promise and let Henir go.
After all, William felt that breaking his word at this moment would be terrible for his reputation and might affect his rising fortune. Right now, he needed to accumulate good karma.
“Luck truly is a mysterious thing. I just arrived in this region, and I’ve already stumbled upon such an incredible treasure. My fortune is through the roof—this must be a jackpot streak! Hehehe…”
Carefully storing the Mind Core within his semi-divine body, William couldn’t help but laugh again.
Henir, on the other hand, regretted his decision the moment he handed over his only bargaining chip.
Without any trump cards left, he had lost all sense of security and felt like a fish on a chopping block, awaiting its fate.
His chaotic thoughts sent him into a spiral of anxiety as he hovered anxiously at the invasion portal, awaiting judgment.
The swarm’s assault continued relentlessly. In mere seconds, Henir watched as more of his divine domain was consumed.
Each passing moment felt like an eternity, and his heart sank into a pit of despair.
Then, without any warning, Henir suddenly realized—the swarm’s attack had stopped.
“He actually kept his word… He didn’t deceive me!”
The despair in Henir’s heart was instantly replaced by overwhelming relief.
In that moment, nothing else mattered—neither the gem, nor the trade, nor its value.
Only one thought filled his mind: My divine domain is safe!
The emotional rollercoaster had been too much. Unable to hold back any longer, he broke down in tears, sobbing uncontrollably in midair.
When William controlled the Venomspike Dragonfly to pass through the teleportation channel once more, he was greeted by the sight of the pale-skinned demi-god weeping in the sky.
Seeing this, William was utterly dumbfounded.
“Uh… what the hell happened? Did I miss something important? Why is he crying like this?”
Noticing William’s presence, Henir hurriedly composed himself, instantly regaining the composure befitting a demi-god.
His face-changing speed was as quick as flipping a book, leaving William speechless.
After a moment of thought, William quickly deduced the reason for Henir’s breakdown.
“Ah, I went too hard on him. Look at how panicked this poor guy got. He’s just inexperienced—his heart isn’t strong enough.”
Silently giving himself a thumbs-up, William decided it wouldn’t do to just stand there in awkward silence.
So, he spoke up to offer some words of comfort.
“Life is full of ups and downs. There’s no obstacle you can’t overcome. Go through it a few more times, and you’ll get used to it.”
As soon as William said this, Henir’s eyes widened in disbelief, his expression twisting as if he had swallowed a fly.
The awkward tension vanished instantly.
“The hell do you mean, ‘Go through it a few more times, and you’ll get used to it’? Who in their right mind says something like that?!”
Henir raged internally, screaming in his mind, “Is this comfort or mockery?! This has to be mockery!”
Taking a deep breath to suppress his overflowing fury, Henir coldly asked, “I’ve given you the item. Can I cut the connection to the teleportation channel now?”
“Of course, go ahead. But you’d better be careful with the areas already occupied by the swarm,” William reminded him.
“You know your divine domain better than anyone. There are still some bugs lurking around in certain zones.”
“If you start getting any funny ideas, or if any of your minions dare to attack mine, I’ll consider it a breach of contract.”
“You know what happens then, right?”
William, always a man of integrity, issued a final warning to ensure Henir wouldn’t try anything reckless.
After all, the last thing William wanted was to be forced into wiping out this divine domain, disrupting his grand plan of accumulating good karma.