Li Huai was in dire need of mana.
Although he could currently harness only one percent of his talent "Storm Monarch"'s power, the wind blade that could sever a Warg's head in one clean cut was more than sufficient.
The talent was powerful, sure, but it guzzled mana, leaving him nothing to spare for Gathering Skill.
For the past several days, he'd been trading meat for materials just to upgrade to a Level 2 Shelter.
That's why, the moment he saw food that could restore mana continuously for ten minutes, he'd made that offer without hesitation.
Seriously — sixty times the natural recovery rate. And this was Gu Xiaobei at the starting line, very much like Lan Qingyou's early "Crude Mana Potion" days.
Once she hit her stride, she'd absolutely become another Lan Qingyou.
Supporting her a little was no big deal. Just some meat.
Worst case, he'd deliver her a wolf or a cow every day.
Gu Xiaobei: "Deal deal deal!"
The instant Gu Xiaobei heard that someone was offering to make materials for her for free, a radiant smile broke across her face.
This way, all she'd need to do each day was step out and gather herbs and wild vegetables.
That drastically reduced the danger of wandering outside.
Li Huai: "Sit tight."
After sending those two words, Li Huai rose from his seat, gave his shoulders a quick roll, straightened his suit collar with both hands, and strode out of his wooden cabin.
The next day.
After waking up, Lan Qingyou began her potion-brewing routine just as she had the day before.
Since she'd processed a decent amount of herbs yesterday, she could save quite a bit of time today.
But first things first — that could wait.
She walked to the Magic Desk and reached out to silence the piercing beeping.
Then she opened the warehouse and took stock.
All the materials for the Level 3 Shelter had been gathered. Upgrading came first — after all, today was the last day of the Novice Protection Period.
Who knew what dawn of Day Eight would bring.
Better to upgrade early and sleep easy.
"Upgrade to Level 3 Shelter?"
Yes.
"Please select your shelter upgrade path."
"Option 1: Expand the Tree Hole Shelter to three times its current size."
"Option 2: Expand the Tree Hole Shelter to double its current size, but add a third floor."
Without hesitation, Lan Qingyou chose the second option — she was an old hand at this by now.
"Level 3 Shelter Facilities"
"Bedroom: Wood x 500, Fur x 20, Sand x 10"
"Living Room: Wood x 500, Stone x 100, Fur x 30, Sand x 50"
"Storage Room: Wood x 600"
"Cooking Hearth: Wood x 60, Stone x 100"
"Fireplace: Stone x 300, Sand x 100, Water x 20"
"First Floor Outdoor Platform: Wood x 50 (small) / Wood x 100 (medium) / Wood x 200 (large)"
"Third Floor Balcony: Wood x 50 (small) / Wood x 100 (medium) / Wood x 200 (large). Note: Any balcony option includes a door: Wood x 10 (door does not count as a facility)."
"Third Floor Terrace: Wood x 100 + Vines x 10 (small) / Wood x 200 + Vines x 20 (medium) / Wood x 400 + Vines x 40 (large). Note: Any terrace option includes a floor-to-ceiling sliding door: Wood x 100 + Sand x 300 (sliding door does not count as a facility)."
"Bathroom (Expansion): Wood x 500, Stone x 100. Note: Expansion includes a 50-liter water tank: Wood x 100 (tank not counted as a facility), and an Automatic Heating System: E-rank Monster Crystal Core x 20 (heating system not counted as a facility)."
"Apprentice-Level Alchemy Workshop (Expansion): Wood x 500, Stone x 500, Iron Ore x 300, Sand x 100. Note: Expansion includes a 100-liter water tank: Wood x 1,000 (tank not counted as a facility)."
"Each shelter upgrade allows you to select three facilities for renovation. Please choose carefully based on your needs."
'Well, well, well — so this is where the catch was hiding.'
'They say the free stuff is the most expensive, but even when you're already paying, they pull this escalation trick? Some of these facilities cost ten times what they used to.'
After reviewing the options, Lan Qingyou ultimately selected the Storage Room, Bathroom, and Alchemy Workshop.
She had no choice — the bonus items were simply too tempting. Nobody could refuse a shower with automatic water heating, and no alchemist alive would turn down a 100-liter water tank.
As anyone who practiced alchemy regularly knew, potion-making was an incredibly water-intensive process.
Running back and forth to fetch water every day was a massive hassle. Even with the Moonbright Stone Dagger equipped, she could only carry two buckets per trip.
Now, with a 100-liter tank filled at once, she had enough water for two full days of alchemy.
But that raised a problem.
Building the Level 3 Shelter had completely wiped out her materials.
......
"Phew—"
Inside another shelter, Shang Chuan had just woken up and pushed open a window to air out the place.
His shelter sat atop a small hill — a structure resembling a hobbit hole.
On the morning after the forced transmigration, he'd made a point of scouting the area. The cabin was surrounded by dense trees, well concealed, offering decent cover.
And the "cover" he needed wasn't from monsters — it was from people.
As a business elite, he understood human greed all too well.
What he couldn't understand, however, was why someone of his caliber had been assigned to a shelter that looked like it belonged in a fairy tale.
He'd grumbled about it at first, but not anymore. He was in the zone now.
Using his C-rank talent, he spent every day at his desk monitoring commodity prices.
Apart from stepping out once an hour to burn through his mana with Gathering Skill and search for supply boxes, buying low and selling high — sniping deals — had become one of his few means of survival in this new world.
Dabbing some creek water on his hands, he ran his fingers through his hair to tidy it up, then sat down at the Magic Desk.
Time for another day of market operations.
Finish the day's quota, upgrade the shelter to Level 2 tonight, and brace for the end of the Novice Protection Period.
As a merchant, he'd long since stockpiled enough materials to push his shelter to Level 2 — even Level 3.
But he understood the wisdom of "the bird that sticks its head out gets shot."
Merchants cared about profit, not prestige.
Even a reward held little appeal for him.
At least until he had the capital to truly survive in this world, he wouldn't make that kind of move.
He took a deep breath — and then noticed his friends list blinking.
He opened it. His vision went dark.
Lan Qingyou: "Do you accept credit?"
Shang Chuan: ......
'Guys, can you believe this? I haven't even opened for business yet and someone's already here on credit!'
But the person asking was someone he absolutely couldn't brush off.
This was his biggest client. Nothing but smiles for the VIP.
Shang Chuan: "For anyone else, no. For you, yes. Five percent daily interest."
Forcing himself to stay calm, Shang Chuan typed out the message.
Lan Qingyou: "No need for credit. Here's a list — put together everything on it. 100 Apprentice-Level Mana Potions. I'll send them tonight."
Shang Chuan received the list and looked it over.
Wood x 2,700. Stone x 600. E-rank Monster Crystal Core x 20. Iron Ore x 300. Sand x 100.
Not a huge order, materials-wise. She was probably upgrading to a Level 3 Shelter.
At current black-market prices, he could pocket about a 60% margin.
Big clients were big clients — they never did anything small.
Wasn't this a fine way to kick off the day?
Shang Chuan adjusted his glasses, then began typing out a string of messages on the desk...