Chapter 056: Gem Processing
The ideal was plump, but the problem before Chen Ran was not simple at all. He still needed a lot of money to buy the raw materials for making items. To make a piece of equipment of at least excellent quality, the conservative estimate for the prices in this city was at least five thousand gold coins. For Chen Ran, who only had 50 gold coins, a wave of immense pressure washed over him. If worst came to worst, he would have to sell his body.
Next, Chen Ran went to a small, well-known armor shop in the area. This was a place where mercenaries who needed to upgrade their equipment and guards of noble families would shop.
Chen Ran casually strolled around the armor shop, but in reality, he was looking for a rich sucker who really wanted to buy equipment and wasn’t short on money. After a careful look, he finally found a fat sheep that met his requirements.
It was a middle-aged man who was looking at various leather armors but was not satisfied with any of them. From his appearance, he should be the son of a rich family, someone who really wanted to buy but couldn’t find suitable equipment. His build was also similar to Chen Ran’s.
Then, Chen Ran boldly walked over.
“Hero, I see that you have a dignified and handsome appearance, with a hint of a king’s aura between your brows. It’s just that your current attire cannot reflect your domineering presence. I think you need a piece of excellent leather armor to set off your heroic posture? To be honest, I happen to have a suitable piece of leather armor for sale. It’s made from the finest saber-toothed tiger king’s pelt…”
Seeing that the warrior was interested, Chen Ran took out the item as if presenting a treasure.
“Look at this stitching, this material. Which one is not top-notch? This is a craft passed down in my family. If my family hadn’t fallen on hard times, I would never have taken this item out for sale. Compare it with the leather armor sold here. Whether it’s the appearance or the toughness, which one is not better than what’s in this shop…”
The warrior compared them. The item was indeed as Chen Ran said. The quality of this Tiger King tunic was really incomparable. Seeing the fiery look in the warrior’s eyes, Chen Ran fanned the flames again. “Look at the magic patterns on it. This was personally enchanted by a great magician. It has increased the defense and durability of this already outstanding leather armor by more than half…”
“The price? The price is naturally negotiable. You see, the ordinary leather armor here costs about twenty-plus gold coins. My leather armor will only cost you one hundred gold coins…”
“What? A little expensive? Brother, this is a rock-bottom price. If I wasn’t in urgent need of money, I really wouldn’t have taken this leather armor out to sell. The cost of this leather armor alone is more than eighty gold coins. The enchantment cost more than a hundred gold back then. If it were sold at an auction house or something, it could be sold for more than three or four hundred gold coins. I think you are a discerning person, brother, and can see the true value of this leather armor. I’m definitely not cheating you of a single copper coin!”
“Sigh, if you really think it’s a little expensive, then there’s nothing I can do. I can only say that you and this leather armor are not fated to be. We’ll meet again, brother… That hero over there, please wait a moment…”
Chen Ran was held back tightly…
And so, Chen Ran casually sold his Tiger King tunic. Seeing the murderous look in the armor shop owner’s eyes—for stealing business from his shop in broad daylight—if Chen Ran hadn’t slipped away quickly, he would probably have called the guards to throw him out.
With another hundred gold coins, Chen Ran was a little closer to his goal. Next, it seemed that he had sold almost everything he could sell, but he was still a long way from his goal. Chen Ran felt that he needed to find some long-term meal tickets. This kind of retail was not a solution.
With more than one hundred and fifty gold coins as a foundation, he thought of a way to make money.
Gem processing.
Soon, Chen Ran went to a local magic equipment shop and bought a whole bunch of low-grade white-quality magic crystal stones from the owner.
The so-called magic crystal stones were actually similar to the magic cores of magical beasts, but magic crystal stones were mined minerals with stable properties, which could be used to make important accessories such as various staffs and jewelry. Magic cores, on the other hand, were energy crystals that gradually condensed in the bodies of magical beasts. Their form was sometimes unstable and was mainly used for enchanting equipment.
For Chen Ran, who had the Material Refinement skill, he could synthesize low-grade magic crystal stones into higher-grade and higher-energy magic crystal stones, and the cost was not high.
Normal magic crystal stones also had quality, but they were not classified by tier like magical beast crystal cores, but were more measured by purity. But the essence was the same.
In these shops, the price of a common gem (white) and a good gem (green) was more than ten times different. And the price of a good gem and a fine gem (blue) was at least twenty times different. The price of an excellent-grade (purple) gem was even more unimaginable. At least in a city like Xilan City, there were no excellent-grade gems for sale. Perhaps they could be seen at the big auction in more than a month.
And Chen Ran could continuously synthesize low-grade gems of the same type with a synthesis efficiency of 4-8 times, completely ignoring the so-called rarity. The higher the quality of the gem he synthesized, the more astonishing the profit he could make. Moreover, he could also synthesize scattered gems into complete gems, and the price would increase by several to dozens of times!
This was his money-making plan, perfect for reselling.
He first went to a magic equipment shop and bought all the common fire-element magic crystal stones at a price of 1-4 gold coins each, because this series of magic crystals sold the best.
Chen Ran spent almost all of his 150 gold coins, leaving only a few silver coins for himself. He bought a total of more than eighty magic crystals, then took a bag of them back to the church.
When Chen Ran returned to the church, he immediately found a place and began to use Material Refinement to refine these low-grade magic crystals.
Most of these eighty-plus magic crystals were small, scattered gems. The largest was only the size of a pebble, at most suitable for making some small jewelry.
In one go, Chen Ran began to refine all the magic crystals. First, he condensed the eighty-plus fire-element gems into a large crystal the size of a crystal ball with average energy. Then, he synthesized the common (white) fire-element magic crystal into a good-grade (green) magic crystal, and then refined it into a fine-grade (blue) magic crystal.
After one go, Chen Ran’s magic power was depleted for the first time. His body was empty of magic power, and it seemed he needed some time to recover.
Chen Ran sighed. It seemed his level was still a bit low. He could only synthesize eighty-plus common gems a day. Although he could also use some equipment to increase his magic power recovery, the revolution was still in its early stages, and he didn’t have the conditions for that yet…
Chen Ran looked at the fine fire-element magic crystal stone in his hand and squinted, like a cunning fox.
