A mage's journey begins with a battle mage.

Chapter 526 News of Divine Punishment

"It really smells like wealth."

Mani took a deep breath, as if she could smell the scent of money.

This was his intuition as a platinum pastor, and it was also the purpose of his visit.

A rising legendary mage with a huge fortune is building a floating city—what a great business opportunity!

Even if this mage will eventually point his cannon at the gods.

But that's okay, he can just ask for more money; it won't stop him from doing business for it.

If the profit and the cost are high enough, they are willing to sell anything, even their own gods.

Everything has value, and the reason why others are unwilling to sell is simply because the price is not high enough.

"Come in."

Soon Mani was led into a room where she saw Jiang Shuzhou.

"I have long admired your name; your reputation is like..."

Upon meeting, the pastor immediately planned to launch into a long-winded speech to flatter Jiang Shuzhou.

"Let's skip the pleasantries and get down to business."

Jiang Shuzhou waved his hand, interrupting the spellcasting and preventing the other party from continuing.

He didn't have time to play games with the other party; he had a lot of things to do.

"Are you aware that your life is now hanging by a thread?"

Mani said mysteriously.

"What do you mean?"

Jiang Shuzhou asked curiously, wanting to know what the other party meant.

"This... I can't say for now."

"Do you have a death wish? Promise me you won't joke about your entire family, okay?"

Jiang Shuzhou suddenly unleashed his aura, and for a moment, the surrounding air seemed to freeze, becoming incredibly heavy.

"The following content is paid membership content. I can tell you if you become a member."

Mani wiped the sweat from her forehead and then responded.

"How much does a membership cost?"

"It's free. As long as you join, I'll take charge and give you all the information."

Jiang Shuzhou remained noncommittal in response. These extremely greedy businessmen would never offer free membership. If it were free, it could only mean one thing: the value Jiang Shuzhou gained from joining far exceeded the so-called membership fee.

"So you didn't come all this way just to get me to join some kind of membership, did you?"

"Of course not. I heard that you are raising funds to build a floating city, so I came here specifically to help you."

They spoke in a grand and respectable manner, but in reality, they came here because they felt there was a chance to make money with Jiang Shuzhou.

The church of the goddess of wealth is more like a chamber of commerce than a church.

"Look at these, they're all really good stuff. You can't get them anywhere else. I've taken a huge risk to come here and discuss these things with you."

Finally, Mani revealed his purpose.

"..."

After a moment of silence, Jiang Shuzhou was not surprised at all.

Immediately afterwards, Jiang Shuzhou took the parchment provided by the other party, which allowed him to check the prices, and his mouth twitched as he looked at the prices on it.

No wonder he's a ruthless capitalist worthy of being hung from a streetlamp; this guy sells and buys almost anything.

However, the buyback price is more than double the selling price.

This is outrageous.

However, these things were indeed quite good. At least Jiang Shuzhou saw many rare legendary materials that were not usually sold, which were needed to build the floating city. It seemed that the other party had prepared quite a lot.

"Then let's have some Stone-Eyed Butterflies, Green Iron Flowers, Moonflower Essence, and..."

As Jiang Shuzhou uttered one name after another, Mani's eyes grew brighter and brighter.

This time we've found the right person! This year's performance, no, decades' worth of performance!

"Ahem, although I'd love to sell it to you, according to the rules, you need to prepare the goods first."

"These materials are all rare legendary materials. Ordinary legendary materials are simply not for sale. Our guild obtained them through various channels, overcoming countless difficulties and paying a heavy price, so..."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Shuzhou almost couldn't resist taking action, but thankfully, he managed to restrain himself.

The so-called "pairing" system is the same as the luxury goods system. If you want to buy high-end luxury goods, you first have to buy a lot of extra luxury goods to prove your strength. To put it bluntly, it's just that other things are not selling well and you're clearing out the inventory.

"What kind of accessories are needed?"

Jiang Shuzhou's expression was unfriendly. The items here at Mani were already expensive, basically two or three times the market price. If it weren't for the fact that there were no goods at this price on the market, Jiang Shuzhou would never have been a sucker.

"Look at what you're saying, of course those are useful things, like mithril and adamantite, and many other things, all of which are negotiable."

Mani smiled his usual smile, rubbed his hands together, and said in a very obsequious manner.

Hearing this, Jiang Shuzhou's expression softened a bit. Marni was actually quite decent; she didn't try to sell him those useless things. Otherwise, he would have considered tearing her to pieces.

After checking the prices, Jiang Shuzhou found that the prices of adamantite and mithril were not too expensive, basically at market prices, and he nodded in satisfaction.

"Then let's get the goods sorted. I want to buy some adamantite and mithril."

Since they're all useful, it doesn't matter where you buy them. Jiang Shuzhou can't get that many rare legendary materials from other places anyway. So the money is gone. Just consider it temporarily stored with the Goddess of Wealth. Once Jiang Shuzhou's floating city is built, he can take it back then.

"By the way, can I borrow money?"

"I hope to borrow ten million divine crystals at an annual interest rate of 40%, and start repaying them after five hundred years."

Suddenly, Jiang Shuzhou said.

Unfortunately, that's not possible.

Mani refused Jiang Shuzhou's loan request without hesitation.

Putting aside the price, the interest rate alone doesn't seem like a normal loan.

Without a doubt, Mani's guess was correct. Since he had borrowed the money, Jiang Shuzhou had no intention of repaying it. He planned to physically eliminate the creditor so that he wouldn't have to pay it back.

But Mani isn't stupid; he won't sign such a contract. He might sell the rope that kills him for profit, but he won't allow anyone to get something for nothing.

"Tsk tsk, what a pity, you missed a chance to make a lot of money."

"Haha, you're joking."

Next, the two signed a contract and then agreed on the details of the goods delivery.

Jiang Shuzhou asked again.

"Now, you should tell me what you really mean by what you're saying, right?"

"What are you saying? You are my dearest customer. We have always adhered to the principle that the customer is God."

Mani smiled slightly, and then, without keeping anyone in suspense, directly revealed the information.

"You may not know, but the god of fate, Safras, gave a prophecy. I don't know what the prophecy was, but it is said to be related to the fall of a god."

"Without a doubt, the gods now suspect that you are the culprit who caused their downfall. Several gods have already descended in their avatars, ready to inflict divine punishment on you."