Daoye Mountain, as the largest Hunter Soldier Guard City in the Southern Border of Great Zhou, is located right next to the neighboring country, Hou Qin.
In the Five Great Vassal States of the Wuji Continent, Hou Qin and Great Zhou are both Martial Arts Countries, and currently, both countries have Martial Saint Level experts stationed within.
As such, the two countries often face off against each other. Although there hasn’t been any war or conflict in the diplomatic sense, minor skirmishes and border bandit incidents occur frequently.
To stabilize the border, the Hunting Soldier Guard City was established. On one hand, the hunters accept various missions to subdue bandits, and on the other hand, internal conflicts among the hunters are settled in the arena.
Consequently, the Southern Border became relatively stable, but it also led to an unavoidable consequence; neither Great Zhou nor Hou Qin intervened in the management of the Hunter Soldier Guard City.
In front of the bloodthirsty and bellicose hunters, the officials and border military could only turn a blind eye. The public security within the Hunter Soldier Guard City is entirely controlled by the Hunter Soldier Guard Team organized by the Hunter Soldier Branch.
When Yun Sheng bid farewell to Feng Kuo and was walking to the market with Little Black, she encountered numerous hunters and merchants from Hou Qin along the way.
It was easy to distinguish whether someone was from Hou Qin or not.
The citizens of Great Zhou, similar to the Asian countries like Z in Yun Sheng’s previous life, all have yellow skin and black hair, and their body types are relatively moderate.
People from Hou Qin, on the other hand, resemble the populations of North Caucasus more, with brown hair, blue eyes, high nose bridges, tall stature, pale skin, and deep facial features.
After Yun Sheng entered the market, she immediately put on the Illusion Power Earring to disguise her appearance.
She currently had ten thousand gold coins that she won from the Wanlong Gambling House, plus some money she made from selling medicine earlier, which added up to a modest savings.
As she passed by a Magic Scroll Shop, Yun Sheng walked in, intending to see if there were any learnable magic scrolls.
Yun Sheng planned, after helping Feng Kuo and others pass the Hunter Soldier Team exam, to return to Yujing City to enhance her Mage level. She had already learned Fire Middle-level Magic and Earth Magic, and if possible, she wanted to learn the remaining Wind and Water Intermediate Magic as well.
The layout of the Magic Scroll Shop was very similar to a regular bookstore, except that the shelves were lined with magic scrolls made from various animal hides.
Upon seeing a customer, a Mage came forward to greet her. Judging by the badge on his chest, he was a Great Demon Level Mage.
Upon hearing that Yun Sheng wanted to buy Intermediate Water and Wind Magic Scrolls, the Mage took a few more glances at Yun Sheng. Despite the Illusion Power Earring, it was not difficult to discern from her voice and the Magic Warrior Badge on her that she was a young, newly promoted Magician.
"Honorable guest, the price of Intermediate Magic Scrolls is not cheap. Just one Intermediate Water Magic Scroll of Water Mist Eye with a bewitching effect costs as high as nine thousand gold coins," the scroll shop owner kindly reminded Yun Sheng.
He noticed that although Yun Sheng was young, her speech and demeanor were very composed, and she had a small dog by her side.
That small dog was clearly not an ordinary wild beast, but a Battle Pet.
Only someone with some background could afford to keep a Battle Pet.
Nine thousand gold coins!
This price really took Yun Sheng by surprise, as she thought she was already a little rich lady, but the price of just one magic scroll was so expensive.
Yun Sheng did not know that the crafting of Intermediate Magic Scrolls is quite complex.
It requires using the skin of a Middle-level or higher Demon Beast, coupled with special Beast Blood, and refined through a special method, hence the naturally high price.
"Then one Intermediate Water Magic scroll, preferably one with some defensive capabilities," Yun Sheng had no choice but to settle for less as she had already been blessed by the Wind Elf, so she had no significant issues with movement and evasion.
Yun Sheng once heard her instructor occasionally mention the cultivation of Multi-element Magic Souls during magic lessons, emphasizing balance without bias toward any single element, otherwise a mage’s overall strength would be like a barrel lacking one plank, forever inadequate.
However, the cultivation of multi-element magic, while sounding simple, is actually quite difficult to implement.
This is also why, although mages with Multi-element Magic Souls have innate advantages, most specialize in a particular type of magic. Currently, among Yun Sheng’s five major magic attributes, Fire Magic is the strongest, followed by the recently learned Dark Thorn, then Earth and Wind Magic, with Water Magic being the weakest.
But Yun Sheng was not interested in buying the Water Mist Eye, which confuses the enemy, because she already had Little Black.
With Little Black’s "Swallowing Sky" combat skill, the screen goes completely black, which is far more effective than any Water Mist.
"Or how about a Blizzard, which is an Intermediate Water Magic for large-scale attacks," the scroll merchant continued to recommend enthusiastically.
However, Yun Sheng shook her head, large-scale attack magic sounds impressive, but with her current magic power, she fears it would exhaust her magic power completely after just one use.
During combat, there’s no time for her to recover using Meditation Water.
In the end, Yun Sheng chose an Intermediate Magic called Water Binding.
This Intermediate Magic transforms water magic elements into snake-like magic vapor, binding the enemy’s movement.
"The Intermediate Magic Water Binding scroll costs ten thousand gold coins, but if you buy it now, I can offer you a discount, at nine thousand five hundred gold coins," the mage made a sale, smiling from ear to ear.
Yun Sheng cringed at the expense but still pulled out the Imperial Purple Gold Card and paid.
While waiting for the merchant to process Yun Sheng’s transaction, a man who had been browsing magic scrolls nearby approached.
He directly asked, "Sir, do you buy magic scrolls here?"
The merchant looked up at him, noticing immediately that the man was not a mage but a villager from a nearby village.
"Yes, what type of magic scrolls? Are they Beginner or Intermediate level magic scrolls?" the merchant asked, following usual practice.
But the man scratched his head and said vaguely, "I’m not sure what it is, you have a look, see what scroll it is."
Hearing this, the merchant was displeased, "Man, let me be clear, I don’t accept scrolls of unclear origin."
The implication was that he suspected the man’s scroll to be of dubious origin, especially since the man was neither a mage nor a martial artist—where would he have gotten a magic scroll from?
"Sir, rest assured, I found this scroll when I was tidying up the family ancestral house. We are too poor to even lift the pot lid, so I brought it to sell," the man said, and handed the magic scroll to the merchant.
Yun Sheng took back her Imperial Purple Gold Card and wasn’t in a hurry to leave, she also glanced at the young man’s magic scroll.
It seemed to be an unnamed magic scroll.
But as an experienced magic scroll merchant, the merchant still checked the young man’s scroll.
After checking, he shook his head, "This magic scroll isn’t worth much, it’s just the most basic Earth Magic, Earth Spur. One hundred gold coins, take it or leave it."