Chapter 103: The Street of Elegance Not Shown on the Map
“These must all be failures, right? Even the material cost is a loss, and if you want to find a sucker to recoup some costs, this is not the way.” Sister Bai squatted down to look at the various small items on the stall, then casually picked one up and questioned this senior.
“Ah? Well, you caught me! Should I lower the price a bit more? Though they’re all failures, they’re not completely useless; they can serve as decorations with a lot of charm~” After being exposed, the senior hurriedly started to explain awkwardly.
“But items like this lose value as art pieces.” Sister Bai wouldn’t let it go. “If you give a reasonable price, I might pick a few.”
“Okay, okay~”
After some back-and-forth bargaining, the senior agreed to sell at a low price.
In the end, I ended up with two small toys.
With their delicate structures and metallic luster, I couldn’t help but find them charming.
However, after Sister Bai’s explanation, I finally understood what these two items were.
One was a hollowed sphere, within which was another hollow sphere, making a crisp jingling sound when shaken. Without discussing its function, just the craftsmanship felt quite valuable. Originally, the small ball inside this concentric sphere was supposed to float, but as a failed product, it did not levitate, serving as a simple bell in hand.
Even if this item had been successful, it would still be a useless art piece; now it was merely a toy. The residual extraordinary energy inside would glow when it moved, which was its only remaining value.
The other item was a magical tool meant for performing magic tricks, which felt a bit weird.
Isn’t it backwards to use magic to perform magic tricks?
Moreover, this was a failed product, losing even its ability to perform magic.
It was left with a series of linked rings that looked quite exquisite, and pulling on them produced a crisp sound, with a small chance of revealing effects like ribbons and smoke—typical magical concealment effects.
Through the lens of spirit vision, I understood these effects were achieved by consuming extraordinary energy. If that energy were depleted, these effects would disappear completely.
“Hehe~ This is quite fun; I didn’t expect the bottom line for alchemical items to be so low.”
“Of course, alchemy is all about gradual learning; no one can master it overnight. Early-stage alchemists rely on resources for practice until they can create powerful alchemical products later.” Bai Yu smiled and explained to me.
“Then does Sister Bai practice alchemy?”
“Um, no, I haven’t been exposed to any knowledge in that area. Everyone can choose different paths; there’s no need to learn everything that comes to mind. Being jack-of-all-trades but master of none is the biggest issue.”
“Oh, I was just curious. I don’t have that much money to learn it, anyway,” I said with a smile.
“Right, let’s head back; there’s nothing exciting ahead.”
“Up ahead… um, indeed.” I lifted my head to look ahead; it seemed like this everywhere: after the initial curiosity, boredom set in. After all, I wasn’t fond of shopping. I suggested going out only because I wanted to spend more time with Sister Bai.
“Um? Wait, Sister Bai, isn’t something strange up ahead?” I didn’t actively turn off spirit vision; after all, it provided me a perspective on the extraordinary, and I was gradually adapting to this power.
Since my last debacle with Tan Han, my understanding and control of spirit vision had greatly improved, which astonished me.
“There’s nothing ahead; let’s go back.”
“Wait, Sister Bai, you’re acting strange!” Seeing Sister Bai’s reaction, she indeed seemed quite anxious.
“There’s nothing wrong; if you don’t behave, Sister Bai will have to punish you!” Bai Yu’s tone was somewhat urgent, as if I had uncovered something.
“What on earth is here?” I felt Sister Bai tugging my arm, but I remained still. Her unusual behavior piqued my curiosity.
So I once again employed spirit vision to look at the street; originally, I couldn’t see clearly, but now I suddenly realized it seemed to overlay another space!
It was as if the Witch Academy was layered over the Magic Capital, and here was yet another space covering the entire area.
Unfortunately, I could only see it but not touch that space. It was neither the dream space nor any other illusory space.
I could even see moving silhouettes inside…
“Xiao Han, good children shouldn’t go in…” Bai Yu likely sensed my gaze and understood that I used spirit vision to see the anomaly; she had wanted to take Xiao Han away from here but hadn’t succeeded.
If she had known Xiao Han would discover this so quickly, she should have been firmer back then.
“Now that I’m an adult, what places can’t I go to?” I weakly retorted.
Even so, I continued to observe carefully. Since that space had so many people, there had to be convenient ways to enter.
I just didn’t know them yet.
“This… this is…” For a moment, Bai Yu did not know how to explain; she certainly couldn’t say this was one of the renowned “Streets of Elegance” among the Witch Academy!
This place couldn’t even be found on the academy map; she hadn’t intended for Xiao Han to know about it. Little did she expect Xiao Han would wander here. Had she known, directing her randomly would have been better than the current situation.
In summary, she was deeply regretful.
At that moment, I found the breakthrough. This space had many discreet entrances, hidden in not-so-prominent places.
“Ah! Xiao Han, where are you going? Don’t run around!”
“It’s nothing, I’m just taking a look.” I chuckled and led Sister Bai to a corner.
It seemed like this was a designated point. While I might not notice it from a regular perspective, in spirit vision mode, I could clearly see a “encrypted lock” above.
As long as I saw through this layer of relations, it wouldn’t stop me at all.
It was like there was a lock here that ordinary people couldn’t open, but with the effect of spirit vision, I could “see through” it. So long as I understood the basic principles, I could open it with my bare hands.
Of course, I couldn’t actually open it barehanded; I needed to use mental power, specifically my strands of mental power, which at this moment acted like a master key.
As I projected my strands of mental power, Bai Yu also reacted. She seldom came to the Street of Elegance, so her understanding of the entrances was limited to a few specific ones.
This entrance was one she didn’t know about, but she quickly realized—though too late.
Initially, she was convinced I absolutely couldn’t open it, but she underestimated my world-class spirit vision.
This was a dimensional strike at the level of extraordinary cognition.
As my mental power pried open this “lock,” the door to this “new world” swung wide open for me!
At that moment, both Sister Bai and I were enveloped into the opening node.
