The bead was only the size of a fingernail, emitting a soft, milky-white glow under the moonlight. Fine silver light swirled within it, like a droplet of solidified moonlight.
The free-floating mana in the surrounding air was drawn to it, forming a tiny mana vortex.
“T-this... is this...” Tiechui's throat felt dry. She reached out, her fingertips stopping an inch away from the bead, as if afraid her very breath might defile it. “Niveya's Stone?”
“Niveya's Stone?” Wu Yao had never heard the name. The system had only given it the name Mana Core, and she had simply been using it as a mana potion. She immediately used Appraisal to check its description.
【Niveya's Stone】
【Grade: Epic】
【Source: Purification Product】
【Function: Magic Circle Material / Enchanting Material / Rune Material / Potion Ingredient】
【Form: Crystal】
【Description: A milky-white crystal bead whose size varies with the energy contained within, as small as a grain of rice and as large as a pigeon's egg. Fine silver light is sealed inside, and it feels warm and cool to the touch like jade. Four hundred years ago, the young Crescent Moon Witch, Niveya, proposed a nearly fantastical concept—converting the Corrupted Cores inside corrupted creatures into pure energy that witches could use. She spent years, enduring countless failures and doubts, before finally perfecting this purification method in the last decade of her life. This allowed countless fading magical plants to survive and made it possible to reverse the corruption of the land for the first time. The purified Corrupted Cores were subsequently named after her.】
【Effect: Niveya's Stone possesses excellent mana-neutralizing properties. It can be used as a mana stabilizer in alchemy, serve as a catalyst in potion brewing to improve the quality and stability of the finished product, act as an enchanting medium to bear rune engravings, be used directly as rune material for rune construction, or serve as a magic circle material to enhance magic circle stability. Direct absorption restores a small amount of mana.】
【Properties: Extremely stable in nature, Niveya's Stone does not react with most active substances. It is resistant to high temperatures, corrosion, and the effects of corruption. Long-term storage will not cause energy loss, nor will it be affected by environmental mana fluctuations.】
“It really is Niveya's Stone!” Tongque tightly gripped her sister's wrist. Tiechui's eyes were also glued to the bead, unable to look away. Neither of them could believe they were lucky enough to lay eyes on something so highly sought-after yet virtually unobtainable on the market.
Wu Yao watched the Affection meters above their heads jump from 5 to 25. She shook the Niveya's Stone in her hand, and the eyes of the two goblins followed its movement.
“Do you two like this?”
Tiechui forced down the urge to jump up and shout, “I love it, please give it to me!”
Tongque's fingernails practically dug into her own flesh.
As merchants, they knew the value of this item better than anyone. Niveya's Stone could be used for so many things; almost every creation during the final boom of the Silver Moon era was inseparable from Niveya's Stone.
However, after the last witch who mastered the purification method chose to return to the Moon, the heritage of the purification method was broken. No one on the continent could utilize Corrupted Cores anymore.
The few Niveya's Stones that still existed were leftover stock; once used, they were gone forever. That group of arrogant mages were nothing but despicable plagiarists who couldn't master the purification method at all.
Yet the witch before them actually had Niveya's Stone in her hand. And judging by her expression, this thing... didn't seem rare to her at all?
“Where did this come from?”
Tiechui couldn't help but ask, though her remaining sanity quickly made her backtrack: “S-sorry, that was out of line...”
“Oh, this?” Wu Yao casually tossed the Niveya's Stone up and down a few times. Her nonchalant attitude made the two goblins' hearts leap into their throats, terrified she might accidentally drop and break the treasure. “I purified it myself.”
She spoke lightheartedly, as if describing how to dice a potato.
Tiechui and Tongque exchanged a glance, seeing the same shock and wild joy in each other's eyes.
Purified.
Purified by herself.
What did this mean?
It meant that as long as Her Ladyship was willing, she could produce a steady, endless stream of this resource!
It meant that standing before them was a walking mountain of gold—no, a magic mineral vein far more valuable than any gold mountain!
“My Lady,” Tongque took a deep breath, trying to steady her trembling voice. She let go of her sister's hand, smoothed out her travel robes, and bowed to Wu Yao with the most standard merchant etiquette. “Please forgive our loss of composure, but you might not realize what the Niveya's Stone in your hand truly represents.”
“Hmm?” Wu Yao muttered to herself. I can have as many of these as I want.
“It means a monopoly. It means power. It means...”
Tongque's eyes shone with incredible brilliance. She had completely forgotten her fear; the business instincts hardwired into a goblin's genes told her that she absolutely could not miss this opportunity.
“It means the Topaz Trading Company is willing to offer you our highest level of VIP treatment! There is virtually no Niveya's Stone circulating on the market anymore. Every single one that appears triggers a mad scramble within the Mage Association.”
“Is it really that exaggerated?” As Wu Yao spoke, she pulled out another handful, and seven or eight Niveya's Stones clinked together in her palm.
Tiechui and Tongque stared at the handful of translucent white beads, feeling as if their breath had completely stopped.
Tiechui felt that all the negotiation tactics she had just prepared were completely useless—no hints, no testing the waters, no gradual raising of the stakes...
In the face of an absolute resource monopoly, all tactics were utterly meaningless.
She reached out with a trembling hand and asked cautiously, “My Lady, may I ask... how many more Niveya's Stones do you have? Or rather, how many can you purify each month?”
Wu Yao originally wanted to say “as many as you want.” Given her mob-farming efficiency and the high density of monsters in the Cursed Forest during the day, she was not short on Corrupted Cores at all, and purifying them was a breeze.
But just as the words reached her lips, she recalled a fundamental logic in general game economies: scarcity drives value.
The NPCs in this game were indeed very intelligent. If she let them know she could mass-produce them without limit, the price would definitely be driven down.
Thus, she changed her tune and flashed a mysterious, profound smile. “What can you offer in exchange?”
Tiechui and Tongque both tensed up. The real business had begun!
The two goblins quickly exchanged a glance. Tiechui cleared her throat, striving to look professional and sincere.
“My Lady, the starting bid for a Niveya's Stone the size of a gold coin on the black market is usually over three thousand gold coins. The final transaction price can reach five thousand to eight thousand gold coins. The better the quality, the higher the price, with no upper limit. The most recent transaction, a year ago, was eight thousand seven hundred and sixty-eight gold coins. Judging by the size and quality of the Niveya's Stones in your hand, each one would start at five thousand gold coins.”
Rate on N.U.
