mesbooks Chapter 259 [Mirror of the Heart] Acquired, Golden Treasure Chest!
Chapter 259 [Mirror of the Heart] Acquired, Golden Treasure Chest!
Chapter 259 [Mirror of the Heart] Acquired, Golden Treasure Chest!
In preparation for this transaction, Fang Zhou first gently stroked the ordinary life crystal hanging on his chest.
This was a gift from Instructor Shen Hongyu to him.
Then, he carefully took out the well-preserved ferocious ant queen life crystal from the space storage capsule and gently rubbed it in his hand.
This precious crystal contains immense power and is also a crucial bargaining chip in his deal with Gu Yueyuan.
Thinking about the upcoming transaction, Fang Zhou's lips curled up slightly, and his eyes shone with anticipation.
After thinking for a moment, he opened his personal terminal and sent a message to Senior Sister Liu Diewu, expressing his gratitude.
【Ordinary Apprentice】(Ark): "Congratulations to Senior Sister Liu Diewu on your promotion to Black Iron! From now on, you can roam freely and without limits!"
I also want to thank Senior Sister Butterfly Dance for going to the trouble of inquiring about Senior Brother Gu Yueyuan for me.
I'm ready to make a deal with him.
Senior Sister Liu Diewu quickly replied with a "things went smoothly" emoji.
Soon, just as Senior Sister Liu Diewu had predicted, Gu Yueyuan sent Fangzhou a short and direct transaction request message.
[A little bit of hardship] (Gu Yueyuan): "Junior Fangzhou, I have returned to school and am ready to trade at any time."
Although the message was brief, it conveyed a sense of straightforwardness and efficiency, without any delays.
After seeing this message, Fangzhou silently pondered Gu Yueyuan's personality.
Based on the descriptions he had received from Liu Diewu, Lu Renjia, and several other second-year students, he began to sketch out the behavior of this number one seed student.
Gu Yueyuan seemed to dislike unnecessary small talk and preferred a more direct approach.
This made him seem somewhat unconventional.
Therefore, Ark also adopted the same concise and clear approach in its reply.
[An Ordinary Apprentice] (Fang Zhou): "Senior Brother Gu, I am currently practicing my skills at the first-year skill training ground."
Where are you now? I'll come to your place to make the deal.
Not long after, Gu Yueyuan replied to Fangzhou's message.
【Just a little bit of hardship】(Gu Yueyuan): "I'm in my dormitory now, getting ready to go to the logistics department."
It's not too far from your place to the logistics department, so how about we agree to meet there for the transaction?
Seeing that Gu Yueyuan had made such an arrangement, Fangzhou had no objections.
[The Ordinary Apprentice] (Fang Zhou): "No problem, I'll be right there."
Fang Zhou quickly packed his belongings, left the skills training ground, and hurried towards the logistics department.
As soon as he arrived at the entrance of the logistics department, he saw a person completely wrapped in a gray robe.
The man was wearing a hood, which completely concealed his face, making it impossible to see his true appearance.
Fang Zhou was taken aback for a moment, then tentatively asked, "Excuse me, are you Senior Brother Gu Yueyuan? I am Fang Zhou."
Upon hearing the voice, the gray-robed man turned to look at the ark, seemingly to confirm whether the person before him was the one he had agreed to meet.
After a moment's hesitation, he slowly took off his hood, revealing a slightly weathered face.
His skin was slightly pale, and his eyes were deep-set, as if they held many stories hidden behind them.
The gray-robed man said in a slightly hoarse voice, "I am Gu Yueyuan."
Fangzhou stretched out his hand while carefully examining the senior's appearance.
Gu Yueyuan had a cold and stern expression, a high forehead, and sharp features, giving him an impression of being a man of great talent and ambition. The light in his eyes carried a hint of numbness that was hard to detect.
As the two lights converged, Fangzhou faintly heard the chirping of insects in the surrounding air, small and continuous.
Gu Yueyuan stared at Fang Zhou's outstretched hand, a barely perceptible ripple flashing in his eyes.
But soon, he slowly extended his hand.
The two hands clasped together created a striking contrast.
Fangzhou's hands were warm and strong, full of life and vitality.
Gu Yueyuan's hands, however, were icy cold and even somewhat withered, reminiscent of the bare branches of a water chestnut in winter.
Knowing Gu Yueyuan's temperament well, Fangzhou didn't stand on ceremony and directly took out a life crystal of a ferocious ant queen from his spatial storage capsule.
The crystal emitted a dark luster, and seemed to have faint life fluctuations inside, making it appear particularly mysterious in the dim light.
He handed the crystal to Gu Yueyuan and said in a calm tone, "Senior Brother Gu, I have brought the insect magic crystal you requested. You can check it."
Gu Yueyuan nodded slightly and took out an exquisite brocade box from his spatial storage capsule.
He gently opened the box, and inside lay a mirror of the heart.
This is a small mirror inlaid with intricate patterns, radiating a soft and mysterious light.
Gu Yueyuan handed the brocade box to Fangzhou and said in a slightly low voice, "This is the Mirror of the Heart that you wanted."
It can provide a nourishing effect on the soul for apprentice-level professionals every day.
Moreover, based on my experience, this Mirror of the Heart has been damaged by an unknown force, but it still has the potential to be restored.
If its functionality can be fully restored, it might bring you unexpected surprises.
Fang Zhou handed the ferocious ant queen life crystal in his hand to Gu Yueyuan.
Gu Yueyuan steadily accepted the precious item, examined it carefully, and then cautiously placed it into his spatial storage capsule to ensure it would not be damaged in any way.
The two completed the handover and then each began their own inspection of the goods.
For Ark, this process was almost a formality.
Before the transaction, he had already gained a thorough understanding of the Mirror of the Heart through the information publicly displayed by Gu Yueyuan in the trading channel.
Therefore, as soon as he received the exquisite brocade box, before he even had a chance to open it, the relevant information was already displayed in the Oddities section of the attribute panel.
[Mirror of the Heart] (Grayish Inferior Artifact, Damaged): A product of an alien civilization that primarily uses mental power in combat. It can be charged once a day. After charging, gazing at the mirror for a period of time grants a certain degree of soul nourishment; currently, this effect only applies to apprentice-level professionals. Most of the artifact's effects have been damaged by an unknown force and require repair.
After receiving a definitive message from the attribute panel, Ark gently opened the brocade box and took out the Mirror of the Heart.
This mirror has an ancient and mysterious appearance, with slight wear on the edges, revealing a sense of the passage of time.
The frame is made of an unidentified material that feels cold and hard to the touch, with tiny cracks covering its surface.
The silver luster on the mirror has faded, but at certain angles, a faint reflection can still be seen.
The back of the Mirror of the Heart is engraved with intricate patterns.
These lines intertwine to form a peculiar pattern, resembling an ancient map.
Fangzhou gently touched the patterns and felt a subtle vibration, as if it were resonating with his soul.
Each time his fingers traced those lines, a faint power emanated from the Mirror of the Heart, giving him a jolt.
It felt as if it could directly touch the depths of one's soul.
As Fang Zhou gently stroked the ancient and mottled surface of the Mirror of the Heart, his resolve to acquire this rare artifact that nourishes the soul grew even stronger.
Meanwhile, Gu Yueyuan held the ferocious ant queen life crystal that Fangzhou had given him tightly in one hand, while making a complex gesture with the other.
A dim, gray light gathered at his fingertips, eventually condensing into a stable beam of light.
He shone the light onto the life crystal.
The light pierced through the crystal, making its internal structure clearly visible.
Inside this life crystal, the faint phantom of a ferocious ant queen could be seen flashing by, as brief yet real as an illusion.
Gu Yueyuan keenly caught this instantaneous change, and a gleam of joy flashed in his eyes.
Through his unique magic, Gu Yueyuan has confirmed that this life crystal is indeed, as Fang Zhou said, purified from the magic crystal of an extremely rare apprentice-level ferocious ant queen.
He knew that such life crystals were extremely rare, because only a very few ferocious queen ants could leave behind pure magic crystals after their death.
These magical crystals require special processing to be transformed into even more precious life crystals.
This is exactly what many professionals who need to train with the help of insect-like monsters dream of.
After confirming that Fang Zhou's words were true, Gu Yueyuan decisively raised his head and said without hesitation, "Junior Brother Fang Zhou, I'm going to take this Queen Ant Magic Crystal. Why don't you name a price?"
Fangzhou was prepared and had a clear plan in mind, so he responded directly: "Why don't we have a barter transaction?"
In exchange for a nearly intact Queen Ant Crystal, you can have this Heart Mirror in your hand, which, though severely damaged, is still priceless.
I think this exchange is quite fair and reasonable.
Upon hearing this, Gu Yueyuan nodded slightly, without raising any objection to the price.
He readily agreed to the proposal: "Deal."
Subsequently, Fangzhou and Guyueyuan signed a barter agreement on the trading channel through their respective personal terminals.
When the two signatures were affixed to the electronic agreement, the long-awaited transaction by Ark was finally successfully completed.
After the transaction was completed, Gu Yueyuan's numb expression seemed to relax a lot.
He carefully put away the Queen Ant Crystal in his hand, breathed a sigh of relief, and then slowly said, "Junior Fangzhou, I have also heard about your achievements."
Putting aside your valiant performance in Cave 1, your sole dominance at the top of the historical speedrun leaderboard in the Apprentice-level Horned Demon Outpost simulation battlefield is enough to prove that even among those of the same level, my strength is far inferior to yours.
"I know you have quite a few insect-type monster materials. If you'd like, you might as well show them to me."
I'm willing to recycle anything that's suitable.
Whether you choose to barter or trade using contribution points, the prices will definitely satisfy you.
Fang Zhou nodded slightly, thinking to himself, it seems that Gu Yueyuan, as the number one seed in the second year, has indeed gained a lot in the previous mission.
Only in this way could he confidently make a promise that the price would satisfy him.
However, this is understandable.
After all, Gu Yueyuan was already a Black Iron Rank professional, a whole level higher than Fang Zhou.
In terms of strength, resource acquisition, and accumulation of contribution points, they far surpass ordinary apprentice-level professionals.
Gu Yueyuan clearly had a full understanding of his own status and strength.
Regardless of what Gu Yueyuan thought, Fangzhou would not miss such a good opportunity, as it was a rare chance to encounter such a generous buyer.
Without hesitation, he took out one precious item after another from the spatial storage capsule he carried with him.
These are all valuable materials that he collected from various insect-like monsters.
The glands of a ferocious ant queen.
Ferocious ant eggs.
The blood-sucking mouthparts of a ferocious mosquito.
The hive of the ferocious bee and the honey it contains.
The Ark's bounty was so abundant that even Gu Yueyuan, a low-ranking Black Iron professional specializing in Zerg hive exploration, couldn't help but marvel at it.
He quickly checked the items displayed on the Ark, nodded in satisfaction, and said to the Ark, "These monster materials are of excellent quality; I like them very much."
Although they are all apprentice-level materials, I can still use them.
"Fangzhou, what are your requirements?"
As one of the seeded students in the second year, Gu Yueyuan naturally possesses many resources that are extremely valuable to the Ark.
Therefore, Ark is not satisfied with simple contribution point trading, but hopes to obtain the resources it needs from Ancient Moon Source through barter.
However, Fangzhou understood that these scattered insect and monster materials alone might not be enough to achieve the desired effect.
After a moment's thought, he took out an even more precious item from the space storage capsule.
That was the frog drum he had seized from the swamp frogs in Cave 1.
In addition, Fangzhou also brought out a skill book that he had compiled himself.
This skill book records the mental shock skill he learned from the Queen Ant's Magic Crystal.
These newly added items greatly increased the value of the transaction and made Gu Yueyuan's eyes burn even more intensely.
Fangzhou handed the two precious resources to Guyueyuan, his tone full of sincerity.
"Senior Brother Gu, please take a look."
This frog drum is a rare artifact seized from the leader of the swamp frogs.
It can attract and repel insect-type monsters commonly found in swamps.
This skill book, "Mental Shock," is the result of my insights and realizations gained during the process of purifying the Queen Ant's Magic Crystal.
These two items might be helpful to you.
Upon hearing Fang Zhou's words, Gu Yueyuan's usually expressionless face showed a rare hint of shock.
He carefully accepted the Frog Drum and the "Mental Shock" skill book from the Ark, then activated his special ability as a Hive Walker to carefully examine these two precious items.
Before long, he realized that these two resources were of extraordinary significance to him.
"Junior Fangzhou, you've really helped me a lot." Gu Yueyuan made no attempt to hide his joy.