My System Just Exploded, And You Ask Me to Become a God?-Chapter 20 --The Grand Shopping Spree

"Yes, it's been a while!"

Joad greeted with a smile, then walked into the shop with Ivy.

The staff enthusiastically followed behind him—

after all, in all of Pugisburg, there were hardly any who didn't recognize Joad, the young master of House Whide.

Not to mention, he was also a student at Ilan Royal Academy, and a junior schoolmate of Leit!

Just those few titles were enough to make any merchant in Pugisburg treat him with extra care.

"Mr. Joad, what can we help you with today?"

The staff's face beamed with a wide smile, his tone full of respect.

Joad thought for a moment, then said,

"Do you have any nightingale grass, windshade flowers, frostfire leaves..."

He rattled off more than a dozen names of magical herbs in one breath.

As he spoke, the staff quickly searched through the store's inventory in his mind.

"Mr. Joad, we do have all the ones you mentioned, but..."

He paused and hesitated a little.

"How much... do you need?"

"One hundred of each."

Joad replied casually.

"O-One hundred?!"

The smile froze on the staff's face. He suspected he'd misheard.

"Mr. Joad, are you sure you meant one hundred of each?"

"That's right," Joad nodded.

"What, don't you have that many in stock?"

"N-No, we do, it's just..."

The staff stammered,

"Mr. Joad, this isn't a small order. All these magical herbs combined...

I'm afraid it'll cost around fifteen thousand mana stones!"

He quoted the price carefully, worried that it might scare away this little goldmine of a customer.

"I'll take them!"

Joad waved his hand with grandeur, and Ivy paid without hesitation.

Once they left the shop, Ivy asked cautiously,

"Joad, why did you buy so many magical herbs?"

"Of course, it's to make potions for you!"

Joad replied as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Don't you remember? Your body needs conditioning—these are essentials."

"But... isn't this a bit too much? I don't think we used that many in the past."

"That was different."

Joad waved it off like an expert,

"Back then, it was just for emergencies. This time, it's a full system of treatment—of course we'll need more.

Besides, potion-making isn't guaranteed to succeed every time. There's always a chance of failure. It's better to be prepared!"

His explanation sounded quite convincing, and Ivy, hearing it, felt it made sense and asked no more.

"Quick! Gather all the magical herbs Mr. Joad requested!"

For the rest of the day, Joad took Ivy around several more magical goods stores.

At every shop, he listed out a bunch of magical herb names and asked the staff to prepare them.

Without exception, every shop assistant was utterly shocked by Joad's extravagant spending.

None of them had ever seen a student purchase such a massive amount of magical herbs in one go.

By the time Joad wrapped up his spree, he had spent more than thirty thousand mana stones.

And with all that, he expected to pocket a net profit of around thirty thousand mana stones!

Turns out, serving a rich girl really is the fastest way to make money!

Joad was feeling quite pleased with himself. Looking at Ivy, he suddenly asked,

"By the way, Ivy, I have a 'formal advancement package' here. Would you like to hear about it?"

"A formal package?"

"Put simply, it's a service that helps you drastically increase your strength in a short period of time.

As long as you buy this package, I guarantee that within three years, you'll become a high-level full-fledged mage and an array master, and even raise your magic affinity to level 4!"

"What?!"

Ivy was stunned. Right now, she was just at the rank of advanced apprentice mage—

And in three years, she could jump an entire rank to become a high-level full-fledged mage?

That... that sounded impossible!

And on top of that, to become an array master, and push magic affinity up to level 4?

It sounded like a fantasy!

"Joad, are... are you serious?"

Ivy stammered, still unable to believe what she'd just heard.

"Of course I'm serious!"

Joad replied with a straight face.

"I'm absolutely confident in this. And I promise—if it doesn't work, you get a full refund, no questions asked!"

He patted his chest in assurance.

Becoming a full-fledged mage actually wasn't all that difficult.

For ordinary students, it might take a lot of time and effort.

But for him, it was as easy as flipping his hand.

Because he had already mastered all the key points and tricks to breaking through to full-fledged mage.

As long as someone followed his method—anyone could do it!

"So, Ivy, want to give it a try?"

Ivy was definitely tempted, but she was a little concerned—was the package going to be too expensive?

After all, her House Rima only had a few billion mana stones to their name—just some pocket change.

If it wasn't too expensive, maybe it'd be worth it...

"Joad, how much mana stone does this package cost?"

"100,000 mana stones!"

Joad replied without hesitation.

"O-One hundred thousand?!

That's so cheap!"

Ivy's eyes immediately sparkled with delight.

She hadn't expected that such amazing results could be achieved for just a mere 100,000 mana stones!

"Joad, I'll take it!"

Joad was stunned by her response.

She decided so quickly?

This was 100,000 mana stones—not ten!

You had to know, Ilan Royal Academy's entire annual income was only a few tens of thousands of mana stones.

A hundred thousand was like three years of the academy's budget!

But before he could say more, Ivy added shyly,

"It's just... I don't have that many mana stones on me right now. I'll need to contact my father and have him send some over."

"No problem!"

Joad was overjoyed.

He hadn't expected Ivy to agree so readily!

This is fantastic!

"Ivy, you're incredibly wise for making this choice!

Don't worry, I'll make sure it's worth every mana stone!"

In his heart, Joad was already calculating—

With Ivy's 100,000 mana stones on the way, and the 30,000 he just made selling magical herbs,

he'd soon have 130,000 mana stones in total!

That meant he only needed another 270,000 to reach the 400,000 mana stones required to break through to archmage!

He couldn't believe it—Ivy had just helped him solve a full third of his problem in one go!

She's truly his lucky star!

Meanwhile, Ivy followed alongside Joad, but a hint of doubt crept into her heart.

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If Joad's method was really so effective, why hadn't he used it on himself?

Why was he still just a mid-level apprentice mage?

Joad had no idea what she was thinking. They stepped into yet another magic goods store.

Suddenly, his eyes were drawn to a plant on the shelf.

It was entirely crimson red, with leaves that seemed to glow with a soft flame—it looked extraordinary.

"Is that... crimson witchgrass?!"

Joad gasped. He never expected to see such a rare magical herb here.

Crimson witchgrass was an incredibly valuable herb.

He'd read about it in an old tome once.

It was said to only grow near volcanoes and was extremely scarce—almost impossible to find.

And yet, here it was!

"Boss, how much for this crimson witchgrass?"

"One thousand mana stones,"

the shopkeeper replied without even looking up.

"One thousand mana stones?"

Joad was delighted—that was much lower than he'd expected.

"Great, I'll take it!"

Just then, a voice suddenly rang out, interrupting the transaction.

"I'll pay two thousand mana stones!"

A thin-looking figure stepped forward.

He wore a brand-new, exquisitely tailored magic robe made from expensive silkworm thread—clearly high-end.

And when his eyes landed on Ivy, his expression became openly lustful.

What a beautiful girl!

And the guy next to her...

Damn it, how could he be this good-looking?!

He didn't care about the crimson witchgrass at all. The reason he butted in was simple—he disliked guys who were more handsome than him.

Of course, it was also an attempt to attract Ivy's attention.

Joad frowned.

He had no enemies in Pugisburg, so... who was this creepy-looking guy?