Chapter 604 Net Worth Over Ten Thousand!

The crisp morning breeze blew away the stale smell of alcohol that had built up in the room all night.

Compared to its bustling evening peak, the Three-Legged Sea Dog Tavern was noticeably deserted in the morning.

The adventurers who had been raising their glasses and spitting as they boasted around the tables not long ago had either hurried back to their rooms to rest before getting completely drunk, or had simply treated the messy tables, chairs, and even the floor as beds, falling into a deep slumber right in the hall.

Of course, a few sober adventurers were still gathered in twos and threes sipping drinks. A couple of diligent types like Xia Nan, who had woken up early to train, could also be seen, though their numbers were relatively scarce.

Behind the bar, the tavern owner Hera was leisurely wiping a glass, just as always.

Sometimes she would personally head to the port to buy fresh seafood, waking up before dawn. Seeing her current state, she had likely already made a trip around Wave-Breaking Wharf.

"The usual," Xia Nan said.

Though he was about to leave Barracuda Bay, Xia Nan didn't show any particular emotion.

Sitting in his usual spot at the bar, he fished a few silver coins from his belt pouch, placed them on the counter, and slid them toward her. He ordered a classic seafood cream mushroom soup combo—a meal that had never appeared on the menu, but had become a fixed set due to his repeated orders.

He had already mentioned his exact departure time to her, so she knew this meal would likely be his last in Barracuda Bay.

Hera's expression looked a bit complicated.

She reached out, pushed the coins back to Xia Nan, and smiled. "This meal is on me. Just sit back."

He felt a bit surprised. Although he didn't care about the small amount of money, since she had taken the initiative to show kindness in this manner, Xia Nan gladly accepted.

He nodded to her in gratitude, and they began to chat casually.

More than half a month had passed since Xia Nan returned to Barracuda Bay from Stodd Island.

Not only had his two commissioned pieces of equipment been finished, but the rest of his loot had also been processed with high efficiency and converted into solid gold coins.

His income could be divided into three parts.

The first part came from the journey and the miscellaneous loot on Stodd Island that had nothing to do with the sahuagin.

This included, but was not limited to, some flesh materials from the Wind-Seed Octopus excluding its sharp horn, a chest of unprocessed Deep-Sea Resonance Stones, and the equipment left behind on the battlefield—

This loot was too scattered. If he had wanted to maximize his profit by negotiating with buyers one by one, he would have likely wasted several months in Barracuda Bay, and the extra profit gained wouldn't have been worth the time spent.

Therefore, upon returning to Barracuda Bay, Xia Nan had entrusted this portion to Lorraine—who had roamed the sea for years and possessed a massive network of channels for selling loot—to help process it. He proactively offered her fifteen percent of the final profit as a commission.

Facts proved that this captain of the Blade of Vengeance, who had forged quite a reputation in the Southern Archipelagos, was indeed reliable.

In less than a week after returning from Stodd Island, she had finished processing Xia Nan's loot.

In total, it sold for 1,075 gold coins.

After deducting her fifteen percent commission and rounding off the change, Xia Nan received 913 gold.

The second part came from the sahuagin-related loot reclaimed by the Governor's Mansion.

His performance on the battlefield was obvious to all. In the end, he had practically turned the tide, rescuing a situation that had been on the verge of collapse.

Beyond the most critical Bloodskin Shark Beast and the sahuagin priest commander, Xia Nan had also slain a massive number of sahuagin Spellcasters, commanders, and elite guards.

Because of this, his share of the loot after the battle was far, far greater than anyone else's.

Even compared to the halfling Alton and Captain Lorraine, whose contributions were second only to his, the gap was several tiers wide.

A few days ago, after confirming that his equipment forging was almost complete and no extra materials were needed, Xia Nan also honored his agreement with the young official Orisi. He handed over the Bloodskin Shark Beast's corpse and the scarce leftover metal materials from reforging the [Bloodstone Heavy Anchor] to the Governor's Mansion for recovery.

Their recovery price was indeed the market average; they didn't take any kickbacks.

This brought Xia Nan's final total recovery profit to a staggering figure:

—4,862 gold, 9 silver, and 7 copper!!

To be honest, Xia Nan was a bit surprised when he saw this number.

Only after carefully reviewing everything did he understand.

He hadn't felt it during the battle, but looking back now, the number of sahuagin he had personally killed on Stodd Island was simply absurd.

The sahuagin Spellcasters alone approached double digits, not to mention the numerous elite individuals distinct from the ordinary grunts.

Their corpses might not have been worth much, but the equipment on them was a different story.

Especially the sahuagin priests' spellcasting items.

Even the most common shell and conch magic items could sell for a decent amount. If they were slightly processed, or if they reached the green Fine quality grade on the Attribute Panel, they could easily fetch a few hundred gold coins.

Coupled with the Bloodskin Shark Beast's corpse materials and the [Bloodstone Heavy Anchor]—which were still quite valuable even after their core components had been used to forge equipment—

It wasn't surprising to reach this income.

And finally, there was the largest chunk of Xia Nan's income from this adventure.

This came from the two high-level enchanted equipment pieces he had consigned at the Adventurers' Association.

The staff [Shark Bone] was the green-quality gear left behind by that elderly-looking sahuagin priest commander with outstanding spellcasting abilities.

Although it came from a sahuagin, the special effects on this staff's Attribute Panel didn't have any extra restrictions.

Even low-level mages of other races could unleash its full power while wielding this staff.

The specific effects—a boost to casting speed and a damage bonus to Evocation spells below the Fourth Circle—naturally went without saying. The attached spell that could summon four deep-sea blood sharks with a Challenge Rating of "1" was practically a divine skill for low-level adventurers, especially in an oceanic region like the Southern Archipelagos.

Using Xia Nan himself as an example, if the [Deathline] ring he had obtained earlier had the effect of summoning four Bugbears with a Challenge Rating of "1"...

His journey here would probably have been countless times smoother.

Aside from that, even the seemingly useless swim-speed boost at the end of the staff's effects leaned toward an "Intelligence scaling" attribute. It might just allow a Spellcaster who fell into the water to burst forth with a speed faster than a swimming champion from his previous life. It couldn't be called entirely useless.

All in all, it was an excellent green-tier staff.

And just as Xia Nan had predicted, after taking the Association appraiser's advice and listing the staff on the Adventurers' Association auction ledger with a guide price of 1,200 gold, it was immediately fought over by local adventurers.

Perhaps at first there were speculators trying to snag a bargain to buy low and sell high. But later, as wealthy Spellcasters caught wind of the news and rushed over, shouting increasingly outrageous bids, ordinary adventurers gradually retreated from the battlefield.

Having the foresight, Xia Nan hadn't set a buyout price when consigning it. Instead, he had just set a relatively reasonable auction time limit.

He had practically watched the price tag on the staff skyrocket with his own eyes.

It wasn't until the final price slightly exceeded the equipment's true value—and the usually shrewd Spellcasters unanimously slowed their bidding pace until it barely rose anymore—that Xia Nan finally concluded the transaction. He handed the staff over to a low-profile Spellcaster who had sent an apprentice in their stead.

As for the final transaction price—

[Shark Bone] staff—2,766 gold!

This was more than double the guide price!

However, considering that spellcasting equipment was already a "cut above the rest" as a special category, and given its practical effects, it was still quite reasonable.

Meanwhile, the price trend for the [Flame-Scale Hybrid] also showed a rapid upward spike.

To be honest, Xia Nan had originally thought this greatsword would be relatively harder to sell.

Although it wouldn't be stuck in his hands unsold, it certainly wouldn't be fiercely contested by adventurers like the [Shark Bone] staff.

After all, even though it was a blue-quality greatsword, its most crucial effects required the status of a "dragonborn hybrid" to activate.

This was exactly why its guide price of 3,600 gold was far below the average price for blue gear.

Surprisingly, Xia Nan had clearly underestimated the name "Algae Scale" Dodd, as well as the recent heat surrounding the Stodd Island incident in Barracuda Bay.

Without even the pre-sale hype of a proper auction house, the [Flame-Scale Hybrid] had just been listed when its original price of 3,600 gold rapidly surged, quickly reaching a number starting with a "4."

However, it was a blue item after all. For the vast majority of ordinary adventurers, their entire net worth combined couldn't meet the greatsword's starting bid, so they naturally didn't come to join the fun.

And the usually wealthy Spellcasters obviously rarely took an interest in this type of equipment.

In the end, the bidders for the [Flame-Scale Hybrid] grew fewer and fewer. He reckoned there were only two or three people competing with each other.

But compared to the intense and brief auction process of the [Shark Bone] staff, the bidding for the [Flame-Scale Hybrid] seemed exceptionally long.

Those last few bidders all demonstrated immense interest in this piece of equipment.

Although each bid wasn't much higher than the last, they won out in endurance and possessed ample patience.

Just like that, with one bidding twenty gold higher and the other bidding thirty gold higher, the entire auction process for the [Flame-Scale Hybrid] dragged on for over ten days.

It wasn't until three days ago that it was finally won by a veteran collector rumored to have an aristocratic background, fetching 5,762 gold—an average price for a blue item, but a figure far exceeding the greatsword's original value.

For the two high-level enchanted items, after deducting the Adventurers' Association's five percent handling fee, Xia Nan netted a total of 8,101 gold and 6 silver.

This meant that, after combining these three sources of income, Xia Nan's total profit from his trip to Stodd Island had reached a terrifying 13,877 gold, 5 silver, and 7 copper!!! It was a staggering sum that would leave the vast majority of ordinary adventurers on the Aifala Continent utterly dumbfounded, enough to make countless greedy individuals risk their lives for it.

When he first returned, he hadn't thought he would earn this much.

But as the remittances from the merchants, the Governor's Mansion, and the Adventurers' Association piled up in his bank account, he gradually developed the premonition: 'I might really make a fortune this time.' Finally, after calculating his total earnings, he fell into a long-lost joy over his financial gains.

No matter how strong he was, he was still just an ordinary person who needed to eat and sleep. How could he possibly remain indifferent to an income of over ten thousand gold?

Even many of the gods in heaven couldn't do that, let alone an ordinary adventurer like him who hadn't even touched the Transcendent Tier.

Having transmigrated almost two years ago, he now had a preliminary understanding of this world's purchasing power and income levels.

Over thirteen thousand gold coins—an ordinary commoner working a normal job wouldn't earn this much in a lifetime!

Considering the development level of this world—which was practically stagnant under the influence of the gods and separated into isolated regions—this sum of money was even enough for Xia Nan to purchase a few properties and happily enjoy a retirement living off the interest.

And even in the Transcendent domain, where the price scale could be considered a whole other world, over ten thousand gold was enough to buy an extremely high-quality piece of enchanted equipment that perfectly suited his needs in every aspect.

Of course, more often than not, a person's thoughts would change depending on the stage of life they were in.

If it had been when he first transmigrated to this world, and if he had truly possessed such a massive sum of money, Xia Nan might have actually retired on the spot and found a relatively safe, major city like Nym to experience life in another world.

But right now—

To put it bluntly, if given the choice to use these ten-thousand-plus gold coins to exchange for a combat technique with enough development potential that suited his fighting style, or, prior to the Stodd Island incident, to exchange it for the encryption key to the [Dream Weaving Corridor]...

He wouldn't have hesitated for even half a second.

As he spent more and more time in this world, Xia Nan increasingly realized that, in many cases, money couldn't buy everything he wanted.

Additionally, on the expense side.

Xia Nan had no habit of gambling, nor did he dabble in any money-wasting bad vices. Occasionally going to the Goblin Lair to blow off steam could even earn him some meal money. Usually, he only spent a bit extra on food and lodging.

Returning to Barracuda Bay for so many days, his largest expense came from the forging fees for the [Scarlet Thorn] armor and the [Tidebreaker Anchor Greaves].

For these two pieces of equipment, one blue and one green, even though he had already provided the main materials, Xia Nan still had to pay for the labor and the cost of some auxiliary materials.

This added up to a total of 2,300 gold.

Adding his original savings and the income from this trip, after all the additions and deductions...

Right now, on the verge of leaving Barracuda Bay, Xia Nan's net worth had reached an unprecedented 13,215 gold, 6 silver, and 2 copper!

To some extent, although it might need a "minor" prefix, he could now add the title of "tycoon" right after his identity as an adventurer.

Xia Nan, whose net worth now exceeded ten thousand, sat at the bar waiting for his last bowl of cream mushroom soup in Barracuda Bay.

The tavern owner Hera, standing behind the bar in front of him, seemed to think of something. A smile appeared on her face as she asked, "By the way, did Lorraine and the others tell you?"

"Tell me what?" Xia Nan asked.

"About the parting gift. They said they've been preparing it for days. By my count, they should be bringing it back right about now."