Strongest Mage with the Lust system

[Ah, the monstrous genius and spoiled little girl. Not a good combination, but welcome, welcome.]

Max stared at the man in silence. If he was surprised, he didn’t show it. Ryuna, on the other hand, bristled, [You cunning old bastard. Who are you calling spoiled? Do you believe me when I say I’ll smash your filthy shop into bits?]

The man’s smile widened, [Of course, I believe you. A spoiled princess can do anything.]

[You—!] Ryuna began releasing her aura but right then, the man narrowed his eyes a little and the next moment, Ryuna calmed down.

[Hmph! I won’t lower myself to your level.] she snorted, then turned to Max and said, [Take whatever you want. He won’t charge you an unreasonable price.]

Max noticed the man’s lips twitch, but he forced a smile and nodded.

Max swept his gaze across the items and picked two resources—a Fire Spirit Fruits and a half a feet long, crimson branch.

Both of them were marked at 100 High Grade Mana Stones, but when Ryuna glared at the man and asked the price, he begrudgingly said Max only needed to pay 160 for them.

Nodding in satisfaction, Max was about to hand him the Mana Stones when he noticed a small piece of rock at the corner.

His eyes flashed. It was a piece of Fire Essence Stone.

The man followed his gaze and picked up the piece, saying out loud, "It’s a piece of a low-grade Fire Essence Stone. Normally, it’s quite difficult for Five Star mages and lower to absorb the Fire Mana Essence from the stone, but sometimes the stone breaks into tiny pieces and most of the Essence’s potency evaporates. In that situation, lower realmed Mages can also absorb the Fire Essence."

He then smiled, "The Fire Mana Essence it has is less than either of the two you picked, but it’s purer despite the fact that its potency has decreased significantly."

Max nodded in understanding. No wonder he felt he could use it unlike the whole Fire Essence Stone he had bought earlier.

"How much is it?" he asked.

To Max’s surprise, the man flicked the piece of stone toward him, generously saying, "Just take it as a meeting gift."

"Hm?" Max frowned and other customers nearby looked at Max up and down, a hint of surprise in their eyes.

"Heh, a meeting gift that’s only worth less than 10 Mana Stones? How generous of you!" Ryuna sneered.

Before the man could respond, Max handed him 170 Mana Stones, "Here, thank you for your good intentions, but there is no need to gift me anything."

Ryuna looked as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she did not. As for the man, he took a better look at Max and nodded. "People call me Tibby the merchant. You can call me the same."

Saying this, he flicked his finger and Max’s identity badge, hanging by his waist, flew to him and he tapped his finger on it before returning it to Max.

"I have added my contact information. You can contact me anytime to place an order of whatever you need. If I can get my hands on it, I’ll deliver it to you." Saying this, he laughed, "Of course, you would have to pay the price in full."

Max nodded in acknowledgement. At the same time, he noticed the people were staring at him more intently now.

...

After doing some more shopping, they left the mountain.

Ryuna looked at him and seeing his thoughtful expression, she said, "You want to know who he is, right?"

Max nodded.

"He used to be a core disciple of the Beast Emperor Hall thirty years or so ago. But something happened and he was expelled." explained Ryuna, "Strangely, however, not long after he returned and became a merchant. In fact, you could say he is the founding member of the Trade Mountain in the Talisman Hall among other free trading zones throughout the Beast Emperor Hall."

"Because of his inexplicable relationship with the Hall and his resourcefulness, everyone kind of looks up to him. This was why when he gave you his contact information, everyone gave you those looks."

Max nodded in understanding. Then he asked what he was most curious about.

"How was he able to put his contact information in my badge without my permission? Also, how strong is he?"

Since he hadn’t used his Bloodline Sense, and everyone was suppressing the fluctuations of the cultivation base, he naturally couldn’t tell how strong he was. But something told him even if he had used his Bloodline Sense, he wouldn’t have been able to gauze his strength.

Unexpectedly, Ryuna, who seemed to know everything, shrugged this time and said, "I have no clue. Even the Elders can’t tell how strong he is or how he can access things like Identity Badges without the owner’s permission.

There was a time after having failed to recruit him, the Grimheart Faction had protested that he should be incarcerated and investigated otherwise he could harm the Hall. What do you think happened as a result?"

"Nothing happened?" answered Max.

"Yeah. The Grimheart Faction even got a message from one of the Grand Elders asking them to stop being a nuisance. Haha, the entire faction was down in the dumps for a while." Ryuna chuckled.

"This sect... is really complicated." Max sighed.

"That’s true." Ryuna agreed, her smile vanishing

They travelled in silence for a while before Ryuna looked at him and asked, "You are going to create talismans today too?"

"Yeah. Why?" asked Max.

Ryuna hesitated for a moment, then said, "You should focus more on cultivation and getting stronger."

Max’s eyes flickered. He could tell she knew something that he should too. But just as he was about to ask her, Ryuna stopped. "Alright. I’m leaving now. Message me if you need me."

Swoosh!

Max watched her fly away, and his brows slowly furrowed.

After a moment, he gaze became determined. Grabbing his Identity Badge and sent a message to... Elder Milo.

[Elder, are you free? I need a little help.]