The next morning, in the top suite of the Golden Griffon Tavern.
Sunlight streamed through the massive floor-to-ceiling windows, casting bright patches of light on the carpet.
There was a respectful knock at the door from the attendant.
“Come in.”
As soon as Leo finished speaking, a round figure squeezed its way inside.
The newcomer was so plump he looked like a perfect sphere, his face covered in smiles, every step he took causing the fat on his body to quiver. He was dressed in fine silk, with seven or eight gemstone-studded rings adorning his ten fingers, radiating an air that screamed, “I’m rich.”
The President of the Merchants’ Guild, Barnaby.
“My, my, my, the esteemed Lord Leo, I truly made you wait.” Barnaby mopped the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief as he greeted them warmly, his voice slick as if coated in honey.
Leo felt nothing in his heart—he even wanted to laugh a little.
Here it comes, the classic smiling tiger.
This fellow’s words were polite, but in those eyes squeezed into slits by his fat, there wasn’t a trace of genuine respect. Perfunctory, purely perfunctory.
He probably thought Leo was just some desperate has-been, using his royal status as an excuse to scam food and drink.
Leo didn’t get angry; instead, he maintained a warm smile and gestured, “President Barnaby, please, have a seat.”
Alice stood behind Leo like a perfect ice sculpture, silent, her long silver hair and cold features radiating an aura that kept strangers at bay.
Irina, on the other hand, sat curiously on the sofa, munching on fruit and watching the fat president with great interest.
Liana poured everyone red tea with elegance.
Barnaby sank into the plush sofa, which groaned under his weight. He picked up the teacup, took a symbolic sip, and got straight to the point: “Lord Leo, yesterday you had someone send an urgent invitation, insisting on meeting a simple merchant like myself. Is there some business you wish to discuss?”
The unspoken meaning: If you have something to say, spit it out—I’m busy.
Leo smiled, not picking up on his cue.
He simply snapped his fingers lightly.
Liana, understanding, walked gracefully over and took a palm-sized transparent Crystal Bottle from her portable storage.
Inside the bottle was half a bottle of black, muddy-looking stuff, as if it were rotten mud.
She set the Crystal Bottle gently on the coffee table before Barnaby, with a soft “thud.”
The smile on Barnaby’s face froze for a moment.
He looked down at the bottle of Miraculous Mud, then up at the smiling Leo.
What is this?
You dragged the dignified President of the Merchants’ Guild all the way from the east side headquarters to this tavern in the west, just to show me a bottle of mud?
Do you think I’m easy to fool just because I’m fat?
His impatience was nearly overflowing, but his professional discipline kept his fake smile in place: “Lord Leo, this is…?”
Leo didn’t answer, instead lifting his chin and gesturing toward a potted plant in the corner of the room.
It was an ornamental plant used by the inn to decorate their suites, called Starlight Iris, a rather valuable variety. However, this one looked neglected—its leaves yellowing, its flowers drooping weakly, half-dead.
“President, watch carefully.” Leo’s voice was soft, but carried an unquestionable certainty.
Barnaby looked in the indicated direction, full of doubts.
Watch what? That nearly dead flower?
As he grumbled inwardly, Liana moved.
She elegantly unscrewed the Crystal Bottle, used a delicate silver spoon to scoop out a tiny bit—less than half a spoonful—of the black Miraculous Mud.
Then, she walked over to the Starlight Iris and carefully sprinkled the mud onto the soil in the flowerpot.
Once done, she extended her slender, jade-like finger, gathering a sparkling water droplet in midair and letting it fall precisely where the mud had just been placed.
Barnaby frowned, utterly baffled by what these people were up to.
The next second.
His frown vanished for good.
Because his eyes went even rounder than the gems on his rings!
A miracle happened.
Under Barnaby’s incredulous gaze, that half-dead Starlight Iris began to undergo earth-shattering changes at a pace that utterly defied the laws of nature!
The withered yellow leaves, as if infused with the purest vitality, swiftly turned lush green, glowing with life!
The drooping flower stems straightened suddenly, like an old man regaining his youth in an instant!
Most astonishing of all, the once listless flowers slowly, petal by petal, blossomed anew! Even magical glimmers, like starlight, began to shimmer on the petals—so beautiful they seemed not of this world!
A faint, refreshing fragrance filled the entire room instantly.
The whole process took less than fifteen seconds.
“……”
Barnaby’s fake smile froze completely.
His fat body, as if fitted with springs, shot up from the sofa!
“Bang!”
He even knocked over the coffee table, spilling red tea everywhere, but he didn’t care at all.
In three quick steps, he rushed to the flowerpot, staring fixedly at the now-reborn Starlight Iris.
His breathing grew rough, like an old bellows. His trembling hand reached out to touch the emerald leaves, only to stop midway, as if afraid this was all an illusion.
As the President of Silver Creek City’s Merchants’ Guild, he had handled countless rare treasures.
But nothing had ever shaken him so profoundly!
What was this?
A miracle?!
He instantly understood.
He understood two hundred percent—the terrifying, immense, and utterly world-shaking commercial value behind this bottle of black Miraculous Mud! The potential to overturn the entire agricultural and potion industry of the Empire!
A mountain of gold?
No! This was a money-printing machine that could create countless mountains of gold out of thin air!
The situation reversed in an instant.
Leo leisurely crossed his legs, picked up the cup of red tea that hadn’t been knocked over, and blew gently on it.
He even took a moment to glance at Irina, who was completely stunned beside him.
Irina nudged him with her elbow and muttered in a voice only the two of them could hear, “Damn! Classic! This face-slapping scene—I could watch it eight hundred times on a short video app! But seeing it live is amazing!”
Leo’s mouth twitched.
He withdrew his gaze, focusing on the fat man whose whole body trembled with excitement.
He took a light sip of red tea, then spoke in a tone so calm it was almost casual.
“President Barnaby.”
Barnaby shuddered, instantly turning around.
“Our Blackwood Town can mass-produce this.”
Leo set down his teacup, leaning forward slightly to meet his gaze.
“I’ll ask you just one question: the Exclusive Agency Rights for Silver Creek City and even the entire Southern Empire—do you want them?”
“Boom!”
The words exploded like a thunderclap in Barnaby’s mind.
Sweat instantly began rolling down his forehead, drop after drop.
His earlier contempt, perfunctory attitude, and impatience vanished without a trace. In their place burned overwhelming desire, bone-deep greed, and even a touch of reverence for the miracle he had just witnessed.
The way he looked at Leo changed completely.
Was this some fallen prince?
No! This was a god of wealth, walking among men in human skin!
“Yes! Yes! Of course I want it!”
Barnaby’s voice turned shrill with excitement as he scrambled back to Leo, his chubby face now a hundred times more sincere than before.
“Lord Leo! No—my Lord! Name your terms! As long as I, Barnaby, can do it, there won’t be a word of objection!”
The negotiation had only just begun.