Sherlock Holmes is not a warp god.

"It shouldn't be like this."

Looking at the sun on the horizon, Furen remained silent. He let out a soft breath, trying to channel his subjective thoughts into these objective ones, ensuring he had a sufficient "feeling" of the world.

Reason and emotion should not be opposed, but rather complementary. If everything is only about maximizing profits, one will eventually become a true machine.

Back in the bedroom, I changed into some casual clothes, and then drove to a bustling street in the old town.

Iris Flower Street is somewhat similar to Panjiayuan in old Beijing; it's a melting pot of all sorts of people, selling a wide variety of things.

Furen had never been here before, but this place was quite famous, so he decided to buy the materials he needed for [Mental Perception] here.

"Sir, these are the pupae of the hawk moth you requested. The larvae spun pupae about four days ago and will hatch in about a week at suitable temperatures." A middle-aged man handed Furen a box with a devout smile on his face.

This shop mainly sells various insects and reptiles. In peacetime, there is no shortage of wealthy idle people who like strange and unusual things, and these creatures are one of them.

The boss has a wide network of connections; as long as he has enough money and time, he can get his hands on insects from the Western countries and even other continents.

In this day and age, there is no concept of invasive species, so the boss has no worries about making a living.

When Furen opened it, he found several twigs fixed in place with clay, and on them were four pupae, each about the size of the first joint of a thumb. These pupae were wrapped in white silk threads and withered leaves, and were entirely brownish-red. Furen could see the pupae trembling slightly. Every detail was identical to what Furen had seen in insect guides.

Normally, if a spiritual seal cannot be engraved through the ritual three times, it means that the ability is not well-suited to the user.

Furen didn't know what was going on with him, but just to be on the safe side, he ordered a few more Ghost-faced Hawkmoth pupae.

Including the deposit, these four pupae cost a total of 15 ducats. That's roughly 300 yuan, which isn't cheap.

Looking at the boss's bright smile, you can tell that his profits are not low.

Fren, on the other hand, felt that the money was well spent, as it saved him a lot of time and energy.

The next step is to buy raw gold ore.

The Iris Flower Street is divided into different sections, with shops selling flowers, plants, animals, minerals, antiques and other items clustered together for easy selection by customers.

When Fren arrived at the mining area, he found a reliable shop and immediately asked for raw gold ore.

Unrefined ores also contain spirituality. This knowledge challenged some of Freyron's preconceived notions, as he had previously believed that only living things possessed spirituality.

Minerals are much cheaper. There are many metal mines near Berlint, and people often collect mineral ornaments to display at home.

"This one will do." Furen picked out a piece of gold ore about the size of two fists. According to the shopkeeper, the gold content of the same batch of ore was about 8 grams per ton.

The material has no requirements regarding the gold content of the ore, so Fren only needs to ensure that it was recently mined.

It's not even 10 o'clock yet, and it won't take Fren long to drive to the mountains outside the city to find ginkgo and banana trees. Besides, the ceremony won't start until the evening, so Fren isn't in a hurry to leave.

Like Grandma Liu visiting the Grand View Garden, Furen saw many local specialties that he had never heard of in his previous life.

The lantern flower is a unique plant. When planted in a pot and given enough sunlight during the day, it can resemble a small table lamp at night. Placing six or seven pots in a room can brighten it up as if it were daytime.

This harmless plant, which possesses some extraordinary properties, is not cheap, but many people still buy it.

In addition, there are many items that look like antiques, which are the main items sold in the Iris Flower Street.

The reason is simple: these things are expensive. Ancient, extraordinary artifacts, without exception, all command high prices.

The saying "If you don't make a sale for three years, you can live off it for three years" applies to this world as well.

This is why the fabrication of extraordinary abilities is also prevalent in this world.

[Last week's]

Perhaps this item really didn't have any value worth authenticating, because Furen's clairvoyance gave it a very brief description.

Before me stood a rather honest-looking old man who, lacking the funds to rent a shop, had set up a temporary stall.

The stall didn't have many items; the one in the very center was a simple, old-fashioned umbrella.

He said his ancestor was a bishop of the Church of Hope, and this umbrella was an heirloom. It is said to be entrusted with the blessing of a long time ago by an archbishop of the Church of Hope. Those favored by the God of Hope can awaken unimaginable abilities through this blessing.

Furen could indeed sense a strange aura emanating from it, and it seemed genuine.

However, after glancing at the high price of 2000 ducats, Furen still trusted his own clairvoyance more.

The fact that it looks so real only shows that the forgery techniques are superb.

Items that only grant blessings but lack any extraordinary effects are the mainstream on the market. Since simply granting blessings is rather ineffective—what abilities are awakened depends entirely on luck—no one would kill to steal them. Those who buy such items are mostly gambling addicts.

At least in front of this stall, there were people watching and scrutinizing the umbrellas.

Fren respected the fate of others and didn't disturb the stall owner's earnings. It was made so realistically that it clearly contained the blessing of the true god of hope, but it could never have been something the archbishop had placed his hopes upon it.

As he walked away, Floren passed by one shop and stall after another.

He wasn't in a rush, so he was examining some items to see if he could find any bargains.

Finding a bargain brings immense psychological satisfaction, and Furen enjoys it immensely. He already has a dagger in his hand, inscribed with "Deathly Bitterness," a type of poison Furen has never tasted before.

It has no special effects, only slightly increases experience in self-healing and flesh manipulation.

The fact that it can gather the bitterness of death suggests that this rusty dagger has indeed killed many people.

After some haggling, Fren bought it for 2 ducats, intending to savor it slowly at home.

After leaving the antiques section, Floren lingered for a few more moments in front of the shops selling handicrafts.

Compared to those "antiques" where nine out of ten are fakes, the items here are much more exquisite and cheaper, offering better value for money. Therefore, this area attracts just as many visitors as the antique section.

Fren no longer harbors any desire to find bargains; if something matches his aesthetic sense, he doesn't mind buying it.

But things turned out unexpectedly well; the appraisal suddenly came right to my door, a stark contrast to the previous appraisals in the antiques section that were no more than seven words long.

[Greedy Big Stomach: Blessed by a benevolent father, it became an excellent alchemical artifact, made by a benevolent father using his own stomach.]

The benevolent father's innate greed drove him to want to take everything of value. His enormous stomach contained a special compartment so he could carry away any leftovers.