Chapter 678 – Dreamweaver World 16

When the race conversion ceremony had first begun, Mo Lan had detected absolutely no trace of magical bloodline within this body—it was as though she were a completely ordinary human.

Had she not been carefully observing how the dream energy guided the green energy in remodeling her body, she might never have noticed this at all.

After all, from the moment she entered the dream realm, she had genuinely felt that she could wield all the abilities she originally possessed, and using the Book of Cards posed no obstacle whatsoever.

This perfectly aligned with the rule that abilities from the real world could be brought into the dream realm.

But now, there was clearly no Sorceress bloodline within her body, yet she could still use Mana and the Book of Cards. It was truly rather strange.

What’s more, even now that this body had been completely converted into a Dryad, she could still effortlessly wield a Sorceress’s abilities.

She could clearly feel a stream of energy similar to the forces of nature flowing through her body.

And its source was the green crystal that had appeared in her mental sea during the race conversion ceremony—Mo Lan temporarily dubbed it the Dryad racial core.

This was too strange. Her body was that of a Dryad, yet it didn’t hinder her use of Sorceress abilities. Mo Lan couldn’t help but carefully probe the Mana sustaining her Sorceress powers, trying to determine where it actually came from.

What she discovered was that the Mana she was drawing upon came entirely from the Gate of Dreams.

Coming from the Gate of Dreams, and being a Sorceress’s exclusive Mana—Mo Lan immediately formed a few guesses.

So she was still maintaining a connection with her real body after all!

Although the Gate of Dreams was situated in her mental sea, it was capable of linking her physical body in the real world with her consciousness in the Dreamweaver World.

This made Mo Lan lament once again—why did the Key of Dreams have to be lodged in her mental sea!

She couldn’t extract it at all, couldn’t even give it to the Book of Cards for analysis. It was surely an existence far more precious than any of the Magic found in the Dreamweaver World!

“Alright, alright, stop admiring yourself!” Groot assumed she had been constantly examining her body because she was too enamored with the Dryad appearance. He impatiently rapped his wooden staff against the ground, interrupting Mo Lan’s thoughts. “From today onward, you are a member of the Dryad tribe.”

He straightened his hunched back, suddenly striking the pose of a reclusive master. Stroking his beard, he declared, “I’m a level 30 Beast Speaker, you know. There aren’t many in the entire village with a higher level than mine. What do you say? Want to take me as your class Instructor?”

He narrowed his amber, slit-pupiled eyes and lowered his voice conspiratorially. “I don’t take on apprentices lightly, you know!”

As he spoke, Groot furtively pulled up a special interface glittering with golden light and waved it in front of Mo Lan. “Don’t believe me? Look—my Beast Speaker skill books are absolutely the best in the village. But I only sell them to my apprentices!”

Mo Lan stared at the so-called “apprentice-exclusive shop,” the corner of her mouth twitching almost imperceptibly.

If she hadn’t read countless strategy posts about this old swindler on the forums beforehand, she might actually have been taken in by this pitch.

“Apprentice-exclusive” her foot—Groot had simply slapped a gold-colored skin over a regular shop interface!

What was even more outrageous was that the prices inside were a full five times higher than the normal prices recorded on the forums! She had long known that Groot’s skill book prices were five times more expensive than other dream citizens’.

After all, other dream citizens required affinity or quest completion before you could make a purchase, while here all you needed was money. But this old codger actually had the nerve to mark up his already inflated prices by another five times on top of that—which worked out to a staggering twenty-five times the market price!

This price-gouging was even more ruthless than her own card-selling profits!

Mo Lan deliberately put on a devastated expression, her amber slit-pupils brimming with hurt. “No wonder adventurers privately call you ‘Black-Hearted Groot’…”

Her voice trembled slightly, perfectly mimicking a naive rookie adventurer who’d been deceived. “Becoming your apprentice doesn’t even come with a discount on class skills—it actually costs twenty-five times more?”

She took half a step back. “And to think I came looking for you the moment I arrived, assuming you were at least a decent merchant—charging a bit more than others, sure, but a straightforward deal with no strings attached… It seems I misjudged you.”

Mo Lan’s performance was so convincing that Old Groot instantly panicked.

He had been planning to fleece a gullible mark, never expecting his target to actually know the going rates.

Seeing Mo Lan turn to leave, he frantically grabbed her sleeve. “Wait! I made a mistake just now!”

His gaunt fingers swiped rapidly across the panel, and the prices immediately began plummeting. “There! This is the real apprentice-exclusive discount. As long as you buy a class invitation letter from me to change your profession, you can buy any skill book in this interface! That other one was for outsiders!”

Mo Lan glanced over. The prices had indeed dropped—down to the normal five-times markup. In the end, he was still charging her the same price he’d charge anyone else.

She scoffed internally but maintained her aggrieved expression on the surface. “I’ve seen on the forums that this Mo Lan《Skill Book – White Cat Transfiguration》only costs about one dream silver coin from other dream citizens. Even if buying from you is more convenient and doesn’t require extra quests, five dream silver coins is still too much! If I bought everything, I can’t even imagine how much extra I’d spend…”

The moment Groot heard her say she wanted to “buy everything,” his beard shot up with excitement. His eyes darted around wildly before a flash of inspiration struck. “That’s because their skill books are all simplified versions! Mine are the complete inheritance!” As he spoke, he fumbled to open the skill description and hastily appended a few lines of fine print at the bottom: 【Groot’s Exclusive Annotated Edition】.

Mo Lan struggled to suppress her laughter. This old codger had actually concocted something as flimsy as an “exclusive annotated edition” just to justify his prices.

She pretended to study the skill book descriptions carefully, scrutinizing the hastily tacked-on fine print, while knowing full well that these so-called annotations were probably just as useless as all of Groot’s other junk.

After all, these were learn-on-use skill books! What on earth would anyone need “exclusive annotations” for!

“Fine!” She sighed, putting on an air of resigned acceptance. “I’ll live with the markup. But…”

Her tone shifted abruptly. “Among us adventurers, merchants always offer discounts to big clients. If I planned to buy one of every type of skill book you have, and was also willing to pay similar prices for the class invitation letters and skill books you’ve purchased from other dream citizens in the village—what kind of discount could you give me?”

Although she could replicate dream coins infinitely, crafting each card consumed Mana.

Spending money for convenience was one thing, but being taken for a fool and squandering it recklessly—that simply didn’t suit her meticulous, penny-pinching style.

Old Groot’s cloudy eyes spun in circles as his bark-like face contorted with inner struggle.

His shop truly hadn’t seen business in ages. Ever since the nickname “Black-Hearted Groot” had spread among the adventurers, fewer and fewer people were willing to buy from him.

And she wasn’t just offering to buy all of his skill books—she was also willing to purchase other dream citizens’ skill books through him. The markup on those transactions would net him another tidy fortune!