Chapter 17：The Iridescent Blue Butterfly Wings

In front of a stall run by a man dressed in tribal-style clothing and wearing a red fang mask, there was a table filled with various insect materials.

Allen immediately noticed six pairs of brightly colored, large butterfly wings neatly arranged in the upper right corner of the wooden table.

Each individual butterfly wing was at least as large as Allen's palm.

One pair was fiery red with specks of brown, another was a gradient of emerald green, and the remaining four pairs were all bright blue.

Without a doubt, these wings belonged to the "Shimmering Blue Butterfly."

Only the larger "Shimmering Blue Butterfly" had this unique structure, different from dyed colors.

The peculiar color, resembling quenched metal's shine, was a structural color produced by the dense, tiny scales on the butterfly wings arranged in a unique pattern, reflecting sunlight.

Allen knew this from his knowledge on Earth. The four pairs of blue wings were undoubtedly from the Shimmering Blue Butterfly.

These wings were the last material Allen needed to prepare the Plant Mage's elixir "Mage's Meditation."

The teeth of the rainforest black bear and the blood of the land turtle were not uncommon in jungle tribes that lived by fishing and hunting.

Three days ago, Allen had bought several small live land turtles and some beast teeth, including two from the rainforest black bear, from a stall.

If he could buy these four pairs of Shimmering Blue Butterfly wings, Allen would have enough materials to make several doses of the elixir.

According to the parchment scroll "Dark Ritual," at most three bottles of the elixir were needed to awaken "Natural Perception" in a qualified adult male, making him a Plant Mage.

"Natural Perception" was the mental energy that emerged when an ordinary person awakened into an extraordinary being.

It acted like an invisible energy body, akin to a radar, capable of scanning certain things within a range.

Allen planned to make several bottles of the elixir, test it on a slave first, and if there were no adverse effects, take it himself.

"I must buy these Shimmering Blue Butterfly wings!" Allen decided firmly.

Suppressing his greed and hiding his true intentions was always Allen's trading strategy.

Instead of rushing to the butterfly wing stall, Allen set up his fish stall nearby and began selling fish.

In the past ten days, black market merchants had grown accustomed to this regular fish-selling team.

Two people in the morning, two in the afternoon, and Allen alone at night; three groups took turns setting up the fish stall, while Peter and the fisherman fished in the wide waters.

Using fish sales as a cover, Allen ensured there were no flaws.

In the fiercely competitive traditional fish market, Allen used his Earthly experience to carve out a new niche, introducing a new product: "smoked fish and grilled fish."

Soon, Allen's stall emitted a tempting aroma.

In the backward production environment of the Red Cedar Nation, spices were always scarce. However, the spice business was hard to manage, and Allen couldn't control it yet.

So, he bought a batch of spice ingredients and used his experience to create a unique spice blend.

Thanks to this technique, the fish stall's business was booming, earning a good profit in just ten days.

Today, a merchant with a big belly sent his servant to buy grilled fish.

He was already a regular customer. Allen skillfully killed, grilled, and packaged the fish, handing over a dozen grilled fish to the servant.

"Here you go. Buy five, get one free. You bought ten, so I'm giving you three extra!" Allen said, taking the money with a fawning smile, looking every bit the greedy merchant.

In contrast, the insect product stall didn't have as good business as Allen's.

Allen, observing secretly, noticed that the vendor hadn't sold a single item.

People either didn't like his goods or found them too expensive.

After finishing his business and seeing the surrounding grilled fish vendors disappear, Allen slowly approached the insect product stall.

The tribal man noticed his stall was overshadowed and looked up with a glimmer of hope, only to have it dashed when he saw it was the poor fish vendor from across the way.

He impatiently said, "Why are you here if you're not selling fish? If you're not buying, move along and don't disturb my business."

He was actually driving away a customer!

This wasn't the behavior of a shrewd merchant, and Allen mentally gave him a poor rating.

"Hey! How do you know I'm not buying?"

The tribal man scoffed, "Anything here costs more than what you make selling ten grilled fish. Can you afford it?"

Allen pointed directly at the most conspicuous armor made from scales on the table: "I want this. How much?"

The vendor furrowed his brow, puzzled: "You really want to buy this armor?"

Seeing Allen's determined posture, the vendor felt a glimmer of hope.

If he couldn't sell anything today, he wouldn't be able to buy hunting tools and food for his tribe, which would be disastrous for a small hunting tribe.

"Let me tell you, this armor isn't as good as iron armor, but it's made from the shells of Iron Beetles. It's hard to make and offers much better protection than leather armor. If you want to buy it, it won't be cheap."

In business negotiations, the anchoring effect had a huge potential impact.

The negotiation and final price often revolved around the first price mentioned.

The first price acted like an anchor, setting the upper and lower limits of the price.

Hearing the vendor's high price trend, Allen didn't hesitate and directly offered, "One hundred copper coins! No more."

The vendor looked at Allen in disbelief; the price was far below his expectations.

However, he didn't outright reject the offer, as Allen was the first person to offer more than a hundred copper coins, giving him a glimmer of hope.

In fact, Allen had determined this price through careful observation.

Sure enough, the vendor immediately countered: "Impossible, that's too low. At least three hundred copper coins!"

This price was already much lower than the initial five hundred copper coins he wanted to ask for.

Allen shook his head: "That's not a sincere offer. Three hundred copper coins! If I add another hundred, I could buy iron armor!"

With that, Allen turned to leave, not in a hurry. He had the upper hand now.

The vendor, eager to make a sale, wouldn't let Allen go. He immediately stopped him: "Two hundred fifty copper coins, no less. If you want, I'll throw in two more items from the table."

Allen turned back, rubbing his hands as if making a tough decision.

"Still too expensive. Two hundred copper coins, and I want all the insect shells and wings on this table."

The vendor, angered, retorted: "Impossible!"