The tentacle monster mentioned by Dox is undoubtedly the Wicked Woman.
Upon hearing Dox’s address, the Wicked Woman raised her brows, casting a fierce glare.
However, before the Wicked Woman could utter a word, the Gray Merchant held her back. He gave her a look, signaling her to restrain herself.
Immediately after, the Gray Merchant looked at Dox, "If the previous battle caused the Red Sword Wizard to misunderstand my companion, I apologize on her behalf."
Dox responded sourly, "I’m not as petty as she is. Her injuries are obvious to everyone. Inside the Sunlight Sanctuary, her restoration cost far more than everyone else combined. Naturally, her price is higher than others, but that’s not unfair treatment—it’s a fair trade."
The Gray Merchant pondered for a moment, recalling Angel’s earlier mention about the diminishing effects of the Sunlight Sanctuary, and came to a conclusion.
"I see, it was our misunderstanding." The Gray Merchant apologized again, "We can accept this condition."
Upon hearing the Gray Merchant agreeing to Dox’s terms, the Wicked Woman hurried forward, wanting to say something, but was stopped by the Gray Merchant again.
"You don’t know when you’ll fully recover, and don’t forget the organ you purchased recently. If you delay, the transplant might fail, and then tens of thousands of Magic Crystals will have been wasted," the Gray Merchant whispered.
Gray Merchant: "Remember the master’s words: endure, restrain, wait."
The Wicked Woman let out a deep sigh, nodded, and stopped resisting.
After both sides reached a consensus, the arena quieted down significantly for a while.
Vay and Kaier entered the Sunlight Sanctuary one after the other, undergoing spirit cleansing, while Dox discussed prices with the Gray Merchant.
To avoid further disputes between the Wicked Woman and Dox, the Gray Merchant sent the Wicked Woman to negotiate compensation with the black-robed referee.
The Gray Merchant displayed great poise, to the point where Dox felt a bit embarrassed to raise prices. However, considering that not raising prices might cost him "freedom," he toughened his resolve and made an outrageous offer.
Even though the Gray Merchant had objections about the price, he remained calm and negotiated with Dox on multiple levels.
Although there wasn’t an intense back-and-forth, the feeling of neither side yielding was palpable.
"Aren’t you going to go up and take a look?" the Black Earl’s voice reached Angel’s ears.
Angel: "How much he can raise the price is Dox’s skill. What would I do up there?"
The Black Earl chuckled softly, "Are you really planning to fool him to the end?"
Angel looked innocent, "When did I ever fool him? Isn’t this all voluntary on his part?"
The Black Earl: "Do you think he doesn’t understand?"
The Black Earl suddenly threw out a question without context, but Angel understood his meaning and replied calmly, "He might not truly not understand, just doesn’t want to. Also, his inspiration talent has recovered, maybe that talent is intentionally making him not understand?"
The Black Earl pondered for a moment, "You’ve considered things more thoroughly than I have. If it’s due to his inspiration talent, is Dox’s subconscious suggesting that losing freedom isn’t such a bad thing?"
Angel, puzzled, asked, "Why must it mean losing freedom? My understanding of freedom also includes the breadth of the heart, not just the farsightedness."
"Moreover, I never intended to limit where his eyes reach or where his body goes."
Angel’s gifting of the Sunlight Sanctuary scroll to Dox was meant to give him a trump card; any further implications were unintended side effects. Unexpectedly, this seemingly random move brought him quite a surprise.
The Black Earl smiled, ending their conversation with a sentence full of hidden meaning, "Dox’s inspiration talent is quite handy, isn’t it?"
Angel looked at the Black Earl and shared a knowing smile, "Indeed it is."
...
The outcome of Dox’s negotiations soon emerged. From the expressions on their faces, it was clear both parties were quite satisfied.
Meanwhile, Vay and Kaier emerged from the Sunlight Sanctuary in a daze.
Their changes were hard to see with the naked eye, but all the Wizards present could clearly sense that their spiritual power had become more refined and pure, as if devoid of any impurities.
This transformation could be described as earth-shattering.
It’s important to note that aside from spell technique pollution, spiritual power impurities are something everyone has. The difference in these impurities is related to the complexity of your thoughts—the more complex your thoughts, the more impurities they generate.
This complexity doesn’t refer to evil thoughts; anything you think about can become an impurity.
This impurity is intangible; philosophically speaking, it’s the dust on one’s mind.
It doesn’t severely impact your spiritual power, but it will narrow the path of your spiritual development. It’s not impassable, just more laborious.
Now, after the cleansing, these impurities have noticeably decreased. This means the path of spiritual power has once again become a smooth road... Put simply, the potential has greatly increased.
This growth is most apparent in Apprentices. Because their spiritual power is still weak, the impurities are more noticeable. Once they become Official Wizards, the impurities hide deeper and become more stubborn.
The transformation of Vay and Kaier was very clear in the energy spectrum, causing the Gray Merchant and others to look forward to their own experiences inside the Sunlight Sanctuary.
After Vay and Kaier returned to their group, it was the Gray Merchant and his group’s turn.
The Sunlight Sanctuary has no strict limit on the number of people it can accommodate; it can hold as many people as the space permits.
Therefore, the Gray Merchant and his group could all enter together.
Before entering the Sunlight Sanctuary, the Gray Merchant handed a Spatial Capsule to Dox. From Dox’s beaming expression, it was clear the contents were the price paid for their negotiation.
After the Gray Merchant and others entered, Dox took out the Mysterious Parchment and no longer worried about what followed; once they emerged, the Sunlight Sanctuary would belong to the Wise Sovereign anyway.
Dox, wrapping the precious scroll in energy, approached Angel.
Only then did he revoke the external energy and solemnly handed the scroll to Angel.
The Black Earl and Wise Sovereign both turned their gaze to the scroll; they clearly wanted to see the True Body of the scroll.
However, before Angel accepted the scroll, he had already enveloped it with the Power of Nightmare Illusion. All prying eyes were completely obscured by the Nightmare Illusion.