Merchant From Earth in the Magical World

Yan Xing, holding the Magic Book Count Theodore had given him, returned to his room. He was incredibly excited. Magic! He was really going to start learning magic now—not sleight of hand, but actual magic, the kind that allowed for the conjuring of a fireball with one hand, or two fireballs with both!

Now, he needed to integrate the Magic Book into his consciousness, just as Count Theodore had taught him. He wasn't sure exactly how to do that yet, but meditation seemed the right approach. However, tradition dictated he should first burn incense and bathe, then recite a prayer for the blessings of Buddha or the Taoist deities... with utmost urgency.

BWAHAHAHA! This old master is so happy!

Adopting the mindset that belief brings miracles, while disbelief brings nothing, Yan Xing had the maid Donna bring him bathwater, and he lit a piece of agarwood in his room. He washed himself thoroughly clean, put on a fresh set of clothes, then sat cross-legged on the bed, palms up, in the five-centers-facing-heaven posture. Eyes on the nose, nose on the heart. He placed the Magic Book on his lap and, recalling the sensation he'd felt beside the Magic Fountain, closed his eyes, gradually letting his spirit enter a meditative state.

His mind emptied, his thoughts clear, thinking of nothing, to provide space for the integration of the Magic Book. Soon, a crackling sound of electricity filled the air around him, and tiny sparks flickered frequently about his body. His special constitution, a gift from the other world, naturally attracted magical elements, allowing Yan Xing to enter a meditative state effortlessly.

This time, instead of stormy visions, he saw a serene void within his consciousness. His heart was calm. He could feel magical elements gathering around him; his spiritual world was an endless expanse, vast like the universe itself. Then, at a certain moment, he saw a Magic Book appear in this space—the very Magic Book Count Theodore had given him. Simultaneously, a prompt appeared:

[You have discovered the Deep Space Whisperer's Magic Book.]

[You have integrated the Deep Space Whisperer's Magic Book.]

[The Deep Space Whisperer's Magic Book has detected an item on you that is suitable as a soul core for the Magic Book... Would you like to merge this soul core with the Magic Book?]

A soul core?

How could I have something like that on me!

And the Count had said, "Cultivate the Magic Book to produce a soul."

You just find any soul core... that should be fine, right?

Yan Xing examined the prompt carefully. He was surprised to find that the soul core the Deep Space Whisperer's Magic Book wanted to merge with was pointing to the smartphone in his pocket.

Is that even possible?

Is it scientific?

But regardless of whether it made sense or was scientific, Yan Xing felt that merging the Magic Book with his smartphone would definitely be beneficial.

However, just as Yan Xing was about to confirm the merger of the Magic Book with his smartphone, something suddenly occurred to him. His phone was a low-end model he'd bought when he first graduated and started working. Not long ago, he'd accidentally cracked the screen. Lately, he'd been incredibly busy. Although the liquid funds passing through his hands already amounted to tens of millions, Yan Xing had completely forgotten to get himself a new phone.

If he merged such a low-end phone with such a high-end Magic Book... wouldn't he be getting a raw deal?

Definitely a raw deal!

Yan Xing quickly snapped out of his meditation and found that the Magic Book on his lap had disappeared. He could now feel the Magic Book within his consciousness. The process of integrating the Magic Book seemed to have gone very smoothly.

Upon leaving his meditative state, Yan Xing immediately opened his system menu and chose to log out. He then appeared back in the real world. His location in the real world was a new apartment he had recently purchased. It wasn't very large. Since he didn't stay there often, he had only bought some simple furniture, using it as a transit station for switching identities between the two worlds.

After changing his clothes, Yan Xing headed out. He then took a taxi straight to the city's largest high-tech market. The Magic Book could merge with a smartphone; he wondered if it could merge with other electronic products as well. When it came to data processing capabilities, even the most powerful smartphones were definitely no match for professional computers.

Upon arriving at the high-tech market, Yan Xing wandered from one vendor to another, picking up various electronic products to examine and fiddle with. He observed the Magic Book's reaction to these electronics within his consciousness. Small electronic devices like smartphones, calculators, laptops, and educational gadgets all triggered feedback from the Magic Book, requesting a merger. However, for slightly larger items like desktop computers and large servers, the Magic Book showed no reaction at all. It seemed there were restrictions related to the size and shape of electronic products that could merge with the Magic Book.

After roaming through most of the high-tech center, Yan Xing decided to pair his Magic Book with a laptop.

A laptop looks like a book, so its compatibility with the Magic Book should be higher, right...?

That's what Yan Xing thought.

He entered a flagship store of a world-renowned brand and, in a very tycoon-like manner, told a pretty saleswoman, "Show me the best laptop you have."

The saleswoman, perhaps encountering such a customer for the first time, asked incredulously, "Sir, what kind of laptop configuration are you looking for?"

Yan Xing, with a knightly air, sat down on a reception chair in the store and said, "The best one, with the highest configuration. If there's a laptop on the market with better specs than yours, please find it and bring it to me. I won't bother looking elsewhere."

"Yes, yes, of course! I'll have our warehouse send it over to you immediately, sir. Please, have some water... Do you need any other peripherals, sir?"

The saleswoman finally realized she was dealing with a major client. She attended to Yan Xing diligently, calling the company's warehouse and instructing the technical staff to immediately bring over their most expensive and best laptop.

When the laptop arrived, the enthusiastic saleswoman explained its configuration and performance to Yan Xing. First seen on MV4LEMP|YR.

"Sir, this is the latest model, just released. There's no laptop in all of Zhehai City with higher specs than this one. It features an 8-core processor, 256GB of memory, and..."

Before the saleswoman could finish her introduction, Yan Xing interrupted her, "Is this truly the best laptop on the market? If I find one with better specs, I'll be returning this to you."

The saleswoman repeatedly assured him, "Please rest assured, sir. This laptop was launched less than a week ago; it's definitely the highest-end model on the market."

Yan Xing examined the laptop's casing, then turned it on to check if the operating system was working correctly. He couldn't tell much about its performance at a glance, but it certainly booted up quickly.

This is the one!

Yan Xing closed the laptop and said to the saleswoman, "Wrap it up. How much is it? Where do I make the transfer?"

Yan Xing paid promptly and, under the saleswoman's astonished gaze, took the packaged laptop and left with casual grace.