Holding onto the product itself brings a sense of security.

Andrew gazed at the facial mask in front of him with satisfaction, finally feeling that the discomfort and unease from being watched had substantially eased.

By this time, the sky was already getting light.

Andrew had no sleepiness at all.

Even though he was in the "Shield of Flowing Fire," his heart had completely flown to Warm Fire City.

The room at the mansion faced east.

Andrew turned his head to look out the window, seeing a large river winding its way past the outskirts of the "Shield of Flowing Fire."

Following this waterway eastward, you would eventually reach the great lake where Warm Fire City is located.

The renowned Warm Fire City in this Flame Realm lies in the center of that great lake.

Though there was still some distance, making it impossible to see the outline of Warm Fire City from here, as a Water Magic Lord highly sensitive to water elements, Andrew walked to the window, closed his eyes, and gently stroked the air, already sensing a trace of moist vapor drifting from the east!

Looking at the time, there was a little less than an hour and a half until departure.

"Why not... just not sleep tonight?" Andrew thought to himself.

He truly couldn't sleep.

On one hand, the advent of having a "product" made him increasingly anticipate the journey to Warm Fire City.

On the other hand, deep inside, he couldn't help but feel apprehensive.

The market survey along the way was smooth, and after arriving at the "Shield of Flowing Fire," he unexpectedly established a good connection with Linda and the Warm Fire Temple, which seemed like a decent start.

Yet the feeling of being watched ultimately left Andrew quite uncomfortable.

"Actually, even if I don't consider those unfriendly people in the Warm Fire Commerce Association, just thinking about business cooperation, I still don't have complete confidence," Andrew's thoughts were scattered.

It wasn't entirely because he was about to reach his destination, which naturally led to some anxiety.

Also because: "To me, the Warm Fire Commerce Association—whether those within are friendly or unfriendly—remains largely 'unknown.'

The abundance of unknowns means that even though I now hold Ningqi Spring, the Miraculous Pill, and the Magic Facial Mask as my 'door-opening' products, part of me keeps telling myself to have confidence, while another part can't help but wonder:

Is this enough?

"Hmm?"

Andrew's face suddenly changed, moving back from the window to the workbench, reaching out to close the lid of the box containing the magic facial mask.

Then three knocks came at the door, and Leia walked in with a cheerful smile, her hair still a mess but her eyes under the black-framed glasses shining brightly.

Andrew had already learned these days: This unkempt, cute, nerdy genius girl was a night owl, getting more energetic at night. So he wasn't surprised.

He just helplessly sent a voice message to Ivan, "Why did you just let her in?"

Ivan guarded the door, confronting the observer with his gaze.

However, when it came to Leia, Ivan chose to let her in directly.

"What could I do? You know what happened last time this little girl came looking for you late at night, and I stopped her. You know what she did to me!" Ivan's tone carried a hint of frustration.

Andrew couldn't help but chuckle.

Previously, Leia had once come looking for Andrew late at night out of boredom and was blocked by Ivan. At that time, Andrew was engaged in magic cultivation.

Leia, after being stopped, didn't get angry and didn't even go to Andrew. Instead, she sat down and started chatting with Ivan, talking until morning while Andrew was already asleep in the room. Leia kept Ivan engaged with discussions on meteorological issues of the Flame Realm.

For five hours straight, she eventually talked Ivan into exhaustion!

Since then, when Leia came looking for Andrew again, Ivan no longer stopped her.

"Alright, since I don't plan to sleep anyway, let's chat and relax a bit."

Andrew thought so to himself, smiling as he asked, "Why are you here? Where's Barbara?" Along the way, Andrew had become quite familiar with Leia, speaking to her in a casual manner, like friends chatting.

"You're always thinking about your Barbara!" Leia giggled while covering her mouth, then said, "Barbara isn't sleeping either; she's cultivating."

In the battle with Rose, Barbara and Andrew united their water and fire, merging with the "Warm Fire Order," and since then, Barbara's strength had been steadily increasing.

Andrew had sensed this too.

On this journey, part of the reason he was busy with market research was because Barbara seemed to be at a critical breakthrough phase, spending most of her time cultivating and less with Andrew.

Hearing Leia say that Barbara was still cultivating, Andrew nodded, suddenly curious: that girl had been so focused on cultivation, they hadn't even kissed a second time. How was her cultivation progressing? How had her strength improved?

"What about you? What are you tinkering with?" Leia's gaze landed on the box on the workbench.

Her eyes were filled with curiosity and exploration.

As a genius, Leia was inherently curious about anything new.

When they entered the city earlier, Andrew surprisingly showed a healing ability that Leia and the others hadn't expected at all. He was even dragged away by that "Violent Angel" Captain Linda, and since then, Leia had been very curious.

During the day, she deliberately ran to the Warm Fire Temple, ostensibly to tell Andrew and Ivan the address of the mansion, but it was more driven by her innate curiosity!

And now is no different.

After entering the room, she looked here and there, scrutinizing Andrew from head to toe.

It seemed like she treated Andrew and everything related to him as a new research subject!

Andrew, however, showed no reaction to this and had no intention of opening the box, merely smiling and saying, "It's nothing. Just a personal hobby."

"Can I take a look?" Leia leaned forward, refusing to give up.

"Well... I'm afraid not."

"Cheapskate!" Leia pouted in displeasure, "Do you really think I don't know what you've been investigating all the way here? Late every night, busy with what? Andrew, you're interested in our Commerce Association's 'Fire Creation Plan,' aren't you?"

"What?" Andrew's heart skipped a beat, "Fire... Creation Plan?"

Originally, it wasn't that he didn't want to show Leia his new product, but he just wanted to tease this guileless, amusingly smart scholar for a bit and pass the time until they could prepare to depart at daybreak.

But the moment he heard "Fire Creation Plan," Andrew's interest was piqued.

"Fire Creation Plan? I actually didn't know such a plan existed," Andrew said earnestly, then asked in a consulting tone, "Could you tell me more about it?"

In the days of interaction, Andrew discovered a small weakness in Leia's character.

On one hand, she's full of curiosity; on the other hand, she likes to teach.

Of course, it wasn't annoying at all, nor did she have a preachy attitude.

But whenever he politely asked, "Could you tell me about this or that?" Leia would always be very happy and enthusiastically spill out everything she knew!

Not hiding anything at all!

Sure enough, it was the same this time.

Leia glanced around cautiously, as if afraid someone might overhear, before cutely sticking out her tongue and whispering, "I shouldn't really talk about this, but Barbara has told me that you two already... hee hee..." she said with a wink and a smirk.

Andrew couldn't help but cough dryly, "About this 'Fire Creation Plan'..."

"Oh, oh, the Fire Creation Plan, the Fire Creation Plan!"

Leia then got back on track, "Actually, it's not very complex to talk about. You're aware of the 'Eight Strange Fires' concept, right? These are eight rare and powerful magic flames. The Magic Guild possesses four kinds, namely 'Molten Rock Fire', 'Necromancy Purple Fire', 'Shadow Erosion Fire', and 'Fire of Extinguishing'."

Upon hearing this, Andrew nodded in understanding.

In fact, up to this point, he had already dealt directly or indirectly with three of these four fires.

The old mage Humboldt was injured in trying to obtain the 'Molten Rock Fire' and had returned to Wildfire Town for recovery.

As for the 'Shadow Erosion Fire', Andrew had directly battled it, and only after defeating Senior Pete, who possessed and deliberately concealed the 'Shadow Erosion Fire', did he officially break through to become an Advanced Magic Apprentice, gaining 'Invisible Enchantment', 'Fingertip Series', and 'Long-range Water Needle'.

As for the 'Fire of Extinguishing', it was the only 'legal' means of fire extinction in the Flame Realm under the leadership of the Magic Guild. After killing Humboldt, a bit of the Fire of Extinguishing was left in his lab, which Barbara showed to Andrew after taking control of the lab.

It was a pure black flame, devoid of any temperature. It burned for a while and then completely disappeared. Because the remaining amount was too little, it couldn't even be considered as a 'seed' or 'spark'.

Andrew remembered clearly that as he watched the pure black flame, he felt a profound fear he hadn't even experienced with the 'Shadow Erosion Fire', along with an intense loathing and nausea that almost made him vomit on the spot.

In sum, regarding the four 'Strange Fires' owned by the Magic Guild, Andrew now had no concept of the 'Necromancy Purple Fire' (the only exception), while he had some level of understanding of the other three.

Then Leia continued, "Theoretically, our Warm Fire Commerce Association also has four Strange Fires. But in practice, we only possess three of them, namely the 'Orange Flame Warm Fire' owned by Barbara, along with the 'Formless Blade Fire' and the 'Pure White Flame'. As for the 'Eighth Fire', our Commerce Association has yet to possess it."

Andrew couldn't help but ask, "What is this so-called 'Eighth Fire'? What's its name?" This question has been lingering in Andrew's mind for a long time.

Leia shook her head: "I don't know. All I know is that such a Strange Fire exists, but it's so mysterious that there's very little information about it." Saying this, Leia couldn't help but reveal a proud and smug smile, saying, "That's exactly why our Warm Fire Commerce Association aims to 'create' this most mysterious Strange Fire!"

"I see!"

Andrew was momentarily stunned, then he understood.

So, the so-called "Fire Creation Plan" was actually about artificially creating the legendary "Eighth Fire"?!

The Magic Guild's 'Molten Rock Fire' can be acquired postnatally by reaching the realm of a Magic Guide Sorcerer through cultivation.

Yet the Warm Fire Commerce Association's 'Eighth Fire' doesn't even require cultivation, but direct creation?

"How... how do they plan to create it?" Andrew was genuinely curious now.

"Oh come on, it's not like it's something manufactured in a factory or workshop. The Fire Creation Plan is actually very simple: it's about serving people with all sorts of high-quality goods! The better the service, and the more improvement in people's lives, the further the Fire Creation Plan progresses!"

Then Leia, unusually serious, said, "The fundamental reason why our Warm Fire Commerce Association is founded on 'commerce' is actually due to this 'Fire Creation Plan'.

So Andrew, you're also interested in this plan, right? I've seen you doing plenty of investigations along the way. You seem quite concerned about how to improve people's lives. Andrew? Andrew? Hey, are you listening to me?"

Of course, Andrew heard.

Having heard it, and having heard it very clearly, Andrew now seemed to have thought of something, leaving him completely stunned.