A New Main Quest Begins

Xiao Ning returned to the Xiao Clan from Ruyi Zhai, carrying the Peach Pastry, Peanut Candy, and Honeyed Shortbread he had bought. In high spirits, he headed toward his room.

But he happened to run into Xiao Yan, who had just finished cultivating and come outside.

Their gazes met briefly, and Xiao Yan smiled as he greeted Xiao Ning.

"Cousin Xiao Ning."

However, Xiao Ning merely snorted, turned sideways to leave Xiao Yan with his back, and returned to his room.

Seeing his cousin's attitude toward him, Xiao Yan was not angry. He merely found it somewhat amusing.

Those pastries Xiao Ning was holding looked like they came from Ruyi Zhai. Did Ruyi Zhai release new pastries?

That was what Xiao Yan was thinking at the moment.

To verify his guess, he immediately left the Xiao Clan and headed for Ruyi Zhai.

After returning to his room, Xiao Ning swiftly shut the door, placed the paper packages on the table, quickly opened one, and picked up a piece of Peach Pastry to sniff.

It carried the blended fragrance of crushed walnuts and Sesame. Not bad.

When he took a bite, the aromas of walnuts and peanuts merged together, assaulting Xiao Ning's taste buds.

The next moment, Xiao Ning felt his Dou Qi increase slightly. He hurriedly sat cross-legged, circulated his Dou Qi, and began cultivating.

A quarter of an hour later, Xiao Ning felt that his Eighth Stage of Dou Qi had improved somewhat.

"Truly magical pastries. My Dou Qi really has increased. If I eat pastries and cultivate steadily every day, Xiao Yan, just wait until the Coming-of-Age Ceremony, when I beat you into a cripple. Heh heh."

Xiao Ning then opened another paper package containing Honeyed Shortbread.

The moment he opened it, he smelled the fragrance of Sesame, along with the enticing scent brought by frying.

Xiao Ning rather liked this aroma. Without another word, he took a bite and instantly felt his mouth fill with a sweet, blissful flavor.

Then he realized that his Dou Qi had not changed much. Instead, it seemed that his body had undergone a slight change.

His body had become a little stronger.

He had not expected this Honeyed Shortbread to strengthen his body and improve his physical condition.

"Shop Owner Xiao really didn't lie to me. This really is good stuff."

Xiao Ning thought happily, unaware that Xiao Cheng merely wanted to fleece him for some money.

After persuading Xiao Ning to buy the first portion of Honeyed Shortbread, Xiao Cheng went on to sell seven or eight pieces of Peach Pastry and quite a bit of Peanut Candy.

They were all bought by guards from the market, but not a single person bought Honeyed Shortbread. The price of one hundred Gold Coins was enough to scare them away.

"Ah, is Honeyed Shortbread really that hard to sell?"

At that moment, Xiao Dian's notification sounded in his mind.

The host has triggered the next stage of the Main Quest. Would you like to view it?

It must be a quest related to Honeyed Shortbread.

That was what Xiao Cheng thought, but he still opened the new Main Quest.

Main Quest: The host must sell one hundred jin of Honeyed Shortbread (1/100)

Quest Reward: One recipe for God-tier Mung Bean Cakes
Quest Failure: The host will wear the Baby Three-Piece Set for seven days
Quest Time: Seven days

The host has completed the beginner's quest and advanced to Level One Shopkeeper. Advancing to Level Two Shopkeeper requires three hundred Experience Points.

The first thing Xiao Cheng noticed was the recipe for God-tier Mung Bean Cakes in the quest reward. It seemed he had even forgotten what Mung Bean Cakes tasted like.

But when he caught sight of the penalty for Quest Failure, the corners of his mouth twitched a few times, and his whole body resisted the idea.

What Baby Three-Piece Set? A pacifier, a baby cap, and baby diapers?

He would never wear that stuff, even if it killed him. Not even if he starved to death.

When he saw Xiao Dian's final notification telling him that he had passed the beginner's stage, he was quite happy. He had finally advanced to Level One Shopkeeper, though he did not know how Experience Points were earned.

"Xiao Dian, how are these Experience Points calculated?"

Experience Points are earned whenever a certain quantity of pastries is sold.

Friendly reminder to the host: the Experience Points required for each shopkeeper level are tripled. In other words, future Experience Point requirements are calculated by multiplying by three.

"Damn, that's ruthless. Triple the Experience Points? That means going from Level One to Level Two requires three hundred Experience Points, Level Two to Level Three requires nine hundred, and Level Three to Level Four requires two thousand seven hundred. Xiao Dian, I want to beat you up."

But no matter how much Xiao Cheng cursed Xiao Dian, there was still no response. He could only sigh and let it go.

If simply selling pastries could earn him Experience Points, then he would have to work hard at selling pastries from now on.

"Open the Personal Panel. Let me look at the data."

Host: Xiao Cheng
Identity: Shop Owner of Ruyi Zhai in Xiao Family Market

Shopkeeper Level: Level One Shopkeeper (0/300)

Cultivation: Ninth Stage of Dou Qi
Martial Skill: None
Items: None

Evaluation: You are merely a rookie who has just started out. You could be wiped out by a big shot at any time. Develop carefully, for the happiness of you, me, and everyone.

Main Quest: The host must sell one hundred jin of Honeyed Shortbread (0/100)

Quest Reward: One recipe for God-tier Mung Bean Cakes
Quest Failure: The host will wear the Baby Three-Piece Set for seven days
Quest Time: Seven days

Side Quest: The host must sell one hundred portions of Peanut Candy (34/100)

Quest Reward: One random pastry recipe
Quest Failure: The host will wear women's clothing for seven days and may not take it off
Quest Time: Seven days

Suddenly, Xiao Cheng noticed a problem. Why had the one jin of Honeyed Shortbread he sold to Xiao Ning not been counted?

"Xiao Dian, why wasn't the one jin of Honeyed Shortbread I just sold counted?"

Host, the quest had not yet been issued at that time, so the earlier sale does not count.

"Heh heh."

After sorting out all that messy information, Xiao Cheng finally came back to his senses from the system in his mind. He had just sat down and taken a sip of water when he saw Xiao Yan arrive.

"Xiao Yan, you're here."

"Mm, Shop Owner Xiao. I came to take a look and buy some pastries."

Xiao Yan said with a smile.

At that moment, Xiao Cheng suddenly noticed that Xiao Yan's strength seemed to have improved again.

He's already at the Sixth Stage of Dou Qi. As expected of the Son of the Plane. How terrifying.

Xiao Cheng was secretly surprised, but he still smiled on the surface as he spoke.

"The shop introduced a new pastry this morning: Honeyed Shortbread. You can check the specific price on the wooden board beside you."

Xiao Yan followed the direction Xiao Cheng indicated and looked at the wooden board. When he saw that Honeyed Shortbread cost one hundred Gold Coins per jin, he too sucked in a breath of cold air.

Even Xiao Yan, who spent several thousand Gold Coins on medicinal ingredients each time, felt that this price was rather expensive. But Ruyi Zhai's pastries could not be valued that way.

So Xiao Yan merely smiled and said jokingly to Xiao Cheng.

"Shop Owner Xiao, I'm almost unable to afford your pastries. They're nearly as expensive as pills."

"Not at all. You're the Xiao Clan's future Young Patriarch."

He silently added in his heart, You're also the future Flame Emperor. You might not even care about this little bit of money by then.

"Alright, Shop Owner, give me five pieces of Peach Pastry. I'll take two pieces of Peanut Candy as well. I'll leave the Honeyed Shortbread for next time."

The more than forty thousand Gold Coins he had extorted from his father were nearly spent, with only a quarter left. He would have to find a way to make money later.

"Alright. What a pity."

After speaking, Xiao Cheng wrapped up the Peach Pastry and Peanut Candy for Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yan accepted the paper package, then suddenly asked, "Shop Owner Xiao, did Cousin Xiao Ning come to Ruyi Zhai to buy pastries?"

"Yes. He bought Peach Pastry and Peanut Candy, and he even bought Honeyed Shortbread. He really was quite generous."

Xiao Cheng felt no guilt whatsoever about having tricked Xiao Ning.

Xiao Yan nodded and left Ruyi Zhai.

At that moment, Old Yao's voice sounded in Xiao Yan's mind.

"Disciple, this Shop Owner Xiao is actually at the Ninth Stage of Dou Qi. He is only one step away from advancing to Dou Zhe. When I examined him last time, he was only at the Seventh Stage of Dou Qi."

Xiao Yan was also slightly surprised by Xiao Cheng's cultivation, but he did not pay it much mind. He murmured softly.

"I won't be inferior to Shop Owner Xiao. I will reach the peak and become a Dou Di."

Hearing Xiao Yan's murmur, Old Yao smiled in gratification.