I Can't Afford It

Mysterious Bookstore. Four o'clock in the afternoon, the afterglow of the sunset.

"Cultivators who have captured a Pokémon, please line up and come forward one by one to collect it. Also, please make sure you have enough Spirit Crystal. If someone doesn't have enough Spirit Crystal to buy a Pokémon, then it will be considered a forfeit, and the Pokémon will be sold to the cultivator who offers the highest bid." Ma Feifei stood by the long table and shouted to the group of noisy cultivators.

Damn it, these cultivators have lost all their semblance of mastery. They're acting like aunties at a market, pushing and shoving each other, with absolutely no order whatsoever.

Hearing Ma Feifei's call, the group of cultivators slowly began to line up.

However, some practitioners felt a chill in their hearts.

"Elder Yan, could you lend me some Spirit Crystal?" a cultivator in line called out to another cultivator in the crowd.

Elder Yan shook his head, sighed, and said, "I'm really sorry, but the sect is currently facing a shortage of resources. The sect leader has ordered us higher-ups to cut costs and increase revenue. I haven't received my salary for over a year, so I can't help you!"

"Elder Yan, please don't joke. Just yesterday, I saw you spend 200,000 Spirit Crystal to buy a magical artifact for a beauty at the trading market; I wonder what your wife would do if she found out about this..." This cultivator was clearly unwilling to let it go.

Upon hearing this, Elder Yan lost face and said sternly, "Lang Kun, don't talk nonsense."

Lang Kun chuckled and said, "Elder Yan, as long as you ask for 300,000, I, Lang Kun, will Swallow this 300,000 Spirit Crystal and guarantee to repay you within six months."

Elder Yan was somewhat surprised upon hearing this and said, "Three hundred thousand? Could it be that the Pokémon you caught is of rare quality?"

Because Clefairy appeared first, everyone knew that ordinary quality Pokémon cost around 100,000 Spirit Crystal. Lang Kun asked for 300,000, so the quality of the Pokémon he caught was naturally higher.

Lang Kun smiled smugly and said, "Of course, a rare-quality Pokémon."

Upon hearing this, Elder Yan subconsciously uttered an "Oh," his face instantly breaking into a broad smile. He took out a spatial bag, handed it to Lang Kun, and said, "Inside are 300,000 Spirit Crystal. No need to return them; consider it an act of goodwill on my part. If Brother Lang ever stands atop the Azure Dragon's Peak, looking down upon all living beings, I hope you will look after me."

Upon hearing this, Lang Kun's smug expression deepened. He took the spatial bag and said with satisfaction, "Rest assured, I, Lang Kun, will forever remember this kindness."

"That's very good, very good."

Elder Yan watched Lang Kun's retreating figure, the smile on his face gradually fading.

"Go and find out where Lang Kun lives."

"Yes!" one of the accompanying disciples responded and left.

Such situations occur everywhere outside the Bookstore: people asking for money, or offering to lend money with interest—it's a common sight.

Zhang Yunji stood in line in the crowd, his eyes darting around.

"Brother!" A familiar voice called out.

Zhang Yunji turned his head and saw that although Liu Ying was wearing a bamboo hat, Zhang Yunji recognized her at a glance and exclaimed in surprise, "Liu Ying, what brings you here!"

"My master and I have come to find you!" Liu Ying said.

Master...

Zhang Yunji glanced at Chang Kong beside him, his smile vanished instantly, and he bowed solemnly to Chang Kong, saying, "Master!"

I was incredibly nervous, and sweat was pouring down my forehead.

"Hmph!" Chang Kong snorted coldly, looked at Zhang Yunji, and said, "Who told you to come here alone?"

"Uh... Master, I just came to take a look..." Zhang Yunji said softly.

"Take a look?" Chang Kong frowned and said, "Without a word, you abandoned your wife and children and came to this border. Is this what you call taking a look?"

"Master... it's not that serious, is it?" Zhang Yunji, a little embarrassed.

So what if he didn't tell you? He's already saying things like he's abandoning his wife!

"Hmm?" Chang Kong glanced at him coldly.

Zhang Yunji quickly confessed, saying, "Father-in-law, please don't be angry. Once I've received this Sacred Beast, I'll immediately go back with you."

Chang Kong nodded in satisfaction, then looked at Chang Kong and said, "Go quickly, or things might change."

A spirit of Sacred Beast quality attracts too many covetous eyes; even Spirit Saint would be tempted, let alone others.

Zhang Yunji nodded, turned around and continued to queue, but he was thinking about something in his mind.

"I have no money! What should I do!"

Even a regular-quality sprite costs 100,000 Spirit Crystal; heaven knows how many this Sacred Beast will cost.

Most importantly, Zhang Yunji is poor right now! So poor that he has to work as a bodyguard for Gongsun Qiong to earn a living, let alone buy a little elf of Sacred Beast quality.

"Borrow it from the chairman?" Zhang Yunji pondered.

Gongsun Qiong is the president of the Wantong Chamber of Commerce. In the Great Chu, a single word from her can mobilize far more than a hundred million Spirit Crystal.

"No way, what kind of man would borrow money from a woman?" Zhang Yunji shook his head, rejecting the idea.

'But what should we do? We can't just rob them!' Zhang Yunji thought of the mysterious shopkeeper and that Saint figure again, and couldn't help but shudder.

This idea definitely won't work.

"Looking for my father-in-law?" Zhang Yunji thought of Chang Kong again, his master and father-in-law!

"He's probably even poorer than me, forget it." Zhang Yunji thought for a while, but couldn't come up with any solution.

"Heavens above! I can't possibly give up on this Sacred Beast," Zhang Yunji, feeling a pang of sadness.

"Zhang Yunji, it's your turn." Suddenly, Ma Feifei's voice came. Zhang Yunji looked up and realized that he had no idea when it was his turn.

"Ah~ Oh! It's my turn." Zhang Yunji was a little nervous and rubbed his hands together.

Ma Feifei glanced at the book and said to Zhang Yunji, "Yes, you need to pay twelve million Spirit Crystal."

"What?" Zhang Yunji was a little confused, staring at Ma Feifei with his eyes wide open.

Ma Feifei said to Zhang Yunji very seriously, "You need to pay twelve million Spirit Crystal to be able to take this little sprite with you."

Twelve million!

Zhang Yunji felt a little dizzy.

I'm not just a little dizzy, I'm extremely dizzy.

Seeing Zhang Yunji's condition, Ma Feifei knew that he was unable to pay the fee.

In fact, Ma Feifei himself did not expect that the Flame Emperor would be so expensive!

A whopping twelve million Spirit Crystal! Who could possibly produce that many Spirit Crystal right now?

Even Gongsun Qiong and Ma Feifei found it somewhat difficult.

After all, although Gongsun Qiong is the president of Wantong Chamber of Commerce, it doesn't mean that the entire Wantong Chamber of Commerce belongs to her. It would be really difficult for her to come up with so many Spirit Crystal on her own.

Don't you see that Zhou Zhuling's treatment cost two million Spirit Crystal, and Zhou Guanyu had to go all the way to the capital to get it from the Limitless Spirit Emperor? Not to mention twelve million, even if you sold Zhang Yunji, he wouldn't be worth that much.

"I... I don't have that much money," Zhang Yunji, somewhat embarrassed.

"No... that's a bit of a shame." Ma Feifei shook her head, looking at the golden circle on the page, and sighed, "This is the highest quality of all the little sprites this time."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yunji hesitated for a while, then turned to look at his master and sister who were watching him.

Turning around, biting her lower lip, she looked at Ma Feifei and whispered, "Shopkeeper, my younger sister is stunningly beautiful. Would you like to know more about her?"