Spirit Crystals Are Scarce When Needed

After a few days of settling in, as Yang Chengzhi progressed deeper into reading The Legend of the Condor Heroes, his cultivation broke through directly from Spirit Master Stage Seven to Spirit Master Stage Nine, skipping the bottleneck of Spirit Master Stage Eight.

Early in the morning, Yang Chengzhi excitedly ran to the bookstore to share the good news with Ma Feifei.

He never imagined that his cultivation, which hadn't advanced in two years, would break through three stages in just half a month; and the sole reason for all of this was reading a book called The Legend of the Condor Heroes!

"Then when do you plan to return to the academy to participate in this year's Dragon Ranking competition?" Ma Feifei wasn't surprised by Yang Chengzhi's cultivation growth; on the contrary, he would have been surprised if his cultivation hadn't improved. He was more concerned about Yang Chengzhi returning for this year's Dragon Ranking competition. The system's quest time was running out, and Ma Feifei needed to hurry.

Yang Chengzhi held the book The Legend of the Condor Heroes in his hands, gently touching its blue cover. He said, "There are still twelve days until the Dragon Ranking competition. I want to finish this book before I go back."

"Is there enough time?" Ma Feifei asked.

Zhenguan Academy was in the imperial capital, while Dubian Town was on the border. The distance between them was eighteen thousand li. With Yang Chengzhi's cultivation, it would take at least seven or eight days to return to the imperial capital.

"I've already read about two-thirds of The Legend of the Condor Heroes. I'll finish it in another six or seven days. After that, I'll go to Yuanfang City to take a Roc back to the academy. There will be enough time," Yang Chengzhi had already made his plans. Although he couldn't fly, there were flying spirit beasts in this world that were tamed by beast tamers and used as transportation.

Ma Feifei smacked his lips. He had heard of Rocs before, said to be extremely fast, capable of flying ten thousand li a day. If Yang Chengzhi rented a Roc to go back, he would reach the imperial capital in just two days. However, aerial transportation wasn't something just anyone could afford. A journey of ten thousand li would cost one hundred Spirit Crystals, and that was per person.

But Yang Chengzhi had just earned a thousand Spirit Crystals a few days ago, so he was still well-off. Two hundred Spirit Crystals wouldn't be a problem.

"Then keep up the good work," Ma Feifei said, patting Yang Chengzhi on the shoulder. He turned and found Yun Qingyang, realizing a serious problem.

"Save some Spirit Crystals for me for the next few days. We'll also rent a Roc to go to the imperial capital to watch the Dragon Ranking competition," Ma Feifei calculated the dates. The Dragon Ranking competition fell on a weekend. Renting a Roc to watch it would delay the bookstore's business for at most two or three days, which wouldn't have much impact. But if they didn't have Spirit Crystals and had to travel on foot, the delay would be much longer.

They couldn't afford to miss the Dragon Ranking competition, otherwise, the two quests they had would be difficult to complete.

The side quest was manageable; even if he didn't go, he could get the news later and make something up, and it would barely suffice. But the main quest was awkward. The reading volume was fine, but as for the notoriety, based on Ma Feifei's research and the quest progress of 8/10000, he concluded that notoriety referred to the "Mysterious Bookstore's" exposure rate.

This was important. If Yang Chengzhi could redeem himself this time, and then promote his bookstore at the Dragon Ranking competition, wouldn't the ten thousand notoriety points be completed immediately?

Therefore, to prevent any unforeseen circumstances, this trip to the imperial capital was imperative for Ma Feifei.

So, the only problem now was the mode of transportation.

Among the current customers, besides Yang Chengzhi and Zhou Zhuling every day, Zhou Guanyu, who had participated in the Qin-Chu battle, had also returned. He now ran to the bookstore with his sister every day, and the three of them became the fixed daily income for the bookstore.

But the income from the past few days had all been taken by Yun Qingyang, under the guise of healing.

To have enough travel expenses before departing, Ma Feifei could only ask Yun Qingyang to bear with him for now.

However, Yun Qingyang seemed unwilling. Although she didn't speak and stood there holding her sword, Ma Feifei could feel that she was a little upset.

Ma Feifei was also embarrassed. Spirit Crystals were abundant when not needed, but when needed, there wasn't a single one. It truly was a case of "money is precious only when it's needed."

With a hint of guilt, Ma Feifei explained the reason to Yun Qingyang. After all, he had personally promised her before that she could take whatever Spirit Crystals she wanted from the bookstore. To go back on his word after only a few days was indeed not very decent.

After listening, Yun Qingyang turned her head, looked at Ma Feifei, and said, "If you can reach the imperial capital within two days, will you stop taking my Spirit Crystals?"

Ma Feifei was stunned when he heard this and subconsciously nodded, saying, "Of course. I only want Spirit Crystals to rent a Roc to rush to the imperial capital to watch the Dragon Ranking competition."

Yun Qingyang nodded, pulled out the Spirit Crystals from the drawer, and with a wave of her hand, they disappeared. She said, "I'll take you."

Ma Feifei looked at Yun Qingyang and suddenly remembered something. That's right! This girl was a dragon, and dragons could fly! She was enough; why would they need to go to Yuanfang City to rent a Roc? That would just be a waste of Spirit Crystals.

He had been agonizing over how to solve this problem, but it turned out to be so easy. Ma Feifei couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"Oh, right." Ma Feifei's eyes darted around. He glanced at Yang Chengzhi, who was reading a book, leaned slightly towards Yun Qingyang, and whispered, "Do you mind taking a few more people?"

Yun Qingyang frowned, and a trace of killing intent suddenly surged from her. Ma Feifei didn't seem to notice and continued, "I have a way to earn Spirit Crystals. As long as you don't mind taking a few more people, we'll split the earnings fifty-fifty, how about it?"

It was the same whether he took one person or a group, and he could earn Spirit Crystals. Why not?

Upon hearing "Spirit Crystals," Yun Qingyang's killing intent dissipated. She frowned and relaxed. She seemed to have guessed Ma Feifei's intentions and said coolly, "I'll take eight, you take two."

"I'll take four, you take six," Ma Feifei tried to negotiate.

"I'll take eight, you take two," Yun Qingyang said, as if there was no room for discussion.

"Fine!" Ma Feifei slammed the table and agreed.

The split didn't matter much. Today's incident made him realize that he really needed to keep some Spirit Crystals on hand for emergencies. If he encountered such an embarrassing situation again where he needed Spirit Crystals but couldn't produce them, it would be truly unbearable.

After discussing with Yun Qingyang, Ma Feifei first found Yang Chengzhi. The two parties finally agreed that Yang Chengzhi would give Ma Feifei one hundred and fifty Spirit Crystals, and Ma Feifei would be responsible for delivering Yang Chengzhi to the imperial capital within two days.

They both smiled during the transaction, very satisfied.

Yun Qingyang stood by the counter, her eyes looking outside but her ears twitching occasionally. Seeing Ma Feifei walk past with a bag of Spirit Crystals, Yun Qingyang uttered a few words, "One hundred and fifty."

Next, Ma Feifei found the Zhou siblings.

"Sister, haven't you finished this page yet?" The siblings were currently sharing a copy of My Fair Princess. Zhou Guanyu had finished reading this page a quarter of an hour ago, but Zhou Zhuling still hadn't finished, prompting him to urge her on.

My Fair Princess Part One wasn't very long, only a little over two hundred thousand characters. The siblings had been reading it for several days and were now nearing the end. However, the book was addictive; the further they read, the more interesting it became. If Zhou Zhuling weren't his biological sister, Zhou Guanyu might have snatched the book away.

But Zhou Zhuling acted as if she hadn't heard him, ignoring Zhou Guanyu and staring intently at the book with her beautiful eyes, unhurriedly. This left Zhou Guanyu completely helpless.