Pastries for an Admission Ticket
The following day, the Mysterious Bookstore reopened as usual.
The Mysterious Bookstore has been in operation for almost a year now. After a year of operation, the daily business process and order of the Mysterious Bookstore have stabilized. As a result, the price of exclusive numbers in the Wantong Trading Market has gradually leveled off. Under normal circumstances, the highest price of an exclusive number within Zhang San days is around 100,000 Spirit Crystal.
Of course, if something special happens at the Mysterious Bookstore one day, the price of the exclusive number on the trading market will increase, but it will return to normal within two days.
The main reason for this result is that the first group of people who bought the exclusive numbers for the Mysterious Bookstore back then had relatively low cultivation levels. At that time, the cultivators in Dubian Town were generally not very powerful. Most of them were at the Spirit Master or Spirit Ancestor Sect level, and Spirit King were rare. There were even many small fry at the Spirit Practitioner realm level. The exclusive numbers they bought for ten Spirit Crystal have been preserved to this day.
Most cultivators at their level wouldn't choose to go to the Mysterious Bookstore to read books. Instead, they would choose to sell their soon-to-be-renewed special numbers at the Wantong Trading Market, using the obtained Spirit Crystal for their own cultivation or to purchase spiritual artifacts, cultivation techniques, and martial arts skills.
This has led to an increase in the number of exclusive phone numbers circulating in the market. That's how the market works; scarcity drives up prices. With more sellers, prices are inevitably affected to some extent. In addition, the Mysterious Bookstore has been in business for quite some time now. Although people still Covet to go in and read books, they're not as frantic as they were at the beginning, spending three or four hundred thousand Spirit Crystal just for an exclusive phone number.
After some back and forth, the price of the exclusive number stabilized at around 100,000 Spirit Crystal. This was an acceptable range for both buyers and sellers. If it was too high, buyers wouldn't be willing to buy it now; if it was too low, sellers wouldn't be willing to buy it. They might as well take the exclusive number to Bookstore and try their luck. If they could comprehend some seventh-tier cultivation technique or martial skill, or trigger a world in the book, their profits would skyrocket.
However, today a young boy appeared in the Wantong Trading Market. He walked around two or three times, asking the prices at every stall, going back and forth several times, but he just didn't buy anything.
"Stadium owner, how much are these unique phone numbers?" The young man walked up to a stall, looked at the unique phone numbers displayed on the stall, and asked.
The stall owner was already speechless. He sighed and said, "Young man, this is the third time you've asked me. One hundred thousand, one hundred thousand Spirit Crystal. If you're not going to buy it, could you please stop asking me?"
The boy looked at the stall owner with a puzzled expression and asked, "Stadium owner, I don't remember asking about prices here before. Are you sure you haven't mistaken me for someone else?"
Upon hearing this, the stall owner was completely defeated by the boy. He lowered his head and continued writing on the paper. Although he was a street vendor, he was also a person with dreams, hoping to write a book that could be placed on the shelves of the Mysterious Bookstore.
"One hundred thousand? Can't you make it cheaper?" The young man hesitated for a moment, then asked hesitantly.
"I can't lower the price any further. I'd rather take it and read it myself. This one is for tomorrow, so if you want to buy it, hurry up, or it'll be gone soon." The stall owner shook his head and said. In the entire Wantong Trading Market, each unique number costs 100,000 Spirit Crystal. If he lowered the price without authorization, Dubian Town would have another corpse tomorrow.
Don't think that setting up a stall is so easy. With these unique numbers that everyone has, you have to obediently set prices according to market trends. Lowering prices without authorization will offend people.
After listening to the stall owner's words, the boy shifted his feet slightly, but then moved back, took out the spatial bag hanging on his waist, and with a 'whoosh', a plate of exquisite ideas appeared in the boy's hand.
"Shopkeeper, can I trade you this for this?"
The stall owner looked at the snacks in the boy's hand, sniffed them, and smelled a delicious aroma that whetted his appetite, making him want to reach out and grab them.
But...
"You think you can get a personalized number just for a plate of snacks? Are you crazy or am I? Or is your idea comparable to all the amazing books in this Mysterious Bookstore?" The stall owner barely suppressed the urge to reach out and instead sneered. Although he wanted to eat, in the face of 100,000 Spirit Crystal, all his cravings had to take a backseat.
"This isn't just any ordinary snack; eating it has many benefits," the boy explained.
"Alright, alright, even the biggest benefit won't work. Go away, don't get in my way." The stall owner waved his hand dismissively, urging the boy to leave.
Seeing this, the boy could only turn around and leave helplessly. This time, he didn't continue to ask, because every stall owner gave him basically the same response as before. No one was willing to exchange a special number for a plate of snacks, so the boy could only leave Wantong Trading Market with regret.
After leaving the Wantong Trading Market, the street was bustling with people. The boy stared straight ahead at the roadside, his destination: the Dubian Town Mysterious Bookstore, Bookstore with all sorts of magical books!
After hesitating for a moment, the boy still walked towards the other side.
"Halt!" The Sky-reaching Ape Monkey on duty at the entrance blocked the boy's way, looked at him, and said, "The Bookstore is full for today. If you want to come in, please bring your special number tomorrow."
"I..." The boy lowered his head, clasped his hands together for a moment, and whispered, "I don't have a personal number."
"If you don't have it, go buy it across the street!" the Sky-reaching Ape Monkey replied, puzzled. What's the point of telling him if he doesn't have a special number? He doesn't have one either!
"I can't afford it..." the boy replied, lowering his head even further, almost burying it in his chest.
"Well, there's nothing I can do about that." The Sky-reaching Ape Monkey shrugged. He roughly understood what the boy meant: he had no money but wanted to go in and read books. But how could that be possible? Not only was he not the owner of the Mysterious Bookstore and didn't have the authority to grant permission, but even if he did, he wouldn't let the boy in to read books for free.
Simply put: Why should I?
"Um, senior, could you please make an exception? I can trade you something." Upon hearing this, the young man became somewhat anxious and took out the plate of pastries from his spatial bag.
"Hmm? What's this?" The Sky-reaching Ape Monkey sniffed the air and asked curiously.
"These are pastries I made myself. They're delicious, and you'll experience unexpected surprises after eating them. Would you like to try some?" the boy Captivate with a smile.
"Hmm..." The Sky-reaching Ape Monkey couldn't help but pick up a piece and swallow it.
"Delicious!" The Sky-reaching Ape Monkey's eyes lit up. He found that the pastry was indeed delicious, even better than bananas.
"If you like it, have some more," the boy chuckled and said.
"Then I won't stand on ceremony." The Sky-reaching Ape Monkey rubbed his hands together, took the plate, and shoveled the pastries into his mouth, finishing the entire plate in one gulp.
"Burp..." After finishing his meal, the Sky-reaching Ape Monkey couldn't help but let out a satisfied burp and patted his belly contentedly, clearly very pleased with the pastry.
"Senior, may I go in now?" The boy asked excitedly, putting away his plate.
"Huh? Go in what?" the Sky-reaching Ape Monkey replied, looking completely bewildered.
"Senior, didn't we agree that I would trade you some pastries, and then you would let me in?" the boy said anxiously.
"Ah... the sun is so bright today, it feels so good. I'll take a nap first." The Sky-reaching Ape Monkey, seemingly oblivious to the young man, glanced at the sun, stretched, and then leaned against the doorframe, starting to doze off...