The next day.
Ron got up early as usual and went to the courtyard for his morning training.
As he struck one strange, difficult pose after another, "Qi" imbued with a bright aura formed inside him and coursed through his body, providing him with powerful support.
Compared to a few days ago, the "Qi" he could draw out at once had grown much stronger, but it still wasn't enough to form a Battle Qi Vortex.
He wasn't in any hurry about that.
His rate of improvement was already impressive compared to that of ordinary people.
For an average person to reach his current level would take at least half a year of hard training. To build up enough strength to form a Battle Qi Vortex would take more than a year of tempering.
Ron was on track to attempt forming a Battle Qi Vortex in about a month. It could only be said that the Bright Sword Canon truly was a top-tier Battle Qi method tailored to Andre's bloodline.
Compared with Ron's progress in Battle Qi, his magical abilities were improving even faster—astonishingly so.
He had a top-tier Meditation Method like the Natural Meditation Method. On top of that, he meditated every day near the Nether Orchids and often supplemented his practice with their fruit. As a result, his level had risen as if he were riding a rocket.
In just a few days, he had successfully advanced to First-Order Mage. And when he condensed his Magic Seed, he had even stirred up an Elemental Ocean Vortex!
This was proof of just how great his talent was.
After advancing to First-Order Mage, he could clearly feel his level steadily increasing every day. At this rate, he would probably be able to attempt advancing to Second Order in less than a month.
For an ordinary mage, this would be cause for wild celebration.
But Ron didn't feel much.
After all, when he'd played games, his level had shot up in half a minute. Compared to that, his current pace was slower than a snail.
A few days ago, Ron hadn't felt any particularly strong desire to grow more powerful.
This place might be called Chaos City, but in truth, public order was quite good.
Besides, he was the Empire's Seventh Prince. He might not wield much real power, but his status was there for all to see, and no one would go out of their way to make trouble for him.
But the three thugs who had barged into his courtyard yesterday had suddenly made him see things differently.
In this world, his own strength was his first line of defense against danger.
He couldn't place all his hopes in other people.
The three thugs from yesterday weren't even First-Order Warriors; they were complete nobodies. Ron could have defeated them easily, even without forming a Battle Qi Vortex.
But what if someone much stronger set their sights on his shop?
He couldn't just hope that all his enemies would be idiots, forever sending lackeys he could handle to get themselves killed until he grew strong enough to defeat their final boss, who would only then saunter out from behind the scenes, could he?
This wasn't some weakling's cookie-cutter leveling story... Ron grumbled inwardly.
So even though his days were carefree, he never skipped his basic meditation and training.
At nine in the morning, Ron finished his training. As usual, he entered the Dimensional Plane and began working the production line in his one-square-meter Cultivation Space.
By around eleven, the Cultivation Space had produced more than twenty fresh Nether Orchids.
That brought his total harvest to over a hundred Nether Orchids.
Back at the shop, he went upstairs and made himself lunch. After a quick meal, and with some time left before the shop opened for the afternoon, he went to the Barbecue Shop next door and played Dou Dizhu with Lyle and two employees.
The Barbecue Shop didn't get many customers at noon, and one employee could handle all the work.
So Ron and Lyle, the regular Dou Dizhu players, took turns playing with the two employees. Whoever played badly had to leave the table and grill meat.
They didn't gamble. The loser just had to drink a mug of ale, and the atmosphere was lively.
Playing cards with ordinary people like Lyle didn't lead to the same situation as when he'd played "Magic Duel" with Harper and the others a couple of days earlier. So Ron was unbeatable at the table, and usually won far more often than he lost.
At nearly one, he went back to his shop to get ready to open.
As for the Elemental Cards, he left them at the Barbecue Shop.
The Barbecue Shop was quiet in the afternoons. Aside from preparing skewers in advance, Lyle and the others didn't have much to do, so they could pass the time playing cards.
Ron returned to his shop empty-handed, opened the shutters, and settled into his recliner with a slight buzz. He took out a book and began to read.
Everything was just right, and he felt completely at ease.
The main quest was only at 26/100, with another 74 plants to go, so Ron wasn't in much of a hurry.
The Nether Orchids had already become well-known at the Magic Academy, so completing the quest shouldn't be difficult. It was only a matter of time.
Based on yesterday afternoon's sales of eighteen Nether Orchids, he'd finish the main quest in just four or five days.
When he put it that way, it didn't seem too slow.
He had 421 Wealth Points now. Once he completed the main quest, he'd have 1,901—enough to buy the shop's remaining nine square meters of Cultivation Space, with 1,000 Wealth Points left over.
Those 1,000 Wealth Points...
Damn!
Ron cursed inwardly.
The shop's two prerequisite spells each cost 500 Wealth Points, didn't they?
And the system had said their prices were calculated independently!?
Bullshit!
How could anyone believe this wasn't planned in advance?
As soon as Ron did the math, he saw the "scheme" hidden behind the system.
Evil pay-to-win games!
He'd die before exchanging Wealth Points for those two prerequisite spells!
Hmph!
Even if the Seed Germination Technique rotted in his hands, he wouldn't fall into the system's carefully laid pay-to-win trap.
It wasn't as if he couldn't teach himself, was it?
They were just two trivial First-Order spells. Why should they cost him 500 Wealth Points?
Wouldn't he rather save them for flipping a young lady's skirt?
Ron silently grumbled to himself, convinced that the system was full of malice and would do anything to get its hands on his Wealth Points.
Could these Wealth Points have some special meaning?
Could they benefit the system somehow?
Or did they provide energy to some unknown entity?
Ron let his imagination run wild as he speculated.
In the end, he sighed and stopped thinking about it.
Anyway, his life was good right now. He might as well take things one step at a time and see where they led.
Getting transported to another world was already a bizarre and mysterious event. Rather than dig into things he couldn't explain, it was better to live in the moment.
Selling flowers, eating barbecue, and playing Dou Dizhu every day—that was the laid-back life he'd always dreamed of.
Aside from not having the internet, it couldn't get much more perfect.
If only the system would be a little more obedient, Ron would have nothing to complain about.
Unfortunately, the system had no shame.
In the end, Ron couldn't resist grumbling to himself again.
Flop's Diary: Two chapters every day, rain or shine. Watching the daily-ten-thousand-word powerhouses in the group charge through the writing room is honestly a little enviable. But writing ten thousand words a day? No way. Hmph~
Before you continue