"I rented a shop in the north of the city and opened an appraisal store. It's close to the Advanced Spirit Master Academy, and we might all end up studying there in the future, so I set it up there."
"I'll take you all to have a look tomorrow afternoon." Nan Xuan introduced his shop to the three of them, intending to have them help out while giving them some experience.
"Then thanks, Brother Xuan." Chen Gao replied with a grin.
"What, Chen Gao? Haven't you gone to peek at that girl from the neighboring class these past few days?" Yang Tian asked.
"Forget it. I think I should focus on cultivating properly for now. I'll meet someone better in the future. We're still too young." Chen Gao sighed.
Nan Xuan could not help marveling once again at the average maturity level of people on the Douluo Continent.
After dinner, Nan Xuan found Bibi Dong and arranged to meet her in the north of the city the next morning.
There was no way for her to go with Chen Gao and the others, so they could only stagger their schedules.
That night, he lay in bed thinking about his future. He planned to follow the path of his previous life's electromechanical studies. Since he already had a router, why couldn't he build a Network World?
Spirit City was a holy land for spirit masters. Most of those who came here to trade were spirit masters, and they were all commoner spirit masters.
Early the next morning, Nan Xuan left the dormitory. He had not waited long at the academy gates before spotting that graceful figure.
"Xiao Xuan, have you been waiting long?" Bibi Dong asked with a smile as she looked at Nan Xuan.
"No, I just got out too. Have you had breakfast? If not, I know a place with pretty good wontons. Want to try it?" Nan Xuan stepped before Bibi Dong and asked with concern.
"Not yet. I came out early in the morning, and I still have other classes to arrange this afternoon." Bibi Dong pouted as she complained.
"Then let's go." Nan Xuan took Bibi Dong's small hand and headed toward the north of the city.
Bibi Dong's face flushed as Nan Xuan held her hand, and even her ears burned.
But she did not pull her hand away. Over the past half year, she had learned that Nan Xuan was not someone arranged by her teacher. This special boy simply liked being with her. At that thought, her face turned even redder.
They did not walk for long before arriving.
"Boss, two bowls of wontons," Nan Xuan called to the uncle inside.
"Coming right up. Please wait a moment."
The two found a place to sit, but seeing that Nan Xuan still had no intention of letting go, she stammered, "Could you let go? It'll be hard to hold a spoon later."
Nan Xuan looked down and realized he was still holding her hand. He quickly released it and said awkwardly, "Sorry. I was just afraid you wouldn't know the way, so..."
"It's fine, I'm not blaming you. Let's eat breakfast first. The boss has already brought it over." Bibi Dong did not want to continue this topic. It was too embarrassing. Since she had a chance to change the subject, of course she had to take it.
Seeing Bibi Dong's face completely flushed, Nan Xuan nearly smiled from ear to ear.
This Bibi Dong was the complete opposite of the Bibi Dong in the original story.
"Oh, there are dried shrimp in this. I don't like them, so you can have them." Bibi Dong picked a dried shrimp from her bowl and placed it in Nan Xuan's.
Looking at Bibi Dong's little "prank," he smiled at her and asked, "What if I don't like them either?"
"Hehe, then I'll definitely ask the boss to replace it with a bowl that doesn't have dried shrimp." Bibi Dong giggled as she picked out the shrimp. She had long prepared a response for Nan Xuan's question.
This guy just wants to take advantage of me. I definitely won't let him this time. Hmph.
Nan Xuan shook his head with a smile and poked her forehead.
He had been single for twenty-six years in his previous life. Now that he had come to the Continent of Romance, was it too much to date someone? Even if he was starting from childhood, he was just raising his own childhood sweetheart.
Bibi Dong ignored Nan Xuan's teasing and continued eating her wontons.
Seeing this, Nan Xuan stopped bothering Bibi Dong and began eating breakfast as well.
After finishing breakfast, the two continued toward the north of the city. Before long, they saw a place called "Momo Treasure Appraisal House."
"Hm? Momo? Why not call it Tantan instead?" Bibi Dong asked thoughtfully as she looked at the sign above the door.
"What Tantan?" Nan Xuan felt a little panicked at that moment.
"Isn't this a treasure appraisal shop? Treasure hunting, adventuring, treasure appraising."
"Well, you have to hunt for treasures before you can appraise them. Though I was just saying." Seeing the strange expression on Nan Xuan's face, Bibi Dong wondered whether she had said something wrong.
Nan Xuan wiped away cold sweat that had not appeared.
"It's called Momo because I want to keep a low profile. I don't want to become famous yet." Nan Xuan casually made up an excuse. For a moment, he had thought this Bibi Dong might be another transmigrator.
"Is that really why? Isn't it because you want to be a couch potato?" Bibi Dong asked with clear disbelief.
"How could that be? How could you think that of me?" Nan Xuan replied awkwardly.
"Hmph. I wonder who said last time that he would never cultivate in this lifetime." Bibi Dong pouted and complained helplessly.
"Ahem. Let's go inside and take a look. This will be my home in Spirit City from now on. Once I have enough money, I'll buy this place." Nan Xuan dropped the subject and took Bibi Dong's hand as he led her into the shop.
Bibi Dong was delighted to see Nan Xuan at a loss. She did not even notice that someone had taken her hand again.
"Come on, I'll show you roughly where everything is."
Nan Xuan held Bibi Dong's hand with one hand while pointing out the various areas of the shop with the other.
"The first floor is filled with different ores, antiques, and gemstones. Anyway, it's all the stuff rich people like to play with. Although I only appraise treasures here, I still need my own stock, so don't find it strange."
"The second floor is for receiving important customers or discussing business. As for the third floor, that's where we live."
Nan Xuan led Bibi Dong up to the third floor and pushed open the door to a room.
"This is your room. If you want to come play, you won't have to worry about having nowhere to rest. My room is next door, and the rooms around the corner opposite are reserved for Chen Gao and the others." Nan Xuan said everything he wanted to say in one breath.
"Thank you, Xiao Xuan. You even prepared a room for me." Looking at the room decorated in pink and purple, Bibi Dong was truly moved. Aside from her teacher, no one had ever been this thoughtful or kind to her.
"Hehe, this is the secret base I reserved for you. You can't tell anyone about it." Nan Xuan patted Bibi Dong's back and said with a smile.
"Of course. This is our secret base. It's also close to the Advanced Spirit Master Academy, so we can come here often in the future." Bibi Dong was as happy as a little cat, unable to hide the smile at the corner of her lips.
Bibi Dong sat on the large pink bed and patted the space beside her, signaling for Nan Xuan to sit too.
Nan Xuan did not hesitate and plopped down beside her.
"Xiao Xuan, why are you so good to me? Ever since we first met, you've always treated me well. Before I realized you weren't arranged by my teacher, I thought it was fine, since at least all of it had been arranged by her."
"But now, I know you weren't sent by my teacher. You're just good to me."
"Did you find out that my teacher is the Pope, then approach me so you could have an easier path in the future?" Bibi Dong stared into Nan Xuan's eyes and asked seriously.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Bibi Dong rubbed her forehead, then glared fiercely at Nan Xuan.
"I'm clearing your head so you'll stop imagining things all day." Nan Xuan was speechless. Was overthinking a woman's natural talent?
"If I had approached you on purpose, the grass on my grave would already be two meters tall."
"Besides, so what if your teacher is the Pope? Could he decide whether I live or die? It would be better if you became the Pope. With our relationship, I could enjoy some benefits too." Nan Xuan pulled Bibi Dong's hand away and rubbed her forehead as he joked.
"Hmph, all you know is how to joke around. Do you think becoming the Pope is easy? My teacher is still alive." Bibi Dong said indignantly.
"Then if your teacher were to—" Before Nan Xuan could finish, Bibi Dong covered his mouth with her hand.
"Don't talk nonsense. I might not be able to protect you then." Bibi Dong put on a threatening expression, but she only looked adorable.
"Mmph." Nan Xuan gestured that she could let go now.
"Hehe, it's better to say less about things like that. This time, I'm not just trying to scare you." Bibi Dong reminded Nan Xuan with a serious expression.
"Understood, Class Monitor." Nan Xuan straightened up and answered in an equally serious tone, playing along with Bibi Dong.
"Pfft, hahaha."
Bibi Dong felt relaxed and natural around Nan Xuan, and she was very happy. But her time was not entirely hers to control.
"Xiao Xuan, I have to go back. My teacher still needs to check my use of spirit skills. I'll come see you next time. The holiday is still long anyway." Bibi Dong said apologetically.
"Mhm, go ahead. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone that your teacher is the Pope." Nan Xuan looked at Bibi Dong solemnly, wearing a knowing smile.
"You're so annoying. Hmph." Bibi Dong left without looking back.
As six years passed, Nan Xuan and the others' business in Spirit City grew better and better. Others might not know what Momo meant, but they definitely knew Momo Treasure Appraisal House in the north of the city.
"We'll graduate from the Intermediate Spirit Master Academy tomorrow. What are your plans?" a short youth asked.
"Us? Of course we'll follow Nan Xuan. We've been hanging around with him these past few years." Yang Tian adjusted his brown middle-parted hair and answered indifferently.
"That makes sense. But I plan to join Spirit Hall directly. With my talent, getting into an Advanced Spirit Master Academy would be a little difficult. You guys, though, have a lot of hope." The short youth forced an awkward smile onto his stiff face.
"Hey, don't think so much about it. Maybe one day you'll make it big, and we'll need to ask you for help. Anyway, my brother and I have something to do, so we'll be leaving first." Yang Fei patted the youth on the shoulder, gave his younger brother a look, and headed outside.
Since graduating from the Junior Spirit Master Academy, the Intermediate Spirit Master Academy no longer assigned classes based on talent, but according to spirit categories. Thus, every class had both geniuses and trash. Those without talent could only follow Su Haisheng's path and become white-robed deacons of Spirit Hall. At least the income was stable.
"Brother, where are we going next?" Yang Tian casually asked as he walked behind Yang Fei.
The twin brothers were both over 1.7 meters tall, and their brown middle-parted hair made them especially conspicuous. This also gave some people bad ideas.
"Of course we're going to the support department to find Nan Xuan." Yang Fei looked at his younger brother and replied helplessly. His brother's thinking was a little too simple. Without him, who knew how many times he would have been tricked? Yet in some matters, he was exceptionally shrewd, such as business. Yang Fei suspected this guy was deliberately learning Nan Xuan's "low profile" approach.
"Oh. That guy is already level 35, while we only reached level 30 yesterday. Chen Gao is level 32 too. Every one of them is a monster." Thinking of their Soul Power growth over the years, Yang Tian felt that everyone around him was a monster. None of them were simple, especially the class monitor, who was already level 39.
"Heh. If Nan Xuan hadn't paid us such high wages, and if we didn't have these Gold Soul Coins supporting our cultivation, do you think our talent could keep up with theirs?"
"Besides, Nan Xuan never cultivated seriously at all. He was either appraising treasures, dating, or researching spirit skills. We're actually pretty lucky to be following him." Yang Fei understood Nan Xuan's help perfectly well. He knew his own talent, so he was deeply grateful to him.
Before you continue