Bandeni led everyone to a restaurant called Hundred Flavors. According to him, it was the most famous restaurant in the imperial capital, and its standards were certainly high.
Andrew did not know whether it was the most famous, but Hundred Flavors certainly was lavishly decorated. Exquisite colored jade paved the floors, crystal had been carved into pillars, and luxurious magic lamps were everywhere... Leaving aside the facilities, every waitress alone was a beauty who scored at least eighty out of a hundred.
"Come on, everyone, don't be shy. Order whatever you like!" Bandeni knew the place well and soon found a private room. A waitress then respectfully handed them a menu.
The menu whetted everyone's appetite, and each person ordered a dish. When it reached Andrew, he ordered one too. However, he paid particular attention to the prices and could not help being secretly startled. A perfectly ordinary dish that would cost only half a gold coin elsewhere was priced at thirty gold coins here. The standards really were different.
When the final bill came, the meal for eight had cost over a thousand gold coins. Andrew could not help smiling wryly as he thought of the nine million gold coins in his spatial ring. He had thought it was a great deal of money at the time, but now it seemed somewhat insufficient again.
After the meal, Bandeni said, "Andrew, Polite and I have to report back to the academy. What are your plans?"
Andrew said, "I'm thinking of buying a house in the imperial capital, preferably near Divine Grace Academy."
Bandeni smiled. "You don't know this yet, but houses in the imperial capital aren't cheap. Any house beside Divine Grace Academy costs at least a million gold coins."
"I'm not short of money!" Andrew said coolly.
Howard and Janice thought that their family had never possessed more than a thousand gold coins. Where could Andrew have gotten a million? However, neither spoke. They planned to ask him about it in private.
"You don't even blink at a million gold coins. Andrew, it looks like you're much richer than I am." Bandeni was taken aback too. He knew Lance's entire family came from a small town, and he was somewhat curious about how Andrew had so much money.
Just then, Polite suddenly said, "There's a courtyard residence for sale. Three million gold coins."
"Three million? That's so expensive!" The price startled Janice.
Bandeni thought for a moment and immediately realized which place Polite meant.
"Janice, this courtyard residence is no ordinary property. It used to be an Earl's separate residence. The price is a little high, but the good thing is that it has a full range of facilities. You can move in as soon as the transaction is complete."
"Let's go take a look!" Andrew said. "If it suits us, we'll take it!"
With nine million gold coins on hand, spending three million did not pain him.
In his heart, Andrew did not attach much importance to money. He believed that as long as he was strong enough, he could get as much money as he wanted. Right now, finding his family a safe home in the imperial capital was what mattered most.
"All right. Polite, you go back to the academy first. I'll go with Andrew and the others to look at the house!"
Under Bandeni's guidance, they reached the area south of Divine Grace Academy and entered a courtyard residence. It was considerably smaller than Viscount Frey's estate, but much larger than an ordinary person's home. The scenery within was beautiful, with gardens, a lake, streams, artificial hills, pavilions, and towers-everything one could want. There were also quite a few stone sculptures.
Janice and Ling'er liked the place very much, and even Howard was tempted. Seeing this, Andrew made the decision. "Good. We'll buy this one!"
Bandeni smiled. "Since you've decided, come with me to handle the paperwork. As it happens, this residence is listed for sale through our academy. With me handling it, the paperwork can be completed right away."
When Ling'er heard that Andrew was buying the place, she jumped for joy. Milly followed her like a little tail and cheered too.
Watching the two children, the adults were happy as well.
This was precisely what Andrew wanted.
"But am I supposed to carry three million gold coins over there just like this?" Andrew thought. He could not expose the secret of his spatial ring in front of everyone.
Bandeni slapped his forehead. "I forgot about that. It looks like we'll have to go to the imperial capital's bank first and get you a Magic Crystal Card. That will make the transaction easier too."
In truth, he was also very curious about where Andrew's gold coins had come from and where he kept them. But he would not ask such questions.
Andrew nodded, thinking that ten thousand years later, there was the Four Empires Bank. From the look of things, that bank had not been established yet.
"I'll get the gold coins now and go to the bank with you!"
Andrew knew that carrying several million gold coins around was far too troublesome, unless he had the strength to protect his spatial ring. He walked into a room, took out four million gold coins, and bundled up a portion of them. In fact, he wanted to take all his gold coins at once, but four million gold coins were simply too much!
When he emerged carrying an enormous bundle on his back, everyone was astonished. Having traveled with him all this way, they knew Andrew had not had any of this before. Andrew did not explain. The more everyone knew, the greater the danger.
Of everyone present, only Bandeni guessed the truth. He stepped forward and whispered, "Andrew, do you have a spatial ring?"
Andrew neither confirmed nor denied it, remaining silent.
Bandeni immediately shut his mouth. He also knew that the fewer people who knew such a secret, the better. In truth, Andrew felt relatively at ease with Bandeni. After all, they had faced life and death together, and Bandeni's character also inspired trust.
It took the two of them several trips to deposit the four million gold coins in the bank, after which Andrew received a golden Magic Crystal Card. That afternoon, he bought the house, and his family, along with Milly and her mother, officially settled in the imperial capital.
Just like that, three days passed.
Early that morning, Bandeni arrived with a cheerful smile. Andrew was practicing in the back courtyard, where a stone sculpture about two meters tall was taking shape before him. He was very interested in stone carving. He had thrown out all the other stone sculptures in the courtyard; none met his standards.
He planned to display his own works in the courtyard.
"Andrew, your stone-carving skills are quite impressive. I don't really know much about appreciating stone sculptures, but I think even the ones at auction houses aren't as good as yours." Standing to one side and watching, Bandeni could not help praising him.
Andrew set his long saber aside, wiped away his sweat, and asked, "You look so happy. Is there good news?"
Bandeni smiled. "There is, for you. My teacher is the vice principal of Divine Grace Academy. I told him about your talent, and he very much hopes you'll study there."
Andrew nodded without showing any excitement. "What about Ling'er?"
"I came today to take her for a talent test. Divine Grace Academy officially begins admissions next month, and testing can start around now."
"All right. I'll go with you!"
The two took Ling'er and Milly toward Divine Grace Academy. During this time, Ling'er and Milly had grown very close through playing together and seemed rather inseparable. Seeing this, Andrew was happy, but also felt a little sense of loss. Because of his cultivation, he had no time to keep Ling'er company, yet the thought that she no longer depended on him as she once had left him feeling somewhat uncomfortable.
Such was the contradictory nature of the human mind.
Testing magical talent was simple: first came elemental affinity, then mental strength. Ling'er's elemental affinity had already been tested, with high-grade fire affinity, but her mental strength was still unknown.
Still, Ling'er has a pure soul. Her spiritual power shouldn't be poor either... Andrew thought.
The results soon came out. Ling'er's spiritual power was nearly a hundred times that of an ordinary person. Her mental aptitude was exceptional!
"Good! Now Ling'er will have no trouble entering Divine Grace Academy. Oh, right, Andrew, you should take the test too." Bandeni was somewhat excited. Ling'er's magical talent already qualified her as a genius. Having recommended such a genius reflected well on him too.
Andrew shook his head. "Bandeni, I want to enter Divine Grace Academy, but not to be like these students. What interests me more is the academy's library. Do you understand?"
"You want to study on your own?"
"You could put it that way."
Bandeni said, "In that case, you don't need a talent test. Divine Grace Academy has quite a few people like that too. Like you, they're all quite strong. You only need to pay a hundred thousand gold coins, and you can enter and leave the academy's library freely."
A hundred thousand gold coins? Divine Grace Academy really was a rip-off, but Andrew could afford it.
"By the way, Bandeni, I'd like to buy an earth-element battle-qi manual. How should I go about it?"
Andrew had already tested Howard before. His talent was in the earth element, which was why he had never been able to break through while practicing from a lightning-element battle-qi manual.
Andrew only had lightning and fire talents, so he had no way to work out an earth-element battle-qi manual himself. He could only seek to buy one in the imperial capital.
"Battle-qi manuals aren't actually all that rare. Nobles great and small all have them, and the academy has collected quite a few too. However, they're certainly not cheap. Depending on their grade, the prices range from a hundred thousand to five million..."
"I want the best. Money isn't a problem!" To enable Howard to become a high-level warrior, Andrew would spare no expense.
"All right, leave it to me!" Bandeni thumped his chest in assurance.
It had to be said that Bandeni was truly warmhearted and a good friend. Had they not met him, things would certainly not have gone as smoothly as they had for Andrew's family upon arriving in the imperial capital.