Two men could be seen at a distance, walking uniformly until they got to the end of the cave exit and slowly headed towards a small cable tower.
"That's right. The President's daughter turns ten next week. We have to get something special for her.", muttered one of the men to the other.
"I've already got a gift.", confidently exclaimed the other.
"So quick? If it's not good enough, you better hope that the managers don't make things difficult for you, haha."
"Tsk. Everybody knows that the President's daughter loves crystals. I've spent nearly 11,000 Tenars on this rare Tenie Crystal from the Zod Domain. It's practically a guaranteed promotion."
"Are you crazy? You've actually spent 11,000 Tenars on a silly crystal?", the other man exclaimed.
"You know how much the President dotes on his only daughter. The president personally guaranteed a promise to anyone that brings a crystal beautiful enough to make her happy. I'll surely be promoted if I make her happy. Haha, it's almost guaranteed.", the man said with a thump to his chest.
"Whatever. You're crazy.", the man mumbled as he took out a signal transmitter and said a bunch of codes in sequence.
Not soon after, a metallic square cage came up the cable lines at a moderately fast pace.
The two men headed inside and closed the door.
Suddenly, one man asked the other, "Hey, did you feel something just now?"
"It's probably just a rat or from your imagination. Don't think too much, you see that there's nobody here besides us.", the man dismissed.
Unbeknownst to both of them, a small boy had made his way inside the square metallic cage.
---
Earlier.
Zheng Li followed the two men for quite a long time before they headed into a square box.
"System, open shops."
[Ding! Opening Shops.]
[Please select the type of item you want.]
"Give me the cheapest invisibility potion quick."
[Ding! Buy elementary druidic invisibility potion for 500 Points? Caution: Only lasts 30 minutes and is useless to people above the 10th level of Body Refining.]
"Confirm.", Zheng Li spoke.
500 points quickly disappeared from Zheng Li's account and in his hands lay a conical flask with a liquid inside that looked almost emerald in colour and smelt like raw mangoes.
After quickly drinking the potion in its entirety, Zheng Li managed to sneak inside the box with the two men.
Zheng Li carefully listened to the two men's banter and babble in order to make out what they were saying.
After a while, the metallic cable car stopped and the two men went out. Zheng Li also swiftly followed them outside and ran into the busy street outside of the main cable hall.
"I swear I felt something just now.", said one man.
"You should go get checked up.", the other man chuckled.
"Screw you. I'm going off to get a present for the little missus now.", said the man as he wandered off.
Meanwhile, Zheng Li made it to a small, isolated alley just before the effects of the potion vanished.
"System, check balance."
[Ding! Host currently has 252.5 Points.]
Thinking back to their conversation, it seemed as if the so called President's daughter was the only way out of this mess.
Zheng Li was in thought for a while before he gritted his teeth and asked, "System, show me the prettiest crystal that I can buy for cheap."
[Ding! 1.9m results match your query. Filtering to get best results...Found three results.]
[1. Trizone Crystal: This crystal is from the Triple Triod Region of the Celestial Boons world and grows in abundance. The first zone has a delicate cobalt blue hue with lines dancing all along it, remarkably like the flows of water. The second zone is a fiery scarlet, crackling with fierce vibrancy. The third zone is a verdant emerald, reminding people of the warm comforts of nature. Shining with three distinctly unique hues, this crystal has a rating of 8.8 on the Crystal Appreciation Index. Price: 195 Points.]
[2. Harmonic Resonite: A translucent crystal with a delicate, symmetrical lattice structure, Harmonic Resonite possesses an enchanting property—it emits a soft, melodic hum when touched. When multiple pieces of this crystal are combined or placed in proximity, they resonate harmoniously, producing ethereal music that can soothe troubled souls, heal wounds, or even manipulate the emotions of those who hear it. This crystal grows in the deep depths of the Siren's Lairs and is rated an 8.5 on the Crystal Appreciation Index. Price: 210 Points.]
[3. Pyrocrystalline Emberite: A fiery red crystal resembling molten lava trapped in a solid form, Pyrocrystalline Emberite emanates intense heat and emits a flickering flame-like light. It possesses the remarkable ability to absorb and store thermal energy, making it an invaluable resource for harnessing heat-based powers or creating potent fire-based artifacts. This crystal, although found very abundantly in the Flame Titan's Habitat, is scarce elsewhere. It is rated an 8.6 on the Crystal Appreciation Index. Price: 230 Points.]
[Please make your decision, host.]
Zheng Li's first thought to all of this was....who the hell was so bored as to make a rating list for crystals?
After some deliberation, Zheng Li decided on the Trizone Crystal.
Not only was it the cheapest, but also had the highest rating on the list.
"System, buy the Trizone crystal.", spoke Zheng Li.
[Ding! Confirmed purchase.]
In Zheng Li's hand was a warm and distinctly aesthetic crystal that outshone every sight he had ever imagined. Being from the blights of course, he had not seen much, but it was amazing nonetheless. In that moment, he understood a portion of why the people behind the Crystal Appreciation Index had the free time to dedicate themselves to a list like this.
Putting it in his inventory, Zheng Li asked, "System, when's the birthday party for the President's daughter?"
[Ding! 0.5 Points deducted. The party is tomorrow, at peak noon.]
Zheng Li nodded and walked along the street until he found a small Inn and headed inside.
"I'd like to buy one room for one night please.", spoke Zheng Li to the man at the counter.
The man at the counter simply snorted and said, "Hey brat, don't disturb my business. Go away and look for your parents."
Zheng Li put on a disdainful appearance and directly threw a gold coin at the man.
The man's appearance immediately changed as he spoke with a smile, "Sorry about that, sorry about that. Of course we can arrange a room for you. Please follow me."
Zheng Li simply snorted as he followed the man up the stairs and through the narrow hallways.
Of course, it wasn't real gold. Zheng Li hadn't even spent half a point on that makeshift gold coin, but it was good enough to fool anyone at this level.
He sent the man off with a wave of his hand and closed the door to his room, and immediately got engrossed in his cultivation. Zheng Li had thought that he would be bored sitting so still for a vast majority of his time, but he actually quite enjoyed the process.
He also split a part of his attention to his safety. Although he wasn't afraid of the shopkeeper's ordinary cultivation, he had to beware of the greediness of people.
This continued throughout the night, until morning came. Surprisingly, no attempts on his life has been made.
Zheng Li stopped cultivating. According to what he has extrapolated from the system's information, he had below average spirit roots but he was determined to train nonetheless.
Besides, he could always get a better spirit root by exchanging for them.
Zheng Li walked out of the room and went down to the main Inn hall.
"Hey guest, I hope you had a good night's rest yesterday.", said the man at the counter with a big grin.
"Quite well, quite well.", nodded Zheng Li.
"Have a seat at one of the tables and breakfast will be served real quick.", the man didn't hesitate to say.
Zheng Li sat down at the table and enjoyed a great sumptuous breakfast, the first he had in a long time. After finishing eating, he sighed.
In a while, the man came back and said, "Hey guest--"
But Zheng Li was nowhere to be found. Instead, on the table, lay a genuine gold coin.
Back on the streets, Zheng Li made his way to the Capital Hall, where the President held his daughter's 10 year birthday party. The streets were filled with different modes of transport all heading in one direction. Everywhere he looked, he could only hear peple talking about one topic- the President's daughter's party.
Zheng Li thought that the President must have been pretty revered if people went to this extent for a mere birthday party. And he wasn't wrong. In the hearts of the people living in this city, no deity could come close to the peace that the President had brought them.
After a long time of walking, Zheng Li stopped at the gigantic gates of the Capital Hall where people were walking in droves towards the party. Interestingly, nobody was being barred from attending, not even the destitute beggars, which surprised Zheng Li. And everyone, including the beggars, had a gift in their hands.
Zheng Li also grabbed his gift wrapped in a packet and made his way inside the hall, a place so grand and huge that it gave off a feeling of a King's court.
There were no shortage of fair skinned maidens and gentlemen around the hall, of course, but there was a suprising abundance of every other type of people too.
And also those that weren't people at all. Silver robots floated around the hall offering appetizers and drinks to everyone.
When Zheng Li tried to grab a drink, the smooth metal surface of the robot's face suddenly transformed into a smiling face, scaring Zheng Li quite a bit.
"You're underage, boy. You can't have this.", taunted the robot with a grin.
"But you can have this instead.", said the robot as it offered an orange flavored drink to Zheng Li and floated away.
Zheng Li was amazed at the level of technology that was being employed.
"The Chamber of Envoys makes its entry and wishes the little princess a happy birthday!", a huge giant declared at the entrance as a carriage drawn by nine blue pegasi made its way to the top seating area.
"The Chamber of Law makes its entry and wishes the little princess a happy birthday.", another party declared and a carriage floating as if by magic made its way to the top seating.
"The Hall of-", this continued for a while more until no more guests made their presence known.
Suddenly, a charismatic voice rang out all throughout the Hall.
"Thank you, friends and citizens, for attending the birthday party of my humble daughter."
A scholarly man walked out of the drapes on to the top of the floor and addressed everyone, holding the hands of a dainty little girl.
He made his way to a purple throne and sat on it with ease, and carried the daughter on his laps, with the demeanour of a King.
"I officially declare this party....underway."