Xin Yun didn't choose to leave directly but instead, with a greatly shaken A Da, strolled around the small town. They went from one end of the street to the other, entering every household to murmur with the homeowners for a while before moving on to the next. After more than four hours, having visited over a thousand households, Xin Yun finally felt satisfied and took A Da to an inn to stay for the night.
A Da asked several times, trying to figure out what Xin Yun was doing, but Xin Yun always just smiled without answering, leaving A Da completely frustrated. In the end... all A Da knew was that Xin Yun had spent all his metal money, but what he bought was a mystery, not apparent from the outside.
That night, Xin Yun and Yi Luo Xiang once again shared the same room. After cleaning themselves up, the two little ones happily dove under the covers, and beneath the cover of the blankets, Xin Yun hugged Yi Luo Xiang contentedly. Between them, fifty colorful peanut-sized crystals emitted a bright glow—these were the One Star bronze Dragon Crystals that Xin Yun had acquired in exchange for his money.
In the fifteen days at the bottom of the well, ever since they had built a dirt bed on the fifth day, the two had been sharing the bed.
Speaking of this, Xin Yun was a little bit mischievous. Deep in his mind, he never forgot a certain term—"upbringing." Once Yi Luo Xiang got used to all this, as long as Xin Yun maintained it, beginning from the fifth day in the dry well, right up until their dying day... hehe... the two were likely to share the same bed for life.
Although they were still just children for now and Yi Luo Xiang was too innocent, vaguely understanding the difference between men and women yet not truly comprehending it, as her feelings for Xin Yun deepened and things became habitual, it could be Yi Luo Xiang who might find it strange to sleep separately.
Selfish, maybe... but who isn't selfish in this world? If love isn't selfish, can it still be called love? Some might say that if you love her, you should make her happy, and as long as she's happy, anything goes. Sadly, Xin Yun didn't agree with this view.
In Xin Yun's opinion, if he loved her, he definitely had to be with her. If he wasn't confident that he could make her happier than anyone else, then what was the point of talking about love? Xin Yun was confident that no one in the world could make Yi Luo Xiang happier than he could, so no matter what, Yi Luo Xiang had to be "won over."
Without further words that night, the trio set out early the next morning. Although their cargo was much lighter this time—three thousand jin of sorghum had been replaced with 300 jin of dried mushrooms—the volume was actually larger.
After being sun-dried, the mushrooms had shrunk a great deal in size, but due to the large gaps between them, the volume of 300 jin of mushrooms was even greater than that of three thousand jin of sorghum.
Fortunately, despite the increased volume, the weight was much lighter, hardly a burden for the Pig Dragon, making its flight exceedingly smooth. Especially in terms of speed, there was a noticeable increase, which delighted A Da to the point of giggling.
During the smooth flight, A Da chuckled and asked, "Xin Yun... where are we taking all these mushrooms?"
When faced with A Da's question, Xin Yun answered without hesitation, "Do you know the Green Sea Plains? We're heading to Green Sea Plains City. Do you know the way..."
"The plains!" A Da exclaimed in shock upon hearing Xin Yun's words, "Isn't that too far? It would take half a month to get there even without any cargo. Instead of that, we might as well go back and continue transporting sorghum. Not only could we earn money, but we could also enhance the dragon's strength. Wouldn't that be better?"
"Half a month?" Upon hearing A Da's words, Xin Yun pursed his lips and said, "That won't work, I'm only giving you a week. In one week, I want to see Green Sea Plains City."
"Ah! That's... that's impossible! Do you want me to fly for sixteen hours a day?" A Da trembled as he spoke.
Nodding, Xin Yun said, "Exactly, full-speed flight for four hours, followed by a two-hour break. Remember... full speed, no holding back. In one week, we must reach the plains!"
With that said, Xin Yun gave Ah Da a quick once-over, then continued, "What? Didn't you just say you wanted to enhance the dragon's strength? This kind of extreme flight training can greatly improve endurance in flight, as well as speed and agility. You should know what that means for a dragon!"
Hearing this, Ah Da's face turned from pale to flushed, then with a fierce slap of his thigh, he gritted his teeth and said, "Damn it... I'm in! One week it is, by hook or by crook, we will definitely reach the plains in a week!"
In the midst of speaking, Ah Da's expression suddenly became stern as he bellowed angrily, "Pig Dragon! Fly at full speed, full speed!"
Upon hearing Ah Da's command, the massive Pig Dragon let out a earth-shattering roar. At once, its wings drew in tightly and then forcefully flapped out, shooting the creature forward with nearly double its previous speed, hurtling towards the blue mountains in the distance with a howl.
Perhaps some do not understand what Xin Yun is trying to do. Could it be... just like in his previous life, he's wasting a great deal of time collecting money again?
Actually, that's not the case. Xin Yun is now only seven and a half years old. He must wait until he turns eight before he can manifest his own dragon. To do that, besides his Essence Blood and soul, he needs a medium—the Dragon Creation Stone, also known as Dragon Diamond!
The so-called Dragon Creation Stone is similar to a diamond, but different. There are nine colors and nine grades; the colors are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, purple, black, and white. The grades are determined by size.
The color of the Dragon Creation Stone determines the category of the dragon's abilities, while the grade determines the dragon's quality. The larger the Dragon Creation Stone, the higher the quality of the dragon, and the dragon's quality determines many things, which cannot be explained briefly.
To perform Dragon Creation means to guide the dragon soul within the human body into the Dragon Creation Stone, then activating it with Essence Blood to create a Dragon Ball. After merging the Dragon Ball into one's body, one can summon their own dragon.
Normally, the dragon exists as a tattoo, attached to the person's body. Take Ah Da for example, his Spotted Pig Dragon tattoo is on his belly.
Of course, everyone's dragon is different, and so are the locations of their tattoos. Take Yi Luo Xiang, for instance. Her tattoo is a beautiful butterfly on the upper end of her left arm—very beautiful and very elegant. Meanwhile, Xin Yun's dragon covers his entire upper body, leaving hardly any blank skin.
Having said so much, it should become clear that a Ninth Grade Dragon Creation Stone is a shortcut to becoming an expert. However, if you don't have one, it's not the end of the world. Take Ming Xuan, the Peacock King, for example. He started with only a First Grade Dragon Creation Stone, which was why he was so weak initially. But with hard work, didn't he eventually become one of the Nine Great Experts?
Yi Luo Xiang is another case. She was stronger than Ming Xuan, using a Fourth Grade Dragon Creation Stone, but given her exceptional talent, she easily compensated for the shortcomings of the fewer-grade stone and became one of the Nine Great Experts without much trouble—a rather helpless fact.
Now, Xin Yun is on one hand trying to earn money, at the very least enough to cover the basic living expenses, and on the other hand... Xin Yun is heading to a place, a mountain city known for producing Dragon Creation Stones. Earning a bit of money along the way is just incidental, and not his main goal.
A Ninth Grade Dragon Creation Stone is something you can come across but not seek. It's uncertain how often one is found. A Ninth Grade Dragon Creation Stone, like the largest diamonds on Earth, is essentially priceless, not something you can buy with money.
But as someone who has been reincarnated, Xin Yun knows of a place where there lies the future world's largest Dragon Creation Stone, reputed to be the only one that could potentially reach the peak of Ninth Grade—the Azure Sea! What Xin Yun needs to do now is get there as soon as possible and, based on the legend from those years, find that stone before anyone else does, which is still lying unassumingly by the roadside. Just by uncovering that stone, he'll be able to get his hands on the unparalleled 9.9 Eighth Grade Azure Sea Dragon Creation Stone.