Still feeling guilty for disrupting Du Guqing's good fortune moments earlier, Jiang Bai swiftly took control of the situation.
"Thank you, Uncle Xie! You're the best!" Du Guqing exclaimed cheerfully to Xie Bao.
"Scammer... um, Mr. Jiang, please hurry and calculate!"
Hearing this made Jiang Bai think to himself, "Understood!"
"Miss Du Guqing, calculating is no issue, but didn't you forget something?" Jiang Bai prodded.
"Huh? What is it?" Du Guqing asked, confused.
"Mr. Jiang requires a fee for the fortune-telling," Ming Shifei reminded her.
"Oh, that's no problem; just tell me how much, Mr. Jiang," she replied dismissively.
Jiang Bai had already consulted the system about the fee. With a grin, he raised three fingers: "Thirty thousand spirit stones or the equivalent in items!"
The system had set its price at ten thousand spirit stones since he wasn't predicting anything of great significance—just a piece of clothing. Still, Jiang Bai loved seizing every chance to maximize his earnings.
[System: Host, is it really okay to take a kickback like this?]
"You won't realize the true worth of something until you need to get it yourself. If I don't ask for more, how can I justify the reward?"
"Thirty thousand!" Du Guqing gasped.
The one thousand spirit stones she had given Jiang Bai earlier were her allowance for half a year. Paying thirty thousand for just a nicer piece of clothing seemed excessive.
Du Guqing hesitated, weighing whether the price was truly worth it. Even if she wanted to pay, she couldn't produce that much.
Cultivators in the Celestial Spirit World typically did not save money; every spirit stone they had was spent to enhance their cultivation at the earliest opportunity. After all, the cultivation world was fraught with danger; hoarding too much cash could lead to disaster and potential loss if one met an untimely fate.
Even within the Duke's residence in Ascending Immortal City, their reserve was only about four hundred thousand spirit stones at most.
"Miss Du Guqing, this is a fair price, and the Celestial Feather Dance Garment is definitely worth it. If you don't believe me, just ask Brother Ming."
Ming Shifei frowned, sensing the inappropriateness of the situation; however, he admitted, "If it's truly possible to obtain the Celestial Feather Dance Garment, thirty thousand spirit stones is absolutely justified."
"But I don't have that many spirit stones!" Du Guqing replied, distressed. "Mr. Jiang, can't you lower the price a little?"
"Miss Du Guqing, I truly apologize; it's not that I want such a high fee, but my fortune-telling needs an offering to ensure the accuracy of what I predict. If I ask for less, it won't be as precise."
Jiang Bai shrugged, suggesting he was powerless to reduce the charge.
But internally, he was thinking: Not a cent less!
"Miss Du Guqing, if you really don't have any extra spirit stones, equivalent items will suffice; they could even yield better results!"
Her eyes brightened at this suggestion.
She pulled out a copper mirror from her storage treasure and said, "This is a spirit mirror I stumbled upon; I've never understood its mysteries. Mr. Jiang, could you see if it's worth thirty thousand spirit stones?"
Upon hearing this, Jiang Bai silently praised her.
This clever girl hadn't taken out something of known value or a spiritual artifact but instead offered a dubious copper mirror, hoping for a stroke of luck.
Unfortunately for her, she encountered Jiang Bai, who had a system backing him.
Jiang Bai smiled as he took the copper mirror, pretending to inspect it while secretly communicating with the system.
"What's its worth?"
[System: I must say, the host's luck is impressive; this is a damaged immortal artifact with no active abilities, and the little girl seems unaware of its true nature. Its value is one hundred thousand spirit stones.]
Jiang Bai was taken aback: "..."
"This feeling of suddenly gaining wealth is delightful! Hehehe!"
He struggled to suppress his grin even as his mouth corners threatened to curl up.
Seeing his expression, Du Guqing assumed the copper mirror was worthless, leaving her feeling somewhat embarrassed.
"Well, Mr. Jiang, I also have a high-grade spiritual artifact. It should be worth thirty thousand spirit stones."
Jiang Bai felt awkward about scamming her again; he waved his hand, trying to suppress his laughter, "No need; let's stick with this copper mirror."
"But how can that work? If I don't provide a sufficient offering, won't the predictions be inaccurate?" Du Guqing responded immediately.
In doing so, she pulled out a high-grade sword-type spiritual artifact and offered it to Jiang Bai.
"Please, sir, don't refuse! Last time, I was wrong, so please don't hold it against me!"
Staring at the high-grade spiritual sword in his hands, Jiang Bai was battling the urge to laugh out loud.
Can it really be this easy to make money?
Are there just too many naïve people, or simply not enough scammers around?
[System: This high-grade spiritual artifact is worth twenty-five thousand spirit stones.]
Jiang Bai nearly rolled his eyes at this revelation.
That poor girl had clearly been swindled out of five thousand spirit stones.
Fortunately for her, she had met him; otherwise, she would have been stuck with the loss. He would begrudgingly accept thirty thousand for it.
"System, I'll use this spiritual sword first, and if it's not enough, I'll use the copper mirror. Does that work?"
Jiang Bai was being a bit clever.
By using the copper mirror outright, he could gain a maximum of one hundred thousand luck points, but if he used the spiritual sword first and came up short, he could then leverage the copper mirror for the difference. Since the system wouldn't provide change, he could directly boost his luck points to one hundred twenty-five thousand.
This approach would save him three thousand seven hundred fifty luck points.
[System: Host, you are quite the clever one.]
Jiang Bai: "Thanks for the compliment!"
With the two items gone from his possession, the system successfully gathered information about the Celestial Feather Dance Garment and provided a detailed address.
[System: Six thousand miles southwest of Ascending Immortal City lies a secret realm that contains a complete set of Celestial Feather Dance Garments. Due to the danger level, only those who are above the Divine Transformation Stage are allowed to explore it!]
Jiang Bai immediately shared this information with Du Guqing, disclosing the secret realm's location.
Xie Bao stood up and said, "Miss, please wait here; six thousand miles is merely the time of an incense stick. I'll go and return quickly!"
Without waiting for Du Guqing's reply, he transformed into a gust of wind and vanished through the door.
"What a reckless man! Miss and Mr. Jiang, please wait; I'll go check as well!" Ming Shifei also stood to join him.
"Please be careful, Mr. Ming!" Du Guqing called out with concern.
Ming Shifei nodded before turning into a flash of escape light in pursuit of Xie Bao.
It was clear that while Ming Shifei and Xie Bao often bickered, their bond was strong.
Some people don't openly express their feelings; they rely on other means to convey them.
Meanwhile, Jiang Bai kept checking his luck points balance in the system, his smile growing wider.
"Profited again!"