*Ding!
[50 Luminous Direwolf Eggs were purchased. 5,000 coins were deducted.]
[50 Blazing Direwolf Eggs were purchased. 5,000 coins were deducted.]
[50 Terran Direwolf Eggs were purchased. 5,000 coins were deducted.]
[50 Electral Direwolf Eggs were purchased. 5,000 coins were deducted.]
[50 Shadow Direwolf Eggs were purchased. 5,000 coins were deducted.]
[50 Hydro Direwolf Eggs were purchased. 5,000 coins were deducted.]
[Blood Coagulation Pill has been purchased. 3000 coins were deducted.]
Just in case, he thought.
Next were the Growth Pills.
He tapped on the bulk-buy once again.
*Ding!
[30 Growth Pills were purchased. 15,000 coins were deducted.]
[Coins Remaining: 52,088]
"And just like that, I spent over 48,000 coins, which is like 4.8 million credits…" Taking a breath, "But, I'm still not done yet."
As he murmured, Lin Fang indeed wasn't done yet with the shopping.
Closing the Summoner's shop, he went on clicking the Lottery Wheel.
He cracked his knuckles, his eyes narrowing on the beast shards. "Alright… we might as well get that sabertooth too."
He tapped the x11 Draw.
Then again.
And again.
Over the following couple of minutes, Lin Fang burned through 3,000 coins, drawing x11 tickets, six times in a row, until he achieved his goal.
Each time, a cascade of rewards filled the screen.
The results:
112x Smilodon Shards 837 Coins
A wide grin spread across his face as he assimilated the shards at once.
Ding!
[Smilodon Egg (summon token) has been added to Inventory.]
[New Item unlocked: Jade Spirit Tonic]
He tapped the Smilodon's summoning token.
Its stats glowed in bold text:
Smilodon
Element: Fire
Grade: Epic
Potential: Lv. 40 (Lord Tier)
"I just don't understand one thing," he mused, "Why is it that others have beasts with lower grade and high potential, but the system has high grade monsters to give him, which have lower potential?"
In the end, the system doesn't have any personality and doesn't offer him any guidance, and neither could he ask anyone, as he was probably the only one in the world with such a system. With no response from the system, his questions remain unanswered, and he could only mutter. "Okay, let's go back… There is one last thing to check around before that, though."
He scrolled back to the Summoner's Shop, eyes falling on the newest addition:
[Jade Spirit Tonic]
Cost: 1,000 Coins
Effect: Cures any internal injury, toxin, or lingering ailment in monsters under Level 50. Partial effectiveness for those above Level 50.
"Oh, this is surprising." He stared at the 3d illustration of a subtle, polished green vial shimmering on the screen. Its details are not as flashy as the growth pills. Not as drastic as the Blood Coagulation Pill. But it appeared far more… practical.
Lin Fang narrowed his eyes. "This is like a healing potion, but it can remove any effect that is hurting the pet. Hmm… for such an effect, 1000 coins should be an apt price, but expensive for normal ailments like cold and fever that go on their… own… hmm… fever… when I think about fever… I remember…"
And immediately, an image flickered in his mind, the white cat on the receptionist's desk that was suffering from Moonpaw fever. For the world, it can be considered a terminal illness, but he clearly remembered the system mentioning it as an internal ailment.
His brows furrowed. "This means this vial can cure that cat."
His fingers hovered over the Purchase button as such a thought came to his head.
But then, a moment after, hesitation crept into his mind.
"One thousand coins," he whispered. "That's a hundred thousand credits…"
Not only was that enough to live decently in a rental apartment in the suburbs for a decade, but it could also hatch dozens of Direwolf eggs, feed Black a bunch of growth potions for weeks, or even spin the lottery.
If he had to outright compare how big a hundred thousand credits were to him, he was basically renting a shared room apartment for 400 credits a month.
And who was Li Xue?
A charming one, yes. However, still a stranger.
And he wasn't stupid, and neither was he a rich brat to just splurge such money on girls just because they were beautiful.
In the end, he backed away from the Buy button. "Sorry, Miss Li. Maybe when I'm filthy rich." He muttered under his breath.
He exhaled slowly, closing the shop.
Meanwhile, outside the Spirit Valley, Zhi Yan stood at the grassy hill's edge, her arms crossed tight over her chest. Her lips pressed into a thin line as her eyes bore into the cave opening.
It had been nearly fifteen minutes since Lin Fang disappeared into that dark cave-like borrow where an evil spirit is imprisoned. And he had yet to emerge.
Every tick of the watch made her heart beat just a little faster.
Her fingers curled. "How much time is left?" she asked.
Li Chengfeng stood silently beside her, arms behind his back. "Only a few minutes more," he said.
Zhi Yan nodded, her eyes fixated on the cave.
She was determined to rush inside once the hour had passed, but Lin Fang didn't return. But four minutes later, without even Li Changfeng mentioning the time limit, a faint tremble of wind blew past her ear.
A soft light glowed near the mouth of the cave, Lin Fang's body flickered, and in a blink, he reappeared beside Zhi Yan and Li Chengfeng.
His feet touched the ground lightly. His expression? One of slight confusion, like a man awoken mid-dream.
"Huh…?"
Zhi Yan stepped toward him instantly, eyes widening in quiet panic before relaxing in relief. "You're… alright?"
Lin Fang nodded slowly, his eyes filled with a bit of confusion. "Yeah… of course. What could happen to me?" As he looked around, he mumbled in realization. "So, this is what it means by a 1-hour time limit. It's not that I have to come out before the time limit, but I will be forcefully kicked out of the valley."
Meanwhile, Li Chengfeng's eyes glowed for a moment, and his face immediately froze in shock. His lips quivered as he pointed his finger at Lin Fang. "You… You… managed to bend the will of the spirit king?"
"Eh?" "Huh?"
Both Lin Fang and Zhi Yan snapped their heads toward him in surprise.
"You… You… managed to bend the will of the spirit king?"
Lin Fang stiffened. "Eh?"
He hadn't expected it to be revealed so casually. His fingers twitched slightly as a cold bead of sweat rolled down his temple. How did he know? I thought the system had absorbed its soul. The thought barely formed before he blurted it out.
"Wait… how did you know?"
Just as the words left his lips, he noticed a faint shimmer in Li Chengfeng's eyes, like a ripple of gold light passing through the pupil.
His heart skipped a beat.
Li Chengfeng gently raised a finger and motioned to the side, a slight smirk playing on his lips. "It's because I can see the Spirit King, Nemesis," he said calmly. "It's latched onto you."
Lin Fang instinctively turned his head, scanning the space behind him.
Nothing. Just empty air.
Zhi Yan, beside him, tilted her head in confusion. "What are you talking about? There's… nothing there."
"You won't see it," Li Chengfeng said, waving it off. "Neither of you can. Only spirit masters have the right sight for such things. But trust me, it's there. And to think… after so many years, I'd get to witness an innate soul of this caliber again."
His eyes sparkled as he folded his arms behind his back. "Madam Xiao was indeed a great visionary to have seen something inside you and send you here."
The demeanor of a drunken, lecherous old man was replaced by someone like a Sage, all of a sudden.
Lin Fang said nothing, still recovering from the mental whiplash. He glanced at Zhi Yan, who was still looking puzzled, though her gaze subtly flicked toward him more than once.
"Come," Li Chengfeng said, turning away. "There's something you need to do."