Seele tossed the pouch of Stellar Jade onto the table and flopped down onto the couch.
"Natasha, what are you collecting all this Stellar Jade for?"
Natasha counted the Stellar Jade Seele brought back—160 pieces. Added to the burlap sack, that made 1,525 in total.
"You'll find out tomorrow. Come straight to me first thing in the morning."
Seele looked even more confused.
"What's going on tomorrow?"
Natasha didn't answer directly, instead asking a question.
"How was dinner tonight?"
As soon as Natasha brought up the dinner, Seele couldn't help licking her lips.
That white rice was just too good! Even without side dishes, it was delicious. Seele had eaten three whole bowls and was totally stuffed.
"It was amazing! Hey, where did you even get that much pure white rice from? And it wasn't limited at all! Natasha, did Wildfire strike it rich or something?"
Natasha held up a piece of Stellar Jade and shook it in front of Seele.
"If you want to call it striking it rich… then I guess we did."
"That rice you had tonight? Just one piece of Stellar Jade was enough to get you a whole month's worth."
Seele froze.
What?! This stone called Stellar Jade was worth that much?!
She suddenly remembered all those times she beat up monsters guarding treasure chests and casually tossed aside the Stellar Jade that came out. Now she deeply regretted it.
Oh no! How much food had she thrown away?!
Seele felt like smacking her past self with a scythe. Could she please stop that bad habit of discarding everything?
Natasha couldn't help chuckling at the sight of Seele clutching her chest in agony and regret.
This girl—aside from fighting, her favorite thing was definitely food.
To be honest, no kid who grew up in the Underworld didn't love a good meal.
"Tomorrow, we're going to trade all this Stellar Jade for rice. So come early and get some rest tonight."
As soon as she heard that, Seele leapt up and dashed out the door to go home and sleep.
"See you tomorrow, Natasha!"
Natasha watched the door swinging wildly from being slammed so hard and let out a helpless sigh.
"Seele is always so fiery."
***
The next day.
After breakfast, Ye Yun, Hook, and Clara set out for Boulder Town.
Before leaving, Ye Yun left a phone with Svarog and exchanged contact information.
Whenever Svarog needed supplies, he would contact Ye Yun.
Near Boulder Town's main gate—similar to Rivet Town's gate—
Natasha was waiting there with Oleg, Seele, and a whole bunch of Wildfire members.
Seele was already getting impatient. She had been standing there for over two hours.
"Natasha, what's with that guy? Don't tell me he's gonna ghost us?"
Natasha shook her head.
"No way. That robot yesterday came from Svarog. Ye Yun probably stayed the night at his place. It'll take some time to get here."
Seele pouted.
If it weren't for the fact that this guy was bringing a ton of goods to trade, she would've turned around and left long ago.
Over half an hour later—
The group spotted three people and a deer approaching in the distance.
"Sorry to keep you all waiting." Ye Yun greeted with a polite gesture.
Natasha smiled and shook her head.
"Not at all. We just got here."
Seele, off to the side, muttered in protest.
"Just got here? We've been standing here all morning!"
She didn't realize that, although her voice was low, Ye Yun wasn't that far away—and Natasha heard it too.
"Sorry about that, Ye Yun. Seele's just like that."
Ye Yun chuckled.
"No worries. Let's go handle the trade."
Natasha led the way.
Everyone made their way through the streets and alleys until they reached a warehouse.
Natasha took out the 1,525 Stellar Jades collected yesterday.
"Ye Yun, how much can we get with these?"
Ye Yun glanced at the sack of Jades, pulled out an Exchange Scale, and taught Natasha how to use it.
He told her to decide what she wanted to trade for.
Seele was fascinated by the scale—it could spit out money!
"Hey, uh… Ye something? Oh right, Ye Yun! Do you have another one of those scales? Sell me one to play with?"
Ye Yun smiled.
"Sorry, this one's not for sale."
Seele pressed further.
"Oh come on, I know you guys. Merchants are all about profit. What if I pay extra?"
Ye Yun still shook his head.
Seeing she wasn't getting anywhere, Seele lost interest and ran off to watch Natasha pick out supplies.
About ten minutes later—
Natasha had finished selecting the goods she needed.
She handed Ye Yun the order list along with 152,500 Star Coins.
Ye Yun accepted the transaction and summoned all the supplies Natasha had bought.
In less than a minute, the warehouse was completely filled to the brim.
Natasha had to temporarily requisition several nearby buildings to store everything.
She looked at Ye Yun gratefully.
"Thank you, Ye Yun."
Ye Yun replied:
"No need to thank me. You pay, I deliver."
Just then, Natasha remembered something.
"Oh, right—Ye Yun, four people showed up at my clinic yesterday. Three women and one man. They're from beyond the sky too. Want to go take a look?"
Ye Yun figured that must be Stelle, March 7th, and Dan Heng's group.
The timing matched.
"Oh? Sure. I'll head over. You handle things here."
Natasha called for Seele.
"Seele, take Ye Yun to the clinic."
Seele readily agreed.
After seeing the mountains of supplies earlier, she'd completely changed her attitude toward Ye Yun.
What? He made us wait? That's normal—this was a VIP golden supplier! Of course he deserved royal treatment.
"Leave it to me!"
Hook noticed Seele's sudden attitude shift and whispered to Clara:
"Clara, do you think Seele's kind of... materialistic?"
Clara nodded.
"Mm-hmm."
Seele walked up to Ye Yun and made a welcoming gesture.
"This way, dear customer~"
Ye Yun chuckled.
"No need for that, Seele. Just act normal."
Seele stood up straight.
"Alright then! Let's go, the clinic's this way!"
***
Inside the clinic.
March 7th and Dan Heng had already woken up.
The two stood in the room, discussing their next steps.
"I want to go out and see if I can find any leads on the Stellaron," said Dan Heng.
March 7th thought for a moment.
"You go ahead. I'll stay here and watch over Stelle. She's still out cold."
Dan Heng looked at the still-unconscious Stelle on the bed.
"Alright. I'll go search for clues. Stay in touch."
Just as he reached for the door—
They heard a noise from outside.
Dan Heng stopped in his tracks, staring warily at the door.
The handle turned, and the door slowly opened from the outside.
A familiar figure appeared in the doorway.
March 7th gasped in delight.
"Ye Yun! What are you doing here?"
***
When Dan Heng saw it was Ye Yun, he relaxed.
Ye Yun smiled and waved.
"March, Dan Heng, how have the past couple of days been? Encounter anything interesting?"
March 7th thought for a moment when she heard Ye Yun ask about their experiences over the past two days.
"Don't even mention it! The past two days have been like a Black Sunday—fighting every day. If we weren't fighting, we were on the way to a fight."
Dan Heng nodded.
"Yeah, and we don't have any leads on the Stellaron either."
March 7th curiously asked,"Ye Yun, do you have any leads on the Stellaron?"
Ye Yun shook his head.
"No, I just arrived in the Underworld yesterday."
Of course, Ye Yun knew, but this Trailblazing journey was a trial for Stelle, March 7th, and Dan Heng. It was better to let them find the answers themselves.
March 7th noticed the others.
"Ye Yun, are these your new friends? And... this deer… it can breathe fire?!"
She looked over at Seele and the others, and when she saw the figure standing in the back, her eyes lit up.
Rios was speechless. These humans were really inexperienced.
Everyone acted so shocked when they saw him. What's the big deal about being on fire? He was a fire-type spirit—having flames on him was completely normal.
Ye Yun introduced them.
"This is Seele, and these two kids are Hook and Clara. They're locals from the Underworld."
"As for this deer, it's Rios, my spirit."
Upon hearing that, March 7th casually greeted Seele, Hook, and Clara, then continued to ask about Rios.
Now, March 7th's attention was fully captured by Rios.
"A spirit? What's a spirit?"
Ye Yun explained,
"Spirits are the darlings of heaven and earth, born with the ability to control elemental forces. They also possess high intelligence."
"Rios is a fire-type spirit—and a relatively powerful one at that."
March 7th let out an exaggerated "Oh!" and tugged on Ye Yun's sleeve, leaning over to whisper in his ear.
"Ye Yun, where did you get that spirit? I want one too!"
She looked at Ye Yun expectantly.
Ye Yun chuckled and snapped his fingers. Three "Spirit Cores" wrapped in bubbles appeared before everyone's eyes.
"These are random Spirit Cores. Buy one and you'll receive a random spirit."
"Just use a Spirit Incubator to hatch your own spirit."
"There are three types: Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced. The spirits you get vary by level."
"Basic: 1,000. Intermediate: 10,000. Advanced: 100,000."
Then Ye Yun spread his hands.
"Well? Want to give it a shot?"
March 7th didn't hesitate. She exchanged 10 Stellar Jades she'd earned over the past two days for 1,000 Star Coins and bought a basic Spirit Core.
After getting the core, she anxiously asked,"Ye Yun, where's the incubator? Can I use it?"
She figured that since Ye Yun already had Rios, he must have an incubator.
But Ye Yun was momentarily stunned—he had directly summoned Rios and hadn't used a core to hatch him.
Looking up the price, he saw an incubator cost 5,000 Star Coins.
He decided to just buy it outright.
Ye Yun placed the Spirit Incubator inside the room.
"Here it is. You guys can use it."
March 7th rushed over excitedly, quickly opened the lid, placed her Spirit Core inside, and pressed the start button.
The countdown on the screen above the incubator changed and finally displayed:
[9:59:59]
March 7th was stunned.
"Huh? It takes ten hours?!"
Ye Yun nodded.
"Yeah. The stronger the spirit, the longer the incubation time. Be patient."
Seeing this, March 7th could only pull up a chair and sit next to the incubator, staring blankly at the Spirit Core.
Dan Heng asked,
"Ye Yun, your strength..."
Hearing this, Ye Yun explained,
"Managed a breakthrough by luck."
After finishing his transaction with Natasha, Ye Yun had broken through to the Envoy level and received a new mission:
Mission 3: Reach 10 million Star Coins in sales. Reward: Peak Emanator-level power.
Ten million? Tch. That wasn't going to happen any time soon.
Dan Heng didn't ask further. As long as Ye Yun didn't pose a threat to them, that was enough.
Ye Yun glanced at Stelle, still fast asleep on the bed—probably would be out for another day or two.
"Dan Heng, March, have you two eaten yet?"
They both shook their heads.
Ye Yun checked the time. It was nearly noon.
"Then let's eat together. I'll make hot pot for lunch."
Neither had any objections.
As for Hook and Clara, those two little ones obviously wouldn't say no and would definitely join him for the meal.
Ye Yun looked over at Seele.
"Want to join us for lunch?"
Seele nodded.
"Sure. If someone else is buying, of course I'll eat."
Ye Yun smiled.
"Alright, let's get ready then."
He bought a premium hot pot meal set from the system.
Seele washed the vegetables, Dan Heng moved the tables and chairs, and March 7th played with the two kids.
Rios lay on the rug resting, while Ye Yun prepared the soup base.
In just half an hour, everyone was eating hot pot.
Seele was eating like crazy—despite the spiciness, she just kept going.
Dan Heng and March 7th also loved the hot pot. Ye Yun tried it himself and thought it was the best he'd ever had.
The two little ones had bowls of warm water in front of them, and all their food had to be dipped through it before they could eat.
As everyone was eating, an extra person appeared at the table.
It was Stelle—she had woken up early! And the reason? The smell of hot pot had awakened her!
Ye Yun was stunned—seriously? A hot pot changed the storyline?
Stelle now sat with a small bowl, eyes half-closed, happily slurping sweet potato noodles.
Looking at everyone around the table, Ye Yun suddenly remembered—wasn't there one person missing?
"March, didn't Natasha say there were four of you?"
(Actually, Natasha hadn't said that. Ye Yun said it to cover up the fact he knew there were four of them.)
It wouldn't be questioned, as March 7th and the others wouldn't go out of their way to verify with Natasha.
March 7th shook her head.
"No idea~ I only saw the three of us when I woke up."
Dan Heng also shook his head to indicate he didn't know.
Ye Yun rubbed his chin. Looks like Bronya had woken up early and was probably wandering around the Underworld.
March 7th took a sip of orange juice.
"What's up, Ye Yun?"
Ye Yun shook his head.
"Nothing. Let's keep eating. You've got work to do after this."
As soon as she heard "work," March 7th slumped her head.
"Sigh~ I don't want to work. Where is that stupid Stellaron?!"
Stelle pointed to her chest.
"Right here!"
March 7th rolled her eyes at her.