Set off

For the next two days, he mostly cultivated. He had gone through four more 6-hour sessions in the Demon Spirit Concentration array getting his soul force to 147. There he decided to stop for now. His strength remained around 60. He had to advance it too. He sold the first four inscription scrolls created by Nie Zexi and ordered 20 high-level fire-type Silver rank scrolls for his use in the Expedition.

His other clansmen also finished their job, buying all of the Purple Haze Grass in Glory City. He had 200 tonnes of it in his warehouse. He had spent a bit more than a hundred thousand spirit coins on that. He has to move it somewhere before leaving for the expedition

Today was the last day of preparation.

So he decided to create his equipment. Now that he reached the Bronze rank he could create Silver rank equipment in the Starlight Crafting Plate. So he went to the market to buy materials. He bought two Silver rank demon spirits, one fire attributed and another snow wind attributed. He is going to seal the Flame demon spirit into his sword, and the Snow Wind demon spirit into his armor. Most of the demon beasts in the St. Ancestral Mountain Ridge are snow wind type. So attacking them with fire-type attacks and defending with snow wind attributed armor is the best combination.

Then he bought different metals, the hide of some Silver rank demon beast, some demon crystals, and returned to his dorm. After four hours of work, he was finished with his armor and sword. Nie Li was pleased with the results.

Many of the current enchanted objects don't have a demon spirit sealed inside. Because such methods were lost to history. Nowadays Inscription masters just apply inscription patterns and embed demon crystals to create enchanted items. It works, but with a demon spirit, their effectiveness can be seriously increased.

The armor was a bit bulkier than the ones to wear under clothes. It was silver-blue colored, because of the materials used. In addition to protection, Nie Li applied temperature control patterns as well. And Nie Li looked imposing in it. For a 13-year-old, of course.

The sword on the other hand had a red sheen indicating its fire-attributed nature. Some unnoticeable small flashes were running on the edges of the blade. It could release flame-type attacks like a wave of fire, or what Nie Li called a lightsaber mode, where edges of the blade glowed red because of extreme temperatures to cut things that are too difficult to damage otherwise. Nie Li just hoped that it won't repeat the fate of his novel counterpart's sword.

Now with the essentials done, he had some other projects to finish. It was common knowledge that you could put an interspatial ring inside another one. But that was the limit. If you try to put them inside another ring, it would reject. So you could use only two layers of interspatial storage. The third layer was theoretically possible, but it was improbable because of the difficulty of the Inscription patterns required.

But two layers were enough for everyone, Nie Li included. So he created new storage devices in the form of cards. He removed the time dilation feature completely because they would be inside his ring anyway. Because of this, he was able to increase the internal space to 50 cubic meters. And Nie Li created 20 interspatial cards. This way now he had 1000 cubic meters of internal space inside his ring. Of course, this way of using the interspatial rings will wear them out quickly. They will break down in a year or two, but that was not a problem for Nie Li.

Nie Li created a couple of more armor pieces for sale. A good Silver rank armor costs around a million and he can make good money out of them. Selling a full armor would be problematic, but parts are cheaper, so they are easier to sell.

So he went to the market to sell them and buy the rest of the things he needed. He even bought some resources to work during the Expedition. He didn't forget to recharge the Charger Cube for Nie Zexi as well, after getting the scrolls he ordered. The expedition is going to last at least 12 days. And its charge wasn't going to last that long. All in all, he was busy till the evening with preparations.

In the evening wrote a letter named '30 uses of Purple Haze Grass' and sent it to the largest guilds of the City. Alchemists Association, Hunters guild, Mercenary guild, and others like them would get the letters tomorrow. In the letter, he explained the most simple uses of the grass, like its poisonousness to some demon beasts, small healing abilities, and so on.

Then he said his farewells to his friends went to bed. He decided to sleep early considering he is leaving for expedition tomorrow.

------------------

In the morning Nie Li gathered his things, wore his armor, and made his way towards the Library. There were some people already waiting for the rest to arrive. Chen Linjian was one of them. Nie Li greeted them and sat down on one of the nearby benches. Ye Ziyun hadn't come yet. Some of the boys in the group looked curiously but didn't approach him.

After five minutes Ye Ziyun arrived. But she wasn't alone. Accompanying her was Xiao Ning'er. He was taken aback. It looks like they are mending their friendship quite fast. It was good news. The bad news was now he had to protect her as well if something happens.

Well, Nie Li, in for a penny, in for a pound. Since you have decided to pursue both girls, you have to take responsibility as well.

Nie Li stood up and went to greet them.

"Hi girls. How are you?"

They greeted him.

Nie Li decided to ask Ye Ziyun, "How did she find out?"

Girls looked at each other. Then Xiao Ning'er said in a low gruff voice, "I have my sources."

Then they began giggling at their private joke. It looks like they are in a good mood. And laughing at him. Because she was parodying him. And it looked rehearsed. When he said those words to Ye Ziyun a couple of days ago, he wanted to sound mysterious. But it looks like he just sounded silly. It was quite a hit to his ego. But he took the joke good-naturedly. Also the fact the girls gossiped about him lifted his spirits. Who doesn't want to be gossiped about by two beautiful girls? The fact they were parodying him in front of him means they are comfortable around him. So all-around good news.

"I am sorry," Ye Ziyun said after she stopped laughing. Xiao Ning'er too looked a bit contrite as if regretting her impulsive joke. "I don't have any secrets from my friend." Ye Ziyun said, holding Xiao Ning'er's arm.

"Okay. And I don't sound like that!" he said to Xiao Ning'er making her blush and sending Ye Ziyun into another fit of giggles.

It was at this moment, Shen Yue arrived with his people. Seeing Nie Li here with the Ye Ziyun, he stopped in his tracks and then scowled. Well, that was understandable. Nie Li ruined his plans of peacefully wooing Ye Ziyun in this expedition without interference. He didn't approach and stayed with his group.

It took another 5 minutes for everyone to gather. And after taking account of everyone Chen Linjian announced the start of the expedition and they set off.