Chapter 219
"Boss, the weather this morning was so strange."
"Was it?"
"Yeah, one moment there was a torrential downpour, and the next, the skies cleared... I heard from the customers that there was some sort of fight near Guyun Stone Forest again."
"Osial?"
"They said it was his wife, Beisht."
"Oh."
"Earlier, I saw Ningguang's Jade Chamber flying past our shop. It was so grand!"
"I'm jealous you got to see it."
"Boss, your eyes will definitely heal someday!"
"Mm."
"Shenhe was on the Jade Chamber too. It's a bit worrying."
"She'll be fine."
"You made so many dishes for lunch today, boss. Are we waiting for Shenhe to come back and eat together?"
"Yes."
"How do you know she'll come back at noon?"
"I guessed."
"Boss, you really know how to divine!"
"That's right!"
As lunch was almost ready, a commotion arose outside the shop.
Diona's ears twitched as she dashed outside to check. Moments later, she returned with Shenhe following behind.
"It's Shenhe! She just jumped off the Jade Chamber! Everyone outside was stunned!"
"Boss, I'm back."
"Wash your hands; lunch is ready."
"Okay."
On the way back, Shenhe had many thoughts she wanted to share, but as soon as she saw Xia Zhi wearing an apron, her mind calmed completely.
Ultraman and all that—none of it mattered anymore.
They served the dishes and sat down for lunch together.
Zhu Zi and Diona eagerly asked Shenhe about what had happened on the Jade Chamber.
Shenhe described the events in a calm tone, including her own role in the fight. However, she recounted it as if speaking about someone else. Only when she mentioned the [Giant of Light] did her tone grow more animated.
Zhu Zi and Diona listened with wide-eyed amazement.
Chi Yu tilted her head, her expression curious, while Qiqi silently focused on her food.
After lunch, Shenhe offered to wash the dishes, but Zhu Zi and Diona insisted on taking over, saying she had worked hard to protect Liyue and deserved a break.
Shenhe nodded but still ended up helping them in the kitchen.
While washing, she glanced toward the kitchen door and softly asked, "Did the boss leave this morning?"
"Nope."
"He didn't?"
"Yeah, he stayed in his room the whole time, saying he was busy with something. He only came down at noon."
"I see…"
Shenhe lowered her head, a faint smile tugging at her lips.
Diona's eyes widened in surprise. "Shenhe, you're smiling!"
"Mm."
"You look so pretty when you smile!"
"Do I?"
"Shenhe doesn't usually smile much. The last time I saw her smile was when she had rice wine!"
"That rice wine was so good! It's a shame the boss hasn't made it again since…"
After finishing the dishes, everyone sat at the table, sipping tea together.
Xia Zhi opened his system panel. The Shop's update progress was only at 30%.
So slow.
At this rate, it wouldn't be complete until evening.
In the afternoon, two of the Adepti came to the shop for juice, and the customers buzzed about the battle at Guyun Stone Forest and the Jade Chamber's completion.
When business hours ended, Xia Zhi expected Ningguang to visit but was instead greeted by Zhongli.
"Zhongli, you're a bit late. Please wait a moment—"
"I'm here on personal business today."
"Personal?"
"You're skilled in stone carving, and I happened to find a jade sculpture. I wanted to discuss it with you."
"I see."
"May I come in to talk?"
"Of course, this way."
Xia Zhi led Zhongli into a quiet room at the back.
Zhongli sat down but didn't take out any jade sculpture.
Xia Zhi didn't press him and waited patiently.
Zhongli looked at him and finally said, "I assume you already know why I'm here?"
"I don't."
"…"
Zhongli raised his hand and set up a soundproof barrier around the room.
"I'm here to make a contract with you."
"A contract, you say…"
After some time, the two emerged from the room, their expressions unchanged.
Xia Zhi walked behind the counter and prepared two glasses of specially concentrated juice.
Zhongli took them to go, leaving with the words, "Charge it to Wangsheng Funeral Parlor."
Xia Zhi "watched" the Geo Archon's graceful departure and smiled.
---
That evening, Xia Zhi gave Shenhe a thorough massage to help her relax—free of charge, of course.
After showering, he returned to his room and opened the system panel. The Shop update was finally complete.
Two new quality tiers, Prismatic and Supreme, were available in the search bar.
Curious, Xia Zhi searched through the catalog.
[Blade of Worldbreaking], [Eyes of Death Perception], [Heart of the Stars]...
At first, Xia Zhi was awestruck by the items' incredible effects. Then, he was equally shocked by their astronomical prices, ranging from millions to billions. Silently, he closed the search interface.
Not something I can afford for now.
He noticed two new subpages in the Shop:
[Evolution]: Insert an item and spend points to evolve its quality. Initial success rate: 10%. Each failure increases the success rate by 10%. Current maximum evolution: Supreme quality. (Evolution costs are equivalent to the item's recycle value. For example, evolving Black Iron items requires 1 point per attempt; Silver items, 10 points per attempt, and so on.)
[Enhancement]: Insert an item and spend points to strengthen it. Enhancements are guaranteed to succeed. Each enhancement randomly improves one property of the item, with a maximum of five enhancements. (Enhancement costs are equivalent to the item's recycle value. For example, enhancing Black Iron items requires 1 point per enhancement; Silver items, 10 points per enhancement, and so on.)
After reading, Xia Zhi pondered.
The new functions were similar to his [Enhancement Crystal] and its hidden effects.
The good news was that he could now evolve any item's quality.
The bad news was that in-system enhancements couldn't benefit from his [Hourglass of Time] to reset failures.
Overall, though, it was a positive change.
Xia Zhi took out his [Transformation Badge] and toyed with it in his hands.
Though the badge was only a Gold-tier item, it had immense potential.
Earlier that day, he had transformed into the Giant of Light and easily subdued a Diamond-tier entity like Osial.
However, the badge had flaws, such as the random nature of its transformations and the short duration.
The Giant of Light was an exceptionally lucky draw.
This badge was worth investing in for evolution.
Previously, Xia Zhi had hesitated because he only had one Enhancement Crystal—and evolving the Hourglass of Time to Diamond tier had taken priority.
Now, with the Shop's new evolution function, the issue was resolved.
Regarding the points needed for evolution, a Gold-tier item required 100 points per attempt, with an initial 10% success rate. After nine failures, the success rate would reach 100%.
In total, this would cost 1,000 points, equivalent to the minimum price of a Platinum-tier item.
Not a bad deal.
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