Chapter Nine: Ying—My Power Has Arrived!

Lumine arrived at the small bar, sat down on a high stool, and opened the touchscreen to begin browsing.

Ye Yun felt a sense of speechlessness as he watched the screen; he remembered how foolish he had been, manually copying down items one by one with his phone. Now that the shop was open, the touchscreen could display all the inventory at once. Alas, he had long since deleted all the product information he had copied back then.

As Lumine browsed, Stelle and March 7th pulled up high stools on either side of her to look along. Welt and Dan Heng each found a spot nearby—some sitting, some leaning—watching the scene, or more accurately, watching Lumine. As for Himeko, she sat next to Paimon, occasionally poking the child’s chubby cheeks with her finger, clearly finding it quite amusing.

Soon, Lumine made her selection.

[Unsealing Pill. Price: 2,000 Stellar Jades. Effect: Can unseal a portion of one's suppressed power.]

Lumine’s current state was one of suppressed strength; if this pill lived up to its description, it should allow her to recover some of her abilities. Ye Yun looked at the pill, summoned a scale, and placed it next to the touchscreen.

"Do you have any Primogems on you?"

Lumine nodded and pulled a large handful of Primogems from her pouch. Ye Yun gestured to the scale. "Put them on there, and you can exchange them for Stellar Jades."

Lumine placed the Primogems on one side of the scale. There were quite a few, and the scale was barely large enough to hold them all. A few seconds later, the Primogems vanished, and on the other side of the scale appeared twenty-three 100-value Stellar Jade coins. Ye Yun took the 2,300 Stellar Jades and handed them to Lumine.

"Here you go. That's the exchange for your Primogems. Looking at the rate, it seems to be one to ten—one Primogem gets you ten Stellar Jades."

March 7th looked puzzled. "Ye Yun, why does that... that stone only trade for 10, but Stellar Jades trade for 100?"

Ye Yun explained, "Worlds are countless and diverse. Each world has a different level, and the unique products from those worlds have different values. The more powerful a world, the more Stellar Jades its unique products can fetch; the smaller the world, the less. Understand?"

March 7th had a sudden realization. "So that's how it is!"

Lumine didn't care much about the details; she was entirely focused on the Unsealing Pill. Heaven knew how difficult the last two months had been, surviving in the wild with only the strength of a normal person. If she hadn't possessed her martial arts skills, she likely would have starved to death in the wilderness.

Ye Yun pointed to the coin slot next to the touchscreen. "Select the item you want, tap confirm, and then insert enough Stellar Jades. Stelle, March, you should take note of this too; that's how you'll make purchases in the future."

Stelle and March 7th gave an "OK" gesture to show they understood. After Lumine inserted 2,000 Stellar Jades, the screen flashed, and a pill appeared in her hand. It was quite small, only the size of a pinky finger.

Dan Heng brought over a glass of water and handed it to her. "Here."

Lumine took it and thanked him politely. "Thank you."

Dan Heng shook his head to indicate it was nothing and walked away. March 7th whispered to Lumine, "Dan Heng acts cold on the surface, but he’s actually very warm-hearted."

Lumine nodded with a smile. "Yes, I can tell."

Stelle waved her hands. "Alright, alright! Lumine, hurry up and eat that little pill to see if it works."

Lumine complied, swallowing the pill and washing it down with a sip of water. The moment the pill reached her stomach, she sat up straight, her eyes widening. She felt a portion of her sealed power being released—not much, perhaps only a tenth of her peak strength. Feeling that familiar, long-lost energy circulating within her, Lumine revealed a heartfelt smile.

"How is it? How is it? Is it working, Lumine?" March 7th asked anxiously.

Lumine snapped back to reality when she heard March calling her. "Yes, it works. My power has recovered quite a bit."

As she spoke, she waved her hand, and the Dull Blade appeared in her grip. With a shout, the surface of the blade was instantly covered in a layer of white light. Stelle and March 7th clapped their hands, thinking it was incredibly cool.

Lumine reached into her bag, wanting to buy a few more pills, but her face stiffened. Uh... it seemed she had used up all her Primogems. To make matters worse, her stomach let out an untimely, "Grumble—grumble."

Lumine instantly turned into a human steam engine, her face flushing as red as a ripe apple. Ye Yun checked the time: 10:36.

"Lumine, you don't have anything urgent to attend to, do you?"

Lumine shook her head in shame, fanning her face rapidly to cool down. Ye Yun replied, "Then let's have lunch here today." He turned to Himeko, March 7th, and the others. "Everyone, let's eat here today. It's the grand opening of my new shop; I’d like to treat you all to a meal to celebrate."

Himeko stopped teasing Paimon and looked up at Ye Yun. "Then we'll be troubling you, Ye Yun."

Welt added, "Much appreciated."

Ye Yun waved it off as if it were nothing. Dan Heng rolled up his sleeves. "Is there anything I can help with?"

Pom-Pom tugged at Dan Heng’s trousers. "Passenger Dan Heng, you should go rest. I will help Passenger Ye Yun with the cooking." With that, Pom-Pom headed toward the kitchen, ready to retrieve the essential tool for his cooking: his step-stool!

Ye Yun smiled, "Dan Heng, go rest. Pom-Pom's help is enough."

Dan Heng didn't press the matter. After saying he was available if needed, he walked over to the sofa, sat down, and opened a book. As for Stelle and March 7th, they stayed behind as well.

Ye Yun called out to them, "Stelle, March, help me host Lumine. I'm going to cook."

Stelle and March 7th agreed in unison. Ye Yun could tell Lumine was still very nervous and reserved, so he wanted them to keep her company and help her loosen up. This was a shop, not some serious or terrifying place; there was no need to be so uptight.

Ye Yun entered the kitchen and checked the system for ingredients. After spending over 50 Stellar Jades, he bought a large pile of supplies and placed them on the counter. Basic ingredients and daily necessities were quite cheap in the system.

He thought about what to cook. After a moment, he decided to "simply" prepare eight dishes and one soup. He had learned to cook in his previous life, so preparing a full table was no problem. Besides, with an hour and a half until lunch, he had plenty of time.