Looking at the extra thirty thousand yuan in his account, Jiang Zhaoye felt much more at ease.
Lacking experience, he had originally worried that the spirit stone would be difficult to sell. He hadn't expected someone to buy it up in less than half an hour after he listed it.
A medium-grade spirit stone—this price shouldn't be a loss, right?
Jiang Zhaoye only pondered for a few seconds before instantly tossing that worry to the back of his mind. For a middle school graduate, thirty thousand yuan was already a massive fortune.
His wallet, which had gradually shriveled to the bottom because he had been eating so much lately—secretly buying spirit rice, spirit plants, and spirit beast meat—was now bulging like never before.
Nestled on the living room sofa, Student Jiang enthusiastically opened his phone, launched the Xunbao app, and began his journey of saturation-level equipment procurement.
He first tried searching for a few custom Hanfu shops. Then, using the excuse of buying a gift for his younger sister, he tagged the classmates in the class chat group whom he remembered were into it to ask around. Amid everyone's noisy suggestions, he settled on a store strongly recommended by several female classmates, which reportedly had a simple, retro style and standard cut.
The main reason was that he heard the store owner was a psionicist on the [Tailor] Path. Their hand speed was comparable to an octopus, winning with raw speed—backed by their Path endorsement, quality guaranteed.
After all, if a psionicist wasn't true to their profession, it would more or less affect their cultivation.
Opening the customer service chat window, Jiang Zhaoye typed quickly: "Hello, I want to order two custom sets of men's Hanfu for daily wear. Both need to be a bit thicker. Can you ship them out as soon as possible?"
The customer service rep replied in seconds: "Of course, dear [yellow soybean smile]! What size do you usually wear? Do you have any preferred colors or styles, dear? [yellow soybean blush]"
Jiang Zhaoye thought for a moment: "Height 176 cm, weight 60 kg, chest 86, waist 70, hips 90. Dark color, plain is fine, nothing too flashy. The fabric needs to be durable and sturdy—I'll be wearing it for hiking and walking."
"Alrighty, dear! In that case, I recommend the cotton-linen mixed with Green-Backed Spider silk fabric. It's breathable, wear-resistant, offers a degree of protection, and is suitable for outdoor activities. As for the style, how about taking a look at this one: [Product Link]"
Jiang Zhaoye clicked the link to take a look and was fairly satisfied: "Looks good. How much for two sets?"
"For two sets, do you want the complete three-piece set with inner shirt, pants, and outer robe? Do you need matching accessories like a waist sash?"
"Yes."
That leather waist sash and bracers looked pretty cool.
"It's about 836 yuan per set, dear [yellow soybean smile]. For two sets, I can discount it to 1,600 yuan—one in light gray and one in navy blue. How does that sound?"
Jiang Zhaoye rested his chin on one hand and clicked the product link again to check: "The price is fine. Change the light gray to black. How long will it take to arrive?"
This price wasn't bad for fabric mixed with Green-Backed Spider silk. Incorporating strange beast materials made it half a psionic material.
"For regular orders, we ship out in a week. If you rush the order, we can ship within two days, and domestic express delivery arrives the same day."
"Rush it, then."
"That will be a rush fee of five hundred yuan, dear."
Having just received a massive fortune of thirty thousand yuan, Student Jiang didn't care at all. With a wave of his hand, he casually replied: "Fine, send a link and I'll pay."
With the clothing disguise to blend in sorted out, Jiang Zhaoye closed the chat window, opened another shop to buy a black cloak, and then switched to a psionic armor shop to order a mask.
The cloak was a thick, vintage-style design that could conceal his frame, with a brim that could be pulled down to cover most of his face.
Made with Shadow Wolf fur and woven with spirit cicada silk to form a psionic circuit, it possessed functions for concealing psionic fluctuations and hiding one's figure. Most importantly, it only cost three thousand yuan; sold on small margins and high volume, it was a favorite among low-tier pioneers.
The mask was a full-coverage type, not even leaving the eyes and mouth exposed. The eye section was embedded with dark lenses that didn't obscure vision. Made of an ultra-light imitation metal material, its fit could be freely adjusted.
Its style was also vintage with subtle dark patterns, rendering his original face almost unrecognizable once worn.
It had a bit of an ancient assassin vibe straight out of a TV drama.
Jiang Zhaoye had also cautiously chosen a model with a filtration layer to keep out airborne dust and germs.
As he placed his orders, he tallied things up in his mind. As a middle school student who had never traveled far from home or gained much societal experience, these were all the preparations he could think of.
Back in the first semester of eighth grade, the school had taught some basic common sense about interstellar exploration, stating that before entering an unfamiliar civilization, one had to gear up with protection, stock up on supplies, and avoid exposing one's identity and intent as much as possible.
Model student Jiang still remembered the teacher saying at the time that in an unfamiliar environment, the most important thing was to observe before making contact—don't go opening your heart to everyone right off the bat.
Jiang Zhaoye followed the rules to the letter, swiftly placing orders for everything.
The Hanfu shared a similar clothing style to what he had seen in Perfected Hanyu's jade slip, which counted as blending in with local customs, while the cloak and mask served to hide his identity and protect against viruses along the way.
Next, he divided his food and water into bamboo tubes, then bought emergency psionic shields and healing medicines.
Having prepared everything he could think of, Student Jiang tilted his head up with satisfaction, feeling that he was extremely cautious.
He checked the calendar; there were still six days before he had to attend the psionic census. He planned to get a grasp of that world's basic situation before the census, or at least figure out where he could go next.
A night passed in the blink of an eye.
Jiang Zhaoye teleported into the ice cave and walked out along the passage.
At the end of the passage was a heavy, wall-like stone door. He funneled spiritual power into it, and the stone wall slowly parted, revealing the cave entrance.
He pushed open the stone door as a cold wind blew in from the passage, carrying a damp, earthy smell.
Taking a deep breath, Jiang Zhaoye pulled the stone door shut behind him and stepped out.
Passing through a long, bramble-filled cave, glaring sunlight finally poured over him.
The moment he stepped out of the cave entrance, he felt a sharp, frigid wind blast against his face, scraping like a blade.
The sky was a murky gray, the sun obscured behind a thin veil of clouds, its light dim as if filtered through gauze.
Jiang Zhaoye looked up at the sky, then toward the distant mountain range, feeling a faint sense of unease in his heart. He narrowed his eyes, put on his mask, pulled up his hood, and only then strode forward.
The cave entrance seemed to be hidden halfway up the mountain, with no discernible mountain path below—only dense brambles and thickets everywhere.
The trees in this mountain were withered, yellow, and gaunt, their sparse leaves curling on the branches as if scorched by fire.
Some trees were completely dead, leaving only bare branches stretching into the sky like withered hands.
The grass on the ground was dead as well, crunching beneath his feet and crumbling into powder.
After a few steps, he realized even the soil underfoot was parched and cracked into deep, long fissures like patterns on a turtle's shell. He squatted down and reached out to touch the ground; his fingertips met a layer of dry, cold, lifeless sand and dirt.
Jiang Zhaoye frowned, slung the disguise cloth pack onto his back, and pulled out the life aggregation detector he had bought online from the spatial button tucked under his collar.
Turning on the switch, a circular distribution map appeared on the screen.
Jiang Zhaoye checked it—there were only a few scattered green specks of light nearby. Green represented living organisms, likely wild animals.
Stowing the detector away, he carefully made his way down by holding onto the trees.
Ten minutes later, Student Jiang—whose physical fitness had become quite superior thanks to half a month of Body Refining—had actually grown accustomed to the terrain and figured out a rhythm for navigating it.
His pace picked up abruptly, growing faster and faster.
An hour and forty minutes later, Jiang Zhaoye finally spotted a dirt-yellow mountain path in the distance that could actually be called a road.
A road meant people passed through.
Leaping down with delight, Jiang Zhaoye began following the winding trail in search of signs of human habitation.
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