NOVPUBWestern Province City, at the center of town where roads intersect.
With the bustling crowd flowing through the streets, accompanied by the calls of street vendors, a certain girl wrapped in a black cloak, who had been standing by the roadside for two hours, seemed to be on the verge of breaking down.
"Oh my! This seems to be a bronze ore!"
"It looks like the young lady's luck isn't very good today!"
"But don't worry, this bronze ore can be exchanged for half a tael of silver. Young lady, if you add another half tael, you can open a new stone!"
The shifty-eyed middle-aged vendor scratched his face with a smile, while handing the cut-open bronze ore to the girl for inspection.
At the stall, the white dragon girl wrapped in a black cloak had clenched her small fists under her long sleeves.
Honestly, Nina felt like she might be caught in some kind of infinite illusion cycle.
Since this morning, after she bought a dragon's pastry at the neighboring stall, the wheels of fate had started turning.
She was first stopped by this vendor selling Pure Phoenix Crystals.
The vendor told her these stones were all unearthed from the demon abyss in the Western Region, and they definitely contained rare precious ores, potentially even Pure Phoenix Crystals!
Nina didn't understand the rules of this so-called stone opening game at that time.
At first, she just thought Pure Phoenix Crystals were fascinating—something she had never seen before—so she paid money to have the vendor break open ten stones for her.
But unexpectedly... After cutting open ten stones, the first nine were worthless, but the last one actually revealed a rare magic crystal ore.
At that moment, someone nearby offered several thousand taels to buy the ore.
And... With the vendor's cheers and shouts, everyone around praised the little girl for being blessed by heaven with such good fortune!
Nina was absolutely delighted then, though she didn't know what this magic crystal ore was actually used for.
For Nina, who hailed from the dragon palace, anything she hadn't seen before was worth collecting.
With a wave of her hand, she kept the magic crystal ore, then took out a gold ingot and had the vendor open a hundred stones for her.
But from here... The story gradually became a bit strange.
Among the hundred stones, nothing good came out.
But Nina wasn't discouraged and opened another hundred, then another hundred, then another hundred...
During this time, she did indeed find some rare ores.
But compared to the truly mysterious Pure Phoenix Crystal, these ores were all worthless.
The vendor kept saying the young lady was very lucky—she had already found magic crystals, and she was just a tiny bit away from getting a Pure Phoenix Crystal...
As a result, Nina truly became obsessed.
In just two hours, Nina's little purse was completely empty.
She never imagined that opening stones by the roadside would burn through money so quickly...
She just felt time passing so quickly.
She hadn't even felt the speed at which her money disappeared. It seemed like in the blink of an eye, her storage ring had gained a pile of strange ores, while her little purse had shriveled up.
As the imperial princess of the Great Dragon Dynasty, Nina truly had no concept of money, and she wasn't actually heartbroken about the money.
It's just that... The moment her purse became empty, Nina seemed to recall the homework her master had assigned before her departure—after returning, she must report clearly the origin of every penny spent.
At that time, Nina thought she would at most buy some small snacks; how could she possibly spend all her money?
But now, if Nina went home and said she spent all her money gambling on rare stones, her master would definitely fly into a rage, tie her to a tree, and whip her bottom hard with a rattan cane!
"I'm... I'm done for..."
Looking at the dazzling array of ores on the ground, Nina's eyebrows twitched slightly as she felt deep regret in her heart.
Growl...
At some point, Nina's little stomach started rumbling again.
Two hours ago, Nina had originally planned to eat something on the street, then continue searching for information about Yino's whereabouts.
But now, two hours later, Nina had been so focused on gambling with stones that she had only eaten one box of dragon's beard pastries, and now her little stomach was growling again.
"Um... vendor..."
"Could you return a few taels of silver to me? I haven't eaten lunch yet..."
Though socially anxious, iron is iron and food is steel—driven by hunger, Nina couldn't help but quietly plead.
As her words fell, the stall vendor chuckled:
"Well, that's not difficult!"
"Young lady, though you didn't get the priceless Pure Phoenix Crystal, didn't you get some rare ores?"
"How about this: just give me any one of those magic crystals, and I'll pay you a hundred taels of silver for it! That way, you'll have money to eat again, right?"
"Young lady, do you know that a hundred taels of silver is enough for you to eat for three years in Western Province City!"
The vendor spoke animatedly, while the surrounding passersby exchanged glances.
They first gave the vendor a look of success, then silently smiled as if nothing had happened and dispersed.
"Only... only a hundred taels?"
"But I remember someone offering three thousand taels for a magic crystal earlier?"
The white dragon girl tilted her head slightly. Even with little understanding of money, she sensed something was off.
She looked around but could no longer find the previously generous bidder.
Meanwhile, the vendor smiled obsequiously:
"Well, young lady, no matter how high someone shouts a price, it's useless if they don't actually buy it! Look, can you find that person who offered three thousand earlier?"
"I... I can't seem to find them..."
Nina blinked and lowered her gaze slightly, roughly understanding the vendor's meaning.
But what could she do? For Nina, filling her stomach was more urgent than collecting stones she'd never seen before.
She sighed and took out the magic crystal from her storage ring, but just then, the stall vendor's eyes lit up again as he smiled:
"Oh my, young lady! Your ring is beautiful! How about this: I'll offer you three thousand silver taels if you sell this ring to my humble shop. What do you think?"
He rubbed his hands against his chest, his eyes clearly revealing his greed.
But this time, before the white dragon girl at the stall could respond, a youth wearing a conical hat and an eerie mask emerged from the crowd and violently kicked over the stall covered with stones:
"Tian Wenjing, you love your horse!"
"You damn swindler! In my past life, you scammed me out of tens of thousands of spirit stones. I fucking bought out your entire shop, and it was all worthless trash—I never got a single Pure Phoenix Crystal!"
"You son of a bitch, you dare to come out and scam people again in this life?!"
"Tian Wenjing, you better give the young lady her money back right now! Otherwise, do you believe I'll not cut you down with my sword right here in the street?!"
