[As everyone knows, a smile doesn't disappear into thin air—it only transfers. Paimon finished laughing, now it's my turn to laugh.]
[The protagonist is exactly like my mom when she confiscated my New Year's money as a kid. Worried I'd spend it recklessly, she took it all away.]
[Memories are flooding back. In Paimon, I seem to see my past self.]
"I'm actually quite curious about one thing right now." Stelle took a sip of the freshly arrived milk tea. "Between Jun Bai and Ningguang, who is richer?"
"One is an immortal species who has followed the God of Gold for at least 3000 years; the other is a self-made rich lady who worked her way up to become one of the people in power in Liyue Harbor today."
"These two are definitely richer than me, but who actually has more money?"
Stelle pretended to be puzzled.
The livestream chat immediately exploded into a heated discussion on the topic.
At this moment, Stelle put on her headphones, revealed a mischievous grin, and began to fully immerse herself in the story.
The prank was very successful and made her happy!
[Stop discussing. Stelle has started messing around again.]
[The target of her messing around is us!]
[Don't send any more messages. Once she puts on her headphones, we can only watch the plot on screen.]
"Zhongli, if I remember correctly, the Rite of Descension requires wild Glaze Lilies from the Guili Assembly, right?"
Jun Bai asked.
Zhongli nodded slightly. "Yes."
Jun Bai nodded, then took out a mechanical creation and a talisman full of adeptal energy.
He pasted the talisman onto the mechanical creation and pressed the switch on top.
Under the amazed gazes of Paimon and Lumine, the mechanical creation transformed into a small scarlet bird.
[It's time to @the official for merch again.]
[This art style looks a bit like the beast dragons from Tokusatsu teams. miHoYo's internal tokusatsu fans are flexing again.]
[So cute!]
Jun Bai beckoned to the little bird. The bird flapped its wings and flew in front of him.
Jun Bai whispered instructions beside the bird, then saw it nod vigorously.
"Scarlet Plume, I'm counting on you."
The mechanical creation named Scarlet Plume turned into a streak of scarlet light and flew toward the Guili Assembly.
"This is a mechanical creation Guizhong made modeled after me. I quite like it, so she gave it to me." Jun Bai explained to Lumine and Paimon, then looked at Zhongli.
"I have already notified the current person in charge of the Guili Assembly. He will send someone to deliver the Glaze Lilies."
"This way we won't have to make a special trip to the Guili Assembly to gather them."
"As expected of you. You still handle things so thoughtfully." Zhongli praised with a smile.
"It's just that I happen to have the connections. Where is the first stop?" Jun Bai asked.
Zhongli thought for a moment. "We will go procure a batch of high-quality Noctilucous Jade."
"Lead the way."
Zhongli led the protagonist group to Yijue Jade Pavilion.
The boss of Yijue Jade Pavilion, with a perfectly measured smile on his stony face, came before the group. "Honored guests, would you like to try your hand at stone gambling? I recently received a new batch of excellent materials."
"Boss, we want one box of high-quality Noctilucous Jade." Paimon uses her social butterfly skills.
"Oh, so the honored guests want to buy Noctilucous Jade. May I ask what grade of Noctilucous Jade you require?"
"Uh, does Noctilucous Jade have different grades?" Paimon scratched her head.
"One box of Candlelit-grade Noctilucous Jade." Zhongli said.
"It seems this gentleman is an expert." The boss laughed. "I just received quite a few high-quality ores from The Chasm. I'll go pick some out for you right away."
"It looks like the boss has quite a lot of stock." Jun Bai said to Zhongli. "When we have a choice, it's better to take the best box."
"From the perspective of ordinary reason, that is indeed correct." Zhongli agreed.
"Then please bring out all your inventory so we can carefully select." Jun Bai said politely to the boss.
"No problem." The boss agreed readily.
"Jun Bai, you really don't need to go to this much trouble." Zhongli said to Jun Bai.
The corner of Jun Bai's mouth twitched. "I knew you were going to…"
"Boss, I'll take this entire batch of Noctilucous Jade." Zhongli declared with overwhelming dominance.
—If he weren't spending Jun Bai's Mora, he would have sounded even more domineering.
[Ha? This isn't right!]
[Boss: This is truly a windfall from the heavens!]
[Jun Bai: Careful or I'll fly up and kick you. So you don't feel heartache when it's not your own Mora being spent, huh?]
Jun Bai covered his face. "I knew it."
"Alrighty! The guest is so generous!"
The boss's face bloomed into a wide smile.
"Zhongli, wait!" Paimon hurriedly stopped him.
"Won't the Rite of Descension use up all these Noctilucous Jades?" Lumine said, looking at the stones the boss had brought out.
"Even if Jun Bai can get reimbursed by the Northland Bank later, we can't waste his Mora like this!" Paimon persuaded.
"Rather than wasting time slowly selecting, it's better to buy them all. This way we can obtain the highest-quality Noctilucous Jade." Zhongli explained.
"That does make sense, but…" Paimon couldn't find a way to refute Zhongli for a moment.
"I don't actually mind the Mora." Jun Bai scratched his cheek. "But dealing with the extra Noctilucous Jade will be troublesome."
"…From the perspective of ordinary reason, that is correct."
"So, will you spend a little time carefully selecting the highest-quality Noctilucous Jade, or shall I?"
"I think using time to save Mora is not a good idea." Zhongli said.
"Understood."
Jun Bai had expected this. He walked to the pile of Noctilucous Jade the boss had brought out, closed his eyes, and casually reached out.
He grabbed one piece of Noctilucous Jade, opened his eyes, and said, "Boss, I'll take this box."
"Didn't you say you wanted the best?" Paimon asked in confusion.
"Zhongli can judge quality with his eyes, but I don't have that ability. So I can only rely on my luck." Jun Bai walked back and shrugged.
[No skill, so he resorts to metaphysics.]
[There's a bit of slacking off in there.]
Zhongli carefully examined the Noctilucous Jade Jun Bai had bought and said, "The quality of this box is the best I have seen on the market so far."
[Huh?]
[Wait, Big Bro Bai, you actually know metaphysics?!]
[What amazing luck.]
[Maybe it's not luck, maybe it's skill?]
"Noctilucous Jade for the Rite of Descension—procurement complete. What's next?" Jun Bai looked at Zhongli.
"Wait, honored guests. These Noctilucous Jades are for the Rite of Descension?" The boss was shocked. "So the rumor that Rex Lapis has passed away—isn't fake?"
"It might be fake, but we are currently preparing the Rite of Descension just in case it's needed." Jun Bai gave an ambiguous answer.
However, to the boss, preparing the Rite of Descension meant that Rex Lapis had truly passed away.
The boss mourned Rex Lapis with deep sorrow, then gave the group a 50% discount on the Noctilucous Jade as his small token of respect for the Archon.
Jun Bai and the others gladly accepted.
Afterward, the group held a brief discussion.
Since all the items Zhongli had pre-ordered from the shops for the Rite of Descension were now ready, they only needed to pay the remaining balance to collect them.
To save time, Jun Bai would go to the shops to pay the final payment and have the items delivered to Yujing Terrace, while Lumine and Paimon would follow Zhongli to procure other things, such as kites and incense.