After leaving the courtyard, Wang Dong'er led Xiao Xiao, Xi'er, and Xu Xiaoyan along the small path at the edge of the Star Dou Great Forest.
Since she had just agreed to treat them to a meal, but her pockets were now cleaner than her face—those ten thousand gold coins had all been squandered by Big Dad and Second Dad—she couldn't actually take her friends out for a meal without paying.
Wang Dong'er stopped in her tracks, raised her wrist, and activated her identity bracelet.
While she searched through the virtual interface of the bracelet, she spoke to the three people beside her.
"Wait a moment, let me check the academy's mall system in the bracelet. I remember that in the mall, our Contribution Points can be directly exchanged for gold coins used in the outside world, in addition to being used for Cultivation resources and Heaven And Earth Treasures."
As expected, Wang Dong'er quickly found the currency exchange option at the bottom of the mall.
The exchange rate was clearly marked: one hundred Contribution Points for ten thousand gold coins.
Looking at this exchange rate, Wang Dong'er couldn't help but feel a bit curious.
She had already left that Shrek Academy suspended thousands of meters in the sky.
Back when she was in the academy, no matter what she exchanged in the mall, as long as she clicked confirm, it wouldn't be long before a mechanical device from the academy's logistics department delivered the item precisely to the classroom.
But now, she was down on the surface of the Douluo Continent. If she clicked exchange now, how exactly would the gold coins be delivered to her? They couldn't just appear out of thin air from the bracelet, could they?
"I'll try exchanging one hundred Contribution Points first."
Hearing Wang Dong'er's words, Xiao Xiao, Xi'er, and Xu Xiaoyan all crowded around, staring curiously at the screen on Wang Dong'er's wrist. They also wanted to see how the academy planned to handle this.
Wang Dong'er decisively pressed the exchange confirmation button.
[Ding! One hundred Contribution Points deducted. Successfully exchanged for ten thousand gold coins! Delivery is being arranged for you; please wait where you are.]
Seeing this prompt, the four of them simply stood there and waited.
They didn't have to wait for long.
Less than three minutes had passed.
"Whoosh—!"
Suddenly, a sharp sound of something breaking through the air came from the sky above them!
The group quickly looked up and saw a small silver light piercing through the thick clouds at an incredible speed, diving straight toward their location!
As the light drew closer, they could see clearly that it was actually a palm-sized, streamlined, small flying machine!
The flying machine hovered in front of Wang Dong'er.
With a "click," a storage hatch beneath the machine opened, and a heavy cloth bag fell directly into Wang Dong'er's hands.
After delivering the ten thousand gold coins into Wang Dong'er's hands, the small flying machine didn't linger. A pale blue flame erupted from its tail as it soared into the sky again at high speed, vanishing back into the clouds in the blink of an eye.
Seeing this, the four of them looked at each other, seeing the shock in one another's eyes, and then exclaimed how amazing it was.
"As expected of our academy; these methods are simply god-like!"
Xu Xiaoyan couldn't help but praise.
With money in hand, her confidence naturally grew.
Wang Dong'er put the ten thousand gold coins into her Storage Soul Tool, clapped her hands, and looked at the three of them with a smile.
"Alright, the funds are here. Where do you want to go to eat?"
Xu Xiaoyan seemed to remember something at this moment, and she looked at Wang Dong'er and Xiao Xiao to ask.
"Dong'er, Xiao Xiao, I heard that down on the Douluo Continent, there's another academy with the exact same name as ours?"
Xi'er nodded from the side and said.
"There is indeed. That's the Shrek Academy that has existed on the Douluo Continent for ten thousand years. To be honest, before I was recruited into our current academy, I even went to sign up for that Shrek Academy's entrance exam."
Xi'er spread her hands and gave a helpless smile.
"But unfortunately, I didn't pass the assessment and failed to get into that Shrek Academy."
Xu Xiaoyan's eyes darted around, and she immediately made a suggestion.
"In that case, why don't we just go and check out that Shrek Academy on the ground?"
"To see what the difference is between that Shrek Academy and our Shrek Academy?"
Hearing Xu Xiaoyan's words, Wang Dong'er, Xiao Xiao, and Xi'er couldn't help but smile at each other.
After hearing this, they all nodded in agreement.
Among the four present, Wang Dong'er and Xu Xiaoyan were unfamiliar with the way. Only Xi'er, who had taken the exam before, and Xiao Xiao, who had originally planned to sign up there, knew the specific location of that Shrek City.
So, with Xi'er leading the way, the four girls followed the main road toward Shrek City.
Entering the tall city gates, the four of them looked around.
It had to be said that as a famous major city on the continent, it was indeed quite prosperous once they were inside.
The broad streets were bustling with traffic, shops lined both sides, and Spirit Masters in various styles of clothing could be seen walking everywhere.
The four of them browsed the shops while looking for a suitable restaurant.
After wandering for a while, they reached a high-end commercial street, and their attention was drawn to a magnificently decorated restaurant.
This restaurant looked quite nice and had a lot of style.
"Let's go with this one."
Wang Dong'er pointed to the restaurant and led the three of them inside.
As soon as they entered the lobby, a well-dressed, smiling waiter immediately spotted them and hurried over to attend to the four of them.
The waiter led the four of them to a window seat in the lobby and then handed over an exquisitely made menu.
Just as they were looking at the menu and discussing what to order...
The waiter immediately recommended with a smile.
"Young Misses, if you aren't sure what to eat, why not try one of our restaurant's signature dishes?"
The waiter introduced it mysteriously.
"This signature dish is made by our chef using the prime cuts of a pure hundred-year-old Spirit Beast! Not only is the taste delicious, but it's also highly nourishing for a Spirit Master's body!"
Hearing the waiter's introduction, Wang Dong'er and the others looked at each other.
Hundred-year Spirit Beast essence?
During their eight months at the floating Shrek Academy, any of the free ingredients they ate daily in the cafeteria was superior to what this so-called hundred-year Spirit Beast could offer.
In their eyes, this was really nothing special.
However, they still nodded and agreed.
Although the age of this ingredient certainly couldn't compare to the school's meal standards, it was still the restaurant's signature dish.
Since it could be a signature dish, the taste should be quite good; they would just treat it as trying something new.
"Alright, then let's order this signature dish and a few side dishes as well."
Wang Dong'er said.
The restaurant's service was indeed fast, and before long, all the dishes were brought out one after another.
Finally, two waiters carefully carried an exquisitely shaped porcelain bowl and placed it in the center of the table.
As soon as the porcelain lid was lifted, a rich aroma of meat wafted toward them.
Wang Dong'er was just about to pick up her chopsticks and tell everyone to start eating.
When she saw that the waiter who took their order hadn't left, but was standing by the table with a professional smile, saying...
"Young Misses, all your dishes have been served. The price for this signature dish is five hundred thousand gold coins."
"..."
As soon as the waiter finished speaking, the atmosphere at the table instantly froze.
Wang Dong'er's hand holding the chopsticks froze in mid-air, and Xiao Xiao and Xu Xiaoyan also looked up in disbelief.
Xi'er, sitting on the outside, widened her eyes.
She suddenly turned her head to look at the smiling waiter, then back at the signature dish in the center of the table.
"What did you say?!"
Xi'er spoke out in shock.
"For this thing, you're charging us five hundred thousand gold coins?!"
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A/N:
I hope all of you are enjoying this story so far. I would appreciate some Power Stones if you can spare any. Leave a review if you like the story. Thank you.