When all three of them left Wen’s Miscellaneous & Everything, Caroline and Jason each had an automatic note taking pen, a spell recorder, a magical notebook with two thousand pages but only looked like a small brochure, and a quick documentation reference pointer which is a device that can temporarily store scanned contents of books and can help the reader find the references to certain words and phrases, a handy tool for finding things in thick and non-spell-protected physical books.

Caroline got herself a small and sturdy enchanted dagger for one gold coin, it was a multi-use tool dagger and had a good affinity towards her Xuanli, which also turned out to be something Jianmen was quite impressed by. Jason bought an enchanted drawing board, with which he could even design animations and draw in 3 dimensions. Jianmen on the other hand, bought a ton of raw material from Wen, ranging from scrap metal, raw mineral, crystal shards to small grains of gem. Wen was so happy with Jianmen’s business, that he gave Caroline and Jason some coupons with no expiration date.

“Thank you! Come back next time!” when they left the store, Wen was behind them sending them off with a bow: “And enjoy the festival!”

“What next?” Caroline played with her dagger as she walked by Jianmen’s side: “Are these enough for the audit program?”

“Oh, right before I forget.” Jianmen reached into his cloth pouch and took out two small hollow metal balls with holes on them on the upper half and support on the lower half: “These are for you. It’s good for any condition, even in your room. Just put food and ingredients in, it will cook with the best combination to your taste. It will not recycle the extra ingredients and will just burn the leftover up entirely, so use with caution. Hope they’ll make the school life more tolerable. Just imprint on it with your Xuanli and tell them your taste.”

“Thank you Boss! Early Christmas present? What’s the occasion?” Caroline took the metal ball with a wide smile: “You know… besides Christmas?”

“My students are off to another school to audit. It’d be quite thoughtless and rude of me to not give you anything.” Jianmen smiled and pointed forward at an energy bridge that was shining in light blue and yellow light alternatively: “Let’s head to another ring - we still have a lot of time. Why don’t we go around and see what you might want, maybe something for pleasantries.”

The feeling of walking on the energy bridge was like they were walking on a patch of hardwood floor, and when the color of the light changed, the bridge would gently vibrate and make a soft chiming sound.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“This is the ring of fun stuff.” Jianmen led them through the bridge and onto a floating ring with much bigger and fancier shops and even some small humming birds flying around in the air: “You have designer clothes, magical candies, even some useful weapons if you want. But just like the fun stuff stores in the civilian world, things are overpriced and overly fancy.”

“What are overly fancy? Can you give us some examples?” Jason asked.

“Like a bag with some shiny Siren-sewn patterns and scales from some deep sea magical whales whose name I can’t remember. They cost at least one hundred platinum coins each. And a lot of them don’t even have their internal space enchanted.”

“Damn, it is indeed the same with the civilian world. I remember my mom’s friend spending 12 grand on a designer bag with a bunch of holes. It can’t even hold a box of tampons.” Jason shook his head: “What else? Do we need robes for the program? Or do we need to get an owl?”

“Nah, that’s some British crap, Grant Academy’s mostly American, so just bring your attitude.” Jianmen joked and pointed to a castle-shaped shop: “And that one over there, if you want to feel like a peasant.”

“Where can we feel like we are talented cultivators with a bright future?” Jason jokingly asked.

“Well, that would be the Grant Academy.” Jianmen pointed at another store that looked like a house made from shiny towels and curtains: “Let’s go to that one. Not the fanciest place, but you can still get something you might like.”

“Welcome to the Manimo’s Boutique of Beyond.” when three of them entered the store made from towels and curtains, a tall woman in dark blue satin dress welcomed them with a sultry and ethereal voice: “My name’s Felma, what can I help you with?”

“Hey Felma, do you have anything of reasonable price for a couple of students to the Grant Academy?” Jianmen asked.

“We have formal clothing for social occasions, well made robes for ceremonies. Mind clearing scented candles for late nights and enchanted lamps with an adjustable lighting array. ” Felma did not appear dismayed by the humble ask, and she just led the three of them to the inside of the store: “If any of you are into plants, we also have some Cactus of Resonance from the Mojave Desert, they emit gentle waves of hypnotic energy at night, it can help you sleep if you have trouble sleeping.”

“So it doesn’t work with the candle?” Caroline asked.

“Actually, when you have both of them, the effects will resonate and actually clear your head while making you relax.” Felma smiled politely and said: “We are always cautious of our products’ interactions with each other.”

“Oh, that reminds me. Pick something for the social occasions.” Jianmen went to the side with some suits and robes floating in the air like some invisible mannequins were spinning with them on: “Oh, and don’t worry too much about cost. I can help cover some of it. I won’t want my students to look bad on the dancing floor or social gatherings. If you decided to attend, that is - no pressure.”

“New clothes for Christmas? What is happening to you Boss?” Caroline chuckled and said.

“Well, what can I say? It’s holiday season, and I am feeling generous.”