"Yeah...somewhat," Yi Chen answered with a soft smile.

"Don’t push yourself too much. It’s only normal to face such hurdles. Most of the time, the answers just come to you when you stop worrying about them." Gao Zhen suggested with an understanding smile.

"Mhmm," Yi Chen nodded at her words and pointed towards his tent, "Let’s go and eat then. I’m starving just the same as you."

"That’s a relief, I thought you had ditched me tonight and already ate along the way," Gao Zhen joked with an aggrieved expression.

Seeing her expression, Yi Chen couldn’t help but chuckle and said, "Haha, as if I’ll ever do that. It’s the only time we can relax our minds together."

His words caused Gao Zhen’s lips to curl into a smile, "That’s true...Now let’s hurry before my stomach grumbles, and I embarrass myself here."

"No worries. For the unexpected delays, I’ll prepare an extra-large serving for Madam Gao today." Yi Chen said with a chuckle as they made their way to his tent.

"That’s only right. I’ll accept nothing less!" Gao Zhen said with a snort, feigning a sense of entitlement while tagging along.

Thanks to this short exchange, his mood had greatly recovered, and he began the meal preparation with a brighter expression.

While the fish were being roasted, Yi Chen was continuously thinking of something with a subtle frown on his face.

Finally taking a deep breath, he turned towards Gao Zhen, hesitancy evident on his face, "Madam Gao..."

"Yes?" Gao Zhen answered as a subtle frown formed on her face when she noticed Yi Chen’s appearance.

"Actually...I’m out of all my spirit stones, so can Madam Gao lend me a few of them...t-twenty...no, just fifteen high-grade ones should suffice. I promise I’ll return it all to you later."

If possible, he didn’t want to resort to asking her for monetary favours...but since he needed to explore the entire landmass, he really needed a quick way to replenish his Qi.

He had long run out of his own Qi Absorption pills and had been relying on Qi Absorption pills given to him by Gao Zhen for a few months, but her stock too got depleted eventually because of his intense usage while dealing with the Glacial soldiers.

As a result, he had no other option but to rely on spirit stones to recover his Qi and use Qi more conservatively.

Luckily, he had more than enough to enter the Ninth Meridian Refinement Stage and didn’t face any shortage thanks to the huge reward given to him by Zhou Mei’s father.

However, even that amount wasn’t endless.

It was something he was forced to realise today when he saw he had only seven high-grade spirit stones left in his storage ring.

Hearing Yi Chen’s words, Gao Zhen opened her mouth in realisation and said, "Ah, so it was just that. Sure, take out your card."

As she finished those words, her storage ring glimmered subtly, and the next instant, a golden card appeared in her hand.

"Hm? Is there a problem?" Gao Zhen asked with a frown, seeing Yi Chen’s unresponsive state.

"N-No, there’s no problem," he answered, not expecting things to go so smoothly, and glancing at the golden card in Gao Zhen’s hands, he took out his own from the storage ring.

It was something given to him by Gao Zhen back when they had first met, but eventually, he ended up just transferring all the spirit stones from it to his storage ring, not finding it of much use.

Therefore, when he took out the golden card, a trace of confusion appeared in his eyes, clearly implying how lost he was.

Gao Zhen immediately noticed his uncertain expression and chuckled, "It seems Young Master Chen has yet to receive spirit stones from another card user..."

"Well...yes, I haven’t been using it a lot." Yi Chen answered while scratching the back of his head.

"I figured," she answered with a wide grin, controlling her urge to let out another chuckle.

The next second, she lifted the card in her hand to her chest level and said, "It’s quite simple, actually. One just needs to think of the amount they wish to transfer and then tap the other party’s card.

It saves you from the hassle of counting it, like how it is when placed inside the storage ring. Let me show you."

When she finished her words, she stretched her hand carrying the golden card towards Yi Chen’s card and gently tapped it.

*Tap*

Both cards glowed for a brief second, making both Yi Chen and Gao Zhen feel a momentary pull before this feeling disappeared.

"And just like that, it’s done. I’ve transferred a thousand high-grade spirit stones, thinking that it should suffice until we’re out of this place. However, if it doesn’t, you can ask me for more..."

"!!!"

Yi Chen’s eyes widened at the number, and he couldn’t help but ask in shock, "O-One thousand?"

Just ten high-grade spirit stones were equivalent to a hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones, so the amount she just transferred amounted to ten million of those stones!

Although Gao Zhen understood the reason behind Yi Chen’s shock, she still found the whole situation very amusing.

Completely ignoring his reaction, she asked while feigning a confused expression, "It’s not enough, right? Here."

Before her words could properly register in Yi Chen’s mind, he felt a subtle tap in his card the very next instant.

*Tap*

"That should make it two thousand. If it’s still not enough, then you can ask me for more later, alright?" Gao Zhen stated while trying hard to control herself from laughing.

"T-This...This..." Yi Chen became speechless for a couple of seconds, "I-I can’t! This is too much! Let me giv-"

Before Yi Chen could complete his words, Gao Zhen’s next words hit him.

"Oh, and as for returning it to me later, you can forget about that. Even though all my savings were used up in getting that transportation artefact, I still have a secret stash with me..."

A bright smile formed on Gao Zhen’s face.

"Still! I can’t accept such a large amount!" Yi Chen still refused adamantly.

Although he felt extremely grateful that she was willing to give him this many spirit stones, it was too huge a favour to accept.

"Mhmm..." Gao Zhen hummed while pursing her lips, before saying, "Then how about this? After we’ve cleared this tomb and are out of here, you can just return the balance spirit stones to me. Isn’t that a great idea?"

Seeing that Yi Chen was about to refute once again, she cut him off before that and continued.

"Accepting back the money you’ve just lent is considered extremely unlucky in the world of merchants...Surely, Young Master Chen won’t force me to accept back the spirit stones, right?"

She asked while innocently blinking her eyes at him.