Chapter 63: Odd Feeling
Ding!
The sudden, crisp chime inside his mind caused Lu Feng to pause for a brief second. He blinked, staring blankly at the dark mahogany paneling of the carriage interior as the system’s floating notifications flickered before his vision.
[Investment: 2 Gold Coins.]
[10,000x Multiplier Applied!]
[Return: 20,000 Gold Coins.]
A wave of quiet astonishment washed over him. Two gold coins spent on a street stall bracelet had instantly netted him a staggering twenty thousand gold coins. It was a massive return for such a trivial gesture.
Gifting the blue jade bracelet to Ye Chenxue had technically counted as an investment in her loyalty and well-being, and the system had rewarded him immediately without hesitation.
Yet, as the initial thrill of the windfall began to settle, a sharp realization crept into his mind, raising a lingering question that had been bothering him for days.
If the system recognized a simple two-gold-coin ornament as a valid investment, what about the extraordinary pills he had given her back at the inn?
Days ago, he had handed Ye Chenxue a bottle of rare, high-grade cultivation pills to assist her training. By all logic, bestowing such valuable martial resources upon a powerful escort should have triggered a multiplier return that dwarfed a mere handful of gold coins. Yet, his mind had remained completely quiet—no system chimes, no notifications, and no rewards added to his inventory.
Lu Feng shifted on his cushioned leather seat, leaning back as the carriage rattled softly over the stone pavement. He turned his gaze toward Ye Chenxue, who sat across from him. Her pale, elegant fingers were lightly tracing the smooth surface of the blue jade bracelet now resting against her wrist.
"Chenxue," Lu Feng spoke up, his voice low enough not to disturb the quiet rhythm of the ride. "The pills I gave you a few days back... have you had a chance to use them yet?"
Ye Chenxue stopped her movements and looked up, her glacial eyes meeting his. She gave a firm, polite nod. "I have, Young Master. I consumed one of the Ice-Blooded Blossom Pills during my morning meditation two days ago."
A faint, rare look of genuine lingering surprise passed over her cold features as she remembered the experience. "The effect was... incredible. The sheer purity and density of the medicinal energy inside a single pill was far beyond anything I have ever encountered. The reward to my cultivation was surprising even to me."
She paused, adjusting the sleeve of her dark robe before continuing. "However, I have refrained from consuming the rest for now. Each pill contains a staggering amount of refined Ice Qi. Absorbing them properly requires absolute focus and several hours of deep, uninterrupted isolation. I decided it would be better to hold off on the remaining pills until we secure a proper, private residence of our own, where I can cultivate in a far more convenient space."
Lu Feng nodded slowly, keeping his expression neutral. "I see. That makes sense. Take your time with them—and if you ever run out or need more, you can always come to me."
"Thank you, Young Master," she replied quietly, bowing her head in gratitude.
While his words sounded calm and reassuring on the surface, deep down, Lu Feng was actively questioning the underlying mechanics of his ability.
She had already taken one of the pills, yet no multiplier notification had ever appeared. Why?
Lu Feng leaned his head against the carriage wall, contemplating the issue carefully. After analyzing the sequence of events, he gradually arrived at a plausible conclusion.
The system’s multiplier likely did not apply to items that originated as system rewards.
The Ice-Blooded Blossom Pills had not been bought with his own hard-earned money or forged by his own hands; they had been granted directly to him as a mission reward by the system itself. If the system allowed its own generated rewards to be endlessly multiplied through reinvestment, it would create an infinite, game-breaking loop.
The two gold coins, on the other hand, were currency he had acquired naturally in the world, which was why the 10,000x multiplier had triggered without a hitch.
Of course, Lu Feng had no way of confirming if this hypothesis was absolute ground truth or if there was some other hidden condition he had yet to discover. He would simply have to test the theory out in different ways once they settled down in the city.
He let out a quiet sigh, closing his eyes to focus his mind inward. Accessing his mental storage, he checked his system inventory.
Sitting within the vast, dark space of his dimensional storage was a staggering fortune. Over thirty thousand bright gold coins were stacked neatly in glowing piles, accompanied by a massive hoard of over nine hundred Ice-Blooded Blossom Pills.
A faint, confident smile touched the corners of his lips. The possibilities lying ahead were endless. With this kind of wealth and resource backing him, he could make far larger and far better investments in the future—and surely, the returns would only grow bigger with time.
Satisfied with his assessment, Lu Feng let his mind relax. Leaving Han Lin and Ye Chenxue to converse in quiet, low tones about the city’s sights, he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, letting the steady sway of the carriage lull him into a peaceful nap.
Time passed smoothly, and the gentle slowing of the carriage eventually pulled Lu Feng back from his sleep. The wooden wheels came to a complete halt, and the driver called out from the front bench to inform them that they had returned to the estate district.
Lu Feng stretched his shoulders, stepping out of the carriage first before assisting Han Lin and Ye Chenxue as they descended onto the quiet street. Reaching into his coin pouch, he handed three bright silver coins to the driver, settling the transportation fee.
As the carriage turned around and clattered away down the road, Lu Feng prepared to walk through the heavy wooden gates leading into Lin Laifu’s guest compound. However, before they could take more than a few steps, Ye Chenxue suddenly halted in her tracks.
Her icy eyes scanned the surrounding courtyard, her hand instinctively resting on the pommel of her sword as her body tightened with subtle vigilance.
She was the first to break the silence, her voice dropping into a razor-sharp whisper.
"This place... it feels odd."