It was at least hundreds of millions of kilometres away from the urban-rural fringe area where Xero lived to the border of Yunzhou nation. He rarely used the Grand Teleportation Spell over such a long distance.
But at least his custard bun snacks were saved...
Xero returned to his desk and stared reflectively at the sun outside his bedroom skylight. He had been avoiding Uncle Crisis's line of sight this whole time, he could ensure that the Grand Barrier Restriction Spell would continue to work. Luckily, that ass hadn't even had the thought to look at him, against Xero's sheer presence, he almost pissed his pants.
He could now guarantee that this Magical Uncle Crisis wouldn't dare stir up trouble with him again. On the other hand, Master Akira continued to be a problem.
Xero let out a sigh. He really had to find a solution to this or else this would be trouble sooner or later.
But after recent events, he had also gained some inspiration...
It was time for him to buy an aura shielding mask...
The Grand Barrier Restriction Spell was only effective if the people whose aspirations revolved around Xero had never seen his face. Otherwise, even changing his appearance with the Holy Shapeshifting Spell would be of no use. Wearing the mask thus was a good protection for himself.
It wasn't that he hadn't considered this before, he had just been very reluctant to buy one. This was because his pocket money allowance was very limited. Father Zhang, who acted like a shopkeeper, only gave him a measly amount. He would think of all sorts of ways to deduct money.
Deduct two hundred for breaking a fork...
Deduct a hundred for aura leaks...
Deduct fifty for snapping chopsticks accidentally...
In Xero's advanced class, there were twenty-three students. As long as his rank rises from ten to five, a whole five hundred would be directly deducted!
Given the bowls, chopsticks, forks and spoons he broke every month or so, including the furniture he roughed up when he wasn't careful... there wasn't a time where money would actually grow warm in his palm before Father Zhang would use all types of reasons to take it away. Xero even had to think of ways to save money so that he could restock on custard bun snacks...
Gratefully, the new Dao talisman seal along with the dimensional seal was at its strongest for the first five months, so Father Zhang couldn't really deduct at this matter.
And so, these five months would be the period where he would have the most pocket money...
For things like the mask, it was best at hiding his identity.
But there were a huge range of masks, and it was real irritating for Xero, who himself had problems making choices.
While he might of wanted to buy the mask, he had to buy the right one or else it would crumble to pieces the moment it made contact with his skin.
Xero thus went on his computer and opened his browser; he started searching for the item.
He chose two options, "best selling" and "discount." Instantly, the number of available stuff in the cultivation mall was reduced.
First step complete!
Next, he had to use his 24K gold metal laser eyes to pick out the item he wanted to buy.
Images of the mask in the digital cultivation mall was available for observation, so Xero could use his Divine Buddha Eye to analyse and point out the materials with stunning detail.
— Bzz!
Just as he was sweeping his eyes over the items, a private chat suddenly popped up.
He opened the window, the name at the top: "The New Millennium Shop of Masks"
It was very obvious that this shop had installed some kind of script or software to automatically send a message to the user browsing its items. Like some private hospital offering medicine without asking — as soon as you visited their website, they would open private chat windows to boast about their medical skills and how brilliant they were. In the end, you spent money but still hadn't gotten better.
This kind of behaviour really detested Xero.
Just as he was about to close the window, a shop customer service employee quickly typed out a message. "Hold on, friend! Please stay!"
It was quite literally instinct for Xero to send out an ellipsis. "..."
Seeing Xero's reply, the employee was very enthusiastic and spiteful, he replied almost instantly, "It appears this friend is looking for a mask right? I can assure you that the price of our items are the lowest online, and the quality isn't artificial either, we wouldn't scam our customers. What type of mask or you looking for? We have all of the types here! (Please note that this reply wasn't AI and was typed out manually... I type too fast because I'm chronically online, don't judge me!)
"..."
Seeing this, Xero was kind of surprised. And before he could type out a reply, the employee sent another message. "Friend, I understand you may be confused, let me introduce some of our latest and most popular masks!"
Very quickly, the employee sent a image and a follow up message. The picture contained a blue mask which looked a little strange, it had distinct facial features and also seemed to be glowing vivid.
Xero replied, "And this is?"
"Friend, are you terrified of approaching women? Are you looking for your match? We've got your back! With our new latest edition, Blue Mask of Radiance, it can help restore your confidence and boost your esteem!"
Xero: "..."
"Ah... alright then, if you don't like this one I suppose I can offer others...."
Saying this, the employee sent another picture. This time, the mask was gold in colour and top was sharp.
"Friend... do you smell like absolute shit? Do you take showers as rare as you getting laid in your twenties? Well look no further! This Elegant Liu brand cobra spirit male mask uses the latest technology, mixing Chamomile extract with metal and it automatically distributes its powerful smelling aura around your body, so that when you walk in a room, your presence will have scent! Also, the gold is in fact real, it was tested."
"..."
For a long time, Xero didn't reply.
The employee sent Xero a question mark.
"... Is there a mask just for covering the face, made from non-artificial materials?"
This time, it was the employee's turn to send an ellipsis. "..."
Nowadays, the masks developed were through a combination of cultivation spells and science, which were the arch types. It was actually very difficult for you to find online shops who'd sell masks like face covers. Of course, it wasn't as if there weren't any. However, these masks didn't serve any function and were namely just props, and so were very often sold at expensive prices... but Xero wanted something good for cheap...
This obviously was a real headache for the employee. After about seven minutes, the employee sent a image of a slightly roundish ghost mask with markings around it which seemed to have been drawn with a three-dimensional brush. While it looked old, it was actually decent in Xero's eyes.
Xero stared at the image and felt as if this mask had everything he needed!
The most crucial thing was that he used Divine Buddha Eye to identify the material it was crafted from...
Although he wasn't absolutely certain, Xero was nonetheless sure that he had seen black crystal in this ghost mask.
Discovered by the Yunzhou Research Department in 4356, this was the hardest material known to man!