He took a sip of tea, his eyebrows raised as he looked at the disciple of the Danyang Sect standing respectfully beside him.
"This tea wasn't stored here by me, but it tastes good."
"Mr. Lu, this tea wasn't indeed stored here by you before. There isn't much of that tea left, and Uncle-Master Liao Wu took it all back. He said he wanted to keep that rare tea for himself to savor slowly."
The disciple seemed a bit embarrassed. After Lu Heng took a few more sips, he quickly refilled his cup.
"This is the tea seedling you gave to Uncle-Master Liao Wu, and it was planted in the back mountain of the Danyang Sect.
Later, Uncle-Master Liao Wu had people specially process it using the tea-frying techniques you provided.
This tea also sells very well in our shop, and it's always in short supply."
Before long, upon hearing the news of Lu Heng's arrival, Du Feng personally rushed to the shop.
"Oh my, it's been a long time since I've seen Mr. Lu. Where have you been busy? I saw your young disciple a while ago, but that child seems to have gone out for training."
As soon as he entered the tea room, Du Feng began chatting enthusiastically with Lu Heng.
"I'm so thirsty," Du Feng said, grabbing an empty water cup from the table and pouring himself a cup of tea. After gulping it down, he suddenly felt the heat. "Hot, hot, hot! This tea is hot. Do you have any cold tea for me?"
"Yes, this disciple will get it for you right away."
"Don't you alchemists have fire-elemental spiritual abilities? Why are you still afraid of heat?"
"Alas, I just feel my tongue is a bit hot. When I'm thirsty, it's better to drink cold water."
"Are there any crystals left in stock at the shop recently?"
Lu Heng wasn't sure how many crystals he had given Du Feng and the others. Since he handed over the management of the entire shop to the Danyang Sect, he hadn't kept track of these details.
Fortunately, the Danyang Sect kept accounts and had no intention of deceiving him.
"I'll go ask them about it. I can't quite remember, but everything is recorded in the account books, so there won't be any mistakes."
Then, Du Feng called out, "Go find the latest account books. Also, where is Du Yichen? He hasn't shown up all morning."
"Elder Du, Senior Brother Du is out discussing matters with someone. He'll likely be back later. Shall we go find him?"
"No need. Bring the account books first. Who is in charge here when Du Yichen is not present?"
"Disciple Sun Jinming is temporarily acting in charge." A young man walked in carrying several account books, respectfully placing them on the table in front of Lu Heng and Du Feng, then stepped back two paces, waiting for Du Feng to ask further questions.
If these ancient people were learned and courteous, this gentlemanly demeanor was indeed pleasing to the eye.
This excellent tradition had been abandoned by the people of Blue Star before the apocalypse. Therefore, during holidays, many people wore ancient clothing and walked on the streets, but they lacked this inherent refined temperament.
Lu Heng couldn't help but look a few more times. When he first entered this world in the early days of the apocalypse, he had considered staying here permanently.
Life here was truly what modern society yearned for, except for the less ideal sanitary conditions and comfort.
"Hmm, there aren't many crystals left here."
Du Feng had only kept a few for emergencies, and the rest were handed over to Du Yichen.
After flipping through the account books to check the inventory, Du Feng closed them.
"Take these. Tell Du Feng to find me when he returns."
Dismissing the person, Du Feng poured himself a cup of cold tea.
"Indeed, there aren't many left, only a little over three hundred remaining."
"Then take these. I've been too busy to remember, but perhaps we can change the way our crystals are exchanged."
Lu Heng no longer intended to supply these crystals to this place indefinitely. Firstly, the zombies in the apocalypse had been effectively controlled.
Seeing hope for the apocalypse to return to its former state, he had also changed his mind about abandoning his life in the apocalypse. He wanted to lead humanity to re-establish order in the apocalypse and restore their former way of life.
Another reason was that Lu Heng no longer had anything he wished to exchange in this world.
By developing Jinyang City and then infinitely replicating items within Jinyang City, he had now become incredibly wealthy, richer than anyone else on the Divine Yuan Continent.
This also made him lose the desire to continue providing crystals here.
These crystals were obtained by humans through arduous battles, and they could not be infinitely replicated like demon cores. The zombies in the apocalypse also had a limited number.
Although zombies appeared in astonishing numbers during the apocalypse, and swarms of them would emerge everywhere, zombies could not reproduce on their own. Apart from infecting other creatures, they could not increase their population.
Therefore, crystals are a finite resource, and they become fewer with use.
In the future, as the zombies are cleared out and humanity on Blue Star recovers, if the new generation does not have crystals, they will not be able to evolve into ability users.
Human lifespans and physical functions will revert to their original levels, so crystals will become very precious on Blue Star.
Considering this, Lu Heng thought it best to have Du Feng and the others change the method of obtaining crystals.
He did not intend to supply crystals to this world indefinitely.
"What... what do you mean?" Du Feng, having just swallowed a mouthful of cold tea, looked at Lu Heng, not understanding.
"I mean, I don't have many of these left either. Would you consider changing the exchange method, perhaps by increasing the price or something."
"What's going on?"
In Du Feng's impression, crystals and demon cores should be the same type of item, both obtained from some kind of animal.
It was just that the crystals Lu Heng brought out were never seen on the Divine Yuan Continent.
By consuming crystals, they knew that the function of crystals was the same as demon cores. Besides triggering human attributes, they also contained a trace of energy.
But it was hard for him to imagine why, if demon cores could be obtained from large demonic beasts after killing them, Lu Heng's crystals were said to be running out.
He could tell that Lu Heng meant that these crystals might become unavailable in the future.
"Did the beasts that produce these crystals go extinct?"
"More or less. However, there are still some, but they are hard to find now."
Du Feng pondered for a moment. He could roughly estimate how many crystals had been distributed through him.
Logically, even if such an item was rare, it shouldn't have reached a point where it could no longer be supplied.
What kind of animal could be hunted to extinction?
Or perhaps this animal was never numerous, and Lu Heng, by chance, obtained some, making it difficult to encounter animals with crystals in their bodies in the future?
Lu Heng picked up his teacup and took a sip, looking down. Du Feng's thoughts were quite comprehensive, but Lu Heng did not explain further.
In any case, they couldn't find crystals on the Divine Yuan Continent. Since they didn't belong to this world in the first place, it was only natural that they would no longer appear in the future.