Translator: CinderTL
Heaven-Tier Zone.
In another sprawling estate covering tens of thousands of square meters, within the central villa:
"You mean Jiang Ye?" Zhao Jingxue asked, her voice tinged with surprise as she looked at Zhao Qingli. "He didn't choose Old Chen? Instead, he chose Teacher Zhu?"
Zhao Qingli nodded helplessly. "I only learned just now that Teacher Zhu Honglie owes him a debt of gratitude."
"I see." Zhao Jingxue nodded, though her delicate face remained troubled.
She had already heard that Jiang Ye had secured first place in the Freshman Trials.
While the trials didn't directly assess combat strength, Jiang Ye's victory far exceeded her expectations.
What a pity, Zhao Jingxue thought, shaking her head inwardly. If he had joined Old Chen's faction, his future prospects might have been even brighter.
She understood why Jiang Ye felt obligated to become Zhu Honglie's disciple, given the debt he owed. However, Zhu Honglie's students had never achieved remarkable success.
"Qingli," Zhao Jingxue said, her voice as cold as an icy spring, "visit Old Chen more often from now on. In the Freshman Competition three months from now, strive to break into the top hundred."
"Otherwise, people will look down on you because of your ranking."
"Sister," Zhao Qingli scoffed, "how dare a poor guy like him look down on me?"
"I wasn't talking about Jiang Ye," Zhao Jingxue said, glancing at her.
Zhao Qingli fell silent, at a loss for words.
Zhao Jingxue chuckled softly. "Alright, don't get discouraged. Even though Jiang Ye took first place in the Freshman Trials, he might not even make the top ten in the Freshman Competition."
"If you work hard during this time, you might have a chance to surpass him," Zhao Jingxue added.
"I know," Zhao Qingli said, pouting slightly, but a flicker of determination flashed in her beautiful eyes.
She had already resolved to excel in the Freshman Competition, even without her sister's prompting.
Jiang Ye, of course, remained unaware of the conversation between the Zhao sisters.
He spent the entire day immersed in cultivation.
Time flowed like water.
In the blink of an eye, ten hours had passed.
Whoosh~
Jiang Ye opened his eyes and glanced at his status panel.
Star Martial Advancement Method: Major Success (30%) → (32%)
"A C-tier physique truly makes a remarkable difference," Jiang Ye murmured, a smile playing at the corner of his lips.
He was cultivating the Star Martial Advancement Method, a high-grade yellow tier cultivation technique.
Since breaking through to Major Success, progress had become increasingly arduous.
Even with his previous Upper D-Tier Profound Physique, it took him over half a day to improve by just 1%.
This was to be expected.
After all, reaching Perfection in the Star Martial Advancement Method meant meeting the criteria for a second breakthrough.
If it were truly so easy, Xu Haoran, Wan Yaoyang, and others with Dao Bone Aptitude would have already achieved their second breakthroughs long ago.
In reality, most of them were still approaching the peak of their first breakthrough.
"Fortunately, after upgrading my physique to C-tier, my cultivation speed has doubled."
"With ample cultivation resources, reaching Perfection within three months isn't impossible," Jiang Ye thought to himself.
Every 10% increase in progress would raise the cultivation difficulty.
But with enough money, none of that mattered.
With this in mind, Jiang Ye opened his phone.
"According to the Penglai University Encyclopedia,"
"Cultivation resources exchanged for merit points at the university are over 30% cheaper than market prices," Jiang Ye noted, his anticipation growing.
He opened the Penglai University merit point exchange page.
Low-Grade Profound Martial Ginseng: 5,000 merit points/100g
Mid-Grade Profound Martial Ginseng: 20,000 merit points/100g
High-Grade Profound Martial Ginseng: 50,000 merit points/100g
"Low-grade profound martial ginseng: 5,000 merit points per 100g? That's 50,000 federal currency?" Jiang Ye stared in disbelief.
Something's not right here.
He distinctly remembered paying just over 40,000 federal currency for 100g when he bought it from Zhao Qingli before.
Zhao Qingli's price was even lower than Penglai University's internal channel price?
Jiang Ye, utterly bewildered, continued browsing the other categories.
Low-grade profound Martial Spirit Mushroom: 8,000 merit points per 100g
Low-grade profound Cosmic Spirit Spring: 8,000 merit points per 100ml
Low-grade profound Cosmic Marrow Cleansing Fruit: 10,000 merit points per 100g
Low-grade profound Enlightenment Bodhi: 10,000 merit points per 100g
"The class monitor's prices really are lower," Jiang Ye muttered, scanning the entire list. His expression grew increasingly strange.
The university's prices were already 30% lower than market rates.
Yet Zhao Qingli's prices were even lower than the university's!
Was she selling at a loss, practically giving it away?
Jiang Ye stroked his chin thoughtfully and dialed Zhao Qingli's number.
Beep... The call connected.
"Class monitor, do you still have any stock?" Jiang Ye asked with a smile. "I'd like to buy some more."
"Yes, how much do you need?" came the cool, clear voice from the other end of the line.
"As usual, let's start with five hundred thousand for low-grade profound tier martial ginseng and Martial Spirit Mushrooms."
"Alright."
"Oh, by the way, Class Monitor," Jiang Ye suddenly said, "are you really selling these to me at the internal channel price?"
"Yes," Zhao Qingli replied, puzzled. "Why do you ask?"
"No reason," Jiang Ye said. "I just didn't want you to lose out."
"Uh..."
Zhao Qingli suddenly burst into laughter, but quickly stifled it with a cough. "Don't worry about me," she said. "This is the internal channel price from my family—it's much cheaper than the market price."
In reality, her family's internal channel price allowed her to earn tens of thousands, even over a hundred thousand, from each transaction with Jiang Ye.
She never expected him to worry about her losing money.
I can't let him find out, Zhao Qingli thought to herself.
She knew Jiang Ye was poor. If he discovered she was profiting from him in this way, she'd lose face.
Truthfully, Zhao Qingli didn't care much about the money.
But these were her family's rules.
Unless she actively subsidized the transactions herself—which was obviously out of the question.
To Zhao Qingli, a dignified young lady of the Zhao Family, selling to a poor man at all was already an act of charity.
Fortunately, Jiang Ye didn't press the issue. Instead, he asked, "Class monitor, do you have any Cosmic Marrow Cleansing Fruits or Enlightenment Bodhi?"
He inquired about various cultivation resources, many of which he was seeing for the first time.
The Cosmic Marrow Cleansing Fruit, for example, could catalyze a transformation in one's life level, significantly accelerating progress in cultivating Advancement Methods.
The Enlightenment Bodhi, on the other hand, aided in comprehending combat arts and Cosmic Secret Arts.
These resources were exceedingly rare. Even a low-grade profound tier item could fetch a hundred thousand federal currency.
Three minutes later, the call ended.
"Too bad, the class monitor doesn't have some of the resources I need," Jiang Ye murmured, shaking his head. "Like the Cosmic Spirit Spring and Enlightenment Bodhi."
Still, it was only a small fraction of what he needed. Zhao Qingli had access to most martial dao resources at lower prices.
Is the class monitor really not losing out on this deal? Jiang Ye wondered inwardly, finding it hard to believe.
Regardless, her willingness to sell me these resources at her family's wholesale price is a significant favor, Jiang Ye thought, his mind clear as a mirror. I must repay her properly in the future.
He sat down on the edge of his bed and began his nightly training to temper his Martial Dao Will and endure the trials of pain.
8:00 AM
After finishing breakfast, Jiang Ye arrived at the northeastern corner of Penglai University, standing before a magnificent structure resembling a fluid sculpture.
"The Cosmic Teaching Building," Jiang Ye murmured, gazing at the building.
Constructed from advanced fluid-like cosmic material, the building seemed to float in the air like a liquid sculpture.
On the second floor of the Cosmic Teaching Building, inside a training hall spanning hundreds of meters in length and width, Yun Qing'er, Xu Haoran, and several other freshmen were already waiting when Jiang Ye entered.
"Brother Jiang!" Xu Haoran greeted him.
"Jiang Ye."
"You're the top-ranked student."
"Hello, I'm Deng Yunfei," the other freshmen chimed in, introducing themselves.
Jiang Ye returned their greetings one by one, taking an empty seat.
A moment later, Zhu Honglie, a man with fiery red hair, strode into the classroom.
"Everyone's here," Zhu Honglie said in a deep voice, his tiger-like eyes sweeping across the room. "In that case, let's begin the lesson."
There were fewer than ten students in the entire classroom.
This was one of the benefits of being among the top hundred freshmen: they didn't have to attend large classes and could receive individualized instruction from their chosen teacher.
As this was their first lesson, Zhu Honglie had gathered all the students together.
"All of you are A-grade or higher students, meaning you can choose a high-grade profound tier cultivation technique upon enrollment."
"None of you have made your selections yet, have you?" Zhu Honglie asked, looking at the group.
Everyone nodded, including Jiang Ye.
"Good. Let's begin the selection process now."
Zhu Honglie lightly stomped his foot.
Buzz!
Instantly, the ground beneath his feet began to flow visibly, like liquid.
In moments, the entire training hall transformed into the interior of a scripture pavilion.
"Cosmic material," Jiang Ye marveled.
This was the fluid-like cosmic material, capable of instantly changing shape and even more realistic than holographic projections.
The scripture pavilion was meticulously organized into categories such as swordplay, blade arts, spearmanship, and various other art techniques.
"After your first breakthrough, you can choose a weapon art technique that suits you."
"You may select according to your preferences," Zhu Honglie instructed.
The students quickly rose and began browsing the bookshelves.
Jiang Ye joined them, carefully examining the scrolls.
I've only learned one fist technique and one leg technique, Jiang Ye thought. What I need most now is a weapon art technique that suits me.
Weapon arts undoubtedly inflicted greater damage on the Shadow Clan.
When combined with star weapons, they could unleash unimaginable destructive power.
Upper A-tier students are entitled to one free profound-tier star weapon customization.
Jiang Ye wasn't in a rush to customize his weapon. He wanted to first choose a weapon art technique that suited him best.
"Which one should I pick?"
"Swordplay? Blade arts? Hammer technique?" Jiang Ye pondered.
His time was precious.
Once he made a choice, he would have to commit to practicing it diligently.
Therefore, the initial selection was crucial.
As he browsed the various weapon arts techniques in the scripture pavilion, he found them all decent, yet he felt an inexplicable unease.
"Struggling to choose?" Zhu Honglie's voice startled him.
Jiang Ye turned to see his teacher standing beside him.
"If you're unsure, I recommend spearmanship."
"The spear offers both offense and defense, with more balanced attributes than swords or blades," Zhu Honglie explained. "If you don't have any other preferred weapon arts, the spear is the optimal choice."
Jiang Ye nodded slightly.
He suspected Zhu Honglie's recommendation stemmed from his own mastery of spearmanship, a fact Jiang Ye had already learned from his research.
As a high-ranking professor, Zhu Honglie had mastered all aspects of military strategy, achieving mastery in any given discipline.
However, spearmanship was his most formidable art technique.
"Very well," Jiang Ye nodded.
He swiftly moved to the spearmanship area and began his selection.
Before long, Jiang Ye found a spearmanship technique that caught his eye:
Great Sun Spear Technique
High-grade profound tier. Its techniques resemble the blazing sun piercing the heavens, originating from the first Great Stellar War champion, Bai Long. The spearmanship strikes with the force of sunlight penetrating the vast stellar sea, delivering swift and overwhelming attacks.
(End of the Chapter)
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