Chapter 36
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Chapter 36: A-Tier Contract
Staring at the cultivation Arts on the recommended list, Zhang Yu grew curious. My friends are currently viewing this? Which of my friends are looking at these martial arts?
Unfortunately, after logging in with his real name, Zhang Yu realized that most of his real-life classmates were only friends on shopping websites. There were too many of them to pinpoint who was browsing these cultivation arts.
“Nine Heavens Eight-Department Talismans?”
Recalling his 60-point score on the Dao Arts exam, Zhang Yu immediately clicked on it, only to be scared off by the 98,000 ¥ price tag.
Talismans aren’t cost-effective. I’ll hold off on those for now.
Zhang Yu went straight to the rankings to see what the most popular cultivation arts were.
“Deluxe New Revised Edition of the Evergreen Longevity Art, Health Preservation and Disease-Eliminating Art, The Brick King’s Detailed Guide to the Excavator Palm and Crane Claw, Roadster Legs Uncensored Version, Elevator Leap Practical Training Guide…”
Zhang Yu was slightly taken aback to see these cultivation arts being sold to those at the Qi Refining Stage.
The top sellers were naturally those focused on longevity and strengthening the body. Zhang Yu understood this perfectly. After all, who would not want to live a few more years? As for eliminating disease, that made even more sense. Hospitals were expensive, so cultivating to endure an illness was a much more cost-effective solution.
The next bestsellers were either strength-based martial arts that mimicked the strength of excavators and cranes, or light-body cultivation arts modeled after sports cars and elevators… In short, they all seemed like techniques for the poor-working class.
However, after a moment’s reflection, Zhang Yu understood again.
Compared to high school students like him, the vast majority of Qi Refining Stage cultivators were laborers. This was especially true for the high-income earners at construction sites, factories, delivery services, and in security who could do the work of dozens of people alone.
For them, the Excavator Palm, Crane Claw, and Roadster Legs were tools for making money. They were the cultivation arts that allowed them to make a living and secure their place in Kunxu.
To them, these were the only truly useful techniques, far more reliable than anything for breaking through cultivation realms or improving their cultivation level.
Having realized this, Zhang Yu adjusted his search filters, changing the suitable age range to between eighteen and twenty.
The results instantly shifted to things like the Magic Score Boosting Strategy, the Basic Eight Departments Talisman General Dictionary, and the Simplified Thirty-Six Forms of Body Strengthening…
Looking these over, Zhang Yu felt that the bestselling cultivation arts were all too basic and simple.
Looks like these are all being bought by students from ordinary high schools.
Zhang Yu then filtered by cultivation art grade.
According to what he had learned at school, cultivation arts were divided into five grades, which were Basic-Grade, Advanced-Grade, Expert-Grade, Military-Grade, and Immortal Sect-Grade.
Rumor had it that Immortal Sect-Grade arts had even finer subdivisions, but Zhang Yu did not know the details. After all, Military-Grade and Immortal Sect-Grade arts were not for ordinary people to practice. The former required joining the military or government to gain permission to cultivate, while the latter demanded entry into a Great Sect.
Zhang Yu estimated that the Cosmic Orbit Energy Gathering Method he possessed was Advanced-Grade. As for the Heavenly Martial Heart Refining Technique, he guessed it was Expert-Grade.
“Buzhou Mountain-Shrinking Sutra, Xinyuan Great Hand Seal, Zhoutian Star Sword, Bright Heart Sutra…”
Zhang Yu’s gaze swept over the Expert-Grade Cultivation Techniques, his eyes gleaming with envy before he could only shake his head helplessly. Expert-Grade arts have higher cultivation thresholds and more requirements… The usage rights for the cheapest one cost tens of thousands. I really can’t afford that.
Unless the school’s contract really offers me a huge sum.
Zhang Yu’s gaze swept over the Advanced-Grade Cultivation Arts again. He thought to himself, As for the Advanced-Grade arts, I can consider buying a few once the contract negotiations are done.
Especially a Mental Cultivation Technique that suits me. It could help me reach Dao Heart Level 3 faster so I can begin practicing the Heavenly Martial Heart Refining Technique.
After browsing the shopping platform for a while and adding several promising cultivation arts to his cart, Zhang Yu was about to log out for now.
Just then, he noticed a change in the recommended items section.
Your competitor is placing an order for the Magic Score Boosting Strategy, the Basic Eight Departments Talisman General Dictionary, and the Heavenly Demon Parasitic Law…
Holy shit!
So this is how you abuse big data? Provoking a cultivation arts arms race between users to stimulate their desire to spend?
Wait… what in the world is the Heavenly Demon Parasitic Law?
Your competitor is placing an order for the Heavenly Demon Parasitic Law… Who could resist clicking on that? Even a damn dog passing by would have to stop and take a look.
Zhang Yu clicked on it and discovered that the Heavenly Demon Parasitic Law was an Expert-Grade Cultivation Art that combined abilities such as flesh and blood regeneration, organ transplantation, flesh devouring, Qi-Blood adaptation, and human parasitism.
In essence, this was a Martial Arts technique that allowed one to plunder the physical bodies of others.
As a veteran of twenty years reading legitimate web novels in his past life, Zhang Yu had an immediate thought upon seeing the name and description.
Could anyone who buys this Cultivation Art possibly be a good person?
My competitor? Which fiendish cultivator is actually practicing the Heavenly Demon Parasitic Law?
Is this competitor even real? Could this website just be making things up?
Zhang Yu felt a twinge of doubt, but considering the myriad of bizarre powers and methods prevalent in the World of Kunxu, he felt it was not entirely impossible.
Zhang Yu checked the price. The right to use the Heavenly Demon Parasitic Law cost a full 300,000¥. Among the people he knew, he could only think of a handful who were qualified to cultivate such an art. Adding the condition of a “competitor”…
Qian Shen?
Or He Dayou?
Zhang Yu immediately felt that He Dayou was a prime suspect. After all, Teacher Lei Jun had replayed their battle video repeatedly, and Zhang Yu remembered the hostile look He Dayou had given him.
I need to be careful around these rich kids.
To actually cultivate the Heavenly Demon Parasitic Law… what a wolf in sheep’s clothing!
But soon, he saw the recommendation section below the purchase page, where a message read, “Those who viewed this Cultivation Art also viewed the Anti-Parasitic Law, Divine Purification Art, Heavenly Demon-Slaying Scroll…”
Seeing these highly targeted names, Zhang Yu immediately began to doubt his earlier judgment.
Could this platform really be pulling a scam to trick me into buying?
Based on his understanding of the World of Kunxu, companies in this world were absolutely capable of such tactics.
For now, he decided to just keep the matter in mind. Before logging out of the platform, however, he thought for a moment and added the Anti-Parasitic Law, Divine Purification Art, and Heavenly Demon-Slaying Scroll to his favorites.
A moment later, he reopened the platform and added the Heavenly Demon Parasitic Law to his favorites as well.
Heh, I hope that guy who ordered it also sees that ‘your competitor’ is checking out the Heavenly Demon Parasitic Law, Anti-Parasitic Law, Divine Purification Art, and Heavenly Demon-Slaying Scroll…
Another night passed in the blink of an eye.
Zhang Yu’s Cosmic Orbit Energy Gathering Method advanced again, reaching level 8 (95/160).
After a day of diligent cultivation, his Magic Power had also risen accordingly to 12.1.
***
The next day.
On the campus of Songyang High School.
Zhang Yu received a friend request from a user with a dumbell for a profile picture.
“Hello, Zhang Yu. I’m Lan Ling from the Second-Year Demonstration Class and also the Head of the Student Council’s Physical Education Department. I’d like to discuss something with you. Please add me as a friend.”
After Zhang Yu accepted the request, Lan Ling quickly sent another message.
“Hello, Student Zhang Yu. To promote the development of the cultivation in society, support our school’s students in reaching new heights on their cultivation journey, and to help them achieve more outstanding results, we are honored to invite you to discuss a potential contract. This is based on the principles of voluntary cooperation and mutual benefit, and we hope to establish a deeper, value-added partnership…”
The message scheduled a meeting for noon that day in the Student Council office to discuss the contract.
So, it’s finally here?
That noon, Zhang Yu washed his face, combed his hair, and tidied his clothes before heading to the Student Council office.
He had just knocked when the door opened to reveal another door behind it.
Wait… it was not another door that appeared, but a person who looked remarkably like one.
A student with a door-like build opened the way for Zhang Yu, smiling as he stepped back. “You must be Student Zhang Yu, right?”
Zhang Yu glanced at the dumbbell clutched in the door-like person’s hand and returned the greeting. “Student Lan Ling?”
As they exchanged greetings, a burst of laughter erupted from behind the door-like young man, followed by the sound of pounding footsteps.
“Is Zhang Yu here?”
A young man who had not even bothered to put on his shoes leaped from the sofa and sprinted toward Zhang Yu, grabbing both his hands excitedly. “Hahaha, I heard yesterday that Songyang High School had produced another peerless genius. I have been eagerly awaiting your arrival!”
With that, he began pulling Zhang Yu inside.
Lan Ling followed and made the introduction. “Student Zhang Yu, this is our Student Council Vice President, Zhou Chechen.”
Zhang Yu recalled the name. This seemed to be the top student of the Second-Year class, whose name, like Zhang Yu’s own, had become a common sight around the school after the Monthly Exam.
Zhou Chechen pulled Zhang Yu onto the sofa, and they sat side by side.
Feeling the firm grip on his hand and the admiring, excited, and thrilled gaze in Zhou Chechen’s eyes, Zhang Yu’s heart sank.
Holy crap, is he a fencer?
[Note: “Fencing” (击剑, jījiàn) is a Chinese internet slang term for being gay. It is a pun based on its similar pronunciation to words associated with homosexuality.]
Zhou Chechen reached out, made a grasping motion in the air, and a stack of documents flew from the desk, landing neatly in his hand.
“After reviewing your result, I immediately looked into your background.”
“I was surprised to find that debt collection calls about you had even reached the school.”
Zhang Yu’s heart sank further. Is he going to use my debt to pressure me?
Instead, Zhou Chechen waved the documents in his hand and chuckled. “After hearing about it, I immediately had someone buy out all your debt.”
“This covers debt from over a dozen platforms, for a total of 700,000 ¥. It’s all here now.”
“How could a prodigy from our school be burdened by debt? If word got out, other high schools would think Songyang High School was so poor that we could not even invest in our own students.”
As he spoke, he unleashed a burst of his magic power, turning the debt documents to ash.
As Zhang Yu stared in astonishment, Zhou Chechen continued, “From now on, you will not have to make monthly debt repayments.”
“I will take responsibility for this 700,000-credit debt for now. No interest will accrue, and you do not need to rush to repay it.”
“From now on at Songyang High School, just focus on your studies and cultivation. After you graduate from university and join a Great Sect, you can repay me gradually once you start earning money.”
Zhang Yu looked at him in disbelief. He had not expected the Vice Student Council President to resolve his most pressing debt problem so decisively.
Zhou Chechen then picked up another document and began to explain, “This is the A-tier contract the President and I prepared for you.”
“It includes a monthly cultivation allowance of 50,000 ¥. You will also receive a 20 % discount on all school resources, such as Spirit Roots, meditation chambers, the Spirit Realm, talismans, the cafeteria, and potions. We have also arranged a private dorm room for you.”
As Zhang Yu listened to the list of generous terms, his heart began to race. He felt an overwhelming urge to sign the contract on the spot.
