He Was Too Poor

Having completed his strength certification,

Ning Ze prepared to take Shu Yi home.

After leaving the martial arts school, Shu Yi became somewhat absentminded. Ning Ze led her straight toward a utility pole, yet this silly girl did not even know to dodge it.

Ning Ze stopped, and Shu Yi stopped with him, but she still had not come back to her senses.

Ning Ze tilted his head beneath Shu Yi's line of sight, reached out to support her chin, and raised her face. "What are you thinking about?" he asked softly.

Shu Yi came back to herself and said gently, "You're already a Beginner Warlord. After Force Generation, you can even get close to an Intermediate Warlord's strength. You'll also be going to the Global Martial Arts Headquarters for training. By then, you'll probably only come back once a year, right?"

Ning Ze fell silent for a few seconds before replying, "Yes."

He had only just begun. After becoming a warrior, he had come into contact with Limitless Home, those Secret Manuals, and the Wilderness Area beyond the Base City.

Yet even now, Earth still felt unfamiliar to him.

The path of a warrior had only just begun. He had no idea what lay ahead.

He had heard that the Elite Training Camp possessed many treasures that could accelerate cultivation, as well as the finest teachers and Earth's most gifted young people as opponents.

Perhaps, just as becoming a warrior had changed everything, entering the Elite Training Camp would make the world seem entirely different again.

Until he reached the summit, he had no reason to relax.

Shu Yi bit her lip, lifted her head, and gave him a brilliant smile. "How about we get married?"

"You're not joking?" Ning Ze was somewhat surprised. "Don't you think it's a little early?"

Shu Yi shook her head like a rattle drum, then said firmly, "I've decided! I want to marry you right away!"

Ning Ze put far too much pressure on her. He was nothing like the warriors her grandfather had told her about.

This was what a genius was!

Of course, Shu Hongjing had gotten some things right. Ning Ze's strength was now close to that of an Intermediate Warlord, and he was about to go to the Global Martial Arts Headquarters to cultivate.

By then, countless outstanding girls would crowd around Ning Ze. How could Shu Yi possibly stand it?

What if some vixen lured Ning Ze away? It would be useless even if she hugged her blanket and cried. Her boyfriend was simply too outstanding, leaving her insecure and constantly afraid of losing him.

"Hahaha."

Ning Ze burst out laughing. This was the first time he had seen someone so eager to get married.

"What are you laughing at?" Shu Yi looked somewhat annoyed. "Don't you want to marry me?"

"No. I just remembered something from the past." Ning Ze explained briefly, then said gently, "Don't worry about your family's affairs. I'll help you settle them. And if it comes down to it, I have money, don't I?"

What he meant was that they would not marry yet—at the very least, not in an environment where they were being forced into it. He felt that the best kind of love was one that seeped in silently, coming together naturally when the time was right.

Shu Yi was quite angry. She scrunched up her nose and stormed ahead. After taking two steps, she realized something was wrong—this was the direction of Ning Ze's home. She turned around and tried to head out of the residential complex instead.

Ning Ze watched her make a fool of herself with an amused look. When she returned to his side, she shot him two angry glares. Her adorable expression showed that she was furious but dared not say anything.

Ning Ze did not stop her. He turned around, folded his arms, and watched quietly.

One meter... two meters... five meters... ten meters.

Shu Yi stopped, turned around, and said in a tearful, aggrieved voice, "You didn't even come after me, and you're still laughing! I'm really leaving!" Her voice nearly cracked by the end.

Ning Ze walked over with a grin, pulled her into his arms, and comforted her with a smile. "I never said I wouldn't marry you. Are you really about to cry?"

"Even if we're getting married, we have to tell our families. The older generation likes picking auspicious dates and such. We can't exactly get married in secret, can we?"

"Come on. Let's go to my house for dinner first. After that, you can talk to my mom about getting married, while Dad and I discuss how to solve your family's problem."

At those words, Shu Yi's tearful act came to an abrupt halt. She guiltily buried her head in his chest and murmured, "Ah? I'm supposed to talk to Auntie?"

"Yes, you two talk. You both keep urging us to get married, so I think you'll get along." Ning Ze teased her.

"You really want me to go?" Shu Yi was embarrassed and angry.

Ning Ze was delighted. "Haha, I'm taking you home. You won't even need to bring it up—my mom will definitely ask you. What are you afraid of? Use the same tone you just used on me. I think it'll take less than a week."

"You're making fun of me!" Shu Yi reached out to pinch him in embarrassment and anger.

Ning Ze dodged with a flash, smiling as he said, "Xiao Guai, you've gone bad. You actually dare lay hands on me."

"You made me do it! Stop right there!"

The two of them returned home amid playful scuffling.

Hearing them, Li Wan came out of the kitchen with a smile on her face. Seeing Ning Ze, she was relieved and warmly called out, "Xiao Guai, you're here?"

"Hello, Auntie," Shu Yi replied shyly.

"Perfect. I made a whole table of delicious food. Son, keep Xiao Guai company. I still have dishes cooking in the kitchen," Li Wan said, assigning tasks with practiced ease.

"Just focus on your cooking, Auntie," Shu Yi replied obediently.

Li Wan looked Shu Yi over with smiling eyes before returning to the kitchen.

Ning Qianqian also poked her head out of the kitchen and eagerly asked, "Brother! Did you really earn two billion Huaxia Coins?"

Ning Ze raised a brow and countered, "Are you trying to take 170 million from me?"

"2.17 billion! Dad told me it was two billion!"

Ning Qianqian explained, her eyes filled with admiration and even more disbelief.

She had once thought she was merely a little less talented than Ning Ze. But now, she realized that this was not merely a slight difference—it was the difference between heaven and earth.

He was unbelievably awesome!

Having a brother like this was wonderful!

"Ahem."

"I only heard about it."

Ning Hua walked down the stairs. Looking at Ning Ze's scholarly appearance, he felt a chill in his heart.

If not for his rationality, he would have almost been fooled by this brat.

On the first day of this brat's trip, he had killed an Intermediate Beast General. It was fortunate that Ning Hua had not accepted a sparring match while Ning Ze was at home, or he would have lost long ago.

Especially after his old brothers complained to him that the Wilderness Area had become unbearable lately. Ning Ze fought tirelessly, forcing them to follow along. The number of battles in one trip to the Wilderness Area rivaled several months' worth.

Though he had not seen it himself, he could imagine it. Ning Ze's crazed, cold intensity was familiar to him. Every fight against Ning Ze had been much the same, except Ning Ze had once possessed only the strength of a trainee, while now he was a Warlord.

If he had sparred with this brat back then, this father of his would have been worn down. Just imagining that scene made Ning Hua's scalp tingle.

"Hello, Uncle," Shu Yi greeted him obediently again.

"Shu Yi is here too. Ning Ze's mother is always talking about you."

Shu Yi smiled brilliantly. Thinking about how everyone here approved of her, and how she and Ning Ze were going to get married, made her blush again.

"Alright, Qianqian, take the dishes out! Time to eat!" Li Wan called from the kitchen.

"I'll help you, Auntie." Shu Yi obediently headed toward the kitchen.

Li Wan's smile was like a flower blooming across her face as she looked at her future daughter-in-law. She waved her hand and said, "No need, no need. Just wait."

With one more person at home, dinner became much livelier. Ning Qianqian kept pulling Shu Yi into conversation, while Li Wan asked all sorts of questions.

After dinner,

Ning Hua called Ning Ze to the Audio-Visual Room on the second floor.

"You mastered the third layer of Gale Sword Master?"

"I mastered the Fourth Layer too, but the fifth layer is difficult," Ning Ze replied calmly.

"The Fourth Layer! Then doesn't that mean..." A sharp light flashed in Ning Hua's eyes.

"That's right. I can now add four layers of force, allowing fivefold Force Generation." Ning Ze remained calm.

"Hiss—"

Ning Hua sucked in a breath. Now he understood why his son could kill an Advanced Beast General. With 8,000 kilograms of strength multiplied fivefold, that was 40,000 kilograms—directly exceeding the 32,000-kilogram threshold for an Advanced Warlord. Combined with Microscopic Level movement technique and the support of Mental Power, killing an Advanced Beast General would not be difficult.

Ning Ze frowned slightly. He was not as optimistic as his father.

His skill had run into a bottleneck.

When he had been at the proficiency stage, things had been fine. He only needed 10,000 proficiency points, and every completed third had increased his Force Generation by another multiple.

But after reaching mastery, his proficiency requirement had surged tenfold, becoming 100,000!

Following the previous pattern, he would need to raise his proficiency to 33,333 before he could possibly gain another multiple of Force Generation.

That one additional multiple required more than three times the proficiency of before!

Even if he fought continuously in the Wilderness Area, it would take at least three months. If he wanted to cultivate it to Artistic Conception, it would take nine months.

If the pattern continued, the proficiency required at the Artistic Conception level would become one million! That would take eight years! And that was with proficiency gained through nonstop combat. If he cultivated at home, it would take at least twice as long—sixteen years!

He needed to think long-term. He could not become complacent just because his earlier progress had been fast. In truth, as his strength increased and the pressure in battle lessened, his progress would only become slower.

It was time for him to make a change!

"Dad, why don't you contact Director Dongfang again? Settle the matter of special training. I feel my improvement has started to slow down. I need some assistance, and I also need pressure."

"I'll sound him out first. I'll ask tentatively."

Seeing Ning Ze frown, Ning Hua explained, "It's not that you aren't outstanding enough. It's just that the director said the admissions for this year had already passed. If you're specially recruited, the difficulty will be even higher."

"If you fail the assessment, you can only enter the Basic Training Camp. After getting there, you'd still need to familiarize yourself with the rules. If the timing is bad, you might waste a year instead, which would be more trouble than it's worth. You might as well wait a little longer. After all, the geniuses outside the Elite Training Camp compete on relatively fair terms, and you definitely count as outstanding. Once you enter the Basic Training Camp, everything becomes uncertain. We don't know what things are like there."

Ning Ze frowned deeply. After pondering for a while, he asked, "Dad, are the geniuses there really that strong?"

Ning Hua was slightly stunned. "What do you mean?"

Ning Ze considered his words. "Gale Sword Master is a top-tier Secret Manual. Its Force Generation can reach at most 5.6 times. Nine Heavens Thunder Blade is the strongest Secret Manual, and its Force Generation can reach as high as seven times."

"Even if I disguise myself and use the original Secret Manual's Force Generation, combined with my own five layers of force, I can reach 3.5 times. That's equivalent to the fourth layer of a top-tier Secret Manual!"

"At this level, I've cultivated more than half of the Secret Manual. I'm still 2.1 times away from 5.6, so I shouldn't be considered bad, right?"

"This... probably isn't bad?" Ning Hua was not entirely sure either.

The Elite Training Camp had always been a mystery. Director Dongfang had told him that, over five years, only one person from Jiangnan Base City—one of Huaxia's six major Base Cities—could enter the Elite Training Camp.

It was not that he lacked confidence in Ning Ze. He simply wanted to keep his child from taking unnecessary detours while concealing his true strength.

Ning Ze fell silent for a moment, then said, "Dad, sound him out this time. Tell him I've cultivated Gale Sword Master to the Second Layer. If the competition there is too intense, then I'll cultivate for another two or three months."

"Actually, I hadn't planned to go so soon. Being two or three months late won't matter. I need to earn some money before I go. Otherwise, after entering the Elite Training Camp, I'll only have the first four layers of the Secret Manual. Limitless Martial Arts School not charging money is already generous enough. They won't exactly give me money, will they?"

"The seventh layer of Gale Sword Master costs 30 billion, or 15 billion at half price. The sixth layer costs 20 billion, or 10 billion at half price. Even the fifth layer costs 12 billion, or 6 billion at half price. At that point, it already counts as the latter half of the Secret Manual. Those able to cultivate it are all powerful people. Senior Wu Daozi is short on money too. Being willing to sell the earlier layers so cheaply is already kind enough."

"I need to earn at least enough to buy the Secret Manual before I go. Otherwise, I won't be able to cultivate after getting there, and the secret of how I create exponentially increasing strength will be exposed. That definitely won't work. I trust Limitless Martial Arts School, and I trust heroes, but I can't guarantee that every powerful person will remain calm in the face of such temptation. So I need some cover."

After all, this was a world where strength was supreme. Warriors could enjoy privileges; they were the privileged class. Then what about even stronger warriors? What about War Gods? Did they possess certain privileges among warriors? Were there also people like Fei Ying and Poison Wolf among them?

With that thought, Ning Ze already had his answer. Benefits could sway people's hearts. There were bad people everywhere, and he needed to understand the situation better.

"Also, could you ask whether Director Dongfang can do me a favor while you're at it?"

"Alright. I'll ask in detail about the rules for entering the Elite Training Camp." Ning Hua only replied after several seconds of silence. Their family could afford the fourth layer, but they could not afford the fifth at all.

Then he asked in surprise, "What do you need the director for? Does it have something to do with Xiao Guai? What kind of trouble could her family have gotten into?"

"It's Flagship Group again. Her family bought off Xiao Guai's uncle to set them up. They passed off inferior goods as quality products and cheated a batch of goods through. Now her family's company is facing compensation claims and debts, and its cash flow has broken."

Ning Ze paused briefly, thought for a moment, and continued, "Our family previously found that Flagship Group had some connection to the Wang Family of the Underground Alliance. This time, they must have used that connection to pull strings in the inspection department. The review process for the inferior goods has now been stalled, and they even lied to the Shu Family, saying the review would take a long time. Under pressure from both inside and outside, while also being suppressed openly, the Shu Family is facing bankruptcy."

"I figure ordinary people might be useless. But as one of the Four Giants of Limitless Martial Arts School, handling this would be easy for Director Dongfang. It might take only a word from him."

Ning Hua's face darkened as he shouted furiously, "Four years ago, Flagship Group used the Underground Alliance to suppress our family business. Our family nearly went bankrupt then. That was money I had earned through ten years of hard work, and it nearly went up in smoke. Now they're doing it again?"

Ning Ze's gaze was equally cold. Over the years, Flagship Group had done far more than just those two despicable things.

Not to mention that bastard Zhai Yanko alone. At school, nobody knew how many girls he had bullied. Perhaps some had been willing, but many had been forced, and every case had ultimately been buried.

There were even more incidents where they had deliberately disgusted Ning Ze.

He remembered this grudge. When he had the chance, he would definitely make them pay it back!

Ning Hua suppressed his anger and comforted him. "Don't worry. After dinner, I'll head to the main urban district and ask around. If the director refuses, our family has some connections too. I'll ask some people. No matter what, we'll get justice! I absolutely won't let your future in-laws go bankrupt."

Ning Ze nodded slightly, then opened Limitless Home. The page that appeared still displayed the familiar information.

Name: Ning Ze

Gender: Male

Address: Jiangnan Base City, Huaxia Country

Warrior ID Number: 426123205603016528

Rank: Warlord Level (Beginner)

Contribution Points: 273,085 points (Two-Star Citizen)

Currency Balance: 41,305,781 Huaxia Coins

Ning Ze opened the equipment search and looked up the Light Swan Sword.

Light Swan Sword Series 5, Model A1—Price: 100,000 Huaxia Coins (full price), 50,000 Huaxia Coins (half price, requirement: 1 Contribution Point)

Light Swan Sword Series 5, Model A2—Price: 500,000 Huaxia Coins (full price), 250,000 Huaxia Coins (half price, requirement: 1 Contribution Point)

Light Swan Sword Series 5, Model A7—Price: 60 million Huaxia Coins (full price), 30 million Huaxia Coins (half price, requirement: Two-Star Contribution Points)

Light Swan Sword Series 5, Model A8—Price: 600 million Huaxia Coins (full price), 300 million Huaxia Coins (half price, requirement: Two-Star Contribution Points)

Light Swan Sword Series 5, Model A9—Price: 3 billion Huaxia Coins (full price), 1.5 billion Huaxia Coins (half price, requirement: Three-Star Contribution Points)

With just one look, Ning Ze frowned. He was too poor. After earning so much money, he could only afford a sword.