New Cash Cow

Shuguang Avenue lay in Ancient City's bustling Shuguang Commercial District and was also the center of administration and education.

No. 3 at one end housed the Ancient City Government offices, while No. 133 at the other was the Ancient City Sports Activity Center, where all kinds of major sporting events were held.

Chaser Gymnasium in particular had first-class sports facilities and training programs, making it extremely popular with the public.

After breakfast, seeing Xia Qin off to work, and playing a couple of games, Lu PingAn came here to meet his old cash cow and look for new ones.

"You're too slow! It's already nine! If you hadn't come soon, we would've left."

The moment he stepped onto the track, someone blocked him at the entrance.

The not particularly tall young man was drenched in sweat. His red compression shirt outlined his well-developed muscles, while his spiky hair stood straight up. Just looking at him made one feel hot.

Lei Huo Ren, twenty-four, was not a student. He was a member of Xia Qin's team, a subtly notable figure whom others called "a very fast man."

". . . We didn't agree on a specific time, did we?"

"If we didn't agree on a specific time, then naturally the earlier, the better! Time is precious, especially for young people like us. How could you even sleep? We got here at four. If you'd come any later, we wouldn't have been able to keep running and would've had to go home."

They had arrived at four? Waited for more than five hours? And kept training the entire time? Wasn't this cash cow a little too disciplined?!

While looking forward to tomorrow's returns, Lu PingAn looked at the eager Lei Huo Ren and had nothing more to say. He cast the buff.

Investment successful. Life Points -1.

Before the system prompt could explain further, the disciplined kid shot off and vanished in a blur.

Lu PingAn sighed helplessly. This cash cow was too disciplined. Didn't that make him seem rather lazy by comparison?

"Truly worthy of being called 'a very fast man.' You really are fast."

But weren't you so focused on being fast that you forgot something?

Who was this girl in front of me, the one who came with you? How could you just leave her behind?

"Hello, you're Lu PingAn, right? My brother introduced me to you. I'm Lei Shui Yun, a student about to take the college entrance exams."

The younger sister her brother had forgotten wore a bitter smile as well. What kind of introduction was it when the person introducing her ran off himself?

She was short—no, tiny—with large, cute eyes. Her chubby cheeks were full of helplessness.

Like her brother's, her unruly hair had been combed neatly. Her good-girl hairstyle suited her good-girl appearance, with the pink cat-patterned hair clip doing much of the work.

There were pink Cat Cat patterns on her clothes as well. She looked even younger than the information had suggested.

Wasn't she supposed to be in her final year of high school? Why did she look a little like a middle schooler?

"Hello, new cash cow. Ahem, Miss Lei, your brother should have explained the details to you. What do you think? Can you accept the terms?"

"We should be the same age, right? Or should I be calling you Senior Brother? I heard you're applying to Gu Da too, meow?"

"Meow?"

That strange verbal tic made Lu PingAn frown.

But Lu PingAn had taken nearly a year off from school due to illness, so calling him Senior Brother was not exactly wrong. Still, calling him "brother" upon meeting him—was she asking him for something?

The girl was only fifteen. Two dimples appeared when she smiled, and her eyes and brows shone with carefree, brilliant sunlight, though there was also a trace of forced ingratiation.

"Meow? You must have misheard. I said, 'You're applying to Gu Da too?' I can accept terms like confidentiality, but five hundred a day is a little..."

For some reason, that scene reminded Lu PingAn of the girl who had sat beside his first love in his previous life.

Whenever she had not done her homework, she would look pitifully at their strict homeroom teacher, trying to stir his sympathy.

So, he smiled.

"Oh, five hundred was the friendly trial price for your brother. Starting today, it's one thousand."

The girl's eyes widened, her face full of disbelief. He was raising the price just like that? Wasn't that too outrageous? I'm already begging you! Do you know how hard it is for a poor student like me?

"How can you do this, Senior Brother? Could you please help me out? My exams are coming up soon."

The fake worship in her upturned gaze, the deliberately saccharine voice, and the earnest fists she clenched made Lu PingAn's smile grow even happier.

"One thousand is your brother's friendly price. He's on Sister Qin's team, so I have to show some consideration. For you, it's twelve hundred."

Seeing the Little Girl staring wide-eyed in disbelief, Lu PingAn gave a brief explanation. She was a high-quality cash cow he had expected to find, and such ones were hard to come by.

"It's very cheap, Junior Sister. A harmless ability with no side effects that lets you use one day as two—what matters most before the college entrance exams? Time, and your condition. A day in godlike form for just over a thousand is an incredibly fair price. It'll definitely rise later. My slots are limited, and when the time comes, the highest bidder gets them."

The girl became even more hesitant. She had not even tried it yet, and he was already raising the price on the spot?

"How do I know there are no side effects? Strong Force abilities usually have hidden side effects. How could it possibly be as miraculous as you say? Huh?"

Lu PingAn patted her shoulder. She froze, then widened her eyes in shock the next instant.

Lu PingAn has offered you an invitation to Invest Life. He will provide Life Enhancement in exchange for a 10% return of your life. Do you accept?

A mechanical voice sounded beside the girl's ear.

"A high-tier rule-type ability?! How could the Voice of Rules be so clear? This is at least the realm of a 'Communicator,' isn't it?"

Only then did Lei Shui Yun understand why they had to agree to confidentiality before she came. This simply was not an ability that should appear in the hands of a young person.

Based on their usage characteristics, supernatural talents were generally divided into six common types: transformation, defense, elements, life, inheritance, and rules. The sixth system, "rules," was the rarest and strangest.

The power of the rules—or anti-rules—system was the analysis of the world, the correction of truth, and the reinterpretation of reality.

Rules formed a universe of their own, a power of self that opposed the real world.

This also meant that rule-type abilities were often astonishingly weak at the beginning. Suppressed by the "real world," their users could not even figure out what their abilities did.

Yet the rules system was also the most unreasonable type of ability. Once it developed, it generally became bizarre and powerful in the later stages. Many famous Keepers of Secrets had unknowingly fallen to abilities inclined toward rules.

The same applied to secret realms.

While there would not be unsolvable rules like "anyone who enters with their left foot first dies," many "Keeper of Secrets Tomb"-level secret realms that had never been conquered were rule-type ones.

Not to mention anything distant—strictly speaking, Chris, a quasi-god, had fallen to the rules of that secret realm, specifically the rule of "Life Exchange Power" that she herself had created.

The greatest strength of rule-type abilities was actually—

"I didn't expect you really were a Senior Brother. Could you give me some guidance?"

For novice-level Keepers of Secrets, the greatest strength of the rules system was actually "information for growth."

Once a rule-type ability was activated, it would actively and automatically analyze its surroundings. What it often analyzed first was the user's own abilities and traits.

The pile of "Calligraphy Lv.1" and "Combat Fighting Lv.2" on Lu PingAn's System Panel was the result of his ability analyzing himself.

As the one doing the analyzing was Lu PingAn, a transmigrator, the results naturally appeared in the form he understood best—intuitive and data-driven, like the games he knew.

By gaining information normally invisible to them, understanding themselves, and clearly seeing the improvements from every step of training, they could naturally grow as if using cheats.

Within the supernatural ability system, some "professions" and "abilities" required extensive accumulation and high thresholds.

Some even required special materials. Rule-type abilities could provide guidance for these, preventing users from getting stuck.

During trials in unknown secret realms, a rule-type scout was often brought along to analyze information.

The more powerful the rule-type ability, the clearer its results and the more valuable its information.

Newly awakened rule-type abilities were generally extremely weak, often amounting to only a "single rule" that the user alone could perceive, and their use came with many restrictions.

A complete and powerful "system" like Lu PingAn's not only should not have appeared on a novice, it should not even have existed in the human world.

After all, its very birth had been a miracle, an Adverse Wind of Fate.

It was also a mockery of Chris's fate as she tried to become a god—"You want to become a god? You think you deserve it? Your 'truth' is riddled with holes, your logic is complete nonsense. A mere mortal can make you fail."

Judging from the result, while Life Bank was being conceived, it had "burned" the spiritual foundation of Chris, a Tier 9 quasi-god. It was equivalent to using that quasi-god as nourishment to cultivate its only fruit.

Though it was only a seed for now, as long as it did not wither prematurely, it would eventually become a towering tree.

In truth, only Lu PingAn himself knew that Life Bank's potential was god-tier—Tier 10!

"Have you decided, Junior Sister? The Voice of Rules cannot lie. If it says there are no side effects, then there are no side effects."

Lei Shui Yun had never encountered a rule-type ability that spoke directly beside one's ear, but she could tell at once that it was an extremely advanced rule-type ability. Her heart immediately stirred.

But now, she blinked, tried hard to recall Xiao Bai at home, imitated a cat begging for food, and squeezed out a sweet voice.

"Senior Brother, Senior Brother, give me some guidance. See where else I'm lacking."

She was trying to get information for free.

A poor person like her could never afford a professional "analyst" to conduct a pre-exam assessment for her.

". . . We can talk about that later. Are you willing to make the deal now?"

But the man before her was clearly hard-hearted and easily sidestepped her plea.

In truth, Lu PingAn had not yet developed his ability or received professional training. How could he possibly be capable of acting as an analyst?

He did not even know analysts existed. He had merely casually rejected her attempt to freeload, then contentedly reaped her disappointment.

In his eyes, the Little Girl wore every joy, anger, sorrow, and delight on her face while trying to pretend she was mature and experienced. It was rather amusing.

Hesitant, uneasy, and lost, Lei Shui Yun unconsciously bit her nail.

Judging by the marks her little canine teeth had left on her thumbnail, it was probably a habitual gesture.

She calculated her living expenses. Her money and resources had all gone toward preparing for the exams, leaving her strapped for cash.

In Ancient City, where the average salary was under two thousand, twelve hundred was no small sum.

Worst of all, this was still a consumable charged by the day.

If her brother had not tried it himself and promised that he had "never felt so good" and that "one day was worth ten," she would never have considered it.

Expect that "super-fast" man to pay? He was even poorer than she was. He lived in the dorms, and his money disappeared just as fast.

By the second week after payday every month, he was broke, and he often asked his younger sister for money for instant noodles.

Pah, useless trash of a man. Once I graduate, I'll definitely find a good job with high pay and stop relying on anyone!

". . . I'll do it. If I get into Gu Da, there'll be a Settlement Allowance, and I won't have to worry about food or housing. If I don't get in... Pah, pah, pah, I'll definitely get in! A carp leaping over the dragon gate—today is the day."

Gu City University's "special majors" were the only entirely public institution among the city's six top schools, and their admission standards were extremely high.

Those admitted were treated as prospective Keepers of Secrets. Many graduates entered public agencies and the Relevant Departments. Xia Qin and Lei Huo Ren were both graduates.

First-years had to follow experienced hands on missions as interns, and with combat casualty quotas exceeded every year, there were naturally settlement allowances and pensions.

Incidentally, Lu PingAn was fairly satisfied with the official "recommendation."

That was also because their pensions and settlement allowances were generous, while students could earn money from missions under the guise of internships.

Right now, he was actually poorer than the girl in front of him.

Half a year of hospitalization had drained his family's savings, and there was still a terrifying amount of debt. It was currently being handled by the Relevant Departments, and they would see how much could be waived in the end.

If Gu Da had not covered tuition and provided a settlement allowance, then even if he got into another university, he could not afford to attend.

To prevent his parents, who had just been persuaded to return to their Homeworld, from suffering some misfortune, he needed to make and save money as soon as possible.

If he truly could not solve his "lifespan" problem, he could at least leave his family a Keeper of Secrets-level pension. Perfect.

Watching the girl bite her thumb as she continued to struggle and hesitate, Lu PingAn smiled.

He knew his price had already touched her bottom line. She really was a poor student.

He did not want to let this high-quality cash cow go, nor did he want to miss any opportunity to make money. So was there a way to have both?

Of course there was. He could probably make even more.

"How about this? Try it for one day first. Like your brother, you can have a half-price trial for six hundred. But if you renew afterward, you'll have to make up for my loss today. If you don't want to renew, then consider it your gain."

That was possible? The girl was immediately overjoyed.

"Thank you, Senior Brother."

"Hehe, I should be thanking you. You're supporting my business. Come on, lower your head. I'll give you another buff."

The two immediately smiled. What a harmonious scene of a kind elder brother and respectful younger sister.

But while Lei Shui Yun smiled sweetly, she had already made up her mind.

The first day was half-price. If I refuse to renew on the second day no matter what, won't I get six hundred for free? Was this guy a little stupid?

Lu PingAn was smiling happily too.

Once she had tasted his ability, could she still run away?

Once she takes the bait, should I raise the price? Yeah, I should raise it! This girl will make a very interesting expression then.

Ha, such an amusing Junior Sister. It's kind of cute how she'll grit her teeth and come to me as a cash cow. She'll be even cuter when she cries while taking out her wallet. I'm actually looking forward to university life.

Well, the day before the new book went premium, there'll be three to four thousand words. It may be one chapter or split into two.