The Flatterer

Zhang Zhi stared at his senior sister and asked again to make sure. "Can everyone open up two worlds?"

This time, it was his senior sister's turn to smile awkwardly. "N-No, that's not what I meant."

"What I meant, junior brother, is that some people can open up two Small Worlds. You'll only know after trying."

"Why don't you give it a try, junior brother?"

Zhang Zhi looked up at the World. "How much?"

"Ten Academic Credits, or cards of equivalent value!"

The Academic Credits issued by the academy were extremely valuable. He had just asked about them at the exchange point the academy had set up in the Student Activity Center. One Academic Credit could be exchanged for one standard Green Human Card.

When Zhang Zhi heard the price, he turned and left. She was clearly treating him like a sucker, thinking he would be easy to cheat.

No matter how that senior sister called out to him from behind, he didn't look back.

In his understanding, World Seeds were worthless. In the Main World, anyone who reached a certain age could receive a World Seed for free.

Yet here, she was asking for ten Green Human Cards for one. Wasn't she really taking him for an idiot and trying to fleece him?

He arrived at the Gray and White Human Card area and looked around. There were truly an astonishing variety of cards here.

After spending more than two hours searching, he still hadn't found any cards related to military strategy or battle formations. However, he did manage to obtain two Gray Barracks Cards.

The Gray Barracks Card had no special effect. Its purpose was simply to let anyone entering the barracks understand that they had joined the army and gain a basic understanding of the army's rights and obligations.

Zhang Zhi felt that this was exactly what the Small World lacked. Thus, he used one White Orc Card to exchange for these two Barracks Cards and two Gray Human Cards.

Building-type cards had always been relatively expensive. He no longer cared about such a slight markup.

In the Human Card area, there were still mostly various Human Cards. If the Small World's population weren't already so large, and if he weren't in such a hurry to find other cards, Zhang Zhi might have exchanged all his Orc Cards for Human Cards.

He was genuinely almost unable to support so many people. There were now more than fifty thousand humans, and the food needed by Blood Refining cultivators was an astronomical amount. Fang Yun had already complained several times recently that there wasn't enough meat and asked him to bring over more Livestock Cards and grain.

He also remembered the matter that Flood Dragon had reminded him about.

He didn't find a White Ranged Attack Skill anytime soon. However, he did find a White "Eight Ox Ballista Production Manual." After some haggling, he exchanged three Orc Cards for it.

After looking around the Green Human Card area, he didn't find any cards that were particularly useful to his Small World, aside from buying some resources and Livestock Cards that the Small World needed. Still, he had broadened his horizons.

There were all sorts of strange and unusual cards. He had even seen someone selling a Mortal Transformation Realm card—in other words, a Foundation Establishment-level Immortal Cultivator card.

These were clearly Realm Lords from some Medium Small Worlds or even Large Small Worlds, putting their Mortal Transformation Realm cultivators up for sale.

However, he discovered that hardly anyone seemed interested in those cards.

After making some inquiries, he finally understood. In a Small World without spiritual veins, Immortal Cultivators couldn't replenish their spiritual energy. Not only would their cultivation fail to advance, it would actually regress. At the same time, once humans were sealed into cards, all their memories would be erased.

The main buyers of Green Cards were Realm Lords of Medium Small Worlds. Their Small Worlds already contained large numbers of Mortal Transformation Realm cultivators, so one or two of them were completely unnecessary.

As for the few Small World Realm Lords capable of purchasing Mortal Transformation Realm cultivators, they wouldn't choose cards that were useless to them.

That was why these Foundation Establishment cultivators couldn't sell at all. Mortal Transformation cultivators following the Fantasy and Low Martial routes, on the other hand, were in short supply.

As he looked at that Green Foundation Establishment Immortal Cultivator Card, an inexplicable sense of urgency rose from the depths of Zhang Zhi's heart.

Cultivators born into clans surely had abundant clan resources supporting them. Especially those who, like him, had opened up a Small World—those Realm Lords had certainly begun integrating Green Cards into their Small Worlds from the moment they opened them.

Compared to most people, he was indeed temporarily ahead.

But those clan Realm Lords had their clans as a backing. They could integrate at least one Green Card every day, and it wouldn't take long for them to catch up with him.

He had been thinking too simply before!

Feeling suddenly discouraged, Zhang Zhi found a step in the Activity Center and sat down.

However, he consoled himself. Fortunately, fortunately, his gains from the Trial Tower were still quite good. At the very least, the Arena points would certainly be enough to exchange for many cards.

There were also the end-of-season rewards from the Arena. He could look forward to those as well!

Besides, he still had the Golden Finger, which could advance cards. In particular, his Mental Power could raise the lower limits of creatures' aptitudes and talents. The aptitudes and talents of the creatures in the Small World were what determined the height of that world's future growth.

Even if he was temporarily behind, he would definitely catch up in the future.

Right now, he didn't need to care about titles like "genius." If other people wanted them, he could give them all away.

What he needed most now was time!

As long as he was given enough time, he would certainly grow to a sufficient height.

While Zhang Zhi sat on the steps in a daze, he suddenly heard someone shout beside him, "Flatterer!"

Zhang Zhi came back to himself and turned to look. Sure enough, it was the same girl he had met not long ago.

Naturally, he didn't have a good expression for the girl who kept calling him a flatterer.

The girl had originally been somewhat indignant about the way Zhang Zhi had ignored her that morning. That was why, when she saw him sitting here just now, she had thought of coming over to needle him again.

But when she saw Zhang Zhi turn around and noticed the emptiness in his eyes, her heart suddenly trembled.

She suddenly remembered that the boy before her was an orphan, an orphan who had grown up in an orphanage.

For the sake of survival, he had grown used to currying favor with others from a young age. This was his way of surviving.

Perhaps only when he secretly hid somewhere to rest like this was he being his true self?

On the first day of school, he had deliberately fawned on her father, who knew how to apply for school subsidies, just so he could receive one. If he had a choice, who would choose to live so humbly?

He was only trying his hardest to survive.

Yet she had disliked him and deliberately targeted him merely because he had tried to please her father.

Had she gone too far?

She coughed to conceal her lapse and said, "Student Zhang Zhi, Class Advisor Liu mentioned you several times this morning. She complained that it was already the second day and you still hadn't come to class, and that you didn't seem to care much about your lessons."

"We're heading back to the classroom now. Do you want to come with us?"