A little after eleven that night, Lu Feng quietly returned home.
He had thought his family would already be asleep.
But as soon as he entered the room, his younger sister, on the lower bunk, opened her bright eyes and stared at him.
"Brother, where did you go? Why did you come back so late?"
"Why are you still awake?"
"I can't sleep when you're not here." Lu Mingxue's voice carried a hint of a playful pout. "By the way, how's your job at that club your classmate works at?"
"It's going pretty well." Lu Feng answered, then suddenly asked, "Mingxue, do you want to go to Martial High School?"
Lu Mingxue was thirteen that year. In another two years, she would be old enough to start high school.
In this era, most elementary and middle school lessons could be completed through self-study with artificial intelligence.
But anyone who wanted to take up martial arts and become a Warrior had to attend a martial arts high school.
Of course, if someone didn't want to become a Warrior, there was no need to attend Martial High School or Martial University.
Yet the moment Lu Feng finished speaking, Lu Mingxue's eyes dimmed.
Of course she wanted to become a Warrior.
But having relied on a wheelchair since she was little, how could she possibly attend a martial arts high school?
"Tomorrow, I'll have Mom and Dad take you to Jinzhou First People's Hospital and get your legs treated."
"Brother, don't joke around. Where would our family get that kind of money..."
Lu Mingxue spoke softly. She had long since accepted reality.
With the medical technology available today, healing her legs wasn't impossible. Their parents had looked into it years ago, but a full recovery would cost at least 1.5 million Star Martial Coins.
For their family, that amount was an astronomical sum.
Lu Feng smiled and suddenly turned his Communicator screen toward her, showing her the balance in his account.
When she saw the string of numbers, Lu Mingxue's clear eyes widened.
9,900,513.17
Nearly ten million.
That was how much Lu Feng had left after placing his bets at the Beast Fighting Arena that night.
"Brother..."
Lu Mingxue's voice trembled as she stared at him in shock. "What... did you do tonight?"
She strongly suspected that her brother had robbed a bank.
"Don't worry. Your brother earned this money fair and square."
"How is that possible?"
Lu Mingxue looked utterly unconvinced. She suddenly shouted toward the door, "Dad, Mom! Come quick, something's happened to Brother..."
Her shout startled the couple in the master bedroom next door.
"What are you yelling about? I told you, I earned the money honestly."
Before Lu Feng could cover his sister's mouth, their parents had already pushed open the door and rushed in.
"What's going on? What happened in the middle of the night?"
Ever since Lu Feng's place at Martial University had been taken by someone else, the couple had rarely spoken to him first over the past two months.
Especially his father, Lu Dahai.
Before the college entrance exams, he had bragged to relatives and coworkers that his son would definitely get into Martial University.
But things hadn't gone as planned. For the past two months, his coworkers had laughed at him, and he'd been unable to hold his head up.
They had worried that Lu Feng might have been mistreated at school, but he had always refused to talk about the college entrance exams.
As time passed, the couple couldn't help feeling some resentment, and sometimes they went several days without saying a word to him.
But he was their son, after all. When they heard their daughter cry out just now, they had rushed over at once.
Seeing their family's reaction, Lu Feng could only explain patiently where the money had come from.
When they heard he had won it at the Beast Fighting Arena, Lu Dahai and Li Qinglan grew even more uneasy.
How could an ordinary family like theirs go to a place like that?
"You were way too reckless! Don't go to a place like that again!" Lu Dahai warned sternly.
He was genuinely frightened. If something had happened to his son in a place like that, their family would have been finished.
"I understand, Dad! I won't go again." Lu Feng replied perfunctorily.
Then he turned to his mother, Li Qinglan. "Mom, tomorrow we'll take Mingxue to People's Hospital and get her legs treated. With the rest of the money, we can get a bigger place. You and Dad can enjoy life from now on. Your son can earn money."
"Did you just ignore everything I said?" Lu Dahai's expression darkened.
As far as he was concerned, his son's so-called "earning money" still meant going to the Beast Fighting Arena.
"All right, enough. Don't say any more."
Li Qinglan hurried to smooth things over. "Xiao Feng, don't take any more risks. A place like that really isn't for people like us."
"Mingxue's legs do need treatment, but there's no need to buy a house. Your father and I have lived in this place for more than twenty years, and we're used to it. Save the rest for your future wife and a house for you two."
"Mom!" Lu Mingxue suddenly cut in. "I think Brother's right. Now that we have money, we should improve our living conditions first. Isn't it too early to talk about getting married? Besides, Brother just turned eighteen."
Li Qinglan shot her daughter a gentle glare. "Adults are talking. Children shouldn't interrupt."
The family disagreed over how to use the money.
The siblings wanted to buy a new house and improve their living conditions, while Lu Dahai and his wife insisted on saving the money for Lu Feng's future marriage.
In the end, the siblings still couldn't persuade their parents.
However, the entire family agreed without hesitation that treating Lu Mingxue's legs was the top priority.
The next day, the family went to People's Hospital together and successfully scheduled the surgery.
Monday, August 13.
Lu Feng returned to work at the club.
The two Exotic Beasts that had arrived last Friday were waiting for him to tame them.
But first, he went to the Cultivation Room and finished converting all the Exotic Beast energy he had absorbed at the Beast Fighting Arena on Saturday. Only then did he head toward the Exotic Beast Holding Cell.
Before he reached the entrance, his Communicator suddenly chimed on his wrist.
A text message from Hong Kun appeared on the screen:
"Lu Feng, don't go to the Holding Cell yet. Go work in the Mecha Department for now."
Lu Feng stopped, puzzled.
Why was he being told to stay away from the Holding Cell? Had something happened?
Though confused, he did as instructed. After all, Hong Kun was the club's owner.
He hadn't gone far when he came across a group heading toward the Holding Cell.
At the front were Hong Kun and an officer in military uniform.
Three or four other military personnel followed them, with more than ten members of the Skyfire Club behind them.
Lu Feng knew that these were the club's elite Warriors, each at least a Three Realm Martial Artist.
What puzzled him was why the military personnel had come.
At that moment, Hong Kun spotted Lu Feng in the distance.
He immediately gave Lu Feng a look, signaling him to leave quickly.
Lu Feng understood and hurried away.
Only then did Hong Kun breathe a sigh of relief.
It turned out that last Friday, he had submitted an application to the Jinzhou Military Base to Join Expedition.
According to procedure, the military would send people to inspect the club's strength. As long as they confirmed it had at least five Three Realm Martial Artists, the club would most likely be granted permission to join the Expedition.
But unexpectedly, the person conducting the inspection this time was none other than Military Merit Record Officer Xie An.
Rather than asking much about the elite members' strength, he wanted to see the Exotic Beast Holding Cell.
Hong Kun immediately understood. The military must have noticed that Skyfire Club had recently completed a large number of beast-taming orders.
So they were using the inspection as a pretext to uncover the club's secret to taming beasts.
And that secret rested entirely on Lu Feng.
Hong Kun could never let the military discover that his club was hiding such a prodigy at taming beasts.
Before you continue