Level Up!

"What sin... I have no idea what you're talking about. What exactly happened here?! I really don't know anything..."

Luo Hong knelt on the floor, looking utterly pitiful.

Even the most hard-hearted person would have felt a bit of sympathy at the sight.

But Lu Li remained unmoved.

Because he clearly remembered the hatred from his past life!

He knew that the woman crying injustice before him had personally driven thumb-thick steel nails into his mother's body, one after another!

"Stop howling! Repent properly!"

As if sensing Lu Li's dark mood, Chen Hao hooked his toe and viciously kicked Luo Hong in the mouth.

After a scream, several bloodied teeth lay scattered across the floor.

Lu Li paid it no mind and raised a hand to summon Soul Guard Xing Anlin.

"Help me put these mana crystals into the Solvent. I can't keep up on my own."

"No problem, Boss Lu Li!"

Xing Anlin gave a strange-looking salute.

But he quickly sensed that something was off about the atmosphere, awkwardly lowered his hand, and got to work with practiced efficiency.

With Xing Anlin's help, the efficiency of dissolving the mana crystals doubled.

Within half an hour, all the mana crystals had been placed into the Solvent.

Just then, Xu Xiao sent over another batch of mana crystals.

There were more than 30,000 of them.

Lu Li was somewhat surprised.

His original expectation had been one hundred thousand First-Order Mana Crystals.

But Xu Xiao had clearly exceeded the quota, and by quite a lot.

Lu Li asked curiously, "A total of 130,000 crystals—far more than I expected. How did you manage that?"

"Monopoly, of course~~~"

Xu Xiao's words brimmed with smugness:

"When I was buying First-Order Mana Crystals earlier, I deliberately left room for a price difference. The goal was to lure other Players into thinking they could profit by buying low and selling high through me."

"Once the trading was nearing its end, they realized I was the only one actually buying First-Order Mana Crystals. Afraid they'd be stuck with them, they dumped them on me regardless of the cost."

Lu Li raised a brow.

"As expected of the class president. You're really good at schemes and tricks."

"Get lost, get lost, get lost! You'd better be nicer to me now. I'm still holding IOUs for 50,000 mana crystals!"

"IOUs?"

Lu Li was genuinely stunned this time.

After Xu Xiao mentioned it, he suddenly remembered that IOUs could be issued in the [Global Trading Market].

The debtor could use their own life as collateral, along with a repayment deadline agreed upon by both parties, to issue an IOU.

The resulting IOU would automatically be sent to the creditor, while the debtor had to repay the debt within the stipulated time.

If it was repaid on time, the IOU would automatically disappear.

But if the debt remained unpaid after the deadline, the debtor's Data Panel would vanish directly, and their life would be immediately taken.

Because of this compulsory mechanism, few people issued IOUs in the [Global Trading Market].

Lu Li truly hadn't expected Xu Xiao to discover this feature and put it to use.

"Who issued that IOU to you?"

Looking at the message that popped up in the chat box, Xu Xiao replied, "Several Players. But they all claimed to be from the Zhao Family, saying they guaranteed it on the family's honor and would definitely repay it within three days."

After a while, seeing that Lu Li hadn't replied, the smugness on her face gradually turned into unease.

"Um... should I not have made them issue IOUs?"

"No, you did very well..."

Lu Li replied, his words filled with admiration:

"If you weren't such a saint, I'd really want to maintain a long-term partnership with you."

A smile bloomed in Xu Xiao's eyes again, and the corners of her lips lifted.

"Oh? So we're not just trade partners anymore?"

"Oh, slip of the tongue. A long-term trading relationship."

"Get lost!! I'll send you the IOU. When the time comes, just go collect the debt from the Zhao Family. I'm off to level up."

Leaving those final words behind, Xu Xiao sent Lu Li a trade request.

Lu Li accepted the request with a smile and obtained the IOU for 50,000 mana crystals.

The remaining 3,000 mana crystals were also poured into the Solvent.

With the 80% discount effect taken into account, the [Crystal Dissolving Mixture] now contained a total of 104,156 experience points.

More than 100,000 experience points!

That was enough!!

Meanwhile.

Capital City, Zhao Family.

Azure light and shadows filled the entire room.

Zhao Quan paced back and forth without pause, occasionally rubbing the curled beard on his cheek with his palm, as though waiting for something.

At last, after the Holographic Projection flickered several times, Zhao Jin's figure appeared within it.

Zhao Quan frowned slightly and spoke.

"What's going on? Why did you take so long? How is the collection of high-order mana crystals progressing?"

Zhao Jin's expression was equally unpleasant, and his tone was somewhat stiff.

"Something unexpected happened, Elder. Luo Hong was captured. To ransom her, I used the high-order mana crystals from our reserves."

"What?! Luo Hong was captured? Which family did it?!"

Zhao Quan's expression changed drastically as he demanded sharply.

"Not a family... an independent Player named Lu Li."

"Lu Li?" Zhao Quan drew a deep breath, wariness appearing on his face. "His surname is Lu. Could he be from the Lu Family...?"

Zhao Jin shook his head.

"I investigated. Although this Lu Li is an orphan, he grew up in an orphanage in Yong City."

"If he were a surviving descendant of that family, how could the Lu Family have stood by and done nothing?"

Hearing this, Zhao Quan was slightly relieved.

"As long as he has nothing to do with the Lu Family. Even if that behemoth has declined, it's still not something we should provoke."

"Luo Hong's ability is special. Her value far exceeds that of high-order mana crystals, so there was nothing wrong with what you did."

"Since there aren't enough high-order mana crystals, we'll alter the plan for now. Your branch will first collectively absorb Second-Order Mana Crystals and rise to Lv.3. Send the remaining Third-Order Mana Crystals to your brother."

At that, Zhao Jin's expression turned even uglier.

"All the Third-Order Mana Crystals go to Zhao Mou? Why, Elder?! I have fewer mana crystals—shouldn't he spare some for me instead?!"

Zhao Quan snorted coldly.

"Spare some mana crystals for you? What use would that be?! Chen Hao, the only one in your branch with any potential, is already dead. Giving you Third-Order Mana Crystals would be a waste!"

"Better to give them all to Zhao Mou. He's found quite a few promising seeds in Hang City. If they all advance tonight, the Zhao Family's strength will surely rise greatly!"

"But..."

Zhao Jin wanted to say more, but Zhao Quan cut him off with a wave of his hand.

"Enough. You have Luo Hong's [Corpse Crystalization], so you don't need to worry about being unable to raise your level. It's settled. Hurry and have your people absorb the mana crystals!"

Inside an unfinished building on the outskirts of Yong City.

Nearly an hour had passed since the last transaction.

Clutching his only Second-Order Mana Crystal, Qi Zeyu still felt so stifled that his chest ached.

No matter what, he had never expected Xu Xiao to be the only person in the entire trading market who was actually buying First-Order Mana Crystals.

Everyone else wanted to trade First-Order Mana Crystals for higher-order mana crystals.

As a result, Qi Zeyu had no choice but to exchange all the First-Order Mana Crystals he had earned with Xu Xiao!

And Xu Xiao got to set the price!!

Qi Zeyu had considered keeping those First-Order Mana Crystals for himself.

But that thought had only surfaced for an instant before he immediately dismissed it.

How was he supposed to keep them?

There were so many First-Order Mana Crystals that they were simply too inconvenient to carry!

So in the end, Qi Zeyu's gain was—

He had traded one Third-Order Mana Crystal for one Second-Order Mana Crystal.

Not only had he failed to make a profit, he had even lost money!

"Sell your mother's rotten pineapples, Xu Xiao. I'll remember this..."

Qi Zeyu mechanically scrolled through the world chat, trying to ease the frustration in his heart this way.

[ Ding, the Ranking List has changed! ]

The notification from the Ranking List caught his attention.

As if they had agreed beforehand, a large number of Players had leveled up and squeezed onto the list.