Sunlight Group

"Wait!"

Chen Lie saw Li Xianyu turn to leave and immediately called out to her.

Li Xianyu turned back and asked somewhat impatiently, "Senior, is there anything else?"

Chen Lie nodded. "Show me your Cloud Smoke Steps."

Li Xianyu was instantly full of question marks, but seeing Chen Lie's serious expression, she could only nod. "All right."

Li Xianyu went to the nearby drill ground and began performing the Cloud Smoke Steps, though doubts began to rise in her heart.

Was there something wrong with Chen Xingyao's brother's head?

At the same time, she secretly decided that if he still refused to help her queue up after she demonstrated the Cloud Smoke Steps, then no matter what, she would not let him waste any more of her time.

With her thoughts in turmoil, only seven or eight minutes passed before Li Xianyu finished a flaw-ridden set of Cloud Smoke Steps.

Returning to Chen Lie's side, Li Xianyu frowned slightly. "That's enough, right, Senior?"

Chen Lie nodded. "Now watch my Cloud Smoke Steps."

As he spoke, Chen Lie walked toward the drill ground. With a single step, he had already appeared in the center of the ground dozens of meters away.

Then Chen Lie's footwork turned nimble and ethereal. One step seemed to contain dozens, even hundreds, of steps. More than a dozen afterimages appeared, scattered across the drill ground like wisps of blue smoke, drifting freely through it.

"Th-this... is this the Cloud Smoke Steps?"

Li Xianyu's mouth fell open in shock. She had never seen such graceful, unrestrained footwork, as elusive as drifting smoke and floating clouds.

The dozen figures that had suddenly appeared left her utterly dumbfounded.

Could such marvelous footwork really be cultivated by someone below the Martial Artist realm?

From the far side of the drill ground, Chen Lie took another step. The dozen figures scattered throughout the ground walked toward Li Xianyu at the same time, merging one by one until they reached her in the blink of an eye.

"What do you think of my Cloud Smoke Steps?"

Hearing Chen Lie's words, Li Xianyu hurriedly snapped back to her senses.

What had just happened? It had seemed as though more than a dozen Chen Lies had crossed the drill ground and arrived before her, then fused into one.

How was that possible? Had afterimages appeared because he was too fast?

"S-Senior, you've trained your Cloud Smoke Steps to this level?"

Li Xianyu stammered. Even the famous instructor she intended to study under surely could not perform the footwork she had just seen.

Could a C-Rank Martial Art really create more than a dozen figures when used, leaving people dizzy and dazzled?

"One hundred thousand Star Dollars. I guarantee that within three days, I can teach you this movement technique until you can use it with ease."

"Isn't three days too short? Can I really... O-okay."

Though Li Xianyu had doubts, she suddenly thought of something. She immediately took out a dark green Star Dollar Card and handed it to Chen Lie.

She feared that Chen Lie would change his mind. Someone with such miraculous footwork had to be one of Dongchuan Province's greatest martial arts prodigies.

For someone like that to guide her for three days for only one hundred thousand Star Dollars, she felt she was getting an incredible bargain.

The instructors at martial arts halls guided more than a dozen or even twenty students at a time. There was no way they could focus their instruction on her alone.

Besides, the Cloud Smoke Steps used by martial arts hall instructors were worlds apart from Chen Lie's.

Chen Lie frowned slightly and did not take the Star Dollar Card Li Xianyu offered. "Do you have cash?"

"No, but there's an ATM outside the martial arts hall. I can withdraw the money for you," Li Xianyu quickly said.

"All right. Let's go."

Following Chen Lie to the ATM outside the martial arts hall, Li Xianyu blankly withdrew one hundred thousand Star Dollars and handed it to him.

Chen Lie accepted the cash, nodded, and said, "Come to the martial arts hall tomorrow morning. I'll teach you the movement technique."

"Mm, okay!" Li Xianyu nodded.

Seeing her nod, Chen Lie turned and left without looking back.

Li Xianyu did not return to the martial arts hall either. Instead, she went home.

Chen Xingyao's brother was actually this amazing?

Had he reached this level just by watching the Cloud Smoke Steps once, or did he already know this martial art?

Either way, the instructors could not cultivate the Cloud Smoke Steps to such a level, but Chen Xingyao's brother could.

Her sister was in the Elite Class and counted as one of the top Elite Students, yet compared to Chen Xingyao's brother, she could not hold a candle to him.

"To cultivate a martial art to the point where even instructors are far inferior... Chen Xingyao's brother's Blood Qi Value must be extremely high."

The growth of one's Blood Qi Value was closely tied to the martial arts one had mastered. Once it reached a certain level and encountered a bottleneck, one could only promote further growth by learning a martial art.

Could Chen Xingyao's brother already be someone selected for the Provincial Youth Genius Group?

No wonder Chen Xingyao had panicked when they ran into them last time and claimed that her brother's Blood Qi Value was only a little higher than her own. Was it because she could not reveal information about him?

The moment Li Xianyu returned home, her Mother approached her. "Yuyu, did you sign up for Teacher Qu's Cloud Smoke Steps Guidance Class?"

"I already signed up."

Li Xianyu did not dare let her Mother know that she had privately diverted the money meant for studying the Cloud Smoke Steps, so she lied.

"Good. Go rest first, then come out for dinner later."

"Okay."

Li Xianyu hurried back to her room.

Meanwhile, Chen Lie returned home and placed the one hundred thousand Star Dollars in cash on the bed in his room.

Earning one hundred thousand Star Dollars today had shown Chen Lie a way to make money through his own abilities.

On Blue Star, it really did cost several hundred thousand Star Dollars to fully master a C-Rank Martial Art.

Perhaps he could try taking on a few more students and earn some tuition fees.

With the martial arts insights of a Grandmaster, learning a low-level martial art was about as difficult for Chen Lie as asking a college student to solve elementary-school addition and subtraction.

For a C-Rank Martial Art like the Cloud Smoke Steps, Chen Lie could grasp the general idea with a single glance. He had even used the B-Rank Martial Art Phantom Steps that he had learned in his previous life as a reference to improve the Cloud Smoke Steps.

"Now that I have one hundred thousand Star Dollars, it's time to consider buying some nutritional supplements."

Chen Lie stared at the Star Dollars on the bed and fell into thought.

He currently had no channels through which to purchase supplements. The basic nutritional products on the market simply could not meet his needs.

Things like Blood Essence Fluid were mild and easily absorbed by the body, but to him, they were all show and no substance.

What he needed was a supplement packed with massive nutrition while still being reasonably priced.

One hundred thousand Star Dollars was not much, but it was absolutely enough to cover a normal Blue Star family's daily expenses for a year, with plenty left over. It only seemed insignificant because martial arts cultivation burned through money so quickly.

Suddenly, Chen Lie remembered that his friend Wang Hui's family seemed to have extensive connections. Wang Hui's father, Wang Kui, was the director of Dongchang City's Government Affairs Hall and also served as a government-business council member. He interacted with people from all walks of life and should be able to help.

Chen Lie took out his Communicator and called Wang Hui.

"Chen Lie? What do you need? Let me make this clear first: if you want to go to the Virtual Experience Pavilion, I can't go these next few days."

Chen Lie asked, "What, are you busy?"

Wang Hui said, "To be honest, bro, my Blood Qi Value has already broken through 1 Ka. My old man got me a bottle of Blood Essence Fluid, so I need to train hard these next few days and digest its medicinal effects. I really can't spare the time."

Chen Lie said, "Don't worry, I won't take much of your time. I want your dad to help me ask around about some supplements that are cheap but extremely nutritious."

Wang Hui said, "What kind of good thing is that supposed to be? Your request is ridiculous. How could an extremely nutritious supplement possibly be cheap?"

Chen Lie asked, "There isn't any?"

Wang Hui said, "There is, but ordinary people can't use it."

Chen Lie immediately asked, "Tell me in detail."

Wang Hui's voice came through the Communicator. "You should know that the Exotic Beast Meat on the market has all undergone special processing, then been soaked in a precious medicinal solution for three days before it's allowed onto the market.

"Although specially processed Exotic Beast Meat loses more than half of its nutrition, the energy in the meat becomes mild. Only then can it be absorbed by the human body.

"Truly Raw Exotic Beast Meat is packed with nutrients, but the energy in its flesh is violent. An ordinary Martial Arts Student simply can't digest it."

Chen Lie said, "I understand. The high-nutrition, affordable thing you mean is Raw Exotic Beast Meat."

"That's right. Only Martial Artists or people with exceptionally high Blood Qi Values can eat Raw Exotic Beast Meat. Even someone whose Blood Qi Value is just a little too low can't digest it after eating it.

"Those who can use it don't care for it, while those who want it can't use it, so its price can't go up."

"So you have a connection?"

"Of course. I have a cousin twenty years older than me who's a warehouse supervisor at Sunlight Group. His position isn't considered senior management, but it's very lucrative.

"The Raw Exotic Beast Meat that Sunlight Group transports from the border all passes through his hands. He takes the chance to keep a little of the scraps and sell them outside. His hidden income is at least a million Star Dollars a year."

"Your cousin is only a supervisor, yet he can embezzle so openly?"

"Not exactly. A single Exotic Beast has at least ten thousand jin of flesh. Of those ten thousand jin of Exotic Beast Meat, there are at least several hundred jin attached to the beast's bones.

"The meat attached to an Exotic Beast's bones contains even more violent and powerful energy than the meat from other parts. Even after special processing, ordinary Martial Arts Students can't use it.

"Even if my cousin didn't sell those scraps, they'd probably just sit in a Sunlight Group warehouse gathering dust as waste."

Chen Lie said, "All right, then help me ask how many jin of Raw Exotic Beast Meat one hundred thousand Star Dollars can buy."

Wang Hui could not help asking through the Communicator, "What do you need that stuff for?"

"Don't ask. I have my own use for it."

"All right, I'll hang up first. I'll call you back in a while."

"Okay."

A few minutes after Chen Lie hung up the Communicator, Wang Hui called again.

After Chen Lie answered, Wang Hui's voice sounded from the Communicator. "I asked. My cousin sells it to others for six thousand Star Dollars per jin. I told him we're tight, so he can give it to you for five thousand Star Dollars per jin."

"Good. Today or tomorrow, find some time and come with me to see your cousin and buy the Exotic Beast Meat."

"Then let's meet directly at Sunlight Tower tomorrow morning," Wang Hui said.

"Okay."

After saying that, Chen Lie hung up the Communicator.