"What? Chen Lie passed the Elite Student assessment? When did that happen?"
Aunt Gao was astonished when she heard the news.
Feng Yuelan said, "Just a few days ago. He didn't even tell me or his father. Other people have their parents accompany them to the Elite Student assessment, but he went by himself without saying a word—and somehow passed."
He Zhenming took a long look at Chen Lie and said, "That can't be right. Did the school lower the standards for the Elite Student assessment? As far as I know, it only gets harder and harder."
"Chen Lie, which parts of the Elite Student assessment did you take? Don't tell me it was just your Blood Qi Value."
He Zhenming hurriedly asked again.
Chen Lie said, "Blood Qi, strength, and comprehension."
"You passed all three?"
"Of course."
He Zhenming didn't know what to say. He was certain the Elite Student assessment was harder than it had been when he took it. Didn't that mean Chen Lie was stronger than he'd been at the same age?
Just then, the dishes started arriving in the private room. Chen Lie didn't hold back. As soon as the food was on the table, he picked up his chopsticks and started eating.
Before long, the table was covered with all kinds of dishes.
After Liu Lianqing returned and took her seat, she noticed how quiet everyone was and said, "Why's everyone so quiet? Are we just here to eat?"
"By the way, Chen Lie, I forgot to ask you last time we met. What's your Blood Qi Value now? How far are you from breaking through three cards?"
Chen Lie held up two fingers to Liu Lianqing. He didn't say anything, just kept picking at the food.
"Two? You're already in your third year of high school. That Blood Qi Value isn't very high."
Liu Lianqing couldn't help clicking her tongue.
"Mom, stop," He Zhenming said beside her. "Chen Lie's already in the Elite Class."
"The Elite Class?" Liu Lianqing was stunned. "Isn't Chen Lie in his third year of high school? How can he get into the Elite Class?"
"Aunt Liu, there's no rule saying you can't enter the Elite Class in your third year," Chen Lie said.
"But Zhenming couldn't get in back then, could he?"
"That's because he didn't meet the Elite Student review standard in the first semester of his third year. In the second semester, the school closed the channel for third-year students to enter the Elite Class."
"Then how did you get into the Elite Class?" Liu Lianqing asked.
"I'm in the first semester of my third year, so naturally I met the requirements for the Elite Class assessment and got in."
"But I heard your Blood Qi Value still hadn't broken one just a month ago. Now, a month later, you're an Elite Student?
"Are you lying to your parents? No wonder you look like such a dishonest kid!"
Chen Lie said nothing. Instead, he held out his Elite Student ID.
"What's this?"
"Why don't you take a look, Aunt Liu?"
Liu Lianqing took the item Chen Lie handed her and saw that it was an Elite Student ID.
"This really is an Elite Student ID. You're an Elite Student now. Not bad!"
Liu Lianqing returned the ID to Chen Lie. For a moment, she didn't know what to say, and fell silent.
She had arranged for so many neighbors to gather in one private room because she wanted to show off her son's achievements at the banquet. Chen Lie was supposed to be there to make her son look good.
But now, far from making Chen Lie look inferior to her son, her son had ended up looking inferior to Chen Lie.
After all, her son hadn't managed to enter the Elite Class.
After eating for a while, Chen Lie felt he'd had enough and said to Feng Yuelan, "Mom, I'm done. I have something to take care of later, so I'll head out first."
"All right, go ahead," Feng Yuelan replied with a nod.
Chen Lie stood up and said to Liu Lianqing, "Aunt Liu, I'm leaving."
Without waiting for her reply, he left the private room.
Chen Lie knew exactly why his mother, Feng Yuelan, had brought him to the banquet.
His poor academic performance had kept his mother from holding her head high around the neighbors. She hoped this banquet would finally let her feel proud.
But his mother wasn't someone who liked to show off. So Chen Lie had to say a little more himself. Now that he'd accomplished what he came for, there was no reason to stay.
After leaving the Martial Student Hotel, Chen Lie quickly found a nearby bus stop and boarded a Flying Bus bound for the Martial Artist Market.
About an hour later, the Flying Bus reached its stop. Chen Lie got off and walked straight into the Martial Artist Market.
He went right into the shop at the crystal card sales point.
"Brother Chen, you're finally here."
When he saw Chen Lie, Yang Shen immediately rose from his chair and went to greet him.
"Come, Brother Chen, have a seat. I'll get you some water."
"No need. Bring out the blank crystal cards first."
Chen Lie waved him off.
"I've had them ready for ages."
As he spoke, Yang Shen brought a small box to the counter and introduced its contents to Chen Lie.
"These blank crystal cards came from a number of fellow merchants I contacted. There are fifteen sets in total: five sets of D-Rank Martial Arts Crystal Cards and ten sets of Combat Technique Crystal Cards. Take a look. Which martial arts would you like inscribed?"
Chen Lie went over to the counter, glanced at the blank crystal cards, and asked, "Have you heard of Army-Breaking Fist?"
"Of course. It's a popular C-Rank Martial Art in Dongchuan Province. Its main customers should be Elite Students, who are generally more willing than ordinary Martial Arts Students to spend money on martial arts. So Army-Breaking Fist Crystal Cards are bound to sell well," Yang Shen said.
"Then let's do that. Inscribe Army-Breaking Fist on the five sets of D-Rank Martial Arts Crystal Cards, and keep Void-Breaking Fist on the ten sets of Combat Technique Crystal Cards."
"Of course!" Yang Shen nodded repeatedly.
"Then I'll get started."
Chen Lie picked up two D-Rank Martial Arts Crystal Cards and began inscribing Army-Breaking Fist.
He channeled energy into the cards with two streams of mental power at once. In just half a minute, the two transparent cards had turned bright yellow.
Once he had finished inscribing them with his mental power, Chen Lie set the two cards on the counter.
"That's... it?"
Chen Lie glanced at Yang Shen and gave a slight nod.
Yang Shen was stunned. It had only taken half a minute to make a set of C-Rank Martial Arts Crystal Cards worth over a hundred thousand Star Dollars?
Divine Sense Masters really could make money!
Next, Chen Lie began inscribing the next set of Martial Arts Crystal Cards.
Although he had barely seen any Divine Sense Masters on Blue Star, he was certain his mental power was hundreds of times more concentrated than that of the planet's native Divine Sense Masters. His control over mental power was also far beyond anything they could match.
If a native Divine Sense Master on Blue Star needed to expend 100 points of mental power to inscribe the same set of C-Rank Martial Arts Crystal Cards, he might not even need 1 point.
Half an hour passed, and Chen Lie finished channeling his mental power into all fifteen sets of cards.
He had inscribed D-Rank Martial Art Void-Breaking Fist on the ten sets of Combat Technique Crystal Cards, and C-Rank Martial Art Army-Breaking Fist on the five sets of D-Rank Martial Arts Crystal Cards.
"All done. I've finished inscribing all fifteen sets."
Chen Lie laid the thirty cards out on the counter one by one.
Yang Shen hurriedly said, "Army-Breaking Fist is a popular C-Rank fist art in East River Province. Even at 120,000 Star Dollars a set, demand would outstrip supply.
"As for Void-Breaking Fist, I sold the ten sets of its crystal cards last time for 60,000 Star Dollars each.
"So, let's price Army-Breaking Fist at 120,000 Star Dollars a set, with you getting 80,000 per set. Void-Breaking Fist will go for 60,000 a set, with you getting 40,000 per set.
"For all fifteen sets of Psionic Crystal Cards, I'll give you 800,000 Star Dollars. How does that sound?"
Chen Lie thought it over and said, "Am I getting too big a share?"
"Absolutely not!" Yang Shen replied at once. "You're a Divine Sense Master, Brother Chen. Don't sell yourself short.
"Even when a Divine Sense Master works with a behemoth like Lingfeng Group, one of the giants of Yunchuan Province, they get the lion's share. And you're working with a small merchant like me.
"The fact that you think highly enough of me to choose to work with me is already an honor.
"Besides, I'll make at least 300,000 Star Dollars from these Psionic Crystal Cards. I might not make that much even if I ran this shop for two or three months.
"On top of that, having Martial Arts Crystal Cards in my shop that other sellers don't have will be a tremendous boost to my business.
"I'm already satisfied with all the benefits I'm getting. Please, Brother Chen, don't say another word about it."
"All right."
Chen Lie nodded.
"Here's a Free Star Dollar Card. I've already transferred 800,000 Star Dollars to it. You can spend the money directly, no password needed."
As he spoke, Yang Shen handed Chen Lie a black Star Dollar Card.
Chen Lie took the card and put it in his pocket.
After paying Chen Lie, Yang Shen gathered up the fifteen sets of crystal cards one by one.
"Brother Chen, if you're free in a little while, there's a Martial Dao Restaurant behind the Martial Artist Market. I'll treat you to a meal. How about it?" Yang Shen suggested.
"Sure!"
Chen Lie agreed. He'd eaten a little at the He family banquet before coming, but he'd held back. The banquet table could only have cost a few thousand Star Dollars at most, and the food had to be divided among so many people. He hadn't eaten much, so there was no reason he couldn't have another meal.
"Great. Please wait a moment. I ordered some crystal card boxes from a shop outside the market. Once I've packed up the cards, we'll go."
"All right!"
When Chen Lie agreed, Yang Shen immediately left the sales point and headed toward the shops outside the market.
Chen Lie sat in the chair behind the counter and looked around at the Martial Arts Crystal Cards in stock.
He noticed that the sales point had only two or three hundred sets on display, many of them Combat Technique Crystal Cards.
"So the cost of a set of Martial Arts Crystal Cards really is high."
Even the crystal card shops were afraid to stock too many. Or perhaps they only had enough capital to buy that many cards.
"Looks like I won't have to worry about martial arts resources for a while."
Chen Lie murmured to himself. Eight hundred thousand Star Dollars in just over half an hour—without a Divine Sense Master's abilities, that kind of money was unthinkable.
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