Million Resources

Swish!

The atmosphere in the office shifted abruptly.

Zhang Li and Chen Yu both wore expressions of astonishment, while the hand Huang Lichen used to hold his cigarette froze, causing ash to tumble onto his trouser leg.

Even Ye Mei, who had been daydreaming on the sidelines, turned her head. A glimmer of intrigue and surprise flashed in her beautiful eyes as she stared at Li Jinshui with a profound gaze.

"Hahaha, interesting."

The silver-haired Chen Yu let out a loud laugh, crushed his cigarette with a clean, decisive motion, and stood up. "Fine. This kid has guts. I have no objections; let's do as you said."

With that, he pulled open the office door and walked out.

"Li Jinshui—the name sounds a bit rustic, but you're not a bad guy. Work hard." The older woman also rose slowly, smoothed out her trendy jacket, and headed toward the door as well.

With the two of them gone, the office fell silent once more.

Huang Lichen rubbed his temples with a bitter expression and looked at Li Jinshui. "Are you really not afraid of death? You could have just quit and moved to another city. Even if the roads are dangerous, it's better than running off to be a station chief and dying even faster."

"Commander Huang, don't you know me by now? I don't have many virtues, but I value loyalty. Since I've taken the camp's resources, I have to get the job done, even if it kills me."

Li Jinshui's face was a portrait of righteousness!

Internally, he couldn't help but wonder: given Old Huang's attitude, could he have been the one who sent that text message?

Forget it, it doesn't matter.

Once he got his hands on all the resources, he would find someone in the underworld to contact Snake Ming and see if he could arrange a water route to Southeast Asia for his escape.

"Li Jinshui, do you really think you can hold down an entire delivery station by yourself?" Ye Mei finally spoke, crossing her arms and looking at Li Jinshui with a mocking smile.

"Of course not, I'm not an idiot!"

Li Jinshui sat back on the sofa and spoke eloquently. "First off, I definitely need to recruit people. I also want some of this year's Grade B trainees assigned to me. Besides, the camp needs to send me some high-end combat power as bodyguards, right? Otherwise, what happens if I get assassinated the moment I become station chief?"

"Don't worry about those things; we'll discuss them later."

Huang Lichen waved his hand, his gaze darkening. "Since you've made your decision, starting tomorrow, I'm going to give you private lessons. Within two months, even if you have to crawl, you'd better crawl your way to the strength of a Second-rate Martial Artist. Do you hear me?"

"Reach the level of a Second-rate Martial Artist in two months? How is that even possible?"

Li Jinshui widened his eyes with exaggerated shock.

Although he was actually capable of it, he couldn't show it.

Besides, something was clearly fishy about today's events. The four big shots obviously needed him, making this a perfect opportunity to squeeze them for more.

"The four of us have chipped in a million in funding from our own pockets. Your resources in the camp will be doubled for now, and as for the rest, it depends on your performance."

Ye Mei threw out her chips and revealed her motive. "There's no such thing as a free lunch. You're a smart man, so I won't hide anything from you. We're all in the same boat now. If you die, our positions are at risk. If you pull through, we'll continue to back you in the future."

Just as expected, the squeeze was a success!

A million!

Li Jinshui only had eyes for the money. "No problem, absolutely no problem, it's a deal! Oh, right, one small request: don't give me any more D-grade Potion; I want to switch to C-grade."

"C-grade?" Both Ye Mei and Huang Lichen were stunned.

"Ahem!"

Li Jinshui raised a hand to his mouth to clear his throat, brushed his bangs, and gave Ye Mei a "you know what I mean" look. "Actually, I'm quite strong in that department. I mean, I have a high tolerance for drugs."

Hm?

Huang Lichen's eyebrows shot up as if he'd caught a whiff of some unusual gossip, his eyes darting suggestively between Li Jinshui and Ye Mei.

"You'd better be talking about drug tolerance!"

Ye Mei's face turned livid. She gripped the edge of the sofa tightly, gritting her teeth as she said coldly, "You're done here. Get out."

"You got it, babe!"

Li Jinshui dropped the cheeky line, immediately pushed his Basic Lightness Skill to the limit, and bolted out of the office door without looking back, as his Heaven Rewards Diligence trait warned him of imminent danger.

The next day.

Li Jinshui was summoned to the testing room alone.

Huang Lichen laid out the new arrangements.

"Time is tight and the task is heavy. Don't worry about those maps for now; you have a photographic memory anyway, so you can just look at them later."

"First point: having only an entry-level grasp of Lightning Pulse Step isn't enough. You must strive to reach proficiency within two months."

"Second, you don't need to practice Basic Stance Technique anymore. Switch directly to a Graded Stake Technique."

As he spoke, Huang Lichen pulled a brand-new manual from his jacket. "A top-tier Ninth Grade Stake Standing manual worth two hundred thousand—Wild Ox Stake. The money will be deducted from that million. Starting today, you are to switch to this technique."

"Switching techniques now?"

Li Jinshui frowned; this wasn't part of his own plan.

Transitioning to a new stake technique was a necessary stage for every martial artist; the only difference was when one chose to make the switch.

Achieving minor success in Basic Stance Technique is considered laying a solid foundation, officially making one a third-rate martial artist.

At this stage, most people choose to abandon the basic techniques and switch directly to Ninth Grade Stake Standing, pouring all their resources and energy into quickly pushing the Ninth Grade Stake Standing to the "proficient" stage, thereby stepping into the ranks of a Second-rate Martial Artist, also known as a "Ninth Grade Second-rate."

If one does not switch and instead continues to break through to proficiency in the Basic Stance Technique, they are known as a Basic Second-rate.

Although both are second-rate, the gap between them is quite large; the blood-qi value of a Ninth Grade Second-rate far exceeds that of a Basic Second-rate.

Of course, if one is a child of a wealthy family with unlimited dietary and medicinal supplements, they will inevitably choose the path of a Basic Second-rate first.

They break through to proficiency in the Basic Stance Technique, reach the perfection stage, and then start over to practice the Ninth Grade Stake Standing.

Although this process is more time-consuming, labor-intensive, and expensive, once the Ninth Grade Stake Standing is also cultivated to perfection, they will be called a Flawless Martial Artist, with strength and potential that can be called monstrous—truly invincible among their peers.

This is the martial path that Li Jinshui wants to choose.

"What? Do you have a problem?" Huang Lichen asked, frowning as he saw the hesitation on Li Jinshui's face.

"Yeah."

Li Jinshui nodded, not hiding anything, and said directly, "I will tell you in the most straightforward, direct, uncomplicated, objective, correct, systematic, realistic, concise, easy-to-understand, and non-beating-around-the-bush way: I am actually considering a possibility."

"Damn, you don't want to walk the path of a Flawless Martial Artist, do you?"

Huang Lichen immediately guessed his thoughts and was instantly amused to the point of anger: "Young people really don't know how high the sky is or how deep the earth is. I'll tell you straight: don't even think about it."

"Oh? Why do you say that?" Li Jinshui narrowed his eyes, having long anticipated Old Huang's reaction.

"Do you know how hard it is to be a Flawless Martial Artist? Even I couldn't walk this path back then."

Huang Lichen rolled his eyes, his spit flying everywhere: "A Flawless Martial Artist needs to first become a Basic Second-rate, then a Basic First-rate, and then restart the cultivation of the Ninth Grade Stake Standing until it reaches perfection. The resources consumed in the middle would cost at least ten million. Do you have ten million? Do you? Huh? Do you? You don't have a damn thing."

"The point is, you don't have time now. If you spend all your time and resources on breaking through the Basic Stance Technique, even if you eventually succeed in stepping into the second-rate, you'll just be the weakest kind of Basic Second-rate. What's the difference between that and throwing your life away?"

"Alright, alright, stop chanting. I'll listen to you; I'll switch to practicing the Ninth Grade Stake Standing immediately."

Li Jinshui picked at his ear, interrupting Huang Lichen's nagging, and tucked the copy of Wild Ox Stake into his chest.

Old Huang was too long-winded and simply didn't understand the value of a protagonist.

Others have to spend ten million because they aren't as hardworking as me.

As long as I work hard to eat more exotic beast meat and drink more Supplement Potion, I am destined to become a Flawless Martial Artist.

"By the way, Old Huang, you know me. My constitution is special; I am a natural Martial Dao Sacred Body. Dietary supplements have a miraculous effect on me. If I want to break through to the second-rate as soon as possible, double the resources still aren't quite enough. I'm requesting one dietary supplement session per day." Li Jinshui proposed a new requirement.

"You're special, my foot! A Martial Dao Sacred Body? You just..." Huang Lichen started cursing immediately.

But before he could finish his sentence.

"Bang—! Bang! Bang!"

A series of heavy, muffled thuds suddenly came from the blood-qi tester nearby.

Li Jinshui finished his movements, retracted his power, and turned to walk out the door.

"Old Huang, I'm going to the cafeteria for breakfast first. Remember, at least one dietary supplement session per day."

His voice drifted away, and he had already disappeared into the hallway outside.

Huang Lichen stood there in a daze, his eyes wide as he stared fixedly at the instrument's display screen.

Blood-qi value: 503!

"What the hell! Wasn't it only 392 yesterday? You brat, are you really a Martial Dao Sacred Body? Hey, come back here..."