Sunflare Group

"Wait!"

Seeing Li Xianyu turn to leave, Chen Lie immediately called after her.

Li Xianyu turned back and asked somewhat impatiently, "Senior, do you need something else?"

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

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

Li Xianyu went to the training grounds nearby and began demonstrating the Cloud Smoke Step, though doubts quietly began to creep into her mind.

Could there be something wrong with Chen Xingyao's brother's head?

At the same time, she made up her mind that if he still refused to help her queue up after she demonstrated the Cloud Smoke Step, she would never let him waste her time again.

With her thoughts in turmoil, only seven or eight minutes passed before Li Xianyu finished a full demonstration of the Cloud Smoke Step, riddled with flaws.

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

Chen Lie nodded. "Now take a look at my Cloud Smoke Step."

As he spoke, Chen Lie walked toward the training grounds. With a single step, he appeared at the center of the field dozens of meters away.

Then Chen Lie's footwork became light and agile. Each step seemed to contain dozens, even hundreds of steps. More than a dozen afterimages appeared, scattered across the training grounds as he drifted through them like a wisp of green smoke.

"Th-this is the Cloud Smoke Step?"

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

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

Could such marvelous footwork really be cultivated by someone who was not even a martial artist?

From the far side of the training grounds, Chen Lie took another step. The dozen figures scattered around the field all walked toward Li Xianyu at once, merging together one by one. In the blink of an eye, he arrived before her.

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

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

What had just happened? It had seemed as though there were more than a dozen Chen Lies in the training grounds, all arriving before her together before merging into one.

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

"Se-Senior, you've trained your Cloud Smoke Step to this level?"

Li Xianyu stammered. Even the famous instructor she had planned to study under definitely could not perform that footwork.

Could a C-rank martial art really split into more than a dozen figures when used, leaving people dazzled?

"One hundred thousand star credits. I guarantee that within three days, I'll teach you to use this footwork with complete mastery."

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

Li Xianyu, who had been doubtful, suddenly thought of something. She immediately took out a dark green star credit card and handed it to Chen Lie.

She was afraid Chen Lie would change his mind. Someone with such miraculous footwork was undoubtedly one of East River Province's top martial arts prodigies.

Even if someone like him casually guided her for three days, she felt that paying only one hundred thousand star credits was a bargain.

The instructors at martial arts academies taught more than a dozen or twenty students at once. There was no way they could focus their instruction on her alone.

Besides, compared with Chen Lie's Cloud Smoke Step, the instructors' versions were worlds apart.

Chen Lie frowned slightly and did not take the star credit card Li Xianyu offered. "Do you have cash?"

"No, but there's an ATM outside the academy. I can withdraw the money and give it to you," Li Xianyu hurriedly said.

"Fine. Let's go."

Following Chen Lie to the ATM outside the martial arts academy, Li Xianyu blankly withdrew one hundred thousand star credits and handed them to him.

Chen Lie accepted the cash, nodded, and said, "Come to the academy tomorrow morning. I'll teach you the footwork."

"Mm, okay!" Li Xianyu nodded.

Once Li Xianyu nodded, Chen Lie turned and left without looking back.

Li Xianyu did not return to the martial arts academy either, instead going home.

Chen Xingyao's brother was actually this incredible?

Had he reached this level after merely watching the Cloud Smoke Step once, or had he already known this martial art?

No matter what, the instructors could not cultivate the Cloud Smoke Step to such a level, but Chen Xingyao's brother could.

Her older sister was in the elite class and considered one of the top students among the elite, yet compared to Chen Xingyao's brother, she could not even hold a candle to him.

"If he can cultivate a martial art to a level far beyond even the instructors, Chen Xingyao's brother's vitality value must be extremely high."

The growth of one's vitality value was closely related to the martial arts one had mastered. Once a person's vitality value reached a certain level and encountered a bottleneck, they could only promote further growth by learning another martial art.

"Could Chen Xingyao's brother already be selected for the province's Youth Genius Corps?"

No wonder Chen Xingyao had been so flustered when they ran into them last time, claiming that her brother's vitality 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 came over to greet her. "Xianyu, did you sign up for Teacher Qu's Cloud Smoke Step guidance class?"

"I already signed up."

Li Xianyu did not dare let her mother know that she had privately diverted the money meant for the Cloud Smoke Step course, 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 credits in cash on his bed.

Earning one hundred thousand star credits today had shown Chen Lie a way to make money on his own.

On Blue Star, fully learning a C-rank martial art truly cost several hundred thousand star credits.

Perhaps he could try taking on more students and earn 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 Step, Chen Lie could grasp the essentials at a glance. He had even improved it using the B-rank martial art Phantom Step that he had learned in his previous life as a reference.

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

Chen Lie looked at the star credits on his bed and fell into thought.

At present, he had no channels through which to purchase supplements. Those basic nutritional products on the market could not meet his needs at all.

Things like vitality essence were mild in nutrition and easy for the body to absorb, but to him, they were all flash and no substance.

What he needed was a supplement packed with nutrition that was also affordable.

One hundred thousand star credits was neither a great deal nor a small sum. It was certainly enough to cover a normal Blue Star household's living expenses for a year, with plenty to spare. It only seemed insignificant because martial arts cultivation burned through money so quickly.

Suddenly, Chen Lie recalled that his friend Wang Hui seemed to have extensive connections. Wang Hui's father, Wang Kui, was the director of East Prosperity City's Administrative Affairs Department and also a government-business council member. He dealt with people from all walks of life, so he should be able to help.

Chen Lie took out his communicator and called Wang Hui.

"Chen Lie? What do you need? Let me say this first: if you want me to go to the virtual experience center with you, I can't go these next few days."

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

Wang Hui said, "To be honest, my vitality value has broken through 1 cal. My dad got me a bottle of vitality essence, so I need to train hard these next few days to absorb its 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 ask around and see if there are any supplements that are cheap but extremely nutritious."

Wang Hui said, "How could something that good exist? Your request is ridiculous. How could a highly nutritious supplement possibly be cheap?"

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

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

Chen Lie immediately asked, "Tell me more."

Wang Hui's voice came through the communicator. "You should know that the exotic beast meat sold on the market has to undergo special processing, then be soaked in a precious medicinal solution for three days before it can be sold.

"Although specially processed exotic beast meat loses more than half its nutrients, the energy in the meat becomes mild. Only this kind of exotic beast meat is suitable for human absorption.

"Truly unprocessed exotic beast meat is packed with nutrition, but its energy is so violent that an ordinary martial arts student simply can't digest it."

Chen Lie said, "I understand. The cheap, highly nutritious option you mean is unprocessed exotic beast meat."

"That's right. Only martial artists, or people with extraordinarily high vitality values, can eat unprocessed exotic beast meat. Anyone with even a slightly lower vitality value can't digest it after eating it.

"People who can use it don't care for it, while those who want it can't use it, so its price can't rise."

"So you have a connection?"

"Of course. I have a cousin who's twenty years older than me. He's a warehouse supervisor at Sunflare Group. His position isn't exactly senior management, but it comes with plenty of under-the-table benefits.

"The unprocessed exotic beast meat that Sunflare Group transports from the border all passes through his hands. He takes the opportunity to keep some scraps and trimmings to sell outside. His hidden income is at least a million star credits 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 and blood, and among that ten thousand jin of meat, at least several hundred jin are attached to the beast's bones.

"The meat attached to an exotic beast's bones contains energy that is more violent and powerful 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 these scraps, they'd probably just sit in Sunflare Group's warehouse as waste."

Chen Lie said, "All right. Ask him how many jin of unprocessed exotic beast meat one hundred thousand star credits can buy."

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

"Don't ask. I have my uses."

"Fine, I'll hang up first. I'll call you back in a bit."

"Okay."

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

After he answered, Wang Hui's voice came through the communicator. "I asked. My cousin sells it to others for six thousand star credits a jin, but I told him we're close friends, so he can give it to you for five thousand star credits a jin."

"Fine. Make time today or tomorrow and come with me to buy the exotic beast meat from your cousin."

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

"Okay."

After saying that, Chen Lie hung up the communicator.