Struggle

Lin Family, late at night.

Only a small bedside lamp was on in the bedroom, its warm yellow glow barely dispelling a patch of darkness.

Lin Qingqiu leaned against the headboard, holding a thick workbook in her hands, but her gaze was unfocused. She had not turned a page for a long time.

Her conversation with Qing Wuyan during the day tangled in her heart like a mess of threads.

Had she made the right decision in asking him to scout out the black market for her?

How was he doing now? Would he run into danger?

All sorts of worries and self-reproach left her restless, unable to settle down and read.

Just then, the phone beside her pillow suddenly lit up and gave a faint vibration.

Lin Qingqiu's heart skipped a beat, and she immediately grabbed it.

It was a message from Qing Wuyan.

There was no text, only a picture.

The image was dimly lit. The background appeared to be some cluttered corner, and the framing looked rushed.

At the center was a flat metal case about twenty centimeters long and ten centimeters wide. It was matte black all over, without any markings.

The case was open, with three transparent glass tubes embedded neatly inside.

The tubes were filled with thick liquids in dark red, indigo blue, and amber yellow respectively, each refracting an alluring yet dangerous sheen even in the dim light.

Beside each glass tube was a tiny label printed with complex chemical formulas and energy reaction parameters.

Below the image, Qing Wuyan immediately sent a message, his tone brimming with excitement and caution:

[Class Monitor Lin! Did you see it?! A Swift Warrior Type I Genetic Potion set! The red one enhances muscle strength and explosive power, the blue one enhances neural response and perception, and the yellow one enhances cellular activity and recovery! I heard they're inferior products leaked through internal channels at Rock Biotech, but they're definitely stronger than most registered potions on the market! They supposedly have over 75% compatibility!]

[I asked around. This set costs three thousand Lower-Grade Spirit Stones, or equivalent rare metals. Special medicinal herbs are fine too. They only accept hard currency, no checks.]

[What do you think? Is this the kind of thing you were looking for?]

Lin Qingqiu stared fixedly at the image, her breathing quickening involuntarily as her fingers trembled slightly.

Swift Warrior Type I... Rock Biotech... internal channels...

Those words combined carried far too great an impact for someone like her, who had already done considerable research and longed to step into that world.

Rock Biotech was one of the country's foremost biotech and genetic research giants. Even their so-called "inferior products" and "internal leaks" were worth far more than ordinary black-market goods.

A 75% compatibility rate was already an extremely high success rate for Genetic Potions!

This was exactly the opportunity she had dreamed of!

A complete genetic awakening set with a clear focus and a relatively "high-end" source!

As long as she injected it and endured that supposedly agonizing yet hopeful transformation, she might be able to shed the fragility of an ordinary person and gain the power to protect herself—or even greater power!

Her heart pounded wildly in her chest, blood seeming to rush into her cheeks as a mixture of immense surprise, longing, and trembling seized her.

Yet the next second, the number at the end of Qing Wuyan's message was like a bucket of icy water poured over her head.

Three thousand Lower-Grade Spirit Stones.

Lin Qingqiu felt the warmth drain from her body in an instant, her fingertips turning cold.

Spirit Stones... three thousand Lower-Grade Spirit Stones...

She knew about Spirit Stones.

They were hard currency among Awakened ones, used to assist cultivation, power special equipment, and even serve as core ingredients in certain advanced potions.

For ordinary families, Spirit Stones were not entirely inaccessible. Some large banks and special exchange offices had official channels where they could be traded for enormous sums of money, but the exchange rate was extremely high, and special qualifications or guarantees were usually required.

Her family was well-off, but to produce wealth equivalent to three thousand Lower-Grade Spirit Stones in one go... that would be a colossal sum, enough to seriously damage their finances and perhaps even require selling off part of their assets!

Moreover, exchanging for Spirit Stones itself required pulling quite a few strings. It would definitely cause a commotion, and there was no way she could hide it from her parents!

Not to mention using such a massive sum—wealth practically forming the foundation of their family—to buy an untraceable black-market Genetic Potion with unknown risks, one her parents firmly opposed?

Reason screamed that it was dangerous and absurd.

But her thirst for power, and her obsession with never again experiencing that helpless despair, were screaming madly within her.

Her fingers hovered above the phone screen. She wanted to reply to Qing Wuyan, but she did not know what to say.

Ask for more details?

Try to negotiate the price?

Or simply tell him that she could not afford that many Spirit Stones at all?

When you encounter ads asking, "Are you a real person?" there is no need to pay attention to them. Just close them. Do not scan codes or send text messages!

As she struggled fiercely inside, her cold fingers trembling, the phone screen dimmed from being left untouched for too long.

The bedroom returned to darkness, with only the faint light of the bedside lamp illuminating the complicated expression on the young woman's face—desire, struggle, pain, and confusion intertwined.

She slowly curled up and buried her face in her knees.

On one side was a door to power within reach, yet carrying an exorbitant price.

On the other was the ordinary life filled with her parents' love, yet one that made her feel painfully constrained.

And there was also the heavy guilt and unease she felt toward Qing Wuyan, who had risked himself for her.

Three thousand Lower-Grade Spirit Stones lay between her and her dream like a cold, impassable chasm.

At the same time, inside a residential building.

Unlike the dim struggle in Lin Qingqiu's room, Qing Wuyan's bedroom was brightly lit.

He lounged lazily in a gaming chair, the computer screen before him flashing with a complex game interface, though he was clearly distracted.

He held a phone in his hand. Its lit screen displayed an encrypted messaging app.

There was only one lonely contact in the interface, with a blank profile picture and an ID made up of meaningless numbers and letters.

Qing Wuyan's fingers tapped rapidly across the screen, producing crisp clicking sounds.

[The goods have been shown to the target. The reaction matched expectations. Strong desire, but limited by payment capacity.]

He sent the message.

A reply came almost instantly.

[Received. Maintain contact and apply appropriate pressure, but do not proactively offer a solution. Observe whether she seeks family support or other funding channels.]

Qing Wuyan looked at the response, and the corner of his mouth curled into a faint smile utterly unlike his usual cheerful image—one carrying amusement and cold indifference.

[Understood.]

After replying, he did not exit the app. With a light tap, he switched to another chat window. This one had several more contacts, each with a different profile picture, but all their conversations revolved around similar topics.

[Old K, have last week's batch of Rock Counterfeits in the North District all been sold? How's the feedback on their effects?]

He sent the message to a contact labeled "Old K - North District Channel."

A response quickly arrived: [Sir, seven sets have been sold. The remaining three were reserved by Viper's people. Feedback has been decent. Three crossed the E-rank threshold successfully, while the other four are still in the adaptation period. One had a bit of a rejection reaction, but it was suppressed. It's just... things have been tense lately. Since Scarface King went down, the Special Affairs Bureau has been investigating hard.]

[Be careful. Keep a lower profile for now. The supply cannot stop, but safety comes first.] Qing Wuyan replied.

[Understood!]

He opened another contact labeled "Drug Broker - Lab Line."

[When will the lab's new batch of "catalyst" arrive? The purity needs to be higher than the last batch.]

The other party replied: [Sir, they said the earliest would be the end of the month. The raw materials are stuck at the border. Purity is guaranteed. Same old rules—add ten percent.]

[Fine. Notify me when it arrives.] Qing Wuyan replied succinctly.

He switched expertly between different chat windows, asking about sales of "goods" in different areas, customer feedback, channel security, and issuing simple instructions. He looked every bit like an organizer working behind the scenes.

His tone was calm and methodical, completely unlike the carefree, somewhat reckless persona he showed at school.

After handling everything, he exited the encrypted app and cleared all records.

Then he picked up another phone that looked far more ordinary and opened his chat window with Lin Qingqiu.

Looking at the picture and price quote he had sent, along with her prolonged lack of response, he smiled and tossed the phone aside.

He turned his attention back to the computer game. Brilliant skill effects flashed in his eyes, but deep within them was a calmness and calculation entirely at odds with the game's passionate atmosphere.

"Three thousand Spirit Stones... that really is an astronomical figure for an ordinary family."

He murmured to himself, his fingers unconsciously tapping the mouse.

"Lin Qingqiu... what will you do?"

"Will you confess to your parents and start a family war? Or... find another way?"

"Either path seems rather interesting."

The smile on his lips deepened, carrying the composure of someone watching a chess game unfold, along with even a trace of anticipation that was difficult to detect.

In the game, the character he controlled unleashed a dazzling combo and defeated the opponent.

Qing Wuyan stretched lazily, his face once again wearing that bright, harmless smile, as though the person who had just manipulated an illegal Genetic Potion trade network from the darkness had been nothing but an illusion.

The night was still long.

If you enjoy this book, remember to add it to your bookshelf so you do not lose it next time.