Still a Loan Scam?

Instructor Yuan smiled broadly, set down his thermos, and gestured for Chen Zhuo to sit opposite him. Then he asked pleasantly, "Student Chen, how much would you like to borrow?"

Chen Zhuo considered it for a moment before asking cautiously, "Mr. Yuan, I'm at the Qi Refining Fourth Layer, right at a critical point in my cultivation. Given my circumstances, how much could I borrow?"

"Well..."

Counselor Yuan did some quick mental arithmetic. "Under the Taiqing Bank's University Town branch rules, a working junior college student in Middle Qi Refinement can borrow around three hundred Spirit Coins."

Three hundred Spirit Coins?

Chen Zhuo frowned, bitterly disappointed.

The figure was far lower than he had imagined.

What would that be enough for?

Just one injection.

Three hundred Spirit Coins was no small sum, but for Chen Zhuo now, it really wasn't much.

After all, Chen Zhuo still had over a hundred Spirit Stones in the Storage Bag he had hidden at home!

Once you were used to hauling seafood from the open sea, fishing for shrimp in a little stream would never satisfy you.

Seeing that Chen Zhuo seemed unhappy with the amount, Counselor Yuan's eyes lit up. He lowered his voice. "It seems Student Chen isn't satisfied with that figure."

Chen Zhuo didn't hide it. "Mr. Yuan, three hundred Spirit Coins is a lot, but for me, it's only enough to buy one Needle. It wouldn't even get me to the Qi Refining Fifth Layer anytime soon."

Counselor Yuan gave Chen Zhuo an approving look.

He had seen Chen Zhuo's file, of course.

Half a year.

In just half a year, Chen Zhuo had gone from an ordinary mortal to a cultivator at the Qi Refining Fourth Layer.

That cultivation speed rivaled those with high-grade Spiritual Roots whose spiritual energy perception was around forty or fifty.

The type of Spiritual Root implanted in an Acquired Spiritual Root Implantation cultivator was classified information. Yuan Mingde was only a counselor and naturally had no access to it, but he estimated that Chen Zhuo's aptitude wasn't particularly impressive.

There could be only one reason Chen Zhuo had advanced so quickly.

He must have been injecting drugs like his life depended on it.

That was perfectly normal.

In the history of the Taiqing Domain, there had once been a drug-injecting prodigy with an artificially implanted Spiritual Root. He took drugs orally, snorted them, injected them into his veins, and even absorbed them through his intestines. After injecting over a thousand doses in ten years, he successfully reached the Foundation Establishment Realm.

People had worshipped him for it. He was the stuff of legend!

Unfortunately, the drugs cost so much that he owed seven or eight hundred thousand Spirit Coins. Rumor had it that a major pharmaceutical company had put him in cold storage and enlisted him for experiments.

Specifically, they drew his blood every day to study what kind of body he had. Why hadn't so many injections made him explode? His drug tolerance was extraordinary—his talent in that regard was no less impressive than a Heavenly Spiritual Root!

The pharmaceutical company wanted to find a way to boost drug tolerance. If it succeeded, it would make a fortune.

So, judging by Chen Zhuo's Qi Refining Fourth Layer cultivation and his condition...

He had definitely been injecting drugs.

It was only natural that he found three hundred Spirit Coins too little.

This young man's resolve to pursue the Dao is so firm. He really is the perfect candidate!

With that thought, Counselor Yuan smiled. Then he suddenly waved a hand, sending out a gentle surge of spiritual energy that shut and locked the office door.

Chen Zhuo's heart jolted. He watched Counselor Yuan warily.

What was he doing?

The atmosphere in the office turned strange.

Counselor Yuan said nothing immediately. Instead, he rose, walked to the window, and closed the blinds.

Only then did Counselor Yuan turn to Chen Zhuo. "Chen Zhuo, would you like to borrow more Spirit Coins?"

Alarm bells rang in Chen Zhuo's head, but he kept his composure and asked tentatively, "What do you mean, Mr. Yuan?"

"Exactly what I said."

Counselor Yuan continued, "I can use a few methods to present you as one of the school's priority talents, then apply under Immortal Estate policies such as the Immortal Estate Talent Cultivation Plan or the Enrolled Junior College Student Entrepreneurship Plan. I can get the bank to approve a loan of four or five thousand Spirit Coins for you!"

Chen Zhuo was stunned.

Holy shit!

So this was a loan scam.

Wasn't that illegal?

"Mr. Yuan, that..."

Chen Zhuo could have accepted some other approach, but this seemed risky. "Wouldn't that attract the Law Enforcement Cultivators? And would the bank even approve it?"

"How is that illegal?"

Instructor Yuan gave a dismissive laugh and waved a hand. "It's an official policy. You students just don't know about it. Besides, we wouldn't be falsifying anything, because..."

"You're a Dao Tournament Reserve member and one of the Pill Appraisal Department's priority students this year!"

"Huh? Weren't you going to hold a selection?" Chen Zhuo asked in surprise.

"If you take out a loan that large, your Immortal Dao Potential will rank first in the class. What's left to select?" Instructor Yuan said as though it were obvious. "With potential that high, the spot will be yours."

"That makes you one of the three Dao Tournament Reserve members nominated by the Pill Appraisal Department of the Alchemy Vocational and Technical College. Then, when Teacher Nangong from the Academic Affairs Office publishes the rankings, I'll have your name moved up beside the Combat Department students from our college. Even if the bank investigates afterward, it won't find a problem!"

"We're not committing loan fraud," Counselor Yuan said. "You really are a priority student. We're just switching the order: loan first, designation afterward."

"Of course, there are quite a few troublesome steps. I can handle them for you, but I'll need a ten percent cut. That's fair, isn't it?"

Chen Zhuo fell into thought.

Clearly, Yuan Mingde, Counselor Yuan, was using his position to dress students up as qualified applicants for large loans, then taking a cut.

And from the looks of it, Yuan Mingde had planned this from the start.

He was using these "Dao Tournament Reserve" spots to get a few students to take out loans.

In other words, whoever agreed to borrow money became a "Dao Tournament Reserve" member.

Damn, that was crooked. What happened to fair competition?

Was the strongest junior college student actually the one with the biggest loan?

And judging by how practiced he was...

Did they do this every year?

"Mr. Yuan, could you give me some time to think about it..."

After some thought, Chen Zhuo decided to look into it first and see whether there was any risk.

He had no desire to mine rocks in the mountains.

He had a bright future ahead of him. He could earn plenty of Spirit Stones just by trading Waste Pills back and forth. There was no reason to ruin his life over this money.

"Take your time. Think it over."

Instructor Yuan smiled and settled back into his chair, looking perfectly at ease. "I had the same doubts and worries at first. But our college has done this more than once. It's a legitimate bank loan with all the paperwork in order. The approval process is just a little flexible."

Chen Zhuo nodded, putting on an eager-to-learn expression. Then he asked, "And what about the Dao Tournament Reserve spot, sir?"

"Huh? You actually want to compete in the Dao Tournament?"

Counselor Yuan blinked, then said dismissively, "Each department gets three prospective spots, but a college can send only five students to the actual tournament. Most prospective members end up as substitutes. Usually, it's students from the Swordsmanship Department and the Body Cultivation Department who compete. The three spots in our Pill Appraisal Department, and those in the neighboring Alchemy Department, Spiritual Plant Department, and Pharmacy Department, are basically used to scam loans...ahem, to help students secure loans."

Hearing that, Chen Zhuo felt relieved at once.

Still, to be safe, he didn't agree on the spot. He filled out the form and took his leave.

On his way out, Chen Zhuo picked up his Spirit Message Jade Slip and began pestering people for information.

He had three people to ask.

Yu Xia from the Talisman-Making College.

His pill supplier, Senior Sijing.

And Liang Ningwan, who came from an unusual family background.

Senior Sijing was the first to reply.

Sijing: "You got one of the three spots? What kind of damn luck do you have?"

Sijing: "Oh, but that makes sense. You've only been cultivating for a little over half a year, and you're already at the Qi Refining Fourth Layer. If they didn't give you a spot, they couldn't explain to the bank during its background check why they gave it to someone else. Everyone knows how this works, but with the Immortal Estate watching, you still have to show the Divine Lords some respect."

Sijing: "Don't worry. The college leadership knows about it too. It's basically a perk for new teachers and counselors. Yuan Mingde won't harm you."

After reading Senior Sijing's reply,

Chen Zhuo understood immediately.

So it really was legitimate.

He had been chosen because he had been injecting drugs heavily these past few days, and his cultivation had risen too quickly.

If they gave the spot to someone else, they wouldn't be able to justify it during the bank's background check.

After all, the Immortal Estate's system was formed from the Divine Senses of several fallen Divine Lords. Those Divine Senses wouldn't let anything slide. They would see that the student who ranked first on the exam hadn't received this "Scholarship Loan," and that wouldn't make sense.

What more was there to say? I'm taking the loan!