Early July

Anning Martial Arts Hall ran on memberships, charging by martial rank. Different ranks came at different prices.

It offered monthly and annual passes, and the fees were steep.

Very steep.

Most people's total annual income could not cover an annual pass for a third-rank Martial Artist.

Fortunately, there were no extra charges.

Pay once, and apart from instruction for higher ranks, everything was included: coaches, training equipment, sparring partners, combat sessions, and more.

There was no such thing as a private coach.

They also provided buffets, recovery drinks, baths, and massages. The service was remarkably thorough.

The massages were what Chen Shu liked best.

He always requested Number Nine.

Number Nine was pretty, her hands were strong, and her technique was professional. Aside from her slightly thick arms, everything about her was great.

"Ow!"

Chen Shu lay on the massage table, playing with his phone. Every so often, Number Nine pressed a sore spot and drew a cry from him. It hurt, but it felt good.

He hadn't watched short videos in ages.

Ning had vanished completely from his feed, and the scantily clad young women were still just as hard to come by.

Reports about the Sage Ancestor Cube, on the other hand, were everywhere—

"Have you ever seen the Imperial Sword the Sage Emperor wielded in battle, as recorded in the historical chronicles?

"They unearthed it today!

"After five thousand years, its edge is as sharp as ever! Made entirely of Silver Crystal, its craftsmanship and Rune Arrays were at least three thousand years ahead of their time. Even now, one stroke could cleave mountains and rivers, and mid-tier cultivators can't even draw it!"

Rousing music played over the video, and the comments were nothing but praise.

Chen Shu watched without expression.

At its closest, it was half a meter from me. At its closest to becoming mine, it was one thought away.

Stop hyping it up. The more you hype it, the worse I feel.

He swiped to the next video. The music abruptly turned ornate and classical, while an exquisite dragon-embroidered garment appeared on-screen. "The black-and-gold Cloud-Patterned Dragon-Embroidered Robe unearthed from the Yuanzhou Cube looked almost new when it was discovered. Its craftsmanship is breathtaking... At last, we know what Xia Dynasty emperors wore when they weren't holding court."

"Mmm..."

Another press drew a moan from Chen Shu.

Number Nine's gentle voice came from behind him. "Am I pressing too hard?"

"No. Just like that."

"You've strained a ligament."

"A little."

"Make sure you get plenty of rest."

"Mmm."

Number Nine is so considerate. She's almost a tenth as thoughtful as my Qingqing.

Chen Shu scratched his head and kept scrolling.

"The era when Otherworldly Beasts appeared may have been confirmed..."

"Vermilion Fruit, extinct for two thousand years, discovered in the Yuanzhou Cube. It looks as though it was picked yesterday, and its seeds are still viable..."

"The Sage Ancestor's Procession Painting proves that our country employed foreign workers as early as the Xia Dynasty, from multiple ethnic groups..."

"..."

Chen Shu opened the comments under every video. Aside from the clowns cracking jokes, everyone seemed delighted, praising the Sage Ancestor to the skies.

That was how national pride took root.

It was as simple as that.

This Cube held more artifacts of Xia Dynasty life and culture. That intangible wealth was, in some ways, more precious than the material treasures stored in earlier Cubes. Before this, people had known little about the Xia Dynasty or the Sage Emperor.

The Xia Dynasty had been founded more than five thousand years ago. Though the Sage Emperor's might had shaken the world, his descendants had failed him, and the dynasty had lasted only a little over six hundred years.

High-tier cultivators could live for centuries.

A little over six hundred years... That really was short.

The fundamental reason was that later members of the Xia imperial family had reached such low cultivation tiers that they could not keep other cultivators in check. That was rare among dynasties. Any founding emperor capable of overthrowing the previous dynasty and establishing a new one in a world of cultivators had to be an extraordinary genius at the very least. With gifted bloodlines and the resources of an entire nation at their disposal, his descendants should not have ended up that way.

Its early fall, followed by the beating later generations gave it, meant that much of the Xia Dynasty's legacy had never been passed down.

His hour was up.

Number Nine turned and left without a trace of reluctance.

How heartless.

Chen Shu climbed out of bed too. His whole body hurt even more now, as though it might fall apart. Gritting his teeth, he headed out.

At his locker, he took out two boxes of medicinal ingredients and went to the hall's medicinal-bath area.

Steam rose in curling wisps.

Chen Shu found an empty spot, filled a specially made bathtub with water, and unpacked the box of Ancient Root Azure Spirit Muscle-Strengthening Powder. He poured the black powder inside into the tub.

The highly concentrated powder dissolved the instant it touched water. Soon the bathwater turned an opaque blue-green, and Chen Shu could sense the strange spiritual energy within it.

As he soaked, the medicine and spiritual energy would seep into his muscles and strengthen them.

He took off his bathrobe and slipped straight in.

"Glug, glug..."

The water immediately began bubbling as if it were boiling.

Chen Shu felt as though countless ants were biting him from head to toe, or as though an electric current was coursing over him. It hurt and itched; it was miserable and strangely fascinating.

Enduring it, Chen Shu opened the other box of medicine.

Inside were five capsules.

They were for strengthening bones.

He swallowed them all at once.

Then he closed his eyes and began to enjoy himself, using his control over spiritual energy as a cultivator to improve his absorption of both medicines.

One box of powder cost over eight thousand, and one box of capsules over three thousand. Together, more than ten thousand was gone, yet all they did was give him a little help toward breaking through to the next Martial Artist rank.

That was how fast the money burned.

Most of the money Chen Shu had worked so hard to earn by selling out his fellow townsmen had gone to these pharmaceutical companies.

Time seemed to slow.

The pain grew sharper, and enduring it grew harder.

Early July.

The weather showed no sign of cooling.

Chen Shu had been sitting at his desk for a long time.

The computer screen before him was packed with Runes, most of them complex second- and third-level ones. Connected at precise angles in a specific arrangement, they formed an intricate, elaborate spell diagram.

Chen Shu stared at the screen without blinking. Now and then, he closed his eyes to simulate its operation within his body. At other times, he picked up the chip, compared the two, and made adjustments.

He was almost done.

It had been over a month.

Chen Shu closed his eyes once more.

At the same time, a faint glow spread across his skin. For an instant, even his skin seemed smoother.

"About done, right?

"Should be."

Chen Shu picked up the chip and compared them again. As far as he could tell, it was close enough.

He ran a simple test, then calculated the results. Given the same amount of spiritual energy, their defensive capabilities were essentially identical, far stronger than the Bodyguard Divine Light Version he had used as a reference. Chen Shu was currently at the peak of the second tier, though his exceptional talent put him roughly on par with an ordinary third-tier cultivator. The spiritual energy stored in the chip, meanwhile, was around the middle of the third tier. He had to account for that difference in his calculations.

Should be fine, right?

That was what Chen Shu thought.

He saved the file.

He inserted the crystal disk and logged into Wide and Narrow Alley.

Mr. Cat: How far along are you?

Mr. Cat: Almost done, right?

Mr. Cat: How much longer?

Mr. Cat: Offline again. Tell me, how many years do you get in Yi Nation if you're caught accessing the deep web?

Chen Shu frowned. Why did this guy talk so much? There were messages from him every day.

Green Vegetable and White Jade Soup: Mostly done.

Mr. Cat: Really?

Mr. Cat: How good is it?

Green Vegetable and White Jade Soup: My equipment is limited. I only ran basic tests of its protection against spiritual-energy attacks, high temperatures, and force fields. The results basically match the chip, but there could be errors.

Green Vegetable and White Jade Soup: Test it properly yourself when you get it back.

Green Vegetable and White Jade Soup: Also—

Green Vegetable and White Jade Soup: I revised the runes for automatic activation, but I haven't tested them. They should work in theory. You'll have to test that yourself too.

Green Vegetable and White Jade Soup: Contact me if there are any problems.

Mr. Cat: All right.

Mr. Cat: If the tests check out, this is better than I expected. So you really are an educator at a university in Yi Nation, aren't you?

Green Vegetable and White Jade Soup: /pay up

Mr. Cat: /wipes sweat

Mr. Cat: Send it over.

A thousand Black Gold Coins came in.

That was worth over a million in Yi Nation currency.

It was a sizable sum.

But Chen Shu rarely cashed out. What he earned in Wide and Narrow Alley, he spent in Wide and Narrow Alley, avoiding physical purchases whenever possible.

There was no point taking unnecessary risks.

Green Vegetable and White Jade Soup: After-sales support included. Contact me if anything comes up.

Mr. Cat: Logging off.

Chen Shu unplugged the crystal disk, stood up, took two steps back, and fell onto the bed. He let out a long breath.

"Phew..."

One troublesome job was done. From now on, he could save a great deal of time every day. He would no longer have to pack his schedule so tightly that he could barely sleep.

The museum job was almost over too. According to Professor Chen, Chen Shu would be paid a little over twenty thousand.

That's so little.

Archaeology really offered no future.

There were still ten-odd days before classes began at Jade Capital Academy. At the thought of suddenly having free time, Chen Shu felt oddly unaccustomed to it.