So families willing to pay for ordinary races did have some means.
But only some.
After all, the truly wealthy would simply buy high-tier racial bloodlines.
High-tier races were expensive.
They cost thousands, or even tens of thousands of gold coins, far beyond what an ordinary family could afford.
Besides, Class 4, which Zhao Chi belonged to, was a commoner class.
In fact, the entire Eighth Lord Academy was an academy for commoners.
The nobles did not attend this place.
Neither did the wealthy.
The sums those people invested were far beyond these commoners' reach.
Still, on the other hand...
Even for commoners...
A large initial investment would improve a lord's strength and reduce the risk of dying in battle.
But... family bonds worked a little differently in this world.
A woman could marry several men at once.
A man could also marry several women at once.
There were even marriages between lords and their subjects.
As a result, there was less affection and more self-interest.
Under these circumstances, large families placed greater importance on political connections and invested very little in offspring they did not value.
Yang Xiong was the child of his father's seventh concubine, so he received little attention.
Small families and commoner households were even less likely to invest much.
After all, being a lord was a dangerous profession.
The income was high, but they had to fight magical beasts directly, so the risks were high too.
It was easy to die in battle.
Even if they survived and escaped their territory in time...
Their territory would still be destroyed.
Their World Stone would be taken or destroyed.
Their racial bloodline would disappear along with the territory.
Commoners could hardly bear such a loss.
They could lose every last coin they had invested.
If they had not invested anything beforehand, at least they would still have their savings.
That was why most ordinary families chose to hold on to their savings.
Rather than invest heavily.
Chapter 17: Childish
Messages continued pouring into the class group chat.
Zhao Chi watched the Trolls in the video, thought for a moment, and sent a voice message as well.
He sent it privately to Lu Yi.
[Lu Yi, take a closer look at those two Trolls. Neither of them is very old.]
[They're agility types, not strength types. You can tell from their battle markings and Bone Ornaments.]
[Cao Feng's Shadow Leopards will be at a disadvantage if they draw their attention head-on. Shadow Leopards have tremendous burst speed, but their stamina is only average. They can't keep it up for long, so it's best not to send them straight in.]
[I think the poison strategy mentioned earlier is good. Elf bows have a longer range than the Trolls' throwing axes.]
[You know what things are like between Cao Feng and me, so you should remind him. Don't let his mistakes drag you down.]
Cao Feng had already arrived at Lu Yi's territory.
He had brought three Shadow Leopards.
The other two and his Basic Hero were standing guard in his own territory.
He and Lu Yi had retreated a little farther away and were drawing up a battle plan.
At that moment, Lu Yi suddenly fell silent as she listened carefully to Zhao Chi's advice.
Thinking the Trolls were charging, Cao Feng hurriedly looked up in alarm.
But he found that the Trolls were still far away.
"What's wrong, Lu Yi?" Cao Feng asked. "Why are you spacing out?"
Lu Yi restated Zhao Chi's advice in her own words.
She concealed the fact that it had come from Zhao Chi.
Cao Feng frowned. "Agility types? Who said that?"
"I think it makes sense," Lu Yi said. "To be safe, we should use poison."
Cao Feng sneered. "Hmph. Was it Zhao Chi?"
Lu Yi froze, unsure how he had guessed.
Seeing her expression, Cao Feng knew he was right. "Zhao Chi? Who is he to give me advice?"
Cao Feng immediately opened his contacts.
He sent Zhao Chi voice messages:
[Zhao Chi, I've always been in the top three in our class, haven't I? And you're usually near the bottom, right? I don't need you telling me what to do.]
[To classify Trolls, you need to look at their muscle structure and center of gravity, not just their battle markings and Bone Ornaments.]
[You have to consider all four factors, not two. These two are strength types! Do you understand?]
[If your brain's broken, keep quiet. Don't go spouting nonsense.]
Afterward, Cao Feng posted both Zhao Chi's advice and his own replies in the class group chat.
Then he sent another voice message:
[This is fucking hilarious. Zhao Chi tops one theory exam, and now he thinks he can tell me what to do. Hahaha.]
The class group chat went quiet for a moment.
Then several people quickly replied one after another.
They were all his lackeys:
Kong Xiang: [Got to admire his courage. At least Zhao Chi got half of it right. Haha.]
Shi Juan: [Cao, you really remember everything. Don't bother with people who get one good score and let it go to their heads.]
Zheng He: [Zhao Chi, when we were awakening our talents in the assembly hall earlier, we saw you staring blankly the whole time. Did your awakening fail? It's fine. You'll have another chance.]
Li Ke: [Zhao Chi, just worry about yourself. Don't get all excited the moment you see a message from Lu Yi.]
There were a few more messages.
Most people stayed neutral.
Only a small minority mocked Zhao Chi.
Lu Yi saw these messages too.
She felt rather helpless.
"Cao Feng, Zhao Chi suffered a head injury," she told him. "That was an unfortunate thing. If he's wrong, you can argue against him or ignore him. There's no need to talk like that. It's beneath you."
Cao Feng smiled. "Aren't you always saying he takes things well? I'm helping you see whether he really does or is just pretending. I don't mean any harm."
"I'm not an idiot," Lu Yi said unhappily. "Do you think I can't tell whether you mean harm?"
Cao Feng frowned. "What? I'm the one helping you fight the Trolls right now, not Zhao Chi. Why don't you ask him to come instead?"
Lu Yi sighed. "Forget it. Go back, then. I'll figure something out myself."
"Don't do that," Cao Feng said with a smile. "I was joking. Since I'm already here, of course I'll help you deal with them before I leave."
"Then stop picking fights."
"Fine, fine. Let's get back to the battle plan!"
Zhao Chi heard Cao Feng's replies.
He also saw the mockery from the others.
He genuinely felt nothing.
It felt like a few toy poodles were yapping at him.
Cao Feng had attacked his grades.
When he had first transmigrated here, he had been completely unfamiliar with this world and knew none of its basic facts, so his exam scores had been terrible.
He had indeed dragged down the class average.
He had also cost their head instructor, Li Ruanyu, her bonus, making her frown frequently.
But Li Ruanyu had not said anything and had even helped him catch up on the basics from time to time.
However, Li Ruanyu had limited time.
Later, she had asked the class monitor, Lu Yi, to tutor him. Lu Yi also felt that, as class monitor, this small effort was no big deal, and she earnestly helped Zhao Chi.
Zhao Chi had studied with utmost dedication.
For the past two years, he had truly neglected sleep and meals to cram all kinds of knowledge.
In the end, he had learned all the fundamentals and caught up on the previous coursework.
Before you continue