A Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Spirit really did cost a fortune!
One hundred million Federation coins nearly broke Yan Qing's funding chain, even eating into much of the money he used to stock blind boxes.
In the end, he also gave the Spirit Pagoda an IOU for fifty million Federation coins.
In a fit of anger, Yan Qing decided to expand his business.
A billboard went up outside his mysterious shop.
"Limited-time promotion!"
"Battle Armor blind boxes, originally priced at 1,100 contribution points, now available for free!"
Customers only needed to recruit new users who had never bought a Battle Armor blind box to slash the progress bar. Once the bar was slashed all the way down, the goods would ship immediately.
Of course, Yan Qing also added a note:
"Once the progress bar reaches ninety percent, progress will slow slightly."
Yan Qing divided his Battle Armor blind boxes into two quality tiers.
The standard version still cost 1,100 contribution points, while the rare version rose to over two thousand.
However, everything inside was made of fusion-forged rare metals, greatly improving the quality.
He also launched group purchases and a card-collecting prize event.
As the name suggested, group purchases allowed three people to form a group and receive a five-percent discount.
A group of five could get ten percent off, but group pricing only applied to rare blind boxes.
In reality, Yan Qing had first raised the price of the rare blind boxes by eleven percent.
Applying the ten-percent discount afterward brought them right back to market price.
Next came the card-collecting blind box scheme he had put considerable effort into.
Every blind box purchased from Yan Qing's mysterious shop came with a complimentary Battle Armor card inside.
The Battle Armor cards featured six designs: helmet, breastplate, pauldrons, wrist guards, knee guards, and waist armor.
Collecting a complete set of designs allowed the customer to redeem a full suit of One-Word Battle Armor.
The launch of these promotions set the entire Shrek Outer Court market ablaze.
The line of students waiting to buy stretched from the working students' dormitory area all the way to the Outer Court's athletic field.
Fortunately, Yan Qing had recruited dozens of blacksmiths in advance and set up an assembly line running in three shifts.
Blind boxes rolled out in an endless stream, while vast amounts of contribution points gradually flowed into this mysterious shop.
It even produced a remarkable spectacle.
Both Battle Armor ownership and Battle Armor quality in the Shrek Outer Court increased rapidly.
The students' enthusiasm for completing missions also soared. Even the rip-off working-student missions that normally no one gave a damn about were all snapped up.
Originally, possessing One-Word Battle Armor was a requirement for graduating from the Outer Court, and even among fifth- and sixth-years, only a small portion of students owned complete suits.
Now, a few third- and fourth-year students with powerful families could put together a full suit.
Rich folks like Yue Zhengyu could even equip themselves with full suits made from fusion-forged spirit alloy.
This led the academy to raise the Outer Court's graduation requirements later.
Of course, that was all a story for another time.
Inside the mysterious shop, Tang Wulin and Xie Xie had both been invited by Yan Qing to work as temporary staff.
Watching blind boxes sell like swirling snowflakes, Tang Wulin could not help asking:
"Boss, six cards can be exchanged for a complete suit of One-Word Battle Armor."
"Then wouldn't buying a few more guarantee a full suit? Are you really not going to lose money this way?"
"Of course not. Each card has a different probability of appearing."
Xie Xie answered first from beside him.
The pavilion nearest the water caught the moonlight first. Using the employee discount, Xie Xie had already bought five or six Battle Armor blind boxes.
Most of the Battle Armor cards he had pulled were arm armor and pauldrons.
Helmets were the rarest. As far as he knew, no one had pulled one yet.
Tang Wulin raised his eyebrows and looked at Yan Qing.
"Boss, you're so sure of yourself. Don't tell me you never printed any helmets at all."
Yan Qing smiled without a word.
While Yan Qing's little shop raked in money by the bucketful every day, classes also proceeded in an orderly fashion. One day, two figures appeared outside the door of Class One, Year One.
"I have two announcements today. First, two new students have joined our class. Everyone, please welcome them with a round of applause."
From the lectern, Shen Yi introduced the two transfer students from the Inner Court.
Of course, they had not come from the Inner Court because they had failed their studies.
The Inner Court had recently revised its student regulations, requiring its students to possess complete suits of Battle Armor. As a result, the two had been assigned to the Outer Court's first year according to their ages.
As Shen Yi finished speaking, two figures slowly walked inside.
The girl in front had long golden hair draped loosely over her shoulders, and her azure eyes were filled with cold pride.
Yan Qing mentally equated her with Ye Xinglan.
Then the little chubby boy beside her was probably Xu Lizhi.
After the new students had been introduced, Wu Changkong took over to deliver the second announcement.
"Our first year will be holding a practical exchange with the second year."
It included combat and basic profession assessments. The combat portion would be conducted in teams of at least three and at most seven, with voluntary registration.
"If multiple teams register, we'll hold a selection tournament. The ultimate winners will represent the first year."
The moment the announcement was made, all of Class One erupted into chatter.
Yang Nianxia, Luo Guixing, Xu Yucheng, Wu Siduo, and Zheng Yiran, the five students on the Young Genius Rankings, quickly gathered together, discussing something in low voices.
Their gazes also kept drifting toward Yan Qing.
After Yan Qing had defeated them in the previous class officer competition, several of them had expressed strong dissatisfaction following a detailed review.
Especially Yang Nianxia, who had fainted from fright, and Zheng Yiran, who had been swindled.
So they brought the battle-hungry Wu Siduo on board, intending to reclaim their lost ground in the selection tournament.
Both teams had five members, and their strength on paper was roughly equal. To deal with Yan Qing's illusions, they had even devised detailed tactics.
That made the newly arrived Ye Xinglan and Xu Lizhi the variables.
Luo Guixing was the first to approach and recruit her. Putting on what he considered a refined smile, he addressed Ye Xinglan.
"Hello, I'm Luo Guixing. I'd like to invite you to join our team."
Seeing no reaction from Ye Xinglan, he hurriedly added:
"Everyone on our team is on the Young Genius Rankings, and we all have at least four Soul Rings' worth of Soul Power. If you join us, we'll definitely sweep the entire second year."
Ye Xinglan gave him an indifferent glance, then walked straight toward a seat at the back of the classroom without even replying.
Luo Guixing froze in place. His hand slowly clenched inside his sleeve before he returned to his team, unwilling to accept it.
"If I beat you, will you join our team?"
Yan Qing looked at the girl whose face clearly said to keep your distance.
Ye Xinglan did not answer immediately. After a moment of serious consideration, fighting spirit slowly emerged in her blue eyes.
"Yes."
After class, Yan Qing and Ye Xinglan went to the Outer Court's arena.
His teammates naturally came to watch, and even Luo Guixing's group of five showed up.
Yan Qing was not afraid of exposing his strength. Even without him, Tang Wulin alone could lead the team in thrashing those five.
The moment Ye Xinglan stepped onto the arena platform, all her sharpness instantly withdrew, like a sword about to leave its sheath.
A bright yellow sword hilt settled into her hand, starlight slowly flowing over it. This was also her Martial Soul, the Stargod Sword.
Ye Xinglan locked her gaze on Yan Qing and raised the Stargod Sword in her hand.
The next instant, she saw a pair of soul-captivating eyes.
The boy before her, the spectators, and the arena platform gradually began to glow.
Finally, they transformed into a dazzling expanse of white light.
Not far away, Yan Qing's deep-hued fourth Soul Ring shone.
The Passionate Sword's fourth Soul Skill, Heart Prison.