Over thirty thousand Great Xia Currency was no small sum, but when their children's lives were at stake, most families were quite willing to pay.
Besides, the Weird Beast leather armor's value spoke for itself, and Xu Yuan's discount was genuine.
So, barely ten minutes later, students who had discussed it with their families began approaching Xu Yuan to place orders.
Xu Yuan hadn't expected things to go even more smoothly than he had imagined. He immediately whipped out his phone with a grin and called out:
"Come on, anyone who wants to buy one, add me as a friend and pay a thousand as a deposit. If you decide not to buy it later, your deposit is refundable!"
"And don't worry about me running off with your money. My character is praised by one and all..."
Xu Yuan's voice echoed through the hall, making the faces of the No. 3 Middle School students twitch.
This guy actually had the nerve to talk about character?
Praised by one and all, no less?
He was a dung beetle wearing a mask-stinking shameless!
But although they grumbled inwardly, nobody stepped forward to say anything.
Xu Yuan was no longer who he used to be, and nobody wanted to offend him for no reason.
On the contrary, quite a few people even approached him to order leather armor.
Just like that, dozens of students soon surrounded Xu Yuan!
The sight left the martial arts teachers from the different schools, who had arrived together, utterly bewildered.
Once they understood the situation, the teachers didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"No wonder this kid went around posting those things in all the class groups last night. So he was laying the groundwork for this all along."
"This kid really is one hell of a talent!"
"Still, it's a good thing. If these students all buy leather armor, protecting them will be a little easier for us."
"That's true..."
The Bone Forging Realm teachers chatted among themselves without stopping Xu Yuan, waiting nearby for him to finish.
Seeing that the teachers had arrived, Xu Yuan picked up the pace.
In less than ten minutes, he added over seventy friends, collected over seventy thousand in deposits along the way, and pulled all seventy-plus people into a group chat.
"Sorry to have kept you teachers waiting."
Once everything was done, Xu Yuan put away his phone and approached the teachers, his face wreathed in smiles.
Since the teachers had accommodated him, he naturally had to show some manners.
"You're a sharp one, kid, actually seizing an opportunity like this!"
Several teachers looked Xu Yuan over with interest, their eyes full of appreciation.
The martial arts students from all five high schools knew hunting Weird Beasts was dangerous and were worried about it, but only Xu Yuan had spotted the business opportunity. That was ability!
And going around posting news of Weird Beasts wreaking havoc in all the class groups to further stoke everyone's fear of them-underhanded as that move was, it also showed that Xu Yuan really was quick-witted!
Xu Yuan scratched his head, putting on just the right amount of embarrassment. "Just a little cleverness not fit for polite company. I'm making fools of myself in front of you teachers."
"This child does look rather honest."
A young married woman who looked a little older than Lin Yuan said with a smile, "If you have any difficulties in the future, you can come to me. Don't put all your thoughts into mundane things like making money. Cultivation is what matters most!"
She was a martial arts teacher from No. 1 Middle School named Liu Yun.
Listening beside them, Lin Yuan kept rolling his eyes.
Xu Yuan, honest?
This kid probably had eight hundred tricks up his sleeve!
Xu Yuan didn't take the young woman's words too seriously, but he still said with a face full of sincerity, "Thank you, ma'am. You're truly beautiful and kindhearted!"
Hearing that, Liu Yun smiled even more happily.
What a good child!
While they were talking, the hall suddenly grew lively!
"Look, Qiao Xueyan from No. 1 Middle School and Lin Xiao from No. 2 Middle School are here!"
"Tsk, tsk, they really deserve to be the top two martial arts students in our year. That presence is incredible!"
"They look so good together. I ship them!"
"Ship, ship, ship. Shipping everything will only do you harm..."
Hearing the students' chatter, Xu Yuan also looked toward the hall's entrance.
A boy and a girl walked in one after the other. The boy had striking features and certainly deserved to be called handsome, though he seemed a little arrogant.
No, not a little arrogant. Extremely arrogant, even more so than Zhou Ling.
The girl was pretty, though. If Luo Yaoxi's looks scored a hundred, this Qiao Xueyan could probably score ninety.
Xu Yuan was no stranger to these two.
Aside from him, the dark horse, these two had generated the most buzz during this year's martial arts class assessment!
Both were at the Skin Tempering Ninth Stage, leaving everyone else trailing far behind!
Especially Qiao Xueyan. Besides her Skin Tempering Ninth Stage cultivation, she had mastered a martial skill to perfection, making her someone with both a respectable Divine Talent and martial arts talent.
After the two entered, Qiao Xueyan said nothing and walked toward Liu Yun with a cool, aloof air.
Lin Xiao, meanwhile, swept his gaze around and called out, "Is Xu Yuan here?"
Swish, swish, swish!
Everyone instinctively turned to look toward Xu Yuan.
Xu Yuan froze. What does this guy want with me? He's not looking for trouble, is he?
Just as he was wondering, Lin Xiao said, "You didn't comprehend your Transformation Realm martial skill yourself, did you?"
Xu Yuan: "???"
"No need to act all bewildered and innocent. That Master Bao taught you your martial skill, didn't he?"
Lin Xiao wore the wise expression of someone who had seen through everything. "Don't panic. I'm not here to cause you trouble. I just want you to pass a message to Master Bao. I'm willing to pay him a million a month to hire him as my martial skills instructor!"
At those words, everyone in the hall looked astonished.
Seriously?
Master Bao had taught Xu Yuan?
But Xu Yuan's attention wasn't on that. It was on the words "a million a month"!
Holy shit, a real filthy rich bastard!
Zhang Juye was nothing compared to him!
"Remember to pass on my message. If it works out, you'll be well rewarded!"
With that, Lin Xiao paid no further attention to anyone and walked to a corner of the hall with an aloof, arrogant expression. He closed his eyes, putting on an unfathomable air.
Xu Yuan smacked his lips, walked over to Zhang Juye, and asked, "His family's that rich?"
"Extremely rich!"
Zhang Juye nodded. "Do you know what cultivation method he practices?"
"What?"
"Divine Ape Mountain-Moving Force. A sixth-tier cultivation method, priced at over eighty million at the Cloud-Soaring Pavilion!"
"Fuck!"
Xu Yuan couldn't help swearing!
He suddenly felt that Master Bao needed to make a comeback.
If he didn't earn this Lin Xiao's money, he'd feel uncomfortable all over!
But there was no rush. He would wait until he had condensed his first Demon Descent Mark.
Then he could take on Master Bao's form and approach Lin Xiao. If Lin Xiao sincerely wanted to pay for instruction, that would naturally be ideal. If he intended to harm him, he could still escape at ease!
As he pondered, the people from all five high schools gradually finished arriving.
Xu Yuan received several more orders, officially pushing the number of people ordering leather armor past eighty!
Even Fatty, who arrived late, ordered a set.
Not only that, he also paid Xu Yuan back for the third-tier body-tempering fluid he had bought earlier.
"Fatty, did you win the lottery?" Xu Yuan asked in surprise.
He knew full well that Fatty's family wasn't particularly well-off either.
"No, my mom gave it to me. When she found out I'd passed the assessment, she transferred a hundred thousand straight to me!" Fatty explained.
Xu Yuan understood. Fatty's mother was making an investment.
Fatty's parents were divorced, and his mother had remarried. She had ignored him all this time, only sending money now that he had passed the assessment. If that wasn't an investment, what was?
But this was Fatty's family business, so Xu Yuan wouldn't say anything out of turn.
Once everyone had arrived, the teachers stopped chatting. At the command to assemble, the hundred and fifty martial arts students from the five high schools quickly lined up!
"Three things!"
A teacher whose face was so expressionless it looked paralyzed stood before the five groups and succinctly held up three fingers.
"First, martial skills. You should already have decided which second-tier martial skill you want. Collect the manuals from your respective homeroom teachers shortly."
"There will be no fixed martial skills classes from now on. We'll take turns being on duty at the base. If you have questions, come ask us yourselves!"
"Second, academic examinations. Although you no longer have to attend academic classes, you still have three subjects to be tested on: literature, mathematics, and physics. One subject per month. Prepare on your own."
"Third, the rules for competing over cultivation rooms. From now on, each of you will have one opportunity per week to challenge someone. If you want someone's cultivation room, challenge them. Win, and their cultivation room is yours!"
The first two points drew little reaction, but as soon as the third was announced, the entire hall erupted!
Before this, everyone had heard more or less that the rules for cultivating at the martial arts base would change this year, but nobody had expected such a drastic change!
Wasn't this blatantly encouraging everyone to fight?
Those who disliked fighting immediately grew a little uneasy.
The combative ones, meanwhile, instantly grew excited as though they had been injected with chicken blood!
Some of the quicker thinkers immediately looked toward No. 3 Middle School's group, setting their sights on Xu Yuan among them!
His score wasn't low, so the cultivation room he'd been assigned was bound to be good, but his strength was only at the Skin Tempering Second Tier. Wasn't he a fat sheep through and through?